Relationships (A2) PAPER 3 Flashcards
Explain what is meant by sexual selection (2 marks)
Sexual selection is an evolutionary explanation of partner preference, where attributes that increase reproductive success are passed on and may become exaggerated over succeeding generations of offspring.
Briefly outline one evolutionary explanation of partner preferance (4 marks)
one evolutionary explanation of partner preference is sexual selection. This is where features that are attractive to the opposite sex, such as genetic fitness, make it more likely that the possessor will reproduce and for these features to be passed onto offspring.
In relation to factors affecting attraction in romantic relationships, explain what is meant by ‘self disclosure’ (2 marks)
Revealing personal information about yourself - romantic partners reveal more as their relationship develops, which include thoughts and feelings that can be used to strengthen a romantic bond.
Breifly outline self disclosure as a factor affecting attraction in romantic relationships (4 marks)
- Social Penetration Theory (Altman and Taylor) gradual process of revealing your inner self to someone else by giving away your thoughts and feelings
- Breadth and Depth, Breadth - low level convo, Depth- high level convo, depenetration is when u self disclose less when disengaging with relationship.
- Reciprocity - (Reis and Shaver) for a relationship to continue you need both depth and breadth, but it needs to be reciprocal
In relation to factors affecting attraction in romantic relationships, explain what is meant by the ‘matching hypothesis’ (2 marks)
the belief that we do not select the most attractive person as a partner, but rather are attracted to people who approximately match us in physical attractiveness and implies that we take into account our own attractiveness when seeking romantic partners.
Outline physical attractivness as a factor affecting attraction in romantic relationships (4 marks)
- Shackleford and Larsen found that females with child like faces are more likely to be veiwed as attractive by males because there facial features trigger an aggressive and protective trait in men, which give the females an evolutionary advantage. Facial symetry is also seen as an attribute in a high quality mate
- Halo effect -a cognitive bias where people assume someone has good traits and personality because they have a pleasing appearance in comparison to someone who doesnt. These beliefs increase the likliehood that such attractive people develop these traits, displaying self fulfilling prophecy
Outline the matching hypothesis as an explanation of factors affecting attraction in romantic relationships (4 marks)
- The belief that we do not select the most attractive person as a prospective partner, but we are attracted to a person with similar physical attractiveness to ourselves. This means when finding a romantic partner we take into consideration our own attractiveness value.
evidence - (Walster et al)
They created a ‘computer dance’ study to prove there claim
PROCEDURE
-male and female students were invited to a dance, before the dance they were rated on physical attractiveness and were asked to fill out a questionnaire about themselves, and were told this informtation will be put in a computer and they would be paired with a partner accordingly, but in fact they were actually paired up randomly.
FINDINGS
- the hypothesis was not supported as there own level of attractivness wasnt taken into consideration.
- Ellen et al replicated the study but this time each ppt was allowed to choose there partner from people of varying degrees of attractivness.
- ppts chose partners who matched them in attractivness
Two strength for physical attractivness (4 marks)
RESEARCH SUPPORT FOR THE HALO EFFECT
- Palmer and Peterson found that physically attractive people were more politically knowledgable than unnatractive people.
COUNTER - implications for political processes as politicans shouldnt be suitable soley due to there attractivness
STRENGTH - EVOLUTIONARY EXPLANATION
- Cunningham et al found that women with small nose, prominent cheekbones, big eyes and high eyebrows were highly attractive to white, hispanic and aisan men.
- Symmetry is attractive and it is a sign of genetic fitness, giving an explanation into why these features are common in all cultures.
Outline the filter theory as a factor effecting romantic relationships (6 marks)
-Kerckhoff and Davis proposed the filter theory of attraction by comparing the attitudes and personalities of students in short term (less than 18 months) and long term (more than 18months) relationships
- We are initially exposed to a feild of availables,but in order to form a relationship we must narrow down this feild to a feild of desirables, using the 3 filters of social demography, similarity in attitudes, and complementarity. The importance of each filter depends on whether the relationship is short-term or long-term.
-FIRST FILTER (SOCIAL DEMOGRAPHY)
- Factors that influence the chances of potential partners meeting each other in the first place e.g geographical location, religion, ethnicity etc ( we are likely to meet people who share these characteristics
- SECOND FILTER (SIMILARITY IN ATTITUDES)
- Important in the formation and development of short term romantic relationships
- This describes an agreement over basic values which encourages greater and deeper communication whilst promoting self disclosure.
- THIRD FILTER (COMPLEMENTARITY)
- Ability of romantic partners to meet each others needs, partners complement each other when one partner has a trait the other partner lacks. (e.g one likes to laugh, the other likes to make jokes)
- Kerckhoff and Davis found that complementarity is important in long term relationships as it adds depth and gives couples the feeling that they form a whole
Breifly explain 2 criticsms of the filter theory as a factor effecting romantic relationships (4 marks)
(-) LACKS TEMPORAL VALIDITY
-the rise of online dating has changed the process of being in a romantic relationship
- it has reduced the importance of social demographic variables as it has made meeting potential partners easier than ever and are not resticted ny certain social demographics such as cultures or social class
- filter theory can only explain dating before the era of the internet, lacking external validity
- however people can still use the filter theory as it is not invalid for how relationships are formed.
(-) LACKS RELIABILITY
- many studies have failed to replicate the original findings that formed the basis of filter theory
- This may be due to social changes over time and the difficulties of defining the depth of relationships by its length
- some couples take longer than 18months to establish a similarity of attitudes and complementarity
- not all romantic relationships can be explained by the filter theory as people determine long term and short term differently
REDUCTIONIST - doesnt explain why people stay in abusive relationships despite lack of complementarity
Explain what is meant by social exchange in relation to romantic relationships (2 marks)
a theory of how relationships form and develop - assumes that a satisfying and committed relationship is maintained when rewards exceed costs and potential alternatives are less attractive than the current relationship.
Explain one of the key concepts in social exchange theory (3marks)
COMPARISON LEVEL
- An estimation of how rewarding a relationship should be, to decide this we compare our current relationship to previous relationships or other peoples relationships
- We consider a relationship is worth pursuing if our comparison level is low
- Those who have a positive internal working model can decide whether someone is good for them
Explain what is meant by ‘equity’ in relation to romantic relationships (2 marks)
Equity theory, unlike social exchange theory, suggests that striking a balance between the ratio of cost and reward that each individual has is the key to a successful relationship. Therefore, couples are not always looking to maximise their gains, but simply to have a fair/balanced relationship.
Explain the difference between social exchange theory and equity theory of romantic relationships
Unlike Social Exchange Theory that argues how people try to maximise rewards and minimise costs in relationships, Equity Theory suggests that partners are concerned about fairness in relationships. Fairness is achieved when people feel they get approximately what they deserve from relationships.
Explain the difference between Rusbults investment model and social exchange theory
The Investment Model was put forward by Rusbult et al as a development of Social Exchange Theory. The rationale for developing SET further was that many couples stay together despite the costs outweighing the rewards, so there must be some other factors that keep them together. Rusbult’s Investment Model shows there are three major factors when maintaining commitment = satisfaction level, comparison with alternatives, and investment size.
