The Stimulus Value-Role Theory

Chapter I

The Problem and its Background

Introduction

"Gay people, like others, do fall in love and they also want to have a life on their own. They commit their lives to their partner. Moreover, they do their all to be good citizens to their nation.” (Kuehl, 2005) this statement is stated by a Senator in California after the Gay Marriage Bill AB849 was authorized. In a social perspective, people engage in interaction with others and they share various ideas and learn from others’ ideas as well. They can be influenced by peers and this helps them feel that they belong in the society. They can be influenced by other factors by a greater or lesser extent. With the help, support and presence of fellow gays, one can finally come out of the closet

The Stimulus-Value-Role was developed in the 1970 's and according to Murstein, any relationship will need to go through three stages. The first is Stimulus. At this stage, one chooses a partner on a basis of interpersonal attraction based on physical, social or/and other stimulus factors. The study will show the stimuli that gay men look in their prospective partners such as physical attractiveness, emotional self-disclosure, interpersonal communication and humour. This stage refers to the ideal partner of the respondents. The second is Values. As the couple becomes better acquainted they will learn about and compare attitudes and values especially concerning sex, work, and so forth. This study will try to examine if similarities of the gay men and their partners affect their relationship. This stage refers to the real partner of the respondents. If these are similar or compatible, the relationship passes to Stage three which is Role; this represents the relationship satisfaction of gay couples. The partners consider the expected behaviours of self and the other. Role expectation is what an individual is expected to do depending on what role he/she obtained. This study will show if the characteristics of the perceived partners of gay men fit the ones in their actual partners because when a gay man has placed his preferences on his perceived partner, there is already an expectation of

The proposed study of the researchers dug deeper about mate selection preferences of gay men since the variables that the researchers’ variables are not just about simple variables but variables that focus on emotional self-disclosure, physical attractiveness, humour and interpersonal communication. Through this study, the researchers look forward to give certain benefits to the following individuals:

To Psychology Practitioners. The current study would generate substantial knowledge about the mate selection preference of gay menand further knowledge on how these preferences affect their level of relationship satisfaction since few studies focused on gathering credible results regarding this topic.

To Guidance Counselors. The proposed relationship maintenance program will supply a significant help on strengthening the relationship satisfaction by means of developing oneself as an individual and as a