theories of romantic relationship Flashcards

Question

A03 -

Answer 1

A

is a theory of how relationships form and develop - it assumes that partners act out of self interest in exchanging rewards and costs
economic theory of human behaviour which focuses on the rewards that partners obtain from being in a relationship weight against the cost the incur
individuals focus more on what they get out than what they put in
individuals who receive favourable rewards/ costs are more likely to be satisfied and less likely to leave - satisfying and common relationships is maintain when rewards exceed costs
minimax principle - thibault & kelly = we try to minimise losses and maximise gains - we are all attracted to those who offer rewards eg fun / attention and not relationship with great costs eg emotional draining
relationships of mutual benefit will succeed
rewards and costs are subjective what one person sees as a reward might not be to the other
rewards and costs can change over time

Answer 2

A

how we measure the profit in a romantic relationship
the amount of reward you believe you deserve to get - developed out of experience of previous relationships which feed our expectations of the current one
also influenced by social norms of what is seen as a good reward
if the potential profit in a new relationship exceeds cl then that relationship will be judged worthwhile and the other person will be seen as attractive if negative then a relationship with that person will be seen as less attractive
someone with a previously rewarding relationships would have high expectations if doesn’t meet then will exist current relationship
low self esteem = lower cl and will therefore be satisfied with gaining a small profit from a relationship
high self esteem = believe they are worth more

Answer 3

A

provides a wider context for our current relationship - may ask ourself if we can do better
an individual = committed to their current relationship when overall benefits and costs are perceived as being greater than what might be possible in an alternative relationship

Answer 4

A

sampling stages - explore rewards and costs of social exchange by experimenting with our own relationship or observations of others
barging stage - beginning of relationship partners start exchanging various rewards and costs and identifying what most profitable
commitment stage - as time goes on the sources of costs and rewards become more predictable and the relationship become more stable
institutionalisation stage - partners are now settled down cause the norms of the relationship are now established

Answer 5

A

conducted a longitudinal study of 101 dating couples in a us university and found that the factor highly associated with relationships commitment was partners comparison levels for alternatives . the study showed when the comparison level for alternatives was high commitment and satisfaction with their current relationship was low . this was for both females and males
- strength not surprising that those who lack alternatives are likely to remain committed and those who are satisfied and committed to their relationship are more likely to devalue alternatives
supports SET and provide validity

Answer 6

A

individuals have different perceptions about how beneficial their current relationship is due to their differing comparison levels and comparison level for alternatives. SET explains why an individual may stay in an abusive relationship because the cost of leaving such as fear of financial problem , losing their children is greater than the cost of staying
- strength explains why people maintain a relationship even when the benefits or positive feelings aren’t present
- SET has high explanatory power as it deals with factor that other theories cannot explain

Answer 7

A

theory implies that we are self - centred and will only maintain a romantic relationship if the benefits outweigh the costs . However not all relationships are voluntary eg arranged marriages . consequently it may not be possible for an individual to withdraw form a relationship even if the perceived costs outweigh the perceived benefits
- SET might not be a valid theory of relationship maintenance in all cultures
- this theory should only be used to explain relationships in individualistic cultures as it might not be valid to use it in cultures where arrange marriages occur

Answer 8

A

individuals in unsuccessful marriages frequently report a lack of positive behaviour exchanges with their partners and excess of negative exchanges . integrated behavioural couples therapy ( IBTC ) attempts to increase the proportion of positive exchanges within a relationship and decrease the proportion of negative exchanges help partners break negative patterns and making them happier . Christensen et al ( 2004 ) treated over 60 distressed couples using ICBT and found that about two thirds reported significant improvements in the quality of their relationships as a result
- has practical applications and can be used to improve communication and people lives
- evidence of the success of the they strengthen la the original claims of SET adding validity

Answer 9

A

economic theory of relationships - developed in response to the social exchange theory which fails to consider most people want balance rather than profit in a relationship

claims that people are more comfortable when they get out of a relationship is equally what they put in
relationships that lack equity are associated with distinct types of dissatisfaction if people feel over benefited they may experience pity and guilt and if people feel under benefitted they may experience anger and sadness
greater the inequality and dissatisfaction the more motivated they are to do something about it
Rapson ( 2011 )
1. restoration of actual equity 1 individuals can restore equity by voluntarily setting things right
2. restoration of psychological equity - couples in inequitable relationships can distort reality and convince themselves that things are perfect the way they are
Leaving the relationship - if couples are unable to restore equity they can leave it

Answer 10

A

asked over 200 married couples to complete questionnaires measuring equity and relationship satisfaction. each spouse was asked about their relationship maintenance strategies such as assurances , sharing tasks and satisfaction was higher for spouses who perceived their relationship to be equitable followed by over - benefited husbands reported significantly lower partners were least satisfied. under - benefited partners were least satisfied and under - benefited husbands reported significantly lower levels of relationship maintenance strategies compared to equitable or over- benefited husbands. spouses treated equitably tended to be happier and so were more likely to engage in behaviour that contributed to their spouse’s happiness
strength because perceived equity is an important determinant of marital satisfaction
add validity

Answer 11

A

individual differences the theory of distribution of rewards and costs is too simplistic and not necessarily an important feature in all romantic relationships.
Not everyone experiences the same level of tension when they perceive inequitable relationships. Huseman (1987) identified three categories of individuals: benevolents, equity
sensitives and entitleds. Benevolents are ‘givers’ and tend to be more tolerant of under rewarded , Equity sensitives behave in accordance with equity theory, experiencing
tension when faced with inequity and Entitleds prefer to be over rewarded, having the attitude that they are owed and are entitled to receive benefits. The concept of ‘equity sensitivity” determines the extent to which an individual will tolerate inequity.
limitation, because demonstrates that there are individual differences that impact the inequitable of relationships.
research challenges the assumptions made by equity theory and weakens the validity.

Answer 12

A

Equity may not be as important in non-Western cultures given that most research has been carried out in the US and in Western Europe, Aumer-Ryan (2007) found that there are cultural differences in the link between equity and satisfaction. Couples from an individualist culture (USA) considered their relationships to be the most satisfying when the relationship
was equitable. Whereas partners in a collectivist culture (Jamaica) were most satisfied when they were over benefitting true of both men and women so cannot be explained by gender differences.
This is a limitation as it suggests that the theory is limited as it only applies to some cultures
Therefore, this means that equity theory is limited because it is not a universally valid theory
of relationships and ethnocentric as it was proposed by a western researcher

Answer 13

A

Did the lack of equity lead to dissatisfaction or did dissatisfaction lead to the identification of inequity? There is some research to suggest that a lack of equity leads to dissatisfaction, but other research shows the opposite direction of cause and effect. Grote and Clark (2001) argue that as soon as partners start monitoring each other’s contributions, this is a sign of dissatisfaction. Once dissatisfaction sets in, partners notice inequities and become even more dissatisfied - a cycle of misery.
This is a limitation because the direction of causation might be wrong.
Therefore, the equity theory itself might not be valid

Answer 14

A

developed as a way of understanding why people persist in some romantic relationship but not in others
- relationships persist not just because of the positive qualities that attract one person to another but also because of the ties that binds partners to each other and the absence of a better option

Answer 15

A

satisfaction - based on the concept of cl - a satisfying relationship is judged by comparing rewards and costs and is seen to. e profitable if it has many rewards and few costs
comparison with alternative - the extent to which an individuals most important needs might be better fulfilled outside of the current relationship - perceiving that an attractive alternative might provide superior outcomes to those of the current relationship
investment - an investment could be understood as anything we would lose if the relationship were to end - a measure of all resources attached to the relationship that could be lost once it is done eg time and energy
investment increases dependence on a relationship because they increase connections with the partner as a result investment create a powerful psychological incentive to persist with a relationship

commitment level - likelihood that an individual will persist with their current relationship and a product of high satisfaction and investment and low quality of alternatives

Answer 16

A

carried out a meta-analysis of 52 studies conducted between the late 1970s - the late 1990s. these studies had explored the different components of the investment model. This produced a total sample of over 11,000 participants (54% male and 46% female) from five countries (US, UK, Netherlands, Israel, and Taiwan). Across all the studies, satisfaction level, comparison with alternatives and investment size all predicted relationship cultural commitment. The correlation between satisfaction level and commitment was found to be significantly stronger than either quality of alternatives and investment size and commitment. The correlation between commitment and ‘stay or leave’ behaviours was also significant with individuals showing higher levels of commitment being more likely to stay in a relationship than those with lower levels to leave. these outcomes were true for both men and women, across all cultures and for homosexual as well as heterosexual couple and married + non-maried couples
strength because it provides support to Rusbult’s claims using a very large sample size with participants across different cultures. some validity to Rusbult’s claim that these factors are universally important features of romantic relationships.

Further elaboration: Research has supported the relevance of the investment model across
different cultures (US, the Netherlands and Taiwan), in a variety of different participant populations e.g., marital, and non-marital relationships, homosexual relationships,
friendships and abusive relationships. Rusbult’s theory has been supported by research which has high population validity and can be generalised to a range of different relationships
in different cultures. Unlike many other theories it provides insight into the maintenance of homosexual relationships. This provides strong evidence to suggest that investment does play a significant role in the maintenance of a range of different relationships

Answer 17

A

Strong correlations have been found between all the important factors predicted by the investment model. Most of the studies in Le and Agnew’s meta-analysis were correlational.
However, correlations do not allow us to conclude that factors identified by the model cause commitment in a rely
relationship
limitation as the research the model is based upon is only correlational and cannot
be used to establish cause and effect.
Therefore, it is not clear that the model has identified the causes of commitment rather than factors that are associated with it.

Answer 18

A

Victims of partner abuse experience low satisfaction, which would lead us to predict that they would leave the abusive partner - but many do not leave. The investment model highlights
features of the relationship that would explain this. For example, they lack alternatives or may have too much invested with that partner (children, house), making dissolution
(separation) too traumatic and costly.
strength because it helps to explain why people might stay in relationships where they are not satisfied or even being abused. The investment model explains why abuse victims do not have to be satisfied with a relationship to stay in it.
Therefore, the model has high explanatory power.

Answer 19

A

There is more to investment than just the resources you have already put into a relationship. For example, in the early stages of a romantic relationship the partners will have made very few actual investments and they may not even live together at this point. In ending a
relationship, an individual would not only lose investments made to date, but also the
possibility of any investment in the future. Some relationships persist not because of the
current balance of investments made, but because of a motivation to see plans work out.
limitation because it is a limited explanation of romantic relationships because it
fails to recognise the true complexity of the investment and how planning for the future also
influences commitment.
an oversimplistic view of what is meant by an investment.

Answer 20

A

duck argued that the end of a relationship is not a one off event but a process that take time across a series of four distinct phases
the ending of a romantic relationship indicates 2 people are now available as partners and this requires the to create a story for the end of the relationship that leaves them in a favourable light as potential partners

Answer 21

A

phase 1 : intra - psychic phase
threshold - i can’t stand this anymore
this stage the individual feels burdened by feelings of resentment and a sense of being under- benefitted
the individual may not say that they are dissatisfied to their partner but might express discontentment in other ways
they weight their thought up privately and go through the pros and cons of the relationship and evaluate them against the alternatives

phase 2 : dyadic phase
threshold - i would be justified in withdrawing
forces on the interpersonal processes between the 2 partners . their comes a point where they can no longer avoid talking about their relationship and their is a series of confrontations in which the relationship is discussed and dissatisfaction are aired
feeling of anger and guilt are likely to surface
their are 2 outcomes break up of a desire to repair it
self disclosure might become more frequent in this stage as partners express the thoughts and feeling that let have been withholding during the previous phase
couples become aware of the forces that bind them together ( children and other investments ) and the cost that would be incurred should the relationship be terminated

phase 3 : social phase - partners disclose their problems to others - friends and family and they start to pick side and down friends provide reinforcement and reassurance

phase 4 : grave dressing phase - each partner comes to term with the breakdown and rationalises it by constructing a narrative of events