Human relationships

Question 1

Levine et al

Answer 1

Aim: To investigate the effects of in-group preference for helping behavior.

Procedure: 45 participants Manchester United fans.
- Asked to go to psych department for a study on football teams (deception).
- Questionnaires about football “which team do you support and why?” etc.
- Watched video of football fans (Man U fans) being excited.
- Left the building and told to go to another one.
- Actor run and fell (3 conditions):
1. man U shirt
2. Liverpool shirt (outgroup)
3. Plain shirt (controlled condition)

Experiment 2:
Same but told that it was an experiment on the benefits of being a football fan and shown a video of football fans being excited.

Results:
1st experiment: 92% more likely to help stranger if shirt was Man-U.
2nd experiment: Less likely to help plain shirt actor but liverpool and man-u the same.

Conclusion: In-groups promote bystanderism towards outgroups.

Question 2

Johnston et al

Answer 2

Aim: To investigate the type of faces women find attractive.

Procedure: 42 females.
- Looked at pictures of men until they found the optimal target (most attractive)

Results: Ovulating females preferred males with high testosterone. This could be due to them producing healthy offsprings.

Conclusion: Women prefer a good immune system to produce offsprings. Biological.

Question 3

Buss et al

Answer 3

Aim: To investigate whether there are universal differences between male and female partner preferences.

Procedure: 9474 participants from 33 countries and 37 different cultures.
- 18 characteristics and people had to rate them from most to least desirable from 1-4
- 2nd section rank 13 characteristics from least to most desirable.

Results: Africa and Asia differed.
- They preferred religion and good housekeeping. Less important mutual affection.
- Western cultures preferred mutual affection and physical appearances.

Conclusion: Cultures change your romantic interests. Females preferred a good financial situation and earning capacity while males preferred physical appeareances.

Question 4

Gottman and Levenson

Answer 4

Aim: To discover if there’s a correlation between marital satisfaction and communication patterns.

Procedure: 73 couples studied over 4 years.
- Periodically invited to the love lab, an apartment equiped with recording devices.
- Given a topic (neutral, pleasant, unpleasant/source of conflict).

Identified 2 groups:
1. Regulated –> communication ended positively
2. non-regulated –> ended negatively.

Results: Regulated couples had higher marital satisfaction and more positive emotions. Non-regulated couples had lower marital satisfaction and poor communication patterns. 3 times as likely to divorce.

Conclusion: 5:1 is a good ration of positive and negative interactions respectively. Positive communication can maintain a healthy relationship.

Question 5

Rehman and Holtz-Munro

Answer 5

Aim: Compare Pakistani and American couples to see the role of communication in marital satisfaction.

Procedure: 50 couples (American, Pakistani, Pakistani immigrants to America).
- questionnaires gathered data on communication patterns and marital satisfaction.

Results: Couples with positive communication patterns had higher levels of marital satisfaction –> correlation stronger in American couples.

Conclusion: While communication might be crucial in marital satisfaction across cultures, it could be more significant in the west.

Question 6

Fincham et al

Answer 6

Aim: Measure correlations between attributions and marital satisfaction.

Procedure: 32 married couples (distressed and non-disstressed) given hypothetical behaviors by partner.

Results: Non-distressed couples assumed causes of behavior to be controllable. Distressed couples found negative acts to be more controllable.

Conclusion: Seems to imply that distressed couples considered positive acts as situational while non-distressed considered negative acts to be situational.

Question 7

Graham and Conoley

Answer 7

Aim: Wanted to see if couples who make positive attributions are less vulnerable to the effects of stress in their marriage

Procedure: 58 participants, white males from Texas, middle class.
- Stress measured for 12 months by giving 10 hypothetical situations and asking participants how they would attribute behaviors for internal or external costs.
- Marital quality measured through questionnaire.

Results: Attribution styles would moderate the relationship between stressful life events and marital satisfaction.

Conclusion: Attributions can act as a buffer between stress and marital satisfaction.