Attraction and Intimacy Flashcards
What four factors does research identify in attraction and intimacy and why are they rewarding?
Proximity- rewarding as it costs less time and effort to maintain relationships with people we interact with often
Physical attraction- rewarding as we assume attractive people have other good qualities and we will benefit by association
Similarity- rewarding because we assume people who are like us, like us
Being liked- rewarding because we like to be liked
How does the proximity principle affect attraction and intimacy?
Proximity principle- proximity strongly predicts liking; the more interactions we have, the more opportunities we have to develop this
How do evolutionary reasons influence the proximity aspect of attraction and intimacy?
Mere exposure which is linked to evolutionary reasons- as something becomes more familiar we become less suspicious of it so exposure can reduce stereotyping as we learn more about a person
What is digital age proximity?
Our proximity has expanded from physical to mean functional distance so more frequency of interaction
What did Marmaros and Sacerdote find about proximity research?
Found that two people sharing a dormitory building incr the volume of emails sent by undergrads by two or more times, sharing a corridor by another two times and sharing a room by a further three times
How does physical attraction affect attraction and intimacy on a biological basis?
We are neurobiologically programmed to respond positively to physical beauty
What is the physical attractiveness stereotype and the ‘halo effect?
Tendency to believe beautiful is good; first impressions based on physical appearance although benefits can wane quickly if reality does not meet expectations
What is the matching hypothesis in physical attraction?
Tendency for people to choose partners with roughly equivalent social attributes e.g. age, religious attitude, political views, education
What did Watson find in research on the matching hypothesis?
That personality, emotionality and attachment style have weaker correlations than age, religion etc, possibly presenting an issue
What is attitude alignment within similarity in attraction and intimacy?
you become more similar as you get closer to a person (physically and in attitudes) harmonising in likes and dislikes, world views etc
Why is it important to be aware of social desirability within attraction and intimacy research?
implicit associations test can help (automatic response) we do not always consider the broader context in IATs
How does feeling self esteem link to feeling liked in attraction and intimacy?
We are more prone to like those who like us- lower self esteem people tend to underestimate how much their partner likes them, have less generous views of their partner and feel less happy in their relationship
gaining another’s esteem is one of the most powerful determinants of interpersonal attraction and is an indication that one is liked- Murray et al 2000
How does evaluative conditioning relate to feeling liked in attraction and intimacy?
states that we come to like or dislike people by associating them with something we already like/dislike; the majority of these likes and dislikes are learnt e.g. cultures coming from excess are more attracted to thin and vice versa, also subliminally affected by trends that we do not even realise- can use this as an advantage in relationships as we can associate things we like with a person, hence conditioning
What is Stenberg’s love triangle?
conception of kinds of loving as combinations of three basic components of love: commitment, intimacy and passion
How does Stenberg define commitment?
Involving a conscious decision to stick with one another, decision to remain committed determined by level of satisfaction a partner derives, sometimes defined as a promise to give or do something or be loyal; it can also represent the cog side of the triangle as it is both a short term decision to love another person and a long term commitment to maintain that love
