Midterm Lectures Flashcards
Relationship Science:
Understand how people think, feel, and behave in close relationships using the scientific method
What are 2 reasons we study friends and lovers?
- They are an integral part of our daily lives
2. They provide health benefits
Social Psychology:
to understand and explain thought, feeling and behaviour of individuals are influenced by the actual, imagined or implied presence of other human beings
the original focus of social psychology was on studying _____
groups and how they operate
When did social psychology emerge?
~1908
Who is considered the father of experimental social psychology? Why?
Floyd Allport
He started focusing on how individuals operated in groups
Dyadic =
A pair of people
When Kurt Lewin combined the individualist approach with the group minded traditions, were dyadic relationships focused on?
No, groups were still the focus
In the 60’s when dyadic relationships started to be researched, what was the focus of studies?
How relationships start
Who were 2 notable early female relationship researchers?
Ellen Beracheid
Elaine Hatfield
What types of structural changes in the 80’s helped relationship science
Journals were created and conferences were held
In the 80’s the focus of relationship science shifted from attraction to: (2)
- Maintenance of relationships
2. Termination of relationships
Why did termination of relationships become the focus of research in the 80s?
Because divorce rates were increasing
Relationships maintenance focuses not on the amount of time spent with ones partner but:
the quality of the time
In the 2000’s what was the big movement in psychology?
the positive psychology movement
What are the 3 main research areas in relationship science?
- Evolutionary
- Interdependence
- Attachment
What main theory did the evolutionary perspective arise from
Natural selection
What role do relationships play according to the evolutionary perspective?
They play a special role in enhancing fitness
What are the 2 mechanisms for survival according to Darwin?
Natural and sexual selection
Sexual selection focuses on reproducing in 2 forms
- Through competition between same-sex rivals for access to mates
- Through choice, traits viewed as more attractive will be selected for
What is an example of “peacocking” in humans?
Dancing
According to evolutionary theory, our behaviour in intimate relationships is rooted in our:
ancestral past
Interdependence:
extent to which interacting persons influence one another (thoughts, feelings, motives, behaviour)
The economic model of relationships centres on:
the rewards and costs exchanged between couple members
What are rewards and costs defined by in the economic model?
People’s expectations
E.g. Comparison level
(Affections, activities, mutual friends)
The investment model relates to why we should ___ in a relationship
stay
According to the interdependece theory, behaviour in relationships is determined by:
Our interactions with other people which are based on interpersonal marketplace principles
What are the 2 central questions to the interdependence model?
- What are the rewards and costs of being with a person?
2. Are there better alternatives
Attachment theory:
The intimate relationships we form in our adult lives are shaped by the natures of our bonds with our primary caregivers in infancy and early childhood
Which theory states that our behaviour in intimate relationships is rooted in our pasts (childhood)
Attachment theory
What are the 2 assumptions of attachment theory?
- Humans have evolved an attachment behavioural system
2. Working models (schemas) are the way that early experiences are linked to adulthood (attachment styles)
What is an attachment behavioural system?
A set of behaviours and reactions that will promote survival of the child (staying close to mom = protection)
What was the important finding of the Harry Harlow study?
The importance of contact comfort in love
> When in distress, we cling to the primary care giver
3 point summary on the theories of close relationships:
- They have evolutionary roots
- They are based on market place principles
- They are based on early childhood experiences
What 4 ways can research questions arise?
- theory
- personal experience
- previous research
- social problems
What are the 4 ways of knowing?
Experience
Intuition
Authority (listen to someone else)
Scientific method
Which way of knowing is based on measuring variables?
Scientific method
3 general ways to measure variables
Self report
Behavioural
Physiological
What is a benefit and a downside of behavioural observation measurement?
Benefit: Get more authentic reactions
Down side: The environments are fake so behaviours might not reflect real world situations
4 examples of physiological testing
Heart rate
fMRI
Cortisol testing kit
Skin conductance
What is an up side and a down side of physiological testing?
Upside: accurate
Downside: can be expensive and not natural
Is it bad if a psychologist measures a construct by only one method?
No, because other labs will research the concept other ways
To answer the research questions, researchers come up with a:
hypothesis
What is the most common type of sample?
a convenience sample
What are the 2 main research designs?
Correlational and experimental
What is a correlational design?
It assesses the association between two variables without manipulation
What type of design is the most used?
correlational
What is an experimental research strategy?
Assesses the cause and effect relations between variables while controlling for extraneous variables
What are the 3 key features of a true experiment?
- Manipulation of the independent variable
- Measurement of the dependent variable
- Control of extraneous variables
How many levels does the independent variable have?
2 or more
Which comes first, the IV or the DV?
IV
What does it mean to control for extraneous variables?
Isolate the IV and DV and control for everything else (as much as possible)
What were the 2 IV of the Attraction in the Lab Paradigm??
- Similar to the stranger
2. Dissimilar to the stranger
What were the DV of the Attraction in the Lab Paradigm?
A self reported measure of attraction to the other person based on their survey answers
What were the 3 controlled extraneous variables of the Attraction in the Lab Paradigm
- Age and education status
- Matched gender
- Physical attractiveness (never actually met them)
What were the 3 IV in the VR Attachment Lab Study
- Attentive partner
- Inattentive partner
- Absent partner
What were the 2 DV in the VR Attachment Lab Study
- Self reported stress during the task
- feelings of security during the task
What extraneous variables were controlled for during the VR Attachment in the Lab study
- Same virtual environment
- all had romantic partner in lab
Why do most studies use more than one IV
1 IV is seen as simple and may not yield all the answers the researcher desires
What is a factorial design
The manipulation of 2 or more IV
Do scientists usually only do one study on a topic?
No, often they will do multiple studies on the same topic and across multiple labs
Why do scientists make their research public?
Allows for others to critique the work
Why is the scientific method the best way to conduct research? (4)
- Experience and intuition can be biased
- You may miss things if you are just basing it on experience
- Need a comparison group
- People who claim authority may not be experts in that area
What foundational school of thought shaped the basic assumption of the study of interpersonal attraction?
Behaviourism
What is the underlying assumption of interpersonal attraction?
That we are attracted to others that are rewarding
Direct rewards
Noticable
>being nice to someone, attractiveness)
Indirect rewards
Outside out awareness
>name sounds like yours, nice smell
What type of psychology is indirect rewards linked to
Evolutionary psychology
What are the 5 main pillars of attraction?
- Proximity (propinquity)
- Similarity
- Reciprocity
- Personality
- Physical appearance
We are most likely to form relationships with people who are physically ___ to us
Close
Dorm room friendship study
- Students were randomly assigned to dorm rooms
- Checked who they were friends with 3 months later
Results: Chances of being friends was related to the distance between the rooms
What was the classroom seating proximity study examining?
Whether randomly assigned physical proximity on the first day of class would affect friendship formation and attraction
What was the IV in the classroom proximity study
Proximity
What was the DV of the classroom proximity study
The intensity of liking/friendship of other people when asked a year later
What were the results of the classroom proximity study
Sitting close to someone leads to greater friendship intensity
Why might proximity increase attraction?
More opportunities to interact
Interacting becomes more effortless, and makes you think you like them
Mere exposure effect:
Being exposed to something (relatively neutral) can make it intrinsically reinforcing over time
When can the mere exposure effect be untrue?
If you don’t like someone
If you become “sick” of them
3 proposed reasons for the mere exposure effect
- The person is deemed to be harmless so it is safe to be close to them (evolutionary)
- Familiar stimuli are processes more fluently tend to be experiences in a positive manner (availability heuristic)
- Classical Conditioning
What was the design of the mere exposure effect experiment with female confederates in the classroom
4 female confederates went to a class either 0, 5, 10 or 15 times, without interacting with anyone. Then other students in the class were asked to rate pictures of the women on their attractiveness
Dependent variables of the mere exposure female confederates study
At the end of the semester, other students rated the women on:
Attraction
Similarity
Familiarity
What were the results of the mere exposure female confederates study
The confederates who attended more classes were rates as more attractive and similar (weak findings for familiar)
» Supports mere exposure effect
What were the results of the study where a pair of same-gendered participants were either given either 2 or 6 discussion points
In the 2 card condition the mean level attraction was significantly lower than the 6 card condition
Increased interaction leads to increased ____
attraction
In the study of varying numbers of internet chat room chats, what were the findings?
The greater the amount of chats, the greater the attraction
|»_space; Theory is that the more you chat the more familiar you are
What aspects of similarity make us especially like people, when they share our:
Attitudes, values and backgrounds
Do opposites attract?
Little evidence to support that
In the study where people were given fabricated information about another person that were either similar or dissimilar to them, what were the results?
People given bogus info that the stranger was similar (vs dissimilar) gave higher ratings of interpersonal attraction
In the study were participants were given a paper with a code that was similar to their birthday or not testing attraction, what were the results
People randomly assigned to the similar code condition gave higher ratings of attraction than people in the dissimilar conditon
what type of a reward promotes liking a code similar to your birthday
Indirect award
Is it actual similarity or perceived similarity that promotes the most liking?
Perceived similarity
Why do we like people who are similar to us?
Validating (makes us feel right)
Easier to get along with
We like others who like us, especially when it seems to be contingent on our ______
behaviour
What was the result of the study with stranger same sex pairs interacting with each other
Those who were led to believe that they were liked self-disclosed more, disagreed less, had a more positive tone than those who believed they were disliked
What underlying thing might lead us to like others who we think like us?
A self fulfilling prophecy (act better towards them and thus they treat you better and you like them more)
What was the result of the study were opposite sex pairs engaged in a variety of tasks that were either humorous or not. What was the result?
Increased humour use during the task was associated with increased liking for the person
> Reciprocal liking partly explained the relation between humour and liking
How does humour promote liking?
Laughter is a cue that the person is reacting well towards you
We like others with ____ traits
positive
What were found to be the most likeable traits (10)
sincerity honesty understanding loyalty truthfulness trustworthiness intelligence dependable open-minded thoughtful
Pratfall effect:
Although we like people with positive personality traits, we are even more attracted to people with wonderful qualities who have a few endearing flaws
Are all flaws endearing?
No, cannot be a terrible flaw
What is physically attractiveness important for?
Initial attraction
In a study were people were told they were matched with a date with a similar person to go to a dance, but they were actually just randomly assigned, what were the results?
Physical attractiveness was the only predictor for desire for future interaction
What was the hypothesis in the speed dating study for mate preferences based on evolutionary theory?
Males would value physical attractiveness in a mate
Females would value earning prospects more in a mate
In terms of intentions to meet the person again, what were the findings of the speed dating study?
Physical attractiveness for both men AND women was one of the strongest determinants of mate interest
In a pre-test before the speed dating event, what did men and women indicate their ideal mate to be like
The hypothesis was correct:
Men gave higher ratings for physical attractiveness
Women gave higher ratings for earning prospects
Matching hypothesis
On the dating market, people assess their own self-worth and select partners whose social desirability approx equals their own
In a study that assessed the matching hypothesis in terms of who people reach out to on dating sites, what were the results
People tended to contact others who were MORE attractive than they were
Even though people reached out to people who are more attractive than them on dating sites, what is the attractiveness level of they people’s whose request they accepted?
They were more similar in attractiveness
Why does it seem that people are more likely to try to pair up with people who have a similar level of attractiveness as them?
Because they are afraid of rejection
