Interdependence

Question 1

social exchange theory

Answer 1

The idea we view relationships in a economic way– a cost benefit analysis of rewards and cost

Question 2

What is a reward? What types are there?

Answer 2

a reward is a gain, they are either tangible/material or intangible/social.
tangible: financial, food, gifts
social: psychological needs met, emotional support

Question 3

What is a cost?

Answer 3

something you lose, can also be either material or social.
material: spending money on someone
social: jealousy, uncertainty, arguments

Question 4

Formula for outcomes

Answer 4

rewards-costs

Question 5

formula for satisfaction

Answer 5

outcomes -comparison level

Question 6

What is a comparison level?

Answer 6

A standard you believe should be met when in a relationship

Question 7

How does comparison level relate to satisfaction?

Answer 7

Our positive experiences have to exceed our comparison level in order to be satisfied

People make sacrifices for the good of a relationship which leads to more positive consequences

Question 8

Explain the study about sacrifice?

Answer 8

In a daily diary study, research found that [erceiving a partner’s sacrifice leads to inc partner appreciation and relationship satisfaction BUT ONLY if the recipient’s expectations were low

Question 9

What are the sources of comparison level?

Answer 9

-previous relationships
-observing other relationships
-personality dispositions

Question 10

What is dependence?

Answer 10

our reliance on another person, how easy it would be to leave them

Question 11

formula for dependence

Answer 11

outcome-CLalt
CLalt is what we realistically could expect from another relationship

Question 12

What factors affect CLalt?

Answer 12

barriers (things preventing people from looking elsewhere)
- often social (don’t want to be judged for being divorced)

Investment( things keeping people in a relationship)
- a house, kids, family

Question 13

How do barriers and investments relate to dependance?

Answer 13

barriers and investments determine the alternative comparison level, with more barriers and heavy investment, people will be more dependent.

Question 14

Do costs carry more weight than rewards?

Answer 14

Visserman study: people tend to miss 50% of the sacrifices their partners make for them,

The diary study on sacrifice shows that sacrifices must be noticed to impact satisfaction. It may be easier to notice costs vs rewards.

Question 15

What is the magic ratio?

Answer 15

5:1 positive to negative exchanges

Question 16

approach motivation vs avoidance motivation

Answer 16

motivation to gain positive outcomes in a relationship VS motivation to avoid negative outcomes in a relationship.

Question 17

Avoidance motivation biases attention toward ________ whereas approach motivation is the opposite.

Answer 17

negative stimuli, enhances memory for negative stimuli, inc neg construals of ambigious events.

Question 18

Are approach motives or avoidance motives better?

Answer 18

Depends! Approach tends to make partner happy, grow intimacy, inc positive affect whereas avoidance tends to inc neg affect, less intimacy and relationship satisfaction

Question 19

What is velocity in the context of social goals?

Answer 19

velocity refers to how quick we are approaching a goal, and it predicts affective experience. Relationship satisfaction is better predicted by recent improvments in relationship quality, not long standing ones

Question 20

Why does relationship satisfaction decline?

Answer 20

• efforts reduce
• interdependency is a magnifying glass for conflict and friction
  -high access to weaponry
  -unwelcome surprises

Question 21

What is construal level theory?

Answer 21

contends that the psychological distance we have from an event or object will affect how we think about that event.
We think about distant things more abstractly (higher construal) and close things more concretely (lower level construal)
ex) we think of marrying someone very abstractly but forget about the day to day stuff (they never wash their dishes)

Question 22

What are destiny beliefs vs growth beliefs?

Answer 22

Destiny beliefs are that people are either meant to be or not
Growth beleifs are that people grow together and have to work to stay together

Question 23

What are the impacts of having destiny vs growth beliefs?

Answer 23

Destiny: initially more happy but when conflict arises, satisfaction declines becaus ethey aren’t meant to be
Growth: more constructive, less likely to take signs from the “universe)

Question 24

What is the hedonic treadmill?

Answer 24

The idea that we are constantly chasing the best thing, the most satisfying option, and we just keep going and going.
More nice things someone does for you, your expectations inc, CL inc, so satisfaction dec

Question 25

How do we combat the hedonic treadmill?

Answer 25

Variety–> performing various kinds of acts is said to balance out the hedonism
Spice things up

Question 26

What is the happiness intervention study?

Answer 26

We know doing nice things for others does boost happiness. So the researchers told students to repeat the same kind acts every week for 10 weeks and other students to do a variety of kind tasks over 10 weeks.
Result: in high variety condition, inc happiness following intervention. In low variety, dec in happiness.

Question 27

What are the three components of commitment?

Answer 27

1. affective commitment (emotional reliance)
2. cognitive commitment (imaging future)
3. conative commitment (peristence)

Question 28

WHat is the relational turbulence model?

Answer 28

there are predicyable peroids of turmoil and dips and satisfaction as partners adjust to interdependence

Question 29

What is the investment model of commitment?

Answer 29

satisfaction level and investment size are weighed against quality of alternatives
ie. if satisfaction dips, it may be compensated for by investment and vice versa

Question 30

What are the consequences of commitment?

Answer 30

May have to give up individual motivations
thinking in terms of us vs me

Question 31

What is accomodation?

Answer 31

willingness to respond to destructive acts with a constructive response

Question 32

What is the devaluation of alternatives?

Answer 32

When people are in commited relationships, they devalue alternatives due to their commitment and satisfaction

STUDY: Ps had to look at hot people and then to a shape. When primed with sexual thoughts, more attentional adhesion to attractive face sin single but not commited Ps.

Question 33

What is the COmmitment Calibration Hypothesis?

Answer 33

commitment maintenance (relationship protecting mechanism) response may emerge when level of threat is equal with level of commitment. so it will not emerge when level of threat is higher or lower than level of commitment

Question 34

Exchange vs communal relationships

Answer 34

Exchange: governed by explicit norms of even exchange (tit-for-tat)
Communal: governed by genuine concern for the welfare of the other

Question 35

What is progression bias?

Answer 35

dating preferences become less strict after live interaction with potential partner
- willing to look up to four “dealbreaker” qualities in order to move the relationship forward

Question 36

relationship inertia?

Answer 36

partners stay together and “slide” into marriage due to the accumulation of investments, rather than making a concrete decision
- might help explain why divorce rate increases for those who cohabit before marriage

Question 37

equity

Answer 37

fairness in a relationship