1. Interpersonal Attraction and “LOVE”

2. Liking, Loving, Leaving and Hating: Backman’s Model of Relationships
Stage 1: From “no contact” to “unilateral awareness”
The key importance of propinquity
Additional factors
Cultural restraints
Familial restraints
Individual factors (sexuality, disability, etc)

3. Backman’s 4 Stages (cont.)
Stage 2: Sampling and estimation
Begins with first impressions
Then comes identity bargaining (impression management)
The comes the compromise process
Prospectives are usually similar in race, age, class, etc.
Prospectives are similar in physical atttractiveness
Normative Constraints can re-emerge at this stage.

4. Backman’s 4 Stages (cont.)
Stage 3: Social Penetration
Self-disclosure
Interdependence
Emotional convergence
Changes in self-attributions: “We” instead of ‘I”
Reinforcement and learning: partners train one another

5. Backman’s 4 Stages (end)
Stage 4: Relationships are maintained, or relationships dissolve. Why?
Changes in costs and rewards
Individual: “I am more successful than you now!”
Relational: “We’re bored with one another”
Situational: “I can’t support you financially anymore”
Cultural: “It’s okay for me to work outside the home now!”
Interpersonal Processes leading to termination
Reciprocity
Questioning of motives
“Going public”
Unequal involvement