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PSYC 474 > Lecture 5: Attraction and Partner Selection Part 2 > Flashcards

Lecture 5: Attraction and Partner Selection Part 2 Flashcards

1
Q

Familiarity and What is Beautiful is Good Study

A
  • Participants rated yearbook photos of people they knew, while strangers also rated the same photos.
  • They examined how much variance in participants’ ratings of physical attractiveness could be explained by objective measures of physical attractiveness, liking, familiarity, and respect.
  • People find those they like more physically attractive than those they don’t like
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2
Q

facial preferences and desired personality study

A
  • Step 1: ask participants which personality traits they find attractive in a partner and which faces they find attractive
  • Step 2: create a composite of the 15 faces most attractive to those expressing the highest desire for a trait and 15 faces attractive to those expressing the lowest desire for the trait
  • Step 3: ask a new set of participants to make personality judgments based on faces
  • Found that face preferences reflect the desired personality
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3
Q

minimal parental investment

A

the least amount of time, energy, and resources that a parent must expend to produce offspring

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4
Q

parental investment for males

A

minimal time investment & biological cost

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5
Q

parental investment for females

A
  • A much greater investment of time & resources
  • Eggs are biologically more costly than sperm
  • Pregnancy, producing a placenta, lactation, extended period of infertility following childbirth.
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6
Q

minimal parental investment in humans

A

Creates a large asymmetry in the minimal parental investment of male & female members of the species -> different adaptive problems & strategies

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7
Q

male adaptive strategy

A
  • Reproductive success is primarily limited by the availability of fertile mates.
  • Solution: may have evolved a preference for females possessing indicators of fertility
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8
Q

female adaptive strategy

A
  • Also care about genetic quality
  • Invest much more, so they should be more selective than males and prefer males that can ensure the best survival of offspring
  • Females may select mates based on their ability to provide resources to potential offspring
  • May need to make trade-offs
  • In humans, women may view such characteristics as social status, wealth, intelligence, ability, and ambition as attractive.
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9
Q

evidence for the evolutionary perspective of attraction

A
  • A lot of early research relied on self-reported ratings or rankings
  • Most attributes were rated similarly by men and women
  • Men value physical appearance more highly, and women value characteristics related to resource acquisition
  • Differences were replicated across different cultures
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10
Q

critiques of the evolutionary perspective of attraction

A

evidence that men and women have different preferences for potential mates may be due to social (rather than innate, evolved) factors. For instance, across cultures, women may find status and resources attractive in men because women have less access to status and resources.

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11
Q

structural powerlessness approach

A
  • Traditional socialization practices maintain & support differences in partner selection
  • The two hypotheses are not fundamentally incompatible: there is no reason we should not expect differential socialization of the young according to the evolutionary view
  • In cultures where there is greater gender equality, women place less importance on a man’s status and resources
  • However, gender equality does not affect the importance placed on female attractiveness
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12
Q

critique of partner selection studies

A

Paper preferences may not translate into real-life contexts

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13
Q

how do partner selection strategies translate to real life?

A
  • Meta-analysis of 97 studies involving romantic evaluations of a partner (either initial attraction contexts like speed-dating or established relationships)
  • Evaluation is generally more positive for more attractive partners, and partners with better earning potential
  • No difference by sex
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14
Q

short-term vs. long-term mating strategies

A
  • Because of the asymmetry in levels of minimal parental investment & risk, males might be more likely to pursue short-term mating strategies.
  • Both males and females can shift between short-term and long-term mating strategies when conditions are suitable (i.e. benefits outweigh costs)
  • Some evidence that both men and women are likely to prioritize attractiveness in short-term relationships
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15
Q

corollary idea behind the dual mating hypothesis

A

women may combine mating strategies and their mating strategy may shift with their ovulatory cycle

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16
Q

dual mating strategy hypothesis

A
  • Women will show a preference for putative cues of male fitness (ex. Masculinize faces) during the high-fertility ovulatory phase of their menstrual cycle (high estradiol, low progesterone)
  • Women will show preferences for cues of prosociality (ex. Feminized faces) at other points in the menstrual cycle
17
Q

dual mating strategy findings

A
  • Early studies found support for the hypothesis that women show stronger preferences for masculinized faces during the high fertility phase.
  • This is most pronounced for partnered women assessing men’s attractiveness for hypothetical short-term relationships
  • Since replicated, similar findings obtained for other fitness cues
  • There is also evidence that male partners may pick on signs of female fertility
  • Ex. increased mate guarding, positive attention when partners ovulating
18
Q

dual mating strategy debates and controversies

A
  • Many small, underpowered studies, widespread use of self-report for menstrual cycle data (potentially unreliable)
  • Mixed findings for studies correlating estradiol/progesterone levels with masculinity preferences
  • Theoretical challenge: rates of extra-pair paternity are generally very low
  • However, there is evidence that the ovulatory phase increases women’s sexual motivation more broadly
19
Q

social exchange theory

A
  • Postulates that we want to maximize rewards while minimizing costs
  • We seek partners with the highest mate value possible
20
Q

how do humans conceptualize mate value?

A
  • Mate value is about more than physical attractiveness or resources
  • Seek partner traits conducive to high relationship quality: warmth, understanding, kindness
21
Q

reciprocity

A

We like people more if they know they like us

22
Q

reciprocity lab study

A
  • Participants are paired with a confederate to work on a task
  • They overheard either positive or critical evaluations of themselves
  • They report more liking for a confederate after a positive evaluation
23
Q

Are there mechanisms that positively reinforce belonging? study

A
  • PET study (detects changes in neurochemical activity)
  • Participants were told that a desirable potential partner like them showed increased activation of a system of receptors that mediate rewarding effects of opioid drugs like heroin
  • The stronger the activation, the more desire to interact with that person
24
Q

when do people display the highest liking for a confederate in reciprocity studies?

A
  • The highest liking was when the confederate’s evaluations went from negative -> positive
  • Although, they rated the confederate more positively in the consistently positive condition
  • In the uniformly positive condition, it could be that they like everybody
25
Q

selectivity

A

we want to feel that the other person likes us specifically

26
Q

selectivity speed-dating study

A
  • When a participant uniquely desired a particular partner, the partner tended to reciprocate the desire & feel more chemistry with the participant
  • When a participant tended to desire many partners, partners experienced less desire for and less chemistry with the participant.
  • This was mediated by perceived unselecitvity
  • This suggests that this is something that people can pick up on in a 4-minute conversation.
27
Q

matching phenomenon

A

there is some evidence that couples tend to be similar in attractiveness (broadly construed)

28
Q

partner selection as risk management

A
  • We balance the assessment of rewards & risk (rejection)
  • We may use ambiguity to manage risk
29
Q

managing risk study

A
  • Participants participated in a movie-rating exercise
    Setting: Two tables, each with two chairs and a screen; one chair at one of the tables is occupied by a very attractive confederate
  • Two conditions: Low ambiguity: same movie on both screens; High ambiguity: different movie
  • Participants were much more likely to sit next to the confederate in different movie conditions.
30
Q

prevalence of unrequited love

A

80% of college participants had experienced unrequited love

31
Q

3 factors that predict the intensity of unrequited love

A
  • The perceived potential value of the relationship with the person
  • Perceived probability of striking up a relationship
  • Perceived benefits to self of loving the person, even if it is not reciprocated
32
Q

consequences of unrequited love for both the pursuer and the rejector

A

Both rejectors and pursuers have a sense of emotional interdependence and feel like victims, struggling to understand each other

33
Q

consequences of unrequited love for the pursuer

A
  • Sees the situation as a high-stakes gamble
  • They look back on the experience with a mix of positive and negative emotion
  • They feel that they had been led on & communication was unclear
34
Q

consequences of unrequited love for the rejector

A
  • No-win situation
  • Uniformly negative in their accounts
  • See themselves as morally innocent but still feel guilty
  • Reluctance to cause pain may be misconstrued as “mixed signals”
35
Q

cultural scripts explanation for unrequited love

A
  • Cultural descriptions where the would-be lover persists & wins in the end abound
  • Fewer descriptions from the target’s perspective (sense of scriptlessness)
  • They may struggle to figure out how to act
36
Q

should you play hard to get?

A
  • There is some truth to the idea that we like to win someone over, but ultimately, we want to be liked
  • We want to communicate that you’re selectively hard to get
  • Don’t be mean to prospective partners
  • Realize that prospective partners may be wary of rejection & incurring high costs
  • Within a relationship, we want to be reliable & steady to foster a sense of security in your partner
  • Ambiguity is bad for your partner and your relationship

PSYC 474 (15 decks)

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