1. Interpersonal Relationships_BB

Page 1: Introduction

• Title: Need to Belong & Interpersonal Attraction

• Course: PY0549: Social Psychology

• Instructor: Dr Jenny Paterson

• Contact: Jenny.Paterson@northumbria.ac.uk

Page 2: Topics Covered

• Focus Areas:

  • Social and Forensic Psychology

  • Prejudice Against Various Relationship Statuses

    • Singlism

    • LGBTQ+ related prejudice

    • Interracial

    • Inter-religious

  • Reasons Behind Prejudice:

    • Social identity theory

    • Perceived threats

    • Intergroup contact

  • Impacts of Prejudice:

    • Affects relationship quality

    • Influences social support

    • Can affect resilience

  • Applied Work:

    • Handles impacts of hate crimes in various fields (Police, CPS, charities, media)

  • Research Focus: Love and hate

Page 3: Lecture Overview

• Weekly Breakdown:

  • Week 7: Need to belong & Interpersonal attraction

  • Week 8: Love, Relationships & Singlehood

  • Week 9: Benefits of Social Groups

  • Week 10: Drawbacks of Social Groups

  • Week 11: Prejudice Reduction Strategies

  • Week 12: Revision

• Interaction Tool: Menti.com Survey on friendship factors

Page 4: Today's Lecture Overview

• Key Topics:

  • Need to belong

  • Ostracism

  • Phubbing

  • Interpersonal attraction (liking)

  • Factors in attraction:

    • Physical attraction and averageness

    • Familiarity

    • Proximity

    • Similarity

    • Trust

Page 5: Need to Belong

• Definition: A pervasive drive to form and maintain significant interpersonal relationships (Baumeister & Leary, 1995).

• Function:

  • Motivates relationship development for safety and survival.

  • Considered a universal desire but varies:

    • Between individuals (extroverts vs. introverts)

    • Within individuals (increased need in certain emotional states)

Page 6: Ostracism

• Definition: Social exclusion resulting from being ignored (Williams et al., 2000; Wesselmann et al., 2023).

• Key Questions:

  • Ambiguities: Is ostracism happening? Why?

• Threats from Ostracism:

  • Need to belong severed

  • Self-esteem may be affected

  • Sense of control undermined

  • Quest for meaningful existence challenged

Page 7: Cyberball Context

• Phenomenon: Rising internet use leads to increased loneliness despite potential for connection.

• Aim of Study: Replicate ostracism effects via a ball-tossing game (Williams & Sommer, 1997).

Page 8: Cyberball Study Findings

• Measures: Threat to belonging, self-esteem, control, and meaningful existence.

• Experiment Design:

  • Participants randomly allocated to conditions:

    • Overinclusion (67%)

    • Inclusion (33%)

    • Partial ostracism (20%)

    • Complete ostracism (0%)

• Results: Ostracism significantly threatened belonging and self-esteem.

Page 9: KKK Cyberball Experiment

• Study by Gonsalkorale & Williams (2007):

  • Participants indicated political preferences and played Cyberball with ingroup, outgroup, or despised outgroup.

• Independent Variables:

  • Type of Players: ingroup/outgroup/ despised outgroup

  • Interaction Type: Inclusion vs. Ostracism

Page 10: Effects of Ostracism

• Findings: Ostracised participants reported needs unmet, including when ostracised by groups they disliked.

• Conclusion: Ostracism is painful universally, irrespective of group affection.

Page 11: Physical Pain of Ostracism

• Study by Eisenberger et al. (2003):

  • Linguistic observations recognize psychological/physical pain from ostracism.

  • Social bonds are vital for survival.

• Observations: Neuroimaging studies indicate increased activity in pain-related brain regions during ostracism.

Page 12: Phubbing

• Definition: Ignoring others during physical interaction to use smartphones (Chotpitayasunondh & Douglas, 2018).

• Experiment Design: Silent animation of two conversing individuals under conditions of phubbing.

  • IVs: No phubbing, Partial phubbing, Extensive phubbing

Page 13: Phubbing Impact

• Findings: Phubbing led to decreased well-being and lowered relationship satisfaction.

  • Needs affected: Belonging, self-esteem, meaningful existence, control.

Page 14: Physical Attraction

• Concept: Attractiveness influences social perception (Dion et al., 1972).

• Experiment: Participants rated attractiveness of individuals.

  • Findings: Unattractive individuals viewed less favorably, except concerning parental competence.

Page 15: Attractiveness Outcomes

• Attractive individuals benefit from:

  • Higher academic marks (Landy & Signall, 1974)

  • Increased earnings (Judge et al., 2009)

  • More dating opportunities (Langlois et al., 2000)

• Self-fulfilling prophecy effects observed; attractive individuals perceived as more socially able.

Page 16: Key Questions on Attractiveness

1. What constitutes attractiveness? (Halberstadt & Rhodes, 2003)

Page 17: Averageness in Attraction

• Research by Langlois and Roggman (1990): Composites of faces rated more attractive than single images.

• Conclusion: Familiarity with faces and adherence to prototypicality leads to perceived attractiveness.

Page 18: Familiarity's Role

• Mere Exposure Effect (Zajonc, 1968): Repeated exposure to stimuli can enhance attraction.

• Ongoing debates: Does familiarity breed contempt (Norton et al., 2007)?

• Study Results: Repeated exposure through conversations increases liking.

Page 19: Proximity

• Study by Festinger et al. (1950):

  • Investigation into how proximity influenced friendship patterns among students.

• Findings: Strong correlation between physical proximity and friendship.

Page 20: Similarity in Attraction

• Research by Newcomb (1961):

  • Longitudinal study examining attitudes and friendships.

• Findings: Initially favored proximity; later preferred similar attitudes.

Page 21: Similarity Explained

• Reasons similarity increases attraction:

  • Promotes psychological balance (Heider, 1948).

  • Reinforces worldviews (Byrne, 1971).

• Studies indicating preference for like-minded individuals:

  • Attitude similarity enhances attraction.

Page 22: Trust in Relationships

• Research by Cottrell et al. (2007): Trust is a fundamental desire in various relationships.

• Different relationships demand different traits, but trust is consistently vital.

Page 23: Summary of Trust Research

• Trust considered essential across various interpersonal situations.

• Studies emphasized importance of positive traits in relationship desirability.

Page 24: Readings

• Core readings:

  • Eisenberger, N. I., et al. (2003).

  • Reis, H. T., et al. (2011).

• Recommended readings:

  • Chotpitayasunondh, V., & Douglas, K. M. (2018).

  • Zorn, T. J., et al. (2022).

Page 25: Exam Preparation

• Possible exam question: Critically evaluate two factors predicting interpersonal attraction.

  • Requirements:

    • Draw from relevant lectures

    • Discuss an essential paper from the reading list

    • Integrate information from other parts of the program

Page 26: Next Week's Topic

• Upcoming Lecture: Love, Relationships, & Singlehood

  • Subjects: Being single vs. in a relationship.