9: Attraction and Close Relationships Flashcards
What was the Harvard Grant study?
Longitudinal study looking into what factors increase life satisfaction
Who were the participants of the Harvard Grant study?
724 men over a period of 75 years
At the beginning of the study, half had just graduated Harvard and half were from deprived Boston areas
What were the findings of the Harvard Grant study?
Good relationships keep us happier and healthier
Lonliness is very bad for us
It’s the quality of relationships, not just the number of them
How is Maslow’s hierarchy of needs linked to close relationships?
Love and belonging is the third pillar, placed above self-esteem and confidence which suggests it’s an important part of our identity
What is the belongingness hypothesis?
Humans are motivated by a need to belong and need frequent positive interactions with a consistant group of people over a long period of time
Deprivation of this has bad concequences
Social exclusion is linked to physical pain
What is love?
A combination of emotions, cognitions and behaviour involved in intimate relationships
What are the kinds of love?
Passionate/romantic love: Intense emotional state with feelings such as sexuality, elation, pain, anxiety and jealousy
Compassionate love: Feelings of friendly affection and deep attatchments
What is passionate/romantic love?
Intense emotional state with feelings such as sexuality, elation, pain, anxiety and jealousy
What is compassionate love?
Feelings of friendly affection and deep attatchments
What is required for romantic love?
Cultural factors where love is acknowledged as a state
A subject to love
Emotional arousal self labeled love
What is the triangular theory of love?
Passion, intimacy and commitment are on the 3 corners, consummate love is in the middle as it uses all 3
What is colour theory?
There are 3 primary colours or styles of love. How they mix predicts the secondary characteristics of the relationships
According to colour theory, what are the types of love?
Eros Storage Ludus Mania Pragma Agape
According to colour theory, what is the eros style of love?
Passionate love: An all-consuming emotional experiance
According to colour theory, what is the storage style of love?
Compassionae love: A friendship and comfortable intimacy
According to colour theory, what is the ludus style of love?
Game-playing love: Loves is a game that you have to win
According to colour theory, what is the pragma style of love?
Logical love: Relationship works well and they’re compatiable partners
According to colour theory, what is the agape style of love?
Unconditional, caring, giving and forgiving
According to colour theory, what is the mania style of love?
Posessive love: Intense, jealous, obsessed
What is prototype love?
Some types of love are recogised faster if they are closer to what we see as a prototype
What is the process of relationship maintenence?
Passionate love dies down and compassionate love increases
Attatchment security increases
The relevance of social exchange increases
We adjust our perception of what our ideal is
What factors contribute to ongoing relationships?
Personal dedication and attraction
Moral commitment and a sense of obligation
Constrait commitment where it’s costly to leave the relationship
What cognitive stratergies are used to maintain relationships?
Enhancing their virtues and downplaying their faults
Changing your expectations to fit more closely with what your partner has to offer
Adjust your perceptions so that your partner resembles your ideal
What are the phases of a break up?
Intrapsychic (Internal to each person)
Dyadic (Two person)
Social (Telling other people)
Grave-dressing (Reflection)
How does evolutionary psychology explain attractiveness?
We’re motivated by reproductive fitness so find qualities attractive if they indicate health or fitness
What kind of faces are we most attracted to?
Symmetrical faces as asymmetry is caued by pathogens and mutations
Prototypical faces
How does proximity affect who we’re attracted to?
We become friends with those who are sithin a functional distance to us such as those we might see often
Why are we attracted to people in close proximity to us?
We know we seem them regularily so make an effort to get along
What is the exposure effect?
When we are repeatedly exposed to someone, we see them as more attractive
Why are we more attracted to people we see as similar to ourselves?
It validates our own attitudes and helps us to think they’re correct
They’re more likely to love us back
Smooth interactions with less conflict
What is the matching hypothesis?
Couples tend to match themselves with those they see as similar in intelligence and wealth
Equal status avoids chances or rejection
What was Wedekind’s study into similarity vs complementarity for attractiveness?
44 male students wore a t shirt for 2 nights and 49 females smelled the shirts that were either the same or different genetic types
What were the results of Wedekind’s study into similarity vs complementarity for attractiveness?
On the pill: Women rated similar genetics as more attractive
Off the pill: Women rated complimentary genetics as more attractive
What is the reinforcement affect model?
We like people when we experiance positive feelings
What is the equity model?
The input and output is seen to be the same for both partners
Mutual exchange of recourses
