Family theory- exam 3

social exchange theory- discuss the information presented in the History section of the book chapter.

■ Social exchange theory grows out of behaviorism and economics

■ Early scholars believed behavior is shaped by rewards (positive outcomes) and punishments/costs (negative outcomes)

■ Human relationships were viewed through a cost-benefit lens, similar to

economic transactions.

Key early theorists- Social exchange theory

■ George Homans (1958)

●Considered one of the founders of social exchange theory

●Argued that social behavior is an exchange of rewards and cots

●Claimed people stay in relationships when rewards outweigh costs

■ John Thibaut and Harold Kelley (1959, 1978)

●Expanded exchange theory into interdependence theory

● introduced ideas like comparison level (CL) and comparison level

of alternatives (CLalt)

●Emphasized that partners influence each other’s outcomes

■ Peter blau (1964)

●Applied exchange ideas to larger social systems, not just couples

●Offered sociological explanations for power, inequality, and

reciprocity

■ Richard Emerson (1976)

●Highlighted power dynamics in exchange

●power=control over resources and dependence of others

○How the theory entered family science

■ By the 1970s, family scholars used exchange theory to explain:

●Why people partner, marry, and stay together

●How they evaluate investments and alternatives

●How fairness and reciprocity influence family stability

■ Nye (1979) summarized and organized exchange theory for family life,

connecting the theory to marital choice, parenthood, and communication

Historical takeaways- social exchange theory

■ The theory has evolved from a simple reward-cost model to a complex

relational framework that considers communication, culture, investments,

alternatives and fairness

■ Despite critiques, social exchange theory remains widely used because it

explains may aspects of romantic relationships, family decision-making,

power, and caregiving.

Cost-benefit analysis:

Evaluating relationships based on rewards versus

costs

Comparison level: 

How people compare what they’re receiving in a

relationship to what they think they deserve.

Comparison level of alternatives:

 evaluating potential alternative

relationships or choices

Reciprocity: 

the expectations of give and take in relationships

1.Comparison levels

● How satisfied you are in a relationship based on who you compare

yourself to

● includes “comparison levels of alternatives” (your perception of

potential relationship choices)

 Cost in relationships

●Investment costs: Resources spend now for future benefits

● Direct costs: Actual expenses (rent, food, healthcare)

● Opportunity costs: What you give up by choosing one option over

another

Types of commitment

● Personal commitment: emotional attraction, love

● Moral commitment: based on values and beliefs

● Structural commitment: driven by societal expectations

Basic assumptions

■ Self-interest: everything we do is motivated by our own self-interest

■ Rationality: people make decisions through rational calculation, not

emotional impulses

■ Constraint of existence: people’s choices are limited by their

circumstances and opportunities

■ Opportunity constraints: relationships and choices are influenced by who

is around you and what opportunities are available.

■ 1. People seek relationships that maximize rewards and minimize costs

■ 2. Individuals are rational decision makers

■ 3. People compare their current relationship to potential alternatives

■ 4. Relationships are characterized by interdependence and reciprocity

■ 5. People want to feel equally benefited in a relationship

critiques of the theory

○Assumes people always make rational choices

○Doesn’t account for emotions or cultural differences

○Oversimplifies complex relationship dynamics

○Applies economic models too rigidly to human relationships

key findings in article

○ Incarceration significantly increases the likelihood of union dissolution. The study

found that being incarcerated nearly doubles the hazard of a romantic

relationship ending.

○ Black couples experience the highest rates of post-incarceration breakup. Their

union dissolved faster and more frequently compared to white and hispanic

couples.

○ Hispanic and white couples showed similar, lower risks of dissolution. Both

groups had significantly more stable unions following incarceration than black

couples.

○ Marriage acts as a strong protective factor. Married couples were less likely to

break up than cohabiting couples because marriage creates stronger

investments and barriers to leaving.

○Having a child together reduces breakup risk. Shared parenting responsibilities

and emotional bonds helped keep couples together after incarceration

Attachment theory- History

John bowlby

■ Founder of attachment theory

■ Studied children separated from parents (War, hospitals, orphanages)

■ Found separation caused emotional problems : Protest → despair →

detachment

■ Concluded early separation can harm long-term development●

■ Believed attachment is instinctive and evolved for survival

■ Influenced by Lorenz’s imprinting studies

■ Wrote major volumes establishing attachment theory

Mary Ainsworth

■ Considered a cofounder of attachment theory

■ Influenced by William Blatz’s security theory (secure base idea)

■ Worked with Bowlby at Tavistock clinic observing seperation reactions

■ Created the Strange situation procedure

■ SSP allowed identification of attachment styles: secure, avoidant,

ambivalent

■ Showed that maternal sensitivity shapes quality of attachment

Why Ainsworth’s work mattered

■ Added scientific methods to Bowlby’s observational research

■ Showed attachment can be measured using behavior in structured

situations

■ Demonstrated that a caregiver’s responsiveness promotes secure

attachment

Expansion to adult attachment

■ Bowlby believed attachment exists “from the cradle to the grave”

■ Hazan and Shaver applied attachment theory to adult romantic love

■ Identified adult patterns that parallel infant attachment: secure, anxious,

avoidant

■ Showed early childhood attachment influences adult intimacy and

relationship behaviors

Overall importance

■ Attachment theory developed through decades of research and

collaboration

■ Initially focused on infants by now explains relationships across the life

span

■ Combined insights from psychiatry, ethology, developmental psychology,

and clinical research.

key terms - attachment

■ Attachment

●An enduring emotional bond with a significant person

●First formed with primary caregivers; continues in adult

relationships

■ Attachment behavior

●Behaviors that seek closeness (crying, clinging, calling, texting)

●Activates during stress or separation

■ Attachment sensitivity

● How easily someone forms emotional attachments

● In adults, reflects openness to bonding with others○

■ Attachment styles

● Secure - explores freely; comforted by caregiver’s return

● Avoidant – avoids closeness; caregiver often rejecting.

●Ambivalent/Resistant – clingy, anxious; caregiver inconsistent.

●Disorganized – confused or contradictory behavior; often linked to

trauma.

■ Adult attachment styles

●Secure: comfortable with intimacy and dependence.

●Avoidant: uncomfortable with closeness; distrustful.

●Anxious/Ambivalent: fears abandonment; overly dependent.

■ Bartholomew’s adult attachment model

●Based on model of self (postive/negative) and model of other

(positive/negative)

● Four types: secure, preoccupied, dismissing, fearful

■ Secure base

● Caregiver provides safety so child can explore the world

confidently

■ Safe haven

●Turning to the attachment figure for comfort during stress

■ Proximity maintenance

●Desire to be physically or emotionally close to the attachment

figure

■ Attachment system

●Internal system motivating closeness for survival and emotional

security

■ Internal working models

●Mental representation of self and others based on early caregiver

interactions

●Influence expectations, emotions, and behaviors in later

relationships

basic assumptions- attachment

■ Humans are biologically wired to seek attachment with caregivers for

safety and survival

■ Early caregiver interactions shape internal working models that influence

relationships across the life span

■ Sensitive, responsive caregiving → secure attachment; inconsistent or

rejecting caregiving → insecure attachment

■ The attachment system is activated during stress, fear, illness, or

separation

■ A secure base allows for exploration and independent functioning

■ Attachment patterns formed in infancy tend to persist into adulthood,

shaping romantic relationships and emotional regulation●

■ People differ in attachment style because of different early experiences

with caregivers

■ Attachment is relevant from “cradle to grave”; meaning it applies to infants

, adolescents, adults, and couples

■ Relationships serve two major functions:

●Safe haven (comfort in distress)

●Secure base (support to explore)

■ Adult intimacy involves reciprocity, where both partners give and receive

care

■ Attachment affects thoughts, emotions, and behaviors, especially during

conflict or vulnerability.

Be able to articulate the difference between how attachment is conceptualized for

children vs. adults.

For children

■ 1. Attachment is primarily biological/survival based

● Focused on physical needs

Describe the Attachment Styles for Children and for Adults

Children

■ Secure: Comfort with caregiver, distress when separated, easily soothed

upon return

■ Insecure resistant: clings to caregiver, extreme distress upon separation,

resists comfort.

■ Insecure avoidant: avoids caregiver, shows little distress upon separation,

limited emotional response.

■ Disorganized: contradictory, fearful behavior toward caregiver.

○

Adult

■ Secure: comfortable with intimacy and autonomy- values close

relationships

■ Preoccupied (anxious-ambivalent): carves closeness but fears

abandonment

■ Dismissive avoidant: prefers independence, minimizes emotional

closeness

■ Fearful avoidant: desires closeness but fears rejection, avoids intimacy

Discuss an individual’s internal working model for each style.

For children

■ Secure: self and others are trustworthy and dependable

■ Insecure resistant: Self is unworthy; others are inconsistent

■ Insecure avoidant: Self is independent; others are unreliable or rejecting

■ Disorganized: Self is unloveable; others are frightening or unpredictable

For adults (model of self?)

■ Secure: Positive

■ Preoccupied (anxious-ambivalent): Negative

■ Dismissive avoidant: Positive●

■ Fearful-avoidant: Negative

Describe the three components of Trust-Based Relational Intervention and each of the subcomponents.

Connecting

■ Engagement strategies

●Behavioral matching

●Playful engagement

●Mindfulness strategies

Your attachment style

Empowering

■ Physiological strategies

●Hydration

●Blood sugar

●Sensory needs

●Proprioceptive

●Vestibular

■ Ecological strategies

●Transitions

●Scaffolding

● daily rituals

Correcting

■ Proactive strategies

●Choices

●Compromises

●Sharing power

●Life value terms

■ Responsive strategies

●IDEAL

●Immediate

●Direct

●Efficient

●Action-based

● Leveled at the behavior

Be able to articulate critiques of the theory- attachment

Cultural limitations

■ Mentions attachment theory as “universal”

, but critics argue that the

theory is largely based on Western, predominantly white, middle-class

sample

■ The attachment styles may not fully capture the nuanced relationship

dynamics in different cultural contexts.

○Oversimplification of complex relationships

■ The theory reduces complex human relationships into a few categorial

styles (secure, preoccupied, avoidant)

■ Peoples attachment behaviors are more fluid, especially under stress,

which isn’t fully captured by these rigid categories

○ Over-emphasis on early childhood:

■ Specifically notes a “sensitive period” in early childhood for attachment

formation

■ Critics argue this overlooked the potential for significant psychological

growth, healing, and relationship pattern changes in later life.

○ Research methodology concerns

■ Notes that research in this field is “emerging” and sometimes

contradictory

■ This suggest potential methodological weakness in how attachment is

studied and interpreted

chapter 8 sample reading key findings- attachment

■ Insecure adult attachment styles in both mothers and fathers are linked to

lower sensitivity and greater harsh intrusiveness in their parenting.

■ Household disorganization is associated with less sensitive and more

intrusive parenting for both mothers and fathers, even after accounting for

other factors

■ Household instability (like frequent moves or changes in caregivers) is

also related to lower-quality parenting, but disorganization shows the

strongest and consistent effects.

■ For mothers with a dismissive attachment style, high levels of household

disorganization particularly intensify caregiving difficulties, leading to

especially low sensitivity and high intrusiveness.

■ Overall, the results support an attachment style model, where insecure

attachment acts as a vulnerability that is activated by the stress of chaotic

home environments, resulting in poorer parenting behaviors.

Describe the differences between the waves of feminism.

○1st wave

■ Equal rights for women (right to vote)

■ Margaret mead

●groundbreaking research on gender roles and adolescence across

different cultures

2nd wave

■ Equal pay

● Work full time

●Year round

■ Job training

■ Maternity leave

■ Subsidized childcare

■ Branches

3rd wave

■ Identity

Women in US earn .85 cents for every $1 earned by men.

●Defined by our relationships with others

●Intersectionality

Discuss the differences between the branches of feminism

○Liberal

■ Moderate view of feminism

■ Focuses on equal career opportunity

■ Advocates for the right to pursue any career path regardless of sex

■ Seeks equal opportunity in the workforce

○Marxist

■ Takes a more radical approach

■ Critiques patriarchy extensively

■ Argues that within a family structure, women are destined to be

oppressed

■ Some radical branches even argue against the existence of families

○Radical

■ Similar to Marxist in its critique of patriarchy

■ Believes that family structures inherently lead to women being

second-class citizens

■ Advocates for dismantling traditional family structures

○Cultural

■ Considered a more conservative view

■ Focuses on valuing different roles equally

■ Argues that the problem isn’t the existence of masculine and feminine

categories

■ Seeks to place an equal value on traditionally masculine and feminine

roles (valuing a stay at home mother as much as a CEO)

○Socialist

■ Combines socialist and feminist theories

■ Argues that women’s oppression is fundamentally linked to capitalist

economic systems

■ Believes that gender inequality is deeply interconnected with economic

exploitation

■ Focuses on how capitalism creates and perpetuates gender-based

discrimination

■ Advocates for systemic economic and social exchanges to achieve true

gender equality

■ Emphasizes the importance of addressing both class and gender

inequalities simultaneously

What was the contribution of the 3rd wave?

○A shift away from collective activism

■ The chapter states that the strong social activism that defined the second

wave “has not existed in this third wave of feminism”

■ This suggests a shift in how feminists engage with political or social

change.

○Addressing the stigma surrounding feminism

■ The chapter explains that feminism still carries a stigma in the US and

other countries.

■ Third-wave feminists continually work against negative stereotypes and

resistance to the term “feminist”

○Beginning to include men in Feminist work

■ The chapter notes that some men feel excluded from feminism

■ However, it emphasizes that men must be involved for real social equality

■ The third wave opens space for men to explore privilege and participate in

feminism.

○Moving toward intersectionality

■ While intersectionality is covered throughout the chapter, it is part of the

evolving feminist movement (later waves, including the third)

■ The chapter emphasiuzes expanding feminism so it does not focus only

on gender by also on:

●Race

●Class

●Sexuality

●Disability

●Global perspectives

○Evolving toward more inclusive futures

■ The chapter ends by saying that the future of feminism is uncertain and

depends on continuing work from both women and men.

■ This reflects the third wave’s contribution of broadening the movement

beyond one group and pushing feminism into new social contexts.

Know the key terms and basic assumptions

○Assumptions

■ Women's perspective and feelings are central to understanding families

■ Gender is socially constructed, families are a primary agent of gender role

transmission

■ Social and historical contexts are important

●Definition of families

●Multiple forms of families

○Long term cohabiting couples

○Single parents and their children

○Multigenerational families

■ Science is not value free

Values influence the questions that we ask

Values influence how we interpret findings

key terms

■ Sex: Refers to one’s biological assignment as genetically defined at

birth-male or female

■ Gender: Social meanings and behavior ascribed to one’s sex, particularly

with regard to roles and behaviors expected of someone because of one’s

sex.

■ Feminist: Refers to a point of view that sees women as (1) exploited,

devalued and often oppressed, (2) is committed to changing the condition

of women, and (3) adopts a critical perspective toward intellectual

traditions that have ignored and/or justified women’s oppression.

■ Categorization: The process of applying labels to behaviors and roles

according to one's sex. For example, certain behaviors, roles. Words, and

symbols are considered “male” (e.g., aggression, playing with trucks,

“strong”, the colour blue.), whereas others are considered “female” (e.g.,

being nice, ballet,“soft”, the colour pink).

■ Stratification:refers to the application of value to different categories

(example is it better to be nice or aggressive?In the first grade classes of

most elementary schools, it is probably better to be nice and girls may be

treated more positively than boys by their teachers and peers in that

social context.)

■ Privilege: Refers to the social status given to one with more power and

value in society

■ Social deconstruction:How views of reality are constructed by social

interactions, particularly in light of how gendered meanings are developed

is social deconstruction.

■ Social discourse: Raises awareness of the analysis into the work of social

scientists by examining the ways in which we invite people to participate

in the dialogue of deconstruction, ensuring that those who do not have

privilege are included.

■ Praxis: Beliefs and values are put into action

Be able to articulate critiques of the theory- attachment

○Overemphasizes gender

○Does it allow us to adequately address men’s roles and experiences?

○Focus on activism

■ Facilitating change, rather than researching a phenomenon

■ Works against traditional nuclear families

summarize ch 9 sample reading

• Chinese immigrant mothers’ career paths are strongly shaped by childcare responsibilities, leading many to delay careers, reduce hours, or change occupations to accommodate caregiving.

○ Employment barriers such as language difficulties, non-recongition of foreign

credentials, and discrimination intersect with gender and immigration status to

push mothers into precarious or downgraded jobs

○ Social support from spouses, extended family, peers, and community agencies

can ease childcare and employment strain, but immigration often disrupted these

networks, increasing isolation and stress

○ Accessible, affordable, and culturally sensitive childcare and community

programs are crucial for improving mothers’ employment opportunities and

overall well-being.

adaptation

is the ability to change or increase the level of fitness to improve the chances of survival with greater numbers of offspring. 

fitness

refers to the ability to fit within the environment

Proximate

causes, literally meaning nearby or in close proximity, are the day-to-day interactions that take place during regular family life

Ultimate

causes are those things that happened in our evolutionary history.

Distal

or intermediate causes represent how the two interrelate 

Natural selection

explains our evolutionary past because it is through adaptation that those genes most able to ensure survival were passed along to the next generation. This is known as survival of the fittest. 

 

basic assumption- biosocial

• The evolutionary origin of humans has been impacted by families, while families have also influenced the evolution of humans. 

• The genetic predispositions of individual members influence the family and, conversely, the family influences the health and well-being of its members 

• Biosocial influences are composed of the biological, the social, and the biosocial. 

• “Human biological and biosocial variables do not determine human conduct but pose limitations and constraints as well as possibilities and opportunities for families” 

• Our environment influences the adaptions of our physiology. 

• We can trace our evolutionary history to determine why adaptations were made. 

• Although you can look at proximate, distal, and ultimate levels individually, we have a more accurate representation by looking at them together 

Critiques of theory- biosocial

• there is disagreement over the basic tenets of the theory and which of its principles are most important. 

• is that although it makes intuitive sense that both nature and nurture are important, it is difficult to disentangle the two in research designs. 

• the issue of subjects’ willingness to participate in a study on personality that requires blood and urine samples