Personal Relationships Module Flashcards
Biological Explanation of Formation
Theory
1. Continuation of species
2. Sexual selection
3. Parental Investment Therapy
4. Intrasexual selection
5. Real life application
Holistic Evaluation
+ Exxplains cutlurally shared behaviours in formation of relationships
- Reductionism
- Correlational
- Assumes all couples produce children
Buss (1989) - BA
Aim: Differences in desirable traits in partners across cultures.
Sample: 10047 from 37 countries, 33 cultures
Procedure: Rate 18 traits on scale of 0-3 based on desirability, rank 13 traits by importance
Findings: Women from 36/37 countries desired financial prospects more, men from 34/37 cultures valued physical characteristics more
Conclusions: Evolutionary factors play a role in modern relationships
Link: Parental Investment Theory and sexual selection
+ Parallel Forms Reliability
+ Generalisability
- Construct Validity and Imposed Etic
- Self-reporting
RM: Surveys
Ronay and von Hippel (2010)
Aim: Evolutionary factors in mating behaviour
Sample: 96 male Australian skateboarders
Procedure: Perform 1 easy and 1 hard trick 10 times, in front of male or “attractive” (rated by 20 males) female researcher (43 v 53). 2 pm to 6 pm.
Findings: Skateboarders aborted fewer tricks in front of female researcher.
Conclusions: Evolutionary risk-taking behaviour plays a role in modern mating behaviour.
Link: Risk-taking behaviour demonstrates physical strength, benefitting intersexual selection.
+ Mundane Realism
- Criterion Validity
Ethics: Deception
Cognitive Explanation of Formation
Theory
1. Reliant on perception and evaluation
2. Halo effect
3. Matching hypothesis
4. Explains individual differences
Holistic Evaluation
+ Explains individual differences in relationships
- Reductionism
- Correlational
- Construct validity
Halo Effect (3)
- Cognitive misery with mental shortcut
- Falsely correlated unrelated traits
- Reciprocation of positive treatment
Dion et al (1972)
Aim: Halo effect
Sample: 30 male, 30 female US university students
Procedure: Given 3 photos of random students who were rated by 100 students for attractiveness. Rate 27 personality traits out of 6, determine marital, parental and overall happiness, and indicate which of 30 occupations is most likely.
Findings: 65.39 v 62.42 v 56.31 of 162. Attractiveness correlates with marital and overall happiness, and high-status occupations.
Conclusions: More attractive people are more likely to be perceived with positive traits.
Link: Attempts to predict traits
+ Construct validity of attractiveness
- Ecological validity
Matching Hypothesis (3)
- Select mates who are perceived to be equally attractive
- Maximise probability of satisfying relationship and minimising rejection
- Aspirational choices in online dating
Taylor et al (2011)
Aim: Matching hypothesis
Sample: 60 male and 60 female profiles from online dating site
Procedure: Track activity of 120 initiators. Appointed own contacts to rate photos of initiators and reciprocators on 7-point scale.
Findings: No significant relationship between attractiveness of initiators and reciprocators. Reciprocators were more attractive than initiators.
Conclusions: Challenges role of matching hypothesis
Link: Other factors/ methods to balance success of relationship formation
+ Correlation is free from experimenter effects
- Generalisability beyond online dating
Sociocultural Factors in Formation
Theory
1. Cultural norms and social expectations
2. Romantic connection v Family unions
3. Love marriages vs Family-arranged marriages
4. Online dating and globalisation with cultura nuances
Holistic Evaluation
+ Raise awareness of cultural differences
- Construct validity
- Correlational
- Ecological fallacy
Gupta and Singh (1982)
Aim: Success of love vs family-arranged marriages
Sample: 50 couples at University of Rajasthan
Procedure: Questions based on Rubin’s scale of liking and loving (attention, caring, intimacy).
Findings: Love – 70 -> 40, Family – 58 -> 68
Conclusions: Family arranged marriages are more successful in the long term
Link: Emphasis on diminishing romantic connection with unrealistic aspirations, or building up mutual respect and appreciation
+ Cultural relativism
- Criterion validity
Buss (1989) - SA
Aim: Differences in desirable traits in partners across cultures.
Sample: 10047 from 37 countries, 33 cultures
Procedure: Rate 18 traits on scale of 0-3 based on desirability, rank 13 traits by importance
Findings: Collectivist women value ambition, social status, and financial prospects more. Collectivist men value domestic skills and chastity more. Individualists value “love” more.
Conclusions: Cultural expectations are related to importance of gender roles
Link: Collectivist cultures emphasise support and therefore gender conventions, and less of romantic love.
+ Parallel Forms Reliability
+ Generalisability
- Construct Validity and Imposed Etic
- Self-reporting
RM: Surveys
Communication
Theory
1. Good communication is necessary to resolve problems
2. Poor communication damages relationships
3. Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
4. Social Penetration Theory
5. Understand how to maintain and respect the other in our relationships
Holistic Evaluation
+ Maintain and respect own relationships
- Individual differences
- Cultural differences
- Correlational
Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (3)
- Criticsm, Contempt, Defensiveness, Stonewalling
- Diffuse Autonomic Arousal impairs judgement and ability to solve problems
- Negative affect behaviours worsen communication
Carrera and Gottman (1999)
Aim: Communication styles and relationships
Sample: 124 newlywed couples, stratified to reflect economic and ethnic demography of Seattle
Procedure: Survey to identify problem for 15-minute discussion, during which blood pressure was monitored. Researchers analysed video using SPAFF to assess dynamics of couples.
Findings: Couples who divorced in next 6 years had more negative affects in their discussion, specifically Four Horsemen, and more emotional stress.
Conclusions: Communication styles are important to the health of relationships.
Link: More positive affects less prone to DAA, solved more problems.
+ Method Triangulation during interviews
- Selection bias in sampling
Social Penetration Theory (3)
- Cost-benefit Analysis in self-disclosure
- If a person discloses and feels validated, they engage more as they feel more trust
- Movement thorugh Orientation, Exploratory, Affective, and Stable stages
Collin and Miller (1994)
Aim: Self-disclosure in relationships
Sample: Articles linked to self-disclosure and liking published in 1955-1992
Procedure: Meta-analyse articles
Findings: Liking correlates postiivelyto self-disclosure. Depth is more important than breadth.
Conclusions: Self-disclosrure is important to relationships.
Link: Couples who disclosed and were validated strengthened their relationship, especially with personal thoughts and experiences rather than a wide range of facts.
+ Temporal validity
- Publication biases influence relliability
Change and Breakdown
Theory
1. Most theories analyse intrapersonal factors
2. Fatal Attraction Hypothesis
3. Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
4. Complexity of relationships suggests need for holstic overview
Holistic Evaluation
+ Maintain healthy relationships by being self-aware of expectations and behaviours
+ Explains individual differences
- Reductionism
- Construct validity
- Cultural differences
Fatal Attraction Hypothesis (3)
- Diminishing romantic connection
- Worsening perception of the other’s qualities
- Initially attractive qualities become the reason for relationship breakdown
Felmlee (1995)
Aim: Fatal Attraction Hypothesis
Sample: 301 students from University of California
Procedure: Self-reported list of qualities that made their most recent partner attractive, and what negative qualities they had.
Findings: 30% are fatal attraction. Fun to foolish, strong to domineering, or spontaneous to unpredictable.
Conclusions: Fatal Attraction Hypothesis is a possible explanation for relationship breakdown.
Link: Loss of romantic connection causes worsening perception of partner’s traits
+ Self-reporting is necessary
- Self-reporting is inherently subjective
RM and Ethics in Personal Relationships Module
RM: Buss 1989 (Survey), Dion et al 1972 (True experiment)
Ethics: Ronay and von Hippel 2010 (Deception), Carrera and Gottman 1999 (Protection from stress, self-fulfilling prophecy)
