Lecture 8 - Liking and Loving

Question 1

What are the main two determinants of initial attraction?

Answer 1

• Physical attraction

- Self-fulfilling prophecies

Question 2

What is one of the most common reasons for physical attraction, and who found this?

Answer 2

Symmetrical faces are judged as more attractive across age, gender and culture (Little & Jones, 2006).

Question 3

What is one reason that symmetry of the face is attractive?

Answer 3

It’s proposed to be a sign of healthiness - damaged genes or disease can cause unsymmetrical faces (Penke et al., 2009).

Question 4

What did Snyder et al., (1977) find about self-fulfilling prophecies?

Answer 4

Men who found their call handler more attractive (after seeing a picture of her) were more friendly and engaged.

Question 5

What types of people care more about physical attraction in the initial stages?

Answer 5

• High self-monitors, as these people change personality more in different situations.
• People looking for short term relationships.

Question 6

What is propinquity?

Answer 6

Physical proximity

Question 7

How does propinquity link to attraction?

Answer 7

The more the physical proximity one has with an individual, the more likely you are to get to know them.

Question 8

Why does propinquity link to attraction?

Answer 8

• Manifestation of the mere exposure effect - interaction breeds familiarity, which increases likeability and attractiveness.
• Interaction breeds mastery and connectedness - increased learning and social support from others.

Question 9

Why does similarity increase potential attraction?

Answer 9

• more opportunities to meet at shared interest events
• more positivity
• assumption that those similar to us will like us
• similar others validate our own beliefs and attitudes.

Question 10

What are the two main types of relationships, and how development occurs from one type to the other.

Answer 10

Exchange and communal.

Healthy relationships develop from exchange to communal relationships.

Question 11

What are exchange relationships?

Answer 11

Those which are focussed on the rewards received from others.

Question 12

What are communal relationships?

Answer 12

Those which are based on concern and caring.

Question 13

Close friends are more likely to have what type of relationship?

Answer 13

Communal

Question 14

Why are close friends more likely to have communal relationships?

Answer 14

Disclosure increases liking and trust.

Question 15

What is cognitive interdependence?

Answer 15

Thinking about the self and the partner as parts of a whole. Differences between the self and the other melt away and shared traits become more prominent.

Question 16

Why might cognitive interdependence occur?

Answer 16

• access to thoughts and feelings of close others more frequently
• access to information across a variety of different situations.
• actor-observer perspective. You care more about the ‘other’ so

Question 17

What is behavioural interdependence?

Answer 17

Behavioural of each person in a relationship influences the other.

Question 18

Which study demonstrated behavioural interdependence?

Answer 18

Aron et al., (1991) - found that PPS gave themselves more money if a stranger was sharing, but gave themselves an equal amount to their best friend.

Question 19

What is affective interdependence?

Answer 19

As closeness and trust increase, intimacy and commitment increase.

Question 20

Define intimacy.

Answer 20

A positive emotional bond that includes understanding and support.

Question 21

Define commitment.

Answer 21

The combined forces that hold the partners together in an enduring relationship.

Question 22

What are two individual differences that mediate relationship quality?

Answer 22

• Attachment style

- Gender

Question 23

How does gender influence relationships?

Answer 23

Men are more utilitarian:

• Focus on shared activities rather than shared emotion
• focus on the rewards rather than the wellbeing of the relationship.

Question 24

What are the effects of positive relationships?

Answer 24

Increased well being:

• more social support
• stronger immune response
• lower death rates

Question 25

Research has found what about the importance of relationships, and their positive effects on outcomes?

Answer 25

Social support is related to less deaths than smoking and obesity (Holt-Lunstad et al., 2010).

Question 26

What are the two main ways of responding to negative acts/situations?

Answer 26

• Constructive accommodation: actively discussing, waiting for improvement, forgiving
• Destructive accommodation: yelling at your partner and refusing to spend time to fix the problem.

Question 27

More forgiveness leads to?

Answer 27

Longer relationships and higher satisfaction.

Question 28

Why are secret relationships so exciting?

Answer 28

Ironic mental processes. Constantly knowing that you have to keep a secret, and make sure you behaviour doesn’t give anything away, makes it on your mind more often. This makes you constantly think about the affair, becoming almost obsessed with it.