7 - Relationships

Question 1

What are ‘exchange rules’?

Answer 1

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).

Question 2

What is relational models theory?

Answer 2

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.

Question 3

What characterises the communal sharing (CS) and equality matching (EM) models of RMT?

Answer 3

CS - exchange/interaction according to need, caring, family oriented.

EM - exchange/interaction in equal proportions/direct reciprocity, peer group oriented.

Question 4

What are the factors that influence attraction & liking?

Answer 4

Physical attraction, similarity, positive interaction - proximity, familiarity, and mimicry.

Question 5

What are some features & effects of physical attraction?

Answer 5

Symmetry; good health/good mate

Stereotype; ‘beautiful is good’

Question 6

Describe Snyder, Tanke, & Berscheid’ (1977), Self-Fulfilling Prophecy ‘Getting Acquainted’ Experiment.

Answer 6

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.

Question 7

What is the similarity-attraction principle? Why does it work (Condon & Crano, 1998)

Answer 7

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.

Question 8

Describe Festinger, Schachter & Back’s (1950) College Friends Proximity study.

Answer 8

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.

Question 9

Describe Moreland & Beach’s (1992) Lecture-Familiarity study.

Answer 9

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).

Question 10

Describe Chartrand & Bargh’s (1999) non-conscious mimicry study.

Answer 10

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.

Question 11

What is self-disclosure?

Answer 11

Process of revealing info about the self.

As r/ship develops, it increases in breadth & depth.

Question 12

What are the consequences of self-disclosure?

Answer 12

Increases liking (similarity), signals trust, enables behavioural coordination (common goals)

Question 13

Which populations discloses the most?

Answer 13

Women more than men, but particularly low for men-men.

Individualistic cultures disclose more than collectivist.

Question 14

What is relational mobility? What was Shug et al.’s (2010) study?

Answer 14

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.

Question 15

What defines a ‘close relationship’?

Answer 15

Involving strong, frequent interdependence. Where a partner’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviours influence the other.

Question 16

What is cognitive interdependence?

Answer 16

• 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.

Question 17

What is behavioural interdependence? Describe Aaron et al.’s (1991) dividing money with friend/stranger study.

Answer 17

• 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.

Question 18

What is affective interdependence?

Answer 18

• 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.

Question 19

Define commitment and its characteristics in relation to interdependence for the long-haul?

Answer 19

• 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.

Question 20

Describe Rusbult’s (1980) Investment Model of Commitment.

Answer 20

• 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.

Question 21

Describe Rusbult & Martz (1995) - Satisfaction/Commitment for Abusive Relationships study.

Answer 21

More likely to be committed to and thus stay with partners if fewer viable alternatives and higher investment.

Commitment is about more than satisfaction.

Question 22

How did Fehr and Russel (1991) define love?

Answer 22

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

Question 23

What is Sternberg’s (1986) Triangular theory of love?

Answer 23

Intimacy, Commitment, Passion.

When high on all 3 = consummate love in the middle of the triangle. Otherwise on the edges.

Question 24

What are some threats to relationships?

Answer 24

External; financial, gender roles, rivals.

Internal; illness, change/mismatch in preferences/expectations.

Question 25

Describe Baxet’s (1996) relationship rules.

Answer 25

Autonomy; 
Similarity display; 
Supportiveness; 
Openness;
Loyalty/Fidelity; 
Shared Time;
Equity;
Romance;

Question 26

What is accommodation in relation to managing conflicts? Describe Gottman’s ‘four horseman’ of destructive accommodation vs constructive accommodation.

Answer 26

The processes of responding to a negative action by a partner.

Gottman’s ‘Four Horseman’ of Destructive accommodation:
- criticism, contempt, defensiveness, stonewalling.

Constructive accommodation;
- open discussion, patience, forgiveness.

Question 27

What are Rosbult et al.’s (1991) Constructive/Destructive-Active/Passive Accommodation strategie?

Answer 27

Constructive-Active; voice - discuss, seek help & change.

Constructive-Passive; loyalty - wait, hope, support

Destructive-Active; exit - abuse, scream, threaten, separate.
Destructive-Passive; neglect - ignore, avoid, fall apart.

Question 28

What aids constructive accommodation? What are the implicit theories?

Answer 28

Commitment, idealization of partner, implicit theories.

Implicit theories;
Growth vs Destiny.
- Growth theories - beliefs foster constructive accommodation.

Incremental vs Entity Theories
- Kammrath & Dweck (2006); incremental theories foster active vs entity theories foster passive (fate - let it go).

Question 29

What are the links between relationships and wellbeing? What did Holt-Lunstad et al.’s (2010) meta-analysis find?

Answer 29

• Close r/ships provide social support.
• associated with great psychological and physical well-being.
• Holt-Lunstad et al. (2010) meta-analysis; social r/ships on mortality risks were as big if not bigger than most other factors.

Question 30

What is loneliness? What are its effects?

Answer 30

Negative feelings arising from unmet needs for affection and self-validation.

Increases risk of negative health conditions, cognitive decline, & impaired EF.

Question 31

What is the Cognitive Behavioural Loop of loneliness (Cacioppo & Hawkley, 2009)? What is the intervention used to break the loop?

Answer 31

Social environment provides opportunities for/or rejection of social attraction & connection.

Leads to perception of isolation & loneliness.

Enter loop of hypervigilance of social threats > attentional and memory biases > behavioural confirmation processes > negative displays & social interactions.

Model is exacerbated if attribution is to internal traits.

Interventions; psychological reframing targeting attributions.

Question 32

How does Bowlby define attachment styles and what the 4 styles: secure, dismissing, preoccupied, and fearful attachment.

Answer 32

Innate tendency to form emotional attachments to others, beginning in infancy with a caregiver. Leads to feeling good in contact and anxious/distressed when apart.

Secure; feel good about self/others, unafraid of intimacy or abandonment.

Dismissing; feel good about self but doesn’t trust others, avoid intimacy/not worried about lack of it.

Preoccupied; want intimacy but worry others don’t, uneasy in r/ships and anticipate threats/problems.

Fearful; anxiety about abandonment/fear of intimacy, sensitive to rejection.

Question 33

How did Simpon & colleagues (1992) show the effect of different attachment style? (re; couples waiting room exp.)

Answer 33

Women, of various attach-styles, led to a waiting room and told to wait for the experiment which was designed to arouse anxiety/fear. Then partners were lead back in the room.

Secure & Preoccupoed women (intimacy seekers) sought support from partners.

Dismissing & Fearful women sought less support.

Secure men offered more support.

Dismissing & fearful men = more fear from a partner, less support offered.

Takeaway: attachment styles influence both people’s trust in a partner’s support & responsiveness/willingness to offer support.