Interpersonal Relationships Flashcards
What features do social animals have in common?
- Cannot defend themselves from predators easily, so rely on cooperate defence from predators and competitors
- Tend to produce offspring that take a long-time to rear and so rely on cooperative rearing of the young by the group
- Tend not to be able to hunt effectively on their own and so rely on cooperative foraging or hunting
Why do modern humans have a fundamental need to belong?
• Darwinian Selection: individuals who formed close relationships with others were more likely to survive and share resources (water, warmth and food) and to go on and reproduce
- Modern humans have a fundamental need to belong and a natural tendency to form relationships with others
What is (Larson, 1990) experiment to show how people experience a more positive mood when around others (Berscheid & Reis, 1998)?
- Students randomly paged throughout the day
- Asked to record (1) who they were with and (2) how they felt
- Participants most happy when with their friends and family
- Least happy when they were alone or in a public space alone
According to Cacioppo et al., 2006 what does lacking closeness with others induce feelings of?
loneliness, depression and anxiety
What was Tilvis et al. (2004) loneliness experiment and what were the results?
measured cognition of 75 to 85 year olds at 1, 5 and 10 year follow ups. Results at the 10-year follow-up assessment revealed that loneliness independently predicted dementia
What did Easterlin (2003) find and what are the limitations of this?
- People in satisfying romantic relationships are typically happier than single people
- Limitations:
- Researchers are reporting a correlation – not a causality
- Not sure whether happier people are more likely to enter a relationship or being in a relationship makes people happy
- Happier people may have higher chance of being in long-term relationship
What did Harker & Keltner find in regards to happy people and relationships?
- Positive emotional expressions on pictures in college yearbook predicted marriage success 20 years later
What is the difference between real vs fake smiles?
- Zygomatic major muscle pulls mouth backwards (real and fake smile)
- Orbicularis Oculi muscle causes crows feet (real smiles)
What is some evidence that relationships help with physical wellbeing?
- Women with advanced metastatic breast cancer lived significantly longer if they attend a support group (Holt & Lewis, 2010).
- Medical students with good social networks showed stronger immune response to Hepatitis B vaccine (Glasser et al., 1992)
- Happily married patients had 30% higher survival chance 4 years after heart attack compared to single patients (Coyne et al., 2001)
How does the role of social support help physical wellbeing?
- Social support affects mental and physical health (Cohen & Wills, 1985)
- Buffers stress which is directly associated with health by raising blood pressure ect. (Gerin, Pieper, Levy & Pickering, 1992)
- Lower cortisol levels
- Encourage friends and family to take better care of themselves (Payne & Walker, 1996)
- Encourage better compliance with medication (Payne & Walker)
- Instrumental support: practical, immediate support when most needed
What are the three main elements of love in Sternberg’s triangular theory of love?
Passion – lust. Only lasts for the first year of a relationship
Intimacy – closeness – may feel with their friends
Commitment – often called empty love e.g. parents may stick together for their children
What are the different types of love in Sternberg’s triangular theory of love made from the three main elements?
- Companionate love: intimacy and commitment
- Fatuous love: Passion and commitment (no trust)
- Romantic love: intimacy and passion
- Consummate love: intimacy, passion and commitment
What is the social constructionist view?
idea that the definition of love differs between cultures and time
What is Fisher, Aron & Brown’s (2006) study into whether love is a chemical addiction?
- Participants who were madly in love
- Brain activity in brain scanner was measured while looking at a picture of their loved one or neutral acquaintance
- Results: dopamine system was activated when Ps saw lovers = associated with anticipation of reward and focused attention; involved in pleasure and addiction, craving and obsession
- Love as a strong motivation, addictive craving to be with another person
What are the three factors that predict how a relationship will start?
- Proximity: do they live near us?
- Familiarity: Do we feel that we know them?
- Similarity: Are they people like us?
