Exam 12: Interpreting Experience

Explain and give examples of three ways in which people's thoughts about relationships can affect what they experience in their relationships.

Your friend Mat announces,"If two people truly love each other,they can overcome any obstacles that come their way." Mat's statement is an example of:

In the chapter on motivated reasoning,your textbook authors review a number of ways in which partners who feel positive about their relationships can protect those positive feelings from negative information.Given the strategies at their disposal,why do people fail to continue to feel positively about their relationships regardless of specific experiences and observations? That is,why-from this perspective-does satisfaction decline?

Explain assimilation and accommodation,and provide a relationship example of each.

"If I get more than I expect,I will be happy,and if I get less than I expect,then I will be less happy." This statement best illustrates which of the following theories?

According to the commitment calibration hypothesis,people who are in ______ marriages rated dating service photos of attractive alternate partners as significantly _________attractive compared to ratings of ______ married individuals.

Sharon believes her new work colleague,Steve,may not like her very much.One day Sharon runs into Steve in the hall and they briefly chat until Steve says that he needs to get going because he has a busy day ahead of him.Sharon feels rejected by Steve and believes his departure is evidence of his dislike for her.Sharon's response best illustrates the phenomenon of:

A ________ is an idea or a theory about what the world is actually like;a ________ is an idea about what the world should be like.

Bjorn perceives his partner's intentions in a conflict very differently than they are perceived by outside observers.These differing perceptions can best be explained by:

The ________ motive suggests a preference for information that supports positive views of the partner and the relationship.The ________ motive suggests a preference for information that reflects important qualities in a partner or a relationship.The ________ motive suggests a preference for information that supports a positive view of the self,even if it hurts the relationship.

Compared to women with low rejection sensitivity,women who feared rejection tend to behave more negatively when discussing difficult issues with their partners.This best illustrates:

When you were in high school,your friend Janise said that a romantic partner with a sense of humor was critical to a lasting relationship.At your 5-year reunion,you meet her husband,and he seems to be a nice person but quite deficient in the humor department.Having just taken a course on close relationships,you recognize that this is an example of ________.

Lucas is high in self-esteem.He expects others will like him,so he behaves in ways that,in fact,elicit positive responses from others.This best illustrates:

When is a spouse LEAST likely to make adaptive attributions about her or his partner's negative behavior?

Your friend Daniel believes that satisfaction early in a relationship is the most important predictor of how long the relationship will last.Another friend,Shannon,argues that satisfaction early in a relationship has very little bearing on how long the relationship will last.Who is right?

A study that followed men for 40 years and asked them to rate their marital satisfaction at regular intervals found the usual gradual decline in satisfaction over time.However,in a retrospective account after 40 years,the men reported that their marriages had been very satisfying in the beginning,grew gradually less satisfying in the middle years,and then became more satisfying again in recent years (a U-shaped curve).Their memories of how their satisfaction changed were ________ with the actual satisfaction data collected over the course of their lives due to a ________.

Which of the following statements is FALSE about the effect of media messages on our standards and beliefs about intimate relationships?

You have been asked to participate in a radio show about how the media affect our beliefs about ourselves and our relationships.One of the other participants comments that,because of the pervasiveness of media,people are bombarded by unhealthy messages they can do little about.How do you respond?

You have just returned from a long business trip,and your partner is late coming to meet you at the airport.Define and provide examples of two kinds of attributions that you might make about your partner's behavior: (1)stable/external;and (2)temporary/external.

In a study by MacDonald and Ross (1999),friends,parents,and students were asked to predict how long the student's romantic relationship would last.Who was the LEAST accurate about the likelihood of the student's relationship lasting,and why?