Relationships Flashcards
What is sexual selection
-Evolutionary explanation for partner preference
-Attriubutea and behaviours increasing survivability and reproductive success passed on
What is the basis of human reproductive behaviour
-Any behaciours which relate to opportunities to reproduce and increase survival chances of genes such as partner preference
-Anisogamy
What is anisogamy
-Seperare mating strategies between sex
-Male gametes (sperm) produced continually and do not require much energy
-females gametes (eggs) are large lum it ed and require significant investment
-gives rise to two types of sexual selection
Name the two types of sexual selection
-Intra sexual selection
-Inter sexual selection
What is inter sexual selection
-Female strategy of choosing quality
-Trivers pointed out female invests far more into a baby so more choosy as real life consequences for a wrong partner
-Want children to inherit genetic fitness
What is intra sexual selection
-Male strategy
-Seeks quantity due to low level of commitment
-Seek signs of fertility and youthfulness
Evaluate the evolutionary explanations for partner preference
-Research support as Clark and Hattield found 75% of males at a university campus agreed to a sexual request from opposite sex student as opposed to 0% of females COUNTERPOINT: both men and women seek similar mating strategies when looking for long term relationships (Buss and Schmidt)
-Cannot explain partner preference for homosexual men and women as they are not assessing genetic fitness
-Ignores the role of changing cultural and social norms due to contraception, women in the workplace meaning evolutionary explanation is limited
What is self disclosure
-Revealing personal information about yourself
-Romantic partners reveal more as relationship progresses
-These self disclosures which are deep thoughts and feelings strengthen a romantic bond when used appropriately
What is social penetration theory
-Altman and Taylor gradually penetrating more deeply into each other’s lives
-A sign of growing trust though revealing sensitive information
What are the 3 aspects of social penetration theory
-Bredth
-Depth
-Reciprocity
What is breadth and depth in SLT
-Acts as layers of an onion first revealing lots of superficial info (breadth)
-More depth through sensitive information as relationship progresses
-Revealing to much early can threaten the relationship
What is reciprocity in self disclosure
-Self disclosure must be returned with similar levels of breadth and depth
-Increases feelings of intimacy and deepens the relationship
Evaluate self disclosure
-Real world application: 57% homosexual men and women said they use self disclosure as a maintenance strategy meaning this skill can be applied to less skilled partners (Haas and Stafford)
-Less self disclosure in collectivist cultures such as china but there was no lower levels of satisfaction limiting the generisability
-Research support: positive correlation between satisfaction and self disclosure (sprecher and Hendrick) COUNTERPOINT: correlation research does not show self disclosure causes satisfaction as no cause and effect can be established
Why is physical attractiveness important
-Is an honest sign of of genetic fitness
-Those with a symmetrical face found to be most attractive as it is an honest signal of genetic fitness
-There is a general agreement across cultures about what is considered attractive
-Assumes we seek relationships with most attractive people
What is the halo effect
-We have positive stereotypes for physically attractive people assuming they possess other positive characters
-Negative steryotypes formed on non attractive people
What is the matching hypothesis
Choosing someone with a similar level of attractiveness instead of the most artractive taking into account our own level of attractiveness
What is a research on the matching hypothesis
-Walster and Walster
-Male and female students invited for a dance and rated for physical attractiveness by objective observers at the start also completing a questionnaire about themselves on how they viewed themself
-Hypothesis supported with those taking into account their own level of physical attractiveness
Evaluate the role of physical attractiveness
-Research support: attractive people rated as more politically competent (Palmer and Peterson) creating real world implications for the political process as there are dangers for democracy
-Evolutonary explanation: some features such as small nose and large eyes considered attractive by white hispanic and asian men (Cunningham)
-Taylor suggests online dating choices tend to be for most physically attractive people COUNTERPOINT: does not reflect the real world
What is filter theory
-Explanation of relationship formation
-States a series of factors progressively getting worse rices range of available romantic partners to a smaller pool
Name the 3 filters of the filter theory in order
-Social demography
-Similarity in attitudes
-Complementarity
What is social demography
Demographic factors e.g proximity social class education reducing field of available romantic options
What is similarity in attitudes in the filter theory
-Finding partners sharing similar values attractive
-Discount those with differing attitudes
What is Complementarity
-Partner has a contributing trait the other lacks
-Becomes more important later on in the relationship
Evaluate the filter theory of romantic relationships
-Markey and Markey found long term lesbian couples most satisfied when partner was equally dominant
-Research support: longitudional study found similarity linked with closeness in early stages whilst complementarity predicted closeness after 18 months
-Social change: 1st filter less relevant due to rating apps and social media
Who proposed social exchange theory
Thibault and Kelley 1959
What is social exchange theory
romantic relationships act in subjective rewards and costs with people wanting to maximise rewards and minimise costs in addition to opportunity costs
what is the role of rewards costs and profits in SET
People want a net profit and try to maximise rewards and minimise costs including opportunity costs (mini max)
What is comparison level in SET
Amount or reward you think you deserve from a relationship compared to the costa based on past experiences and social norms