Close Relationships and Helping

Flashcards covering key concepts related to close relationships, commitment, attachment styles, and altruism.

Relationship Closeness

Sense of 'we' rather than separate individuals, impacted by self-disclosure.

Exchange Relationships

Trade-based relationship where giving and receiving is governed by Norm of Equity and Norm of Reciprocity.

Communal Relationships

Based on mutual responsiveness to each other's needs with a principle of need determining giving and receiving.

Commitment

The combined forces that hold partners together in an enduring relationship.

Determinants of Commitment

Factors that influence commitment, including satisfaction, comparison level for alternatives, and investments.

Triangular Theory of Love

A model describing love as a combination of intimacy, passion, and commitment with different types of love based on their presence.

Attachment Styles

Patterns of attachment learned in childhood that remain stable in adulthood: secure, anxious/ambivalent, avoidant, and disorganized.

Empathy-Altruism Hypothesis

The theory that empathy can lead to altruistic helping behavior.

Egoistic Helping

Helping motivated primarily by the desire to reduce one's own distress.

Altruistic Helping

Helping motivated by the desire to reduce another's distress without expecting anything in return.

Batson’s Elaine Experiment

An experiment that demonstrated differences in helping behaviors based on empathy and ease of escape.

Norm of Equity

The idea that individuals receive in proportion to what they contribute to a relationship.

Norm of Reciprocity

The expectation that individuals will respond to each other in a similar manner, returning what they receive.