RELATIONSHIPS

• Sexual selection


  A process of natural selection and the key factor underpinning human reproductive behaviour
• Sexual selection


  1. Individuals with traits that increase reproductive success gain an evolutionary advantage

  2. Individuals without these traits are outcompeted and unable to mate, so their genes disappear from the gene pool
• Ways sexual selection operates

  • Intrasexual selection (same-sex contest)
  • Intersexual selection (one sex competes for the attention of the opposite sex)
• Intrasexual selection


  • Individuals outcompete members of the same sex in order to gain access to mates
  • Usually a male strategy which can involve aggression
  • Preference for many mates (quantity rather than quality), i.e. polygamy
  • Characteristics such as greater strength and cunning get passed on to future generations
• Intersexual selection


  • Individuals evolve preferences for desirable qualities in the opposite sex
  • Usually a female strategy which can involve choosiness
  • Preference for single mate (quality rather than quantity), i.e. monogamy
  • Characteristics such as having access to resources and attractiveness will get passed on to future generations
• Anisogamy


  Differences between male and female gametes (sex cells), which result in different strategies for reproductive success
• Anisogamy


  Leads to a reproductive strategy of males seeking mates who are fertile and have high reproductive value, and females choosing mates who can provide economic resources and support
• Research supporting sexual selection

  • Clark & Hatfield (1989) found 75% of men agreed immediately to a request for sex, but none of the women did
• Research supporting anisogamy leading to differences in partner preference

  • Buss (1989) found females valued resource related characteristics more than males, while males valued reproductive capacity more
• Gender differences in partner preferences are not only due to sexual selection pressures (nature) but also stem from socialisation and culture (nurture)
• Human reproductive behaviour is a complex mixture of sexually selective pressures and cultural influences
• Evidence suggests mate preference varies across the menstrual cycle, indicating inter-sexual selection is more complex than originally believed
• Physical attractiveness


  Indicates a person's level of genetic fitness and fertility, therefore it is linked to good evolutionary choice of a mating partner
• Men are more likely than women to report appearance as important in attraction in long-term relationships, but both men and woman consider appearance important for a short-term partner
• Halo effect


  A cognitive bias which causes people to assume an attractive person has positive traits
• Matching hypothesis


  We are attracted to those individuals who closely match our perceptions of our own level of physical attractiveness
• Research support for the matching hypothesis

  • Walster (1966), Walster & Walster (1969), Murstein (1972)
• The matching hypothesis is undermined as an explanation for attraction in romantic relationships because of mixed research evidence
• Complex matching


  People can attract partners far more physically attractive than themselves by offering compensatory assets like status and money
• Physical attractiveness is more important in initial attraction and lessens as the relationship progresses
• Some cultures and sub-cultures practice arranged marriage, where factors other than physical attractiveness can drive the choice of potential partner
• Self-disclosure


  The extent to which a person reveals and shares personal information, such as their intimate thoughts, feelings and experiences about themselves to another person
• Reciprocity in self-disclosure


  For a relationship to develop there needs to be a reciprocal (two way) element to disclosure
• Breadth and depth of self-disclosure

  As both increase, romantic partners become more committed to each other
• Research support for the importance of self-disclosure


  • Sprecher et al., Collins & Miller, Sprecher & Hendrick
• Research into self-disclosure can help people who want to improve communication in their relationships
• Cultures differ in their patterns of self-disclosure, so the assumption that increasing depth and breadth will always lead to a more satisfying relationship may not be universal
• Self-disclosure


  Deliberately and skilfully used by romantic partners to increase intimacy and strengthen their bond
• 57% of gay men and women said that open and honest disclosure was the main way they maintained and deepened their committed relationships
• Less-skilled partners


  Those who tend to limit communication to 'small-talk'
• If less-skilled partners can learn to use self-disclosure then this could bring several benefits to the relationship in terms of deepening satisfaction and commitment
• The universal assumption that increasing depth and breadth of self-disclosure will always lead to a more satisfying and intimate relationship is an issue with research on self-disclosure
• Cultures differ in the extent to which various topics are considered appropriate for conversation
• In the West, people typically engage in more intimate self-disclosure than non-Westerners
• Men and women in the USA (individualistic) self-disclose significantly more sexual thoughts and feelings than men and women in China (collectivist)
• Self-disclosure may be less appropriate in cultures that practice arranged marriages
• In arranged marriages, partners have less free choice about who to marry, and therefore the level of self-disclosure between partners may not influence relationship satisfaction
• The importance of self-disclosure as an aspect of attraction is heavily moderated by the influence of culture
• Internet relationship formation involve higher levels of self-disclosure than in face-to-face relationships often due to anonymity
• 'Boom and bust' phenomenon


  When people reveal more about themselves earlier than they would in a face-to-face interaction, relationships get intense very quickly (boom) but become difficult to sustain (bust)