Describe and evaluate two theories of the formation of relationships
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A-Level Psychology (PSYA3: Relationships) Mind Map on Describe and evaluate two theories of the formation of relationships, created by a a on 25/05/2016.
Describe and evaluate two theories of the formation of relationships
Reward/ Need satisfaction theory
AO1
Byrne & Clore ’70
We enter relationships as the presence of some individuals is directly associated with happiness, which makes them more attractive to us
Operant conditioning
We are attracted to people who provide us with direct reinforcement
Rewarding stimuli lead to positive feelings and punishing stimuli lead to negative feelings
Classical conditioning
We are also attracted to people who are associated with pleasant events
AO2
Griffitt and Guay
Participants were evaluated on a creative task. Those that were most complimented found the evaluator most attractive
IDA cultural bias
Theory doesn't account for cultural and gender differences in the formation of relationships, suggesting that it's not a universal explanation
Lott
Women focus on the needs of others in many societies
Caspi and Herbener
Conducted a study on real life couples and found supporting evidence
Aron
Reward pathways in brain probably evolved to speed up love in our ancestors to speed up the mating process
Sheldon
Relationally disconnected people may use Facebook to make up for a lack of face to face interaction
Similarity
AO1
Byrne, Clore and Smeaton
People first sort potential partners for dissimilarity, and avoid them. They then are most likely to choose someone similar to themselves
Personality Bersheud & Reis
People are attracted to someone with similar traits.
Caspi and Herbener
Married couples with more similarities were happier than those with less similarities
Attitudes
If partners' attitudes toward important issues differ, the process of attitude alignment may occur, as one or both partners modify their attitudes to produce similarity
AO2
Rosenbaum
Dissimilarity rather than similarity was most important in whether a relationship will develop.
Cultural variations
Singh & Tan in Singapore AND Drigotas USA, found partners with most dissimilarities became less attracted to each other
Shows good universal validity and consideration for other cultures within the theory
Yoshida
The theory ignores other factors such as physical condition and economic level
Lehr and Geher
Descriptions of an imaginary stranger had vary degrees of similarity with the participant's own attitudes
The imaginary stranger was more liked if he or she was similar to the person doing the rating (the participant)