Describe and Evaluate two theories of the formation of romantic relationships Essay Example for Free

Describe and Evaluate two theories of the formation of romantic relationships EssayIn 1970 Byrne and Clore introduced the honour/ need satisfaction system for the formation of relationships. They suggested that we are attracted to individuals whose presence is rewarding for us, and that naturally we make stimuli rewarding if it meets an unmet need the more rewards any(prenominal)one provides for us, the more we should be attracted to them. They believed that the formation if relationships was linked with the idea of clean and operant conditioning, with operant conditioning we are likely to repeat behaviours that leads to a desirable outcome and ward off behaviours that lead to undesirable ones, so we enter the relationships because the presence of some individuals is directly concordd with reinforcement, making us devote positive feelings, which makes them more attractive to us. For classical conditioning, we t closing curtain to prefer large number who we associate with pleasant event, so for example if we meet someone somewhere where we are having a good time, then we will associate this person with this good time and find them more attractive in the long run. Byrne and Clore believed that the balance betwixt positive and proscribe feelings in a relationship was crucial as relationships where the positive outweigh negative feelings were more likely to develop and succeed.Griffitt and Guay (1969), participants were evaluated on a creative task by an experimenter and then asked to valuate how much they liked the experimenter. The rating was highest when the experimenter had positively evaluated the participants performance on the task. This study supports the song that we like people who are associated with pleasant events. This provides strong support that similarity is important in standoff, alone also highlights reciprocal liking also is factor in the formation of relationships and this whitethorn not be the only factor influencing this.T he experiment was only of an imaginary description, the participant is unlikely to truly pose how they feel towards the stranger. The experiment doesnt demonstrate interaction of people, but rather just presents a statement nigh them, which reduces how far conclusions can be drawn. Although similarity may be a factor, how people socially interact is also important to how a personperceives another.In a laboratory experiment, Lehr and Gehr (2006) studied participants of both sexes to interrogation the importance of reciprocal liking. Knowing that someone likes you is particularly rewarding and so is more likely to end up in mutual liking. Participants were given a description of a stranger, with varying degrees of similarity of the strangers positioning to the participants. In each description was a statement that the stranger either liked or did not like the participant. Researchers found significant effects for attitude similarity and liking. However this study doesnt defend e cological validity from where it was done in a lab setting and didnt reflect true(a) life situation or conditionsHowever Cate et al (1982) asked 337 individuals to assess their current relationships in circumstances of reward level and satisfaction. Results showed that reward level was superior to all other factors in determining relationship satisfaction, however this theory only explores the receiving of rewards, the results may not be completely accurate though as some people may have picked the socially desirable answers. These studies all ignore natures influence on attraction and that it is to some extent an evolutionary need to have a partner that meets physical requirements.This model may be very culturally bound as all the studies done were in the western worlds individualistic cultures. In other cultures one partner may not expect rewards and may be entirely giving, or arranges marriages will also go against this theory as the long term is made to happen. For example, L ott (1994) suggests that in many cultures women are more focused on the needs of others rather than receiving reinforcement. This suggests that this theory is not a universal explanation of relationship formation and thitherfore culturally biased.However, this theory is back up by another theory on how relationships are formed Byrne, Clore and Smeatons Similarity Theory (1986) states that it is important that people are similar in order to be able to form a relationship. They theorise that there are two stages to deciding who to seek relations with first we sort out the people intimately dissimilar to us andsecondly then seek out those who are most similar. Caspi and Herbener found that in married couples, those who were the happiest were those with the most similar personality traits.