Chapter 10: Relationships and attraction

Question 1

communal relationship

Answer 1

In a …, the individuals feel a special responsibility for one I another and often expect their relationship to be long term. … are based on a sense of “oneness” and a family like sharing of common identity. In these relationships, individuals give and receive according to the principle of need—that is, according to which person in the relationship has the most pressing need at any given time.

Question 2

exchange relationship

Answer 2

An …, in contrast, is trade based and often short term, and the individuals feel no special responsibility for one another’s well-being. In …, giving and receiving are governed by concerns about equity (you get what you put into the relationship) and reciprocity (what you receive is about equal to what you give).

Question 3

Social exchange

Answer 3

… theory posits that humans, in seeking to maximize their own satisfaction, seek out rewards in their interactions with others, and they are willing to pay certain costs to obtain those rewards.

Question 4

equity theory

Answer 4

…, helps us understand how the combination of too many rewards and too few costs in a relationship can be unattractive: it simply feels unfair.

Question 5

Attachment theory

Answer 5

…. Our early attachments with our parents and other caregivers shape our relationships for the rest of our lives.

Question 6

The anxiety dimension

Answer 6

… of attachment refers to the amount of fear a person feels about rejection and abandonment within close relationships.

Question 7

The avoidance dimension

Answer 7

… of attachment refers to whether a person is comfortable with intimacy and dependence in primary adult relationships or finds them aversive to a degree.

Question 8

Proximity

Answer 8

… the most enduring friendships are forged between people whose paths cross frequently.

Question 9

functional distance

Answer 9

…—the influence of an architectural layout to encourage or discourage contact between peopled.

Question 10

mere exposure effect

Answer 10

…—the notion that more you are exposed to something, the more you rend to like it.

Question 11

Similarity

Answer 11

… there is a robust tendency for people to become romantically involved with people who are similar in terms of their social class, educational level, and religious background. … in personal characteristics also predicts romantic attraction.

Question 12

status exchange hypothesis

Answer 12

…: romantic attraction increases when two individuals complement each other in terms of their social status by offering each other elevated status, through romantic partnership, where they themselves are lacking.

Question 13

Benefits of being attractive

Answer 13

… The most frequently observed finding about the impact of physical attractiveness—and the least surprising—-is that attractive individuals are more popular as friends and potential romantic partners than their less attractive counterparts.

Question 14

The halo effect

Answer 14

… Being attractive not only benefits people in terms of how they are treated. Attractive people also benefit from a halo effect, the common belief (accurate or not) that people who are appealing to look at have a host of positive qualities beyond their physical appearance. Indeed, physically attractive people seem to be somewhat happier, less stressed, and more satisfied with their lives, and they perceive themselves as having greater control over what happens to them.

Question 15

reproductive fitness

Answer 15

we’ve evolved to prefer people whose physical features signify health or, more generally, …—the capacity to pass one’s genes to subsequent generations.

Question 16

investment model of commitment

Answer 16

… influenced by social exchange theory (described earlier), once partners have a romantic bond, three determinants make them more committed to each other: satisfaction, the relative absence or poor quality of alternative partners, and investments in the relationship.