Psychology 409b

The Unity Model of Marriage: Unity 5 Sensorimotor, Cognitive,

and Affective Conjunction

Lauren Buchner

The Unity Model of Marriage by Dr. Leon James and Dr. Diane Nahl. Unity 5

Instructor: Dr. Leon James

I.  Sensorimotor Conjunction

            A. physical activities couples enjoy together

                        1. Going out, dancing, eating out

            B. Man is dominant in relationship

            C. woman’s focus is on the man in order to remain conjoined

            D. different motives

                        1.  Woman: wants to strive for deeper conjoining

2. man’s only motivation is his pleasures

II.   Cognitive Conjunction

A. couple is conjoined mentally as well as physically

1. may have inside jokes with each other

            B.  can be seen through disagreements

            C.  woman as the leader

                        1.  uses this to get man’s point of view

                        2.  learns his reasoning style

            D.  man is still focused on himself and his independence

                        1.  finds pleasure in the woman’s knowledge of him

2. the man does not think from her perspective at all

III.  Affective Conjunction

            A.  the woman is always striving to conjoin affectively with the man

                        1. She has an innate knowledge of what needs to be done in order to conjoin affectively in their relationship

            B. man has to “surrender” to his wife

                        1.  stray from societal views and norms

a. not stay affectively independent

b. society believes a man should only provide for his wife

C. the man must relinquish his independence in order to reach unity

Related Links

http://dating.about.com/ : This website gives advice to all ages on how to successfully meet and date people. I thought it would be interesting to see how today’s society proposes solving common dating problems.

http://www.match.com : This website is very popular in today’s society. It allows individuals to meet each other online and to begins dating without seeing each other. I thought this site was intersting because you have to first complete a compatibility profile in order for them to find your “true love.” It made me think about the Unity Model of Marriage and whether their profile follows the concepts of the model.

http://www.bellaonline.com/site/dating : This site gives relationship help and advice. It gives a different perspective from the Unity model because it says that every couple needs space in order for the relationship to work. It helps in understanding the importance of the Unity model for today’s relationships

My Home Page:  http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leon/409bs2006/buchner/buchner-home.htm

Class Home Page:  http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy24/classhome-g24.htm