736946
Rewards/ Needs Satisfaction Theory
- AO1
- Behavioural
approach
- Attracted to
people who
can satisfy
out unmet
needs
- Operant conditioning
- Rewards produce
positive feelings.
Learn to find the
person attractive
through
reinforcement of
the reward.
- Repeat any
behaviour that
leads to a desirable
outcome. So we
spend more time
with that person
- Rewards produce
positive feelings.
Learn to find the
person attractive
through
reinforcement of
the reward.
- Classical conditioning
- Associate
individual with
pleasant event.
Person creates
positive feelings.
Seek their
company more
often
- Associate
individual with
pleasant event.
Person creates
positive feelings.
Seek their
company more
often
- Balance between positive + negative
feelings are important. Positive
feelings must outweigh the negative for
a relationship to form
- Mutual attraction occurs
when both individuals
needs are met
- Behavioural
approach
- AO2
- Griffit + Guay
- Support the reward part of RSN theory
- Found that participants who were
positively evaluated (rewarded)
rated the experimenter high on
how much they liked them.
- Shows that
rewards are
important in
determining
relationship
formation
- However it is a
laboratory study so
lacks mundane realism
+ cannot be generalised
or applied to real life
- Support the reward part of RSN theory
- Sheldon et al.
- Supports the need satisfaction
part of RNS theory
- Relationally 'connected'
people used Facebook
because their sociability
motivated them
- Relationally 'disconnected' people
used Facebook as a coping strategy
- Shows that humans
are social beings +
need companionship.
Fulfilling our needs is
important in forming
a relationship
- Contemporary
study + links to
dating websites
(uniform dating).
Findings can be
applied to real life.
- Supports the need satisfaction
part of RNS theory
- Aron et al.
- Supporting physiological evidence for an
evolutionary adaption in forming relationships
- Found those measured high on a
self-report questionnaire of romantic love
showed strong activity in the ventral
tegmental (rewards part of the brain)
- Suggests that the brain
reward system associated
with romantic love evolved
to drive our ancestors
courtship energy on specific
individuals as this speeds up
the mating process.
- Shows that rewards are necessary when
forming relationships and is an evolutionary
adaption to help pass on genes.
- Supporting physiological evidence for an
evolutionary adaption in forming relationships
- Lott
- Criticises RNS theory as it cannot
explain cultural + gender
differences in relationship formation
- Found that in
many cultures
women are
more focused
on the needs of
others rather
then receiving
reinforcement
- RNS theory does not take into
account these differences
- Suggests that RNS theory is gender + culturally biased
+ ethnocentric so it is not a universal explantation
- Criticises RNS theory as it cannot
explain cultural + gender
differences in relationship formation
- Griffit + Guay
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