Social Psych (Aronson) - Chapter 10: Interpersonal Attraction

Propinquity

One of the simplest determinants of interpersonal attraction. Also called proximity.

Propinquity Effect

The finding that the more we see and interact with people, the more likely they are to become our friends.

Mere Exposure Effect

The finding that the more exposure we have to a stimulus, the more apt we are to like it.

Social Exchange Theory

The idea that people's feeling about a relationship depend on their perceptions of the rewards and costs of the relationship, the kind of relationship they deserve, and their chances for having a better relationship with someone else.

Comparison Level

People's expectations about the level of rewards and punishments they are likely to receive in a particular relationship.

Comparison Level for Alternatives

People's expectation about the level of rewards and punishments they would receive in an alternative relationship.

Equity Theory

The idea that people are happiest with relationships in which the rewards and costs experienced and the contributions made by both parties are roughly equal.

Companionate Love

The intimacy and affection we feel when we care deeply for person but do not experience passion or arousal in the person's presence.

Passionate Love

An intense longing we feel for a person, accompanied by physiological arousal; when our love is reciprocated, we feel great fulfillment and ecstasy, but when it is not, we feel sadness and despair.

Evolutionary Approach to Love

A theory derived from evolutionary biology that holds that men and women are attracted to different characteristics in each other (men are attracted by women's appearance; women are attracted by men's resources) because this maximizes their chances of reproductive success.

Evolutionary Psychology

The attempt to explain social behavior in terms of genetic factors that evolved over time according to the principles of natural selection.

Attachment Styles

The expectations people develop about relationships with others, based on the relationship they had with their primary caregiver when they were infants.

Secure Attachment Style

An attachment style characterized by trust, a lack of concern with being abandoned, and the view that one is worthy and well liked.

Avoidant Attachment Style

An attachment-style characterized by a suppression of attachment needs, because attempts to be intimate have been rebuffed; people with this style find it difficult to develop intimate relationships.

Anxious/Ambivalent Attachment Style

An attachment style characterized by a concern that others will not reciprocate one's desire for intimacy, resulting in higher-than-average levels of anxiety.

Investment Model

The theory that people's commitment to a relationship depends no only on their satisfaction with the relationship in terms of rewards, costs, and comparison level and their comparison level for alternatives but also on how much they have invested in the relationship that would be lost by leaving it.

Exchange Relationships

Relationships governed by the need for equity (i.e., for an equal ratio of rewards and costs).

Communal Relationships

Relationships in which people's primary concern is being responsive to the other person's needs.