Human relationships Flashcards
To what extent do biological, cognitive and sociocultural factors influence human relationships?
Biological - evolutionary (mate preferences) & role of neurotransmitters (odur).
Cognitive - Similarity hypothesis, self-esteem.
Socio-cultural - Self-disclosure.
Distinguish between altruism and pro social behavior.
Pro social behavior - behavior that intended to benefit another person, such as helping, comforting, defending, charity or showing concern. Sometimes, selfish (egoistic motivation), [personal benefit achieved through others] (Schroeder et al 1995).
Altruism - a type of pro social behavior which occurs with expectation of personal benefits. Increasing another’s welfare, regardless of personal cost.
Examine factors influencing bystandarism.
Bystandarism - the phenomenon that an individual is less likely to help when passive bystanders are present.
Factors - Nature of bystander, cost of time, cost of helping, diffusion of responsibility and social norms.
Darley & Batson (1973) -situational (amount of time) and dis positional (type of religion). 1. personality questionnaire. 2. told to report in seconds building. 3. passing the victim outside. 40% offered help. Low hurry = 63%, mediate hurry = 45%, high hurry = 10%.
Conclusion - one factor is amount of time. this study supports.
Examine biological, psychological and social origins of attraction.
Biological Origins - Odur and genes are linked to neurotransmitters who influence odur -> mate preferences = linked to immune system (health).
Wedekind (1995) - If body odur play role in attraction. 49 women, 49 men: collage students. Each man given t-shirt to wear for 2 nights. women sniffed, 3 different, 1 unworn: asked to rate. Women more likely to choose dissimilar odur. [evolutionary as well]
- Our odur play a role in attraction, It would be beneficial for recognizing individuals and breeding selection.
Disucss / explain the role of communication / culture in maintenance of relationships.
Ahmed and Rheid (2008) - investigate communication styles required to maintain arranged marriage in south Asian - Canadian cultures. Large snowball sampling. Traditional relationships showed less satisfaction.
Evaluate sociocultural explanations of origins of violence.
Text.
Discuss the effects of short-term and long-term exposure to violence.
Violence - bullying.
Short-term = distraction, avoidance, fear, guilt, helplessness, tense, physical symptoms or reason for weapons.
Long-term = behavior, depression, anxiety, PTSD, low-self esteem, self destruction.
Smith (2004) - non victims, escaped victims, continued victims and new victims of school bullying. 406 pupils. Continued victims had fewer friends and missed school. Short term affects relates to friendship and school attendance.
Evolutionary explanations of attraction.
Evolutionary - purpose of attraction = procreate. There are gender differences in mate preferences.
Buss (1989) - Investigate gender differences in mate preferences. 2 questionnaire’s, 10.000 people, 37 countries. Women: prefer higher value on status and economy. Men: youthfulness and physical attraction.
Conclusion: powerful support for evolution-based origins of attractions. Sex differences may reflect evolutionary selection + possible to conclude that differences are biological rather than learned.
