There has been significant research support
for the importance of reward in romantic
relationships.
Point
Griffit + Guay - participants were evaluated
on a task by an experimenter and then each
participant had to rate the experimenter on
how much they liked them - found higher
ratings for those who positively evaluated p's
Evidence
This shows that that reward is important when it
comes to liking someone - the more rewarding the
more likely they are to like someone
Explanation
However - cultural bias - some countries women
focus more on the needs of other rather than
reinforcement - isn't universal explanation
Conclusion
Physiological support
Aron et al - found that participants who measured high on
a self report scale for romantic love showed strong areas
of activity in the brain and intense love was associated
with elevated levels of dopamine
Evidence
Dopamine is associated with reward parts of the brain and this
shows that reward plays an important role in relationships
Explanation
There has been physiological support for the idea
that reward plays an important role in the
formation of relationships
Point
However, this can also be explained through evolution. Aron et al suggests
that the brain reward system associated with romantic love may have
evolved to drive our ancestors to focus on specific individuals. Also
suggests love at first sight was a key response to our ancestors as it
helped speed up the mating process.
Conclusion
Mundane realism
Most research carried out involves laboratory
studies - may not apply to real life - despite
Caspi + Herbener's research
Limitations on research into similarity
narrow view of factors - could be several other factors- doesn't take
economic level or physical conditions into consideration
Support through Facebook
Other support for reward and
satisfaction in relationships is
through the use of Facebook
Point
Research has shown that greater Facebook
use was positively correlated with positive
feelings - satisfied needs to reach out to
others
Evidence
This shows that people
interact because they find it
rewarding which shows that
rewards in relationships are
particularly important. Suggests
that it is associated with
positive feelings