PSY-3073 Interpersonal Relations MSU Professor Brown Exam 1

Components of Intimacy

knowledge, interdependence, caring, trust, responsiveness, mutuality, commitment

Knowledge

intimate partners have extensive personal, often confidential, information about each other

Interdependence

intimate partners have strong diverse, and enduring influence on each other

Caring

intimate partners feel more affection for one another than they do for most others

Trust

intimate partners expect treatment from one another that is fair, honorable, and benevolent

Responsiveness

intimate partners are more attentive to each other's needs and they support each other more effectively than they do most others

Mutuality

intimate partners think of themselves as a couple instead of as two entirely separate individuals

Commitment

intimate partners expect their relationship to continue, and they work to realize that goal

Better Marital Quality and Survival Rates

Positive Correlation between the two. When marital quality is better so are the survival rates better

Cultural Trends in Relationships

-Only half of the adults in the U.S. are presently married

-People are waiting longer to marry

-Women marrying at younger ages than men, but the age is increasing for marriage for both men and women

-Most young adults will live with a partner before they ever marry

-On average, an American mother has her first child before she gets married

-About half of all marriages end in divorce

-Most preschool children have mothers who work outside the home

-Increasing socioeconomic development

-Increasing individualism

-New technology

-allows control of fertility

-transforms the ways in which

we conduct our relationships

Attachment Styles

-Secure: trusting and relaxed (good affectionate parent)

-Anxious-ambivalent: nervous and clingy (hot and cold parenting)

-Avoidant: suspicious and withdrawn (parent that was never there or abusive)

-Only about 60% of us are secure and trusting in our romantic relationships

Personality Traits

-Agreeableness: cooperative and trusting

-Extraversion: outgoing and sociable

-Conscientiousness: dutiful and dependable

-Neuroticism: anxious and angry

-Openness to experience: imaginative and unconventional

Parental Investment

men and women differ enormously in the minimum time and biological effort they have to provide to each child they produce

adaptive for women to be more careful in choosing their mates

Paternity Uncertainty

men, but not women, may face doubts about whether or not a particular child is theirs

so men are especially vigilant toward the threat of marital infidelity

Convenience Sample

anyone who is readily available

Representative Sample

a group of people who resemble the entire population of interest

Potential problem with samples

Volunteer Bias

Volunteer Bias

Of those invited, people who agree to participate may differ from those who refuse

Potential Problem with Convenience samples

Danger that convenience samples will differ in important ways from other samples that are more representative,

but many processes studied by relationship scientists are so basic that they don't differ much from group to group

Correlational design

measure naturally-occurring events, looking for associations between them

Positive Correlation

increases in one event are associated with increases in the other

Negative Correlation

increases in one event are associated with decreases in the other

Experimental Design

manipulate events to delineate clearly the causal connections between them

illuminate cause and effect

Independent Variable

a variable manipulated by the researcher

Dependent Variable

a variable measured by the researcher

Benefits of Self-reports

inexpensive, easy to obtain

help us understand people's personal points of view

Drawbacks of Self-reports

participants may misunderstand some questions

memories may not be accurate

people may not be able or willing to tell the truth

-Social desirability bias

Benefits of Observation

observers are highly trained

watching is often highly detailed

Drawbacks of Observation

Reactivity: people may change their behavior when they know they are being observed

Role of Proximity

Mere exposure or repeated contact with someone usually increases our liking for him or her

Convenience: proximity is rewarding and distance is costly

Stereotypes about Physical Attractiveness Personality and Relationships

-Tend to assume automatically that physically attractive people also have other desirable traits

-Kind, strong, outgoing, nurturant, sensitive, sexually warm and responsive, interesting, poised, sociable, exciting date, good character

-relationship-more prestige, more social and professional success, happier marriages, more fulfilling lives

Physical Attractiveness Stereotypes about features

women are more attractive when they combine "baby-faced" features such as large eyes, a small nose, and full lips with signs of maturity such as prominent cheekbones, narrow cheeks, and a broad smile

Average, possessing dimensions that are neither too large or too small

Symmetrical with the two sides of the face being very similar to one another

Judgments of Attractiveness

-Height : both men and women prefer him to be taller than she is

-Intelligence: women like smart guys

-The color red: both men and women find strangers of the other sex to be more attractive and sexually appealing when they are wearing red.

Evolutionary Perspective on Physical Attractiveness

-standards of attractiveness are much the same around the world

-babies are born with preferences for attractive faces

-people with symmetrical and attractive faces tend to enjoy good physical and mental health

-during hard times, when food supply is unreliable, slender women are less desirable than heavy women are.

-attractive people tend to be happier, but they don't trust others as much

Matching in Attractiveness

people tend to pair off with others of similar levels of physical attractiveness

more serious and committed a relationship is, the more obvious matching usually is

Roles of Reciprocity

Desirability= Physical attractiveness X probability of accepting us

Balance theory- we prefer consistency and symmetry in our relationships so we like those who like us and dislike those who dislike us.

Roles of Similarity

-birds of a feather do flock together

-tend to like those who share our age, race, education, religion, social class, attitudes, values, and personalities

-perceptions of how much we have in common matter more than our actual similarity does

Reactance Theory

states that when people lose their freedom, they strive to regain it. So, we may want someone more if we are threatened with losing him or her

Romeo and Juliet Effect

more parents interfere with their romances, the more love teenagers feel for their partners

Desirable Traits for Long Term Partners

men insist on moderate attractiveness, but they want all the warmth, honesty, humor, and intelligence they can get.

women insist on moderate status and resources, but they want all the warmth, honesty, humor, and intelligence they can get.

Desirable Traits for Flings

physical attractiveness