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Summary A* AQA Psychology- relationships essay plans
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Sexual Selection & Human Reproductive BehaviourP- One strength is that there is research support for intersexual selection.
E- Clark and Hatfield sent male and female psychology students across the university campus and approached
students with the question “ I’ve noticed you’re on campus. Would you go to bed with me at night?”. None of the
Sexual selection- evolutionary explanation which suggests that desirable female students agreed on the request however, 75% of males did immediately.
characteristics which increase reproductive success (partner preference) are E- This is a strength because it supports the view that females are more choosier than males when it comes to
passed down and exaggerated through generations. selecting sexual partners and males have evolved a different strategy to maximise reproductive success.
L- Credibility
Anisogamy- difference between gametes (sex cells) leads to different mating
strategies: P- supporting evidence for anisogamy
● Sperm: highly mobile, very small, continuously produced in large E- Buss survey’s of over 10,000 adults in 33 countries found that females placed a greater value on
numbers throughout a male’s lifetime resource-related characteristics when choosing a partner whilst males chose physical attractiveness and youth as
● Egg: static, large and produced at intervals during the fertile years of a sign of strong reproductive success when choosing a partner.
a woman's life; E- This is a strength as it supports the claim that women are more selective about their partner preferences as
● Consequence= female’s viewed as a rare source which gives rise to 2 they invest more time and commitment and prefer a partner who can financially provide for them; highlighting
mating strategies the sex differences
L- a valid explanation for partner preferences.
Inter-sexual selection- (between sexes) preferred by women
● Quality > quantity P- A limitation of the evolutionary explanation is that ignore social and cultural influences.
● Trivers- Women more choosy because they have more to lose if they E- In modern society, female mate preferences may no longer be resource-oriented as women’s greater role in the
choose to get pregnant as they invest the most time and commitment workplace means that they are no longer financially dependent on men to provide for them; instead they may
● Fisher- runaway model (sexy son hypothesis)- females choose look for one who is family-orientated.
genetically fit males with desirable characteristics to pass onto their E- This is a limitation as it suggests that both evolutionary and cultural influences must be taken into account
sons and pass down the preference for the characteristics to their when explaining more modern partner preferences
daughters. L- Therefore, the failure to account for this combination suggests that sexual selection is a limited explanation for
Intra-sexual selection - within sexes, males human reproductive behaviour.
● Quantity over quality
● Compete against other males to mate as many women as possible to P- lacks explanatory power
pass on their desirable characteristics that made them victorious E- doesn’t account for couples who decide not to have children/ homosexual relationships where choice of
● Lack of postnatal responsibilities partner clearly doesn’t result in reproductive success and so doesn't have an evolutionary advantage.
● Psychological consequence: behave more aggressively to compete E- This is a limitation because the evolutionary explanation assumes that all mate preferences are as a result of
against other males and leads to certain thinking styles genetic inheritance and motivated by the desire to reproduce whilst people get into relationships for many
reasons beyond this. It also raises serious ethical issues as people may use sexual selection theory to highlight the
“abnormality” of homosexuality and create prejudice through homophobia.
L- Therefore the evolutionary explanation should be avoided when explaining human attraction
, Factors Affecting Attraction: Self-Disclosure
● Self-disclosure- revealing intimate and personal details about yourself to P- support from research findings.
your partner and can increase attraction within a relationship E- Sprecher and Hendrick, found a strong correlation between higher satisfaction levels, and greatest
self-disclosure in heterosexual couples
● Altman and Taylor’s Social penetration theory explains relationship E- This is a strength as it suggests that couples who self disclose more are more satisfied and committed to
development as by gradually revealing emotions and experiences and the relationship, supporting the importance of self disclosure and how it strengthens our relationships;
reciprocal sharing, couples gain trust and begin to penetrate more deeply supporting the central assumption.
into each other’s lives. L- Therefore self-disclosure can accurately explain the development of attraction in relationships.
● Breadth and depth- as breadth and depth increases, they become more
committed
● Onion metaphor: P- correlational.
○ Start: disclose a lot of superficial and low-risk information such as E- Sprecher and Hendrick’s study assumes greater-self disclosure creates more satisfaction (a causal link).
hobbies; breadth is narrow as many topics are off-limit and don’t However, correlations do not tell us the directions as alternative explanations are just as likely.
want to scare them off. E- This is a limitation as the use of correlational studies may mean that self-disclosure does not cause
○ Develop- disclose more intimate and high-risk information and satisfaction directly. It could be due to a third variable that may lead to a greater attraction or that
peel more layers such as personal secrets and painful memories. satisfaction may be leading to greater self-disclosure.
L- Therefore this limits the validity of the social penetration theory
● Reis and Shaver- Reciprocity is needed as well as breadth and depth to
develop a relationship P- cultural bias.
○ this increases the intimacy between the couple and strengthens E- Tang found that men and women in the USA (an individualist culture) self-disclosed more sexual
their bond. thoughts than partners in China (collectivist culture).
E- This is a limitation of the self-disclosure theory in explaining attraction as most research findings from
western cultures are unable to explain attraction in other cultures; as such it is guilty of an imposed etic
approach.
L- Therefore findings supporting self-disclosure cannot be generalised to collectivist cultures.
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