Formation Flashcards
What is the reward/ need satisfaction model?
Direct reinforcement may encourage the formation of a relationship between individuals.
Operant conditioning could occur where an individual is positively reinforced with the potential
partner offering pleasant stimulus e.g. smiling. Additionally the potential partner may provide for
social needs such as friendship and sex, furthering the likelihood of a relationship developing
Negative Reinforcement
Negative reinforcement may be involved where a negative stimulus is removed by the potential
partner e.g. if a woman helps a man through a troubled time in his life he may find her more
attractive as she has helped to alleviate his negative stimuli.
Liking through association : Classical conditioning
The potential partner may be associated with pleasant circumstances. If someone was in a good
mood and they met another individual, they may associate such other individual with the positive
mood, consequently finding them more attractive because of the association.
STUDY: Hays
Hays stated that we find value in rewarding
others and that we like relationships to be equal.
STUDY: May and Hamilton supporting classical
conditioning:
Female students listened to
pleasant music, unpleasant music or no music
while rating the appearances of photos of
male strangers. Those who rated while
listening to the pleasant music rated the
strangers as better looking.
Disadvantages of the reward/ need satisfaction model
Cultural differences: non-western relationships
are less focused on individual rewards.
Gender differences: women have been found to
want to meet the needs of others more than men
Scientific method : study lacks ecological
validity where is doesn’t reflect a real-life
situation or conditions.
Internal validity: only photos were used
Nurture: ignores natures influence e.g. evolution
upon attraction
Reductionist :relationship initiation
broken down into stimulus and
response.
Deterministic : associations may be made
outside their control, influencing who they
like
The matching hypothesis
Walster
A persons search for a partner is influenced by what they want in a partner and who they think they
can get as a partner. The more socially desirable a person is, the more they would expect their
potential partner to be. In this sense, most people are in fact influenced by their chances of having
affection reciprocated. This relates to how someone may feel that another individual is ‘out of their
league’, where they deem the chances of such individual returning their affection as low. Overall the
initial attraction towards someone would be determined by a comparison between the other
persons attractiveness and their own attractiveness. Those that are matched in social desirability are
more likely to interact affectionately and consequently are more likely to initiate successful
relationships than individuals that are mismatched on attractiveness levels.
Walster dance study
everyone reacted positively
to physically attractive dates and were more likely
to to arrange subsequent dates with them
regardless of intelligence and personality
Matching in the real world
strong correlations
for attractiveness scores in actual couples. There
is similarity between each partner’s levels of
physical attractiveness. The stronger the match,
the more committed the couple were.
Disadvantages of the matching hypothesis
Reductionist :people may pair up based on
personality rather than physical attractiveness.
Gender difference: physical attractiveness
valued more by men than women, where men
can compensate with resources if they lack
physical attractiveness.
Ecological validity: Walster study lacks realism
Ethics: ratings based on attractiveness,
individuals may experience psychological
discomfort when given ratings
Heterosexual bias: homosexual interactions not
considered.
Biological determinism: physical attractiveness is
something we are mostly born with.
Hatfield and Sprecher
in the real world, third parties influence matching where parents can match children. Cultural bias: study based only on American
