Friendships and relationships

Question 1

Who was Victor, the wild boy of Aveyron?

Answer 1

• Best to look at those who haven’t had human contact – e.g. feral children
• Victor, the wild boy of Aveyron
• Found at the age of 12
• Never learned to talk, never learned to stick to social conventions
  Feral children suffer from social deficits. Isolation leads to ill-adjustment

Question 2

What was Harlow’s studies on rhesus monkeys (1958)?

Answer 2

• Isolated from other monkeys
• Two mother surrogates – one who could provide food and one who could provide warmth
• Monkeys preferred the ‘mother’ who could provide comfort (laying the ground for attachment theory) – highlights how we need warmth and contact
  Not normal when reached adolescence - fearful, not interacting with peers, inappropriate sexual behaviours, unable to take care of own offspring.

Question 3

Who was Admiral Byrd?

Answer 3

• Spent 6 months in isolation in Antarctica by choice
• “I wanted to be by myself for a while and to taste peace and quiet and solitude long enough to find out how good they really are”
• 4th week: feeling lonely, lost and bewildered.
• 9th week: preoccupied with religious questions and dwelling excessively on the meaning of life
• 3 months: severely depressed, apathetic and assailed by hallucinations and bizarre ideas
  Lack of social contact can have adverse effects, even on those who have had a normal upbringing

Question 4

How prevalent is loneliness?

Answer 4

• Between 10 and 45% of Americans report they regularly feel lonely (e.g., Beutel et al., 2017)
• Adolescents and young adults report being loneliest (Heinrich & Gullone, 2006), although they socialise more
  No direct relationship between contact time and feelings of loneliness

Question 5

How can loneliness effect you psychologically?

Answer 5

· Admissions to hospitals for psychological problems are 3 to 23 times higher for divorced than married people (e.g., Bloom, White, & Asher, 1978; Hughes & Waite, 2009)
· Suicide rates are higher for single and divorced individuals (e.g., Griffiths et al., 2005)
· Loneliness puts individuals at risk of cognitive decline (e.g., James et al., 2011)
· Loneliness is a risk factor for depression (e.g., Cacioppo et al., 2006)
· Loneliness increases the likelihood of mortality by 26% (Holt- Lunstad, 2015)
· The effect of loneliness and isolation on mortality is comparable to the impact of well-known risk factors such as obesity, and has a similar influence as smoking 15 cigarettes a day, shortening one’s life span by 8 years (Holt-Lunstad, Smith, & Layton, 2010; 300 000 people).
Extends to gay and lesbian relationships (Wienke & Hill, 2009)

Question 6

What gender differences are there after divorce?

Answer 6

· The protective health effect of marriage is larger for men (Rendall et al., 2011; Wu et al., 2003)
· Divorce is associated with worse physical and mental health more strongly for men than for women (Robards et al., 2012)
· Men are more likely to develop suicidality than women after separation (Kolves et al., 2010)
· Women may experience benefits after separations (e.g., Dittami et al., 2007)

Question 7

Are there gender differences in friendships?

Answer 7

• Men may be more emotionally dependent on their romantic partners and have fewer alternative sources of support.
  · When asked who they would want to turn to first if they were feeling depressed, 71% of men selected their wife, and only 39% of women selected their husband (General social survey, 1972-2012)
  · Men are more likely to have ‘casual’ friendships with other men, women are more likely to have ‘close’ relationships with other women (Rubin, 1985)
  Married women tend to have wider networks of social support (Grambs, 1989)

Question 8

What is the buffer effect?

Answer 8

• Cohen and Hoberman (1983)
• ‘Buffer effect’ of social support
  When you have social support from others, it acts as a buffer on physical symptoms of stress

Question 9

What are the types of social support (Stroebe)?

Answer 9

• Emotional (e.g. feeling loved)
• Evaluation (e.g., help make up mind about things)
• Information (e.g., about factual things)
  Instrumental (e.g., concrete help)

Question 10

What are the fundamental human needs to belong (Baumeister and Leary, 1995)

Answer 10

· Need social relations to live, just like basic needs such as food
· Seen as a basic need if it is:
· An evolutionary basis for seeking relationships
· The need to belong is universal
· The need to belong guides social cognition
· The need to belong is satiable
There will be profound negative consequences if the need is not met

Question 11

What evolutionary explanations are there for seeking relationships?

Answer 11

• The want to pass on your genes
• Long-term romantic bonds evolved to facilitate reproduction and to raise offspring, who are vulnerable and dependent for many years (Diamond, 2003).
• Parent-offspring attachments help ensure that infants are protected and will survive until they become independent (Bowlby, 1992).
  Friendship evolved as a means for non-kin cooperation, which increases the chances of survival through cooperation (Trivers, 1971).

Question 12

Is the need to belong universal?

Answer 12

• Same types of social behaviours across cultures

- E.g. siblings, friendships, relationships

Question 13

Is the need to belong due to social cognition?

Answer 13

• Relationships as natural categories (Sedikides et al., 1993)
• A self-expansion account of relationships (Aron et al., 1989)
  Transactive memory (Wegner et al., 1991)

Question 14

Is the need to belong satiable?

Answer 14

• Studies show that the vast majority of the average student’s meaningful interactions are with the same six people (Wheeler & Nezlek, 1977)
  There will be profound negative consequences if the need is not met

Question 15

What is Attachment theory (Bowlby, 1982)?

Answer 15

• Early attachments with caregivers shape our relationships for the rest of our lives.
• If caregivers are available and responsive children will develop confidence that caregivers are a secure base.
  Children develop ‘working models’ of themselves (beliefs about their lovability and competence), and of relationships (beliefs about others people’s availability, warmth, and ability to provide security).

Question 16

What are Attachment styles (Ainsworth, 1993)?

Answer 16

• The Strange Situation
• A mother and child enter an unfamiliar room with interesting toys. While the infant explores the room and plays with the toys, a stranger enters and the mother leaves.
• When the mother returns to the room, she picks up the infant and comforts him if he is upset that she has left the room.
  The mother then puts the infant down, and he is free to return to playing with the toys, or he might react by crying and protesting the separation.

Question 17

What is a secure attachment in adulthood?

Answer 17

• Secure - Finds it easy to get close to others, comfortable with mutual dependence, doesn’t worry about being abandoned, belief that one is worthy and liked. More likely to have a better psychological wellbeing

Question 18

What is an avoidant attachment in adulthood?

Answer 18

• Avoidant - Uncomfortable being close, difficult to trust, doesn’t like to depend on others

Question 19

What is an anxious attachment in adulthood?

Answer 19

Anxious - Feels others are reluctant to get as close as one would like, worries that the partner doesn’t really love them, extreme desire to merge with other which might put other off. Due to parents sometimes being available but sometimes not

Question 20

What is social exchange theory?

Answer 20

· We like relationships when there are more rewards than costs
· How people feel about a relationship depends on their assessments of its costs and rewards.
· Typically, people prefer interactions or relationships in which the rewards exceed the costs
· Comparison level: outcomes people think they deserve, or expect to get, out of a relationship (people who have a high comparison level expect a lot from their relationships)
Equity theory: people are also motivated to pursue fairness, or equity, in their relationships, such that the ratio of rewards to costs is similar for both partners

Question 21

Types of relationships (Fiske, 1992) - communal sharing and exchange relationship?

Answer 21

• Communal sharing - Individual needs, e.g. family. Justice assessed according to an individual’s needs, moral judgment based on caring and compassion. E.g. romantic couple or friendship, degree of responsibility
  Exchange relationship - short-term relationships, in which individuals feel no responsibility towards one another. Giving and receiving are governed by concerns about equity and reciprocity. e.g. interactions between strangers, interactions at work

Question 22

Factors fostering interpersonal attraction?

Answer 22

• Proximity/ Exposure
  Physical proximity influences whether people develop relationships
• Mere exposure effect: the notion that the more we are exposed to something, the more we tend to like it (Zajonc, 1968)
• We prefer our mirror image (Mita, Dermer, & Knight, 1977)
  students rated another new student as more attractive the more often they saw her (Moreland & Beach, 1992)

Question 23

What is Proximity/exposure – the housing project experiment ?

Answer 23

• Students put in a house in different apartments
• Wanted to see if location influenced friendships
  E.g. those who live next door are 4x as likely to become friends than those who live on the opposite end of the hallway

Question 24

Does similarity play a role in choosing a partner?

Answer 24

• People tend to like other people who are similar to themselves
• Couples who intend to marry are quite similar to each other on a wide range of characteristics (Burgess & Wallin, 1953)
• Over the course of the 15-week study, as students got to know one another better, their mutual liking was predictable from how similar they were (see also Griffitt & Veitch, 1974)
• Don’t opposites attract? Only regarding certain personality characteristics (e.g. dependent and nurturing), but not most features (e.g. honest/dishonest, attractive/unattractive)
  Do opposites attract? : Only regarding certain personality characteristics (e.g. dependent and nurturing), but not most features (e.g. honest/dishonest, attractive/unattractive)

Question 25

What factors do people find attractive?

Answer 25

• Reciprocal liking - We like those we think like us
  Physical attractiveness - We want to be close to people who are attractive. There is evidence that the primary cue in initially determining our evaluation of others is how they look.

Question 26

What benefits are there to being attractive?

Answer 26

· More popular as friends and romantic partners (Berscheid et al., , 1971)
· Judged to produce better work (e.g., Anderson & Nida, 1978 essay study)
· Earned more money (Frieze, Olson, & Russell, 1991)
· Lighter sentences in court (Gunnell & Ceci, 2010)
· Attractive children received better grades (Langlois et al. 2000)
· Babies prefer to look at attractive faces (Langlois et al., 1987)

Question 27

What is the halo effect?

Answer 27

· The Halo effect: the common belief (accurate or not) that attractive individuals possess a host of positive qualities beyond their physical appearance.
Attractive people are judged to be: happier, more intelligent, more popular, have more desirable personalities, higher incomes, more professional success

Question 28

What is perceived as physically attractive?

Answer 28

• Averageness
• Bilateral symmetry
• Evolutionary basis - we’ve evolved to prefer people whose physical features signify health or, more generally, reproductive fitness—the capacity to pass one’s genes to subsequent generations
• Other physical features - Waist-to-hip ration, Colour red, Strong jaw in males
  T-shirts of facially symmetrical men were judged to have a better aroma than those less symmetrical - but only by those women who were close to the ovulation phase (Gangestad & Thornhill, 1998)

Question 29

What did a study show when someone has a more attractive partner?

Answer 29

• Confederates were judged as more likable, friendly, and confident when girlfriend was attractive. The attractive female had no such effects if she was not supposed to be his girlfriend (Sigall & Landy, 1973).
  Being associated with being with someone attractive makes you more likeable

Question 30

Factors fostering interpersonal attraction?

Answer 30

• Physical arousal (Dutton & Aron, 1974)
• Sexual attraction occurs with increased frequency during states of strong emotions
• Men who expected severe rather than light shocks thought the woman was more attractive.
  Misattribution of emotions: any strong emotions, even negative emotions, might be confused for feelings of attraction whenever an appropriate object of affection is present.

Question 31

What are ambient factors?

Answer 31

Stressful background factors, such as feeling hot or feeling crowded, reduced the attractiveness of the stranger (Griffitt and Veitch, 1971).

Question 32

Types of Love (Aronson) ?

Answer 32

• Passionate: Intense longing, Physiological arousal, Feelings of great fulfilment and ecstasy when reciprocated e.g., New romantic relationships
• Companionate: Intimacy and affection, Deep care for the other, Not necessarily passion or arousal in their presence e.g., Mature romantic relationships

Question 33

Sternberg’s Triangular theory of love (1988) ?

Answer 33

• Love can consist of one component alone, or any other combination.
• Commitment - resolve to maintain the relationship, even in moments of crisis
• Passion - equivalent to sexual attraction
• Intimacy - feelings of warmth, closeness, and sharing
• Passion, commitment and intimacy are crucial in characterizing different experiences of love.
• When all three are present we can speak of consummate love.
• When only one or two are present we have love in a different way
• Romantic love = passion + intimacy
  Companionate love = commitment + intimacy

Question 34

Investment model of commitment (Rusbult, 1980, 1983)?

Answer 34

• Satisfaction - To what degree do you feel satisfied with your relationship?
• Rewards - How much do you get out of your relationship?
• Alternatives - How appealing to you are people other than your partner?
• Investment - How much time, effort, & money have you invested, and how much would you loose if you were to split?
  Predicts commitment - For how much longer do you want your relationship to last?

Question 35

What has been shown about arranged marriages?

Answer 35

• Romantic love has generally not been regarded as a prerequisite to marriage.
• Marriage by love is relatively new (past 500 years or so).
• In a study in India, mutual love was rated lower by arranged couples than by ‘love couples’ – at first. Overt time, this trend reversed (Gupta & Singh, 1982).

Question 36

Marriage quality and health?

Answer 36

• Robles et al. (2014) meta-analysis (72 000 individuals)
• Greater marital quality was related to better health, including lower risk of mortality
  The associations among marriage quality, health, and mortality were similar to the benefits of health interventions such as increasing healthy eating and exercise

Question 37

Strengths and strains of marriage?

Answer 37

• Strengths - Intimacy and social support buffer the negative effects of life stress. Responsive partners care for, understand, and validate their partners. By so doing, they engender a health-promoting attachment security.
• Strains - Conflict intensifies the toxicity of stresses.
  Inconsistent partners breed attachment anxiety. Unresponsive partners breed attachment avoidance.

Question 38

Impact of marriage on physical health - stress responses?

Answer 38

• Stress responses: A strong relationship calms us — reducing stress hormones such as cortisol and lowering blood pressure — while a strained relationship does the opposite.
• In one study, partner responsiveness predicted lower daytime cortisol a decade later (Slatcher, Selcuk, & Ong, 2015).

Question 39

Impact of marriage on physical health - Health behaviours?

Answer 39

• Health behaviors: Marriage has been linked with healthier living, including a lower smoking rate (Nielsen, Faergeman, Larsen, & Foldspang, 2006).
• Marital responsiveness predicts better sleep and less anxious arousal (Selcuk, Stanton, Slatcher, & Ong, 2016).

Question 40

Impact of marriage on physical health - immune functioning?

Answer 40

• Immune functioning: Attachment anxiety predicts a weaker immune system, including lower T-cell counts and exacerbated inflammatory responding.
• Those with strong social ties are less vulnerable to an administered cold virus (Cohen, Doyle, Turner, Alper, & Skoner, 2003).

Question 41

Impact of marriage on physical health - pain management?

Answer 41

• Pain management: Having a responsive partner predicted greater endogenous opioids and less pain 3 months after knee surgery (Khan et al., 2009).
• Even viewing a partner’s picture can reduce pain (Master et al., 2009).
  The marriage–health studies were nearly all conducted during an era of exclusively heterosexual marriage.