Social Psychology: Attraction, Relationships, and Prosocial Behavior

Proximity

Being physically near someone increases interactions and liking.

Mere exposure effect

Repeated exposure to someone increases liking due to familiarity.

Similarity

We like people who share similar beliefs, values, and interests.

Physical attractiveness

Symmetry, averageness, youthfulness, clear skin, health cues.

Why is beauty valued?

Beauty often signals health and reproductive fitness (evolutionary).

Halo effect

Belief that attractive people have additional positive traits.

Snyder et al., 1977

Men rated women as warmer when they believed they were attractive (self-fulfilling prophecy).

Mutual liking

We like people who like us back.

Secrecy and attraction

Secret relationships increase excitement and preoccupation.

Intimacy components

Trust, emotional closeness, support, self-disclosure, vulnerability.

Social exchange theory

Relationships judged on rewards vs. costs.

Equity theory

People are happiest when relationships feel fair and equal.

Exchange relationships

Track favors and repayment; balanced.

Communal relationships

Give without expecting return; common in romantic relationships.

Sternberg's triangular theory

Three components: intimacy, passion, commitment.

Romantic love

Intimacy + passion.

Companionate love

Intimacy + commitment.

Fatuous love

Passion + commitment.

Consummate love

Intimacy + passion + commitment (ideal love).

Contempt

Mocking, belittling, superiority.

Criticism

Attacking character instead of behavior.

Defensiveness

Refusing responsibility and counter-attacking.

Stonewalling

Emotionally shutting down or withdrawing.

Prosocial behavior

Actions intended to help others.

Altruism

Helping without expectation of reward.

Social intuitionist model

Moral decisions based on intuition first, reasoning after.

Moral foundation: Care/Harm

Caring, preventing suffering.

Moral foundation: Fairness/Cheating

Justice, fairness, equal treatment.

Moral foundation: Loyalty/Betrayal

Group allegiance and duty.

Moral foundation: Authority/Subversion

Respect for tradition and hierarchy.

Moral foundation: Sanctity/Degradation

Purity, disgust avoidance, moral cleanliness.

Evolutionary theory (helping)

Helping kin increases gene survival.

Learning theory (helping)

Helping learned through rewards and observation.

Social exchange theory (helping)

Helping occurs when rewards outweigh personal cost.

Empathy-altruism theory

Helping is driven by compassion, not gain.

Mood and helping

Good mood or guilt increases helping.

Urban overload hypothesis

Cities overwhelm people → less helping.

Bystander apathy

More people present → less likely to help.

Time pressure

Rushing reduces helping likelihood.

Unexpected events

Novelty increases awareness and helping.

Darley Step 1

Notice event.

Darley Step 2

Interpret as emergency.

Darley Step 3

Take responsibility.

Darley Step 4

Know how to help.

Darley Step 5

Act on the decision.

Ingroup helping

We help similar/ingroup members more.

Responsibility and helping

We help more if the person is not responsible for their own problem.

Identifiable victim effect

One specific victim increases donation willingness.

Personal experience effect

Personal connection increases donations (ex: cancer survivor → cancer charity).

Aggression

Behavior intended to harm.

Proactive aggression

Goal-directed aggression.

Reactive aggression

Anger-based, emotional aggression.

Relational aggression

Harm through gossip, exclusion, or social damage.

Evolutionary theory (aggression)

Aggression offers survival/reproductive advantages.

Learning theory (aggression)

Aggression learned through reinforcement or imitation.

Frustration-aggression

Blocked goals lead to aggression.

Negative affect

Heat, pain, stress trigger aggression.

Weapons effect

Weapons increase aggressive thoughts/behavior.

Gender and aggression

Men = more physical aggression; women = more relational aggression.

Culture of honor

Honor-based cultures encourage retaliation and aggression.

Intelligence and aggression

Lower intelligence linked to more aggression.

Narcissism and aggression

Threat to ego increases aggressive behavior.

Impulsiveness and aggression

Poor self-control → more aggression.

Weapon-focus effect

Attention is drawn to a weapon instead of details.

Cross-race identification bias

Harder to identify faces of other races.

Misinformation effect

Memory becomes distorted by post-event information.

Lineup problems

Too few foils, police cues, simultaneous > sequential errors.

False confessions rate

Over 25% of wrongful convictions involve false confessions.

Studying false confessions

Lab simulation and real recorded cases.

False confession: Coerced

Forced by police pressure or threats.

False confession: Internalized

Suspect begins believing they committed the crime.

False confession: Leverage/Leniency

Confess for shorter sentence or benefit.

False confession: Protective

Confess to protect someone else.

False confession: Voluntary

Confess freely (attention, guilt, delusion).

Individual risk factors for false confession

Youth, low IQ, anxiety, suggestibility.

Interrogation risk factors

Long questioning, isolation, false evidence claims.

Voir dire

Jury selection process.

Peremptory challenge

Remove juror without explanation.

Strike for cause

Remove juror due to evident bias.

Jury decision influences

Biases, stereotypes, personal beliefs, evidence presentation.

Jury deliberation: Orientation

Set goals and discuss.

Jury deliberation: Conflict

Differences and debate emerge.

Jury deliberation: Reconciliation

Group reaches decision; majority persuades minority.

Decision trend

Majority opinion usually dominates jury outcomes.