Understudied Relationships

Front 1

FORMATION - DATING PATTERNS.

Back 1

1. Men have been brought up with the idea that it is justifiable to have sex for it's own sake.
2. The gay subculture has therefore been associated with a 'sex first' attitude. However, many men are beginning to feel uncomfortable with this.
3. Unlike men, women have been socialized into being more reactive than proactive in relationships. For lesbians, this may mean that neither woman feels comfortable making the first move.

Front 2

FORMATION - DATING PATTERNS

KITZINGER AND COYLE (1995)

Back 2

In the absence of places like a gay bar, one partner may have to take the assertive role, or they may be introduced by mutual friends.

Front 3

FORMATION - PREFERENCE FOR PARTNER

DAVIDSON (1991)

Back 3

Gay men appear to desire specific physical attributes in a partner and may also value many of the 'status symbols' that go with the male role in western cultures.

Front 4

FORMATION - PREFERENCE FOR PARTNER

HUSTON AND SCHWARTZ (1995)

Back 4

Lesbians are more likely to emphasize personality characteristics than physical appearance, although many have more recently begun to value self-sufficiency and strength in a long term partner.

Front 5

EVALUATION OF FORMATION - DATING PATTERNS

SILVERSTEIN (1981)

Back 5

Found that in gay bars many people only met for 'casual sex' rather than long term relationships.

Front 6

EVALUATION OF FORMATION - DATING PATTERNS

WAYNFORTH AND DUNBAR (1995)

Back 6

In personal ads homosexual males offered resources half as often as heterosexual males and lesbians offered cues about their physical attractiveness a quarter as often as heterosexual females.

This shows a difference in the resources people look for in heterosexual relationships and homosexual relationships. Perhaps due to lack of reproduction in homosexual relationships.

Front 7

MAINTENANCE STRATEGIES - COMMUNICATION

Back 7

Lesbians tend to use conversation as a means of establising and maintaining intimacy, and avoid those aspects of conversation style that act as a barrier to the building of imtimacy.

Front 8

MAINTENANCE STRATEGIES - COMMUNICATION

HUSTON AND SCHWARTZ (1995)

Back 8

Men use communication as a way of getting what they want from the weaker partner, when there is conflict in communication they use this as a form of sparring for dominance.

Front 9

MAINTENANCE STRATEGIES - SEX

HUSTON AND SCHWARTZ (1995)

Back 9

Lesbian couples have sex less times than average, gay men have the most sex in the first two years of their relationship than any other cohabiting couple.

Front 10

MAINTENANCE STRATEGIES - SEX

PEPLAU (1978)

Back 10

In lesbian relationships the issue of sexual infedility is not clear. Research has shown that in terms of sex outside the relationship it doesn't always detract from the satisfaction of the relationship.

Front 11

EVALUATION OF MAINTENANCE STRATEGIES - COMMUNICATION

TANNEN (1991)

Back 11

Argues that men use communication as a way of stating their independence and figuring out status, whereas women use it for comfirmation and reinforcement of intimacy.

Front 12

EVALUATION OF MAINTENANCE STRATEGIES - COMMUNICATION

KOLLOCK ET AL (1985)

Back 12

Observed that the lesbian partner with the most power in the relationships often interrupted the other partner and didn't seek advice from them.

Front 13

EVALUATION OF MAINTENANCE STRATEGIES - SEX

Back 13

1. Women are becoming just as promiscuos as men, even though evolutionarily it does not make sense for them to do that.
2. Fidelity may be a consequence of social pressure, and because homosexuals do not have a set of rules they can be more flexible.

Front 14

DISSOLUTION - DIFFERENCES

NARDI (1992)

Back 14

Homosexuals are more likely to remain friends when a relationship ends, whereas heterosexuals tend not to.

Front 15

DISSOLUTION - DIFFERENCES

BLUMSTEIN AND SCHWARTZ (1983)

Back 15

Found that 48% of lesbians and 36% of gays interviewed broke up within two years of being interviewed, compared with 29% of heterosexual cohabitors and 14% of married couples.

Front 16

DISSOLUTION - DIFFERENCES

HUSTON AND SCHWARTZ (1995)

Back 16

Heterosexual relationships have a number of barriers to ending a relationship. These are largely absent in homosexual relationships.

Front 17

DISSOLUTION - REASONS

BECKER (1988)

Back 17

Claims that lesbian relationships are particularly prone to affairs, the woman who has had the affair usually ending the relationship because she has fallen in love with another woman.

Front 18

DISSOLUTION - REASONS

HUSTON AND SCHWARTZ (1995)

Back 18

Gay men frequently break up because of unresolvable power differences.