Formation of Relationships Essay

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PSYCHOLOGY A2 SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS Describe and evaluate 2 theories of the formation of relationships. By looking at the process of by which people enter into a romantic relationship, there have been various theories introduced to explain the formation of a romantic relationship. One of these theories is the reward/need satisfaction theory, which states that we form any type of social relationship including a romantic one to receive rewards or reinforcement from others. Byrne & Clore say that it is a theory based on classical and operant conditioning. In order for a relationship to progress, both partners need to stay motivated in to getting to know each other. The theory stated that a relationship is more likely to be formed if a person meets the needs of the partner and they provide rewards. Relationships provide rewards such as love, company, money (financial security) etc which satisfy our social needs, e.g. self esteem and dependency. So in terms of operant conditioning, the relationship is being positively reinforced because it's rewarding and hence the behaviour involved from both sides is likely to be repeated. Both needs and rewards need to be fulfilled for a relationship to work and this should be throughout as you need to satisfy your partner's needs in order to get your rewards (mutual affection), which in essence is what keeps the relationship going if there is a balance. They also conclude that we like people we associate with pleasurable feelings which is a form of classical conditioning as if we meet someone when we are in a positive mood we are more likely to like them than if we meet them when we are in a negative mood. Moreover, there is physiological evidence to support the roles of rewards in the formation of relationships. Aaron et al found those who scored high on a self report questionnaire of romantic love showed strong activity in
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