Week 8 - Attraction & Close Relationships Flashcards Preview

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Flashcards in Week 8 - Attraction & Close Relationships Deck (53)
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1
Q

Social anxiety

A

characterized by intense feelings of discomfort in situations that invite public scrutiny

2
Q

Relationship between affiliation and stress

A

need for affiliation, defined as a desire to establish social contact with others ( McAdams, 1989)

One condition that strongly arouses our need for affiliation is stress.

3
Q

shyness

A

People who are shy find it difficult to approach strangers, make small talk, telephone someone for a date, participate in small groups, or mingle at parties.

shy people evaluate themselves negatively, expect to fail in their social encounters, and blame themselves when they do.

4
Q

loneliness

A

A feeling of deprivation about existing social relations.

loneliness is triggered by a discrepancy between the level of social contact a person has and the level he or she wants ( Peplau & Perlman, 1982)

5
Q

Factors that are predictive of loneliness (4)

A
  • unpartnered
  • more predictive is widowing or divorce
  • transition/disruption
  • age - adolescents and 18 - 30 (decline with age)
6
Q

coping strategies for loneliness (2)

A
  • trying to build more social connections

- distraction via other activities

7
Q

familiarity in attraction

A

more likely to be attracted to people you are familiar with

8
Q

objective perspective of physical attractiveness

A
Common Features
 “Average”
 Symmetrical
 Babies’ Preferences
 Unaffected by culture
 Spend more time looking at attractive faces
9
Q

subjective perspectives of physical attractiveness

A
  • cultural impacts on beauty
10
Q

what-is-beautiful-is-good stereotype

A

Associate physical attractiveness with other

desirable qualities

11
Q

why does the what-is-beautiful-is-good stereotype endure?

A

self-fulfilling prophecy

12
Q

benefits of being perceived as beautiful

A

More popular, more sexually experienced, more socially skilled, more likely to attract a mate

13
Q

costs of being perceived as beautiful

A

– Distrust of evaluations

– Pressure to maintain appearance

14
Q

matching hypothesis

A

he proposition that people are attracted to others who are similar in physical attractiveness.

15
Q

complementarity hypothesis

A

people seek others whose needs “oppose” their own—that people who need to dominate, for example, are naturally drawn to those who are submissive ( Winch et al., 1954).

16
Q

The role of reciprocity in liking

A

Mutual exchange of give & take

We tend to like people who like us

17
Q

social exchange theory & the three components

A

Motivated to maximize profit & minimize loss in
relationships

A. Rewards & Costs
B. Comparison Levels
   1. Expectations
   2. Alternatives
C. Investments
18
Q

comparison level (expectations and alternatives)

A

Expectations
– High CL
– Low CL
– Expectations met = Relationship rewarding

Alternatives (CLalt)
– Expectations of alternative relationships
– High CLalt
– Low CLalt
– Few alternatives = Relationship rewarding

19
Q

equity theory

A

Balance of benefits & contributions for both
partners

Inequity = Imbalance
– Overbenefited
– Underbenefited

20
Q

attachment styles in developing intimate relationships

A
Secure
• Happy, friendly, based on mutual trust
Insecure
– Anxious
• Emotional highs & lows, obsessive preoccupation,
extreme jealousy
– Avoidant
• Fears intimacy, doesn’t believe in romantic love
21
Q

Lee’s love styles

A

eros (erotic love), ludus (game-playing, uncommitted love), and storge (friendship love).

can be combined like primary colours to create different kinds of love

22
Q

Sternberg’s triangular theory of love

A

intimacy - passion - commitment

23
Q

Hatfields passionate and companionate love

A

Passionate Love
– Emotionally intense, erotic
• Companionate Love
– Secure, trusting, stable

24
Q

self-disclosure

A

– We disclose to people we like
– We like people who disclose to us
– We like people to whom we have disclosed
Collins & Miller (1994)

25
Q

Communication patterns - conflict

A

Negative communication patterns

  1. Negative Affect Reciprocity
  2. Demand/withdraw Interaction Pattern
26
Q

attribution patterns - conflict

A

Happy couples make relationship-enhancing attributions, while unhappy couples make distress-maintaining attributions.

27
Q

Lauer & Lauer (1986) found the following characteristics to be top
scorers among people who had been married happily for 25+ years on
average: (6)

A
  • My spouse is my best friend
  • I like my spouse as a person
  • Marriage is a long-term commitment
  • Marriage is sacred
  • We agree on aims and goals
  • My spouse has grown more interesting
28
Q

Two components of familiarity

A

Proximity and Exposure

29
Q

Biggest predictor of familiarity

A

proximity

30
Q

Mere Exposure Effect (Zajonc)

A

increased exposure/contact -> leads to liking

31
Q

What predicts who you will be initially attracted to?

A
  • familiarity
  • physical attractiveness
  • first encounters
  • evolutionary drives (waist to hip ratio - healthy)
32
Q

Cultural impacts on beauty

A
 Enhance beauty in different ways
 Availability of food
• Limited: Heavier women seen as more attractive
 Time
• Playboy‐ 1953 vs. now
33
Q

What determines whether a first encounter

will develop into a relationship?

A
  1. Similarity
  2. Liking
  3. Being hard to get
34
Q

We tend to like others that are similar to us in terms of (4)

A
  1. Demographic
  2. Attitude
  3. Physical
    • “Matching hypothesis”
  4. Subjective Experience
35
Q

Evolutionary drives behind who women find attractive

A

Few children; high parental investment
– Highly selective
– Seeks successful (wealthy) men

36
Q

Evolutionary drive behind who men find attractive

A

– Many children; minimal parental investment
– Increase number of offspring
– Seek fertile women

37
Q

Three basic components of intimate relationships

A
  1. Feelings of attachment, affection, & love
  2. Fulfillment of psychological needs
  3. Interdependence between partners
38
Q

The role of rewards and costs in relationships

A

Satisfaction determined by more rewards & fewer costs

Rewards: 
 Love
– Companionship
– Emotional support
– Sexual gratification

Costs:
– Conflict
– Compromise
– Sacrifice

39
Q

The role of investment in relationships (SET)

A
Something put into the
relationship that cannot be recovered
– Time
– Other opportunities
• Investments increase commitment
40
Q

Exchange relationships

A

– Tit‐for‐tat
– Concern with zero balance
– Who?
• Strangers, casual acquaintances, business partnerships

41
Q

Communal relationships

A

– Respond to needs over time
– No concern for who last gave/received benefit
– Who?
• Close friends, romantic partners, family members

42
Q

Psychological Reactance

A

Reasserting yourself -> people want to get what they cannot get

43
Q

Excitation transfer

A

arousal caused by one stimulus is added to arousal from a second stimulus and the combined arousal is attributed to the second stimulus.

44
Q

Passionate love

A

= Prolonged & mutual eye

gazing

45
Q

Companionate love

A
  • Close friends & lovers
  • Foundation of mutual trust, caring, respect, etc
  • High levels of self‐disclosure
46
Q

Reducing conflict in marital relationships

A
  1. Increase rewarding aspects of relationship
     Ratio of positive to negative (5:1)
     Contain conflict to the issue
  2. Try to understand partner’s point of view
    Change attributions you make for partner’s
    behaviors
     Relationship‐enhancing attributions
     Distress‐maintaining attributions
47
Q

Stanley Schachter (1959) Stress and Affiliation

A

Schachter found that people who were expecting to receive painful electric shocks chose to wait with other nervous participants rather than alone

48
Q

Yacov Rofe stress and affiliation and utility (1984)

A

Rofé argued that stress sparks the desire to affiliate only when being with others is seen as useful in reducing the negative impact of the stressful situation.

49
Q

Benefit of affiliation during stressful times?

A

Research suggests that people facing an imminent threat seek each other out in order to gain cognitive clarity about the danger they are in. (Mahler & Kulik)

50
Q

Zajonc’s mere exposure effect

A

The phenomenon whereby the more often people are exposed to a stimulus, the more positively they evaluate that stimulus.

51
Q

Snyder et al (1977)

A

Men who thought they were interacting with a woman who was attractive

  • formed more positive impressions of her personality and
  • were friendlier in their conversational behavior. And now for the clincher:
  • the female students whose partners had seen the attractive picture were later rated by listeners to the conversation as warmer, more confident, and more animated.
52
Q

Negative Affect Reciprocity

A

tit-for-tat exchange of expressions of negative feelings

53
Q

Demand/withdraw interaction pattern

A

many unhappy marriages are also characterized by a demand/withdraw interaction pattern, in which the wife demands that the couple discuss the relationship problems, only to become frustrated when her husband withdraws from such discussions ( Christensen & Heavey, 1993).