Psychology of Human Relationships
Studies and Theories to Know
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Choose the ones you want to use, you do not need to know them all,
please see the syllabus and student created handouts
Altruism and Prosocial Behviour/Theories explaining altruism in humans:
 Staub (pg. 258) = Pro-social behaviour
 Dawkins (pg. 259) = Kin Selection Theory/Selfish Gene Theory
 Trivers (pg. 259) = Reciprocal Altruism Theory
 Schaller and Cialdini (pg. 261) = Negative-State relief model
 Batson (pg. 261) = Empathy-altruism model
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Axelrod and Hamilton 1981 (pg. 260) “Prisoner’s Dilemma”
Bateson 1981 (pg. 261, Law pg. 254) “Carol and Empathy”
Van Baaren et al. 2004 (pg. 262) “Imitation promotes helping”
Madsen 2007 (Law pg. 256) “UK and South African Participants”
Cross-cultural Differences in Prosocial Behaviour:
 Whiting 1979 (pg. 268, Law pg. 258) “Level of Helping among Cultures”
 Levine 1990’s and 2001 (pg. 269, Law pg. 257) “Cultures helping”
Factors influencing Bystanderism:
 Diffusion of Responsibility (pg. 264) various studies
 Pluralistic Ignorance and Informational Social Influence (pg. 265)
 Similarity, Mood, Experience, Competence (Law pg. 262)
 Piliavin 1969 (pg. 265, Law pg. 261) = Arousal-cost-reward model “Subway
Experiment”
 Social Exchange Theory (pg. 265)
 Kitty Genovese 1964 (pg. 264)
 Piliavin 1969 (pg. 265, Law pg. 261) = Arousal-cost-reward model “Subway
Experiment”
 Bateson and Darley 1973 (pg. 264) “Religious Devotion”
 Darley and Latane 1969 (40 studies book pg. 300, Law pg. 259) “Diffusion of
Responsibility and Seizure”
 Darley and Latane 1969 (Law pg. 260) “Body hitting the Floor”
 Darley and Latane 1970 (Law pg. 260) “Smoke filling the Room”
 Social Norms (pg. 268)
 Shotland and Straw 1976 (pg. 268) “Bystanders”
 Whiting 1979 (pg. 268) “Level of Helping among Cultures”
 Levine 1990’s (pg. 269) “U.S. and other cultures helping”
Biological Origins of Attraction:
 Sternberg (pg. 272) = Triangular Theory of Love
 Fischer (pg. 273) = “Biological Cocktail” “fMRI and Brain’s reward system”
 Marazziti 1999 (pg. 273) “Serotonin and blood levels”
 Oxytocin and Rats (pg. 274)
 Vasopressin and Prairie Voles (pg. 274), Winslow 1993
 Wedekind 1995 (pg. 275, Law pg. 265) = MHC Gene “The Dirty Shirt Study”
 Buss 1993 (pg. 274, Law pg. 264)= Jealousy Biological based, menstrual cycle
 Low 1990 (pg. 275) = Pathogen Stress
Cognitive Social Origins of Attraction:
 Festinger (pg. 276, Law pg. 266) = Proximity
 Morry (pg. 276) = Attraction-Similarity Model
 Markey 2007 (pg. 276) “Similarity in Mate Selection”
 Kielser and Baral 1970 (pg. 277) “Self Esteem and Mate Selection”
 Kenrick and Gurierres (Law pg. 267) = Social Comparison
Sociocultural Origins of Attraction: (see studies in cognitive and below):
The Role that Culture Plays in the Formation of Relationships:
 Buss 1979 (pg. 279) “Cross Culture and Mate Selection”
 Ahmed and Reid 2008 (Law, pg. 271) “Communication in South Asian Canadians”
 Festinger, Nahenow and Lawton (pg. 278) = Proximity leads to Relationship
 Cultural Roles (pg. 278), Moghaddam 1993
 Passionate Love a Western Phenomena (pg. 278) Goodwin 1995
 Cultural Values (Marriages) (pg. 278), Gupta and Singh 1992
 Individualistic Countries (pg. 279), Levine 1995
The Role of Communication in Maintaining Relationships:
 Fincham 1990 (pg. 280) “Attributions in Marriage”
 Weigel and Ballard-Reisch 1999 (Law pg. 269) “Maintenance Behaviour”
 Altman and Taylor (pg. 280) = Social Penetration Theory/Self Disclosure
 Collins and Miller 1994 (pg. 281) “Self Disclosure Studies”
 Gender Differences and Overlapping Speech (pg. 281), Tannen 1990
Why Relationships may Change or End?:
 Kelley and Thibaut (pg. 282) = Social Exchange Theory
 Elaine Walster (pg. 282) = Equity Theory
 Hatfield 1979 (pg. 282) “Treatment in Marriage”
 Kurdek 1991 (Law pg. 273) “The Dissolution of Gay and Lesbian Relationships”
 Rusbult (pg. 283) = Patterns of Accommodation
 Murray and Holmes (pg. 283) = Idealization and Positive Illusions
 Simpson 1996 (pg. 283) “Attachment Styles”
 Flora and Segrin 2003 (pg. 283) = “Well-being and Perception of Marriage”
 Fermlee 1999 (pg. 284) = Fatal Attraction Theory
Sociocultural Explanations of the Origins of Violence:
 Bandura (pg. 113, Law pg. 274, 122) = Social Learning Theory “Bobo
Study, Social Learning of Aggression”
 Sheriff (pg. 133, Law pg. 275, 110) = Intergroup Conflict Theory, Social
Identity Theory “Robbers Cave Experiment Rattlers vs. the Eagles”
 Huesmann (Law pg. 274) = “Boys in New York”
 Zimbardo (Law pg. 292) = Social Norms
 Zimbardo (Law pg. 292) = Deindividuation Theory,“The Prison
Experiment”
 Cohen (Law pg. 275) = Culture of Honour “C of H Study”
 Koverola and Murtaugh 2006 (Law. Pg 277) = Social Norms/Feminist Theory
Relative Effectivenes of Two Strategies to Reducing Violence:
 Robertson 1999 (Law pg. 270) = Group Therapy and the Duluth Model
 Shepard 1992 (Law pg. 280) = “Recidivism Rates”
 Reducing Violence and Bullying in Schools (pg. 300)
 Dodge 1981 (pg. 300) = “Counseling in Schools”
 Feshbach and Feshbach 1982 (pg. 300) “Training kids to imagine feelings”
 Vreeman 2006 (pg. 301) = Whole School Approach
 Olweus 1972 (pg. 301) = “Whole School Approach in Norway”
 Primary Prevention Strategies in Schools (Law pg. 282)
 Brozo (Law pg. 282) = “Columbine Diary”
 Smithey and Straus 2004 (Law pg. 282) = 67% exposed to school prevention
strategies but difficult to measure effectiveness
 Edleson 2000 (Law pg. 282) = Longest follow up study is 16 which is not
long enough to measure strategy to reducing violence
 Smithey and Straus 2004 (Law pg. 282) = 67% exposed to school prevention
strategies but difficult to measure effectiveness
Effects of Short Term and Long Term Exposure to Violence
 Olweus 1992 (pg. 297) = School Victimization and early 20s
 Olweus 1992 (pg. 297) = “Effects of bullying on its Victims”
 Deville 2002 (pg. 298) = “Brain development on Hamsters, Cortisol”
 Carney and Hazler 2007 (pg. 298) = “Cortisol levels in children”
 Snyder 2003 (pg. 299) = “Aggression in children in Kindergarten”
 Cahn 2006 (Law. Pg. 277) = Short Term Effects of witnessing Violence
 Rhodes 2002 (Law pg. 278) = “Intimate Partner Violence”
 Seligman and Maier 1967 (Law. Pg. 279) = Women Battered Syndrome
 Saunders 1986 (Law pg. 279) = “Battered Women questionnaire”