Relationships (3)

Question 1

Strengths for Evolutionary Explanations of Relationships

Answer 1

• Study of university students asking strangers ‘Will you sleep with me?’ with majority of men saying yes, and all women saying no
• Survey of 1000 people around the world showing that men value fertility, whereas women value resources
• Singh (2002) showing that men are attracted to childbearing waist to hip ratios

Question 2

Weaknesses for Evolutionary Explanations of Relationships

Answer 2

• Does not explain all types of relationships, e.g. homosexual, couples or couples who do not want children as the basis is not reproduction and passing on of genes
• Bovet and Raymond observed ideal woman depictions in playboy magazines and waist to hip ratios change significantly and too fast to be explained by evolution

Question 3

Strengths for Self Disclosure

Answer 3

• Study found that self-disclosure between couples is strongly correlated with relationship satisfaction
• American and Japanese students were observed and self disclosure is higher in romantic relationships in comparison to friendships in both cultures, so it is a universal aspect of romance, giving it external validity

Question 4

Weaknesses for Self Disclosure

Answer 4

• The correlational study does not necessarily mean causation
• Tang et al found that American couples have higher sexual self disclosure than Chinese couples. However, satisfaction is equal in both cultures, so there are cultural differences.

Question 5

Strengths for Phsycial Attractiveness

Answer 5

• Asian, White, and Hispanic men, all rate big eyes and small noses attractive (fertility)
• Singh (2002) found that men find childbearing waist to hip ratios attractive, regardless of culture
• Halo effect - People rated, physically, attractive people as more knowledgeable, and persuasive (Palmer and Peterson)

Question 6

Weaknesses for Phsycial Attractiveness

Answer 6

• Evidence contradicts the matching hypothesis theory as studies show that people prefer partners who are more attractive than them rather than equally as
• Bovet and Raymond observed playboy magazines to see significant changes on ideal waist to hip ratio is on women, so perhaps men do not look for fertility

Question 7

Strengths of Filter Theory

Answer 7

• Face validity as many of the filters explain attraction
• Winch found that similarity of attitudes is very important at the start of the relationship and complementarity becomes more important in long-term relationships

Question 8

Weaknesses of Filter Theory

Answer 8

• Similarity of attitudes may be an effect of being in a relationship rather than a cause (David and Rusbult)
• Filter theory lacks temporal validity as growth of online dating has made the social demographic filter less significant

Question 9

Strengths of Social Exchange Theory

Answer 9

• Rusbult’s longitudinal study, found that increasing rewards, increased relationship satisfaction
• Equity theory and Rusbult’s investment theory both build on social exchange theory

Question 10

Weaknesses of Social Exchange Theory

Answer 10

• In Rusbult’s study, increasing costs did not decrease relationship satisfaction
• Social exchange theory does not consider other factors like equity or investment
• It lacks external validity as data supporting social exchange theory comes from artificial tasks so it may not apply to real life relationships

Question 11

Strengths of Equity Theory

Answer 11

• A study, surveying newlywed couple found that there is greater satisfaction in couples with perceived equity. This supports the theory that equity is correlated with relationship success.

Question 12

Weaknesses of Equity Theory

Answer 12

• Study found that equity is not important in all relationships. Benevolents are people happy being in an equitable relationships.
• Cultural differences, as equity is more important for individualistic cultures, whereas people in collectivist cultures are more satisfied when their partner is over benefiting

Question 13

Strengths of Rusbult’s Investment Model

Answer 13

• It explains abusive relationships are satisfaction is low, but investment is too high to leave
• Meta analysis and survey of American, Dutch, and Taiwanese students found that commitment is positively related with all three factors in the RIM

Question 14

Weaknesses of Rusbult’s Investment Model

Answer 14

• Methodological concerns as data supporting RIM comes largely from self report so social desirability bias can cause invalid results
• Most studies supporting RIM is correlational, so it does not establish causation of commitment from the 3 factors

Question 15

Strengths of Duck’s Phase Model

Answer 15

• Face validity as people that have gone through a break up have experienced these 4 stages
• Practical real life applications, as knowledge of these 4 stages can prevent a relationship from breaking down

Question 16

Weaknesses of Duck’s Phase Model

Answer 16

• It does not explain why relationships breakdown, only how they break down
• The 4 stages are not universal as some break ups may skip stages, or go through them in different orders

Question 17

Strengths of Absence Gating

Answer 17

• It is positive in that people can overcome barriers that may have been in face-to-face from pursuing a relationship
• Baker and Oswald found that people can use social media to overcome shyness as shy people had a higher correlation between Facebook usage and high friendship quality

Question 18

Weaknesses of Absence Gating

Answer 18

• People are more prone to cat fishing, as people can lie about themselves or create fake personas to deceive people into relationships

Question 19

Strengths of The Absorption Addiction Model for Parasocial Relationships

Answer 19

• Practical real life applications, as researchers found that teenagers develop parasocial relationship when under stressful life events. These observations can help provide support that is needed to prevent dangerous parasocial relationship from developing.

Question 20

Weaknesses of The Absorption Addiction Model for Parasocial Relationships

Answer 20

• Methodological concerns as most of the research in parasocial relationship involves a self report which can produce invalid results due to social desirability bias

Question 21

Strengths of Attachment Theory of Parasocial Relationships

Answer 21

• A study found that students with insecure attachment styles were more likely to condone stalking and obsessive behaviours

Question 22

Weaknesses of Attachment Theory of Parasocial Relationships

Answer 22

• The same study, however, did not find a correlation between insecure attachment styles and attraction to celebrities
• Methodological concerns as most of the research into parasocial relationships involves self report which can produce invalid results due to social desirability bias