Attraction and Relationship

Question 1

Evolutionary theory of attraction

Answer 1

there are adaptive processes in attraction
people are attracted to those who are associated with higher chances of passing on their genes
linked to having survived to sexual maturity and producing your own offspring that survive
people have preference for reproductive fitness and this preference will also be passed onto offspring
Males typically look for: youth, attractiveness and signs of fertility
Females typically look for: resources, physical attractiveness

Question 2

Trivers, 1972

Answer 2

evolutionary theorist
females exert more effort in delivering offspring (carrying infant, feeding and general looking after)
this leads to females being more selective in their choosing of potential mates

Question 3

Buss, 1989

Answer 3

support for evolutionary theory
10,047 adults studied across 37 cultures
hypothesised that certain differences in mate selection should exist between males and females that are also similar across cultures (if adaptive)
hypothesised that females would attach greater importance to good financial prospects in their partners than males
hypothesised that males would place greater importance on aspects of the female that highlighted youth, fertility and physical attractiveness and would place more importance on chastity than females
ALL hypotheses supported
BUT the notion of chastity depended on the culture so wasn’t as strongly supported

Question 4

Support of evolutionary theory

Answer 4

Stone, Shackleford and Buss, 2008 - confirms the attributes Buss, 1989 found as central to attraction

Question 5

Challenge of evolutionary theory

Answer 5

Stone et al., 2008 - only moderate support where resources are few - resources not big role for females - look at other factors which may not have survival value
Chu et al., 2007 - females showed consistent preference for attractive males with medium status not attractive males with high status
Buss, 1989 - traits such as kindness and understanding rated higher than earning power and attractiveness in all samples
Confer et al., 2010 - evolutionary theory should impact culture but culture may provide alternate explanation for attraction
Is the theory relevant where today there are also increasing numbers of homosexual couples?

Question 6

Bio-social approach to attraction

Answer 6

challenges evolutionary theory
argues that sex differences in attraction are a product of the features of the society in which people live - i.e. different cultural aspects and differential treatment of men and women cause these differences in preference of a mate

Question 7

Support for bio-social approach

Answer 7

Eagley and Woods, 2002
re-analysed cross-cultural research
concluded sex differences in mate preference were not the result of biology alone, but also the social structure

Question 8

Similarity in attraction

Answer 8

theory sees people as similar as being attracted to each other

Question 9

Balance Theory

Answer 9

Heider, 1958
we want a state of balance
so we like those whom we share similar attitudes with and dislike those with whom we lack this common stance
theory cannot deal with the complexities of attraction - cannot account for the differences in some values
Byrne, 1971
- development of balance theory - to law of attraction
- totality of aligned and non-aligned attitudes are what is important
- as the proportion of shared attitudes increases, so does their mutual liking
Singh and Ho, 2000
- found support for balance theory

Question 10

Similarity and the self

Answer 10

Jones, Pelham, Carvallo and Mirenberg, 2004
research suggests that there was significant matching between people sharing the same surname prior to marriage
this is explained as being part of an egotistical preference for those resembling the self
Jones et al., 2004
suggested that participants in experiments showed greater liking for those whose experimental code number resembled their birth date or who appeared to have a surname similar to their own

Question 11

Research supporting similarity and the self

Answer 11

Singh, Ho, Tan and Bell, 2007
suggest the self is important in thinking about similarity and attraction but in a different way
research confirms that similarity has direct effect on attraction
BUT the perceptions that an individual has about how they are personally evaluated by the other person is more powerful for attraction
being positively evaluated by another person can activate attraction
Riela et al., 2010
cross-cultural research had results sympathetic with the idea that similarity is not as important as perceiving liking of the other for oneself

Question 12

Why do people have sexual partners who are similar to themselves?

Answer 12

Wood and Brumbaugh, 2009
- some of the previous explanation could be assortative mating
- alternative - similar people paired in terms of market value
- high consensus for one trait as more valuable = higher desirability for that trait in a partner
Evaluation:
- study asked pps to rate overall attractiveness of different pictures rather than stating individual characteristics deemed attractive - so less demand characteristics
- only used pre-determined characteristics
- results for both heterosexuals and homosexuals but other types of sexuality exist
- doesn’t account for chemistry between people - little importance placed on human interaction

Question 13

Attribution of arousal

Answer 13

the experience in which you meet someone may alter your attraction to them
idea of excitation transfer theory - aroused states can be mislabelled and then mis-attributed to shape future behaviour
Dutton and Aaron, 1974
-male subjects met female experiment on either ordinary or precarious bridge and exchanged phone numbers
-those on precarious bridge more likely to call experimenter later
-suggests mis-attribution of arousal
-issues of assuming all males were heterosexual and big jump in assuming it is attraction that led the males to call
Cohen and Waugh, 1989
-observer watched people leaving either suspense or comedy film
- noted physical displays on intimacy between couples
-those leaving suspense films were more likely to hold hands
- genre of film led to different behaviours - consistent with heightened sexual arousal - suggestion of possible mis-attribution of arousal
Meston and Frohlick, 2003
-couples about to ride a roller-coaster asked to rate attractiveness of opposite sex photo and photo of person riding with
-attractiveness ratings higher if they’d got off the roller-coaster but not if already in a relationship

Question 14

Evaluation of mis-attribution of arousal

Answer 14

research cannot be certain that the results are due to mis-attribution of arousal
- it may be that post-arousing situations lead to some form of positive mood state rather than a state of arousal being mis-attributed
there is a majority focus on romantic relationships in heterosexual couples - most research presumes a participant to be heterosexual

Question 15

Exchange and equity theories of relationships

Answer 15

consideration of how romantic relationship are formed, maintained and broken down
both focus on the notion that each person calculates and weighs up positives and negatives of being in a relationship

Question 16

Social exchange theory

Answer 16

Thibaut and Kelley, 1959
the individual is a rational actor
individuals calculate profit and loss to being in a particular relationship
done through assessing rewards and costs to them and whether a better deal could be sought elsewhere
people only maintain a relationship if the profit is greater than that which they believe they can obtain elsewhere

Question 17

Support for SET

Answer 17

Rusbult and Martz, 1995

• SET explains why some people may stay in abusive relationships
• if investments are high (i.e. children, a mortgage) and alternatives are low (i.e. no money, custody battle) then this could be considered a profit situation

Simpson et al., 1990

• participants asked to rate members of opposite sex in terms of attractiveness (subjective, assumes all are heterosexual)
• those who were already in relationships gave lower ratings
• suggests people may consider the costs/benefits of a relationship and deal with alternatives by reducing them

Question 18

Challenge to SET

Answer 18

all support looks at heterosexual couples so cannot be applied to all
very simplistic explanation - relationships are far more complex
criticised for simplistic explanation
Sedikides, 2005
- challenges notion of SET
- suggests that being in a close relationship helps to increase self-esteem
- but we are actually capable of being altruistic in relationships
- we bolster our partner’s self-esteem by when faced with trouble or failure
- so people do put in more, at a cost to themselves, for someone else’s profit/benefit
- suggests that the costs and benefits don’t actually matter in relationships

Question 19

Equity theory

Answer 19

Walster et al., 1976
extension of SET
central assumption is that people want fairness/equity within a relationship
perceived imbalance leads to distress - can be over- or under-benefiting
it is possible for each partner to bring different inputs and outputs to the relationship but this does not matter so long as it is perceived fair

Question 20

Support for equity theory

Answer 20

Hatfield, Utne and Traupmann, 1979

• found that those who felt they were under-benefiting felt anger towards their partner
• those who felt they were over-benefiting felt guilt

Stafford and Canary, 2006

• 200 married couples completed measures of equity and relationship satisfaction
• satisfaction was higher in those who perceived their relationship to be equitable, followed by those who over-benefited, and then those who under-benefited

has implications for couples experiencing difficulties in their relationship

• inequity has been shown to affect intimacy
• important implications for marital therapy - suggests that inequitable situations ought to be addressed before other factors within the relationship

Question 21

Challenge to equity theory

Answer 21

sometimes argued that this theory only reflects relationships when they are in crisis
cross-cultural research challenges the idea that there is a universal concern with fairness

Question 22

Attribution

Answer 22

cognition about relationships influences perceptions of our relationships
attributions - way in which behaviours are explained by what caused them
attribution of negative partner behaviour to certain types of causes, external causes, is associated with health and longevity of relationship
issue of causality - not easy to make case that attributions regarding partner behaviour shape relationship distress or satisfaction

Question 23

Constructing relationships

Answer 23

looks at how relationship related issues are constructed and what these constructions do
focus on immediate interaction between people

Question 24

Cultural constructions of gender and relationships

Answer 24

Milnes, 2010
- constructions of male and female sexuality serve a sexual double standard
- it legitimises male, but not female, promiscuity
Available discourses - culturally available constructions about how things are - how a culture may have certain constructions of how to be a man or woman and how to have a certain sexuality
Cultural constructions of gender and relationships often leads to perception that people deserve what they get