Outline and Evaluate One Theory of the Formation of Romantic Relationships (4+8 Marks) Essay

The settle with/ need satisfaction theory (RNS) was devised by Byron & Clore (1970) to explain the formation of romantic relationships, found on the principles of behavioral psychology. According to the theory, people form relationships with those who are most rewarding/ satisfying to be with which happens through instruct. The elements of Skinners operant conditioning proposes that we repeat behaviors with positive outcomes (rewards) and avoid those with negative outcomes (punishments). Relationships positively reinforce by our partner satisfying our needs/rewarding us (through love or attention), scarce negative reinforcement also plays a part in the likelihood of formation as a relationship avoid us feeling solitary which both result in us seeking further contact with them thus forming a relationship.The theory also suggests that we may associate a person with positive feelings due to the even in which they meet this is called classical conditioning. This form of conditionin g involves pairing a neutral stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus to get to a conditioned response, for example being at a party (NS) and feeling happy (UCR), then meeting a person (UCS) and associating this stimuli (now CS)with the happy feelings to take a leak a CR of happiness whenever in their presence and we want to be with the person that makes us most happy, thus forming a relationship.An issue raised surround the RNS theory is that it fails to consider free will. It suggests that without rewards a relationship will not form however evidence from modern relationships argues otherwise, for example a rewards and satisfaction is give in one night stands, yet no relationship is formed, plus no association can be made through cyber relationships because the couple progress to not met, yet a relationship still manages to form. This evidence goes against the theory suggesting that other factors such as similarity, opportunity and our own choices play a situation in relations hip formation thus proposing the theory is deterministic as well as simplistic.On the contrary, research evidence has supported the RNS, one learn conducted by Aron et al (2005). To begin the audition, participants answered a questionnaire rating how intensely in love they were then they were shown photos of their partner during an MRI scan. It was found that dophamine-richareas of the brain (area associated with rewards) had higher exertion when shown their partner than when shown an image of their friend. These findings show that we form relationships with those who are rewarding.High temporal validity is a strength to this study because it was conducted recently. This means the couples used in the experiment have a higher ability to ponder modern day relationships therefore the findings are more generalisable to modern relationships. Along with that the study is strong physical, data-based evidence because of the use of MRI scans. Brain scans produce reliable, physical, soli d evidence therefore have scientific proof for the link between relationships and rewards.The importance of reward level in determining relationship satisfaction was also demonstrated by Carte et al (1982) in which he asked 337 participants to asses their current relationship in terms of reward level and satisfaction and found that reward level was superior to all other factors in determining relationship satisfaction lowest that rewards are a greater factor than any when it comes to relationship formation. However a criticism of these findings is that the reward/need satisfaction theory only explores the receiving of rewards, whereas hay (1985) found that we gain satisfaction from giving as well as receiving.Most of the research into RNS theory has been conducted in the US with US participants, making it gruelling to generalize to different cultures. The theory, as well as the research, has an ethnocentric bias in the fact that it is based on relationships in western cultures, th erefore reflect relationships of western societies, but these are very different to other cultures were people may not get a choice in their partner e.g. staged marriages. Lott (1994) found that women in other cultures focused more on the needs of others than rewards, suggesting that there are differences in the value of rewards which this theory emphasizes so much about. As a result of this cultural bias, the RNS theory is not a universal explanation of relationship formation.