PSY C505: Early Adulthood

• Affective or emotional – self-disclosure, expressions of intimacy, appreciation, and support; requires trust and commitment
• Shared or communal nature – mutual interest
• Sociability and compatibility – source of fun and entertainment
• Adult friendships develop over several stages

  Ø  Acquaintanceship

  Ø  Buildup

  Ø  Continuation

  Ø  Deterioration

  Ø  Ending
• With online friendships, trust is an important factor and develops based on four sources

  Ø  Reputation

  Ø  Performance or what users do online

  Ø  Precommitment (gained through self-disclosure)

  Ø  Situational factors
• Sternberg’s three basic components of love: passion, intimacy, commitment
• ·        Couples are happier when each feels the same types of love to a similar degree
• Early in romantic relationships, characterizes early stages of romance when passion is high, but intimacy and commitment are lower (higher divorce rates in couples who marry based primarily on infatuation
• Assortative mating – selecting one’s partner based on similarity across many dimensions
• Homogamy: degree to which people are similar; greater when couples meet through school or a religious setting
• Data selection and date satisfaction are higher when the date is attractive, outgoing, self-assured, and moderately self-focused
• Online dating is more common in the United States (1 in 5) than other countries (1 in 10-20)
• Physical attractiveness strongly affects partner selection in online and offline contexts
• Emerging hookup culture is increasing
• Three-fourths of both men and women eventually expressed some level of regret at having hookup sex
• Men and women in various culture has unique orderings of their preferences. Two main dimensions emerged:

  Ø  Traditional cultures emphasize chastity and homemaking in women and ambition, industry and financial prospects in men

  Ø  Western cultures value these qualities to a much lesser extent
• Nearly all cultures place importance on love and attraction
• Love is a function of biopsychosocial forces. is a distinct neurological emotion system, with different stages of love involving different neurochemicals
• Erikson: mature love is impossible without a capacity for intimacy
• Abusive relationships: when one partner becomes violent or aggressive
• Battered Woman Syndrome: when a woman believes she cannot leave an abusive situation; may go so far as to kill her abuser
• Aggressive Behavior is continuum (verbal aggression > physical aggression > severe physical aggression > murder)
• 1.       Verbal Abuse

  Ø  Need to control

  Ø  Misuse of power

  Ø  Jealousy

  Ø  Marital Discord
• Severe physical abuse

  Ø  Personality disorders

  Ø  Emotional swings

  Ø  Poor self-esteem
• Physical Abuse

  Ø  Acceptance of violence as means of control

  Ø  Physically aggressive models

  Ø  Abuse as a child

  Ø  Aggressive personality style

  Ø  Alcohol abuse
• Culture is also an important contextual factor
• violence against women worldwide reflects cultural traditions
• International data indicates rates of abuse higher In cultures that emphasize female purity, male status and family honor
• Cultures that emphasize honor and portray females as passive, nurturing supporters of men’s activities and that emphasize loyalty and sacrifice for the family may contribute to tolerating abuse
• Singlehood

  ·        70% of women and 80% of men are single between the ages of 20-24

  ·        Twice as many African Americans as European Americans are single throughout adulthood

  ·        Men tend to remain single longer than women, but men are likelier to marry

  ·        Cultures differ in their expectations of marrying and marriage

  ·        Millennials are remaining single longer and are more likely to forgo marriage and cohabitate
• Cohabitation

  ·        When two people are in a committed, intimate, sexual relationship live together but not married
• Couples cohabitate part-time as a step toward marriage, and to replace marriage
• Ø  There are cross-cultural differences in cohabitation rates (higher in Scandinavian countries)
• Ø  Couples who cohabitated first have a higher divorce rate, and tend to be less happy

  Couples that are happy share financial and child care responsibilities
• The most important factors in creating stable marriages are creating a stable sense of identity as a foundation for intimacy
• Ø  Marital adjustment – degree to which a husband and wife accommodate
• Ø  Marital quality – a subjective evaluation of the couple’s relationship
• Ø  Marital success – an umbrella term referring to any marital outcome
• Ø  Marital satisfaction – which is a global assessment of one’s marriage
• ·        Marriages are likelier to succeed when both partners are relatively mature