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How do intimate relationships differ from casual relationships?
- Physical attraction
- Intimate knowledge of each other
- caring deeply for each other
- Interdependence (relying on each other)
- mutuality (referring to each other as "us" instead of him and her)
What does the "Need to Belong" mean?
We all have the internal feeling of needing to be associated with a group. This stems from an evolutionary survival practice where people have more protection when in a group with other people
What impact does culture have on intimate relationships?
the way we communicate with our partners and pressures we experience to perform various actions (ex. when to get married)
Why/How have the norms of intimate relationships changed from one generation to the next?
- Sex ratio: there used to be a relatively high sex ratio before WW2 and then the ratio became low when men were off fighting and dying in the war. In the past few decades the sex ratio has been increasing again to where there are more men than women
- Economics: more money available, less need for women to settle down right away for financial security that men were more able to provide
- Individualism: a commitment to personal happiness and not feeling as bad for leaving a bad partner in search of something better (used to be frowned upon to leave a marriage, even if the marriage was not working)
- Technology: ability to be selective for pregnancy through the use of sperm banks and controlling your relationship status through social media status updates and controlling when a woman gets pregnant through birth control pills
What are the attachment styles and the dimensions underlying attachment?
- Secure (low avoidance and anxiety)
- avoidant (high anxiety and avoidance)
- anxious/ambivalent (low avoidance but high anxiety)
- dismissing/uninvolved (low anxiety but high avoidance)
What are the individual differences for men and women?
- men and women are not as different as society makes them out to be with the exception that men have higher sex drives than women
- gender differences:Men stereotypically instrumental (assertive, self-reliant, ambition, leadership, and decisiveness) Women stereotypically expressive (warm, tender, compassion, kind, and sensitive others)
- Personality: Openness to experience, extraversion, conscientiousness, agreeableness, and neuroticism
- Self-esteem: varies based on the sociometer. Interest in ourselves stems from the interest and appreciation we receive from others
What is the role of the sociometer theory in the context of intimate relationships?
this theory measures the level of relationship quality we have with others and shows the impact on our self-esteem based on that level. The better the quality of our relationships the more we like ourselves and enjoy the relationships we build. (the more people like us, the more we like ourselves)
What is the influence of human nature?
- Through the process of natural selection our species as a whole has evolved and developed better survival abilities based on choosing a suitable partner for reproduction
- Parental Investment: the amount of time required to support a child for its survival (usually necessary until age of reproduction occurs and more babies can be made but now it is more focused on the financial ability of the child)
- Paternity Uncertainty: for men it is more difficult to determine if a baby is his or not if he has had multiple partners
How does interaction affect intimate relationships?
the level and kind of interaction can make or break a relationship. Each person in the relationship experience a give-and-take situation where one person helps another emotionally and vice versa. As a result each grows personally and together.