Close Relationships Flashcards
What is the physical attractiveness stereotype?
The tendency for people to assume that physically attractive people possess other socially desirable traits in addition to their looks e.g. intelligence
Is there drawbacks to being physically attractive?
Unwanted advances
People not as attractive may resent them
Victims of stalking
More likely to engage in aggressive and norm breaking behaviours
Receive less sympathy
What is the averageness effect?
Average faces are closer to the mental prototype of a face, they are more familiar so are more attractive as the average face is more ‘face-like’
Familiarity leads to higher ratings of attractiveness because prototype faces are easier to process.
Why is facial symmetry important?
Average faces tend to be more symmetrical
Evolution
Biological advantages e.g. being able to fight diseases
This transfers to other preferences, such as people liking dogs or cats that are symmetrical
What is the sexual strategies theory?
Attractiveness is an evolutionary advantage to maximise the chance of passing on your genes
Men prefer youth and physical attractiveness (fertility and reproductive value)
Women prefer men wit status and maturity (provide for mother and child.)
Men engage in short term relationships so they can ‘pass on’ more of their genes, this isn’t any good for women as women can only have one baby at a time
What are compensatory factors?
Physically unattractive so they rely on other attractive factors like wealth or intelligence
Sometimes people will look for the traits in potential partners that they have themselves
What did Festinger 1950 find?
At US University, Housing complex
When people were asked to name their friends names, they named the ones in the same building as them.
People living in the same building, chose to make friends on the same floor
Even being on a different floor, but next to a staircase meant you were more likely to make friends
This happened for mailboxes too
One door away: 41% chance of being listed as a close friend
four doors away it’s only 10%
This creates the propinquity effect: people form close relationships with those they encounter often
What is anticipatory liking?
Anticipating an interaction with another person means you will like them more
Why doesn’t proximity and familiarity always lead to liking and attraction?
If you live with a neighbour whose dog always barks, this will decrease likeability
Also many murders are done by the people closest to the victim
Also, domestic abuse
What happens if a person’s need to affiliate isn’t satisfied?
Rejection, sadness, anger, ostracism
What is the balance theory?
People compare their attitudes to others and if they are similar then balance is achieved. Balance leads to positive feelings, while imbalance produces negative feelings (attitudes are dissimilar)
What is self disclosure?
Willingness to share information about yourself to another person. This is important in determining long term relationship success. People tend to like others more if they reveal more about themselves. Important for building trust
What did Hatfield 1966 find?
Asked people to complete personality tests
Matched people based on these characteristics
Went to a social dance
Asked if they wanted to go on a second date, the best predictor of this was physical attraction
Personality matches were poor predictors
What advantages do you get if you’re more physically attractive?
Known as the beauty is good effect More likely to get dates
Better marks at university
More successful in job interviews
Treated better in legal system
Earn more money
How does fertility affect physical attractiveness?
Women rated as more attractive when they’re at their most fertile
Ovulating strippers earned more tips
When ovulating, women prefer the smell of t-shirts worn by symmetrically faced men
What is the matching phenomenon?
People tend to be more attracted to others who are about the same physical attractiveness level as themselves
Asset matching: people want different things e.g. men seek younger women, women seek men with status and money
How does familiarity and proximity effect attractiveness?
Finding someone familiar or being close to them can facilitate attraction
People prefer faces that look like their own
We are friends with neighbours who live closest to us
What is the mere exposure effect?
New things make us uncomfortable
The more we see them, the more we are familiar
When we realise there is no harm, they become familiar and we like them
What did Moreland and Beach 1992 find?
Repeated exposure
Students found other students more attractive if they visited class more often
What is physiological arousal?
Reference Button and Aron’s study
Feeling aroused, you project this feeling onto others
Button and Aron study: men crossed the shaky or stable bridge, on the shaky bridge men were more nervous/excited- these people were more likely to call back the researcher after the experiment to pass on this excitement
What are some limitations of Button and Aron’s study?
Not clear if the emotion is frightened or excited e.g. maybe they didn’t call because they were fearful but happy they got off the bridge
Experimenter effects: the experimenter acted differently to the men on the shaky bridge vs the stable bridge
What are the psychological determinants of attraction?
Need to affiliate
Some people prefer to be alone, but some people like the choice e.g. loneliness is when you don’t have anyone to call, but others may choose not to call anyone and want to be alone
Fear of death increases affiliation
Being in troublesome situations
How do emotions impact likeability?
Positive feelings lead to positive evaluations
negative feelings lead to negative evaluations
Just being around someone when something good happens can increase liking for that person
Why is similarity important?
People with similar personalities, interpersonal skills and communication skills are more compatible
Social comparison: way to evaluate the validity of our own attitudes and beliefs is to compare them with others, when other people share the same beliefs this makes us feel good
Evolutionary reasons: dissimilar people may present danger
