Relationships Flashcards
What is the evolutionary explanation for partner preference?
Sexual selection
What is sexual selection?
Natural selection arising through preference by one sex for certain characteristics in individuals of the other sex.
What explanation did Darwin give as to why sexual selection occurs?
Individuals compete to leave descendents with the most desirable characteristics. Having the most desirable characteristics will increase their offspring’s chance at finding a mate to carry on their bloodline. Therefore sexual selection occurs so that the offspring have the best chance at mating. Sexual selection reduces the chance of random mating. Random mating is likely to produce offspring with less desirable characteristics reducing their ability to mate and pass on their genes.
What are the two types of sexual selection identified by Darwin?
Intrasexual and intersexual selection
What is intrasexual selection?
Competition among individuals of one sex (often males) for mates of the opposite sex. Advantageous traits possessed by successful individuals are then inherited by the offspring increasing their abundance in the gene pool.
What is intersexual selection?
Members of one sex (usually females) develop a preference for a desirable quality in potential mates. Members of the opposite sex who have these traits will gain a mating advantage over individuals who don’t. i.e. the preference of one sex determines the area in which the other sex must compete.
Who conducted a study to support the evolutionary theory of partner preferences?
Buss
What was the sample used in Buss’s study into partner preferences?
10,000 individuals from 37 different cultures and of both genders.
What was the procedure of Buss’s study into partner preferences?
He had the ppts rate 18 characteristics on their importance when finding a partner. Characteristics included physical attractiveness, financial prospects, age, intelligence and kindness.
What were the findings of Buss’s study into partner preferences?
- more women than men looked for good financial prospects. 2.men placed more importance on physical attractiveness than women (as physical attractiveness tends to provide an insight into health and fertility). 3. men universally wanted women who were younger than them (likely to be more fertile and have less complications in their pregnancy) - supported by a follow up study by Buss looking at marriages in 27 cultures finding that men choose younger women. 4. both sexes wanted mates who were intelligent (linked to good parenting) and kind (linked to a longer term relationship)
What did Kasser and Shammer (1999) say about Buss’s study?
Culture is likely to affect partner preferences as in cultures where women have less economic and social rights, a partner with good financial prospects is more important in order to provide income and resources, than in cultures where women have these rights and can provide for themselves more easily.
Why did Buller say studies on partner preferences lack population validity?
Most studies are conducted on undergraduate students so they are more likely to look for a partner who has similar qualities to themselves e.g. well educated, ambitious, hardworking etc.. This lowers the generalisability of findings as their partner preferences are not representative of all individuals.
Why does Buss’s study lack ecological validity?
Partner preferences are not always representative of mate choice. They are more accurate in showing desirable characteristics than real life marriage statistics especially in countries with high levels of arranged marriages.
What did the Penton-Voak et al. (1999) study show about partner preferences and the menstrual cycle?
In general, women prefer more feminised faces in a long term partner as it reflects kindness and cooperation. However, at the high risk conception stage, women prefer more masculine faces due to the high levels of testosterone. Therefore, sexual selection favours women who pursue a mixed mating strategy where their mate has a mixture of both of these characteristics.
What 3 factors affect attraction?
physical attractiveness, self-disclosure, filter theory
Who contradicted Buss, based on the idea of physical attractiveness?
Eastwick
What did Eastwick say about physical attractiveness?
Buss suggested that it was only men who had a preference for physical attractiveness when looking for a mate. However, Eastwick suggested that women are also attracted to physical appearance preferring more feminine partners for long term relationships and more masculine partners for the short term.
What is the matching hypothesis?
When people evaluate their own value in the eyes of a potential partner and then look for a partner of equal value. Although they are also attracted to the most socially desirable partner, they are less likely to form a successful relationship than if they made a realistic mate choice., so tend to choose someone in their league.
What is the main contributing factor when deciding our ‘value’ according to the matching hypothesis?
physical attractiveness - people tend to pair up to with someone who realistically matches them in order to increase chances of reciprocated attraction. They will assess the desirability of themselves compared to alternatives to decide whether making a move will be successful.
Who conducted the computer dance experiment?
Walster (1966)
Who were the sample in the computer dance experiment?
A volunteer sample of 752 university students.
What was the method used in the computer dance experiment (1966)?
4 judges secretly rated the ppts on their attractiveness when they arrived at the dance and then they were asked to complete a long questionnaire about their personality and intelligence. The ppts were told that they were paired up based on their questionnaire answers but instead they were randomly paired. The ppts were then asked to complete a questionnaire on their date and asked whether they would go on a second date with them. The questionnaire was then repeated 6 months later
What were the results and did they support the matching hypothesis?
Walster found that the ppts were more attracted to the most physically attractive partners regardless of their own attractiveness. This showed that physical attractiveness was the most important factor in attraction and whether ppts wanted a second date was unaffected by intelligence and personality. This does not support the matching hypothesis as ppts did not base attraction off of their own attractiveness, but instead pursued partners who were the most physically attractive regardless of their own attractiveness.
Why does the sample have low population validity?
As there is sample bias as only students were studied so they may be likely to look for different qualities in a partner. It also means only a small age group is looked at so findings cannot be applied to older people for example who are likely to want different things compared to someone younger e.g. young people may want a casual relationship where physical attractiveness is a more important trait and someone older may want a more serious relationship so look more for traits like loyalty and kindness.
Why does the study lack ecological validity at the time it was conducted? And why might it be more valid if conducted nowadays?
At the time of the study, the scenario is not reflective of real life. Therefore it lacks ecological validlity as it could not be generalised. However, nowadays, blind dates and online dating means scenarios like the computer dance are a more normal situation when looking for a partner. Therefore results are more representative of a real life scenario so have higher ecological validity.
What is the halo effect?
People who are judged as attractive tend to be perceived in a positive light?
Who conducted a study to support the influcence of the halo effect?
Palmer and Peterson (2012)
What was Palmer and Peterson’s (2012) study into the halo effect and what were the findings?
Participants were asked to rate attractive and unattractive people in terms of how politically competent and knowledgeable they believed them to be. It was found that attractive people were consistently rated higher on these characteristics compared to unattractive ones. This shows how we expect physically attractive people to have other attractive qualities as well.
What is meant by self-disclosure?
The idea that relationship formation is built on trust with another person, which is demonstrated by gradually revealing personal information, such as thoughts, feelings and experiences that they might not share with anyone else.
How does self-disclosure lead to attraction?
By gradually revealing emotions and experiences and listening to their reciprocal sharing, people gain a greater understanding of each other and display trust. Self-disclosure allows a partner to reveal their ‘true selves’ which leads to greater intimacy in romantic relationships, and ultimately to more satisfaction and attraction.
What did Berg and Archer say about self-disclosure in a relationship?
That the level of self-disclosure given and received should be the same in order to form a relationship. If disclosure is too limited then you learn nothing about the other person but if it is over personal, then the partner will feel indiscriminate and unspecial and it will seem impersonal.
Who conducted an experiment into the effects of self-disclosure on attraction?
Sprecher et al (2013)
What sample did Sprecher use in his experiment?
156 undergraduate students from the same US university.
What was Sprecher’s experiment into self-disclosure?
He paired the ppts into two-person dyads. Around two thirds of these were female-female and the other third male-female. They engaged in a self-disclosure task over skype.
There were two conditions used and the dyads were allocated randomly:
Condition 1 = reciprocal condition where each person in the dyad took turns asking questions and disclosing. Condition 2 = non-reciprocal condition were one person asked questions and the other disclosed and then they swapped so the other asked questions and the other disclosed.
What were the results of Sprecher’s experiment?
Ppts in the reciprocal condition reported liking the other person more and feeling closer with a higher perceived similarity compared to ppts in the non-reciprocal condition after their first interaction. Even after the ppts in the non-reciprocal dyad switched roles, the same difference remained.
What could be concluded from Sprecher’s research about self-disclosure?
That when self-disclosure is reciprocated, the interpersonal outcomes are stronger. However, non-reciprocal self-disclosure can also lead to positive outcomes although it is not as effective as when reciprocal.
What is filter theory?
A theory of attraction where we chose romantic partners by narrowing down the field of availables using filters. 1st is social demography, 2nd is similarity of attitudes and finally complementary of needs.
Who developed filter theory?
Kerckhoff and Davis
How does similarity of attitudes influence attraction in filter theory?
Self-disclosure allows individuals to share their attitudes and values with potential partners. Individuals with differing beliefs will be filtered out as they are not seen as a suitable partner. Similarity in attitudes is seen as very important in attraction.
How does social demography influence attraction in filter theory?
Variables like age, social background and geographical location determine the likelihood of two people meeting. We tend to come into contact with people from the same ethnic, social and educational groups so already feel similar to them. This means we feel comfortable and this increases attraction as we have something in common. This is a social and surface level of attraction rather than attraction from individual differences.
How does complementary needs influence attraction in filter theory?
Those who are not filtered out in the previous stages, need to show complementary needs. In order for a relationship to have mutual satisfaction, the needs of one partner need to be met by the other and vise versa. The two individuals cannot have conflicting needs but complementary ones.
What was Kerckhoff and Davis’ study into filter theory?
They carried out a longitudinal study on couples with each partner completing a questionnaire assessing the degree to which they share values and attitudes (the index of value consensus test) and the the degree to which they complimented each other’s needs (the FIRO-B test).7 months later they completed a questionnaire assessing how close they felt to their partner compared to how they felt at the beginning of the study to see if the relationship progressed towards permanence.
What did Kerckhoff and Davis find in their study?
For couples who had been dating for under 18 months when the questionnaires were taken, similarity of attitudes was the most significant predictor for how close they were where as for couples how had been dating for over 18 months, complementary of needs was the most significant predictor. This supports filter theory of attraction and relationship success.
What are the three theories of relationships?
- social exchange theory (SET), - equity theory, - investment model
