9. Relationships Flashcards
how have rates and ages of marriage changed?
- of people who have never been married, 88% are young (18-24), but 10% are old (65+)
- proportion of unmarried individuals decrease as we age
- nowadays, people get married at an older age
- more financial hardship, more post-secondary education, especially with women
- women tend to marry men who have the same level of education or higher
- as more women attend post-secondary, the men they marry become more limited
how do sociocultural factors influence the rates of marriage throughout history?
- larger number of men got married before the war, made them less likely to have to enlist
- less marriages during the war as men were gone
- larger number of divorces after the war
what does it mean if a couple is living apart together (LAT)?
- people who are in an intimate relationship but don’t want to share a residence
- chosen because of independence and protection from difficult emotional experiences
what is the equity theory of marital satisfaction?
- satisfaction and stability is based on equity between partners
- feeling under-benefitted leads to sense of exploitation
- feeling over-benefitted leads to sense of guilt/shame
- they seek to get as much out of the relationship as they put into it
- partners will constantly try to adjust their efforts to match each other’s contribution to the relationship according to principles of fairness
what is the similarity hypothesis of marital satisfaction?
- proposes that similarity of personality and values predicts both initial interpersonal attraction and satisfaction within long‐term relationships
- even if one partner only SEES the other as similar to them, they are usually more in love
what is the need for complementarity hypothesis of marital satisfaction?
- proposes that people seek and are more satisfied with marital partners who are the opposite of themselves
- people who are more introverted, for example, might prefer partners whose extraversion helps alleviate discomfort in social situations
what is the behaviour theory of marital satisfaction?
- actual behaviours that partners engage in with each other during marital interactions matter most
- positive rewarding behaviours? or negative behaviours/emotions?
what is the social exchange theory of marital satisfaction?
- comparing a relationship’s rewards to the barriers to leaving and benefits of alternatives to that relationship
- weighing the pros and cons of the relationship
- cohabitors were more likely than married partners to end a relationship in which the partners only rarely engaged in sex
- less cons because less difficulty separating while not being legally married
what is the socioemotional selectivity theory?
- as couples become increasingly aware of the limited time they have left together, they become more satisfied with their long‐term partners
- positive sentiment override - older adults are more likely to keep sight of the positive aspects of their relationships even when they have disagreements
what is the suffocation model of marriage?
- proposes that the higher a couple attempts to move up the hierarchy of needs, the more frustrated they will become with the quality of their relationship
- there are three different pathways
1. enduring dynamics pathway
2. emergent distress pathway
3. disillusionment pathway - both the emergent distress and disillusionment models assume that couples start out as hopeful and optimistic that their relationship will work out
- most supported pathway is the enduring dynamics pathway
what is the enduring dynamics pathway in the suffocation model of marriage?
- the way a couple interacts early in their relationship will characterize the course of the relationship over time
- either get along well with each other and resolve conflict easily, or they don’t
what is the emergent distress pathway in the suffocation model of marriage?
- relationship problems develop over time as they find that they are unable to cope with the inevitable arguments that occur when people live together
- instead of communicating properly, they become defensive, withdraw, stonewall
what is the disillusionment pathway in the suffocation model of marriage?
- couple starts out happy and in love but gradually fall out of love and begin to develop mixed feelings
- couples start to take each other for granted and are less interested in seeking each other’s love
what two features differentiate happy and unhappy couples?
- positive expressions of affection and love
- negative behaviours of being critical, angry, and impatient towards the partner
how does stability and satisfaction in marriages change as we get older?
- in general, marriages become more stable but less satisfying over time
- unstable marriages are marked by dissatisfaction, but…
- dissatisfaction does not strongly predict instability
how are same-sex couples different in terms of conflict and likelihood for dissolution?
- both women and men in same‐sex couples experience less strain on a daily basis
- higher rates of dissolution among female–female couples than different‐sex married couples
- people who believe that they are the targets of discrimination are more likely to experience depression
how does homogamy influence marriage stability and satisfaction? how about for biracial couples?
- homogamy between spouses leads to more satisfaction and stability
- similarity in religion, cultural/ethnic background, race, and age leads to more satisfaction and stability
- in biracial couples, the gender of the person who is a minority affects their relationship stability and satisfaction
- if the male is the racial minority, there are more problems
- this is because men are usually the ones in the position of power, so being the minority can affect the couple negatively
how does personality influence marriage stability and satisfaction (big 5)?
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neuroticism - lower is better, may depend on the stage of marriage
- more important at the beginning of the relationship because we increase in emotional stability as we age
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openness - lower is better, unless both people are high in openness
- people high in openness are more likely to cheat, have more interests and hobbies
- agreeableness - higher is better
- conscientiousness - higher is better, also increases with age
how did income influence marriage stability and satisfaction before, and how does it influence satisfaction and stability now?
- early research suggested that women being employed led to less satisfaction and less stability
- huge increase in dual-earner families over past 40 years
- greater satisfaction among couples who identify a co-providing relationship
- more equal distribution of housework leads to higher satisfaction
how does sexual satisfaction influence marriage stability and satisfaction?
- sexual satisfaction → marital satisfaction → marital stability
- coincides with the social exchange theory (counts as a reward) and behaviour theories (positive behaviour)
how does premarital cohabitation influence marriage stability and satisfaction?
- greater risk of divorce for those cohabitating prior to marriage if “serial cohabitation” had occurred
- if one person had lived with multiple people at different times before
