Affiliation, Romantic Attraction, and Prosocial Behavior

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the core social psychology concepts, models, and empirical findings regarding affiliation, romantic attraction, attachment, and prosocial behavior.

Affiliation

The relationships and social connections we establish and maintain with other people.

Platonic Friend

Someone with whom an individual shares an affectionate, voluntary, and changeable relationship that excludes romantic partners and biological relatives.

Proximity

Spatial or geographic closeness to another individual, which promotes familiarity and interpersonal liking.

Affiliation Motive

A desire to be near others and engage in pleasant, affectionate interactions with them, rooted in a fundamental need-to-belong.

Reinforcement-Affect Model

A psychological model positing that people affiliate with and like those whom they associate with positive feelings, while avoiding and disliking those associated with negative feelings.

Social Exchange Theory

A theoretical framework stating that interpersonal relationships involve the trading of benefits and costs, with partners preferring equitable outcomes where both receive equivalent value.

Social Comparison Theory

A theory proposing that individuals seek out similar others to validate, evaluate, and confirm their personal beliefs and attitudes.

Self-Disclosure

The act of sharing personal, intimate information about oneself, which fosters reciprocal closeness and friendship but carries risks such as betrayal, gossip, and loss of privacy.

Basking in Reflected Glory (BIRGing)

The affiliative tendency to associate oneself with successful or high-status others in order to elevate one's own perceived social standing.

Cutting Off Reflected Failure (CORFing)

The tendency to sever or distance social ties with individuals or groups that reflect poorly upon oneself, such as those associated with hostility, dishonesty, failure, or stigma.

Communal Sharing

A relational model and pattern of social exchange where members pool resources together, taking based on need and contributing when others are in need.

Authority Ranking

A pattern of social exchange in which goods and resources are allocated according to each individual's relative status or hierarchical rank within the group.

Equality Matching

A pattern of social exchange where each participant receives an identical share and exchanges are balanced on a strictly equal basis.

Market Pricing

A pattern of social exchange based on proportional equity, where benefits received correspond directly to the value of inputs contributed.

Communal Relationship

A relationship characterized by mutual concern for each partner's welfare, where benefits are provided in response to needs without keeping track of exact returns.

Exchange Relationship

A relationship driven by reciprocity where costs and rewards traded in the past are tracked and balanced against benefits expected in the future.

Social Snacking

Engaging in interactions through social media rather than direct contact, which does not provide the psychological benefits of face-to-face connection and can heighten envy, loneliness, and depression.

Parasocial Relationship

An unreciprocated, one-sided sense of affiliative intimacy felt by an individual toward a media figure or celebrity.

Sexual Gratification

The goal and psychological fulfillment of sexual desires, shaped by biological sex, hormonal activity, personality traits, and situational cues.

Sociosexual Orientation

An individual's personal disposition toward casual sexual behavior, categorised as restricted (preferring sex only within committed bonds) or unrestricted (open to casual sex without commitment).

Misattribution of Arousal

The cognitive error whereby physiological arousal produced by an external or stressful situation is mistakenly interpreted as romantic or physical attraction toward a present partner.

Intrasexual Rivals

Same-sex competitors whose presence threatens an individual's romantic attachment and reproductive access to mates, often prompting jealousy.

Nurturant Love

A variety of love focused on caregiving, protection, and meeting the needs of dependent offspring, exemplified by parental affection.

Attachment Love

A variety of love driven by a desire for safety, protection, and comfort, typically demonstrated by infants toward their primary caregivers.

Companionate Love

A variety of love defined by mutual affection, trust, and shared commitment without intense erotic desire, commonly found among close friends and family.

Passionate Love

A variety of love marked by longing, romantic allure, and intense physiological and emotional arousal directed toward another person.

Sternberg's Triangular Theory of Love

A model defining love through three primary components—passion (intense physical and sexual desire), intimacy (emotional bondedness and warmth), and commitment (decision to maintain the relationship).

Consummate Love

The complete form of love in Sternberg's model, achieved when passion, intimacy, and commitment are all simultaneously present.

Strange Situation Paradigm

A standardized observational procedure developed by Ainsworth to evaluate infant attachment styles across stages: mother present with child, mother departure, and mother reunion.

Secure Attachment

An adult attachment orientation present in roughly $60\%$ of adults across cultures, marked by ease with emotional closeness and minimal fear of abandonment.

Anxious Attachment

An insecure adult attachment style characterized by visible distress upon separation, excessive neediness, and constant preoccupation with abandonment, found in approximately $20\%$ of adults.

Avoidant Attachment

An insecure adult attachment style characterized by defensive emotional detachment, discomfort with intimacy, and reluctance to seek or offer support during stress, found in approximately $20\%$ of adults.

Interdependence Model

A relationship model analyzing outcomes ($\text{Outcome} = \text{Rewards} - \text{Costs}$) against comparison standards to determine subjective satisfaction and dependence.

Comparison Level (CL)

An individual's cognitive baseline of what they expect and feel they deserve in a relationship; determines relationship satisfaction via $\text{Satisfaction} = \text{Outcome} - \text{CL}$.

Comparison Level for Alternatives ($\text{CL}_{\text{ALT}}$)

An individual's assessment of the rewards available in alternative partnerships or being single; determines relationship dependence via $\text{Dependence} = \text{Outcome} - \text{CL}_{\text{ALT}}$.

Prosocial Behavior

Any behavior or action specifically intended to benefit or improve the welfare of another individual.

Kin Selection

An evolutionary mechanism proposed by W.D. Hamilton where prosocial behavior is directed preferentially toward biological relatives to ensure the transmission of shared genes.

Inclusive Fitness

The total survival rate of an individual's genes, achieved through producing direct biological offspring as well as helping genetically related kin survive and reproduce.

Reciprocal Aid

Prosocial behavior occurring between individuals under the expectation that assistance provided will be reciprocated in the future, maximizing long-term survival.

Need for Approval (NfA)

A personality trait reflecting a desire for external validation, demonstrated by Satow (1975) to significantly increase charitable donations, particularly when observed publicly.

Arousal/Cost-Reward Model

A model stating that observing an emergency elevates negative emotional arousal, making helping most likely when arousal is intense, a 'we' connection exists, and costs are low relative to rewards.

Personal Norms

Internalized values and moral convictions that serve as an individual's personal standards for behavior, motivating acts such as donating blood, recycling, and carpooling.