attraction and partner selection

Question 1

Power of proximity

Answer 1

a basic powerful factor that drives

Question 2

What was the Westgate Housing Study?

Answer 2

Married MIT students got assigned to one of 17 buildings in a random fashion (natural experiment)
- they tried to guess who would form friendships with whom
RESULT: people living right next door were 2x as likely to become friends as compared to 2 doors down

Question 3

What is functional distance?

Answer 3

likelihood of coming into contact with other people based on architectural design

Question 4

What is the mere exposure effect?

Answer 4

When we have more oppurtunity to interact with people who live closer to us but also just being around people

Question 5

What explains the mere exposure effect?

Answer 5

perceptual fluency explanation: its easier to process familiar stimuli (greater fluency), this fluency is mistaken for liking

classical conditioning: encounters with novel stimuli puts us on guard, so repeated exposure to a stimuli without negative consequences conditions more nice feelings about a person

Question 6

Do we all agree on what is attractive?

Answer 6

There is a broad consensus about the general features that are considered attractive, evident across different cultural groups and newborn infants shared adults preferences

Question 7

why is facial symmetry attractive?

Answer 7

1) could be perceptual fluency
2) Could be evolutionary explanation: symmetry tends to be a indicator of reproductive fitness (evidence in animals and humans)

Question 8

What is the averageness effect?

Answer 8

faces that are more average are seen as more attractive

Question 9

Does our liking of symmetry trump our liking of familiarity?

Answer 9

In a study in Netherlands and NewZealand. People liked the regular face of a familiar celebrity but liked a symmetrical face of an unfarmilar celebrity.

Question 10

What are the sex-specific preferences?

Answer 10

female features: “baby-faced”, large eyes, small nose, small chin, full lips, with signs of maturity
- waist to hip ratio= 0.70 as a signal of fertility

male features: broad jaw, wide smile, but soft, friendly features

Question 11

Why do we believe what is beautiful is good?

Answer 11

1. The cultural association view
2. motivated cognition view

Question 12

What is the cultural association view?

Answer 12

our upbringing and media have created the view that what is good is beautiful

We see an attractive target –> percieved positive attributes –> desire to bond with target

Question 13

What is the motivated cognition view?

Answer 13

1. Beauty is an intrinsic reward
2. we want to approach rewarding stimuli
3. through projection, we perceive attractive targets as possessing attributes compatible with our approach goals

Question 14

How could beauty be an intrinsic award?

Answer 14

In a study, participants felt more positively when interacting (or expecting to interact) with attractive targets
- there was overlap in brain regions reactive to physically attractive faces and rewards like food and money.

Question 15

Is the motivated cognition view or cultural association view better?

Answer 15

data is better fit to motivated cognition view
- behavioural confirmation also impacts this
(act more positively toward pretty people so we get more positive behaviour in return)

Question 16

What is the evolutionary perspective on mate preference for men vs women?

Answer 16

Parental Investment Theory
- men have minimal parental investment and biological cost, whereas women have great biological and time invested.
- male: reproductive success is limited to availability of fertile mates, so preference for indicators of fertility.
- female: care about quality but also need to be more slective due to large cost, so preference for ability to provide for offspring.

Question 17

What were the results of a study about what traits men and women found appealing? What is the caveat?

Answer 17

Across cultures, most, most attributes were rated similairly but men valued physical appearance more and women valued resource acquisition more.
CAVEAT: most places, women have less access to status and resources and men are socialized to value physical attractiveness.

Question 18

In real life, do these preferences show?

Answer 18

In a meta-analysis of 97 studies, evaluations were generally more positive for more attractive partners and partners with better earning potential
BUT there was no big difference between sexes

Question 19

Are men or women more likely to pursue short term or long term mating strategies?

Answer 19

men: more likely to pursue short term due to parental investment theory
BOTH: can shift from short to long if the benefits outweigh the costs

Question 20

What is the dual mating strategy?

Answer 20

The idea that women will show preference for cues of male fitness (masculine faces) during high fertility and ovulatory phase of menstrual cycle AND will show preferences for feminized faces at other points in their menstrual cycle.

Question 21

What is social exchange theory?

Answer 21

postulates that we act a bit like shoppers on an interpersonal marketplace. We want to maximize rewards and minimize costs.
We seek partners with highest mate value possible

Question 22

What is mate value?

Answer 22

more than physical attractiveness and resources, it includes partner traits that are conductive to high relationship quality (warmth, kindness)

Question 23

What is reciprocity?

Answer 23

The idea that we like people more if they know they like us, tied to our fundamental need to belong

Question 24

Are there biological mechanisms that positively reinforce belonging ?

Answer 24

A study with PET scans found that when participants were told that a desirable partner likes them there was increased activation of a system of receptors that mediate rewarding effects of opioid drugs liek heroin

Question 25

What is selectivity?

Answer 25

the idea that we want to feel like someone likes us, specifically.

Question 26

What were the results of the selectivity speed dating study?

Answer 26

When a participant unqiuley desired a particular partner, that partner tended to reciprocate that desire more. When a participant tended to desire many partners, partners experienced less desire for the participant.

Question 27

What is the matching phenomenon?

Answer 27

There is some evidence that couples tend to be similar in attractiveness

Question 28

Explain the “movie rating” study about managing risk

Answer 28

Participants were asked to rate a movie, when they entered the room there were two tables (2 seats) each with a screen in front and an attractive confederate at one of the tables. They either had the low ambiguity condition (same movie on each screen) or high ambiguity condition (dif movies)
RESULT: more likely to sit next to confederate in high ambiguity condition

Question 29

What are 3 factors that predict intensity of unrequited love?

Answer 29

1. perceived potential value of relationship
2. perceived probability of striking up a relationship
3. perceived benefits to self of loving the person, even if not reciprocated

Question 30

What is the rejector and pursuer?

Answer 30

rejector: no-win situation, usually negative looking back, see themselves as morally innocent but feel guilty, reluctance to cause pain
pursuer: situation as high-stake gamble, look back with mix of emotions, feel like they have been led on

Question 31

Why might similarity be attractive?

Answer 31

• validation of interests, beliefs, and opinions
• we can better predict the behaviour of others
• can participate in shared activities
• we expect people more similar to us like us
• smoother interactions

Question 32

Explain the bogus stranger study on similarity and attraction

Answer 32

a “stranger” is in the lab and their responses to questions are manipulated to be either similar or dissimilar, then the participant has to evaluate them.
RESULT: attitudinal similarity predicts attraction for people we don’t know. When stranger had more PERCEIVED similarity, lead to higher attraction

Question 33

In relationships, are couples generally similar?

Answer 33

There is a lot of evidence for this.
STUDY: 1000 married couples asked questions and they were more similar on 66/88 traits than random people coupled together.

Question 34

Is similarity about demographic, personality, or attitudes and values?

Answer 34

• It seems the link between similarity and attraction is stronger with similar values/ attitudes than some demographics and personalities.

Question 35

Does similarity in partners mean more satisfaction?

Answer 35

Not, necessarily. Having a partner with desirable personality traits more important than matching.
Couples similar on unappealing traits less successful than couples who are less alike on these traits

Question 36

What is neurohomphily?

Answer 36

tendency of nodes to connect to others of the same type

Question 37

What is influence in regards to neurohomphily?

Answer 37

tendency of nodes to influence each other over time

Question 38

Explain the study at Dartmouth about neurohomphily.

Answer 38

Measured brain responses of Ps right when they arrived at Dartmouth when watching naturalistic complex stimuli (vid clip). They then waited until the social network was stable and checked in on friendships.
RESULT: we seem to make friends with people who think like us. Neural responses to vid clips were more similar among friends than with others.

Question 39

Why do people think opposites attract?

Answer 39

1. perception vs reality: we may perceive more similarity than their is because we like them.
2. Discovering dissimilarities can take time
3. We may pursue partners that represent our ideal selves
4. dissimilarity may dec over time
5. some types of similarity more important than others
6. macthing is a broad process

Question 40

What is complementarity?

Answer 40

the idea that we are attracted to people who possess qualities we lack
- not well-backed by evidence

Question 41

What are fatal attractions?

Answer 41

when we may be originally attracted to some traits we don’t have, but then become increasingly irritated by these traits.
ex. tight wallets vs spenders

Question 42

Do our preferences actually predict partner choice?

Answer 42

• studies show that ideal preferences failed to predict desires of real-life people

Question 43

How does online dating work? Are these algorithms accurate?

Answer 43

In a study of machine learning and matchmaking, algorithm detected desire of other with 18% accuracy, is desired with 27% accuracy bit unique desire ofr relationship with <1% accuracy

Question 44

Is there a genetic component to chemistry?

Answer 44

Studies show that Major Histocompatibility complex (MHC) genes play signifigant roles in the immune system and help recognize pathogens.
- selection of mates with dissimilar MHC genes may confer benefits to offspring.
STUDY: women found odours of men with dissimilar MHC genes more attractive

Question 45

How does context affect attraction?

Answer 45

it seems that context can impact attraction. In a study on Cap suspension bridge, men were more likely to give their number to an attractive women when they were on a scary bridge.

Question 46

What is the two factor theory of romantic attraction?

Answer 46

1. Physiological arousal
2. Misattribution of arousal
   We seem to experience passion if we can assign physiological arousal to a person, the nature of the aroual doesn’t matter