interpersonal relationships studies Flashcards
Zhou et al 2014
laboratory (true) experiment
IV: mixture of cloves with or without AND or EST
DV: people’s tendency to distinguish between male and female stick figures
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background: as recent studies have suggested the existence of human sex pheromones, with a particular inerest in steroids androstadienone (AND) and estratetraenol (EST), the study further examined this prediction
-AIM:
to investigate the correlation between pheromones and human sexual behavior (gender recognition)
PROCEDURE:
96 participants (24 heterosexual women, 24 heterosexual men, 24 gay men, 24 lesbian women)
The participants were asked to smell cloves, there were 3 different conditions for the cloves
*Condition 1: cloves mixed with androstadienone (pheromone found in male sweat and semen)
Condition 2: cloves mixed with estratetraenol (pheromone found in female urine)
Condition 3: regular cloves (control group)
Results:
In condition one, heterosexual women and gay men (people attracted to men) were more likely to identify the stick figure as male
findings showed that smelling AND biased heterosexual females and homosexual males, but not heterosexual males, toward perceiving the walkers as more masculine.
by contrast, smelling EST systematically biases heterosexual males and lesbian women toward perceiving the walkers as more feminine.
the results from bisexual and homosexual females fell in between those of heterosexual males and females.
LINK;
As heterosexual women and gay men perceived the stick figure as more masculine when exposed to androstadienone, whereas heterosexual men and lesbian women perceived the stick figure as more feminine when exposed to estratetraenol, the research suggests that pheromones can communicate gender depending on gender of attraction
pheromones influence communication of gender information in a sex-specific manner.
the study is providing the first direct evidence that the two human steroids communicate opposite gender information that is differentially effective to the two sex groups based on their sexual orientation
EVALUATION
-the study is not gender biased because both men and women (of different sexualities) were used as participants
-due to the influence of cultural norms, the participants may have expressed their gender perception of the stick figure based on what makes them fit in with the expectations of society (social desirability bias)
-the study was ethical because there was informed consent, they were debriefed, their identities remained confidential, they were not deceived, and could withdraw while they were protected from mental and physical harm
-as the ethnicity and cultural background of the participants was not revealed, it cannot be ensured whether the study was not culturally biased
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applications:
the results of the study create greater insight into the effects of potential human pheromones, catalyzing further research and curiosity of their impact on human behavior
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strengths:
- cause and effect relationship
- increased control and accuracy
- objectivity
- standardization
- internal validity
limitations:
- total control = impossible
- artificial
- biased results
- ethics (protection from harm)
Ditzen et al 2009
Aim
to investigate the effects of oxytocin on couple interaction and cortisol levels
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Participants
47 heterosexual couples aged 20-50 years who were married or had been cohabiting for at least 1 year.
(exclusion criteria for participation include smoking, chronic mental or physical illness, medication intake, and (for women) the intake of hormonal contraceptives, current pregnancy, and breastfeeding)
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Procedure:
couples were randomly assigned to the two different conditions: self-administered 5 puffs of oxytocin or placebo to each nostril.
a double-blind technique was used.
at baseline -50 min a saliva sample was selected, at -45 min the nasal puffs were administered, at -1 min a second saliva sample was taken, at 0 min the couples were asked to*discuss an issue they normally disagreed on (the discussion was to last for 10 minutes and was videotaped).
new saliva samples were taken ay +15, +25, +35, and +50 minutes.
cortisol levels were measured from saliva samples.
the videotapes were coded for positive and negative verbal and non-verbal behavior.
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Results:
the participants in the oxytocin condition showed more positive behavior than participants in the placebo condition. this difference was found to be significant while the sex difference found was not significant. after the discussion, cortisol levels decreased more in the oxytocin group.
Conclusion: researcher concluded that oxytocin has a beneficial effect on couple interaction and close relationships in humans.
link:
through the notable increase in positive behavior under the influence of oxytocin, it can be concluded that the hormone has a beneficial effect on couples communication and the reduction of stress levels
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Method:
laboratory (true) experiment
IV: puffs of oxytocin or placebo
DV: effect on cortisol levels and couple interaction
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strengths:
- cause and effect relationship
- increased control and accuracy
- objectivity
- standardization
- internal validity
limitations:
- total control = impossible
- artificial
- biased results
- ethics (protection from harm)
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depending on the severity of the issue that each couple discussed, as well as their usual tendency to fight/bicker, the nature in which they discussed the topic may have been influenced by external factors
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the study is not gender biased because both men and women were evaluated; however, as only heterosexual couples participated, the exclusion of homosexual couples reduces the study’s reliability
as neither the country in which the experiment took place nor the cultural/ethnic background of the participants is revealed, it cannot be concluded whether this study was culturally biased
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these findings might therefore stimulate future research on psychobiological treatment options in couple therapy as well as in psychiatric disorders with particular impairment in social relationships, such as autism and personality disorders.
Markey and Markey (2007)
Title
romantic ideals, romantic obtainment, and relationship experiences: the complementary of interpersonal traits among romantic partners
Background
past research examining the topic of assortive mating suggests that people tend to be more romantically attracted to others who are similar to themselves. men and women alike have the propensity to desire romantic partners similar to themselves on traits such as for example extraversion, agreeableness, emotional stability, conscientiousness, and openness to experience.
studies have also found preferences for romantic partners who are similar with respect to certain demographic characteristics such as ethnicity, religious background, height, weight, socioeconomic status, values, political orientation, and physical qualities.
Aim (study 1)
to study personality traits of individuals who are not in romantic relationships and see which personality traits they find most desirable in romantic partners
Participants (study 1)
169 undergradate students (66 males and 103 females)
all participants were seeking romantic partners
recruited through advertisements placed around campus
Procedure (study 1)
all participants completed questionnaires about their own personality, values, and attitudes (interpersonal adjective scale) and a questionnaire (IAS-R) about personality, values, and attitudes of one’s romantic ideal. they were told that this ideal could be a real or fictional person.
Results (study 1)
results suggested that both males and females desired to have romantic partners who were very similar to themselves
Aim (study 2)
to study personalities of romantic partners involved in romantic relationships for at least one year; to investigate relationship quality
Participants (study 2)
212 participants (106 heterosexual couples, mean age = 24.86)
30 couples were married
34 coupples lived together but were not married
42 couples were dating but not living together
Procedure (study 2)
participants filled out a questionnaire about their own personality (IAS-R) and relationship quality (marital interaction scale). they also filled out a questionnaire about their partner’s characteristics.
Results (study 2)
the study confirmed that people want partners who are similar to themselves. results indicate that couples in high quality relationships tend to be significantly more similar to each other in terms of personality traits and warmth (warm-agreeableness). but the effect was lower than in study 1. satisfied couples were significantly dissimilar in terms of dominance.
Conclusion
these studies indicate thatb while we desire romantic partners that are very similar to us, we may be happier years later with a partner that is somewhat different than us (at least in terms of dominance)
Method
questionnaire
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Critical thinking: methodological considerations
- provide relatively cheap, quick, and efficient ways of obtaining large amounts of information from a large sample of people
- respondents may lie due to social desirability
- correlation is not and cannot be taken to imply causation. Even if there is a very strong association between two variables we cannot assume that one causes the other, thus meaning that there is low internal validity
- allows the researcher to investigate naturally occurring variables that may be unethical or impractical to test experimentally
- allows the researcher to clearly and easily see if there is a relationship between variables
Critical thinking: alternative explanations
based on the possibility of lying due to social desirability, the participants may have answered untruthfully to the questions (or misinterpreted the questions) because they want to present a positive image of themselves
(since the answers were self-reported and thereby possibly exaggerated or false, this lowers the external validity because the results cannot be generalized to a large sample of people)
seeing that the sample was self-selected, they might have signed up knowing that they were very similar to their partner, thus limiting the variety of the sample and lowering the external validity. (recruited through ads in the local media limits generalizability because they were from the same area and presumably same social class)
in study 1, the ideal partner that the participants describe may not reflect the actual partner they would choose in real life (meaning that the findings are artificial)
Critical thinking: gender considerations
no gender bias; however, the study only investigated heterosexual couples, thus imposing a sense of bias and lower external validity because it cannot be ensured that the conclusions apply to all couples
Critical thinking: ethical considerations
the study was ethical because there was informed consent, no deception, their identities remained confidential, they could withdraw, they were debriefed, and they were protected from mental and physical harm
Critical thinking: cultural considerations
as the study took place in the US, it cannot be concluded that the same trends apply to foreign cultures because different communities, societies, and countries are classified by distinct values (in terms of relationships and attraction)
Critical thinking: applications
the findings can be used by dating apps or relationship experts so that they have a basis from which they can build the ‘perfect relationship’
How does this study demonstrate the similarity-attraction hypothesis in terms of the formation of relationships?
this study clearly demonstrates the claims of the similarity-attraction hypothesis because in study 1, the participants described their ideal partner as someone who was very similar to themselves, thus supporting the concept that people similar in attitudes, age, social class, religion, education, and intelligence (to name a few) tend to form intimate relationships. furthermore, the findings in the second study further support the hypothesis because the couples in relationships of higher quality were more similar, ultimately suggesting that similar individuals are attracted to each other and form relationships.
Dion et al
the halo effect
the tendency for an impression created in one area to influence opinions in another area
aim
to investigate whether attractive people tend to be assumed to be better partners, parents and more successful in the job market than unattractive people
sample
30 male and 30 female university students from an American university
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method
each participant given three envelopes: one w/ a photo of someone their age that was physically attractive, one that was of moderate attraction and one that could be considered unattractive.
1/2 were given photos of the same gender and the other 1/2 was given the opposite gender
determine the level of attractiveness: 100 students from the university asked to rate the attractiveness of 50 yearbook photos of people of the opposite sex. 12 different sets of photos were used for the study.
the set of photos, the gender received and the order in which they were to be opened were all randomly allocated
1) participants asked to rate the person in the photo on 27 personality traits on a 6-point scale for all three photos
2) complete another survey – asked which person would be the most likely (and least likely) to experience marital happiness, parental happiness, and overall happiness
3) indicate which of the three people would be most likely to engage in 30 different occupations (divided into “low status,” “average status” and “high status”)
results
attractive individuals were predicted to be significantly happier, successful and also have more positive personality traits
! but not rated to be better parents
ethical considerations
deception was used: participants were told that the researchers were carrying out a study of “accuracy in people perception.” They were told that they were being compared to graduate students who had been trained in “people perception.”
strengths
- construct validity: test of who was considered “attractive” in the photos
- deception allowed for minimisation of demand characteristics
- practical applications (making important judgments abt people, such as sentencing for crime)
limitations
- ecological validity questionable: could reflect our impressions when on online dating apps, but may not be accurate reflection of how we interact in the real world
- reductionist: emotional state of person making the judgment may have influence on the halo effect
- cog does not rule out bio, but complements
Buss (1989)
Aim
to investigate whether there are any universal differences between male and female partner preferences based on the theory of paternal investment, reproductive value, and fertility, as well as paternity probability
Participants
9,474 people from 33 countries and 37 cultures on six continents and five islands
the samples varied in size and sampling techniques varied across countries
mean age 23.15 years (16.92-29.56)
rural, less educated, lower levels of socioeconomic status were underrepresented
Procedure
a questionnaire was constructed and was translated into the different native languages of the distinct cultures (accurate).
the questionnaire contained one section where respondents were asked to rate 18 characteristics on how important or desirable it would be in choosing a mate; rating was done on a four-point scale (0 = unimportant).
in the second section respondents were asked to rank 13 characteristics on its desirability in a mate (rank 1 would be most desirable).
biographical data including marital status, religion, age to marry, the desired number of children were asked in the third section.
Results
the researchers made a statistical analysis of the results they found. responses from Africa and Asia deviated the most from the average response. the largest cultural difference occurred for the variable of chastity. African responses revealed more sex difference in responses and gave more importance to religion and being a good housekeeper and less importance on mutual attraction and physical appearance. Asians put a higher value on health, chastity, and domestic skills in potential mates than did the average respondent.
researchers found that overall the responses were very similar in different cultures. the average between-sample correlation was +.78 for the ratings and +.74 for the rankings.
there were sex differences in nearly all countries and were larger in countries that practice polygamy. females preferred mated who show ambition/industriousness (92%) and other signs of earning potential (97%).
Conclusion
females value the financial situation and earnign capacity of mates more than males do. females valiue the ambition and industriousness of mates more than males do. males value physical appearance and youth more than females. Females prefer older males. Males value chastity more than females.
these findings support the evolutionary explanations of human behavior.
human males and females have preferences for mates which have selective advantages.
cultural differences may play a role.
Method
questionnaire
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Critical thinking: methodological considerations
strengths
- relatively cheap, quick, and efficient way of gathering information from a large sample of people
- high ecological validity
limitations
- social desirability –> false responses
- low reliability (internal validity)
- no cause/effect relationship
- self-reports
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Critical thinking: alternative explanations
as the participants may have been under the influence of the social desirability bias, they may not have been completely honest in their responses and only answered according to what was considered socially acceptable in their own cultures.
Critical thinking: gender bias
as both men and women participated, there is no gender bias in the study; however, as the mean age of the participants was 23.15 years, the results are not generalizable to all members of all ages throughout the world.
although the sample is quite large, it corresponds to a tiny proportion compared to the entire population of the world and all the views of its citizens.
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Critical thinking: cultural considerations
as the study spread across 37 different cultures, the results are generally applicable to most cultures around the world
Critical thinking: applications
the results of the study can be used to create a better understanding of human attraction and can thus be useful when creating dating apps (compatibility tests) and couples therapy
How does this study demonstrate evolutionary explanations of behavior?
this study demonstrates the aspects of evolutionary explanations of behavior as it supports the theories of parental investment, reproductive value, and paternity probability; as the results suggested that women are more selective and choosey when finding a partner, the self-reports from the questionnaire provide insight with high ecological validity into the nature of mate selection according to genetics.
Flora and Segrin (2003)
Research in psychology: Flora and Segrin (2003)
Flora & Segrin wanted to test the role of the following variables in the well-being of a relationship:
Common interests
The desire to spend time together
Negative feelings toward the partner
The sample consisted of 66 young couples who had dated for at least six months and 65 young couples who had been married for around four years. It was a longitudinal study, using self-reported data based on questionnaires and interviews. They interviewed 262 participants about the emotional aspects of their relationship - for example, the degree of positive and negative feelings, contentment, or disappointment with their partner.
The researchers found that the most important factor that attracted the participants to their partners was the common interests and activities, as well as a desire to spend time together. This was particularly true for men, and, overall, it was more important than the degree of negative and positive feelings.
After one year, the couples were contacted again. None of the married couples had separated, but a quarter of the lovers had split up. Those who were still together were asked to fill out a new questionnaire to get an idea of their satisfaction with the relationship, as well as their personal well-being.
The researchers found a positive correlation between common interests, activities, and desire to spend time together in males. For the women, there was also a positive correlation between common interests, activities, and desire to spend time together, but the most important factor in predicting satisfaction was the frequency of their own negative feelings they had felt at the beginning of the study. The more negative feelings, the less satisfied they were a year later.
Research in the area of relationship dissolution has been criticizes in terms of methodological quality and ethical considerations:
- Research in this area typically relies on retrospective self-report measures that are open to a variety of biases such as social desirability or effect of reconstructive memory.
- Such studies require participants to recreate hurtful episodes in their memory that can cause some level of psychological harm.
Gottman (1994)
Method
interview and observation (longitudinal)
Conclusion
the conflict style contributes to the changing or ending of relationships
(the four horsemen of apocalypse - criticism, contempt, defensiveness, stonewalling)
Title
the role of conflict style and the four horsemen of the apocalypse
Background
because divorce is often costly both to the individual and to society, psychologists have been interested in finding causes and predictors of relationship dissolution.
Aim
to create and test models of causes of relationship dissolution as well as to investigate what makes marriages last
1) what are the conflict styles in healthy marriages
2) the ration of positive and negative interaction as predictors of longevity
3) the communication patterns that predict marital dissatisfaction
Participants
200 couples were followed for 20 years
Procedure
couples were interviewed about the frequency of fights, types of conflicts etc. couples were also observed in ‘Love Labs’ before, during, and after discussing common relationship conflict areas with each other. facial expressions and physiological responses (pule rate, amount of sweating) during confrontations, tone of voice, and what was said to the partner was noted. the time spent in positive and negative interaction was measured.
Results
1. the styles of problem solving in healthy marriages were classified
a) validating (the ideal - compromise, communicate well, calmly work out their problems)
b) volatile (recurrent conflicts with passionate disputes, individuality is important, equality, exciting marriages)
c) conflict avoiding (agreeing to disagree, no confrontation)
2. determined a ratio between positive and negative interaction that predicts stability of a marriage. in successful marriages, positive interactions outnumber the negative interactions. as long as there is five times as much positive feeling and interaction between husband and wife, the marriage was likely to be stable over time’
3. ways of communicating that predict relationship breakdown (sabotage of communication)
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evaluation:
Critical thinking: methodological considerations
- correlation is not and cannot be taken to imply causation. Even if there is a very strong association between two variables we cannot assume that one causes the other, thus meaning that there is low internal validity
- allows the researcher to investigate naturally occurring variables that may be unethical or impractical to test experimentally
- allows the researcher to clearly and easily see if there is a relationship between variables
- unstructured/open-ended interviews have increased validity because it gives the interviewer the opportunity to probe for a deeper understanding, ask for clarification & allow the interviewee to steer the direction of the interview etc.
- time-consuming
Critical thinking: alternative explanations
- social desirability in the interview (leads to lower external validity)
- being observed during confrontation or disagreement implies that the participants may not have reacted in a way that would be reflective of a normal disagreement alone
Critical thinking: gender considerations
no gender bias; however, the study only investigated heterosexual couples, thus imposing a sense of bias and lower external validity because it cannot be ensured that the conclusions apply to all couples
Critical thinking: ethical considerations
the study was ethical because there was informed consent, no deception, their identities remained confidential, they could withdraw, they were debriefed, and they were protected from mental and physical harm
it cannot be concluded that the same trends apply to foreign cultures because different communities, societies, and countries are classified by distinct values (in terms of relationships and attraction)
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the findings can be applied to couples therapy, thus enabling counselors/psychologists to develop new and improved methods for promoting healthy relationships
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this study clearly demonstrates why relationships change or end because the findings confirmed that the type of conflict style contributes to marital dissatisfaction. seeing that the couples that avoided conflict (leading to less communication), had a higher ratio of negative interaction than positive interaction, and negative styles of communication were more likely to end their relationship, the study confirms that criticizing, using contempt, being defensive, and stonewalling decreases the quality of marriages. therefore, the study illustrates that the use of negative approaches to conflict increases the likelihood of ending a relationship.
Moreland and Beach
Research in psychology: Moreland and Beach (1992)
Moreland and Beach (1992) carried out a field experiment to test the validity of the Mere Exposure Effect. The sample was made up of 130 undergraduate psychology students (63 male; 67 female). All of the participants were taking a personality psychology course in a large lecture hall.
The experiment used confederates - four women who posed as students in the course. Each of the women attended a different number of class sessions. Woman A attended no session; woman B attended 5 sessions; woman C attended 10 sessions; woman D attended 15 sessions. The choice of which session to attend was determined randomly.
For each visit, the same procedure was followed. One of the women arrived at the lecture hall a few minutes before class began, walked slowly down toward the front of the hall, and sat where she could be seen by all the other students. During the lecture, she simply listened and took notes. A few minutes after class ended, the woman rose, walked slowly up toward the back of the hall, and left. In order to create conditions of mere exposure, none of the women was allowed to interact with the other students.
At the end of the semester, the participants were shown slides of the four women and asked to fill in a survey in which they were asked to rank the women on a 1 - 7 scale for several traits - including attractiveness, popularity, intelligence, warmth, honesty, and success. They were also asked whether they knew the woman or if she was familiar.
The data indicated that male and female students responded to the four women in similar ways. Sex was therefore not a confounding variable. The participants did not find the women familiar, however, the more classes a woman attended, the more positive traits she was believed to have. Below you can see the scores (out of 7) for the level of attractiveness.
No visits 5 visits 10 visits 15 visits
3.62 3.88 4.25 4.38
It appears that the Mere Exposure Effect also may be observed under naturalistic conditions.
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- High ecological validity, the situation was very natural
- The sample may not be representative of the population because the participants are all university students in the US
- The women may have had different levels of attractiveness (confounding variable)
Bradbury and Fincham (1992)
Bradbury and Fincham’s research focused on the role of communication in relationships. The researchers found that couples that are in happy relationships engage in relationship enhancing patterns when there is disagreement - that is, they don’t blame their partner or assume that the partner did things “on purpose.” Negative behaviours are attributed to situational factors. Unhappy couples blame their partners for what happens and don’t give them credit for positive events. He called this a distress-maintaining pattern of behaviour
The participants were recruited through advertisements in the local media. Couples were considered only if they were married, living together and had not been for marriage counseling. 47 couples participated. The average length of marriage was 8.5 years. All participants were asked to fill out a survey to determine their level of marital satisfaction.
Prior to the observation, the couple was asked to individually fill in a questionnaire to determine what the greatest problems were in the marriage. The researchers chose a common problem from the questionnaires and then asked each participant questions about the cause of the problem and who was responsible for the problem. They were also each asked about a problem that was identified in their questionnaire which their spouse did not identify as a problem.
After the individual session, they were brought together and instructed to discuss a possible solution to the problem that they had both identified. The observation took place in a laboratory setting. The observation was discontinued after 15 minutes had elapsed. The observation was videoed.
Two trained researchers independently coded the videotape to identify relationship enhancing and distress maintaining patterns of communication.
As the results are only correlational, there is the problem of bidirectional ambiguity. We cannot know if distress-maintaining communication is the cause or the result of marital dissatisfaction.
The researchers used researcher triangulation in the coding of the observation, increasing the reliability of the data.
There could be other variables that influenced the results. For example, depression or other forms of mental illness were not measured and may have played a role in the communication style.
Not all of the problems that were discussed were of the same level of seriousness – the distressed couples discussed issues that were more difficult to resolve than those discussed by non-distressed couples.
Administration of the questionnaire before the interaction may have interfered with the behaviour in the observation. The study was not counterbalanced to prevent order effects.
There was a sampling bias – all of the couples were from a Western culture - so this may have had an effect on the communication styles used in a marital relationship.
The study used a cross-sectional design, so it is not possible to observe change over time.
