Chapter Nine: Attraction and Relationships Flashcards
Social Psychologist Arthur Aron argues that a central human motivation is _____ _______, which is the desire to overlap or blend with another person. Why do people want this?
- self-expansion
- allows you to have access to the person’s knowledge, insight and experiences and thus broaden and deepen your own experiences in life
One of the simple determinants of interpersonal attraction is _______
proximity
Does propinquity effect work on a micro or macro level?
micro level
MIT housing complex study
- tracked frienship formation among couples at MIT apartment complexes
- randomly assigned, all strangers when they moved in
- asked to name their three closest friends
- 65% mentioned lived in the same building, 41% were next door neighbors, 22% lived two doors apart, 10% lived on opposite ends of the hall
Attraction and propinquity rely on _______ ______, which refers to aspects of architectural design that determine which people you cross paths with the most often
Functional distance
Propinquity works because of the ______ _____ ____; The more exposure we have to a stimulus, the more apt we are to like it
mere exposure effect
TRUE or FALSE: In all instances, familiarity leads to attraction regardless of whether or not it is face to face or online
FALSE: This is mostly true, however, there is an exception where if the person in question is obnoxious, the greater the exposure you have, the more you dislike them
Are we more attracted to people who are similar (people who are like us) or complimentary (people who are opposite to us)?
We are more attract to similarity, and less attracted to complementarity
Hundreds of studies have demonstrated that _______ in many domains is an important predictor of attraction in both friendships and romantic relationships.
Similarity
When similarity effects are obtained, they are most likely to be found for traits that are related to one’s ______, and are generally not as strong for ________.
- values
- personality
TRUE or FALSE: Personality similarity tends to be stronger when friendships are reciprocated
TRUE
Evidence suggests that romantic partners are similar in terms of _________ style.
attachment
For some people, similarity in terms of ______ _______ is a stronger predictor of attraction than is similarity of attitudes.
activity preferences
We are attracted to people who are similar to us in terms of ________ style and _______ skills
- interpersonal
- communication
Similarity effects tend to be stronger in ______ cultures
individualistic
Why is similarity so important in attraction?
- we tend to think that people who are similar to us will be inclined to like us
- people who are similar to us provide important social validation for our characteristics and beliefs
TRUE or FALSE: The more attracted we are to someone, the more similar we assume that person is to us.
TRUE
TRUE or FALSE: In long-term relationships, actual similarity predicts liking and attraction better than perceived similarity.
FALSE: perceived similarity predicts liking and attraction better than actual similarity
Similarity is far more important when people want a _____ and ______ relationship
serious and commited
______ ______ is one of the prime determinants of interpersonal attraction
reciprocal liking
Liking is so powerful it can even make up for the abscence of ________
similarity
Responsive vs unresponsive dating profiles
greater attraction to the person in the profile when their comments were responsive
Reciprocal liking can come about because of a ____-_______ _______.
- self-fulfilling prophecy
Self-fulfilling prophecy reciprocal liking study
- researchers led some students to believe they were liked by the student whom they’d be paired with, while others were led to believe they were NOT liked by the student they were paired with
- students given opportunity to have a conversation
- students who thought they were liked behaved in more likeable ways with they partner, resulting in their partners ending up liking them in comparison to the other group of students
TRUE or FALSE: reciprocal liking effects can only occur if you like yourself in the first place.
TRUE: people with negative self-concepts tend to be skeptical of others actually liking them, and therefore do not necessarily reciprocate liking.
Does physical attraction happen on an unconscious level?
Yes, research shows that automatic first impressions are influenced by the person’s appearance
Is personality or attractiveness a bigger predictor of desirability?
attractiveness
Are we aware of the value we place on looks?
Yes, but as long as we can get away with it we won’t admit it.
What 8 types of facial features makes a woman more attractive?
- large eyes
- small nose
- small chin
- prominent cheekbones
- narrow cheeks
- high eyebrows
- large pupils
- big smile
What 4 types of facial features makes a man more attractive?
- large eyes
- prominent cheekbones
- large smile
- large chin
A female face that is considered more beautiful has more ____ _____ features
baby face
Are smiling womens or smiling mens faces considered more attractive?
smiling woman
Are people’s perceptions of what is a beautiful or handsome face similar across cultures?
Yes
Baby and nurse study
neonatal nurses caring for premature babies responded to cuter babies resulting in them receiving better care (gained weight more quickly and were discharged sooner)
Good looking people earn ___-___% more than others
10-15%
What is a common assumption made about attractive people?
That they possess a host of desirable traits
Does the “what is beautiful is good” stereotype apply to all cultures?
Yes
What traits are attractiveness associated with?
- sociable
- extraverted
- assertive
- trustworthy
Suspension bridge experiment
If you’re on the suspension bridge you’ll more likely be aroused and think that you are attracted to the woman who gave you the phone number when in reality you are more aroused because of the bridge (misattribution of arousal)
Social compensation hypothesis
Believes online friendships are more likely to be formed by lonely, introverted people who lack the social skills to form relationships in person
Social enhancement hypothesis
suggests that people who are extraverted and have good social skills use the internet as another way to acquire more friends
Can relationships be formed exclusively online or is face to face contact eventually necessary?
If you want to further develop the relationship, then yes
According to research, are people happier with online friendships or in person friendships?
in person friendships
Unlike online relationships, face to face relationships are correlated with better ______.
health
Use of social media leads to ______ depth of online self disclosure to a close friend, which leads to greater depth of ______ disclosures, (more so with _______ social media use), which in turn contributes to _____ ____.
- greater
- offline
- active (instant messaging)
- friendship quality
The opportunity to find partners via internet and apps is most important to ________ individuals.
LQBTQIA2S+
Do people more often disclose information more quickly to a potential partner online or in person?
online
In online interactions, what two things are men more likely to lie about?
their height and how much money they make
In online interactions, what two things are women more likely to lie about?
Their age and weight
Do people perceive more deception in online communications or in person communications?
online communications
Is there much of a difference between meeting people online than in the old fashioned way?
meeting online is no higher than meeting the old fashioned way
What was Zick Rubin’s original definition of love?
feelings of intimacy, attachment and passion that feel distinct from liking someone
According to Ellen Berscheid, what are the four kinds of love?
- passion or romantic
- companionate (friendship based)
- compassionate
- attachment
Most of the research in psychology has been conducted on _____ love and ______ love.
- passionate
- companionate
What is passionate love characterized by?
- obsessive thoughts
- heightened physiological arousal where we feel sob and thumping in our chest
- intense longing for that person
which two parts of the brain are active when someone is in love?
- ventral tegmental area
- claudate nucleus
- these two parts are a circuit system
- responsibly for reward and motivation, dopamine
According to research, is companionate love or passionate love better at capturing the meaning of love?
companionate love, furthermore, they relied on companionate love when deciding if a relationship was progressing or deteriorating
do people tend to agree on the meaning of love on a global scale?
Yes