Relationships

What did Darwin propose about human reproductive behaviour?

evolved through process of sexual selection

As comp for access to mates influenced the evolution of behavioural and physical characteristics in early humans in EEA

How did a characteristic become exaggerated over time?

if a particular characteristic became established as a universal preference amongst females

males with this characteristic experienced greater reproductive success

What two types of sexual selection did Darwin identify?

Intersexual and intrasexual

Which type of selection is the preferred strategy of females and males?

females - intersexual

Males - intrasexual

What does intersexual selection involve?

Being choose as she has more to lose if she makes wrong choice

There’s More consequences so female needs to choose genetically fit partner

Who is able and willing to provide resources

What has intersexual selection led to ?

The evolution of courtship displays in males

What does intrasexual selection involve?

competition between members of one sex attempting to impress members of opposite sex

In order to gain access to best quality mate

Winner reproduces and passes on his characteristics to offspring that led to his victory

What has intrasexual selection led to?

evolution of greater muscaculture and lower threshold for aggression in males

What is a competition of sexual selection?

males evolved a greater desire than females to engage in short term mating as

male reproductive success is determined by quantity not quality of females they impregnate

Not evolved in females as mating with poor quality male may have led to poor quality offspring and damage to reputation

What does the evolutionary explanations of partner preferences suggest ?

females evolved to be more discriminatory about the genetic quality of potential mate as they have lower reproductive capacity than males

So evolved to be most attracted to mates who display indicators of robust genes and indicators of their ability to provide resources and protection for her and offspring

What are some characteristic females evolved to be attracted to and why?

Tall - imposing figure and can provide protection

Muscles/fit body - is healthy and can collect and provide resources for women

Kind - will share their resources with women and offspring

what are characteristics that males are attracted to in females and why?

females who display indicators of fertility

Waist to hip ratio

If women is fertile means she is physically able to carry children and produce children for the man

Why does physical attractiveness influence attraction?

Acc to evolutionary theory its an important cue to women’s health and reproductive value

How do men and women rely on physical attractiveness?

women rely on PA for short relationships, but less concerned when it comes to long term

Men rely on PA for long term

What does the Halo effect suggest?

PA influences attraction cuz we have preconceived ideas about personality traits attractive ppl must have

What are physically attractive ppl consistently rated as?

strong, kind, sociable and successful compared to unattractive ppl

Having these traits makes them more attractive to us, so we behave positively towards them

Who created the matching hypothesis?

Walster et al

What does matching hypothesis suggest?

ppl choose romantic partners who are of similar physical attractions to them

Indv asses their own value in eyes of potential partner and select best available candidate who would be attracted to them

Why can mismatching be a problem?

couples who dont match have less successful relationships

As less attractive partner may be anxious the other person will leave them for better match

What’s the role of realistic choices in relationship formation?

ppl make realistic choices.

They weight up desirability of potential partner with the probability that they will want them,

What is self disclosure?

revealing personal info about yourself

Self disclosures about ones deepest thoughts and feeling can strengthen a romantic bond when used appropriately

Who created the social penetration theory ?

Altman and Taylor

What is social penetration?

process of revealing your inner self to someone, or giving away your deepest thoughts and feeelings.

In doing so, one displays trust

To progress, the other must reveal sensitive info

As they disclose more info, partner gain a greater understanding of other

What does social penetration theory suggest?

self disclosure is an important factor in attraction

What is self disclosure like at the beggining of a relationship?

Revelations start off being very superficial (low risk info we would reveal to anyone)

Breadth is narrow cuz many topics r off limits in early stages and if we reveal too much too soon it may threaten relationship before it gets going

What is self disclosure like as a relationship develops?

becomes deeper as we reveal more of true selves and important things to us

Willing to reveal intimate, high risk info eg painful memories

Who says there needs to be a reciprocal element to disclosure for a relationship to develop?

Reins and Shaver

How does reciprocal self disclosure work?

once person has disclosed something about their true self, hopefully partner responds in rewarding way with understanding, empathy and their own intimate info

So there’s balance of self disclosure between partners which deepens relationships

What does filter theory state?

different factors progressively limit the range of available romantic partners to a much smaller pool of possibilities

What are the 3 filters?

1st - social demography

2nd - Similarity in attitudes

3rd - Complementarity

What is the role of social demography?

social and demographic variables eg age background

Usually happens without us being aware of it

Meet ppl who are similar through school/work

We find them more attractive as have more in common with them

What is the role of similarity in attitudes?

when ppl share attitudes and beliefs, communication is easy and relationship progresses

Who is filtered out in stage 2? Who gets through?

ppl with varying attitudes and beliefs are filtered out

Ppl who get through are those we have something in common with

Why is complementarity important?

Cuz finding someone who complements your needs ensures your own needs met

If marriages are to work

What does complementarity mean in the long term?

ppl will be attracted to those whose needs are harmonious rather than conflicting with them

Who created filter theory?

Kerchkoff and Davis

What does filter theory suggest?

ppl use a number of different filters to narrow down range of PP from field of availables to a field of desirables

What is social exchange theory?

A theory of how relationships form and develop. It assumes that romantic partners act out of self interest in exchanging rewards and costs

Who created SET?

Thibault and Kelly

What does SET suggest?

Relationships are maintained if each partner perceives the outcome of the relationship to be profitable.

Both partners strive to maximise rewards and minimised costs

What are some benefits and costs of being relationship?

Benefits - loved, companionship, sex, reliability

Costs - money, arguments, boredom

What are the stages through relationships are maintained?

Sampling

Bargaining

Commitment

Institutionalisation

What happens during sampling?

We explore the rewards and costs of social exchange by experimenting with them in our own relationships, or by observing others doing so

What happens during bargaining?

At the beggining of relationship, partners start exchanging various rewards and costs

Identifying what is most profitable

What happens during commitment?

the sources of costs and rewards become more predictable, and the relationship becomes more stable as rewards increase and costs lessen

What happens during institutionalisation?

Partners settled down as rewards and costs are firmly established

What is comparison level?

The amount of reward you beleive you deserve to get

People feel a relationship is worth pursuing if comparison level is equal to or better than what you experienced in your previous relationship

What is comparison level based on?

Previous romantic relationships and cultural norms of what is appropriate to expect from relationships.

Norms influence by books, films, TV

Self esteem plays role. Ppl with low self esteem have low CL as low expectations.

What is comparison level for alternatives ?

Persons perception of whether other potential relationships would be more rewarding than being in their current relationship

People will stick to their current relationship as long as they find them more profitable than alternatives