Chapter 12

Question 1

Behavioral perspective on why beliefs in relationships should be studies originally assumed what?

What was actually found?

Answer 1

behaviors have an inherent meaning

but

behaviors are actually ambiguous, meaning comes partly from behavior and partly from how we interpret it

Question 2

What is the difference + examples between belief and value?

Answer 2

belief: idea about what relationships are like.
EXAMPLE: couples who fight a lot have a lot of passion

value: idea about what relationships should be like.
EXAMPLE: couples should agree more often than they disagree

Question 3

What is the ideal standards model?

Answer 3

people evaluate their relationship against each of their beliefs and values

the more people’s current relationship differs from their ideals, the less satisfied they are with the relationship

Question 4

Which of the 5 theories is associated with the ideal standards model

Answer 4

Social Exchange Theory relationship weighing process: if people’s outcome is better than what they expect (their comparison level), they are satisfied with their relationship

Satisfaction = outcome - CL

Question 5

What did Fletcher and Kinninmont find about the ideal standards model?

Answer 5

when sex is important, sexual satisfaction correlated with relationship satisfaction at 0.48

when not important, sexual satisfaction correlates with relationship satisfaction at 0.4

Question 6

If a relationship begins poorly, can it change?

Answer 6

Yes, but mostly for people with low destiny beliefs

Question 7

People’s relationship (blank) help them interpret behaviour

Answer 7

Cognitions

Question 8

What is perceptual confirmation?

Answer 8

when people’s partners behave in ambiguous ways, they use their specific relationship beliefs and values to interpret the behaviour (we see what we expect to see)

Question 9

What is an example of perceptual confirmation from rejection sensitivity?

Answer 9

higher expectation that you will be rejected

brings people into a lab to work on a “group project,” the other member of the dyad leaves, researcher says the person had to leave, why?

Those high in rejection sensitivity personalized this behavior, whereas those low in rejection sensitivity externalized it

Question 10

What is behavioral confirmation?

Answer 10

People’s behavior toward their partner matches their specific relationship beliefs and values

Their partner will likely respond in accordance with their behavior, resulting in a self-fulfilling prophesy (we act in ways that prompt others to behave in accordance with out beliefs)

Question 11

example: someone so scared that their partner is going to
leave him that he constantly checks up on her, insists they spend all
their time together, and cannot tolerate any disagreement
* The partner gets exhausted and dumps him

What is this an example of?

Answer 11

Behavioral confirmation

Question 12

What is culture?

Answer 12

The shared attitudes, beliefs, norms, and values of people who speak the same language and share the same geographic area during a specific period of time

Question 13

How might cultural values shape relationships?

Answer 13

example: cultural trends in divorce likely shape beliefs and values about marriage

Question 14

In a graph of percentage of Canadians, aged 20-34, who are married, common-law, or not married/common law, what were the findings?

Answer 14

Highest percentage of not-married/common law

Lowest percentage of common law

Question 15

a study found that watching movies that included sexual
violence did what?

Answer 15

had positive consequences afterward affected people’s views of
the validity of rape myths and acceptability of interpersonal violence

Question 16

In a laboratory setting, men and women viewed either images of a centerfold (Playboy, Penthouse, and Playgirl) or abstract art/photos of an average nude. Then, they rated the attractiveness and love for their partner. What was found?

Answer 16

For women, viewing the erotica did not influence feelings for their partner

For men, those who were exposed to erotica reported loving their partners less and feeling that their partner was less attractive

Question 17

those partners who watch a lot of tv and believe tv’s depiction of romance, reported

Answer 17

less dedication commitment to their partners and perceiving better alternatives

Question 18

Information processing involves what?

Answer 18

how we take our interpretations of specific experiences to global meaning

Question 19

A punctual partner may be reliable.

A punctual partner may be obsessive-compulsive

What does this show?

Answer 19

same specific behavior can support different general conclusions

When more specific behaviors support the same general conclusion, that conclusion will be more resilient to new information

Question 20

What is enhancement bias?

Answer 20

a preference for information that supports and strengthens positive beliefs about partner/relationship

Question 21

People frequently see their partners as (blank) than their partners see themselves

Answer 21

more positively

Question 22

What is diagnostic bias?

Answer 22

a preference for information that indicates important qualities about a partner or relationship

(decoding a partner’s behavior)

Question 23

People want to feel they know their partners well. As a result, they may fall prey to the confirmation bias:

Answer 23

a preference for information that supports what we already know

Question 24

People tend to view their partners more positively than they view themselves with respect to

Answer 24

global areas (i.e. people see their partners as more kind than their partners see themselves)

Question 25

People tend to view their partners accurately with respect to

Answer 25

specific areas (i.e. people and their partners agree about how well the partner can make lasagna)

Question 26

What is self-serving bias? How can this lead to conflict?

Answer 26

tendency to protect your self-esteem by viewing yourself in a positive light these people tend to take more credit for success and tend to blame external factors for failure each partner tends to feel that he or she deserves credit for positive outcomes and should not be blamed for negative outcomes.

Question 27

What are ways to keep negative information out of awareness?

Answer 27

selective attention empathic accuracy model memory bias attributions flexible standards downward social comparison

Question 28

What is selective attention? What did research show?

Answer 28

people may simply ignore this negative information research from university students in intimate relationships viewed photos of advertising that included attractive models those happier in their relationships spent less time viewing the photos compared to unhappy or unpartnered

Question 29

what is the empathic accuracy model?

Answer 29

people's motivation to understand what their partner is saying varies with whether their partner is saying something negative or positive a positive statement leads to high motivation to understand a negative statement leads to low motivation to understand

Question 30

What is memory bias?

Answer 30

people tend to remember their relationships as improving, especially over the recent past this allows them to downplay the importance of negative information, instead focusing on the idea that their relationship is only improving over time

Question 31

What are attributions and how do they minimize the impact of negative information?

Answer 31

explanations for partners behaviours people may explain negative information away as being due to circumstances than their partner and as being a temporary thing

Question 32

What are the 4 quadrants of attributions?

Answer 32

internal locus, stable: my partner was late because he is a thoughtless jerk external locus, stable: my partner way late because his crappy car broke down internal locus, temporary stability: my partner was late because he forgot to set his alarm external locus temporary stability: my partner way late because he got stuck in traffic

Question 33

What are flexible standards and how do they minimize the impact of negative information?

Answer 33

people may alter their relationship standards based on how their partner behaves

Question 34

What are downward social comparisons and how do they minimize the impact of negative information?

Answer 34

compare one's own relationship to others who are doing worse puts our problems in perspective

Question 35

What is the commitment calibration hypothesis?

Answer 35

Threats to a relationship should motivate defense only if the threat is proportionate to one's commitment EXAMPLE When a couple is highly committed, small problems or small signs of conflict don’t feel dangerous.

Question 36

"my partner was late because he is a thoughtless jerk"

Answer 36

internal locus stable

Question 37

"my partner was late because his crappy car broke down"

Answer 37

external locus stable

Question 38

"my partner was late because he forgot to set his alarm"

Answer 38

internal locus temporary

Question 39

"my partner was late because he got stuck in traffic"

Answer 39

external locus temporary