Chapter 9: Attraction & Close Relationships Flashcards
What is the Social Exchange Theory?
It is an economic model of human behavior according to which people are motivated by a desire to maximize profit and minimize loss in their social relationships just as they are in business
What is the Equity Theory?
It states that an equitable relationship is a matter of social justice; people are most content when the ratio between what they get out of a relationship and what they put into it (contributions) is similar for both partners
What is the Mere Exposure Effect?
The more often people see a novel stimulus, the more they come to like it.
What is What-Is-Beautiful-Is-Good Stereotype?
The more attractive the character, the more they were portrayed as virtuous, romantically attractive, and successful
What are Social Anxiety Disorders?
It is a disorder characterized by intense feelings of discomfort in situations that invite scrutiny
What is the Proximity Effect?
It is the single best predictor of whether two people will get together is physical proximity or nearness
What is the Need for Affiliation?
It is a desire to establish social contact with others and to maintain many rewarding interpersonal relationships
What is Need to Belong?
It is a pervasive drive to form and maintain at least minimum quantity of lasting, positive, and significant interpersonal relationships
What is Matching Hypothesis?
It is the idea that people tend to become involved romantically with others who are equivalent in their physical attractiveness
What is a Sociostat or Social Thermostat?
It regulates their affiliative tendencies
Who is Yacov Rofe?
He proposed that stress increases the desire to affiliate only when being with others is seen as useful in reduction of the negative impact of the stressful situation.
What were the findings of Sarnoff’s and Zimbardo’s study?
When we face embarrassment, being with others is more likely to increase stress than reduce it.
What is Approach-Avoidance Conflict?
It pulls an individual between the desire for contact and a fear of being rejected
What is Loneliness?
It is a sad and heart-wrenching emotional state and deprivation of human social connections; it usually happens
What are characteristics of Shy People?
They evaluate themselves negatively, they expect to fail in social encounters and blame themselves when they do, and they fear rejection
What is the objective perspective of beauty?
People everywhere share an image of what is beautiful.
Physical features of the human face that are reliably associated with expression of youthfulness
Babies who are too young to have learned cultural standards show nonverbal preference for faces considered attractive to adults
What Physical Features do ‘attractive people’ have?
Smooth skin, a pleasant expression and youthfulness
Eyes, nose, lips, and other features are no different from the average
Prototypically face-like and have features that are less distinctive
Right and left side of faces line up and mirror each other
Why are people blinded by beauty?
It is inherently rewarding to be in the company of people who are aesthetically appealing
People tend to associate physical attractiveness with other desirable qualities
What is the cost of physical attractiveness?
Positive feedback is hard to interpret
High pressure to maintain one’s appearance
What are characteristics which influence people’s behavior?
Similarity
Reciprocity
Being Hard to Get
What are kinds of Similarities that attract people to each other?
Demographic
Shared Attitudes
Matching Hypothesis
Similarity in Subjective Experience
What is Demograpics?
Similar backgrounds
What is the Two-Stage Model of Attraction?
We first avoid dissimilar others, then we approach similar others
What is I-Sharing?
When people at a common event share the same sentiment, they feel that they have just shared a subjective experience
What is the Balance Theory?
People prefer relationships that are psychologically balanced and a state of imbalance causes distress, people desire consistency in their thoughts, feelings, and social relationships. A balanced pattern of attraction requires that we like someone whose relationships with others parallel our own.
What is Reciprocity?
Mutual exchange between what we give and what we receive, it is also how balance is maintained in a relationship
What is the Hard-To-Get Effect?
The tendency to prefer people who are highly selective in their social choices over those who are more readily available.
What is the Evolution of Desire?
It is the evolutionary perspective of why sex differences exist, that human beings exhibit mate-selection patterns that favor the conception, birth, and survival of their offspring
How do women select their mates?
Women want to protect their children because they can only have a limited number of them. They would then find someone with economic resources as well as a commitment of resources. They will then prefer someone older, financially secure, ambitious, intelligence, stability, and who has traits that are predictive of future success
How do men select their mates?
Men doubt whether the babies their mates have are theirs. They then choose mates who are healthy, who can reproduce, are fertile, and young. They like women who are chaste, faithful, young, and attractive
What is Jealousy?
It is a negative emotional state that arises from a perceived threat to one’s relationship
What bothers men most?
Sexual Infidelity because it threatens paternal certainty
What bothers women more?
Emotional Infidelity because it threatens future support
What are intimate relationships?
Close relationships between two adults
What are characteristics of Close Relationships?
Emotional Attachments
Fulfillment of Psychological Needs or Interdependence
What are components of Intimate Relationships?
Feelings of Attachment, Affection, and Love
Fulfillment of Psychological Needs
Interdependence between partners, each of whom has a meaningful influence on other
What is the Stimulus-Value-Role (SVR) Theory?
Each relationship must go through different stages, the Stimulus Stage, the Value Stage, and the Role Stage
Describe the Stimulus Stage, Value Stage, and the Role Stage of the SVR Theory.
Stimulus Stage - attraction is sparked by physical appearance
Value Stage - attachment is based on similarity of values and beliefs
Role Stage - commitment is based on performance of such roles
What is a Comparison Level as defined by Thibaut and Kelley?
It is the average expected outcome in a relationship. A person with a high comparison level expects his/her relationships to be rewarding. A person with a low comparison level does not expect his/her relationship to be rewarding