Psych Chapter 10: Interpersonal Relationships

Polygyny

Marriage between one husband and multiple wives

In the context of heterosexual romantic relationships, men tend to experience more jealousy than women do regarding the possibility of their partner falling in love with someone else. t/f

(False: Depending on the methods used, men either report identical levels of emotional jealousy or less emotional jealousy than women.

College students who are in "friends-with-benefits" sexual relationships report that the quality of their friendship declines after they introduce sex into the mix. t/f

(False: The majority of students in "friends-with-benefits" arrangements report that the friendship improves after it becomes sexual.) [p. 338]

Arranged marriages—in which a relative or family friend selects the marriage partners—are the most common form of marriage worldwide t/f

(True: Slightly more than one-half of marriages worldwide are arranged.) [p. 349]

In surveys of romantic partner preferences, men tend to rate physical attractiveness as more important in a mate than women do, and women tend to rate good financial prospects as more important in a mate than men do. t/f

(True: This pattern emerges across cultures.)

In general, relationship satisfaction decreases after couples have children t/f

(True: This pattern emerges for most couples, whether they are heterosexual, lesbian, or gay.

attachment theory

A theory that describes the processes by which adults and infants become attached and develop strong emotional bond s

Polyamory

A type of consensual nonmonogamy in which adults have more than one other adult intimate relationship partner, with the knowledge and consent of all parties

Existentialist beliefs

Assumptions that observed sex differences reflect inherent, natural, biological differences between women and men

Explain the roles of gender and gender norms in dating relationships and romance.

Dating scripts have not changed much over time and still seem to dictate that men should play a more active role than women in the events of the date. Many also expect men to display paternalistic chivalry by treating their date like a "lady," paying for her, and being protective and polite. Some of these norms persist even in the context of more casual, hookup-type relationships. Despite the persistence of behavioral gender norms, there are few consistent sex differences in how women and men define romantic love, experience love, or show love to their dating partners.

Passionate friends

Friendships characterized by intense longing or proximity, high levels of affections, and large amounts of physical touch.

Describe diverse marital arrangements across sociohistorical contexts, races and ethnicities, cultures, and sexual orientations.

Historically, most marriages were arranged and afforded men more power than women. Today, autonomous marriages are more common in Europe and North America, although arranged marriages predominate in many collectivistic cultures. In the United States, people today marry later, delay childbirth, and have fewer children than ever before. Relative to past decades, more children in the United States today live in single-parent households or in households with a stepparent or two same-sex parents. These trends differ by race, with Black women being more likely than White, Asian, and Hispanic women to be single parents. While marriage usually involves only two individuals, this is not always the case. Many Muslim-majority cultures practice polygyny, in which one man marries multiple wives. Consensual nonmonogamous arrangements (CNMs) are somewhat more common among gay men than among lesbians and heterosexual partners. CNMs assume many forms, however, and do not always involve same-sex sexuality. Polyamorous arrangements are a form of CNM in which adults have more than one other adult intimate relationship partner, with the knowledge and consent of all parties.

approaches to explain sex differences in mate preferences?

Parental investment theory (evolution Sociocultural perspective

Describe the roles of sex and gender in parenting and family relationships.

Parenthood correlates with declines in relationship satisfaction, for both heterosexual and same-sex couples. In heterosexual couples, women tend to suffer sharper declines in satisfaction and greater risk of postpartum depression than men, likely because women often shoulder the bulk of childcare. For many couples that become less satisfied after parenthood, satisfaction often rebounds after time.Essentialist beliefs about parenthood cast women as "naturally" and "instinctively" maternal and fathers as lacking natural parenting skills. The evidence does not support the validity of these beliefs, showing instead that both mothers and fathers learn how to parent from experience, and neither sex has greater natural parenting skills. Children do not need both a mother and a father and can thrive with one parent or with two parents of the same sex. The best predictors of strong parent-child relationships and of adaptive outcomes for children are parental warmth, sensitivity, and consistency. Research that compares the well-being of children with heterosexual versus same-sex parents finds no overall differences.

Analyze sex differences and similarities in the factors that contribute to relationship satisfaction, conflict, and separation.

People benefit from being married in terms of both mental and physical health. However, men seem to benefit more from marriage than women do while women suffer more than men do from unhappy marriages. Two predictors of marital happiness are perceived equity of decision making and perceived equity of labor divisions. When inequities in decision making occur, they tend to favor men, although this may differ by race. In heterosexual couples, women tend to do more housework and childcare than men. Same-sex couples, especially lesbian couples, value egalitarian labor divisions more than heterosexual couples do. Women and men show love to their partners in similar ways, by being affectionate, showing approval, spending time together, and sharing sexual intimacy. However, women (more than men) show love by refraining from expressing negativity while men (more than women) show love through joint activities.Jealousy is both adaptive—in that it motivates actions to restore a relationship—and corrosive, in that it predicts conflict, abuse, and relationship dissatisfaction. Some propose that men evolved to feel more jealousy over a partner's sexual infidelity while women evolved to feel more jealousy over a partner's emotional infidelity. However, the size and reliability of this sex difference is widely disputed. Across cultures, couples tend to experience conflict about similar topics, but the way that couples fight may be more important than what they fight about. Couples who maintain higher levels of positive emotions during conflict discussions and who keep negative emotions from escalating too abruptly are less likely to divorce. Same-sex couples, especially lesbian couples, show more positive emotion than heterosexual couples during tense discussions. In heterosexual couples, one predictor of divorce is a particular demand-withdraw pattern in which wives make a critical remark and husbands shut down. Divorce is common worldwide, with inequitable labor divisions and infidelity as two common causes of separation. Following divorce, women tend to suffer financially more than men, but men tend to suffer psychologically more than women.

Analyze the roles of sex, gender, and LGBT status in social networks, friendships, and friendship intimacy.

People have a fundamental need to belong, which they can meet through social networks and close friendships. Social networks are an important source of social support, and people benefit from having richer, larger networks. Perhaps because women tend to give more and higher-quality emotional support than men do, men derive unique benefits from having a female romantic partner in their social network. LGBT people, in particular, rely on networks of friends for support and companionship with similar others who understand their experiences.Women and men both want emotional intimacy in their close friendships, but women's friendships often appear more intimate than men's, perhaps due to gender role socialization or differences in how researchers conceptualize intimacy. On average, women tend to pursue dyadic friendships centered on shared emotions, and men tend to pursue group friendships centered on shared activities, leading them to achieve friendship intimacy through different paths. Cross-sex friendships, which become more common in young adulthood, can offer unique benefits while also inviting unique complications. Many adolescents and young adults in the United States today pursue casual sexual relationships with their friends (e.g., friends with benefits). Among lesbian friend pairs, intense romantic attractions (passionate friendships) may develop into first loves or first same-sex sexual experiences.

Mate preferences

Qualities that people claim to desire in a potential sexual or romantic rate

Dating Scripts

Stereotyped, cognitive, representation of the sequences of events that take place during dates

Sociocultural perspective

differences as a product of social roles and labor divisions rather than genes

Chosen families

The frend circles of many LGBT individuals that offer many of the resources and benefits of biological families but that consist largely of individuals who understand the unique challenges of being LGBT

Evaluate major theoretical perspectives on sex similarities and differences in mate preferences and mate choices.

Women and men desire many of the same traits in their ideal mates. Where differences exist, they tend to be small. However, theorists have long debated the interpretation of sex differences in a small set of mate preferences: Women tend to rate a partner's ambition and earning potential as more important than men do, and men tend to rate a partner's attractiveness and homemaking skill as more important than women do. These differences emerge across cultures, but there are exceptions. Lesbians and Black women place less emphasis on earning potential than do heterosexual and White women, respectively. While evolutionary psychologists explain this difference using parental investment theory—that is, women should prioritize a mate's resources because women invest more in reproduction—sociocultural psychologists propose that women's restricted access to economic resources forces them to seek mates who offer financial support. In face-to-face encounters, both women's and men's attraction to dating partners is equally predicted by the partners' attractiveness and perceived earning potential. One of the best predictors of actual mate selection is partner homogamy, or overall similarity.

demand-withdraw pattern

Women demand Men withdraw

Homosocial Perspective

an approach that proposes that men achieve friendships intimacy in the context of cohesive, hierarchical units that share goals and joint activities and contain opposing emotions (ex. competition and affection)

postpartum depression

depression following child birth

Gottman's 4 horsemen of the apocalypse

criticism, contempt, defensiveness, stonewalling

Parental investment theory

female members of many species are especially picky when choosing mates because they invest more than males do in each offspring

Social networks

the extended circle of people with whom thereare regular interaction s

paternalistic chivalry

the norm that dictates that men should be protective of women and treat them as if they are special and virtuous

Audience Problem

the tendency for observers to assume that platonic friends are romantically involved, espcially likely to occur in cross sex friendships

Partner homogamy

the tendency to bond and mate with others who are similar to them on demographic, personality, background and physical attributes