Role of communication (Collins, Miller & Steinberg and Bradbury & Fincham)

Question 1

Why is communication important in the formation of relationships?

Answer 1

Communication is crucial to the maintenance of a relationship – make or break. We see common patterns of communication within relationships:

Question 2

Social Penetration Theory

Answer 2

We don’t tell everyone everything, as time progresses the communication moves from SHALLOW to DEEP eg. emotions, feelings, inner desires

Question 3

Attribution Theory

Answer 3

To what extent do we attribute (explain) partner’s behavior to the cause. Either situational (outside factor) or dispositional (personal factor). Our attribution can affect the QUALITY of relationships and level of satisfaction (affects how easily we forgive them)

Question 4

4 Stages of Altman’s Social Penetration Theory

Answer 4

Altman identifies 4 stages of disclosure:

1. Orientation: small talk
2. Exploratory: more personal, but holding barrier
3. Affective: emotional + physical intimacy
4. Stable: trust is built here, can say anything

Question 5

Social Penetration Theory Meta-analysis (Collins, Miller and Steinberg) aim

Answer 5

Investigate the link between self-disclosure (how much you share) and liking of a person

Question 6

Collins, Miller and Steinberg method

Answer 6

1. Journal articles isolating key terms “self-disclosure” and “liking”
2. Range of methodology such as lab experiments and self-reported data

Question 7

Collins, Miller and Steinberg findings

Answer 7

• Indivs who share at an intimate level are more liked than those who share at a shallow level
• Reveal more personal information to those who they like
• Liking others because they shared intimate information

Question 8

How does Collins, Miller and Steinberg support Social Penetration Theory?

Answer 8

Supports that self-disclosure is important to maintain relationships, leaning towards the affective stage and stable stage = healthy relationship

Altman & Taylor’s (1973) Social Penetration Theory likens this gradual process to that of peeling an onion: as the outer, more superficial layers (e.g. likes, dislikes, interests) are peeled away the relationship deepens and more intimate and personal details are disclosed (e.g. hopes, dreams, fears) -> thus strengthening the relationship.

Question 9

Collins, Miller and Steinberg strengths

Answer 9

• Researcher and method triangulation – more holistic view of research with a variety of opinions, positive correlation between liking and self-disclosure increases internal validity

Question 10

Collins, Miller and Steinberg weaknesses

Answer 10

• Bi-directional ambiguity (is it the self-disclosure that strengthens a healthy relationship or does the healthy relationship encourage self-disclosure? Unsure)
• Reductionist approach as disclosure may not always lead to a healthy relationship especially if the other person is not accepting of it
• Meta-analysis are limited (lack of qualitative research)

Question 11

Attribution Theory explanation

Answer 11

→ Healthy relationships = positive bias, blame the situation rather than label themselves as bad people

Question 12

Bradbury and Fincham Aim

Answer 12

How much does attribution contribute to marital satisfaction and distress?

Question 13

Bradbury and Fincham method

Answer 13

12-month longitudinal study

• Assessed level of marital satisfaction and kinds of attributions married couples made about each other

Question 14

Bradbury and Fincham findings

Answer 14

Kind of attributions couples by the couple made in the beginning predicts marital satisfactions at the end

• Level of satisfaction of the relationship in the beginning of the study did not predict attributions made at the end
• Happy relationships tended to focus on positive dispositional factors and attribute negative events to situational factors eg. he would never be late, it was the train
• Unhappy couples did the opposite

Question 15

How does Bradbury and Fincham support Attribution Theory?

Answer 15

Supports Attribution Theory as indivs shift the blame to the situation, rather than the persons actions (decreases conflict, sign of trust) When indivuduals tend to make NEGATIVE attributions about their partner, this breaks trust within the relationship as they believe that their partner’s behavior is INTENTIONALLY hurtful.

Relationships last longer when people can understand mistakes of their partner — how individuals interpret and explain the behavior of their partners.

Attributions can act as a protective/risk factor to marital satisfaction.

Question 16

Bradbury & Fincham strengths

Answer 16

• Longitudinal study - increased reliability

Question 17

Bradbury & Fincham weaknesses

Answer 17

• Use of questionnaires - limited understanding of experiences - self reported data (participant bias)
• Lacks cross-cultural validity – what can be said about attribution patterns in different cultures? Eg. individualism vs collectivism, cultural reasoning

Question 18

Limitations of communication theory

Answer 18

Attribution might just be a character trait, you might just view people in a positive light

Relationship satisfaction is not limited to communication, there are other factors of attraction that are necessary in order to form a relationship eg. biological explanations for attraction

Question 19

Counter-claim: Gottman (Why relationships change or end)

Answer 19

Gottman’s 4 Horsemen: Negative Communication Patterns (from why relationships change or end)

4 Horsemen of Communication
1. Criticism: Negative comments about one’s personality or character eg. “you never reply” etc.
2. Contempt: looking down on someone, making jokes/namecalling
3. Defensiveness: in response to criticism, the partner becomes defensive and shift the blame to someone else → CONFLICT
4. Stonewalling: putting up a barrier and refusing to deal with problems - retracting

AIM: Gottman’s “Love Lab” investigate what factors ends marriages

METHOD:

1. Creating an apartment designed for couples to spend the weekend in - cameras situated throughout the apartment that records body language and couple interactions
2. Measure heart rate, blood pressure = physiological reactions
3. 85 couples were narrowed down dependant on marital satisfaction
4. Couples conversed for 15 minutes about what happened during their day, something good in their relationship, and a point of conflict = reactions were noted and transcribed

FINDINGS: By the end of the final observation, 25% of couples had divorced - happy couples made five positive pieces of communication for every negative one (5-1 rule)

LINK: The 4 Horsemen “predict” the likelihood of divorce as these communication patterns erode a foundations of a relationship - respect and trust. Suggests that communication and specifically the lack of it, does tend to cause relationships to end because people who used the four horsemen and would physically show it, would ultimately break up

The four horsemen are four negative styles of communication that were more prevalent in the unhappy couples’ relationships than the happy ones.

STRENGTHS: Highly controlled environment - control of extraneous variables - high ecological validity were meant to elicit real-life scenarios that couples encounter

WEAKNESSES: Knowing that they were in a lab may have altered the experiment (participant bias) - sampling bias & generalizability as the studies were carried out on American couples. The sample is also BIASED as couples signed up for this experiment in order to save their marriage - thus, they may have already had existing problems - questions on predictive validity?

Question 20

Conclusion of communication

Answer 20

Much of the research is limited as it is done on Western cultures & a meta-analysis limited as it is based on various small studies

Communication is constantly changing due to social media (there are new mannerisms) but communication encourages transparency (successes in marriage counselling where awareness is key, that way you can work on problems together).