Relationships | AQA A-Level Psychology (7182)
Relationships
- 96 questions
- 5 subtopics
- Paper 3: Issues and options in psychology
- Paper 3
Relationships is an optional topic for Paper 3.
It covers what draws people together, the theories that explain why relationships are maintained or end, and two forms of relationship that fall outside the face-to-face case: those formed online and those held with someone who does not know the person exists.
Sample questions from Relationships
Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.
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Factors affecting attraction in romantic relationships
Why is physical attractiveness important in attraction?
Show the answer
It is a key initial factor, and features judged attractive, such as symmetry, may signal health and genetic fitness. -
Factors affecting attraction in romantic relationships
Name the three filters in filter theory.
Show the answer
Similarity of attitudes, complementarity, and social demography. -
Evolutionary explanations for partner preferences
Why do females tend to be choosier than males when selecting a partner?
Show the answer
Females invest far more in each offspring through pregnancy and nursing, so a poor choice is costly and they benefit from a strategy of quality over quantity. -
Evolutionary explanations for partner preferences
What did Clark and Hatfield's study find about sex differences in mating behaviour?
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When confederates on a university campus asked students to go to bed with them, 75% of men agreed but no women did, supporting the idea that females are choosier. -
Theories of romantic relationships
According to equity theory, how might a partner restore equity by changing their behaviour?
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By changing their actual inputs or outputs in the relationship. -
Theories of romantic relationships
What occurs during the intra-psychic phase of relationship breakdown?
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Private contemplation of dissatisfaction with the relationship, focusing on the partner's perceived inadequacies and weighing costs against benefits. -
Online relationships
Identify four common forms of deception found in online relationships.
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Misrepresenting physical appearance, age, occupation, and relationship status -
Online relationships
According to Walther's hyperpersonal model, why can online communication become more intimate than face-to-face interaction?
Show the answer
Due to selective self-presentation and idealisation of partners
The 5 subtopics
One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.
| Subtopic | What it covers | Questions |
|---|---|---|
| Factors affecting attraction in romantic relationships | Self-disclosure, physical attractiveness and the halo effect, and filter theory with the three filters a potential partner passes through. | 12 |
| Evolutionary explanations for partner preferences | Sexual selection and anisogamy as explanations for partner preferences, intrasexual and intersexual selection, Buss's cross-cultural survey and Clark and Hatfield's study, and the social and same-sex challenges to the evolutionary account. | 12 |
| Theories of romantic relationships | Social exchange theory and the standards a relationship is judged against, equity theory, and the factors that predict commitment in Rusbult's investment model. | 45 |
| Online relationships | How self-disclosure online differs from disclosure face-to-face, why absence of gating allows relationships to form, and the limits deception places on them. | 16 |
| Parasocial relationships | The three levels of parasocial relationship, the absorption addiction model of celebrity worship, the attachment explanation, and the limitations of the research. | 11 |
How the guide is worked
Answering a question from memory stores it far better than reading the answer again. The guide runs that as a fixed procedure on one subtopic at a time, about twenty minutes a session.
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Step 1 · Closed book
Cover the answers. Work through one subtopic and write down what you can. Leave blanks where you have nothing.
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Step 2 · Open book
Go back to the top. Read each printed answer and write it out in full, including the ones you had right.
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Step 3 · Closed book again
Same questions, same order, from memory. The gap between pass one and pass three is the session result.
Read the full method, the return schedule and the research behind it.
Nearby topics
AQA A-Level Psychology Active Recall Guide
Every topic, not just this one. 2,999 questions with their answers.