These are summarised revision notes for AQA relationships in psychology for paper through including 3 to 4 evaluation points with counter arguments. Memorising these notes scored me an a in my papers.
Relationships
Evolutionary explanations
Natural selection - Genes that present reproductive advantage will increase in the
gene pool
Sexual selection - Attributes and behaviours that increase reproductive success are
passed on (survival of the most attractive)
Anisogamy - this refers to the differences between male and female sex cells in
determining the types of sexual selection. For females, only one egg is released each
month, whereas males produce large numbers of sperm continuously. This leads to a
difference in mating strategies between males and females, and within the genders.
Types of Sexual Selection
Inter-Sexual Selection - refers to the competing nature males use to gain the attention
of female partners. The female partner then chooses who they would like to mate with
based on certain traits and preferences.
Intra-Sexual Selection - Usually males compete for 'access' to members of the
opposite sex - victors mate and pass on their genes - winning traits are passed on to the
next generation. MATE COMPETITION
Partner selection
Dunbar and Waynforth (1995)
900 personal ads taken from North American Newspaper
Found a younger partner was important to just under half of the men (42%)
compared to a quarter of the women.
Physical attractiveness was sought by 44% of men compared to 22% of women,
Demonstrates how males and females display their traits to potential partners and
identify characteristics they deem most desirable to the opposite sex.
EVALUATION
David Buss questioned 10,000 adults in 33 countries about mate choice
preference and found that females placed more importance on resource-related
characteristics e.g. good financial prospects. In contrast, men preferred younger
partners and placed more value on attractiveness and modesty, values that
reflected a woman's ability to reproduce. This supports the difference in mate
choice preferences related to anisogamy.
Clarke and Hatfield found from a study on university students that 75% of men
are more willing to engage in casual sex compared to 0% of women. This supports
the evolutionary theory that females are much choosier than males when it
comes to selecting a mate. Howver, this could be of an age-related factor.
The theory does not account for major social and cultural changes which may
affect reproductive behaviour. There is some evidence of changes to mate choice
, preference following changes such as the lack of female dependency on a
partner. Therefore, mate choice is likely to be influenced by more factors than just
evolutionary preferences.
Self-Disclosure
^ Gradual process of revealing the inner self e.g. thoughts feelings and
experiences.
More disclosure = greater feelings of intimacy
Social Penetration Theory Altman & Taylor
States that self-disclosure must gradually increase in depth and breadth
over time for a relationship to succeed.
Gradual process of revealing your inner self to someone
Involves the reciprocal exchange of information between partners to gain
a greater understanding of each other and deepen trust in the
relationship.
Breadth and Depth
We reveal superficial information first moving into intimate details later
(Onion Analogy)
As both breadth and depth Increases, romantic partners become more
committed to one another.
Low risk Information is revealed early on in a relationship (biographical
data, preferences) and high-risk information comes out as the relationship
progresses (deeply held fears and fantasies, concept of self).
The must be reciprocity in order to gain a deeper connection
EVALUATION
Supporting research - Sprecher and Hendrick studied heterosexual
dating couples and found strong positive correlations between several
measures of relationship satisfaction and self-disclosure the more people
are satisfied with the relationship. Based on a correlation so we cannot see
a cause and effect therefore there may be a third variable.
Real life application - with its emphasis on open communication it can
be used to guide and inform relationship counselling to rebuild trust and
strengthen the relationship. This suggests that if used skilfully, it can be
employed to mend relationships keeping couples/families together.
Conflicting research – Duck's theory into relationship breakdown found
couples often discuss the state of their deteriorating relationships in an
attempt to save it. These discussions will frequently involve deep self-
disclosures but may not be enough to save the relationship and might
even contribute to its breakdown. This suggests self-disclosure only
happens at a critical point i.e. deciding to break up rather than starting
and maintaining a relationship.
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