17: Interpersonal relationships 2: Attachment and romantic relationships Flashcards
There are three key processes whereby personality affects social interactions. Which?
- The first process is through SELECTION, in which people may choose specific social environments according to their personalities.
- the second process is EVOCATION. We examine how people evoke distress, as well as positive feelings, in others.
- the third process whereby personality affects social interactions is through MANIPULATIONS for influencing others. What are the strategies that people use to get what they want from others?
What is situational selection?
When people choose to enter some situations and avoid other situations
○ Social selections are decision points that direct us to choose one path and avoid another. These decisions, which determine the nature of our social environments and social worlds, are often based on the personality characteristics of the selector.
personality characteristics play a central role in the selection of a mate, which characteristics do people prefer/desire in a partner?
dependable character, emotional stability and pleasing disposition.
Dependability is close to Conscientiousness; emotional stability is identical to the fourth factor on the five-factor model; and pleasing disposition is quite close to Agreeableness, the second factor in the model
A study showed the top 5 most desirable traits in a partner, what are these traits?
intelligence, humour, honesty, kindness and good looks.
In relation to the five factor model: Openness (intelligence), Extraversion (humour), Conscientiousness (honesty) and Agreeableness (kindness).
Over the past century, 2 fundamentally competing scientific theories have been advanced for who is attracted to whom.
What are the 2 theories?
- Complementary needs theory
- postulates that people are attracted to those who have different personality dispositions to their own
□ People who are dominant, for example, might have a need to be in a relationship with someone whom they can control and dominate. - attraction similarity theory
- postulates that people are attracted to those who have similar personality characteristics.
□ People who are dominant might be attracted to those who are also dominant, because they like someone who ‘pushes back’.
which of the 2 theories for who is attracted to whom seems to be the most supported?
Meta-analysis:
□ overwhelming support for the attraction similarity theory
□ no support for the complementary needs theory
What is assortative mating?
The phenomenon whereby people marry people similar to themselves. In addition to personality, people also show assortative mating on a number of physical characteristics, such as height and weight.
How does couples change, as time goes by?
couples who have been together the longest appear most similar in personality. This may be the result of couples growing more similar in personality over time
Do People Get the Mates They Want?
NO! desirable mates are always in short supply, compared with the numbers of people who seek them.
Therefore, many people end up mated with individuals who fall short of their ideals.
How does the partners personality affect relationship satisfaction?
People are especially happy with their relationships if they have partners who are high on the personality characteristics of Agreeableness, Emotional Stability and Openness. (from Larsen)
People are happy with their relationships if they have partners who are high on especially conscientiousness and agreeableness + emotional stability (low on neurotisism) (fra forelæsning - metaanalyse - lidt andre tal end i bogen)
Having a partner who is AGREEABLE is an especially strong predictor of being happy with one’s relationship for both men and women.
There are 2 ways in which personality plays a role in the mate selection process. Which?
- there appear to be universal selection preferences – personality characteristics that everyone desires in a potential mate, such as dependability and emotional stability.
- beyond the desires shared by everyone, people prefer partners who are similar to themselves in personality – dominant people prefer other dominant people, conscientious people prefer other conscientious people, and so on. (men iflg. stevens forelæsning har personlighed ikke den store betydning)
What is central in the violation of desire theory?
According to the theory, break-ups should occur more when one’s desires are violated than when they are fulfilled
Following the violation of desire theory we would predict that people cohabiting with or married to others who lack desired characteristics, such as dependability and emotional stability, will more frequently dissolve the relationship
Which personality trait has been the best predictor of relational instability and divorce?
emotional instability has been the most consistent personality predictor of relational instability and divorce, emerging as a significant predictor in nearly every study that has included a measure of it
how is Shyness defined?
Shyness is defined as a tendency to feel tense, worried or anxious during social interactions or even when anticipating a social interaction
In which ways does shyness affect the selection of situations?
- During high school and early adulthood, shy individuals tend to avoid social situations, resulting in a form of isolation
- Shy people also need more time to form new relationships and form fewer of them compared to people who are not shy
- shy women are less likely to bring up the awkward issue of contraception with their partners before sexual intercourse, and so put themselves in potentially dangerous sexual situations
□ they are also more likely to avoid going to the doctor for gynaecological examinations, and hence they put themselves at greater health risk
What is affective forecasting and how does it affect the selection of situations?
Affective forecasting refers to the accuracy with which we anticipate our emotional reactions to a certain future event.
E.g. if you anticipate intense and long-lasting joy when skydiving, you are more likely to engage in skydiving
How is evocation defined?
Evocation may be defined as the ways in which features of personality elicit reactions from others.
What is hostile attributional bias?
when aggressive people chronically interpret ambiguous behaviour from others, such as being bumped into, as intentionally hostile
the tendency to infer hostile intent on the part of others in the face of uncertain or unclear behaviour from them.
There are at least 2 ways in which personality can play a role in evoking conflict in close relationships after the initial selection of a partner has taken place. Which?
- People’s personality characteristics can upset others either directly by influencing how they act toward others or indirectly by eliciting actions from others that are upsetting
□ An example of how a person can perform actions that cause an emotional response in a partner is a dominant person who acts in a condescending manner, habitually evoking upset in the partner. - when a person elicits actions from another that, in turn, upset the original elicitor
□ An aggressive man, for example, might elicit the silent treatment from his mate, which in turn upsets him because she will not speak to him.
□ A condescending wife might undermine the self-esteem of her husband and then become angry because he lacks self-confidence.
What are the strongest predictor of being upset?
low agreeableness and emotional instability.
What is Expectancy confirmation?
a phenomenon whereby people’s beliefs about the personality characteristics of others cause them to evoke in others actions that are consistent with the initial beliefs.
The phenomenon of expectancy confirmation has also been called self-fulfilling prophecy.
What is the Rosenthal effect or the Pygmalion effect?
a specific form of expectancy confirmation.
That is, if someone tells you he is convinced you will succeed in dealing with a difficult problem, this may increase the likelihood that you will, indeed, succeed.
