The Dynamics and Principles of Long-Term Relationships Between People - Case Study Example

? Interaction Theories Introduction Jade and Mason are a couple who have been dating for over a year. Jade hails from Scottsdale, Arizona. She is living despite not being in any serious commitment prior to meeting Mason. All her past relationships involved people who were not ready for commitment, or who lied to her. Additionally, her father left when she was barely three, which is the reason she has high expectations from the person gets involved with in a romantic relationship. On the other hand, Mason is a respectful and caring man from St. Louis, Missouri. The two lovebirds met through mutual friends and fell for each other. Over the past few weeks, there has been some distance between the two, which Jade translated as diminishing interest and ignorance, not knowing that Mason was under job stress and pressure. One night over a phone conversation between the two, Mason was more silent and seemed disinterested in the conversation. This upset Jade, who quickly ended the conversation and sent him a text expressing her feelings. Mason’s reply was that since they were in a long distance relationship, they had little to talk about and that she was blowing his reasons for silence out of proportion. After several exchanges and arguments, the couple finally realized that they both lead busy lives, but they must ensure that they put positive efforts for their relationship to work. The argument was also a revelation for Mason. It presented Jade as a sensitive person who needs constant attention. She also holds her emotions within her when she gets upset. Eventually, the couple came to a mutual agreement. Mason now understood her better and apologized to her. Application Evolutionary psychology is a biological approach that seeks to explain human behavior and interaction with other humans. The emphasis of the theory in human relations includes parenting, interactions within relatives and families, and interactions with unrelated people. According to this theory, most of the human behavior is explainable by internal psychological mechanisms (Chadee, 2011). In essence, this theory attributes human behaviors to adaption and psychological mechanisms, which are responses to particular contingencies in their environment, and their selection depends on their contribution to survival and reproduction. Jade’s father left at a very tender age. She therefore developed psychological mechanisms that made her sensitive, seeking attention for that fatherly love. This explains her past relationship problems, and the recent one with Mason. Her ideal romantic partner is one who cares and listens to her. Luckily, Mason now understands her. Attachment theory explains the dynamics and principles of long-term relationships between people. The theory has an extension of adult romantic relations by Philip Shaver and Cindy Hazan. The attachment theory explains four styles of attachments in adults: anxious-preoccupied, secure, fearful-avoidant, and dismissive-avoidance (Chadee, 2011). Securely attached adults have positive views of themselves, their relationships, and their partners. They are comfortable with independence and intimacy. In the dismissive-avoidant group, adults seek independence, avoiding attachment completely. They consider themselves invulnerable to feelings and self-sufficient. They suppress their feelings and distance themselves when rejected. With fearful-avoidant adults, there is mixed feelings and reactions on emotional closeness. They desire the closeness, and at the same time feel uncomfortable. They consider themselves unworthy and mistrust their partners. Anxious-preoccupied individuals need approval, responsiveness, and high levels of intimacy. As a result, they become overly dependent on their partners (Chadee, 2011). These adults have less positive views of themselves and their relationship, are less trusting, and display high levels of impulsiveness, worry, and emotional expressiveness. Jade fits well in the anxious-preoccupied style of attachment. This is evident from her emotional outburst over the silence of Mason. She seeks more attention from him, and concludes that he is over the relationship. These expressions simply display her worry and impulsiveness, as well as her negative view of their relationship. The interdependency theory of interaction provides a logical explanation and analysis on the structure of interpersonal circumstances, using a conceptual framework that applies six dimensions in analyzing independence situation. According to the theory, particular situations pose particular problems and opportunities, which imply the importance of particular motives and permission of their expression (Chadee, 2011). The theory capitalizes on the concept of transformation to explain how human interactions depend on other considerations like concern for a partner or long-term goals of an adult. It further highlights our social-cognitive understanding like attribution, self-presentation, and cognition and affect, which are of interests to psychologists. In addition, the theory presents argument on adaptation and interdependence patterns, and attachment of these adaptations in social norms, interpersonal disposition, and relationship-specific motives (Chadee, 2011). Jade has a history of bad romantic relationship with people prior to meeting Mason. All the past romantic relationships ended through either cheating or lack of commitment. This means that Jade has adapted these relationship problems, and any signs of disinterest translate as lack of commitment. In addition, Jade may have the perception that all men are liars or that they lack sense of commitment. Conclusion All the three theories try to explain human interactions between one another. They present conceptual framework in trying to explain the reason for an individual’s emotional behavior towards another. Essentially, they all capitalize on the concept of transformation and adaptation to explain the system of approach (Chadee, 2011). Evolutionary psychology applies Darwinian concept of adaptation to explain why humans behave in the particular way that they do. It factors in the psychological mechanisms adapted by an individual in their surrounding as the basis of interaction and behavioral changes. The extension of the attachment theory on adult romantic relations places adults in four styles of attachment, all with their unique characteristics. The theory explains all the styles in depth, illuminating their consequences accordingly (Chadee, 2011). The interdependency theory presents the ideology of behavioral and interactive changes in human. The theory focuses on transformation of individual behaviors because of different situations that occur in the human life. The theory that explains Jade’s interaction with Mason is the evolutionary psychology theory. The theory uses a cause-effect approach that lacks in the other two theories. It highlights Jade’s lack of fatherly love as the cause of her sensitive and attention-seeking personality. Reference Chadee, Derek. (2011). Theories in Social Psychology. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell. Read More