interpersonal attraction Flashcards
what is interpersonal attraction in reference to
friendships and romantic relationships
-often times the factors that affect these relationships will be the same
explain the need to belong
humans have a pervasive need to belong
-it is natural, and when people do not have an interest in other humans it is a characteristic of autism (avoiding eye contact at a young age)
what are the 3 factors that influence attraction
similarity, proximity, and physical attractiveness
explain the first rule of attraction “we like similar others”
we are more attracted to the people who are similar in personality, race, religion, interests, socioeconomic status, political views, values, demographics, etc
what is a common theme in people who are married
they are much more similar than people who are divorced, just dating, etc
what did the meta-analysis on similarity show us
did a meta-analysis of actual and perceived similarity, showed that they both matter in liking other people (if we think we are similar and if we are actually similar)
what did Van Zalk and Denissen research about new high school students and college students find
-had people fill out surveys and followed them throughout the course of the year, looked at if the likelihood of people becoming friends predicted how similar they were in personality (self-rated and by people who knew them)
results: people who had similar demographics and personality were more likely to become friends later, dissimilar individuals are unlikely to be friends
- new high school and college students with similar demographics and personality (as rated by people who knew them) were more likely to become friends
what is the matching hypothesis
people pair up with others who are equally attractive (friends, romantic partners, etc)
explain the study on matching people based on attractiveness
- attractiveness of pictures of individuals rated by observers (people who do not know them) on a 1-10 scale, the raters do this without knowing how the people are related to each other in the photos, but the researchers know who is in the photos (might be romantic partners or pairs of friends)
- researchers look at how similar the people in a pair are, compared to a random pair
results: people who are friends or romantic partners are very similar to each other as compared to people who are not in partnerships
what are the explanations for matching hypothesis
1) maybe people look for people who are at the same attractive level as them (10s want 10s, 9s cannot get 10s, so they go to 9s)
2) or maybe people do not even try to go after people who are not in the same league
- research shows that when someone is less attractive in relationships there is a lot of insecurity
what were the activities we did in class that show the matching hypothesis
shown pictures of a person and had to guess which person they were in a relationship with
- majority of people were right about each person they had to guess
- show that we are good at evaluating this, actual similarities relates to actual attraction
shown three couples and had to guess which one got divorced
-majority was correct again
what are the five reasons matching hypothesis happnes
1) dissimilarity is unattractive
2) belief validation
3) smooth interactions
4) likeable qualities
5) beneficial to group living
explain the research in “dissimilarity is unattractive”
we are pulled by similar others and not pulled by dissimilar others
research: pulled people from dating websites and had ratings before and after they first met (how much they liked other person before they actually met, and how much they liked person after they actually met)
- also was a rating on perceived similarity (before and after date: how similar do you think you are to this person?)
results: when perceived similarity dropped after meeting, attractiveness also dropped
(we disslike dissimilarity)
explain “belief validation”
when people are similar to us in values, thoughts and beliefs, it is extremely validating to us
- makes us feel good about the stance we adopt or what we think
- the fact that someone else agrees with me makes me feel better and that i am right
explain “smooth interactions”
it is easier to spend time with and talk to someone who shares the same opinions as we do
- the interactions are better quality and smoother
- it is uncomfortable to talk with people who do not agree with you
- if someone has the same interests as you it is easier for you to talk with them as well (conversation proceeds in a pleasant manner)
explain “likeable qualities”
the traits we have are the traits that we think are correct, so we like them in someone else
-whatever we believe, we think is the right belief and when someone else has the belief or value, we like it
explain “beneficial to group living”
spending time with people who can have easy interactions with us is in the benefit of harmonious group living
- humans survival strategy is social living, working cooperatively to be better as a group that individuals
- in order to do this: we have to get along (group living and cooperation does not work if there is dislike)
having shared values and smooth interactions makes it easier for people to get along which increase cooperation
also, when someone is similar to us we feel like we can predict them (know their behavior)
-the sense of not knowing is unpleasant
what is proximity vs. propinquity
- Propinquity is how frequently and easily we can come in contact with someone
- Proximity is physical closeness
- *these both influence the development of a relationship**
- research shows that the people we end up in relationships with are the people we come in contact with frequently
explain the Festinger et al study about the apartment building and how it shows Proximity/Propinquity
research using graduate school housing, many individuals already had relationships, surveyed the people who lived there “Do you have any friends in this complex?” (looked at people who said they were friends and where they lived relative to each other)
results: 65% of peoples friends lived in the same building (17 total buildings), 41% of next door neighbors indicated they were close friends, 10% of people who lived on opposite ends were friends (proximity)
- more likely to say friends lived in close building and when apartments are actually close to each other
also, people who were living near stairs or mailboxes were the most popular in being described as a friend (if someone’s apartment was located near a place where people were likely to pass by frequently people were more likely to consider them friends- propinquity)
what was Brown’s example of propinquity
She lived in St. Louis in a tight neighborhood (small houses) most houses had porches, across the street two sisters owned a duplex (always outside, liked to garden and had a cat), very extroverted and talked to people as they walked past, she was at a car place one day and told a man where she lived and was asked if she knew the sisters (Mary and Elizabeth), -the mere fact they were physically available (outside all the time) increased the likelihood that people knew them and liked them
Having a dorm or apartment way back in the corner is kind of lonely, prevents people from coming by and can have an inhibiting effect on relationships
what is the Propinquity effect
functional distance
-some locations are more functional than others
why does the propinquity (3 reasons) and proximity occur
availability, anticipation, and mere exposure and familiarity
explain availability
people are more available for relationships if we come in contact with them
- if you do not come in contact with other people, you do not know how similar they are or how good of potential partners they are
- the people near us re the people available to us for relationships
explain anticipation and a study about it
evidence that anticipating to meet someone actually makes us like them more
study: people read profile of someone else, information was the same in the profiles but participants were randomly assigned to believe they would meet this person or not, rated how likeable the person is after reading profile
results: even though profiles were identical, people gave higher rankings to people they thought they would meet
why were the results the way they were in the anticipation study (three possible explanations)
- could be from psyching oneself up to hope an interaction goes well
- also that positivity of meeting someone gets misattributed to the person
- or meeting someone creates a possibility of a good interaction and this possibility can make us like someone more
merely thinking we will meet someone/like them leads us to like them more
explain mere exposure and familiarity
mere exposure: when you encounter something once (even if you do not remember it) it starts to increase how much you like it
familiarity: the more we encounter something the more we like it
what are the two explanations for mere exposure and familiarity effects
1) could be because of fluency, if we encounter something once it is easier to process visually so we like it more
2) evolutionary: if we encounter something once and survive the encounter then we assume it is not dangerous
what can affect physical attractiveness
halo effect
what is the halo effect
“what is beautiful is good”
- research has shown that people tend to assume that attractive things and people are also good and the people who are attractive also have good lives
- attractiveness becomes like a halo that makes everything we think about it or someone positive
what is the research about the halo effect about essay reading
when participants read an essay and rate it for how strong an essay is, the ratings have been shown to be influenced by the attractiveness of the author
-three conditions: control- no photo, unattractive author, the essay itself is always the same
results: people rate the essay from the attractive author better
what is the research on attractiveness and salary
asked people to record salaries and then took photos of people and asked participants to rate attractiveness of those people (found that attractive people had higher salaries)
-make 10-15% more in their salaries
halo effect in ads?
this is why companies use attractive people in advertisements
halo effect and crime?
researchers looked for outcomes of people who have committed a crime
-people who are more physically attractive get lesser sentences than people who are not as attractive (for the same crime), there is a leniency
explain younger people and halo effect
- kids who are disobedient in class are less likely to get in trouble or given detention if they are attractive
- infants who are attractive tend to receive more attention and affection from their mothers
so conclusion about attractiveness and life?
life is better for those who are attractive
-make more money, get more attention, get in less trouble
explain the study about gut intuitions and attractiveness
participants asked to give gut intuitions about what a person might be
-when a person is physically attractive the participants attribute more positive traits (sociable, extraverted, popular, sexual, happier) to them compared to unattractive people
why could attractive people have better social skills
could be because people who are attractive are born with better traits, or self-fulfilling prophecy, they are treated better starting in infancy so this could have an effect
explain the halo effect across cultures
study compared halo effect in US Canada and South Korea
- shared traits: sociable, happy, popular, mature, likeable
- traits in US and Canada: strong assertive and dominant
- traits in Korea: sensitive, honest and empathetic
results: physically attractive people are determined to have the traits that culture and society values, can vary by culture depending on what is important
what does the halo effect study across cultures show us
the halo effect is found across cultures, but what is considered desirable can vary across cultures but attractive people are always considered to have these traits
halo effect in movies
, attractive people tend to be the heroes and unattractive people tend to be the villains
why do you have to look at evolution when considering why certain facial features are attractive
because it is present across the whole world
- theorists look at other things people like and how this can relate to attractiveness
ex. we like sugar salt and fat (taste) we like these things because they are good for us, animals who enjoyed these flavors were more likely to eat them and more likely to survive
is there cross cultural agreement in features considered attractive?
yes, there is consensus and cross-cultural agreement (photos of faces are rated the same across different countries), tend to be agreement about what features make someone attractive (more for women than men), researchers have participants rate faces
so, why are some faces considered more attractive than others?
- more likely to successfully reproduce
- features that we find attractive are cues to genetic quality and good health, attractive parents pass on the good traits to their children and genes of being attracted to these traits were passed on in the genetic pool
what are the three main features that people find attractive
1) symmetry
2) averageness
3) sex-typical features
explain why people find symmetry attractive
do not fully understand why this is attractive, could be related to health, that fetuses were given more nutrients and came out more symmetrical
-no one has a perfectly symmetrical face but those who are considered attractive are closer to this
explain the study with symmetry
when people see symmetrical faces of a person compared to their original faces, they rate the symmetrical faces as more attractive
explain averageness
we are attracted to face that are close to the average set of structures in a population
why are people attracted to averageness
deviations from average suggest possible health disturbances (we find people who are closer to average as more attractive)
-another explanation is that more genetic diversity is better for the immune system (this would increase averageness in a face) - biracial people are considered more attractive than those from one race
explain the study with averageness
Take images of people online and morph these faces to find the average of the two faces, then compare attractiveness of the original faces and the average
Results: people rated the average of faces as more attractive than the original faces
what are sex-typical features
having a very prototypical female and male face (matches your sex)
what are the evolutionary explanations for why sex typical features are attractive for males and females
Sex typical male features: related to better immune functioning, men with better immune systems = more androgens = more masculine facial features
Evolutionary explanation: Sex typical female features: women with more feminine features are more likely to reach reproductive ages and have better likelihood of conceiving
how can sex typical features be studied
taking dozens of female photos and morphing them together to get average structure and morphing female pictures to have more typical female and male features and male pictures to have more typical female and male features
what are the results of the sex typical features study and a theory for why
Females who are morphed into more female features, they are voted as more attractive consistently (but not unanimously); males who are morphed into male are voted as more attractive as a temporary sexual partner by women who are ovulating
Theory: when women have a high likelihood of conception they are attracted to someone who would give them the best chance to healthily reproduce, but outside of ovulation there is a difference: some women find female morphed men more attractive and others find male morphed men more attractive
what did we do in class to show the three attractive features
Brown asked us to list some attractive people so we did and found the people we ranked as attractive had all of the features previously listed that are commonly associated with attractiveness
what are some physical attractive features
large eyes, defined facial features, large lips
