Chapter 11-Affiliation, attraction and close relationships

Question 1

What is the definition of social support?

Answer 1

A partner’s responsiveness to another’s needs

Question 2

What is emotional support?

Answer 2

Providing reassurance in stressful or problematic situations. (‘‘You will do better on the next exam, think about the 50 percent that failed’’)

Question 3

What is instrumental support?

Answer 3

Practical assistance a partner may provide in dealing with a problem. (‘‘Here is some study material you can have, and I will help you with some exercises’’)

Question 4

What can social exclusion lead to?

Answer 4

Bad mood, lowered self-esteem, loss of control, and physical pain.

Question 5

What does need to belong mean?

Answer 5

The intrinsic motivation to affiliate with others and be socially accepted.

Question 6

What is the attachment theory? (John Bowlby)

Answer 6

A theory that proposes that the development of a secure infant-caregiver attachment in childhood is the basis for the ability to maintain stable and intimate relationships in adulthood.

Question 7

What is the evolutionary psychology in regards to beauty?

Answer 7

An approach that explains human behavior and preferences based on their reproductive value, that is, their value in producing offspring. Beautiful people-More healthy-better prediction for reproduction.

Question 8

What are the two reasons for why proximity breeds liking?

Answer 8

1. Harder to keep up the relationship when living further away from each other
2. Harder psychologically to continue a close relationship with distance.

Question 9

What is the mere exposure effect? (Zajonc)

Answer 9

The more you get exposed to something, the more you will like it.

Question 10

What is the similarity-attraction effect?

Answer 10

We like people who are similar to ourselves.

Question 11

What is reciprocal liking?

Answer 11

We like people who like us.

Question 12

What is the misattribution of arousal?

Answer 12

People mistakenly attribute part of their arousal to an external stimulus that is not the actual cause of their arousal.

Question 13

What is the definition of passionate love?

Answer 13

A state of intense longing for union with another individual, usually characterized by intrusive thinking and preoccupation with the partner, idealization of the other and the desire to know the other as the desired to be known by the other.

Question 14

In a relationship you first go through ….love and then to …..love.

Answer 14

Passionate, Companionate.

Question 15

What is the definition of companionate love?

Answer 15

Refers to feelings of intimacy and affection we feel for another person when we care deeply for the person but do not necessarily experience passion or arousal in his och her presence.

Question 16

What includes intimacy?

Answer 16

Liking-intimacy alone.

Question 17

What is/are included in romantic love?

Answer 17

Intimacy+passion

Question 18

What is/are included in companionate love?

Answer 18

Intimacy+commitment

Question 19

What is/are included in passion?

Answer 19

Only passion

Question 20

What is/are included in fatuous love?

Answer 20

Passion+commitment

Question 21

What is/are included in commitment?

Answer 21

Commitment alone, empty love

Question 22

What is/are included in consummate love?

Answer 22

Intimacy+passion+commitment

Best kind of love. The middle of the triangle.

Question 23

What is the equity theory?

Answer 23

A theory that seeks to explain relationship satisfaction in terms of perceptions of fair versus unfair distributions of resources within interpersonal relationships. The ratio of costs and rewards needs to be equal.

Question 24

What is the Rusbult’s investment model?

Answer 24

An individual’s commitment to a relationship is largely determined by three factors:

1. Satisfaction
2. Quality of alternatives (Is there something better for me?)
3. Investments. How much have I already invested in this relationship?

Question 25

What is accommodation in regards to a relationship?

Answer 25

Behaving constructively in the face of a partner’s destructive responses. (Peter has a bad day at work, Joanna leaves him alone and asks if there is something she can do to cheer him up).
Committed partners are more likely to do so than less committed partners.

Question 26

What is relationship superiority?

Answer 26

The tendency to believe that one’s own relationship is better than average.

Question 27

What is the self-expansion model?

Answer 27

When partner’s get involved in a relationship, their identities increasingly overlap over time.

Question 28

What is an exchange relationship?

Answer 28

People give each other benefits only when they are likely to receive a comparable benefit in return.

Question 29

What is an communal relationship?

Answer 29

Exchanging benefits between partners without expecting anything in return. Partners are concerned about each other’s welfare.

Question 30

What is a horizontal/reciprocal relationship?

Answer 30

Friendship, you exchange benefits without expecting something in return.

Question 31

What is a vertical/complementary relationship?

Answer 31

Hierarchical relationship (parent-child), unequal exchanges.

Question 32

What is the social penetration theory?

Answer 32

People increase the depth and width of their self-disclosure to people they like and decrease to people they don’t like. Levels: Superficial, intimate, personal, core.

Question 33

What are the two reasons why social support boosts mental and physical health?

Answer 33

1. Encourage people to take better care of themselves

2. Buffers stress

Question 34

What do cyber ball exclusion lead to?

Answer 34

Physical pain (the same brain area activated during physical pain)

Question 35

Which three features do we find most attractive in both women and men?

Answer 35

1. Average Faces
2. Symmetry
3. Hormone markers: signal fertility
   Women: smooth skin, high cheekbones
   Men: Large jaws, cheekbones
   General: Narrow face, leaner features, full lips, darker eyebrows, dark long lashes, high cheekbones

Question 36

Which features do men find attractive about women?

Answer 36

Eyes further apart, less broad nose, hourglass-shaped waist (fertility).

Question 37

Which features do women find attractive about men?

Answer 37

Upper part broader, clear jawline, body: narrow waist, broad chest and shoulders.