Relationships

Relationships

1. Formation of Relationships 1

   • Byrne and Clore, 1970. Reward/Need Satisfaction Model
     • We are attracted to individuals that do meet our needs and expectations. If positive feelings outweighed the negatives were most likely to succeed
     • We could be indirectly rewarded through classical conditioning as some individuals may provide pleasant circumstances or pleasant events occur around them.
       • Positive moods experienced when meeting individuals may become associated with them too thus increasing likelihood of attraction
       • The positives the individual brings resulting in pleasant feelings become associated with the person themselves.
     • Operant conditioning could occur where an individual is positively reinforced with the potential partner offering pleasant stimuli
       • The potential partner may provide for social needs such as friendship or sex, furthering the likelihood of a relationship developing
     • Direct reinforcement may encourage the formation of a relationship between individuals

2. Formation of Relationships 2

   • Walster et al. Matching Hypothesis
     • People who were in similar levels of attraction, intelligence and social standing were more inclined to form relationships with each other.
     • People pair themselves with others based on their own sense of value and they look for partners with similar qualities
     • The more socially desirable a person is in terms of physical attraction, social standing and intelligence etc, the more desirable they would expect their potential partner to be

3. Relationship Maintenance 1

   • Thibaut and Kelley. Social Exchange Theory
     • The goal of the relationship is to maximise rewards and minimise costs where the best possible outcome for a relationship is sought.
     • 4 stages in the development of long-term relationships based on their model
       • In sampling, a variety of relationships are evaluated until one is selected, then bargaining occurs with them identifying sources of profit and loss within that one relationship.
         • Thirdly commitment comes where the exchange of rewards becomes predictable. Finally institutionalisation, where interactions have been fully established.
           • Underlying the four stages, individuals have comparison levels where they consider previous and other peoples relationships against their own as well as a comparison level for alternatives where they compare their relationship with other possibilities.

4. Relationship Maintenance 2

   • Walster. Equity Theory
     • Extends on the social exchange theory.
     • 1) Individuals maximise rewards and minimise negative experiences
       • 2) Couples negotiate distribution of rewards
         • 3) If the relationship is inequitable, dissatisfaction is produced
           • 4) If the person losing out thinks there is an opportunity to restore fairness they may try to re-establish equity, where the larger the feeling of inequity the more effort it is to realign.