Module 7 - Social Learning Theory and Close Adult Relationships

Question 1

What are the effects of healthy friendships and love relationships, according to Gottman?

Answer 1

(1) greater health, wealth, resilience & longevity
(2) faster recovery from illness
(3) more successful children

Question 2

What are the Four Horsemen, according to Gottman?

Answer 2

(1) criticism
(2) contempt
(3) defensiveness
(4) stonewalling
– 85% accuracy in predicting relationship dissolution

Question 3

What are the domains of the Sound Marital House, according to Gottman?

Answer 3

(1) build love maps
(2) share fondness & admiration
(3) turn towards instead of away
(4) have positive perspective
(5) manage conflict
(6) make life dreams come true
(7) create shared meaning
– trust and commitment as the sides of the house

Question 4

What effects does change have within a family life cycle?

Answer 4

Dynamic & everchanging balance – change requires readjustment of family system

Question 5

What is the developmental paradigm?

Answer 5

Determines the tasks that families have to navigate through before moving onto the next stage of cycle – stages of individual, couple and family must be looked at simultaneously

Question 6

What is the social exchange theory?

Answer 6

the mutual exchange of benefits (reinforcers) and costs (punishers) is critical in close relationships

Question 7

What does social learning theory say about marriage?

Answer 7

Circular cycle: each person’s behaviour/consequences is being affected and influencing the other in marriage
Emotional bank account: Having a strong bond prior to conflict helps to overcome it

Question 8

What are the effects of chronic relationship dissatisfaction?

Answer 8

(1) negative reciprocity dominates interactions
(2) very sensitive to the rate of negative events
(3) more coercion –> less satisfaction

Question 9

What is the trajectory of the Cascade Model?

Answer 9

Relationship unhappiness –> chronic dissatisfaction –> thoughts of separation –> divorce

Question 10

Effects of change

Answer 10

Change leads to conflict, which is inevitable but not all conflicts can be solved, being able to cope with them is key

Question 11

Effects of unresolved conflict:

Answer 11

Conflict –> complaining/nagging, criticism/sarcasm, threats/putdowns, withholding affection/sex, physical or verbal violence

Question 12

Stages of conflict

Answer 12

(1) conflict of interest
(2) stressful circumstance
(3) precipitating event
(4) engagement vs avoidance
… if engagement –> (5) interaction through demand by withdrawal, coercion, positive engagement
(6) immediate

Question 13

Challenges for financially struggling couples:

Answer 13

Their ability to connect and have a good conversation is hampered by their unstable and stressful circumstances. Couples struggling financially are more likely to be working non-standard hours = keeps them apart.

Question 14

What is Parental Alienation?

Answer 14

When alienating parent negatively influences child’s perception of other parent –> leads to loss of relationship between child & other parent

Question 15

What are the characteristics of a typical alienating parent?

Answer 15

Alienating parent tends to be narcissistic, paranoid, cognitively disturbed, have family history of difficult relationships

Question 16

What are the effects of Parental Alienation for the child and targeted parent?

Answer 16

For child – (1) Disrupted social + emotional development, (2) untrustworthy relationships, (3) depression & anxiety, (4) self-regulation issues, (5) low self-sufficiency.
For other parent – frustration, stress, fear, powerlessness etc.

Question 17

Results from Balmer et al., 2008 source on Parental Alienation

Answer 17

(1) targeted parent sex & child age predicts variance in exposure to PA
(2) targeted mothers more likely to be exposed to PA than fathers
(3) severity of exposure to PA tactics predicts more threatening cases