FINAL EXAM HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS Flashcards
what are two biological ways in which the formation of human relationships can be explained?
evolutionary factors and
biological processes like hormones and pheromones
how can evolutionary factors explain the formation of human relationships
Natural selection
Members of the species who have characteristics more suited to the environment are more likely to live and pass on their genes
Sexual selection
Part of natural selection, sexual selection is how the best mate is chosen to produce the healthiest offspring
Intersexual selection
Members of one sex (usually females) choosing a mate based on a specific characteristic
Intrasexual Selection
Competition of one sex (usually males) for access to mates, usually the strongest wins
study to support evolutionary explanations of formation of human relationships
Buss et al (1989)
Evolutionary arguments argue that men and women may have different goals when choosing a mate.
Phenomenon studies by Buss et al in 1989
Procedure
Test three evolutionary assumptions about human mate selection with a large cross cultural sample
Men search for high reproductive value, so they will value youth and physical appearance
Women search for men who will invest in their offspring, so they look for a man with resources
As men do not want to invest in another man’s child, chastity will be valued
Used a large sample of over 10 000 participants from 33 countries, with an average age of 23
The sampling techniques were different for each country
Each participant was given two surveys
First survey: biographical data, and then info such as when would they prefer to marry, ideal age gap between self and spouse etc and then asked to rate 18 characteristics on a scale of 0 to 3
Second survey: 13 characteristics that needed to be ranked in terms of desirability
Surveys given in language of participants
Results:
Women valued good financial prospects in mates more than males did
Males preferred younger women, who were at an age closer to peak fertility
Females preferred mates older than themselves
Males valued physical attractiveness more than women, though this is not statistically significant
Not all samples valued chastity
→ tie all these results back to the content
Evaluation:
Samples cannot be generalized to the entire countries, as people from a lower socioeconomic status were not represented
Sample was very diverse and wide, cross cultural validity
There were difficulties with construct validity, as some questions were not transferable to all cultures (such as questions about marriage)
Surveys helped to collect numerical data, but there may be differences in interpretations of the scales, therefore low amount of empirical evidence
Surveys in the language of the participant, and used back translation to prevent mistakes
Results do not tell us why these preferences exist (genetic or sociocultural?)
Temporal validity
how biological processes can explain the formation of human relationships
Oxytocin: hormone plays a role in the first stages of bonding’ (parent/infant) and in love and attachment
Vasopressin: hormone plays a role in long term and stable pair bonding in prairie voles
Hormones, and the Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) could play a role, related to body odor, genes, and immune system
Parents with differences in their MHC will pass on a stronger immune system to their children
Therefore people will look for partners who have a different MHC than themselves, so they can produce stronger offspring
study to support how biological processes can affect the formation of human relationships
Wedekind (1995)
Procedure:
The aim of the study was to determine whether one’s MHC would affect mate choice
49 female and 44 male university students from Switzerland
Each participant was “typed” for their MHC, and a wide variance of MHC was included in the sample
The participants were from different courses and likely did not know each other
The men were asked to wear a T-shirt for two nights and to keep the T-shirt in an open plastic bag during the day.
Asked to refrain from any activities that would result in a smell (perfume, smoking, alcohol etc)
Two days later, the women were asked to rank the smell of 7 t-shirts
The women were tested whenever possible in the second week after the beginning of menstruation, as women appear to be most odor-sensitive at this time.
The women were also asked to prepare themselves for the experiment by using a nose spray for the 14 days before the experiment to support regeneration of the nasal mucous membrane if necessary –
as well as a preventive measure against colds or flu
Results:
Women scored male body odors as more pleasant when they differed from their own MHC than when they were more similar
Suggests that MHC influences human mate choice
Evaluation:
Supports the evolutionary argument
Successfully replicated
Theory is too reductionist, ignores everything else
Double blind, minimized demand characteristics
Very artificial, low ecological validity
Low cross cultural validity, participants were very similar
Ethical considerations were respected
evaluate biological approach to explaining human relationships
Evaluation of this argument:
Based on assumptions that all the behaviors are inherited, which ones are genetic?
Difficult to test empirically, can lead to confirmation bias
Studies often highly artificial and lack ecological validity as they try to isolate variables
Studies underestimate role of cultural influences
Reductionist approach
Focused on “what happens” and not “why it happens”
what are the cognitive ways in which human relationships can be explained
familiarity models and the role of self esteem
familiarity models and how they can explain human relationships
Similarity Attraction Model
those whom we perceive to be similar to ourselves are more attractive to us
Couples are more similar in age, social class, personality, education, physical attractiveness etc
Matching Hypothesis
Individuals will assess their own attractiveness and find partners who match their levels
Internal Working Model
as children we form schemas based on our first bonded relationship
the process of forming attachments is based on experience, memory, and thinking
The Halo Effect
how we make the decision of whether we like someone or not comes down to System 1 thinking
A person’s physical attractiveness might influence our judgment of them
Mere exposure effect
We like things that we see repeatedly
Reciprocity Models:
Reciprocity
we like those who like us
study to support how familiarity models can explain human relationships
Newcomb (1961)
Procedure:
The aim was to test the similarity attraction hypothesis , idea that people are attracted to people similar to themselves
17 male students from a US university asked to fill questionnaire about attitudes and values
More questionnaires were completed over the course of the semester
The variables measured were attraction between the students and attitude changes
Results:
Attraction shifted to those who most closely matched the participant’s attitudes
The students had also been paired up with roommates who shared their attitudes
This research offers some support for the idea that we gravitate towards those who share similar views to our own.
58% of participants who had been paired with a room-mate with similar attitudes had formed friendships compared to 25% with roommates who expressed different attitudes
Evaluation:
Played out in real time with no manipulation from the researchers, high ecological validity
Study has been successfully replicated
Small sample size, only 17 people
All male US students, low generalizability
Questionnaires, might have been some social desirability bias
study to support the role of self esteem in role of formation of relationships
Kiesler and Baral (1970)
Aim: experiment to test whether self-esteem has an effective on partner selection
To see if the people seek a partner that is similar to them and how factors could influence a person’s perception and thus who they would pick as a partner (mate)
A sample of men was given a fake IQ test. Some of them were told that they did an excellent job. Some were told that they did not do good. Immediately after, they had the opportunity to meet a very attractive woman or a moderately attractive woman (same woman but in different makeup and hairstyle).
The study showed that the men who had recently had their self-esteem elevated showed more romantic behaviour toward the attractive female than those who had had their self-esteem challenged. Those with lower self-esteem showed more romantic behaviour toward the moderately attractive female.
Evaluation:
“Attractiveness” is very different to everyone
Low generalizability
Temporal validity
Ethical considerations: undue stress or ham (could be hurt when told that they are stupid)
How is “romantic behaviour” operationalized and measured
how can self esteem affect the formation of relationships
Also related to reciprocity
The fact that people like us validates our self esteem
what is an evaluation of the cognitive explanation of relationship formation
Difficult to operationalize a variable such as “self esteem”
Can look different on people
How it is expressed is also very individualised
The inability to isolate factors in the study of relationships;
use of prospective vs retrospective studies;
sampling bias in the research.
Unlike biological theories, cognitive theories account for personal differences in attraction.
Some of the constructs are difficult to measure. It is not, for example, possible to identify one’s “internal working model.”
Factors influencing relationship formation are impossible to isolate under natural conditions.
The approach may be considered overly simplistic when not used in combination with other approaches to understanding human relationships (everything that is psychological is biological)
explain how sociocultural factors can explain formation of relationships
Sociocultural Explanations:
No denying that culture also affects cognition, and therefore how one chooses a partner
Deep culture: part of the more implicit set of values/attitudes/norms that make a culture
Linking back to Buss, characteristics were ranked differently in terms of importance in different countries
For example in the US mutual love was ranked first
In china chastity and domestic skills ranked higher
Mere exposure effect
We like those we see more often more
Cultural dimensions, especially when considering individualistic/collectivistic cultures
Individualistic cultures tend to place more importance on romantic love, and that its disappearance is enough to end a marriage
So more like personal pleasures
study to support sociocultural explanations of HR formation
Dion and Dion
Procedure:
Aim: examine influence of individualistic/collectivistic on romantic love and intimacy in marriage
Meta analysis on research done in two individualistic cultures (US and Canada) and three collectivistic cultures (India, China and Japan)
Results:
Suggested ways in which individualism or collectivism could influence personal relations
Romantic love is more likely to be basis of marriage in indi. Cultures
Intimacy also more about satisfaction with marriage and personal wellness
Culture plays a role, but acculturation is changing that
Temporal validity, changes, internet immigration etc
Evaluation:
Since meta analysis, increases sample size
Based on evidence
Can lead to confirmation bias
Combines studies, which may ignore the important differences between studies
another study to support sociocultural arguments of HR formation
Moreland and Beach
Field experiment to test the validity of the mere exposure effect
130 undergraduate psychology students
All were taking the course in a large lecture hall
The experiment used “confederates” (=accomplices)
4 women who posed as students in that hall
Each woman attended a different number of class sessions: 0,5,10 or 15
Which sessions to attend was chosen randomly
One of the women arrived at the lecture hall a few minutes before class began, walked slowly down toward the front of the hall, and sat where she could be seen by all the other students. Repeated for all conditions
A few minutes after class ended, the woman rose, walked slowly up toward the back of the hall, and left. In order to create conditions of mere exposure, none of the women was allowed to interact with the other students.
Only listened and took notes
At the end of the semester, the participants were shown slides of the four women and asked to fill in a survey in which they were asked to rank the women on a 1 - 7 scale for several traits - including attractiveness, popularity, intelligence, warmth, honesty, and success. They were also asked whether they knew the woman or if she was familiar.
The data indicated that male and female students responded to the four women in similar ways. Sex was therefore not a confounding variable
The participants did not find the women familiar, however, the more classes a woman attended, the more positive traits she was believed to have.
It appears that the Mere Exposure Effect also may be observed under naturalistic conditions.
Link back to theory:
We learn surrounded by our own culture, generally (except exceptions)
The more we are exposed to something the more we like it
That is why people tend to prefer people from their own cultures: they have simply been more exposed to that
evaluation:
Field experiment
Participants do not know they are being studied, less likelihood of demand characteristics
More likely to reflect what would happen in real life
Deception
Low cross cultural validity/generalizability →very specific sample
But, then, it may be harder to control confounding variables and isolate variables specifically
