Describe and evaluate two or more theories of the formation of romantic relationships (9 marks + 16 marks) January 2011 One theory that outlines the formation of relationships is the reward/ need satisfaction theory that was developed by Byrne and Clore (1970). The theory suggests that we form a relationship because the presence of a particular individual is associated with reinforcement. This is because rewarding stimuli creates positive feelings and these stimuli may be people. These people therefore make us happy, so, due to operant conditioning, we seek to adopt behaviours that lead to a desirable outcome and avoid those that lead to an undesirable outcome. Therefore, the presence of an individual produces positive reinforcement as they have a more attractive appeal.
He found that people were much more likely to relapse when they believed withdrawals were going to be negative. Those who were told to expect no negative withdrawals were less likely to relapse as they had a positive expectation. This provides evidence for the key role expectancy has in relapse. However Tate’s experiment can be criticised. The independent group design could have meant, by chance, the group who were told to expect no negative withdraws, were naturally more determined people, thus increasing their chance of giving up anyway.
The Reward-Need Satisfaction theory was first introduced by Byrne and Clore. It refers to the formation of relationships using the behaviour conditioning of classical conditioning and operant conditioning. Classical conditioning is when the individual forms a relationship due to association of positive events to a neutral stimuli being the other individual as the positive event had caused positive feelings, they feel the positive feelings when they see the individual, being the reward. Operant conditioning is when the individual seeks to gain positive reinforcement such as the reward and avoid punishment. Byrne and Clore said the balance of feelings was crucial in formation of relationships.
Bem argued that such individuals are more adaptable in different situations, have higher self-esteem and a greater awareness sense of emotional well being. Bem stressed that androgynous men and women have a different cognitive style from traditionally sexed- typed people because an androgynous person when faced with a decision about how to behave responds independently of any gender concept whereas a traditionally sex-typed person determines what would be appropriate from their gender using gender schemas. Supporting the idea that there is a link between androgyny and flexibility, Bem found that masculine and androgynous individuals showed lower levels of conformity than feminine women. However, these findings are not really surprising. The Male scale on the BSRI measure assertiveness and resisting pressures to conform, and the Female scale measures femininity in terms of nurturance and expressive traits.
Once people start going out together the next filter is the similarity of attitudes and values. When people share similar attitudes and beliefs it makes communication easier and enable the relationship to progress. However, if they think differently and share few views about the world, communication may be difficult. At this stage people with different attitudes, values and interests may be filtered out and the relationship may not continue. Once a couple have become
However, materials used were more familiar to males than females and therefore the role of confidence may have had an effect on the conformity levels of females. Another issue is that there are cultural differences. People from collectivist
Outline and evaluate the theories/studies into conformity. Normative social influence is when people conform because of a desire to be liked. This type of conformity is often linked with compliance as we publically go along with the majority but privately hold our own views. Informational social influence on the other hand is when people conform as a desire to be right. However, unlike normative social influence, informational social influence often leads to a long lasting change in beliefs and attitudes.
There are prevalent job opportunities on offer for women now in comparison with the lack of opportunities in previous years. Women are becoming just as independent as men, economically as well as independent in becoming successful. In addition to the decline in stigma, there’s also a sharp decline in moral values. People are less aware or uncommitted to the idea what is right and wrong. Rather than marrying some people chose to be serial monogamists.
Byrne and Clore (1970) proposed the reward/need satisfaction model. According to this model, we form relationships with people simply because we find them rewarding, It is suggested that we are rewarded in two ways: operant conditioning (through direct reinforcement) and classical conditioning (through association). Argyle (1992) suggests individuals who are rewarding are liked the most. An example of positive reinforcement may be through non-verbal signals such as smiling; this is a sign of liking. We may also be negatively reinforced by an individual helping us in our ‘time of need’.
Outline and evaluate one theory on the formation of relationships One theory on the formation of relationships is called ‘the reinforcement affect model’ from Byrne and Clore (1970). It refers to the ability of another person to reward or punish us directly (operant conditioning) or to become associated with reward or punishment (classical conditioning). The affect part of the model refers to the emotions that arise in us as a result of that reinforcement. The model suggests that we enter a relationship because the other person is positively reinforcing (i.e. they create positive feelings in side us) which makes them more attractive to us, or alternatively takes away negative feelings inside us (such as unhappiness) by making us laugh when