AQA A Level Psychology Relationships Essay Plans

AQA A Level Psychology Essay Plans for Relationships

Covers:

The evolutionary explanations for partner preferences, including the relationship between sexual selection and human reproductive behaviour.

Factors affecting attraction in romantic relationships: self-disclosure; physical attractiveness, including the matching hypothesis; filter theory, including social demography, similarity in attitudes and complementarity.

Theories of romantic relationships: social exchange theory, equity theory and Rusbult’s investment model of commitment, satisfaction, comparison with alternatives and investment. Duck’s phase model of relationship breakdown: intra-psychic, dyadic, social and grave dressing phases.

Virtual relationships in social media: self-disclosure in virtual relationships; effects of absence of gating on the nature of virtual relationships.

Parasocial relationships: levels of parasocial relationships, the absorption addiction model and the attachment theory explanation.