Relationships Module BS

Question 1

Absorption

Answer 1

• Seeking fulfilment in celebrity worship motivates one to focus all their attention on the celebrity
• Leading to them becoming pre-occupied with their existence and identifying with them

Question 2

Addiction

Answer 2

• The individual sustains their commitment to the relationship by feeling a stronger and close involvement with the celebrity
• This leads to more extreme behaviours and delusions, e.g stalking a celebrity because you believe they share a mutual feeling

Question 3

AO1 Research for Rusbults Investment Model

Answer 3

Le And Agnew
- Conducted a meta-analysis of 52 studies between 1970-1990 ·
- Explored the different factors of the investment model
- 11,000 participants from 5 countries, UK, USA, Israel, Taiwan and the Netherlands
- Findings found satisfaction, quality of alternatives and investment were correlated with commitment
- Satisfaction and commitment were significantly correlated and had the strongest correlation of +0.68 out of all of the other factors
- Quality of alternatives had the lowest correlation with commitment (-0.48) · Investment size was correlated with commitment +0.46
- Those who had high commitment were likely to stay in the relationship, those with low commitment were likely to leave.

Question 4

AO3 for research about Rusbults Investment Model

Answer 4

Conducted in a range of countries (+)

Using correlations, cannot be sure that high investment leads to high commitment, there may be a third variable (-)

Goodfriend and Agnew extended this research to include that investment includes future plans (-)

Question 5

AO1 Research for Levels of Parasocial Relationships

Answer 5

Shiappa et al
- Carried out a meta-analysis of studies that had explored the factors that were instrumental in the formation of parasocial relationships

· Found support for the assumption that people with higher levels of parasocial relationships also watched more television.

· Their analysis also showed that there was a significant positive relationship between the degree to which a person perceives television characters as being real and their tendency to form parasocial relationships

· Found evidence to support the claim that the likelihood of forming a parasocial relationship with TV characters was linked to those characters’ perceived attractiveness and their similarity to the viewer

Question 6

AO3 for research about Levels of Parasocial Relationships

Answer 6

• Rubin found little correlaton between loneliness and strength of TV viewers parasocial relationship with onscreen characters (-)
• Might only apply to younger people who are attracted to media personalities (-)
• Turner found parasocial relationships tend to form with media personalities with perceived similar attitudes (+)
• Thompson supports the idea that parasocial relationships satisfy many of the main needs of real relationships, e.g relatedness, competence and independence and therefore similar to IRL (+)

Question 7

AO1 Research for the Absorption Addiction Model - Derrick et al

Answer 7

• Studied undergraduates from the USA
• People with high self-esteem can form parasocial relationships with celebrities that they see themselves in (but to a lesser extent than those with low self-esteem)
• People with a low self-esteem form parasocial relationships with celebrities whom they see their ideal self in and they form a close relationship with them
• Those with a low self-esteem saw a boost in their self-esteem after writing about their favourite celebrity and this feeling was not experienced in real life relationships.
• Low self-esteem people can use parasocial relationships to experience movement toward the ideal self, which is a benefit
• Parasocial relationships can also increase self-esteem and a need for the person to belong
• This is a benefit that people with low self-esteem might miss out on in real face to face relationships.

Question 8

AO3 for research about the Absorption Addiction Model

Answer 8

• Studies of parasocial relations focus on students meaning there is a sample bias (-)
• Unclear whether the media or attachment type determine the likelihood of a parasocial relationship (-)
• Giles and Maltby found that it was important to choose ‘good’ celebs as these influences can become ore important role models than parents (+)

Question 9

Self Disclosure

Answer 9

• The revealing of personal information, such as thoughts, feelings and experiences to another person
• This is one of the many factors that affect attraction in romantic relationships

Question 10

AO3 About Rusbults shit questionnaire

Answer 10

• Can be used on everyone, batty yutes and the factors of satisfaction, QofA and Investment were important (+)
• Cant measure investment and its self-report (-)

Question 11

Does Equity always mean just ‘equality’?

Answer 11

• Equity does not always mean equality, it also means ‘fairness’
• Each person in the relationship must feel that the relationship is fair
• An equitable relationship has a fair ratio of rewards and costs for each individual

Question 12

Strength of Equity Theory

Answer 12

• DeMaris (2007) - Importance to Women
  
  • Studied 1500 couples as part of the US National Survey of Families and Households
  • He found if women were under-benefitting to a high degree then there was a high risk of divorce occuring
  • Therefore equity and inequity seem to be an important factor for women in a relatioship
• Brosnan (2003) - Female Monkeys
  
  • Found female monkeys became angry if they were denied a prize (grapes) for playing a game with a researcher
  • This was heightened if they saw another monkey who had not played the game receive the grapes instead
  • The monkeys got so angry they threw food at the researcher, showing the idea of equity is rooted in our origins

Question 13

Weaknesses of Equity Theory

Answer 13

• Cultural Relativism
  
  • More applicable to individualistic cultures, rather than collectivist
  • Individualistic cultures people may be more concerned with equal rewards and cost for success
  • Collectivist cultures value extended family networks and family values which might be more important when maintaining a relationship rather than costs and rewards
  • Relationships in collectivist cultures might be successful due to cultural expectations and obligations of roles rather than costs and rewards
• Buunk (1996) - No long term bearing
  
  • Found no association between equity in relationships and the future quality and maintenance of a relationship
  • Just because a relationship is equal/fair in terms of rewards and costs it does not mean the relationship will progress
  • People have free will to choose whether to continue a relationship, it being equitable does not mean the relationship will continue or last
• Mills and Clark (1982) - Cannot assess
  
  • Equity of emotions etc cannoy assses

Question 14

AO1 Research Equity Theory by Hatfield

Answer 14

• He asked newly married couples to indicate on a questionnaire, the extent to which they were receiving more or less rewards than they thought they should have in their marriage.
• The sample indicated their contentment, happiness, anger and guilt levels.
• It was found that those people who under-benefitted in the relationship (in terms of rewards) had the lowest level of overall satisfaction (they felt they put more effort in, but got little rewards from the relationship) and they tended to experience the most anger.
• Those people who over benefitted in the relationship (received more rewards from their marriage than they contributed) did admit to feeling guilty.
• The couples who perceived the relationship as being equitable had the highest level of satisfaction and had more chance of the relationship continuing.
• Males who over benefit in the marriage are as satisfied as those in an equitable marriage.
• Females who over benefit are much less satisfied that women who are in an equitable marriage.

Question 15

Strength of Ducks phase model

Answer 15

• Duck and Rollie in 2006
  
  • Original phase model was devised in 1982, but this model has been developed and improved
  • Duck teamed up with psychologist Rollie to introduce a fifth phase called the resurrection phase
  • This is where the person engages in personal growth and gets prepared for new romantic relationship
• Social Exchange Theory
  
  • Social Exchange Theory supports Duck’s phase model
  • States if a relationship has high costs and minimal rewards it breaks down, linking to intra-psychic processes

Question 16

Weakness of Duck model

Answer 16

• Akert (1998) - Role of deciding breakdown
  
  • Found that the role that people had in deciding if the relationship should breakdown was the most important prediction of the breakdown experience
  • Akert found those who did not initiate the end of the relationship were more miserable, lonely, depressed and angry in the weeks after the end of the relationship
  • Those who initiate the break down were least stressed and least upset, but did feel guilty
• Kassin (1996) - Gender differences
  
  • Found females emphasise unhappiness, lack of emotional support and incompatibility as reasons for relationship breakdown
  • Males emphasise sex/fun
  • Females often want to stay friends with their ex-partner but males would rather not, showing Duck has not considered gender differences in the breakdown process
• Overly Simplistic

Question 17

Baker and Oswald eval for absence of gating

Answer 17

• Asked 207 male and female pp’s to complete a questionnaire, scoring their answers in terms of shyness and internet use and perception of quality of their friendship
• Found those that scored high on shyness and internet use also had a high quality of friendship, this correlation was absent for people with low shyness scores
• This implies that online communication helps overcome shyness and improves face-to-face communication too

Question 18

Weaknesses of Levels of Parasocial Relationships

Answer 18

• Educated Individuals are less affected
  
  • Educated individuals often perceive celebrities as less educated than themselves
  • Therefore they are less likely to engage in a parasocial relationship
• Training in schools
  
  • Recommended that there should be training in schoool warning of the dangers of parasocial relationships
  • This is because it often results in individuals having unrealistic goals to become more similar to celebrities
  • E.g one may develop an eating disorder in order to obtain the slim body of a media star
• Research is conducted via questionnaires

Question 19

Tidwell and Hayle Strength of Filter Theory

Answer 19

• Speed dating event whereby pp’s had to make quick decisions about attraction
• He measured actual and perceived similarity of attitudes using a questionnaire
• Found that perceived similarity predicted romantic liking more than actual similarity

Question 20

Research on Filter Theory by Kerchoff and David

Answer 20

Conducted a longitudinal study

· 94 couples from Duke University in the USA

· Each person in the couple answered 2 questionnaires to assess the degree of shared attitudes, values and complementarity of needs in order to assess closeness

· 7 months later they each completed another questionnaire to see how close they felt to their partner, and this was compared to the first questionnaire

· For the findings, couples were divided into two groups:

· Short term partners had been dating 18 months or less and it was found that similarity of attitudes and values were important for closeness

· Long term couples who had been dating for 18 months or more relied on complementarity of needs as a predictor for closeness.

· Long term and short term relationships rely on different filters to predict closeness, attraction and permanence in a relationship.

Question 21

Evaluation of Kerchoff and David research on Filter Theory

Answer 21

• Longitudinal (+)
• Not always true because ‘opposites attract’ (-)
• Use of Questionnaire (-)

Question 22

Weakness of Social Exchange Theory

Answer 22

• Moghaddam (1998) - Cultural Relativism
  
  • Criticised the social exchange theory as it is more applicable to individualistic cultures than collectivist ones
  • The perceived costs and rewards may differ from culture to culture
  • Family values and compatibility may be more important in collectivist cultures whereas in individualistic cultures it may be viewed as partners buying gifts etc
• Only applies to dissatisfying relationships
  
  • Argument that people only start analysing costs and benefits once the relationship goes down hill
  • This goes against the idea of it being a determining factor of initially entering a relationship
  • We only look at comparison levels in a relationship once we are dissatisfied, not when we are happy and the relationship is successful
• Behaviourist Approach doesn’t always hold up - abusive relationships

Question 23

Eval About Levels of Parasocial Relationships

Answer 23

• Schiappa et al - Positive Correlation of TV and Level of Parasocial relationship (+)
• Attractiveness and increased likelihood of Parasocial Relationship (+)
• Educated Individuals are less affected (-)
• Training in schools (-)
• Research is conducted via questionnaires (-)

Question 24

Eval about Absorption Addiction Model

Answer 24

• Greenwood and Long - Lonely Yutes (+)
• Maltby et al - Body Image in Teenagers (+)
• Stalkers failed history (+)
• Correlational Research (-)
• Better at describing levels of parasocial relationships than the development of them (-)