Reward/Need Satisfaction Theory AO2

Reward/Need Satisfaction Theory AO2

1. Supporting Research

   • GRIFFITT AND GUAY: Participants asked to do a creative task and evaluated by experimenter. Then asked to rate experimenter. Those who has been positively evaluated (rewarded) rated the experimenter highly. Also supports classical conditioning as when asked to rate an onlooker, those who performed well and had a positive experience rated more highly.
   • ARON et al : used MRI scans to investigate brain activity of 17 individuals in love. Asked to rate how in love they were. Dopamine activity was greater when shown picture of lover rather than just a friend. Activity correlated with love rating prior. Shows we form relationships with those who provide reward (dopamine)

2. Deterministic

   • Suggests that when people provide reinforcement or are positively associated then we will form a relationship. Not always the case.

3. Ethnocentric

   • Collectivist cultures don't have the same emphasis on reward. Helping others can be considered rewarding, rather than personal gain.
   • Arranged mariages are not based on positive associations but does lik to rewards such as famil ties and financial reasons

4. Mundane Realism

   • Most studies in this area are laboratory studies and therefore do not necessarily show the theory applies to real life situations

5. Gender Bias

   • LOTT: suggests many women are more focused on the needs of others rather than recieving reinforcement themselves
   • HAYS: we gain satisfaction from giving as well as recieveing