Social Psych Exam 3

Need to belong

A basic human need (not a want) that is as important as biological needs

Why do humans need to belong?

Evolution—strength in numbers improves survival

What happens if the need to belong isn’t met?

Poor psychological functioning and physical pain

Individual differences in affiliation

Everyone has the need to belong, but the strength varies

Effect of stress on affiliation

Stress increases the need to affiliate (“tend and befriend”)

Proximity

Being physically close increases likelihood of friendships and relationships

Mere exposure effect

Repeated exposure to someone or something increases liking

Why does the mere exposure effect occur?

Familiarity reduces discomfort

Exception to mere exposure effect

When initial reactions are strongly negative

Halo effect

The bias that attractive people are assumed to have positive traits (“what is beautiful is good”)

Is attractiveness cultural or universal?

Both—some traits are culturally influenced, others are universal

Universal signs of attractiveness

Symmetry, average features, good posture

Ideal female waist-to-hip ratio

About 0.7

Traits of attractive men

Masculinity, strong jaw, high shoulder-to-waist ratio (signals dominance)

What is love (broadly)?

A combination of emotions, cognitions, and behaviors

Evolutionary purpose of love

Pair bonding to increase reproductive success

Sternberg’s triangular theory of love

Intimacy, Passion, Commitment

Attachment style

How secure a person feels in relationships

Secure attachment

Comfortable with intimacy, stable, not worried about abandonment

Anxious/ambivalent attachment

Fear of abandonment, emotional highs and lows

Avoidant attachment

Emotionally distant and avoids intimacy

Testosterone role in relationships

Linked to sexual desire

Testosterone changes in relationships

Decreases in men, especially with children

Oxytocin role

Bonding hormone linked to sex and attachment

Similarity of gay and straight relationships

Similar levels of love, satisfaction, and conflict resolution

Differences in gay relationships

More equality, more openness, different sexual frequency patterns

Conformity

Changing behavior to match social norms

Types of norms

Implicit (unspoken) and explicit (rules/laws)

Asch experiment result

About 37% conformed to incorrect group answers

How to reduce conformity (Asch)

Having at least one ally

Descriptive norms

What most people actually do

Injunctive norms

What people should do (approved/disapproved behavior)

Normative social influence

Conforming to be liked or accepted

Informational social influence

Conforming to be correct

Effect of group size on conformity

Increases up to about 4–8 people

Effect of culture on conformity

Higher in collectivist cultures

Effect of cohesiveness

Stronger group bonds increase conformity

Downside of conformity

Can lead to harmful behavior (e.g., Stanford Prison Experiment)

Reasons for nonconformity

Moral beliefs and desire for uniqueness

Minority influence

Small groups can influence others if consistent and flexible

Compliance

Changing behavior due to a direct request

Reciprocity principle

People comply when someone has done them a favor

Scarcity principle

People value things more when they are limited

Foot-in-the-door technique

Small request followed by a larger request

Door-in-the-face technique

Large request followed by a smaller request

Lowball technique

Offer a good deal, then make it less appealing

Bait-and-switch technique

Advertise one thing, then switch to another

Obedience

Following direct orders from authority figures

Why people obey

Authority figures can enforce consequences