Chapter 10: Relationships and Attraction Flashcards
What is a communal relationship?
A relationship in which the individuals feel a special responsibility for one another and give and recieve according to the principle of need. Such relationships are often long term.
- shared identity
- family and friends
What is an exchange relationship?
A relationship in which individuals feel little responsibility toward one another, giving and receiving are governed by concerns about equity and reciprocity. Such relationships are usually short term
- work relationship, salesmen, etc.
What is social exchange theory?
A theory based on the idea that how people feel about a relationship depends on their assessment of its costs and rewards.
What is comparison level?
Expectations people have about what they think they deserve or expect to get out of a relationship.
What is comparison level for alternatives?
Expecations people have about what they can get out of available, alternative relationships
What is equity theory?
The idea that people are moticated to pursue fairness, or equity, in their relationships. A relationship is considered equitable when the benefits are proportionate to the effort both people put into it.
What is attachment theory?
The idea that early attachment with aprents and other caregivers can shape relationships for a person’s whole life
What is anxiety dimension of attachment?
A facet of attachment that captures the degree to which a person is worried about rejection and abandonment by relationship partners
What is avoidance dimension of attachment?
A facet of attachment that captures the degree to which a person is comfortable with initmacy and dependence on relationship partners.
What is functional distance?
The influence of an architectual laout to encourage or inhibit certain activities, cinlduing contact between people.
What is mere exposure effect?
The idea that repeated exposure to stimulus, such as an object or a person, leads to greater liking of the stimulus
What is complementarity?
The tendency for people to seek out tohers with characteristics that are different from, and complement their own
What is the halo effect?
The common belief (accurate or not) that attractice individuals possess a host of positive quatlities beyonf their physical appearance
What is reproductive fitness?
the capacity to pass one’s genes on to subsequent generations
What is investment model of commitment?
a model of interpersonal relationships maintianing that three determinants make partners more committed to each other: relationship satisfaction, few alternative partners, and investments in the relationship
Why is it difficult to study relationships and attraction in social psychology?
- cannot ensure controlled lab conditions
- people self select they relationships they participate in
How does the need to belong impact the formation of social relationships?
- social relationships satisfy our need to belong
- social relationships help us produce offspring (long term romantic)
- social relationships help us survive (family and friendship) (share resources)
- actually able to satisfy need (not looking for infinite friendships)
What is the evidence for our need to belong leading to social relationships?
- monkeys were raised with surrogate mothers (fake)
- one gave food, one provided comfort
- preferred one who gave comfort
- mortality rates are higher for divorced, unmarried, or widowed individuals
- relationships physically make us healthier
Do all cultures prefer the same approaches to relationships?
NO
- east asian and latin american cultures take a communal approach to business and work
What do social psychologists believe most relationships are based on?
REWARD
Where is equity thoery more applicable?
- independent cultures, independence is more valued
- hierarchical unfairness is more accepted or even desired in interdependent culture relationships
How are babies important in explaining attachment thoery?
- babies need to develop a strong attachment to someone in order to survive as well as to develop
- security comes from parents’ responsiveness
- impacts how child views their lovability and competence
Infant Attachment Experiment
- infants and caregiver placed in strange room with interesting toys
- secure infants were comfortable moving away and exploring
- anxious infants were not comfortable exploring much
- stranger replaces caregiver in room
- secure infants had caregiver who easily soothed them
- anxious infancts were not easy comforted
- avoidant infants did not seek comfort or even rejected it
What is the difference between attachment styles and attachment dimensions?
- expanded to say dimensions because it shows that each person can have components of each dimension or vary from relationship to relationship
- not fixed, more flexible
What does attachment theory neglect to explain/
really only accurately describes patterns displayed in western culture
What are components that determine attraction?
- proximity
- similarity
- physical attractiveness
Proximity has the largest effect on….
people of different races, ages, or social classes (heterogenous friendships)
mere exposure effect ex.
- participants shown turkish words
- words they had been shown more frequently they assumed had more positive meanings even tho they didn’t know
Mere Exposure Effect Explanation
- increased exposure means you are more comfortable
- neutral becomes positive simply because it lacks negative
What are limitations to the Mere Exposure Effect?
- does not work with stimuli you initially dislike
- does not apply to auditory stimuli
How does social psychology explain ‘opposites attract’?
- not actually opposite, looking for something complementary
- people can address each others needs in a complementary way
- similarity is the rule, complementarity is the exception
Intro Note to Physical Attrativeness
- desirable features vary across cultures and overtime
- extreme variety in what people find attrative
What do people find attractive?
- features that signify reproductive fitness
- more average or compositve faces
- symmetry (shows resist disease)
Why are women more picky about choosing mates?
- more invested in offspring
What are men attracted to?
- fertility -> youth
What are women attracted to?
- someone to provide while they provide for the child
- ovulation increases a women’s ability to find a strong/masculine man
- division of labor created cultural reasons to find a successful male mate
What other theory influenced the investment model of commitment?
Social exchange theory
Four Most Harmful Behaviors in a Reltionship
- criticism
- contempt
- stonewalling
- defensiveness
How do attributions impact relationships?
- unstable couple associate bad event to person and good event to situation
- stable couples associate bad event to situation and good event to person
How to creat stronger romantic bonds
- postive conversation, share enthusiasm
- silliness and playfulness creates more positive associations with someone
- idealize partner, all faults come with silver lining
