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Cognitions of relationship quality: A prototype analysis of their structure and consequences
Author(s) -
HASSEBRAUCK MANFRED
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
personal relationships
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.81
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1475-6811
pISSN - 1350-4126
DOI - 10.1111/j.1475-6811.1997.tb00137.x
Subject(s) - german , psychology , centrality , salient , quality (philosophy) , social psychology , cognition , cognitive psychology , developmental psychology , computer science , statistics , artificial intelligence , mathematics , geography , philosophy , archaeology , epistemology , neuroscience
Laypersons’conceptions of a good heterosexual relationship were examined in four studies. In study 1, a total of 120 German college students listed all aspects of a good intimate relationship. The resulting 1,010 items represented 352 distinct features, of which the 64 most frequently mentioned were selected for further analyses. In study 2, a total of 107 German college students rated the degree of centrality of the 64 items and reliably distinguished central from peripheral features. These data are consistent with a prototype analysis of the concept “good relationship.” In study 3, central features were round to be more salient in memory than were peripheral features, and in study 4, central features were associated with shorter response latencies than were peripheral ones. The specific features identified by laypersons as central to a good relationship were compared to those identified by experts, and the similarities and differences between the lay concepts of love and good relationships were also examined.