The formation of Relationships

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What do sociobiological explanations suggest?
Who have adaptive behaviors reproduce more frequently
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What would be the same and what would occur?
evolutionary pressure for men and women would not be the same and universal sex related preferences for relationship formation should have occured
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What does Parental investment look at?
The amount of time each sex spends in the reproductive process and caring for offspring
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What do women do more?
They invest more time, in both creation and caring for young offpring
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In comparison to whom?
Men who provide their part with relatively little cost
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Thus what makes sense using this hypothesis?
Women are pickier with whom they form a relationship with
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What do women also seek?
evolutionarily significant characteristics
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What do these entail?
provide resources to support them and their offspring, such as money and status
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What do men seek?
physical characteristics associated with fertility (youth, shiny hair, hourglass figure)
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What can initial physical attractiveness lead to?
positive stereotyping and the halo effect?
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What is the halo effect?
Attractive people are also secually warmer and more socially skilled
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Who conducted this experiment?
Feingold
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So what?
We form relationships with attractive people
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Who conducted evidence to support this theory?
Dunbar and Waynforth
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What did they find out?
42% of males sought a youthful mate and 44% also sought a physically attractive partner
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What were they for women?
They were halved
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What did women advertise?
Their attractiveness
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What did men highlight?
their economic status
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What does it suggest?
evolutionary significant characteristics in relationship formation can be backed up
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However what could one argue?
the validity of information in relationship research is weak
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why?
People might lie to avoid embarrasment
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If so what happens to support to the sociobiological explanations?
It is weakened as research does not paint a true picture of real relationship formation
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What is a weakness of sociobiologial explanations of relationship formation?
They have ethical implications
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Why?
It endorses behaviour that allows secual priveldges and freedoms for men that women are declined
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For example?
It provides an excuse to men who cheat on their partners- as it is just a biological drive to procreate and pass on their genes
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Therefore?
the theory must be applied cautiously to humans as eople have evolved to become much more complex animals
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That?
Can control their sexual urges in most cases
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What do Social exchange theory do?
rejects these ideas(nature)
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What does it assume?
All people want to form a relationship that maximise the benefits of a relationship and minimise its costs
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What can rewards include?
being cared for, companionship and sex
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What is costs?
financial input, the requirement for commitment and time spent in a relationship
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Once profits and costs have been calculated you are left with ?
an outcome
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What does this affect?
the level of commitment to a relationship that the people involved will make
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Who found supporting evidence?
Thibaut and Kelly
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What did they suggest?
People also calculate whether to form a relationship by using a comparison level
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What is this?
A standard against which all relationships are judged
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Based on what?
Past experiences
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What happens if we meet a person who exceeds CL?
A relationship will form
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What hapens if the results is negative?
A relationship will not form
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When else is the comparison level used?
Whilst in a relationship to determine the potential benefits of forming a new relationship with someone else
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When will a new relationship form?
If the profit level is significantly higher than in the current relationship.
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What other evidence supports Social exchange theory?
Simpson et al
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How does he support SET?
looking at how people rate the opposite sex in regards to attractiveness
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What did he find?
PPs already in a relationship rated people as less attractive than single pps
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This lower comparison level for alternatives when already in a relationship means that?
No new relationships will be formed as there would potentially be too many costs in leaving the current relationship
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What does this suggest?
SET is strengthened as an explanation of relationship formation
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However what could one argue?
Studies into relationship formation are limited as support
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Why?
They are completed in individualist/western cultures and hence are culturally biased
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What is a limitation of these explanations of relationship formation?
They are reductionist
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What does this mean?
Such as proximity or the notion of fairness between the two individuals, leading to quity
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What does this mean?
explanations are an oversimplified view of relationship formation
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What do these explanations also only relate to?
romantic relationships
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What about?
Friendships, between parents and children and extended families
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What does the matching hypothesis do?
Extend and combine the views of both the above explanations
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What does this suggest?
we form relationships with people who are of similar attractiveness to ourselves
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rather than who?
the most attractive partner
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What does this theory include?
the elements of the sociobiological explanation, such as attractiveness, SET
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What will be minimised?
the potential costs of rejection from a potentially more attractive partner
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Therefore what?
We should be looking at a combination of these explanations to form a more holistic view of relationship formation
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

What would be the same and what would occur?

Back

evolutionary pressure for men and women would not be the same and universal sex related preferences for relationship formation should have occured

Card 3

Front

What does Parental investment look at?

Back

Preview of the front of card 3

Card 4

Front

What do women do more?

Back

Preview of the front of card 4

Card 5

Front

In comparison to whom?

Back

Preview of the front of card 5
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