Psychology

The Formation of Romantic Relationships

The Formation of Romantic Relationships

I'd be surprised if anyone actually read this

Literally the only reason I read it was because I had to...

Enjoy ^^

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Reward/Need Satisfaction Theory 

The Reward/Need Satisfaction Theory is based on the principles of learning from the behavioural approach. Put simply, the theory states that we seek a partner who is rewarding to be around and who satisfies our needs.

According  to the principles of operant conditioning (learning by reinforcement) we are more likely to repeat behaviour that is rewarded and less likely to repeat behaviour that is punished.

Byrne and Clore suggest that we enter into relationships because the presence of some individuals create positive feelings in us (positive reinforcement) which makes them more attractive to us. Long term relationships are more likely from when each partner positively reinforces the other. 

Another way in which relationships may be formed is due to the principles of classical conditioning (learning by association). Here, it is argued that certain events of situations make us feel good (an uncontrolled stimulus or 'UCS' which produces an unconditioned response or 'UCR'). When we meet someone we have never met before, we usually have no real feelings about them (they are a neutral stimulus or 'NS').

However if we meet that person in the positive situation,we may associate them with that positive event. This leads the NS to become a conditioned stimulus (CS) which produces a conditioned response (CR) of feeling good. Eventually, every time we meet this person in the future, we feel good just seeing them.

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Support for the classical conditioning explanation of relationship formation comes from Veitch and Griffit (1976) where single participants heard either good or bad news being reported on the radio whilst reading a passage written by another 'student'. When they were then asked to rate the 'student' for how attractive they were, ratings were higher in the 'good news' condition than in the 'bad news' condition. This suggests that we are more likely to form relationships with people whom we have learned to associate with positivity.

However this research has been criticised for lacking ecological validity e.g. Duck has stated that the use of a 'bogus stranger' is not a realistic comparison to real life initial attraction because in the real world, this usually occurs face-to-face with the additional information that being so provides. This is problem as this research may not generalise to real-life relationship formation.

There is also evidence to support the operant conditioning explanation of relationship formation from Griffitt and Guay. Participants were given a creative task by an experimenter who then either praised or criticised their performance. When participants were than asked to rate how much they liked the experimenter, ratings were highest when the experimenter had praised their performance (positive reinforcement)  than when they were  more critical. This suggests that we may be more likely to form a relationship with someone who is more rewarding to be around. However it must be acknowledged that liking the experimenter is not the same as wanting to form a relationship with them.

Furthermore there is evidence to support the reward/need satisfaction theory from biological research; Aron et al (2005) found that intense romantic love in it's early stages (i.e. during relationship formation) was associated with the high levels of activity in areas of the brain that are rich in the neurotransmitter, dopamine (known to be involved in feelings of reward and punishment). This suggests there is biological support for the idea that rewards play a part in relationship formation.

Nonetheless, the reward/need satisfaction theory may be criticised for suffering from cultural bias, this means that because the theory was proposed by western researchers who live in an individualist culture that emphasises the needs if the individual over the group, unlike collectivist culture where the opposite is true, the theory may only explain the formation of relationships in one culture. For example, Lott (1994) suggests that, in many cultures, women are more focused on the needs of others rather than receiving positive reinforcement themselves. This suggests that this theory is not a universal explanation of relationship formation and is therefore biased towards those cultures for whom reward is seen as an important part of the relationship.

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The Similarity Model of Relationship Formation

Another theory of the formation of relationships is that similarity promotes liking and is therefore important if a relationship is to form. Byrne, Clore and Smeaton's model of similarity emphasises the importance of similar personality and attitudes in particular. Similarity is seen as important for two reasons: firstly, we assume people that are similar to us will be more likely to like us, By ruling out dissimilar people, we lessen the chance of being rejected as a partner and secondly, when other people share out attitudes, it tends to validate them, which in turn is rewarding. This theory therefore complements the Reward/ Satisfaction theory,

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Support for this theory comes from additional findings by Veitch and Griffit; they found that when the 'student' passage was fixed to express similar attitudes to the participants, they tended to rate them as more attractive and then when they passage was fixed to express different attitudes. This seems to show that similarity is a driving force behind relationship formation.

Furthermore, Caspi and Herbener found that married couples with similar personalities tended to be happier than couples with less similar personalities. This suggests similar personalities are linked to happiness in current relationships and therefore play a key role in their formation.

However Speakman et al conducted research to suggest focusing attitude and personality similarities represented only a very narrow view of factors important in relationship formation. They found that people often choose partners with similar levels of body fat. This suggests focusing purely on personality and attitudes is too simplistic and the model should be expended to include other factors such as physical appearance.

Overall, it seems clear that a number of factors influence relationship formation. Although it seems that people we find most rewarding to be around are the ones we are most likely to form relationships with, what we find rewarding is highly subjective and will vary from individual to individual. As a result, no one single explanation is likely to explain relationship formation in every case.

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Well that's all...

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