7 - Relationships Flashcards
What are ‘exchange rules’?
patterns according to which relationship partners exchange rewards and punishments, i.e. sharing lottery with a family member vs. work colleague. (equal vs. no special need to share).
What is relational models theory?
Alan Fiske (1992) - different r/ships are governed by different rules of exchange/interaction.
Posed 4 ‘relational models’ - communal sharing, authority ranking, equality matching, market pricing - based on exchange rules.
What characterises the communal sharing (CS) and equality matching (EM) models of RMT?
CS - exchange/interaction according to need, caring, family oriented.
EM - exchange/interaction in equal proportions/direct reciprocity, peer group oriented.
What are the factors that influence attraction & liking?
Physical attraction, similarity, positive interaction - proximity, familiarity, and mimicry.
What are some features & effects of physical attraction?
Symmetry; good health/good mate
Stereotype; ‘beautiful is good’
Describe Snyder, Tanke, & Berscheid’ (1977), Self-Fulfilling Prophecy ‘Getting Acquainted’ Experiment.
Phone convo b/w men & women to get acquainted.
Men get a photo and the survey responses of either a ‘attractive/unattractive’ women.
When more attractive; men were warmer, more sociable, bold etc.
Which in turn leads woman to act reciprocally.
Reinforces the beautiful is good stereotype.
S/type influences men’s behaviour, in turn influences women’s behaviour, in turn reinforces s/type.
What is the similarity-attraction principle? Why does it work (Condon & Crano, 1998)
The more similar you are to somebody the more likely you will like them.
Works by:
- encouraging positive interaction over common interests.
- validates beliefs/attitudes.
- inferred reciprocal attraction.
Describe Festinger, Schachter & Back’s (1950) College Friends Proximity study.
Random allocation of students in a dorm. Then at the end of semester asked to list top 3 friends.
Found 63% of top 3 friends lived within 2 apartments.
Proximity increases the frequency of positive interactions & familiarity.
Describe Moreland & Beach’s (1992) Lecture-Familiarity study.
Similar looking female confederates attended a class at different frequencies (0 to 15 throughout the semester. At the end of the semester, the class were asked to rate the women on a range of traits, including attractiveness & similarly.
Takeaway; mere exposure increases attraction (& similarity).
Describe Chartrand & Bargh’s (1999) non-conscious mimicry study.
Pts interacted with face-rubbing or foot-shaking confederates during a face-to-face task.
Pts non-consciously mimicked actions.
Face-to-face interaction opens the possibility of non-verbal processing to impact liking.
i.e. mimicry increases liking.
What is self-disclosure?
Process of revealing info about the self.
As r/ship develops, it increases in breadth & depth.
What are the consequences of self-disclosure?
Increases liking (similarity), signals trust, enables behavioural coordination (common goals)
Which populations discloses the most?
Women more than men, but particularly low for men-men.
Individualistic cultures disclose more than collectivist.
What is relational mobility? What was Shug et al.’s (2010) study?
The ability (perceived) to interact with ppl and make new relationships.
Shug et al. found that the US, over Japanese, culture is associated with relational mobility, which is predictive of disclosure to friends.
What defines a ‘close relationship’?
Involving strong, frequent interdependence. Where a partner’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviours influence the other.
What is cognitive interdependence?
- Self-other overlap; concepts of self & partner intertwine, the inclusion of other in self (IOS) (Aaron et al., 1992).
- More self-other overlap = better outcomes.
What is behavioural interdependence? Describe Aaron et al.’s (1991) dividing money with friend/stranger study.
- each person has influence on other partner’s decisions, activities, and plans.
- may involve communal sharing orientation; each according to to need’
Aaron et al. (1991); divided sum of money with either stranger or best friend.
- Friend gets more, no matter if they know it’s coming or not.
- The takeaway; giving was not on the condition of reciprocation.
What is affective interdependence?
- intimacy; a positive emotional bond that includes u/standing & support.
- increasing closeness moves r/ships beyond mere reciprocal disclosure to deeper relations of; acknowledgement, acceptance/understanding, emotional responsiveness.
- is one of the primary bases of the important social support functions played by relationships.
Define commitment and its characteristics in relation to interdependence for the long-haul?
- l/t orientation towards a relationship, with the intention to maintain it over time and foster lasting/strong emotional bond.
- develops over time.
- enables trust & projection of interdependence into the future.
Describe Rusbult’s (1980) Investment Model of Commitment.
- Satisfaction level; recogn of net cognitive, affective, and behavioural benefits provided. cost/benefit.
- Quality of alternatives; the desirability of alts.
- Investment size; resources invested.
Each relates to commitment level —> probability of persistence.
More satisfaction and investment, with fewer viable alternatives, increases commitment.
Describe Rusbult & Martz (1995) - Satisfaction/Commitment for Abusive Relationships study.
More likely to be committed to and thus stay with partners if fewer viable alternatives and higher investment.
Commitment is about more than satisfaction.
How did Fehr and Russel (1991) define love?
They found a variety of free listed definitions;
- sexual, friendship, parental & familial, romantic, etc.
Then presented these to another set of pts & asked them to rate them on how representative they are of love.
- maternal, parental, friendship, and romantic up top.
- sexual and infatuation down the bottom
What is Sternberg’s (1986) Triangular theory of love?
Intimacy, Commitment, Passion.
When high on all 3 = consummate love in the middle of the triangle. Otherwise on the edges.
What are some threats to relationships?
External; financial, gender roles, rivals.
Internal; illness, change/mismatch in preferences/expectations.
