Ch1: Building Blocks of Relationships

Question 1

7 components of intimate relationships

Answer 1

knowledge, interdependence, trust, caring, responsiveness, mutuality, commitment

Question 2

Knowledge

Answer 2

extensive, personal and confidential information about each other.

Question 3

Interdependence

Answer 3

extent to which partners need and influence each other

Question 4

Care

Answer 4

feeling more affection for partner than they do for most others

Question 5

trust

Answer 5

expecting to be treated fairly and honourably

Question 6

responsive

Answer 6

Being attentive and responding in a way that meets another person’s needs

Question 7

mutuality

Answer 7

thinking of themselves as “us” instead of “me” and “him/her”

Question 8

commitment

Answer 8

expect their partnership to continue indefinitely and they invest the time, effort, and resources that are needed to realize that goal

Question 9

Need to belong

Answer 9

• humans have a need to belong in close relationships, therefore we are driven to establish and maintain close relationships
• People live happier lives when they are closely connected to others
• well-being depends on how well we satisfy need to belong

Question 10

Influence of culture

Answer 10

• fewer people marry now compared to before
• people wait longer to marry
• people cohabit before marriage which makes future divorce more likely
• people have babies before marriage
• approx. 1/2 marriages end in divorce
• most preschool children have mothers who work outside the home

Question 11

singlism

Answer 11

prejudice and discrimination against those who choose to remain single

Question 12

Sources of Change in Intimate relationships

Answer 12

• economics –> more industrialized societies harbor more single people, tolerate more divorces, and support later age of marriage
• education and financial resources allow more independence
• individualism is more pronounced
• new technology –> allows single women to have children without being married and control their fertility

Question 13

Individualism

Answer 13

support of self-expression and the emphasis on personal fulfillment

• more prominent in western cultures

Question 14

technoference

Answer 14

frequent interruptions of interactions caused by various technological devices

Question 15

phubbing

Answer 15

occurs when one partner snubs another by focusing on a phone

Question 16

sex ratio

Answer 16

the number of men for every 100 women in a specific population

• influences the norms that govern relationships
  - high sex ratio (more men) cultures tend to support traditional, old fashioned roles for men and women // tend to be more sexually conservative
  - low sex ratio cultures tend to be less traditional and more permissive

Question 17

attachment styles in infants

Answer 17

global orientations toward relationships

• consist of:
  
  • secure –> children who view people as trustworthy, kind
  • anxious-ambivalent –> children develop fretful, mixed feelings about others, became clingy, nervous, needy
  • avoidant –> children were often suspicious of and angry at others, did not easily form trusting, close relationships
• early interpersonal experiences shape our subsequent relationships
• these three attachment styles based on infants
• attachment styles can be LEARNED and UNLEARNED

Question 18

attachment styles in adults

Answer 18

• 4 styles derived from:
  
  • avoidance of intimacy: the ease and trust with which people accept interdependent intimacy with others
  • anxiety about abandonment: dread that others will find them unworthy and leave them
• secure
• fearful
• dismissing
• preoccupied

Question 19

secure attachment style

Answer 19

• low avoidance of intimacy, low anxiety about abandonment
• comfortable with intimacy and interdependence
• optimistic and sociable

Question 20

preoccupied attachment style

Answer 20

• low avoidance of intimacy, high anxiety about abandonment
• uneasy and vigilant toward any threat to the relationship
• needy and jealous
• want closeness but anxiously fear rejection

Question 21

dismissing attachment style

Answer 21

• high avoidance of intimacy, low anxiety about abandonment
• self-reliant and uninterested in intimacy
• indifferent and independent
• don’t like closeness

Question 22

fearful attachment style

Answer 22

• high avoidance of intimacy, high anxiety about abandonment
• fearful of rejection and mistrustful of others
• suspicious and shy

Question 23

Influence of sex differences

Answer 23

• sex differences: refers to biological distinctions between men and women
• Men and women are much more similar than different on most of the topics related to relationships

Question 24

Influence of gender differences

Answer 24

• gender differences: refer to social and psychological distinctions that are created by our cultures and upbringing
• traditional men and women like each other less than androgynous people do
• marriages that display stereotypical gender roles are generally less happy than those of nontraditional gender roles

Question 25

gender roles

Answer 25

• the patterns of behaviour that are culturally expected of “normal” men and women
• men are supposed to be “masculine” –> assertive, self- reliant, decisive, competitive
• women are expected to be “feminine” –> warm, sensitive, emotionally expressive, kind

Question 26

androgynous

Answer 26

• people who possess both sets of competencies that are stereotypically associated with being male and female

Question 27

instrumental traits

Answer 27

masculine task-oriented talents

Question 28

expressive traits

Answer 28

feminine social and emotional skills

Question 29

influence of personality

Answer 29

• the big five personality traits: OCEAN
• most influential trait is neuroticism –> less neurotic partners = happier marriage

in order of importance
neuroticism > agreeableness > conscientiousness > extraversion > openness

Question 30

Big Five Personality Traits

Answer 30

• OPENNESS to experience: degree to which people are imaginative, curious, unconventional and artistic versus conforming, uncreative and stodgy
• EXTRAVERSION: the extent to which people are outgoing, gregarious, assertive, and sociable versus cautious, reclusive, shy
• CONSCIENTIOUSNESS: extent to which people are industrious, dependable, responsible, and orderly versus unreliable, disorganized, careless
• AGREEABLENESS : degree to which people are compassionate, cooperative, good-natured and trusting versus suspicious, selfish, hostile
• NEUROTICISM: degree to which people are prone to fluctuation moods and high levels of negative emotion such as worry, anger, anxiety

Question 31

influence of self esteem

Answer 31

• people with high self esteem are generally happier and more successful
• self esteem relates to our need to belong
• relationships are more fulfilling when both partners have high self esteem

Question 32

self esteem

Answer 32

• our evaluations of ourselves
• high self esteem: when we hold favourable judgements of our skills and traits
• low self esteem: when we doubt ourselves
• very much affected by what we think others think of us

Question 33

sociometer

Answer 33

measures the quality of our relationship with others
- theory argues that if others regard us positively, self esteem is high, but if others don’t want to associate with us, self esteem is low

Question 34

influence of human nature

Answer 34

• women tend to choose their sexual partners more carefully than men do, due to the reproductive implications
• men and women pursue different attributes in the other sex based on if they want short-term or long-term relationships

Question 35

parental investment

Answer 35

• the time, energy, and resources one must provide to one’s offspring in order to reproduce

Question 36

paternity uncertainty

Answer 36

• when a man cannot be absolutely certain that the child is his unless he is completely confident that his mate has been faithful to him