Lecture 4 Flashcards
What is the experimental generation of interpersonal closeness?
Aron et al, 1997
- 36 questions that call for self-disclosure and intimacy vs that didn’t
- measurement: closeness
What is the theoretical background of the 36 questions and meaning of closeness/intimacy?
- connectedness and bondedness
- inner self validated and understood
- sharing inner self
- behavioral interactions
– combines all definitions (having close and feeling close)
What is the structure of the 36 questions?
- slowly increase in self-disclosure, escalating, and reciprical
- forced vulnerability and intimacy-associated behaviors
set 1: perfect day
set 2: roles of love and affection in your life
set 3: point out good traits in the other person
What is the reciprocity norm theory?
individuals tend to reciprocate the actions of others in social interactions
so in the 36 questions: reciprocal self-disclosure –> equality trust understanding –> closeness
What is the social penetration theory theory?
- People are like onions, they have a lot of layers
- self disclosure penetrates those layers to reveal the core
- and its reciprocated
– normally people reveal stuff slowly and peel back the layers, this flips that
What does eye contact do physiologically?
- vulnerability and transparency: makes people let down their guard and forced shows ability to be open and transparent
- shared experience and presence: created a shared moment of presence and connection
- neurochemical bonding: prolonged eye contact triggers oxytocin
- physiological synchonization: eye contact can synchronize basic pysiological responses (breathing, heart rate, etc.)
—> nonverbal self disclosure
What is the difference between anxiety and avoidance in people’s role in relationships?
- anxiety: positive or negative judgement of self
- avoidence: positive or negative judgement of others
What is a confounding variable?
A confounding variable is an unmeasured third variable that influences both the supposed cause and the supposed effect.
What are some measurement strategies for the 36 questions experiment?
- Initial questionnaire
- Subjective indication of overlap between self and partner
- Rating system
How could the experiment for 36 questions be set up or operationalized?
- Experimental:
– closeness-condition tasks (experiment group
– small-talk condition tasks (control group) - Matching:
– Randomly assign pairs and conditions - Instructions
– Complete questionnaire - Data collection:
– Make them score their closeness - Theory:
– Make an assumption of theoretical implications for attachment styles and closeness
What comes up from research when understanding couple similarity vs complementarity?
- Comprehensive review of research from the 80s
- Topics from existing literature
1. Patterns and trends in couple similarity
2. Four mechanisms leading to similarity
3. Genetic, social, and psychological consequences of couple similarity
What are some patterns and trends of couple similarity in terms of demographics ?
- Age similarity is consistently high
- Racial and religious sameness has gone down a lot
- Educational homogamy has increased (in the US)
- Endogamy in socioeconomic status has increased
What are some patterns and trends of couple similarity in terms of behavior?
- Lifestyle and habits: moderate to high
- Physical and physiological characteristics: low similarity
What are some patterns and trends of couple similarity in terms of personality?
- attitudes: strong similarity
- values: weak to moderate
- intelligence and abilities: moderate
- subjective well-being and mental health: moderate to high
- personality vairables: low
- consistent traits in consistent partners that are very specific (schizo patients date schizo)
What is the summary of research in similarity vs complementarity?
Similarity is the rule and complementarity is an exception.
but there is heirarchy
demographic and attidude: high
inner personality and values: moderate
physical and personality: weak
What is assortative mating (AM)?
the tendency for partners to be matched systematically on one or more characteristics at the beginning of a relationship
Why does AM exist?
- product of evolution
- promotes altruistic behavior and helps with future community cooperation
What is social exchange theory?
- social behaviors is the result of an exchange process based on cost-benefit anazlysis
—> people engage in relationship to MAX their benefits and MIN their costs
What is mating market operation?
The process and factors involved in selecting mates and forming relationships)
How is social exchange theory related to mating market operation?
basically a person can be with someone like them to minimize issues
or they can trade “equal things”: e,g,: can trade good looks for more money
What is the convergence hypothesis?
- partners select for similarity
- spend time together, influence each other (shared life experience, exposure to one another beliefs, compromise to maintain harmony)
- become even more similar
What are the genetic consequences of people choosing partners for similarity?
- more genetically homogenous offspring
- stable environment: homogamy (better adapted for that environment)
- harsh and unpredictable environment: heterogamy (survive better if more diverse when the envi is unpredictable)
- however –> can also perpetuate certain genetic traits (obesity, blond hair, blue eyes, etc.)
What are the social consequences of people choosing partners for similarity?
- Unfortunately also perpetuates class stratification (people stay in a certain class/wealth level/education)
- however selection for education and educational homogamy has declined
What is endogamy and homogamy?
endogamy: selecting a spouse from one’s own local group (ethnicity, city, country, etc.)
homogamy: selecting a spouse from one’s own social group or class
