Attraction

Communication/consolidation

Buildup

Ending

Deteriorationand decline

Relationshipcontinues

Triggering factors: Proximity,

Similarity, Erotic love etc…

Social-exchange and equity: Communication, Self-disclosure, Communal

concern, External supports

Social-exchange and equity/inequity: Relative

attractiveness of alternatives, Barriers to

dissolution

Important variables

influencing attraction

Emotion

Low: Relationship

in stable stateHigh: Heady

feeling of romantic love

High: Upset of deterioration and trauma of disruption

The life cycle of a

relationship

Relationship-Enhancing and Distress-Maintaining Attributions

Positive Event

Relationship-Enhancing Attribution

Distress-Maintaining Attribution

My partner takes me out to an expensive dinner

My partner is sweet and thoughtful

My partner took me out to write the cost off on

taxes

Internal, stable, global

Negative Event

My partner forgot my birthday

External, unstable, specific

Something unexpected must have come up

External, unstable, specific

My partner is always uncaring and selfish

Internal, stable, global

Procedure?

Attributions Marital Satisfaction

Causal attributions (what lead to an event)

Responsibility attributions (blame, accountability)

Or another non-attributional factor: Relationship expectations (unrealistic)

Focus on attributions for negative events (Your spouse does not pay attention to what you are saying,” Your spouse criticizes something you do)

Background

Overall Conclusions and Interpretations

Attributions cause or lead to marital satisfaction levels

Are attributional styles being used rather than ones based on specific behavior

Role of wife’s attributions: 1) negative attribution for spouse behavior, 2) negative behavior toward spouse, 3) her behavior impacts her assessment of relationship satisfaction, 4) husband’s behavior affected by wife’s behavior

Wives’s attributions may be the barometers of marital satisfaction. Their attributions may influence their marital satisfaction across time, whereas husbands’ attributions only reflect their marital satisfactionHusband’s attributions not related to later marital satisfaction attributional usage; (less?)

Expectations

Attributions Relationship Satisfaction

• Costs (Inputs)

• Benefits (Outputs)

• Comparison Level

(e.g., a standard)

• Comparison Level for Alternatives

Loss of freedom, $, time restrictions, etc.

Companionship, sexual fulfillment, security, etc.

Other person in a relationship, yourself in the past, an ideal

Evaluation of the value of other partners

Social Equity Theory

Inequity (under-benefitting)

Low satisfaction and

commitment(breakups

likely)

High satisfaction and

commitment

Low Inequity (under-benefitting)

Commitment of females

Relationship stability

Greater alternatives

(man & women)

Breakups

Satisfaction (men & women)

Stability

Summary of Findings

Liking Love

Liking Loving

Separate constructs or along a continuum?

Sample Liking Scale Items

When I am with _____, we are almost always in the same mood.

I think that _____ is unusually well-adjusted.

I would highly recommend _____ for a responsible job.

In my opinion, _____ is an exceptionally mature person.

I have great confidence in _____’s good judgment.

I think that _____ is someone one of those people who quickly win your respect.

_____ is one of the most likeable people I know.

_____ is the sort of person whom I myself would like to be.

I would vote for _____ in a class or group election.

Sample Love Scale Items

I would do anything for _____.

I feel responsible for _____’s well being.

I feel very possessive toward _____.

If I could never be with _____, I would feel miserable.

If I were lonely, my first thought would be to seek _____ out.

I would forgive _____ for practically anything.

In would greatly enjoy being confided in by _____.

When I am with _____, I spend a good deal of my time just looking at him/her.

I would be hard for me to get along without _____.

Liking & Loving for Dating Partners and Same-Sex Friends

Index Women Men

Love for Partner 89.5 89.3

Liking for Partner 88.7 84.6

Love for Friend 65.3 55.1

Liking for Friend 80.5 79.1

Interpersonal Relationship --- Newer Approaches

Relationships

• Individual subjective reactions to cues in an interaction

• Active search/detection process for cues

• Timing and sequencing of cues (e.g., baking a cake example)

Thoughts about interpersonal interactions

Evaluation of interaction as good, average, poor

• Future possibilities

• Strategies

Narratives/stories about relationships

• Who is told? When they are told? What is said? Why they are told?

• Difference in perceptions; memory for facts

Interpersonal Relationship --- Newer Approaches (cont.)