4.1 Evolutionary Theories
theoretical framework to study biology and interpersonal communication (i.e., biosocial approach)
Some traits remain relatively stable in species.
Five principles:
Basic Theory of evolution: “perpetual change in the living world where nothing is constant or repeated exactly”
Common decent
Multiplication of species
gradualism
natural selection
Individuals are variable. (i.e., variation among organism in the same familial lineage)
Advantageous traits are passed on to off-spring.
Individuals produce more offspring than the environment can support. Then, scarcity of resources kick in to favor individuals that have traits more advantages in acquiring resources (i.e., Adaptation), which operates at the genetic level (not individual).
traits are passed on gradually which lead to new species in the population
(Tooby and Cosmides 2015) evolutionary psychology study the functions of brain, which is known as psychological adaptation that evolve to solve problems in its environment.
Limitation:
- Controversial regarding sex (i.e., biological make-up of men and women are different). Biological determinism is in contrast to “bi-directional nature of hormonal responses and the fact that individuals’ communication can influence their physiological responses and vice versa.”
- Controversial over culture and individual differences:
Application:
- (Denes, Afifi, and Granger 2016) “high testosterone/no orgasm individuals may be the least likely to experience the beneficial effects of post sex communication.”
- (Aloia and Solomon 2014) “positive association between conflict intensity and cortisol reactivity, and this association was attenuated for individuals who reported higher, rather than lower, levels of childhood exposure to familial verbal aggression.”
4.1.1 Affection Exchange Theory
(AET) (Floyd 2001) contemplates that “people give and receive affection in ways that are adaptive or evolutionarily advantageous for their relationship.” There is evidence that affection reduces stress.
Assumptions of AET:
- procreation and survival are superodinate human goals
- Communication helps achieve these goals (consciously or unconsciously)
- traits that are desirable (i.e., advantageous) for superordinate goals will be passed on
- human communicative behaviors are only partially controlled by humans.
AET’s propositions:
“the need and capacity for affection are inborn”
we don’t need to learn to feel affection(i.e., innate)
the need for affection is fundamental
“affectionate feelings and affectionate expression are distinct experiences that often, but need not, covary”
“affectionate communication is adaptive with respect to human viability and fertility”
“humans vary in their optimal tolerances for affection and affectionate behavior”
“affectionate behaviors that violate the range of optimal tolerance are physiologically aversive”
(Floyd and Morman 1998) propose 3 forms of affection display:
- Verbal communication (e.g., spoken or written)
- Direct nonverbal (e.g., nonlinguistic or paralinguistic behaviors)
- Indirect Nonverbal (e.g., behaviors that convey affection via social or material support)
Types of affectionate communication research:
Relationships: certain relationships are more affectionate than others because it relates to the relatedness of genes’ survivability
fathers gives more attention to children with higher probability to reproduce.
“humans engage in affectionate behaviors, both genuinely and deceptively, within selective romantic relationships in order to increase relational trust, closeness, and satisfaction.” which in turn, increase survival and procreation.
Health
One can have health benefits by offering affection.
“highly affectionate people report higher self-esteem, general mental health, social engagement, and life satisfaction,a s well as lower susceptibility to depression and stress, than less-affectionate people”(Floyd 2002)
Application:
- kissing improves perceived stress, relationship satisfaction, and total serum cholesterol
(Horan and Booth-Butterfield 2013)
motivation for deceptive affection:
face-saving
conflict management/ avoidance
emotion management
feelings of affection is different from communicating affection
feeling affection: the feeling of warmth and fondness toward an individual
communicating affection: feelings of fondness, support, and love
(Shardé M. Davis and Afifi 2019)
Controlling images (.e.g, angry black woman or mammy). Black women are thought to be self-sufficient, perseverant, authentic.
Strong Black woman collective theory: “Black women enact communication behaviors that affirm strength in each other … to delineate a safe space to concurrently promote solidarity within the collective and confront oppressive force.”
Black women use “distinct communication practices (i.e., code-switching, assertive and verbal messages, and culturally-nuanced speech codes)”
the assemblage of Black women
members reinforce each others virtues of strength
enable members to confront oppressive structure, but also impede vulnerability and emotionality within
Strength regulation like emotion regulation
“strength regulation contributed to more derogative comments about aggressors during supportive discussions, and support seekers were less satisfied in their relationships with white women after the derogative conversations”
(Gilchrist-Petty and Bennett 2019)
- engaged-to-be-married has the highest negative attitudes regarding cross-sex best friendships.
- attitudes toward cross-sex best friendships mediate the relationship between (how jealousy experienced and expressed) and (reactive jealousy experience and destructive jealousy expression)
4.1.2 Tend and Befriend theory
Under the fight or flight framework, people tend to affiliate with others under stress (Taylor 2012). Women have different level of fight or flight tendencies, which is due to hormones and evolutionary tendencies.
4.1.3 Attachment theory
(Bowlby 1982) As child, we form attachments to our parents, which affect how we perceive and approach relationship in the future. Oxytocin is a hormone that facilitates social bonds (Campbell 2010)