Interpersonal attraction - mate choice

Question 1

What does interpersonal attraction involve

Answer 1

mate choice and affiliation

Question 2

What is mate choice

Answer 2

this is how men and women differ in their sexual mating strategies, with biological differences in reproductive equipment leading to differences in sexual behaviour and mating choice

Question 3

Fundamentally what drives the differences in mate choice

Answer 3

The rarity of eggs and abundance of sperm

Question 4

What are the main aspects of female mate selection?

Answer 4

Women have higher biological investment as they have a limited reproductive capacity
They also have certainty about their relation to offspring

Question 5

What are the main aspects of male mate selction

Answer 5

Men have potentially unlimited mating capacity (due to abundance of sperm)
they also have paternity uncertainty

Question 6

What do the differences in biological equipment mean for interpersonal relationships?

Answer 6

Men are more jealous of sexual infidelity - paternity uncertainty
women are more jealous of emotional infidelity - men will have less commitment in their and the offspring’s needs
women are more cautious and selective (for best biological determination), thus are less interested in sex
men are promiscuous - they want to propagate as many genes as possible, thus they are more interested in se

Question 7

What did Buss (1989) demonstrate about the differences in mate selection

Answer 7

9000 people across 37 cultures

men prefered
- physically attractive
- younger partners
(indicative of reproductive fitness)

women prefered
- men with resources
- older men
(indicative of power: ability to raise and support offspring)

Question 8

Is there cross cultural evidence for men preferring indicators of fertility?

Answer 8

Waist-Hip Ratio
- indicative of fertility

singh (1995) Swami n (2005)
Men show preference for a low waist hip ratio
- larger hips and smaller waist
- an indicator of fertility

women show a preference for

• more masculine wh ratio
• indicative of masculinity and strength

Question 9

Is there evidence to suggest that evidence to suggest that men prefer physical attractiveness

Answer 9

Li et al (2002)

• for men, physical attractiveness is key
• for women, although they are interested in the attractiveness of men, they are more interested in the partners social status

Question 10

Is there evidence that women have a preference for social status and resources

Answer 10

Harrison & Saeed (1977); Widersman (1993)

when women created personal dating adds they were more likely to expressed the desired
- status
- material resources
of their partner

women responded more to adds that

• indicated status
• indicated income
• of people of a older age

men responded to

• younger
• attractive

Question 11

Is there an overlap of which both males and females fiind attractive?

Answer 11

YES (Fletcher 2002; Buss et al/. 2001)

cross cultural and cross gender preferences for

• warmth and loyalty
• attractiveness and vitality
• status and resources
• humour and intelligence

Question 12

What is the need for affiliation

Answer 12

we have a need to interact with others in a cooperative way

• we all have it
• it varies in strength

Question 13

What did Bowlby (1969) believe we have a need for?

Answer 13

A need to belong

- we have an inner drive that connects us together

Question 14

How do we know we have a need belong?

Answer 14

People in our perceptual field are unique and more inportant than objects

Question 15

What did Harlow (1965) demonstrate?

Answer 15

Harlow’s monkeys

- monkeys had a preference for comfort over food

Question 16

What did Baumeister and Leary (1995) believe we have a need for?

Answer 16

A need for regular contact

• those that have a large network are happier than those without
• but they are less satisfied than those that have both a network and a clos relationship

Question 17

What is the best number of close friends

Answer 17

4-6 ( Reis, 1996)

Question 18

What is anohter need we have?

Answer 18

A need to be in a relationship where there is mutual concern

Question 19

Are relationships all that we need?

Answer 19

Bunter et al (1992) - even those in a relationship desire a larger social network

Question 20

What is ostracism?

Answer 20

When we are excluded, rejected and ignored by others

Question 21

What health problems are associated with failure to satisfy our need for affiliation

Answer 21

Premature death (Lynch, 1979)
Physical and MH problems associated with loneliness (Cacioppo et al., 2002)
Longlines impairs the immune system

Question 22

What can ostracism lead to?

Answer 22

Rejection sensitivity
- a personality trait
- the tendency to expect rejection from others and be oversensitive to rejection
(Downey et al., 2005)

Question 23

What impact can rejection sensitive have when it comes to relationships

Answer 23

Downey et al (2005)

when in a relationship: prone to violence

when not in a relationship: avoidance of romantic opportunity, especially if rejection is likely

Question 24

What have cyberostracism studies shown to be the result of ostracism

Answer 24

(Williams, 2007; 2009)

• sadness
• expression of having less control
• loss of a sense of belonging
• feel that their fundamental needs fpr belonging are being threatened

Question 25

ostracism also has a physical component

Answer 25

Zhong & Lillienhurst (2006)

study 1 - pps evaluated the room to be colder
study 2 - pps prefered warmer food and drinks

Question 26

What evidence is there for ostracism hurting?

Answer 26

Eisenberger et al (2010)

• activates the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex
• thus social and physcial pain activate the same regions

Dewall et al (2010)

• Acetaminophen reduces physical pain via the CNS
• found to also reduce the discomfort associated with ostracism

Question 27

But… does ostracism hurt in the same way?

Answer 27

No

• there is unique activation in the brain associated with both physical pain and social pain (via fMRI) despite common activity on gross levelsf
• pps either experienced painful heat, pictures of an ex partner or friend

(woo et al., 2014)

Question 28

What impact does ostracism have on behaviour?

Answer 28

Three stages

1) feelings of pain, threat to belonging, low self-esteem, a feeling of a lack of control, negative affect

2) coping responses
- socially compensating: prosocial and conforming behaviours
- defensive hostility: jealousy, violence

3) Chronic ostracism
- resignation, depression, feelings of worthlessness
- may prompt violent actions to be noticed