Basic survival need
[Maslow, 1954]
Attraction
• Comparison level (CL)
• Comparison level for
alternatives (CLalt)
[Kelley & Thibaut, 1978]
[Thibaut & Kelley, 1959]
Need for affiliation
Equity
theory (ET)
Normative social
influence (NSI)
[Deutsch & Gerard, 1955]
Investment
fairness
Interdependence
theory (IT)
Theories of
formation and
maintenance
[Clore &
Byrne, 1971;
Lott & Lott,
1974]
Reward
theory
Exposure and
familiarity
Proximity
Online
relationships
(cyber affairs)?
Social
exchange
theory (SET)
[Saegert
et al.,
1973]
Personal space
[Hall, 1959, 1966]
Similarity
Communal vs.
exchange couples
[Mills & Clark, 1980]
THE FORMATION,
MAINTENANCE AND
BREAKDOWN OF
ROMANTIC
RELATIONSHIPS
Physical
attractiveness
Reciprocal
liking
[Rubin, 1973]
[Kitzinger &
Coyle, 1995]
Proxemic
rules
Library study
[Felipe & Sommer,
1966]
Filter model
[Kerckhoff & Davis, 1962]
• Similarity of sociological/
demographic variables
‘Field of availables’
[Kerckhoff, 1974]
• Agreement on basic values
Complementarity of resources?
[Brehm, 1992; Buss, 1989]
• Complementarity of
emotional needs
[Murstein, 1972]
Walster et al., 1966
Berscheid et al., 1971
Berscheid & Walster,
1974
Stage
theories
Stimulus –
Value –
Role (SVR) theory
[Murstein,
1976, 1987]
Reward
Cost
Profit
Matching hypothesis (MH)
‘Computer dance’ studies
Attractiveness
• Beliefs
• Attitudes stereotype
[e.g. Dion
• Values
et al., 1972]
Homans, 1974
Blau, 1964
Berscheid &
Walster, 1978
• Pre-existing doom
• Mechanical failure
• Sudden death
[Duck, 2001]
Why do
relationships
go wrong?
‘Understudied’
relationships
Same-sex
marriage?
[Wilkinson &
Kitzinger, 2005]
Breakdown
[Duck,
1982]
Key differences between
homosexual/heterosexual
relationships:
• Cohabitation
• Sexual exclusivity
• Traditional (i.e. heterosexual)
sex roles
[Peplau, 1982, 1991; Yip, 1999]
Classic formats
for a break-up
story
Theory of
relationship
dissolution (TORD)
• Intrapsychic phase
• Dyadic phase
• Social phase
• Grave-dressing phase