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Topic title:  Relationships

Year group: Year 13

When taught: Term 3

What are we learning?

  • 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.
    • 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.

Why is this important to know? 

  • This unit is useful for helping students to understand the relationships of the people around them. They might understand better the process of relationship breakdown and it also helps highlight the concept of catfishing and the risks of online relationships.

Where does this link into our past and future learning? 

  • This unit gives students some good examples to use for their issues and debates topic.
  • This unit also includes plenty of research studies they can use to practise evaluating using their research methods knowledge from the first term. We complete a research methods investigation for the matching hypothesis which is a good opportunity to practise designing a study and carrying out a Spearman’s Rho test for.

How will we be assessed on this topic?

  • Students will sit a formal exam on this topic in the summer. This section makes up 24 marks and 30 minutes of Paper 3 at A Level. They will be asked questions varying in size from multiple choice up to 16 mark essays.
  • There will also be mid topic and end of topic tests on the unit when we study it.
  • Students will also have recap tests / questioning / exam questions on this topic during most lessons.

What makes a strong piece of work in this topic?  What are teachers hoping to see?  

  • A detailed description of the content.
  • Sustained evaluation that is fully ‘PEEEL’ed.
  • Using specific research examples to support the points they are making.
  • Using correctly key terminology (see below and topic Glossary).

What key words are there in this topic?

Click here: Quizlet

What can I try if I want to stretch and challenge myself on this topic?

  • Use the key study list to ensure you know the details of the studies in this topic: Click here: Quizlet
  • There is an extension challenge set for this unit. This consists of 4 interesting tasks such as videos to watch, podcasts to listen to, articles to read and online courses to complete with a feedback task at the end. Please see your subject teacher to access this sheet.

What wider reading can be done on this topic?

  • There are several Psychology Review Magazine articles relevant to this topic that you can read to extend your knowledge.
  • You could read some of the full text journal articles for the studies covered in this topic. E.g.
    • Buss – Human Mate Selection
  • Listen to the podcast “Where should we begin” by Esther Perel for a good example of relationship counselling.