AQA A Level Psychology - Relationships

1. intra-psychic phase - 'i can't stand this anymore' - partner becomes dissatisfied - they brood on the reasons for this and focus on their partner's shortcomings by themselves 2. dyadic phase - 'i would be justified in withdrawing' - dissatisfactions are aired within the relationship - phase varies in length + intensity of hostility + anxiety 3. social phase - dissatisfied partner concludes 'i mean it' - partner seek support from joint friends who must take sides - once the news is public this is usually point of no return 4. grave-dressing phase - 'it's now inevitable' - a suitable story of the relationship and its end is prepared for wider consumption - each partner attempts to ensure that they are judged most favourable - partners now have to move on absorption-addiction model of paraasocial relationships - - absorption - seeking fulfilment in celebrity worship motivates an individual to focus their attention on them, become absorbed with them and identify with them - addiction - the individual needs to increase involvement to gain satisfaction, leading to more extreme behaviours + delusional thinking anisogamy - refers to the differences between male and female sex cells - sperm = small, mobile, continuously produced - ova = large, static, produced at intervals for a limited amount of yearsCMC - computer-mediated communication comparison level (CL) - - a judgement of the reward level we expect in a relationship, determined by relationships experiences + social norms - a measure of profit - those with low self-esteem have low CL comparison level for alternatives (CLalt) - - considering whether we might gain more rewards with less costs in a different relationship - we remain in a relationship if it is more rewarding than the alternatives and if the rewards are greater than the costs consequences of inequity - - there is a strong positive correlation between inequity + dissatisfaction - the greater the inequity the more work is required to restore it - the underbenefitting partner feels anger, resentment + may work hard to make it more equitable - the overbenefitting partner feel discomfort + shame - the change in equity can be cognitive rather than behavioural which can make abuse the norm (i.e. the partner may revise their perceptions of rewards/costs so it feels more equitable to them)