Attraction Flashcards
What is parental investment theory?
men and women have different motivations and strategies for sex
How are men opportunists?
- reproduction is cheap
- goal is to have as many children as possible
How are women choosy?
- reproduction is expensive
- goal is to have highest quality children
What were the differences in gender for the questions: “how long do you need to know someone before having sex” and “how many partners do you want in ___ amount of time”
- men need less time before having sex
- men want more partners in same amount of time
What was the methods and results of the date/apartment/sex experiment?
- attractive researcher approached opposite sex
- asks if they would like to go on a date, back to their apartment or have sex
- date had equal acceptance rate
- men more likely to say yes to apartment and sex than women
What are women looking for in a partner?
- committed (stick around for offspring)
- has resources
- big, strong, athletic, attractive (better genes)
What are men looking for in a partner?
- attractiveness (more important to men than women)
- sexually faithful (mama’s baby, papa’s maybe)
What is the reward model of attraction?
- more intimate relationship if person gives more rewards to us
- if rewards stop, love fades
How can someone be rewarding?
- propinquity (physically close by)
- familiarity
- similarity
- attractiveness (up to a point)
What is the pratfall effect?
when perfect person does little goof, becomes more attractive/likeable
(stops upwards comparison)
What is the pratfall experiment method and findings?
- listen to person in trivia show then interview
- person either competent/qualified or not
- person either spills coffee during interview or not
- competent/qualified: becomes more attractive if spills coffee
- incompetent/unqualified: becomes less attractive if spills coffee
What is the evolutionary perspective on love?
function to keep people together so they reproduce
What is the 2 factor theory of love?
think we are in love when we have increased arousal around a hot person
What was the field experiment method testing the 2 factor theory of love?
- approach man after scary bridge or safe bridge
- attractive man or woman asks them to participate in research
- shown image of couple eating dinner and asked to make a story about picture
- research assistant gives number for “follow up questions”
What was the findings of the field experiment testing the 2 factor theory of love?
- low arousal: woman got more sexual stories; man and woman same number of phone calls
- high arousal: woman got MUCH more sexual stories; woman MUCH more likely to receive phone call
- need high arousal and explanation to think you’re “in love”
What is response facilitation theory?
when aroused, dominant response is emphasized
What was the experimental method on response facilitation theory?
- participant runs for 30 seconds or 2 mins
- watch dating video with attractive or unattractive woman
- participants rate woman’s attractiveness
What was the findings of the response facilitation theory experiment? Why doesn’t it support 2 factor theory of love?
- when aroused, attractive woman becomes more attractive and unattractive woman becomes more unattractive
- don’t normally become incredibly aroused by unattractive person
What is the need for affiliation?
desire to establish and maintain rewarding relationships
When do we feel the need to affiliate?
- stress (if others reduce impact of stressful situation e.g. by knowing info)
- when we’re lonely
- if lack of power/influence
How do shy people’s brains react to images of strangers?
greater activation of amygdala
What are shy people’s view of social interactions?
- negative self-evaluations
- assume they’ll fail interactions
- blame self if they have bad interaction
What is intimate loneliness?
want but doesn’t have person to rely on for emotional support
What is relational loneliness?
wants but lacks friendship from school/work/family
What is collective loneliness?
wants but lacks remote relationships and groups we belong to
How does loneliness and culture intersect?
- collectivists higher risk for loneliness
- in individualist culture, people with collectivist orientation are less lonely
What is the mere exposure effect?
more people are exposed to a stimulus, more they like the stimulus
What is the group attractiveness effect?
- perceived physical attractiveness of group is greater than average attractiveness of members
- spend more time looking at attractive people
What are universal indicators of attractiveness?
- nice facial expression
- youthful
- average faces
- symmetrical faces
How can situation increase attractiveness?
- nicer people are more attractive
- men rate photos as more attractive if red background
What is the what is beautiful is good stereotype?
belief that physically attractive people have desirable personality characteristics
Do attractive people have higher SE?
no
Why are attractive people often insecure?
- don’t know if praise is for skills or good looks
- high pressure to maintain good looks
- no relationship between attractiveness and happiness
What are the 4 types of similarity?
- demographics
- attitudes
- physical attractiveness level
- subjective experience/rxns to events
Do we like people who like us?
- yes
- like people even more if they originally don’t like us and then do
What is the hard to get effect?
tendency to prefer people who are reasonably selective in social choices over those who are readily available
- especially if hard to get person because of factors outside of their control (e.g. parents) because of reactance
What is conspicuous consumption?
men flaunt resources to attract women
- more likely if competition is high for mates
When does each gender want to say I love you? Why?
- men prefer pre-sex (indicates relationship may move to be sexual)
- women prefer post-sex (indicates long-term commitment)
What types of jealousy are the genders most affected by?
- men: sexual jealous
- women: emotional jealousy
What is a culture of multiple fathers?
- all men who have sex with pregnant lady is contributing to offspring
- women get more resources from multiple men if sleeping around
What are the 3 components of intimate relationships?
- feels of attachment/affection/love
- fulfillment of psychological needs
- interdependence (each partner has meaningful influence on the other)
What is the stimulus value role theory?
- stimulus stage - attraction sparked by external attractiveness
- value stage - attachment based on similarity of values/beliefs
- role stage - commitment based on enactment of roles
What is social exchange theory?
people are motivated to maximize benefits and minimize costs in relationship
What is comparison level?
expectations for how rewarding relationship will be
What is a investment?
person puts something into relationship that can NOT be recovered if relationship ends
What is equity theory?
want own benefits/own costs to equal partners benefits/partners costs
What is the trust insurance system? What are its 3 steps?
unconsciously keep record of costs and gains and try to keep them equal to partner
1. feeling not good enough for partner, make sacrifices/do favours for them
2. after making sacrifices, feel less inferior
3. benefitting partner expressed fewer doubts about relationship afterwards
What is the equilibrium model of relationship maintence?
motivated to preserve important relationships by detecting declines in commitment/satisfaction
What is a secure attachment style?
- believe in love
- satisfying, enduring and trusting relationships
- baby distressed when mom leaves and happy when she returns
What is an avoidant attachment style?
- thinks love must fade
- fear intimacy
- no rxn to mom leaving or returning
- lowest in young adults and peaks at middle age
What is an anxious attachment style?
- more jealous and obsessive in relationships
- very emotional rollercoaster of love life
- cling/cry when mom leaves but angry/apathetic when she returns
- highest in young adults and declines with age
What are the 3 primary love styles?
- eros - erotic
- ludus - uncommited/game-playing love
- storge - friendship
What are the 3 secondary love styles?
- mania - demanding/possessive love
- pragma - pragmatic love
- agape - other-oriented/altruistic love
What is the triangle of love?
- 8 subtypes of love derived from 3 components: intimacy (emotional), passion (motivational) and commitment (cognitive)
1. liking - intimacy
2. companionate love - intimacy and commitment
3. empty love - commitment
4. fatuous love - passion and commitment
5. infatuation - passion
6. romantic - intimacy and passion
7. consummate love - passion, commitment and intimacy
8. absent - no components
What is passionate love? (i.e. love)
high arousal, intense attraction and fear of rejection
What is companionate love? (i.e. like)
secure, trusting and stable partnership
What is social penetration theory?
relationships progress from superficial to intimate exchanges
What is social learning theory for gayness?
become gay from rewarding experiences with same-sex peers in childhood
What is erotic plasticity? Which gender has more of it?
- how easily aroused by person you aren’t attracted to
- higher in women (aroused by both men and woman regardless of orientation)
What is negative affect reciprocity?
partner’s negative display of emotion causes other partner to display negative emotion back to them
What is demand/withdraw interaction?
one partner wants to talk about problems and other wants to avoid discussing them
What is relationship enhancing attributions?
see partner’s undesirable behaviours as situational, temporary and limited to specific thing
What is the satisfaction trend in divorces?
- less and less satisfied before divorce
- satisfaction increases after divorce
- satisfaction never as high as before
What is ironic with relationships that satisfy needs?
more devastating/issues coping if it ends
