Relationships are very Important

General summary

Both articles discuss the following topics: the effect of life events on families and couples such as divorce and death; reasons that break families apart; ways to help families stay together; different factors that can affect families and relationships including education, ethnicity, and employment; and the development of family and couple psychology.

The main research questions in the article, “Family Psychology and Psychology of Men and Masculinities,” are: what are the social challenges facing families? What factors affect a family’s success or failure? What are the reasons behind divorce? And what is the effect of traditional masculine norms on families? The participants chosen for this research were families, couples, immigrant families, military families, diverse families, and white men.

Methods used in conducting the research included specific questionnaires, interviews, surveys, and stimulus materials.

The main research questions in the article, “60 Years of Practice, Research, and Teaching in Family Psychology and Family Therapy,” are: what is the definition of family and personality? What are the different structures of families? What are the solutions for improving families and personalities? And what are the challenges facing couples and families and their solutions? The participants chosen for this research were families and couples. Methods used in conducting the research included interviews, surveys, stimulus materials, and practice exercises.

Critical Analysis

Relationships are very important; no one can live alone. That’s why there are many research studies that discuss relationships, couples, and family psychology. Family psychology is a relatively new field in psychology and is growing very fast. Both articles mentioned have some similarities; they both discussed major influences that can affect couples and families such as promotion of a healthy family, challenges that face families and couples, how relationships are formed, and how to maintain a healthy relationship. Differences between both articles lie in the fact that the article titled, “60 Years of Practice, Research, and Teaching in Family Psychology and Family Therapy,” focused more on different types of human relationships, traditional family definitions, and developing a new definition due to the changes that happened to family compositions over the years. It also touched on different models of identities and how they are connected to personalities and human relationships, and the effect of individual differences and human behavior on relationships.

The aforementioned article also discussed the impact of alienation, bullying, parentification, rebellion, seduction, drug and alcohol abuse, imprisonment, disability, and mental diseases in families. Although the article covered various important topics in human relationships and family psychology, it didn’t sufficiently discuss other influences that have a big effect on relationships like the article “Family psychology and psychology of men and masculinities” did.

The article “Family psychology and psychology of men and masculinities” covered the same topics and more influences in more detail and from different perspectives. It discussed the evolution of family psychology, human behavior, emotions, social changes, life events, cultural and tradition differences, the effect of different social classes, gender, education, and employment, and child development. Furthermore, it tackled the relationship between parents and children, family violence, family transitions (such as diverse families, military families, ethnicity, sexual orientation, separation, single parenting, step families, adoption, disability, and death). The article also discussed solutions to help couples and families maintain healthy relationships. The article paid significant attention to traditional masculine norms and their impact on couples, families, and relationships between women and men.

The article discussed the close relationship between the psychology of men and masculinities and family psychology. Research shows that men following traditional masculine norms can harm themselves and their families. Less educated white men tend to follow traditional masculine norms more than more educated men; these traditional norms are less followed in higher social classes, indicating that education and social class influence men’s behavior and the relationships they form.

The article also discussed the relationships between women and men, and changes that have occurred in the roles of women and men over time. Women’s traditional roles have changed a lot; now, women are able to perform new roles that were once considered masculine in addition to their traditional roles. Men’s roles have also changed; they now share in roles that were once considered feminine, but not as equally as women. These changes in women’s and men’s traditional roles have also altered the traditional idea that men are always the ones who can initiate divorce. Women who are unhappy in their martial life, for any reason, have begun requesting divorce at a higher rate than in the past.

Compared to the article “60 Years of Practice, Research, and Teaching in Family Psychology and Family Therapy,” the article “Family psychology and psychology of men and masculinities” is an excellent source for family psychology. It provides a thorough understanding of the factors that can negatively affect families and relationships and how to avoid them. Moreover, it points out factors that can help maintain a healthy relationship in couples and families over time.

The article focused more on one form of family transition, which is the diverse family and didn’t discuss other forms of family transitions much, such as the causes and consequences of divorce and remarriage, adoption, etc. The article discussed the effects of traditional masculinity norms on families, but it didn’t discuss how to overcome those effects. Therefore, I suggest conducting more detailed research about divorce, remarriage, family transition, and traditional masculinity norms.

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