Relationship studies

Question	Answer
Aron et al (2005)	Procedure: asked participants to rate how much in love they were and conducted MRI scans. Found: dopamine rich areas of the brain associated with rewards were further activated when participants were shown a picture of someone they loved.
May and Hamilton (1980)	Sample: Women Procedure: Participants evaluated photographs of men while listening to rock (that stimulated positive mood), modern music (that stimulated negative mood) or no music at all. Found: Participants gave more positive evaluations of personal character in the rock condition.
Walster (1966)	Sample: University students Procedure: Invited students to a "get acquainted" dance. they completed a questionnaire so a suitable partner could be picked for them (having been covertly rated for attractiveness by researchers). The pairing was done at random. Found: Pps reacted more positively to physically attractive dates regardless of their own physical attractiveness.
Walster (1969)	Procedure: Allowed pps to mix and meet naturally before the dance, increasing ecological validity. Found: Pps paired up with people perceived to be at a similar level of attractiveness as themselves.
Rusbult and Martz	Found: when investments are high (children, financial security) and alternatives are low (no money, nowhere else to live) an abusive relationship could still be considered profitable.
Simpson et al	Found: Pps already in a relationship rated other members of the opposite sex as less attractive. Lower ratings lowered the perceived profits associated with potential new partners, reducing threat to the existing relationship.
Standford and Canary	Found: Satisfaction was highest for spouses who perceived their relationships to be equitable and lowest for those who considered themselves to be relatively under benefited.
Atwater	Found: Women may have extra-marital affairs to improve marital satisfaction in response to inequity. In contrast, men's extra-marital affairs tended to be purely sexual in nature.
Huston (1973)	Found: Men were likely to choose attractive women but only if they weren't going to be rejected.
Tashiro and Frazier	Found: undergraduates reported that they'd experienced emotional distress and personal growth. Breaking up gave them insights into themselves and a clearer idea about future partners (resurrection processes).
Akert	Found: Those who didn't initiate the break up tended to be more lonely, miserable and unhappy afterwards in comparison to those who did. Shows individual differences in how people respond to the stages and the importance of dissatisfaction.
Boekhaut et al	Found: Pps judged that emotional reasons for infidelity (e.g: lack of attention, commitment and emotional satisfaction) would be more likely to be used by women whereas men's reasons were judged to be more to do with lack of sexual stimulation (e.g: sexual excitement, boredom, variety).
Cina et al	Sample: 50 couples Found: couples who received CCET (Couples Coping Enhancement Training, which aims to enhance relationship skills in distressed couples) reported much higher marital equality in comparison to controls.
Buss	Sample: 37 cultures Found: Women tended to desire mates who were "good financial prospects". This shows a desire for men with resources or qualities linked to resource acquisition (e.g: ambition). Universally, men wanted mates younger than them, an indication that men value high fertility in potential mates as a result of wide scale evolution.
Clarke and Hatfield	Found: Men (75%) showed more willingness than women (0%) to have sex with a stranger. This is evidence of an evolved psychological mechanism to ensure success in short-term mating.
Thornhill and Gangestad	Found: Female facial preferences (e.g: large jaw, prominent cheekbones) have arisen as a result of testosterone. Since this can suppress the immune system only healthy potential mates can afford to produce such traits. The male facial preference for child-like features may indicate youth and fertility.
Dixson	Found: Men in isolated populations in Tanzania and Cameroon considered hourglass figure women as sickly looking.
Buss et al	Found: Male US students indicated more concern about sexual infidelity whereas women expressed more concern about emotional infidelity.
Baker and Bellis	Procedure: Magazine survey Found: As many as 14% of the population were products of extra-marital matings. This supports the idea of cuckoldry as a result of higher maternal investment.
Geher et al	Sample: Non-parent undergraduates Found: Showed no self-report differences on the parental investment perception scale but there were differences in ANS arousal. Man had an increased heart rate when shown scenarios with parenting costs, suggesting that males are less biologically prepared to confront parenting issues.
Kirchler et al	Found: Teens who remain closely attached to family and don't develop peer relationships have difficulty establishing autonomy and engaging in adult relationships.
Suomi and Harlow	Found: The longer rhesus monkeys were denied peer interaction the more extreme their social inadequacies were as adults.
Simpson et al (attachment one)	Procedure: Self-report Found: Pps who were securely attached as infants were rated as having higher levels of social competence as children, were closer to their friends at 16 and more expressive and romantically attached to their romantic partner in early adulthood.
Hazan and Shaver	Procedure: Love quiz Found: People who were securely attached tended to have happy, long-lasting relationships. Adults who were insecurely attached found it more difficult, were more likely to be divorced and were more likely to be pessimistic about finding "true love".
Levine et al	Found: Only 14% of US pps said they'd marry someone they didn't love despite having good partner characteristics. Figures from collectivist cultures were higher.
Myers et al	Found: No differences in marital satisfaction in India when compared to individuals in non-arranged marriages in the US. Shows that voluntary relationships don't necessarily lead to unhappiness.
Epstein	Found: In some societies non-voluntary marriages work well. Divorce rates are low and spouses often report falling in love. Therefore voluntary relationships aren't necessarily better.
Xiaohe and Whyte	Found: Women in China who'd married for love felt better about their marriages than women who'd experienced arranged ones. Marrying for love seems to work in terms of marital satisfaction.

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	Created by Hazel Meades about 9 years ago