Relationships Flashcards
Define sexual selection
An evolutionary explanation of partner preference
Attributes or behaviours that increase reproductive success are passed on and may become more exaggerated over generations
Define Human Reproductive Behaviours
Any behaviours which relate to opportunities to reproduce and therefore increase the survival chances of our genes.
caused by sexual selection - it encourages behaviour that increases opportunities to reproduce
What is Anisogamy
Refers to the differences between male and females gametes
How are human gametes different?
Male gametes are small, highly mobile, created continuously until old age and require little energy to produce
Female gametes are larger, static, produced at intervals for a limited time, and require a huge amount of energy
What’s a consequence of anisogamy for mate selection?
no shortage of fertile men but fertile women are like a “rare” resource
Why else is anisogamy important for mate selection?
It gives rise to inter - and intra-sexual selection
What is Inter-sexual selection?
Refers to competition between sexes - strategies used by males to select females and vice versa
What is intra-sexual selction?
refers to competiton between sexes - strategies males use to BE selected
its preferred by males
Why is Inter sexual selection preferred by women?
preferred by females bc they are more “choosy” due to their limited number of ova and so they want a genetically fit partner who is able to provide
What does inter-sexual selection mean for successive generations?
This means those features that are desirable for females are passed on - sexy son hypothesis
Why is intra sexual selection preferred by males?
quantity over quality
prefer to spread and pass on their genes as much as possible
What does intra-sexual selection mean for successive generations?
there are some controversial behavioural and psychological consequences
it might benefit males to behave aggressively or even acting in a certain way so they can compete successfully
research support for the sexual selection theory (BUSS)
(+) Buss studied over 10,000 adults across 33 countries
asked Qs + found females did care more about resources than males e.g financial prospects and ambition
males valued Reproductive capacity e.g good looks + youth
supports predictions from sexual selection theory \
furthermore shows that this theory can be applied across cultures
research support for the sexual selection theory (Singh)
Singh studied males interest in waist-hip ratio (WHR)
this theory predicts that males will prefer a female body shape that signals fertility
found that males generally find any hip to waist ratios attractive as long as waist is narrower than hip - has a ratio of 0.7
this is attractive bc its an “honest” signal - it can’t be faked
Research support for the sexual selection theory (Waynforth and Dunbar)
Waynforth +Dunbar studied lonely hearts advertisements
found women showed off youth, looks, etc
men showed off their resources
Research support for inter-sexual selection (Clark + Hatfield)
male and female psych students sent out across a uni campus
they approached males and females asking the same question “I have noticed you around campus and I find you to be very attractive, will you go to bed with me tonight”
no females said yes but 75% of males did
shows that females are more choosy
weakness of the sexual selection theory
(-) ignores social and cultural influences
women’s greater role in the workplace means they’re no longer dependent on men to provide for them
CHANG et al compared mate preferences over 25 years and found some had changed but some had stayed the same
mate preferences therefore influenced by both evolutionary and social influences and this theory fails to account for both, making it limited
What is self-disclosure?
Revealing personal info about yourself
in romantic relationships, partners reveal more as the relationship develops
What is the Social Penetration Theory?
The gradual process of revealing your inner self to someone else
in romantic relations, involves the reciprocal exchange of info
its a basic feature of romantic relations
Who came up with the Social Penetration Theory?
Altman and Taylor
What are the 2 elements to self-disclosure
Breadth and depth
Explain “breadth and depth”
as breadth and depth increase, romantic partners become more committed to each other
at the start of a relationship bread and depth are narrow you talk about superficial things but still not a lot in order to not scare them away
Why is reciprocity important?
Reis and Shaver say for a relationship to develop, there needs to be a reciprocal element to disclosure
So there is a balance increasing intimacy
Research support for self disclosure (Sprecher+hendrick )
Sprecher and Hendrick studied heterosexual relationships + found strong correlations between several measures of satisfaction and self-disclosure - those who self-disclosed and believed their partners did so too were more satisfied with their relationship
however correlation is not causation, this does not mean that self disclosure causes satisfaction
Cultural differences in self disclosure?
the predictions that depth _ breadth for self disclosure will lead to more satisfaction is not true for all relationships
Tang et al concluded that men + women in USA disclose significantly more sexual thoughts than men and women in china
ASKMISS!!
Research support for Self-disclosure (Larenceau)
Laurenceau et al used a method that involved pps writing daily diary entries
found that self-disclosure + perception of self-disclosure in a partner were linked to higher levels of intimacy in long term married couples
Real-life application of self-disclosure (Hass and Stafford)
found 57% of gay men + women in their study said open + honest self-disclosure was the main way they maintained + deepened their committed relationships
if less-skilled partners can learn to use self-disclosure then this could bring several benefits to relationships
§What are the three factors affecting attraction in romantic relationships?
Self-disclosure, physical attractiveness and filter theory
Explain the term “physical attractiveness”
The term usually applies to how appealing we find a person’s face
there is general agreement across cultures about what is considered attractive
Why is physical attractiveness important in the formation of relationships?
has evolutionary advantages - shackelford and Larsen found symmetrical faces to her rated more attractive bc it may be a genuine signal of genetic fitness
ppl are also attracted to baby features as they trigger a protective and caring instinct
McNulty et al found that initial attractiveness continued to be an important feature after marriage too
Describe the halo effect
the term describes how one distinguishing feature(e.g attractiveness) tends to have a disproportinate influence on our judgement of their other attributes e.g their personality
Dion et al found that physically attractive ppl were consistently rated as kind, smart, strong etc compared to unattractive ppl
As we believe they possess these qualities we behave in a good way towards them, reinforcing it
Describe the Matching Hypothesis
The belief that we don’t select the most attractive ppl but instead we are attracted to those who “match” our level of attractiveness
we balance wanting then most physically attractive partner with the prospect of being rejected
Research support for phsyical attractiveness - halo effect (Palmer + Peterson)
They found that physically attractive people were rated as more politically knowledgable + competent
this halo effect persisted even when pps knew that these knowledgable people had no expertise
this has implications for politics - politicians may be voted for purely bc of looks
Research support for physical attractiveness - matching hypothesis (Feingold)
Carried out a meta-analysis of 17 studies + strong correlation in ratings of attractiveness between partners
real life partners
HOWEVER Taylor et al studied activity logs of a dating site - online daters sought dates with partners who were more physically attractive
both using real life couples but produced contradicting results
Research support for physical attractiveness (Cunningham et al + Wheeler + Kim)
Found female features of large eyes, prominent cheekbones, small nose + high eyebrows rated as highly attractive by white, hispanic + asian males
also Kim + Wheeler found that American and Korean students found attractive ppl to be more trustworthy + friendly
removes culture bias
Explain the term Filter Theory
An explanation of relationship formation
States that a series of factors progressively limits the range of available partners to a much smaller pool
What are the filters in filter theory?
social demography, similarity in attitudes and complementarity
Describe the filter Social Demography
It refers to a wide range of features including proximity, religion, ethnicity, level of education etc
You’re more likely to meet ppl who are close + share several demographic circumstances, anyone who is too different is usually discounted
The outcome of this is homogamy; someone who is culturally + socially similar
Describe the filter “similarity in attitudes”
We find partners who share out basic values, so we tend to discount those whop differ from us in attitudes
there is a need for partners in early stages to agree on basic values - promotes self-disclosure
similarity causes attraction - law of attraction
Describe the filter Complementarity
similarity becomes less important as relationship develops + replaced by a need for a balance
in other words, at a later stage, opposites attract
e.g. one may like cooking and one may like cleaning up
its attractive bc it makes two partners feel they are whole together
Supporting research (Winch)
Winch et al found evidence that similarity in attitudes are typical of earlier stages if relationships supporting the filter theory predictions
real world evidence too - increasing validity
Research against the filter theory ?(Anderson)
Found in a longitudinal study that cohabiting partners became more similar in emotional response over time
goes against what filter theory predicts - it predicts that initially they’re similar snd over time they start to complement each other
Lack of temporal validity with the filter theory
Online dating reduced the importance of some demographic variables such as proximity as you can meet ppl from anywhere
meaning ppl going on dates with ppl they may Never have met prior to online dating
this theory could be outdated, doesn’t withstand the test of time
research against complementarity (Gruber-Baldini)
conducted a longitudinal study of married couples
found similarities in terms of intellectual ability and attitudinal flexibility increased over a 14 year period
reduces validity of theory - complementarity may not be as important as its said to be
What is social exchange theory?
A theory of how relationships form and develop
It assumes that romantic partners act out of self - interest in exchanging rewards and costs
A satisfying relationship is maintained when rewards exceed costs and potential alternatives are less attractive
