interpersonal relations 11

Question 1

What is interpersonal attraction?

Answer 1

desire to approach another individual to seek them out for interaction
critical to friendships and romantic relaationships

Question 2

What determines attraction?

Answer 2

-target related= physical characteristics, similarity to self, reciprocity
-perceiver related= proximity, familiarity

Question 3

What is target related attriaction?

Answer 3

• Physical characteristics are the primary cue in attraction
• Cultural differences
• larger women preferred in foraging societies-
  associated with likelihood of genes to survive
• Marlowe and Wetsman (2001) – slim women
  preferred in the west where high weight is associated
  with ill health
  women=waist to hip ratio of 0.7
  men= narrow waist, v shaped torso, broad shoulders, taller
  Same sex attraction
• Limited research
• Personal dating ads – both gay men and lesbians
  often seek sex-typical traits (i.e. men attracted to
  masculine partners and women attracted to feminine
  partners (Bailey et al. 1997; Phua 2002; Smith &
  Stillman 2002)
  facial symmetry
• Genes and symmetry: Thornhill and
  Gangestad (1999)
• 80 men wore t-shirt for 2 nights
• Men’s facial symmetry assessed
• 82 women smelt and rated t-shirts
• Women’s fertility assessed (ovulating v’s not
  ovulating)
• H1 ‘secret’ pheromone predicting asymmetry?
• Rated shirts for pleasantness, intensity, and
  sexiness
• Facial symmetry linked to:
• Better genes – disease free (mixed evidence)
• Pheromones (males) appear to convey this
  information to ovulating females
• So, those with high facial symmetry may make
  good reproductive mates – healthy offspring
• Average face – Langlois, Roggman, Musselman
  (1994)
• Digitised male & female faces (composites)
• Rated for attractiveness
• Increased attraction the more inputted faces
• Most attractive is the most average face
• Mere exposure – preference for familiarity?
• Facial maturity
• Females: Immature features (small nose, full lips, small
  chin): Dependence
• Male: Mature features preferred (prominent cheekbones,
  large chin) (Cunningham, Barbee, & Pike, 1990):
  Dominance
• Similarity to self (matching hypothesis)
• Similar demographics (Kandel, 1978)
• Similar physical attractiveness
• Similar attitudes (Newcomb, 1961) – p.563
• P’s complete attitude questionnaire
• Changes in interpersonal attraction measured over a
  semester
• Initially attraction determined by proximity
• As semester progressed attitude similarity emerged as
  stronger determinant of attraction
• Reciprocity
• We like people who like us
• Dittes and Kelley (1956)
• Students led to believe (by anonymous evaluations) that
  a group liked or did not like them
• Group discussions
• More attracted to the group that liked them

Question 4

What are consequences of physical attractiveness?

Answer 4

• Dion, Bersheid and Walster (1972)
• Participants looked at pictures of men and women
• Attractive, average, and unattractive
• Evaluate their personality
• Attractive considered more successful, intelligent, and
  socially skilled
• Halo effect
• Success as an adult
• Landy and Sigall (1974) – p.557
• Male students grade a good or bad essay with
  photo attached
• Photo: Attractive female or unattractive female
• Higher ratings for essays by attractive females
  regardless of essay quality.

Question 5

Is the attractiveness stereotype accurate?

Answer 5

• Attractiveness influences perceptions of
  success
• Feingold (1992) – No!
• No relationship between attractiveness and
  personality, intelligence, dominance, self-esteem etc.
• BUT attractive = less socially anxious, more socially
  skilled and less lonely
• Why?
• Self-fulfilling prophecy

Question 6

What is perceiver related attraction?

Answer 6

proximity
Festinger, Schachter, and Back (1950)
* Students in housing units at MIT
* 2/3s of closest friends in same block and floor!
* Proximity predicts attraction

familiarity
mere exposure hypothesis- zajonc- 1968- repeated exposure increases attraction

anxiety
* Schachter (1959)
* Students told they’d receive electric shocks as part of a
physiology experiment
* - High anxiety: painful
* - Low anxiety: not at all painful
* Wait for 10 minutes – alone or with someone
* -High anxiety: 63% opted to wait with someone
* -Low anxiety: 33% opted to wait with someone
* Shared experience is important
* Anxious situations can attract us to others.

Question 7

What is romantic attraction?

Answer 7

Passionate love (p.581)
* State of intense longing for another person, anxiety,
jealousy, elation, sexuality etc.
* Neuropsychology
* Increased dopamine in brain - arousal
* Increased activity in caudate nucleus (Fisher, 2004)
– reward/pleasure
* Love really is the drug

Mistaking physiological arousal for love…
* Schachter and Singer’s (1962) two-factor
theory of emotion
1. Physiological arousal
2. Cognitive label
* External events elicit internal physiological arousal
* Use events/people to explain arousal
* Attractive person present on rollercoaster =
misattributed as love

• Compassionate Love Hatfield (1987) – (p.
  581)
• Early stage of passionate love is short-lived
• Replaced by a more enduring love
• Similar to how we feel about long-term friends: selfless,
  caring, unconditional altruism etc.
• Tendency for mental representation of self and partner
  to “overlap” – become one person (Smith, Coats and
  Walling, 1999)

Question 8

What is Dutton and Aron 1974 research?

Answer 8

Either a male or female research assistant
waits by one of two bridges
* Men asked to take part in a study
* Write a story in response to a picture
* Standing on one of two bridges
* RA’s male or female
* RA’s gave out their phone number in case the participant
later wanted “further information” about the study

findings=
* High bridge:
* Men wrote stories with higher levels of sexual imagery
* Men more likely to phone the assistant afterward when
approached by a female (vs. male) RA
* Misattribution of arousal by bridge to RA
* Low bridge:
* Gender of RA made no difference to responses