Midterm 2 - Lectures Flashcards
What is the triangular theory of love?
That there are 3 aspects of a relationship. How much each of these aspects are present tells you about the nature of that relationship.
Intimacy, Passion, & Commitment
Explain the ven diagram that expands on the triangular theory of love
Diagram helps us understand the different forms of relationships
*Fatuous love is strange choice for diagram, do not worry about it’s meaning
List a few benefits of being in a close romantic relationship?
- expereince touch and affection
- partner can help you get stuff done when life is busy (share to-do list) which can reduce stress
- partner can provide support to make it through difficult times (professor heart attack)
Explain the details and findings of the study that studied the smell of a romantic partner on stress
Participants were female in romantic relationships.
- Participants partook in the Trier Social Stress Test
- Before and after the test, pariticpants smelled a t shirt:
C1: t-shirt of partner
C2: t-shirt of random person
C3: brand new t-shirt (no smell)
- Stress was measured at various times before and after
RESULTS:
**When participants smelled the t-shirt from their own partner, they experienced less anticipatory stress before the test, and their stress levels recovered quickly after the test. **
What is the Trier Social Stress Test?
test that is meant to induce stress by “requiring participants to make an interview-style presentation, followed by a surprise mental arithmetic test, in front of an interview panel who do not provide feedback or encouragement.”
Explain the details and results of the study that tested smell of romantic partner on sleep
Participants were male and females in relationhips
- Gathered t-shirts from each partner that smelled like them
- Couple was to spent 4 consecutive nights alone and to use a t-shirt as a pillow cover
- Two of those nights used the t-shirt of the partner, and the other two nights used a t-shirt that was brand new/a random persons
- Sleep efficiency measured by an actigraphy wristwatch
RESULTS:
Not much changed for male participants, but female participants, slept better when they slept with the t-shirt that smelled like their partner.
What are 3 things that influence romantic attraction?
- Contrast Effect
- The colour red
- Misattribution of Arousal
*all of these depend on context. (CONTEXT MATTERS!)
What is teh contrast effect?
The extent to which you are attracted to a person depends on the features of that person, but **also on the features of those around them. **
When there are good looking people around someone, that person is judged to be less good looking themselves (less attractive by comparison)
What is a consequence of the contrast effect?
Can influence how people perceive their own partners!
Ex. After looking at photographs of highly attractive women, men rate their own female romantic partners less favorably.
How does the colour red influence attraction?
Males find females wearing red to be more attractive compared to that exact same female wearing other colours.
The same effect happens when people are not even wearing red, but people in a red visual context/background are also perceived to be more attractive.
Does the effect of the colour red on romantic attraction replicate in other cultures?
YES
Demonstrated in Burkina Faso in Africa where photographs of women in the village were shown to men in a blue and red frame
RESULTS: men judged women in the red frame to be more attractive and more interested in dating that person.
Does red make men appear more attractive?
Maybe
Most evidence contradicts eachother.
However, some evidence that men in red are precived to have higher social status.
Does red affect positive judgements more generally (in non-romantic settings)
NO
The effects of red only really apply to romantic attraction!
Why does red have such an effect on attractiveness?
Not fully sure why.
Some evidence suggests that women in red are perceived to be more sexual receptive to romance.
Are people aware of the effect red has on their own judgements?
NO
It is subconcious
Explain the process of Misattribution of Arousal
Participate in an event that is arousing → more physiological arousal → encounter attractive person → rather than thinking your aroused from the prior event, the arousal is misattributed to the presence of the attractive person → increased romantic attraction for that person.
Example: professor teaching girlfriend how to drive.
Explain the famous study demonstrated the misattribution of arousal
Took place at the Capilano suspension bridge:
C1: man walked across suspension bridge (aroused)
C2: man walked across a small bridge (not very aroused)
After walking on bridge, they were either approached by a male or female researcher. Experimenter asked them to do this short study:
- Study presented men with a drawing and asked to describe what they thought was happening in the drawing (TAT test involves ambiguous drawings)
Researchers took the descriptions of the drawings and coded them for sexual content.
Finally, experimenter thanked them for doing the study and gave them their number if they wanted to know the outcome of the study.
RESULTS:
- Level of sexual content was much higher when approached by female experimenters after crossing high bridge
- Men were more likely to call the female experimenter after going over the bridge
What did the results from the misattribution of arousal study show from TAT image aspect?
Level of sexual content was much higher when approached by female experimenters after crossing the arousing bridge.
What did the results from the misattribution of arousal study show from phone number aspect of study?
Men were more likely to call the female experimenter (vs male experimenter) after going over the tall bridge
What is the Attractiveness Halo Effect?
People with more attractive faces leave more positive impressions
What two aspects make a attractive face attractive?
1. Symmetrical
2. Mathmatically “average” features - by blending faces together, you create a mathematically average face that is more prototypical.
What did Fancias Galton propose? Was his hypothesis right or wrong?
Hypothesized that certain groups of people have common facial characteristics (criminals vs farmers)
The combined average faces (blending) of these groups did not differenciate between groups of people, but he did find that composite (blended) images were viewed as more attractive!!
*example of how we prefer faces that are average/prototypical
Why are symmetrical faces and prototypical faces perceived to be attractive? (two reasons)
- Prototypicality is easy on the brain
- Symmetry and prorotypicality imply good health!
Why is prototypicality easy on the brain? How does it influence attractiveness?
When we see a face that is common to us, we quickly figure out what it is and have a positive response
When a face is uncommon, we don’t recognize it as common, so we have a less positive response
Class demonstration –> chair flashing on screen: protoypical chair easy for us to figure out, so we know what it is and have a more positive response.