IB Psychology - Personal Relationships

IB Psychology SL / HL

Relationship

The way in which two or more people are connected (romantic/professional/friendship etc.)

Communication

Ways to exchange knowledge through speaking, writing/reading etc.   

Placebo group

A group in an experiment that receive a fake treatment without knowing it is fake to reduce biases such as social desirability

Dopamine

A chemical messenger that helps control movement, motivation, and pleasure

Cortisol

A glucocorticoid hormone, often called the "stress hormone," released by the adrenal glands in response to physical or psychological stress

Romantic Love

Strong feelings of attraction towards another person resulting in courtship behaviours to express emotions

Serotonin

A chemical messenger in the brain that is involved in controlling your mood.  

Oxytocin

Hormone that acts on organs in the body and as a chemical messenger in the brain (controls key aspects of the reproductive system including childbirth and lactation

Neurotransmitters

Electrochemical messengers that travel through neurons to the brain/CNS.  

Evolution

The process that organisms adapt and develop to their surroundings depending on their environment and evolutionary pressures

Genes

Short sections of DNA that code for specific physical/behavioural characteristics

Hormones

Chemical messengers released from endocrine glands that travel through the blood system to influence the nervous system to regulate behaviours such as aggression, mating, and parenting of individuals. 

Pheremones

A secreted or excreted chemical factor that triggers a social response in members of the same species. Evolutionary psychologists argue that our “smell” (pheromones) is the sign of our MHC

Similarity Attraction hypothesis

Theory that assumes that we are attracted to or form close friendships with people who we perceive to be similar to ourselves.

Perception

The ability to see, hear, or become aware of something through the senses.   

Social Desirability bias

 Changing aspects of our personality or answers on a questionnaire to fit into a group.

Matching hypothesis

Theory that people are more likely to form and succeed in a committed relationship with someone who is equally socially desirable, typically in the form of physical attraction

The Halo Effect

When one trait of a person or thing is used to make an overall judgement of that person or thing 

Cognitive bias

The tendency to act irrationally due to our lack of ability to process information in an objective matter 

Sociability

An individual's tendency or preference to interact with and affiliate with others, often enjoying being in social situations and forming relationships (popular/unpopular, friendly/unfriendly, makes friends easily/has trouble making friends)

Altruism

A motivational state where an individual acts with the goal of increasing the welfare of another person, regardless of personal benefit or reciprocity (helpful/unhelpful, cooperative/uncooperative, kind/cruel) 

Intelligence

(smart/stupid, fast learner/slow learner, gets good grades/gets bad grades)

Social intelligence refers to the ability to understand and navigate social situations, including understanding and managing interpersonal relationships, and recognising social cues and rule

Schemas - internal working model

A mental representation of our relationship with our primary caregiver that becomes a template for future relationships and allows individuals to predict, control and manipulate their environment. First bonded relationship  

Proximity principal

Theory that people closer together in a physical environment are more likely to form a relationship than those farther away

Mere-exposure effect

Suggests that people tend to develop a preference for things simply because they are familiar with them

Psychological proximity

The tendency of people to form relationships with those who are close by.  

Culture

The values, beliefs, language, rituals, traditions, and other behaviours that are passed from one generation to another within any social group

Self-disclosure

The act of sharing personal information with another person

Natural selection

Organisms that are adapted to their environment are more likely to survive and pass on their genes (mechanism of survival)

Pathogen

Microorganism that causes disease

MHC genes

Major Histocompatibility complex: Our personal genes that control what pathogens the immune system can detect (more diverse = stronger immune system). MHC genes are inherited equally from our parents

The Four Horsemen

Metaphor used to describe communication styles that, according to research, can predict the end of a relationship. They are Criticism, Defensiveness, Contempt and Stonewalling

Relationship attribution

How individuals explain the causes of behaviors and events within their social interactions, forming inferences about others' actions based on situational or personal factors, which impacts how we perceive and react to them. Related to communication in relationships. Couples that are in happy relationships engage in relationship-enhancing patterns when there is disagreement - they don't blame their partner or assume that the partner did things "on purpose." Relationship-enhancing style refers to the tendency of happy couples to attribute their partner’s good acts to internal factors and bad acts to external factors. Negative behaviours are attributed to situational factors

Distress-maintaining attribution

Explanations for negative events or behaviors that are interpreted in a way that perpetuates or intensifies negative feelings, often attributing them to internal, stable, and controllable factors. When unhappy couples blame their partners for what happens and don't give them credit for positive events

Situational factors - parenthood

External influence which can impact a child or young person’s life  

Lack of equity

Avoidable differences between groups of people