Romantic Relationships Flashcards
Sternberg’s triangular theory (IPC)
- Intimacy- how much do you know about the other person, emotional connection)
Liking, you might like your friends - Passion- do you feel passionately connected to that person? That pull, that charge?
Infatuation - Commitment- do you feel committed to be in a relationship with that other person?
Empty love
Berscheid and Walster’s two types of love
passionate and compassionate love
A state of intense longing for someone
-Intense physiological arousal
- Psychological interest
Care for their needs - When it’s good it’s great, feel fulfillment and ecstasy
- When it’s bad it’s terrible, feel sadness and despair
passionate love
affection people feel for those with whom their lives are deeply connected, but do not necessarily experience passion or arousal in their presence
- Strong commitment
- Deep affectionate attachment
- Shared values
- Less intense physiological arousal
compassionate love
How do romantic relationships change over time?
more compassionate,
- people become more securely attached to their partners as relationship duration increases
- People become more securely attached (generally) with age
People learn from their interactions with their partners whether or not they are in a good relationship
- Positive behaviors enhance the global evaluations of the marriage while negative behaviors harm it
CAN Explain: a mechanism of change, a place to intervene
CAN’T Explain: where the negative behavior comes from, ignores everything outside the couple
Behavioral theory (of relationships)
criticism: attacking personality or character
defensiveness: victimizing yourself to ward off attack and reverse the blame
contempt: attacking sense of self with intent to insult or abuse
stonewalling: withdrawing to avoid conflict
Four horsemen of the [relationship] apocalypse
kinds of love
- Intimacy + Passion = romantic love
- Intimacy + Commitment = companionate love
- Passion + Commitment = fatuous love
- Intimacy + Passion + Commitment = consummate love
