Relationships and Attraction

Social Psychology: Chapter 10

What are communal relationships?

Relationships in which the individual feel a special responsibility for one another and give and receive according to the principle of need

What cultures do communal relationships belong in?

Communal relationships are often long-term and are more common in collectivist cultures

What are exchange relationships?

Relationships in which individuals feel little responsibility towards one another, giving and receiving are monitored by concerns about equity and reciprocity

In which cultures are exchange relationships found?

Exchange relationships are more common in individualistic cultures and tend to be short-term

What is social exchange theory?

How people feel about a relationship depends on their assessments of its costs and rewards

What is equity theory?

People are motivated to pursue fairness, or equity, in their relationships; rewards and costs are shared roughly equally among individuals 

What is the theory on the importance of relationships?

We have an innate Need to Belong

Why is being cut off from other humans bad?

It’s bad for your mental and physical health

What did the Harlow Experiment display?

Monkeys raised in isolation displayed many maladaptive behaviors

What example was used to explain the damage of splitting relationships?

Adult elephants were killed for their tusks, leaving baby elephants to grow up alone. They ended up highly aggressive and began killing other animals for their amusement. (elephants don’t hunt other animals)

What did experimenters find in humans who feel as if they don’t belong?

Higher level of depression, anxiety, and suicide for humans who feel like they don’t belong

True or False: All cultures have similar types of social relationships and dynamics when it comes to the need to belong

True

What does Relationships guide social cognition mean?

Social relationships guide how we see ourselves, others, and our surroundings

What does relational self mean?

The beliefs, feelings, and expectations that we have about ourselves that derive from our relationships with significant others in our lives

In relational self, if we were to have both an authoritarian boss and an authoritarian father, how would we behave?

We behave in similar way to people who are similar to each other 

What does research find about our attachment styles?

We have patterns embedded in us from our first year of life that influence our trust in others and our reactions towards them

What are attachment styles influenced by?

The affection we received as infants 

How does secure attachment style view themselves and others?

Positive view of the self and others 

Give 3 facts about secure attachment style.

Healthy balance of attachments and independence, find it easy to get close to others, and are less likely to have one-night stands

How does avoidant attachment style view themselves and others?

Positive view of self and negative view of others

Avoidant attachment style is dismissive of ___ and very _______

Intimacy, self-reliant

How does anxious attachment style view themselves and others

Negative view of the self but positive view of others

True or False: Anxious attachment style does not need love to feel worth as a person

False. They need love to feel worthy as a person

Describe a relationship with someone who has anxious attachment style.

Demand closeness, less trusting, worry about abandonment, jealous, and possessive

How does disorganized attachment style view themselves or others.

Negative view of self and others

Do people who have a disorganized attachment style need relationships? 

Yes, they need relationships but they fear intimacy

Is a disorganized attachment style clear?

No, they have no clear strategy on meeting attachment needs

What is one of the biggest predictors of whether people become friends or romantic partners?

Physical proximity

What is functional distancing?

The influence of an architectural layout to encourage or inhibit certain activities, including contact between people

Why is functional distance more important than proximal distance?

It is even more influential in forming relationships

What does proximity cause?

It causes people to have more direct encounters, and more exposure leads to liking

What is mere exposure effect?

The idea that repeated exposure to a stimulus, such as an object or a person, leads to greater liking of the stimulus

True or False: We prefer the mirror images of our faces, but our friends prefer the true image

True

Greater liking due to mere exposure was found for…?

Foreign words, foreign symbols, and yearbook photos

What two factors explain greater liking due to more exposure?

Fluency and classical conditioning

What is fluency?

Easier to process information about familiar stimuli

In fluency, what are pleasant feelings associated with?

More fluent processing

What is classical conditioning?

Repeated exposure to a stimulus without any negative consequence makes the stimulus more pleasant 

What does classical conditioning signal?

It signals that the stimuli is safe and non-threatening

True or False: Friend and romantic partners tend to be similar in beliefs and other characteristics

True

Do opposites attract?

No, only if one of them is dominant and the other is submissive

What was found in a study of romantic couples due to similarity?

It was found that couples were more similar on 66 to 88 different traits than people paired at random

Effects of similarity may be stronger ____ characteristics than _____ traits

Demographic, personality

What type of partners were found to be more similar than couples of the same race or ethnicity, and in what?

In interracial and interethnic couples we found to be more similar in personality trait 

Do we report greater liking of fictitious people?

Yes, but only if we see them as more similar to ourselves

When do we find it easier to interact to people?

When they are similar to ourselves. We find it easier.

How is it easier to interact with people similar to ourselves?

Less conflict over which activities are desirable, and greater ability to understand other people’s choices and perspectives

True or False: Attractive faces are not preferred at birth

False

What faces do newborns spend more time looking at?

They spend more time looking at attractive then unattractive faces

What type of infants recieve more attention?

Attractive infants receive more attention from mothers than less attractive babies even before leaving the hospital

How is misbehavior seen differently in children?

Misbehavior by attractive children is seen as less problematic than the same behavior from less attractive children

What is the halo effect?

People who are more physically attractive are often assumed to have other positive traits

What do people assume when they see an attractive person?

Assumed to be more successful, likeable, intelligent, happier

Are the assumption that people make on attractive people true?

Yes, there is a few evidence that more attractive people are actually happier, more confident, and more satisfied with their lives, but attractiveness is not linked to traits like intelligence

What may halo effect be due to?

Self-fulfilling prophecies

Is it good that we expect attractive people to have desirable traits?

Yes, because as a result, they may respond favorably, confirming our original positive expectation

Physical is the result of …?

Appearance and non-appearance related factors

How do women and men misunderstand each other?

Men prefer women to be somewhat heavier than women actually believe, and women prefer men to be somewhat leaner than men actually believe

What type of faces are seen more attractive?

Faces that are more average (less abnormal)

Are composite faces produced by many faces morphing together, or is an individual face seen as more attractive?

Composite faces that were produced by morphing many faces together

Compared to many faces, which face is more symmetric?

Composite face, and it is also free of any blemishes or other abnormalities

When a woman is not ovulating, what face are they more attracted to?

They are more attracted to men with feminine faces (but dominant personalities)

When a woman is ovulating, what face are they more attracted to?

They are attracted to men with masculine faces

What faces do men prefer?

Men tend to prefer women with feminine faces

What did researchers find when it came to physical attraction and one’s name?

Groups rated the pictures differently based on the names. They found people with ugly names less attractive. 

True or False: Individuals who do not act consistently with gender-role expectations are viewed as more attractive to the opposite sex

False

What type of women openly admit to men who are more dominant?

More feminine women openly admit to men who are more dominant than less feminine women

How do men feel towards women who are more dominant?

Men have a decrease or no increase in attraction when women are dominant

According to Hatfield and Rapson, what two types of love are there?

Passionate love and Affectionate Love (AKA compassionate love)

What is passionate love?

a powerful, sometimes overwhelming longing for one’s partner

How do we feel when we feel passionate love for our partner?

Delirious happiness when we’re around our partner, misery when we’re not

When does passionate intensify?

When there are obstacles, like long distance

What is affectionate love (AKA compassionate love)?

A sense of deep friendship and fondness for one’s partner

What is the labeling theory of love?

Theory that individuals experience romantic love when two events occur together

What do we feel in the labeling theory of love?

Physiological arousal and we believe that is due to love

How many components is love made out of?

3, Intimacy component, passion component, and commitment/decision component

What is intimacy component? 

A component that involves feelings of closeness, affection, and connectedness

What is passion component?

Sex, physical closeness, and romance

What is commitment/decision component?

Loving the other person and long term determination to maintain that love

If all 3 components of love are in a relationships, what did Sternberg call it?

Consummate love

What increases first in a relationship, and what increases throughout a relationship?

Intimacy and commitment increase throughout a relationship, and passion creases at first, followed by a decrease and stability

In Buss’s study, he researched sex differences in human mate preferences. What did he find in men and in women?

Men preferred attractive physical features, suggesting youth and health. Women preferred resources and social status.

What is homogamy?

Tendency to marry someone similar in race, age, education, religion, and other basic demographic characteristics

What is marriage gradient?

Tendency for men to marry women who are slightly younger, smaller, and lower in status, and the tendency of women to marry men who are slightly older, larger, and higher in status

What do nearly half of newly married couples experience?

A significant degree of conflict

How do married couple experience conflict?

They start off by idealizing each other through the lens of “starry eyes,” and as reality kicks in, they become aware of more flaws

True or False: In happy couples, the course of marital satisfaction appears to remain the same throughout

False. Even for happy couples, the course of marital satisfaction appears to be U-shaped

When does marital satisfaction begin to decline?

It begins to decline after marriage and falls to its lowest point following the birth of children

When does marital satisfaction begin to grow?

It begins to grow after the children leave adolescence and reaches its highest point when kids have left home

What country has one of the highest divorce rates in the world?

United States

Who generally initiates divorce?

Women initiate 2/3 divorces

How is the emotional functioning of a women after divorce?

Women have better emotional adjustment after divorce

How is the emotional functioning of a man after divorce?

Men are more likely to become depressed, have health problems, and turn to alcoholism

Why does divorce happen cited by women?

Verbal, physical emotional abuse, alcohol/drug abuse, cheating

Why does divorce happen cited by men?

Fell out of love, cheating, different values

What are the obvious predictors of divorce? 

Abuse, infidelity, substance abuse 

What are the less obvious predictors of divorce? there are 6

Youthful marriages, having a baby before marriage, low education level, low income, have divorced parents, dual-career couples, couples in which the wife makes more

What gender is more likely to initiate a divorce?

Women with divorced parents are more likely to be less committed to their marriage

Why might couples who have dual-careers go through divorce?

Women with a career feel coerced into giving up their career to raise children

What did Gottman and Levenson find relating to divorce?

They found 4 toxic behaviors/emotions gathered from a 15-minute conversation predicts divorce with 93% accuracy