Attraction And Relationships

In the case study Attractions and Relationships, it was noted that the number of people who suddenly find themselves single after being in long-term relationships is increasing. Such people have also raised concerns that dating can be difficult in the context of finding a partner that they are attracted to and eventually lead to long-term relationships. It was also noted that a considerable number of people has at one point made use of dating methods such as speed dating and dating websites. However, none of them led to meaningful and long-term relationships. Hence, the case study shows there is a gap that needs to be addressed in factors that can potentially result in meaningful and long-term intimate relationships instead of simple physical …show more content…
The attachment theory is one of the most prominent theories developed by psychologists to explain why people behave the way they do and determine the fate of their relationships. Russell, Baker and McNulty (2013) conducted a specific empirical study and explained that marital infidelity can be attributed to how individuals were attached to their parents and guardians during infancy and childhood. They explored the attachment theory among 207 married couples and established that there was an interaction between an individual’s attachment anxiety and that of their partner in predicting marital infidelity. To answer their research question as to whether childhood attachment impacts on adulthood attachment, dating relationships, romantic relations, infidelity and marriage, they hypothesized that children who were negatively attached develop behavioral problems that interfere with future relationships. Their findings supported their hypothesis and the implication is that potential couples must find out whether their partners psychological development from childhood through to adulthood had challenges that may impact negatively on their relationship. The limitation of the study, however, is that it concentrated on married couples alone and did not investigate the perspectives of dating …show more content…
Essentially, their study investigated the concepts of both the Attachment Theory and the Social Role Theory and how they contribute towards the development of controlling behavior sexual and marital satisfaction. Negative attachment plays a key role in the emergence of the need to be controlling mainly due to the insecurity it breeds. The study, which examined 123 married couples, sought to answer the question whether marital infidelity can be predicted by sexual. They hypothesized that sexual narcissism can be positively associated with controlling tendencies and infidelity. They found that the association was driven by sexual exploitation, the lack of sexual empathy, sexual entitlement and an extravagant sense of sexual skill (McNulty & Widman, 2015). This article, alongside those by Ullman (2008) and Russell, Baker and McNulty (2013) argue that potential partners must have personally engaged with each other for not less than 100 hours before committing themselves to a long-term and meaningful intimate relationship. Essentially, they opine that matchmaking online dating platforms do not offer sufficient opportunities for potential partners to know each other well enough to decide that they are suitable partners. The key reason presented by McNulty and Widman (2015) is the