Psychology of Relationships Quiz

Chapter 8: Personality - Psychodynamic Perspective

• Psychodynamic theory examines the role of the unconscious mind in shaping personality.
• Ego psychology highlights the ego's central role in behavior, emphasizing changes in defense mechanisms throughout adulthood.
• Adult attachment theory emphasizes how early relationships influence the development of self and relationships in adulthood.
• Erikson's theory explains that ego development proceeds through stages, with each stage representing a push-pull toward favorable or unfavorable outcomes.
• The Identity Status Model describes different identity statuses based on exploration and commitment.
• Identity achieved individuals are balanced and mature, actively exploring options.
• Foreclosed individuals have made identity commitments without much exploration.
• Moratorium individuals are open to exploration but feel anxious or depressed.
• Identity diffused individuals lack commitment to exploring or establishing an identity.

Expressions of Generativity

• Generativity encompasses acts of caring for the next generation, including parenting, mentoring, and grand parenting.
• Parenting involves raising and guiding children, high in prosocial attributes and social interest, and is characterized by happiness in their children.
• Mentoring involves spending time with and advising or guiding others; strengthening of family bonds.
• Redemption involves benefiting from others from you.

Pathway Model

• Triumphant trail - overcoming challenges
• Authentic road - exploring and open to change
• Straight and narrow - avoiding changes
• Meandering way - failing to settle on a life course
• Downward slope - self-defeating life decisions

Theory of Defense Mechanisms

• Valliant's theory proposes an increasing use of mature defense mechanisms throughout life.
• Older adults generally use less self-destructive methods to cope with stress, anxiety, and frustration.
• Mature methods include: sublimation, suppression, anticipation, altruism.
• Intermediate methods include: displacement, repression, reaction formation.
• Immature methods include: projection, passive aggression, acting out.

Adult Attachment Theory

• Early bonds between infants and caregivers set the stage for later relationships.
• Secure attachment styles are characterized by confidence in oneself and others.
• Anxious attachment styles are characterized by an expectation of abandonment from others.
• Avoidant attachment styles are characterized by an intense fear of abandonment.

Trait Approaches to Personality - Five Factor Model (Big 5)

• The Big 5 personality traits are five basic predispositions: openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism.
• These can be considered dimensions used in personality research.
• Each trait has six facets, and these different combinations form a different personality.

Correspondence Principle

• Explains how personality and experiences interact.
• People's life experiences reflect their personalities and then affect their personalities even further.
• Conscientious people, for example, often work in environments that foster focus while extraverted people prefer environments that allow for socializing/interaction.

Health and Personality Traits

• Type A personality is characterized by competitiveness, impatience, a strong sense of time urgency, and goal-orientation.
• Type D personality (where "D" stands for "distressed") is characterized by high anxiety, loneliness, and depression but tries to suppress these feelings.

Socioemotional Selective Theory

• When people feel time is running out, they're more likely to focus on emotional rewards (e.g., spending time with loved ones) rather than informational rewards (e.g., acquiring knowledge).
• Preference for close relationships increases with perceived time limitations.

Cognitive Perspective

• People are driven by the desire to predict and control their experiences.
• Possible Selves – Motivation to achieve hoped-for self and avoid feared self.
• Coping and Control – Strategies to reduce stress
• Identity Process Theory - maintaining self esteem through use of identity balance.
• Problem-focused coping – changing the situation
• Emotion-focused coping – changing thoughts about the situation

Theory of Midlife Crisis

• A period of self-scrutiny and re-evaluation triggered by the individual's entry into middle age, according to Levinson's theory.
• Levinson's theory is highly subjective and not consistently reproduced by others.

Chapter 9: Relationships - Marriage and Intimate Relations

• Marriage rates have decreased.
• Mean age at first marriage is increasing.
• Cohabitation before marriage is increasing.
• Cohabitation is linked to increased rates of divorce.

Same-sex Couples

• Same-sex marriage is legal in 31 countries.
• About 1% of Canadian couples are same-sex couples.

Widowhood

• Women are more likely to be widowed than men.
• Widow effect: a higher likelihood of death for surviving partners

Perspectives on Long-Term Relationships

• Factors such as socioemotional selectivity, social exchange, equity, similarity, need complementarity, and suffocation models influence the satisfaction and success of long-term relationships.

Pathways in Long-Term Relationships

• Enduring dynamics pathway – characterized by early interactions that define the course of the relationship.
• Emergent distress pathway – interactions during the early relationship lead to problems.
• Disillusionment pathway – couples start happy but develop problems over time.

Families – Parenthood and Transition

• The average age of first-time mothers is rising.
• Transition to parenthood involves adjustment to the new family status and roles.
• Empty nest is potentially positive transition that accompanies the empty nest.

Parent-Adult Child Relationship

• Filial maturity occurs when children reach a point where they relate to their parents as equals.
• Filial anxiety relates to older parents and difficulties in caretaking.
• Filial obligations are culturally-based expectations to assist aging parents.
• Intergenerational solidarity model describes the various aspects of relations with several generations with different degrees of interaction, affective attitudes, agreement on common perspectives, and functions.

Developmental Schism

• A gap between generations where they value their relationships in differing degrees and with differing desires.

Friendships

• Dyadic withdrawal occurs when individual friendships decrease while joint friendships increase.
• Peripheral ties are less close and focused on more individual activities, while core ties may include the couple.
• Friendship styles show considerable variation based on differences in approaches to adult friendships.

Chapter 10: Work, Retirement, and Leisure Patterns

• Labour force participation rates vary by gender, particularly in leadership roles.
• Gender pay gap exists in salary across various professions.

Vocational Development

• Vocation reflects a person's choice of occupation based on personal interests and preferences.
• Holland's vocational theory proposes six basic types (realistic, investigative, artistic, social, enterprising, conventional) that characterize vocational interests.
• RIASEC model uses these six types to understand vocational interests.

Super's Life-Span Life-Stage Theory

• This theory highlights the importance of personal potential realization during various life stages.
• Different factors (environmental, situational and personal) influence choices and careers across the life-span.

Occupation as Calling

• A career as calling involves a consuming passion for a particular domain.
• It contributes to personal meaning and purpose.
• Person-environment congruence influences the achievement of a calling.
• Boundaryless career refers to career pathways that go beyond organizational boundaries.
• Protean career refers to career choices that are based on individual values.
• Vocational satisfaction has intrinsic (internal rewards, interests, control) and extrinsic components (external rewards, job conditions).

Two-Factor Motivational Theory

• Intrinsic factors (achievement, recognition) motivate workers more than extrinsic factors (salary, supervision).

Self-Determination Theory

• Workers are motivated to fulfill intrinsic needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness.
• Motivation crowding out occurs when extrinsic factors dominate intrinsic motivation.

Chapter 11: Mental Health Issues and Treatment

• Psychological disorders in adulthood involve behaviors and experiences outside of social norms, and/or putting oneself or others at risk of harm.
• Major reference manuals (DSM-5,ICD) are used to diagnose and classify disorders.
• Ageism is detrimental to older adults accessing mental health services.

Specific Mental Disorders

• Types of disorders such as Major Depressive Disorer, Bipolar disorder, Anxiety disorders, Obsessive-compulsive and Related Disorders,Schizophrenia are described with their symptoms and diagnostic criteria.

Substance-Related Disorders

• Substance-related disorders include abuse of alcohol and drugs.
• The severity of abuse causes impairments in various aspects of daily life including health, disability, and household/social responsibilities.
• Older adults also experience substance-related issues such as cannabis use and gambling.

Personality Disorders

• Personality disorders involve long-standing patterns of inner experience.
• Common disorders like antisocial, borderline, and obsessive-compulsive personality disorders are detailed here, highlighting their core features and symptoms.

Chapter 12: Long-Term Care

• Institutional facilities and community-based services can help meet needs.
• Long term-care homes are crucial for older adults in need of assistance but sometimes face shortages and resource issues.

Aging and Place Services

• Services in communities help people remain in their homes when appropriate.

Home Care Services

• Providers of home care services are needed for some older adults and include various services.

Nursing Homes

• Nursing homes are an important part of the long-term care system.

Psychological Issues in Long-Term Care

• Competence-Press theory highlights the impact of environmental pressures on competence and well-being within long term-care settings.
• People in long-term care settings are influenced by environmental factors which can affect individual's psychological well being.

Mental Status Exam And Geriatric Depression Scale

• Mental status exams help evaluate current conditions.
• The Geriatric Depression Scale is helpful for screening depressive symptoms.

Treatment Issues in Mental Health Care

• Competent services and professional geropsychology are essential and discussed.
• Psychological assessment and clinical interviews are part of the process.

Suicide

• Suicide risk is related to various factors and conditions and may increase in old age as rates of physical and psychological illnesses increase.

Age and Vocational Satisfaction

• Job tenure typically reduces vocational satisfaction for older adults.
• Individuals who relocate to new jobs often report increased satisfaction.

Retirement

• Retirement patterns include crisp retirement, blurred retirement and bridge employment.
• Various aspects of retirement including financial and social adjustments.

Old Age Security (OAS)

• Financial considerations and eligibility for older adults.

Factors Contributing To The Need For Long Term Care

• Various factors lead to the need for longer range care services including cognitive and physical health conditions.

This quiz explores key concepts in the psychology of relationships, including theories of relationship maintenance, the impact of empty nest syndrome, and various partnership dynamics. Test your understanding of how relationships evolve over time and the factors that influence couple satisfaction.