Chapter 1-7 Key Concepts Flashcards

Flashcards covering key evolutionary, psychological, and contextual factors influencing mate preferences, arousal, and attraction as presented in the lecture notes.

What cross-cultural finding did Buss (1989) report about women's vs men's valuation of financial prospects in a mate?

Women valued good financial prospects more than men in 36 of the 37 cultures studied.

According to the Walter et al. (2020) replication across 45 countries, which traits did men and women differ most on in mate preferences?

Health, kindness, and intelligence were valued similarly; women valued financial prospects more and men valued looks more.

What age pattern do women and men show in mate preferences as found in Kenrick and Keefe (1992)?

Women tend to prefer partners older than themselves; men tend to prefer partners younger than themselves.

What is excitation transfer theory as proposed by Zielman and tested by Dutton and Aron?

Residual arousal from one situation can be misattributed as sexual arousal to a person encountered later; arousal transfers to attraction.

Describe the suspension bridge study and its findings.

Men approached on a fear-evoking suspension bridge, after which they showed higher sexual content in responses to a female researcher than those on a safe bridge, illustrating excitation transfer.

What did the roller coaster study by Aron and colleagues demonstrate about physiological arousal and attractiveness?

Participants off a roller coaster rated opposite-sex photographs as more attractive than those just before riding, supporting excitation transfer to perceived attractiveness.

What is the matching hypothesis in mate choice?

People tend to form long-term relationships with partners who are similar to themselves across key traits; Laumann et al. showed high similarity in religion, education, age, and race across relationship levels.

What are the Big Five personality traits and why are they relevant to mate selection?

Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism; similarity or dissimilarity in these traits affects compatibility and potential conflicts in relationships.

What is the mirror exposure effect in attraction?

Familiarity from repeated exposure increases liking; the more we see someone or something, the more we tend to like them.

What does Money's love maps concept propose?

Individuals carry a history-based map of what they find attractive, shaped by early experiences; past interactions influence current preferences.

What are some key findings about attraction preferences among lesbian women compared to heterosexual women?

Lesbian women tend to prioritize attractiveness less than men do; they generally prefer feminine bodies and feminized faces, and often seek partners similar in age; some findings show differences in facial preferences and masculinization versus feminization depending on attraction to men or women.

How does affective state or mood influence a woman's sexual attraction?

The mood at the time of an encounter strongly influences attraction; being in a good mood increases attraction, while a bad mood can decrease it or transfer to interpretation of the other person.

What is a context effect on attraction demonstrated by music-induced mood?

Listening to positive music can make photographed individuals seem more attractive, while depressive music can make them seem less attractive, showing mood-based context effects.

What is excitation transfer and how does it relate to fear and attraction (Dutton & Aron style research)?

Arousal from fear or excitement can be transferred to perceived attraction toward a person encountered during that arousal, increasing perceived attractiveness.

What does the big five personality framework suggest about interpersonal compatibility in relationships?

People tend to pair with others who are similar on openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism; mismatches can lead to conflict and less stable relationships.

What is familiarity's role in attraction and what is the mirror exposure effect in this context?

Familiarity increases liking; the more we know someone, the more likely we are to view them positively; this is known as the mirror exposure effect.

What is the sexy son hypothesis and who proposed it?

Proposed by Fisher; suggests that mating with a high-status or bold partner may produce sons with desirable traits who will have mating success, thereby benefiting the grandmother's genetic lineage.

What did Eastwick and Hunt (2014) find about ratings of attractiveness over a semester?

Initial ratings of attractiveness were highly correlated, but by the end of the semester, ratings varied more as participants got to know each other, showing increased individual differentiation.