Affiliation and Friendship Flashcards
What is affiliation
our relationships with other people
What is a friend?
DEF: someone with whom we have a voluntary affectionate relationship
- Platonic friend = someone with whom we have an affectionate relationship
- Does not include romantic partners or relatives
- Is voluntary
- Can change
Who do we like as friends
- Proximity and familiarity
Proximity - spatial or geographic closeness
Mere exposure effect - Similarity
Self-affirming
Creating similarity helps interactions go smoothly
Chartrand and Bargh (1999)
Study on who we like as friends
nonconscious mimicry, which they described as the unintentional imitation of others’ behaviors, such as posture, gestures, or expressions, during social interactions
Why do we have friends / motives to have friends
(3 reasons) and their theories
- Motive to affiliate
A desire to be near others and have pleasant and affectionate interactions with them
- Fundamental “need-to-belong”
Distress when not well connected
Costs of loneliness - Motive to feel good
- reinforcement -affect model
We like and affiliate with people we associate positive feelings with
We dislike and avoid people we associate negative feelings with - Motive to maximise benefits and minimize costs
- Social exchange theory
The trading of benefits (and costs) within relationships
Relationships are equitable if both people get a similar value
We prefer relationships that are equitable
What are the four social goals of affiliation
Getting social support
Getting information (about ourselves)
Gaining status
Exchanging material benefits
Getting social support
- Can buffer people against the effects of stressors (anxiety, depression…)
- Influence of biological sex:
Men:
+ secrete androgens (ex
testosterone) when under
stress
+ “Fight or Flight” response to
stress
Women:
+ Secrete oxytocin when under
stress
+ “Tend and befriend” response
to stress - People seek social support when they’re feeling threatened
+ Danger - People seek social support when they’re feeling isolated
+ Social isolation is common
(loving, losing a job, living…)
Gain information about ourselves
We like people who are similar to us
- Social comparison theory
-Similar others confirm our beliefs
and attitudes (about each other)
Self-disclosure = sharing intimate information about the self
- This is a key aspect of friendship
30 min of mutual disclosure →
complete strangers feel like
friends
Individual differences in self-disclosure (person factor)
-Women are more likely to
disclose personal information
than men
- Americans are more likely to
self-disclose than east asians
Possible downsides of self-disclosure
- Betrayal
- Gossip
- Invasions of privacy
(about important issues)
People are more likely to turn to others for social information when
- They are unsure about
something
+ Uncertainty and ambiguous
situations
- Something is very important
and/or threatening
Gaining status
Mens relationship emphasises social hierarchy (more than womens relationships)
- Likely due (in part) to
testosterone
- Women, but not men, feel
bad when they outperform
their friends
- Differences in support
exchanges
Status by association
- Affiliate in order to gain status
+ Ex: basking in reflected
glory “BIRGing”
- Break off social connections
that could reflect poorly
upon yourself
+ dishonesty , hostility
+ Stigmatised others
+ Ex: Cutting off reflected
failure “CORFing”
Study (Synder et al, 1986)
(social goals of affiliation)
Break off social connections that could reflect poorly upon yourself
Exchanging material benefits
Norm of reciprocity
- Can reciprocate favours though
exchange of resources
- Especially when resources are
unpredictable/uncertain - this
maximises survival
- Exchange is adaptive!
examples
- Giving a ride to the store
- Invitation to part
- Buying dinner
Patterns of social exchange
1. Communal sharing
Group members share a pool of resources; take when in need and give when others are in need
Authority ranking
Goods are divided according to a person’s status in the group
Equality matching
Each person gets the same as the others
Market pricing
Everyone gets out the proportion to what they put in
Communal orientation (person factor)
Communal-oriented = satisfy the needs of others
Exchange-oriented = keeping track of exchanges
Communal VS exchange relationships
Communal relationships- concern for each others’ welfare
Exchange relationships- rewards and benefits traded in past and expected in future
As relationships become more established people stop keeping track of rewards
Relationships tend to become more communal over time
What are the 4 Patterns of social exchange
- Communal sharing
- Group members share a pool
of resources; take when in
need and give when others are
in need - Authority ranking
- Goods are divided according to
a person’s status in the group - Equality matching
- Each person gets the same as
the others - Market pricing
- Everyone gets out the
proportion to what they put in
Communal orientation and communal VS exchange relationships
Communal orientation (person factor)
- Communal-oriented = satisfy
the needs of others
- Exchange-oriented = keeping
track of exchanges
Communal VS exchange relationships
1. Communal relationships- concern
for each others’ welfare
2. Exchange relationships- rewards
and benefits traded in past and
expected in future
-As relationships become more established people stop keeping track of rewards
-Relationships tend to become more communal over time
What is “Social Snacking”
DEF: interacting with people through social media
- Does not have the same
benefits as face-to-face
interactions
- Can lead to unfavorable social
comparison
- Increased depression &
loneliness; decreased life
satisfaction
Parasocial relationships study
(Gabriel & Young, 2011)
Parasocial relationships
DEF: Feeling affiliative (unreciprocated) with media personalities
Study (Gabriel & Young, 2011)
Participants read passages from Harry Potter or Twilight
Dependent measures:
Identity (“me”/”not me”)
Explicit measure of collective assimilation with wizards or vampires
After reading HP people saw self as more wizard-like
After reading Twilight people saw self as more vampire-like
Identity person factors
Loneliness
stress/ anxiety
Biological sex (male / female)
Self-disclosure tendencies
Uncertainty
Communal orientation
Identity situational factors
Exchange equity
Stressful situations
Danger
Isolation
Exclusion
Culture
Ambiguous situations
