Option 1 Key Terms

Self‑disclosure

The process of sharing personal information, thoughts, and feelings with another person, which promotes intimacy and trust in relationships.

Matching hypothesis

A theory that predicts that individuals are more likely to form and maintain relationships with partners who are similar on key social and demographic variables.

Commitment

The intention to maintain a relationship and the psychological attachment to it.

Satisfaction

The degree to which partners feel fulfilled and happy in their relationship.

Duck’s Phase Model

A theoretical framework outlining four sequential stages—honeymoon, conflict, decline, dissolution—that describe how romantic relationships can deteriorate.

Relationship Breakdown

The process by which a romantic partnership deteriorates to the point of separation or dissolution, often following a progression through identifiable phases.

Self‑Disclosure

The process of sharing personal information, feelings, or experiences with another person.

Absence of Gating

The removal of physical or social barriers that typically restrict who can interact with whom.

Parasocial relationship

A one‑way emotional bond that a person feels towards a media figure, who is unaware of the person’s existence.

Absorption addiction model

A model proposing that deep absorption in media content can lead to addictive patterns of parasocial engagement.

Chromosomes

Thread-like structures within cells that carry genetic material; in humans, the presence of XY or XX determines the typical biological sex.

Hormones

Chemical messengers produced by glands (e.g., testes, ovaries) that travel through the bloodstream to influence the development and function of tissues, including the regulation of secondary sexual characteristics.

Sex Chromosomes

Chromosomes that determine an individual's sex; typically XX for females and XY for males.

Phenotype

The observable physical or biochemical characteristics of an organism, determined by both genetic makeup and environmental influences.

Gender identity

The internal, personal sense of one’s own gender, which may or may not align with the sex assigned at birth.

Gender fluidity

The experience of a gender identity that changes over time, with the individual feeling different genders at different moments.

Bem Sex Role Inventory

A self‑report questionnaire that measures the extent to which individuals identify with masculine and feminine traits.

Gender role

Socially constructed expectations about appropriate behaviour, attitudes and traits for males and females.

Testosterone

A hormone primarily produced in the testes that influences male physical development and behavior.

Estrogen

A hormone primarily produced in the ovaries that influences female physical development and behavior.

Gender Schema

A mental structure that organizes gender‑related information and guides attention, memory and interpretation of gendered stimuli.

Kohlberg's Gender Development Theory

A theory proposing that gender identity develops through stages of differentiation, stability and constancy, linking cognitive development to gender understanding.

Social learning theory

A psychological framework proposing that individuals acquire new behaviours and attitudes by observing others and the outcomes of those behaviours.

Gender role modelling

The learning of gender-appropriate behaviours through observation and imitation of others who exemplify those roles.

Gender incongruence

A mismatch between an individual's experienced gender and the sex assigned at birth, often leading to distress.

Prenatal hormone exposure

The influence of hormones such as testosterone and estradiol during fetal development on brain structure and function, which may affect later gender identity.

Assimilation

The process of incorporating new information into existing mental schemas.

Accommodation

The modification of existing schemas or creation of new ones to incorporate new information.

Class Inclusion

The ability to understand that a subclass can be part of a larger class, and that the larger class can contain multiple subclasses.

Preoperational Stage

The second stage in Piaget's theory of cognitive development, occurring roughly between ages 2 and 7, characterized by egocentrism and symbolic thinking.