L8 Social

What are the main learning objectives of this topic?

Understand why close relationships are important; Explain how social exclusion affects wellbeing; Identify factors involved in attraction; Understand nonverbal emotional behaviour; Recognise neuroscience methods used to study relationships and attraction.

Why are close relationships important?

They improve happiness; Self-control; Physical health; Mental health; Longevity.

What happened to loneliness during COVID-19 lockdowns?

Loneliness increased substantially.

What are some consequences of loneliness?

Lower self-control; Greater alcohol-related harm; Poorer physical health; Increased mortality.

Why do humans naturally seek relationships?

Humans are social creatures with an innate drive to form relationships.

What is social capital?

The resources and benefits gained from social relationships.

What contributes to social capital?

Community engagement; Trust; Reciprocity; Diversity; Safety.

Communities with greater social capital tend to have what outcomes?

Better health and wellbeing.

How do relationships affect emotions?

They are a major source of positive emotions and happiness.

Spending time with close others generally increases what?

Happiness.

Which interactions produce the greatest happiness?

Friends; Family; Romantic partners.

Which interactions produce the least happiness?

Interactions with strangers.

What is self-disclosure?

Talking about yourself to another person.

How does self-disclosure affect happiness?

Sharing personal information with people you know and like increases happiness.

What research methods measure everyday social interactions?

Experience Sampling Method (ESM); Electronically Activated Recorder (EAR).

According to the Mood-Behaviour Model how does positive mood affect relationships?

Positive mood makes relationships seem easier to maintain.

Why are positive relationships easier to maintain?

They are perceived as requiring less effort.

How does positive mood affect effort?

People are more willing to invest effort.

Why is self-control important for relationships?

It helps people regulate emotions and accommodate others during conflict.

People with greater self-control generally have what kind of relationships?

Higher-quality relationships.

Why does conflict require self-control?

It requires emotion regulation and behavioural adjustment.

What is HRV?

Variation in the time between heartbeats.

What does high HRV indicate?

Better emotion regulation; Self-control; Adaptability.

How is HRV related to social interactions?

People with higher HRV experience more positive emotions especially with strangers.

Why might HRV improve social interactions?

It supports better emotional regulation.

According to Social Identity Theory relationships provide what?

A source of self-esteem and identity.

What is basking in reflected glory?

Feeling better about yourself because your group succeeds.

According to Realistic Group Conflict Theory why do groups form?

For safety survival and access to limited resources.

What is a zero-sum game?

One group's gain comes at another group's loss.

How is social exclusion commonly studied in laboratories?

Using the Cyberball task.

What happens during Cyberball?

Participants are gradually excluded from a virtual ball-tossing game.

What is the control condition in Cyberball?

Participants receive an equal number of ball throws (social inclusion).

How does exclusion affect behaviour?

It increases negative emotions and can increase alcohol consumption.

Which brain region is activated during social rejection?

Anterior cingulate cortex (ACC).

What emotions does the ACC process?

Both physical and social pain.

Besides pain what else is the ACC involved in?

Emotion regulation; Impulse control; Error monitoring.

Why is social rejection considered painful?

Because it activates similar brain regions as physical pain.

What surprising finding has research shown about paracetamol?

It can reduce feelings of social rejection.

How does paracetamol reduce social pain?

It reduces ACC activation during social exclusion.

What does this suggest about social pain?

It shares neural mechanisms with physical pain.

What is interpersonal attraction?

Positive evaluations of another person and a desire to be close to them.

What are the three components of interpersonal attraction?

Affective; Behavioural; Cognitive.

What is the affective component?

Positive feelings toward another person.

What is the behavioural component?

Wanting to spend time with another person.

What is the cognitive component?

Believing another person helps achieve goals (instrumentality).

Why is physical attractiveness rewarding?

Because attractive people are pleasurable to look at.

Physical attractiveness activates which motivational system?

Reward processing systems.

What is the Late Positive Potential (LPP)?

A sustained positive EEG response to emotionally significant stimuli.

What does the LPP measure?

Motivated attention.

Which types of stimuli produce larger LPPs?

Highly emotional or rewarding stimuli.

What is the role of the orbitofrontal cortex?

Assigning value to rewards and guiding decision-making.

What does the OFC estimate?

Costs and benefits of behaviour.

Damage to the OFC causes what problems?

Poor judgement and poor decision-making.

Which famous case demonstrates OFC damage?

Phineas Gage.

Which brain region becomes more active when viewing attractive faces?

Orbitofrontal cortex (OFC).

Which reward centre also activates for attractive faces?

Nucleus accumbens.

Which emotional brain region also activates?

Anterior cingulate cortex (ACC).

Why do attractive faces activate these regions?

They are processed as rewarding and emotionally meaningful.

Which faces are identified fastest?

Very attractive and very unattractive faces.

Which faces take longest to judge?

Moderately attractive faces.

How does facial happiness influence attractiveness?

Happy faces are judged as more attractive than unhappy faces.

What are nonverbal behaviours?

Communication without words through facial expressions gestures posture and eye contact.

Why are nonverbal behaviours important?

They communicate emotions and relationship intentions.

Which nonverbal behaviour is most important for emotion recognition?

Facial expressions.

Which neuroscience methods study attraction and emotion?

EEG; fMRI; HRV; Facial expression analysis.

What does EEG measure?

Electrical brain activity.

What does fMRI measure?

Brain activity through changes in blood oxygenation.

What does HRV indicate?

Emotion regulation and self-control.

What does facial coding measure?

Observable emotional expressions.

Why are relationships beneficial?

They improve happiness health self-esteem and wellbeing.

What is social capital?

Resources gained through social relationships.

What laboratory task models social rejection?

Cyberball.

Which brain region processes social pain?

Anterior cingulate cortex (ACC).

Which medication has been shown to reduce social pain?

Paracetamol (acetaminophen).

What predicts better emotional experiences during social interactions?

Higher heart rate variability (HRV).

What are the three components of interpersonal attraction?

Affective; Behavioural; Cognitive.

Which EEG component reflects motivated attention?

Late Positive Potential (LPP).

Which brain region assigns reward value to attractive faces?

Orbitofrontal cortex (OFC).

Which reward centre becomes active during attraction?

Nucleus accumbens.

What is the key message of this lecture?

Close relationships are fundamental to wellbeing self-control and emotional health. Social exclusion activates neural systems involved in physical pain while attraction engages the brain's reward circuitry. Nonverbal behaviours particularly facial expressions provide important cues about emotions and neuroscience techniques such as EEG fMRI and HRV help explain how relationships attraction and emotions are represented in the brain.

Are happy faces generally perceived as more attractive?

Yes. Faces displaying positive emotions (especially smiling) are judged as more attractive.

How quickly are attractive faces categorised?

More quickly than unattractive faces.

How does a smile affect attractiveness judgments?

Smiling speeds up attractiveness judgments and increases perceived attractiveness.

How do angry faces affect attractiveness?

They are judged as less attractive and take longer to process.

What happens to the LPP when viewing smiling faces?

The LPP increases indicating greater motivated attention.

What does a larger LPP suggest?

The face is being processed more intensely because it is emotionally or motivationally important.

Why are average (composite) faces considered attractive?

They are more symmetrical; easier for the brain to process; healthier-looking; less likely to contain blemishes.

Why is facial symmetry attractive?

It signals healthy development and genetic fitness.

Why are average faces easier to process?

They contain fewer unusual or complex features.

Why do Instagram filters increase attractiveness?

They smooth skin remove blemishes and increase facial symmetry.

How do filters affect dating intentions?

People are rated as more attractive and more dateable.

What downside do filters have?

They reduce perceived trustworthiness.

What effect does makeup have on brain responses?

Faces with makeup produce a larger LPP.

What does this suggest?

People allocate more attention to faces wearing makeup.

Does attractiveness depend only on the face?

No. Context strongly influences attraction.

What is the N170?

An EEG component involved in facial processing.

Where does the N170 originate?

The fusiform face area (FFA).

What increases the N170?

Viewing faces bodies nude bodies (largest response).

Why does the N170 increase?

Because more visual information is processed.

What physiological measure also increases alongside the N170?

Skin conductance.