Ethical Issues:

Such research into the formation/maintenance/breakdown of relationships highlights ethical issues that surround this topic area. Asking people personal questions about their romantic preferences can lead to embarrassment (protection of participants) and raises the issies of informed consent and confidentiality.

Gender Bias:

Research into the formation/maintenance/breakdown of relationships can be said to be gender biased as the majority of participants who take part in the studies are women, as they are more open about taking about their relationships. This means that, whilst the findings may be applied to females, the same cannot be said to males, and so the research suffers from gender bias.

Practical Applications:

Individuals in unsuccessful marriages report lack of positive behaviour as a key cause of dissatisfaction. So the research into SET and equity theory has provided a primary goal for relationship therapy; increase the proportion of positive acts towards your partner. This is a strength as it shows how the research actually affects real lives; it saves marriages.

	Created by hannahsmith77 about 9 years ago

Notes from booklet