Formation - created from Mind Map

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REWARD/NEED SATISFACTION THEORY

attraction to those satisfying & gratifying to be with.

seek rewarding stimuli & avoid punishing stimuli. (produce positive or negative feelings)

rewards reflect our unmet needs.

mutual attraction is when each partner meets the other's needs, e.g. financial security or companionship.

operant conditioning: repeat behaviour that leads to desirable outcome.

Byrne & Clore: enter relationship as some people are directly associated with reinforcement i.e create positive feelings

participants evaluated on creative task & asked to rate liking of experimenter. Rating was highest when receiving positive feedback i.e. rewarded (importance of reward)

early stage, intense romantic love associated with elevated levels of activity in subcortical reward regions of the brain rich in dopamine

meeting someone during a happy mood means they become positively valued due to association to pleasant event. (classical conditioning)

when positives outweighed negatives, relationship was more likely to develop & succeed

research asked males to watch happy or sad film and interact with a female. more positive interaction came from those watching the happy film.

others asked females to rate photos of males while pleasant or unpleasant music played, giving similar results.

deterministic i.e determined by factors beyond our control e.g. formation as an unconscious process based on learned association

in other cultures women are more focused on needs of others rather than receiving reinforcement. Theory not universal explanation & culturally biased.

research showed reward level was superior to other factors in determining relationship satisfaction However, theory only explores receiving rewards, Hays found we gain satisfaction from giving as well.

fundamentally selfish view of people only trying to satisfy their own needs while many have genuine concerns for needs of others.

SIMILARITY

sort people for dissimilarity: avoid those whose personality/attitudes are too different from their own.

attitude alignment occurs: modify attitudes to be more similar when disagreeing.

research demonstrates people are more likely attracted to those with similar personality traits than dissimilar or complementary

there are exceptions but this is the rule, particularly in long term relationships

research found married couples that are similar tend to be happier than couples with less similar personalities

research found people first attracted to each other based on similarity, then those who discovered more dissimilarities over time became less attracted to each other. Suggests dissimilarity rather than similarity is more important factor in determining whether a relationship will develop.

research only looks at attitudes & personality which is a very narrow view of factors important in relationship formation. other factors such as physical condition, economic level are equally important finding people often chose partners with similar levels of body fat.

lab experiment: participants told of traits of stranger & whether they liked the participant or not. Similar people were liked more and liking was more likely to be reciprocated.

only 56 participants small sample

highly controlled & lacks mundane realism i.e would not happen when meeting someone first time.

SOCIOBIOLOGICAL EXPLANATION

relationship as form of survival efficiency with different focus between genders.

males are not certain of paternity so best strategy to further their genes is to have multiple partners.

look for signs of fertility in women like smooth skin, and sexual faithfulness as don't want to bring up another man's child.

females certain of maternity

seek to ensure offspring are genetically strong & healthy and select males on characteristics reflecting genetic fitness.

look for kindness ( willing to share resources)

presumes heterosexuality, desire for children, and that all relationships are sexual, so is oversimplified. ( what about internet relationships?)

supports gender stereotypes of housebound women & sexually promiscuous males.

relevant to the EEA but not modern environment where women now have resources of their own and don't need to rely on men for resources.

deterministic, disregards role of free will in relationship formation.

research on personal ads found men look for health and attractiveness while offering wealth and resources and women look for resources and status and offer youth and beauty.

reductionist, seeing relationships as means for reproduction , disregarding other reasons for romantic relationships e.g. companionship

Formation