Issues And Debates In Relation To Other Topics

Issues And Debates In Relation To Other Topics

1. Relationships

   • Gender And Culture
     • Mate Preferences
       • The evolutionary theory of mate preference emphasises the difference between what each gender looks for in a person.
         • This could be an example of alpha bias. Do women and Men not look for the same characteristics like kindness and loyalty when looking for a partner?
         • There are cultures and even subcultures where arranged marraiges are successful or emphasise on wealth from both partners -This is not Western.
   • Free will and determinism
     • Evolutionary explanations for partner preferences.
       • States that we are attracted to people who offer potential to provide and care for healthy offspring and that we have no choice in that attraction.
         • This is no doubt deterministic. How much are we really in control of our partner choices?
         • However elements Such as similarities in attitudes and complimentarity would suggest an element of free will
   • Nature vs Nurture
     • The evolutionary explanations for human reproduction explanations for human reproductive behaviour vs cultural differences
       • The evolutionary stance is nativist, so any evolutionary theory for mate preference is stating the importance of genetics
       • However it can be argued that since cultural differences are found in attractiveness globally this suggest that mate preference is environmentally determined (Nurture).
   • Idiographic vs Nomathetic
     • All theories vs individual preference
       • The theories of relationship formation, maintenance and breakdown all take a nomathetic stance. They generalise across people and there is no personalisation
         • e.g. Duck's Phase model of relationship breakdown
   • Ethical Implications
     • The evolutionary explanations for human reproductive behaviour
       • e.g Brehm(1992) - Research that looks at potential problems in relationship can be devised and cause relationship breakdown.
         • Relationships as a topic have the potential for research that could effect participants negatively
         • This could make people worry about their own relationships and maybe even cause people to break up out of fear
   • Holism and Reductionism
     • Why someone chooses a partner and maintain a relationship
       • The evolutionary explanation for partner preferences is biologically reductionist because it implies there is some genetic transmission of that behaviour
       • There theories on relationship maintenance and attraction look to an interaction between 2 people- this is holistic

2. Schizophrenia

3. Forensic Psychology

   • Nature vs Nurture
   • Free will vs Determinism
   • Gender and Culture
   • Idiographic vs Nomathetic
   • Holism and Reductionism
   • Ethical Implications