relationships Flashcards
natural selection
human behaviour is driven by a need to survive and reproduce- genes that have a reproductive advantage will increase in the gene pool
intersexual selection
often the strategy for females due to high investment cost and parental certainty- pick the highest quality mate according to attractive features indicating good genes
intrasexual selection
often the strategy for males-low investment costs and lack of parental certainty- compete with each other for a large quantity of members of the other sex, this favours in dominate large males
self disclosure
learning as much as we can about our new partner in the early days of relationship- the more we learn the more we like them- revealing personal information as the relationship develops more is revealed- people are careful t the start with what they reveal to their partner
breadth and depth of self disclosure- altman and taylor
breadth- people often share alot of information about certain aspects of themselves
depth- ‘off-limits’ topics- as they build trust in their partners understanding, the depth of the information shared becomes deeper
reciprocity of self disclosure- reis and shaver
there has to be reciprocity in self disclosure between both partners in the relationship- leads to greater intimacy and deeper understanding in a romantic relationship
physical attraction
from an evolutionary perspective there are physical traits that highlight fertility and good genetics eg. symmetrical face
an attraction to ‘baby faces’- they trigger a protective or caring instinct which is valuable for females wanting to reproduce
attractiveness is not only important at the start of a relationship- it also helps maintain relationships
the halo effect- palmer and peterson
asked pps 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 rated as successful, kind and sociable when compared to unattractive people.
the matching hypothesis- walstrer
surprising agreement over what attractive is
everyone wants to from a relationship with an attractive person
our own attractiveness plays a part
we have a realistic judgement of our own value. we compromise
there is a difference between an ideal partner and a real life partner
filter theory
kerckhoff and davis studied student couples in short term relationships (less than 18 months) and discovered several important criteria people use to choose a partner- filters as they help people sift through all potential partners to choose the right one
sociodemographic characteristics
physical proximity, level of education, social class and religion. we are more likely to build relationships with people who we are geographically close, we can meet frequently as it gives us a greater chance to find out more about one another given the greater accessibility. people find similarities in education, social class and religious beliefs attractive as it gives assurance that the relationships more likely to move forward
similarity of attitudes
people tend to view others as more attractive if they share the same core beliefs and values such as views on career and importance of the family. bryne noted that similarity of attitudes is especially important in earlier stages of relationships, fewer than 18 months. similarities are discovered through self disclosure which leads to greater feelings of intimacy in a couple
complementarity
plays an important role for long term couples. refers to each of the partners having something that the other partner lacks and helping each other to fulfil their needs. winch supports this view and found that similarity of interests were important at the start and complementarity of needs had more of an impact on long term relationships
face validity
whether a test measures what its supposed to measure
concurrent validity
whether a test will produce the same or similar results to a previous test- if it does It has concurrent validity
