Lecture 1 - Human Relationships; Types, Structures, Functions And Processes

Question 0

Distinguish b/w proximal and distal causes of relationship events

Answer 0

Proximal feeling (e.g love, hate) may have a variety of distal causes (e.g. Prior betrayal, evolution)

Question 1

Hal Kelley’s Model of Dyadic Relationships

Answer 1

• P - person
• O - other
• bring personal attributes to relationships
• social, cultural and physical environment factors also affect relationship

Question 2

What is a parasocial relationship?

Answer 2

Relationship with a TV characters

Question 3

Distinguish between a communal and exchange relationships. Clark and Mills 1970s

Answer 3

Communal - based on shared need and commitment e.g. Family

Exchange - I.e. business partnerships - reliant on being mutually beneficial

Question 4

Four models of social relationships - Fiske and Haslam

Answer 4

• communal sharing (needs based)
• authority ranking (power based)
• equality matching (exchange based)
• market pricing (worth-based)

Question 5

Evolutionary approaches

Answer 5

• humans social animals
• need to find and keep mates, produce and parent offspring, compete for resources, maintain friendships, manage conflicts, and negotiate shifting power and status dynamics
• evolved psychological mechanisms help us achieve these tasks - needs and desires

Question 6

Emotions at evolved psychological mechanisms

Answer 6

• Romantic love -> signals reward, motivates mating and pair bonding
• jealousy -> signals threat, motivates mate guarding
• guilt -> signals that we have damaged an important relationships, motivates repair
• shame -> signals we are unacceptable to others, motivate atonement

Question 7

Attachment theory

Answer 7

• evolved drive with biological foundations (Bowlby, 1979)
• manifests in infant-c/g and adult romantic relationships (Hazan & Shaver, 1987)
• secure attachments are the source of our first powerful experiences of love, trust and joy. Disrupted or unpredictable bonds trigger intense negative emotions such as anxiety l, anger and sorrow

Question 8

Social exchange theories

Answer 8

• economic models of relationships analyst rewards, costs, exchanges, comparison levels, short-term vs. long-term profits and costs, equity and inequity
• assume a ‘rational’ (purely cognitive) approach to relationships but note important role for feelings
• cheater detection mechanism - thoughts and feelings tell us when we are being treated fairly and when we are being disadvantaged (Cosmides and Tooby, 2000)

Question 9

Social cognitive theories

Answer 9

• study of people’s relationship-related beliefs, memories and judgements
• people develop schemas of relationship phenomena (e.g. Love, commitment)
• mismatches in schemas and expectations can cause relationship trouble

Question 10

Role theories

Answer 10

• Relationship roles come from norms derived from society/culture
• role requirements may differ for men/women

Question 11

Stage theories

Answer 11

• A developmental approach to relationships
• Stage theories describe “typical” patterns of relationship initiation, development, maintenance and dissolution
• problems can arise when partners are not in step with respect to relationship trajectory

Question 12

Dialectical theory

Answer 12

• Sociological approach
• describes the process of managing tensions in relationships e.g connectedness (wanting togetherness) vs. autonomy (individual control) - most central