Relationships (general)

Question 1

Explain the importance of physical attractiveness

Answer 1

One evolutionary explanation is that physical attractiveness (e.g. facial symmetry) is an honest sign of genetic fitness

Question 2

Outline one piece of research supporting the halo effect

Answer 2

Palmer and Peterson found that, even when participants were told that they had no expertise, physically attractive people were rated as more politically knowledgeable and competent than unattractive people

Question 3

Outline one piece of research supporting the matching hypothesis

Answer 3

Feingold carried out a meta-analysis of 17 studies into the matching hypothesis, and found a significant positive correlation in ratings of physical attractiveness between romantic partners

Question 4

Outline one piece of research contradicting the matching hypothesis

Answer 4

Taylor et al studied activity on online dating sites, and found that people sought dates with people more physically attractive than themselves

Question 5

Is the importance of physical attractiveness universal?

Answer 5

Towhey found that people who scored highly on a test of sexism placed more importance on physical attractiveness than those who had low scores. However Cunningham et al found consistency in what is considered attractive across different cultures.

Question 6

Explain the cost-reward balance involved in self disclosure

Answer 6

Too much too soon can be off-putting and inappropriate, and limit the scope for future interactions. However too little can limit topics of conversation and meaningful communication.

Question 7

Outline two pieces of research supporting the role of self disclosure in attraction

Answer 7

Sprecher and Hendrick found strong positive correlations between self-disclosure and several measures of satisfaction. Laurenceau et al found a correlation between self disclosure and intimacy in long-term married couples.

Question 8

What is the practical application of understanding of the role of self disclosure

Answer 8

It can be used in marriage counselling to improve communication, increase intimacy, and help less skilled partners

Question 9

What are two limitations of supporting research into the role of self disclosure?

Answer 9

1. Tang et al found that sexual self disclosure was far more prominent in individualist cultures than collectivist ones, limiting the generalisablity of findings from Western research. 2. Sprecher and Hendrick, and Laurenceau’s research is only correlational

Question 10

Outline one piece of research supporting filter theory

Answer 10

Winch found similarities of personality, interests, and attitudes between partners in the early stages of a relationship

Question 11

Give two limitations of filter theory

Answer 11

1. The rise of online dating reduces the importance of the social demography filter. 2. Anderson et al found that partners become more similar over time, challenging the direction of cause and effect between similarity and attraction, as well as the role of complementarity

Question 12

Give 3 examples of ‘gains’ and 3 examples of ‘losses’

Answer 12

Gains: sex, emotional support, praise
Losses: time, energy, money

Question 13

What are the 4 stages of relationship development, according to SET?

Answer 13

The sampling, bargaining, commitment, and institutionalisation stages

Question 14

Outline one piece of research supporting SET

Answer 14

Rusbult found that rewards, relationship satisfaction, and alternatives are all predictors of commitment and whether relationships last. These findings have been found in homosexual couples and different cultures.

Question 15

Give two limitations of SET

Answer 15

1. The economic metaphor underlying SET has been criticised as more applicable to exchange relationships than communal relationships. 2. It is difficult to measure, quantify, define and therefore research SET concepts

Question 16

Explain the differences between SET and ET

Answer 16

SET values maximising profits and minimising losses, whereas ET values fairness in each partner’s inputs and outputs. SET focuses on the self while ET focuses on the relationship.

Question 17

What are the consequences of an inequitable relationship?

Answer 17

The overbenifitter will feel guilt and discomfort, while the underbenifitter will feel anger and hostility. Dissatisfaction is strongly correlated with inequity.

Question 18

How is inequity dealt with?

Answer 18

Either a. the partners will work to restore equity as long as they believe their relationship is salvageable, or b. the underbenifitter will revise their perception of costs and rewards so that they feel the relationship is equitable, even if nothing changes

Question 19

Outline two pieces of research supporting ET

Answer 19

Walster et al found that equitable partners were more happy, less angry, and less guilty than inequitable partners (both over and underbenifitters). Utne et al found that equitable partners were more satisfied than inquitable partners.

Question 20

Discuss the generalisability of ET

Answer 20

Aumer-Ryan et al found that while ET applies to partners in individualist cultures, those in collectivist cultures were most satisfied when overbenifitting. Also, Huseman et al suggest that some people (benevolents and entitleds) are less sensitive to equity than others.

Question 21

Outline one piece of research contradicting ET

Answer 21

Berg and McQuinn found in their longitudinal study that equity does not increase over the course of a relationship, and that it did not predict which relationships would fail and which would last.

Question 22

Give one criticism of ET

Answer 22

ET implies that a 1:1 relationship is as satisfactory as a 100:100 relationship, but a relationship where you put more in and get more out is arguably much better

Question 23

Explain the assumptions of RIM

Answer 23

CL and CLalt are not enough to explain commitment as more relationships would end if all there was to consider were costs and rewards. The addition of investment accounts for this - increased investment reduces the likelihood of relationship breakdown. Commitment, rather than satisfaction, explains why people stay in relationships (including ones where satisfaction is low).

Question 24

Outline research supporting RIT

Answer 24

Le and Agnew reviewed 52 studies with 11,000 participants and found that satisfaction, CLalt, and investment size all predicted commitment, and that this was true for men and women, across cultures, and for homosexual as well as heterosexual couples.

Question 25

Give one strength of RIT

Answer 25

Investment explains why people stay in abusive relationships (Rusbult and Martz found that women most likely to return to an abusive partner have the greatest investment sizes)

Question 26

Give two weaknesses of RIT

Answer 26

1. Research is correlational - investment may cause commitment, or commitment may cause investment. Or, a third factor such as satisfaction may cause both. 2. Investment is often not applicable in the beginning of a relationship, so the term ‘investment’ should be extended to include future plans

Question 27

Give one strength of Duck’s phase model

Answer 27

It has real life applications in relationship counselling, as appropriate advice can be given with respect to the stage of the breakup the couple is in.

Question 28

Give two limitations of Duck’s phase model

Answer 28

1. It is linear and inflexible which does not reflect the complicated, unpredictable nature of real life breakups. 2. As research is all retrospective, participants may naturally twist their account into a logical, linear series of events untrue to real life

Question 29

Discuss the generalisability of Duck’s phase model

Answer 29

DPM has been criticised as not applicable in collectivist cultures, where relationships are harder to end, sometimes arranged, and involve a wider network of people. It is unlikely that the breakup process is identical across cultures.

Question 30

Explain anisogamy

Answer 30

Anisogamy is the differences between male and female sex cells which affect human reproductive behaviour. Male sex cells are small and created in vast quantity from adolescence to old age, whereas female sex cells are large, static, and only produced at certain times over a certain number of years. The female also invests more time and energy into the production of offspring.

Question 31

Explain inter-sexual selection

Answer 31

Inter-sexual selection refers to HRB between the sexes. Due to anisogamy, females are more choosy than males, and prefer genetically fit, resource-providing males whose genes will be passed on to produce offspring who are likely to succeed in reproduction themselves. Males attempt to attract females by showing off such characteristics.

Question 32

Explain intra-sexual selection

Answer 32

Intra-sexual selection refers to HRB within the sexes. Males compete to mate with females, which has lead to physical (e.g. height) behavioural (e.g. aggression) and cognitive (e.g. mentality) differences between the sexes due to sexual selection. Also, males have a preference for youth and signs of fertility.

Question 33

Outline the basis of HRB in males and females

Answer 33

Males seek to reproduce with as many females as possible (quantity over quality), whereas females seek genetically fit males to reproduce a small number of times with (quality over quantity)

Question 34

Explain the relationship between sexual selection and human reproductive behaviour

Answer 34

The relationship is bidirectional i.e. what is selected through sexual selection dictates behaviour (e.g. larger males being more likely to mate), and behaviour dictates what will be selected (e.g. a desire for protection making males taller).

Question 35

Outline how cultural influences limit sexual selection as an explanation of human reproductive behaviour

Answer 35

1. It does not account for homosexual relationships, 2. It does not account for age gap relationships in which the woman is older, 3. It does not account for the increase in a women’s role in the workplace, 4. It does not account for the increase in a man’s responsibility in childcare, 5. factors like the stigmatisation of female promiscuity affect HRB

Question 36

Give two pieces of research supporting anisogamy

Answer 36

Buss found, in a survey of 10,000 adults across 33 countries, that females value resource related characteristics in a partner, while males value reproductive characteristics. Waynforth and Dunbar studied lonely hearts ads and found that women offered their physical attractiveness most, whereas men offered resources.

Question 37

Outline and evaluate one piece of research supporting inter-sexual selection

Answer 37

Description: Clark and Hatfield sent psychology students around their campus to ask other students if they would go to bed with them. 75% of males agreed as opposed to 0% of females. Evaluation: limited sample, demand characteristics, can be explained by cultural influences

Question 38

Give one piece of research supporting intra-sexual selection

Answer 38

Singh found that what matters in male preference is not female body size as such, but hip to waist ratio. This supports intra-sexual selection as large hips and a small waist are an honest sign of fertility.

Question 39

Explain the absorption-addiction model

Answer 39

People with deficiencies in their own lives (e.g. weak sense of self-identity, poor psychology, unsatisfactory relationships) tend to form parasocial relationships as an escape and way to find fulfilment. The relationship is a form of absorption and addiction.

Question 40

Outline the attachment theory explanation of parasocial relationships

Answer 40

Attachment difficulties in early childhood can lead to the development of PRs. Insecure-resistant types are most likely to form PRs as they seek relationships without the threat of rejection. Insecure-avoidant types, on the other hand, tend to avoid all forms of relationships.

Question 41

Outline one piece of research supporting the levels of parasocial relationships

Answer 41

Maltby et al found significant positive correlations between entertainment-social and extroversion, intense-personal and neuroticism, and borderline pathological and psychoticism. This validates the levels as they match a previously established model (Eyesenck’s model).

Question 42

Outline two pieces of contradictory research into attachment theory of parasocial relationships

Answer 42

Cole and Leets found that type Cs (resistant) were most likely to form PRs, type As (secure) second most likely, and type Bs (avoidant) were least likely. However McCutcheon et al (larger sample) found that those with insecure attachments were no more likely to form PRs than those with secure attachments.

Question 43

Outline one piece of research supporting the absorption-addiction model

Answer 43

Maltby et al found that girls reporting an intense-personal PR with a celebrity whose body they admired tended to have poor body image themselves. This supports the prediction of the model that the intensity of the PR is correlated with poor psychological functioning.

Question 44

Give one strength of research into parasocial relationships

Answer 44

Schmid and Klimmt found that the tendency to for PRs is not culturally specific, and exists in both individualist and collectivist cultures

Question 45

Give two weaknesses of research into parasocial relationships

Answer 45

1. They rely on self-report methods which can be influenced by bias, and 2. They are all correlational which raises the correlation-causation problem

Question 46

Outline the reduced cues theory of virtual relationships

Answer 46

Sproull and Kiesler argue that CMC relationships are less effective than FtF ones because they lack emotional cues (e.g. facial expression, tone of voice, physical appearance). This lead to de-individualisation which in turn encourages disinhibition.

Question 47

Outline the hyperpersonal model of virtual relationships

Answer 47

Walther argues that CMC relationships can be better than FtF ones as self-disclosure happens earlier, intimacy is promoted through selective self-presentation, and anonymity means partners disclose more (the stranger on a train phenomenon).

Question 48

Explain the absence of gating in virtual relationships

Answer 48

FtF interactions are gated (they are slowed down by things like physical unattractiveness and anxiety) whereas CMCs are not. This is because online you are able to shape your ‘character’ to reflect exactly and only what you want. A result of this is more frequent and deeper self-disclosure.

Question 49

Outline the uncertainty reduction theory of virtual relationships

Answer 49

Tidwell and Walther argue that heightened self-disclosure in CMC is a result of a motivation to reduce uncertainty. As uncertainty-reducing behaviour is entirely text-based (as opposed to verbal and non-verbal in FtF) self-disclosure and question asking is increased.

Question 50

Evaluate the reduced cues theory

Answer 50

It is not true that non-verbal cues are absent from CMCs, they are just different (e.g. style and timing of messaged, and the use of emojis). This theory was developed in 1986, not long after the internet was invented, so lacks temporal validity.

Question 51

Outline one piece of research supporting the uncertainty reduction theory

Answer 51

Sheldon found that the more Facebook users talk, the less uncertainty they experience and are able to like each other more. The more certain they are about their behaviour, the more they disclose.

Question 52

Outline one piece of research supporting the role of anonymity in CMC

Answer 52

Joinson found that CMC discussions resulted in greater self-disclosure than FtF discussions or video chats. this is because anonymity is greatest in CMC.

Question 53

Outline one piece of research supporting the hyperpersonal model

Answer 53

Whitty and Joinson found that online discussions tend to be very intimate, probing and direct, whereas FtF ones tend to be hedged around with ‘small talk’.

Question 54

Give one weakness of models of virtual relationships

Answer 54

Relationships are too complex for single explanations. There are lots of different forms of CMC and interaction often takes place both off and online.

Question 55

Outline one piece of research supporting the absence of gating in virtual relationships

Answer 55

McKenna and Bargh found that in CMC, lonely and anxious people were able to express their ‘true selves’ and secure long-lasting, successful relationships.