Trying to find ways to reduce the amount of studies in IB Psychology? Here’s how the Human Relationships option can be covered in just 8 studies. The following guidance is for the Human Relationships option, since it’s the most popular. The IB Guide states that “Each option is divided into three topics. For each option, there will be three essay …
Is demand-withdraw a cross-cultural phenomenon?
One of the most commonly studied communication styles in married couples is “demand-withdraw.” It’s often called the “wife demand, husband withdraw” because this is the common trend. However, this phenomenon has mostly been reported in Western countries. This raises the question if it has the same negative effect on marriages across cultures or even if the same pattern even exists. …
Key Study: Why do people get divorced? (Scott et al. 2013)
Understanding what makes some marriages work and others fail is the life’s work of many psychologists. This simple study uncovers at least 5 common reasons why couples might divorce. It’s no surprise that getting divorced has massive negative consequences – psychological, physical, emotional and even financial. Divorced individuals are more at risk for substance abuse, depression and poor overall health. …
Key Study: “The Sweaty T-shirt Study” (Wedekind et al. 1995)
Updated June, 2020 Can we smell someone’s genes? Not their trousers, but their genetics. The Swiss Biological Researcher Claus Wedekind and his colleagues conducted a famous study to see if our preference for smells is linked with our genetics. In other words, they wanted to see if we prefer the smell of someone who has genes that would be a …
Gottman’s Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work
This is a summary of Gottman’s 7 principles from his book (Available here). Enhance Your Love Maps Basically, the more you know about each other the stronger your relationship will be. So a “love map” is basically your schema for the knowledge that you possess of your partner, include a range of details involving their hopes, dreams, fears, beliefs, …
Studying Marriage: Gottman’s Love Lab and the Four Horsemen of Divorce
John Gottman’s decades of research has uncovered four “poisonous” factors in a marriage: Criticism, Contempt, Defensiveness, Stonewalling. Based on this same research, Gottman has devised 7 principles that can help maintain or restore a healthy marriage. Background Why do so many marriages end in divorce? In the United States, the % of marriages that end is around 50%, and the rate …
Exam Question Bank: Paper 2 Human Relationships
Disclaimer: These questions are not IB “official” questions and are written with our best guess as to what the probable exam questions may look like. Not every possible question is covered but rather a wide sample of questions has been asked so you can get an idea of the types of questions that may appear. Read More Abnormal Psychology exam bank …
Correlational studies on culture and behaviour
One common method used to study the effects of culture on behaviour is the correlational study. This method involves measuring the strength of a relationship between two or more co-variables. In correlational studies on the effects of culture on behaviour, one variable is related to culture (e.g. cultural dimensions) and the other is related to behaviour (e.g. conformity, mate preference …
Key Study: Mate preference across cultures (Buss, 1989)A cross-cultural study on attraction and mate preference
“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” This classic saying means that we all have a different opinion about what is beautiful. When it comes to romantic relationships, is this really the case? A common field of study for psychologists is attraction and mate preference: what do people look for in a husband, wife, or lover? Buss’s classic study shows …
Why do marriages end in divorce? A cognitive explanation
The material in this post will help students who are studying for the Human Relationships option and want to make sure they can answer any possible question about the topic: “Personal relationships.” Understanding why marriages may deteriorate and end in divorce is key in preparing to answer questions relating to the topic “why relationships may change or end. Perhaps the …
- Page 1 of 2
- 1
- 2