Chapter 11: Affiliation and Love

Chapter 11: Affiliation and Love

Chapter Outline

• The Nature of Affiliation and Love

• Contextual Factors

• Who is Attractive?

• Evolutionary Perspective on Mate Attraction

• What is Love?

• Relationship Satisfaction

• Final Thoughts: Does Facebook Make You Lonely?

What is a Relationship?

• Definition:

  • A relationship exists between two individuals when they influence one another.

  • A relationship is considered close when the influence is strong, frequent, enduring, and interdependent.

The Nature of Affiliation & Love

• Need for Affiliation: The desire to interact with others.

• Need to Belong: The desire to form and maintain close, durable relationships.

  • Affiliating helps achieve goals and avoid negative outcomes from social rejection/ isolation.

• Social Rewards Associated with Affiliation:

  • Presence of others can enhance mood.

  • Achieves positive attention and praise.

  • Provides emotional support, reducing anxiety and fear.

  • Facilitates social comparison.

• Reinforcement-Affect Model:

  • Preference for interactions with emotionally rewarding individuals; gravitating towards those linked to positive experiences.

• Social Exchange Theory:

  • Views interactions in terms of tradeoffs, seeking to maximize gains and minimize losses.

  • Applies to both material and non-material rewards.

• Hatfield’s Equity Theory:

  • Individuals prefer relationships where the benefit-cost ratio is balanced for both partners:

  • Communal Relationships: Concerned about others' welfare, give without expecting return.

  • Exchange Relationships: Based on reciprocal exchange of benefits.

Contextual Factors

• Liking:

  • We tend to ingratiate ourselves to those who reciprocate our affection.

• Proximity:

  • People like and develop friendships with those who are geographically close.

• Familiarity:

  • The Mere Exposure Effect indicates that repeated exposure breeds liking.

• Similarity:

  • Homophily: Preference for those similar to us.

  • Matching Hypothesis: Couples often pair with similar levels of attractiveness.

Components of Attractiveness

• Physical Preferences:

  • Symmetrical faces are deemed more attractive.

  • Gender Differences:

  • Females prefer males with features indicating health and vitality.

  • Males are attracted to women displaying signs of health, youth, and reproductive capability.

  • Averaged faces are generally perceived as more attractive.

Perceived and Actual Benefits of Physical Attractiveness

• Stereotypes:

  • Attractive individuals are presumed to have more positive traits.

• Actual Benefits:

  • Attractive individuals experience greater popularity, job opportunities, and overall favorable outcomes.

Evolutionary Perspective on Mate Selection

• Sexual Selection:

  • Evolution through reproductive advantages.

  • Intrasexual Competition: Competition among same-sex individuals for mates.

  • Intersexual Selection: Choosing partners based on specific traits.

• Differential Parental Investment:

  • The sex investing more in offspring being more selective in partners, while the less invested engages in competition.

• Mate Preferences:

  • Females seek males with status, resources, and ambition.

  • Males seek females who are fertile and healthy.

Social Role Theory

• Explains gender differences in mate preferences based on social and biological factors.

• Women: Seek dominant males capable of providing.

• Men: Favor females fulfilling caregiving roles.

Variability in Mate Preferences

• Preferences can vary across time and context based on individual circumstances and life stages.

Sexual Selectivity & Sexual Behavior

• Differences in Preferences:

  • Males tend to prefer more partners and casual sex compared to females.

  • Males express higher desires for future partners.

• Error Management Theory:

  • Cognitive biases evolved to address sex-based adaptive issues.

Romantic Jealousy

• Definition:

  • Psychological arousal due to threats of infidelity.

  • Acts as a form of mate guarding.

• Gender Differences in Jealousy:

  • Men experience jealousy related to paternity uncertainty; women fear loss of investment.

What is Love?

• Passionate Love: Intense longing characterized by physiological arousal.

• Companionate Love: Affection and intimacy in stable relationships.

• Triangular Theory of Love:

  • Composed of Passion, Intimacy, and Commitment leading to various love types.

Two-Factor Theory of Emotion

• Emotional experience arises from physiological arousal and cognitive labeling.

• Studies:

  • Schachter & Singer's experiments and Capilano Bridge study.

Love on the Brain

• Brain Systems Linked to Love:

  • Attraction/Romantic Love, Lust/Sex Drive, and Attachment.

  • fMRI studies show differential brain activation in response to romantic partners.

Same-Sex Attraction

• Evolving Understanding:

• Erotic Plasticity: Variation in sexual desires over a lifetime.

• Exotic Becomes Erotic Theory: Suggests same-sex attraction emerges under certain circumstances.

Attachment Style

• Patterns of Behavior in Relationships: Vary by anxiety and avoidance dimensions.

Relationship Satisfaction

• Positive Illusions:

  • Partners tend to view each other more positively than they see themselves.

• Self-disclosure Importance: Key for relationship development.

• Attribution Styles:

  • Satisfied couples create relationship-enhancing attributions for behaviors.

• Satisfaction Over Time:

  • Trends in satisfaction varies among relationship types.

Dating in the Virtual World

• Online Dating Trends:

  • 37% of singles use dating websites; a significant match rate for online connections.

  • Use of algorithms for compatibility with caution about honesty in profiles.