Psychology - Social Psychology (Attraction & Motivation)

Question 1

Reward Theory of Attraction

Answer 1

• Attraction is a form of social learning.
• Relationships are seen as an ‘exchange of benefits’.
• Benefits can be emotional support, $, praise, sex, information, ect.
• We are attracted to those who give us maximum rewards at minimum costs.

Question 2

What predicts attraction?

Answer 2

• Proximity
• Similarity
• Self-disclosure
• Physical attractiveness

Question 3

Proximity

Answer 3

• Relationships form with those you have the most contact with.
• When there are two attractive options, you are more likely to make friends with the nearest one.
• Increased contact often means an increase in your liking for each other.

Question 4

Similarity

Answer 4

• People are attracted to those who are most similar to themselves.
  This includes:
  Age, race, attitudes, interests, values, social status, aspirations, experiences, and political/religious views.

Sidenote: It is “acceptable” for an older guy to date a younger woman because he is seen as the provider and also because men are fertile for their whole lives.
Women on the other hand are viewed negatively for being the older one in the relationship because they’re taking care of the man and they have limited time to reproduce.

Question 5

Self-disclosure

Answer 5

• Sharing details about yourself with another person.
• Opening up = trust is built.
• Takes time.
• Self-disclosure causes vulnerability.

Question 6

Physical Attractiveness

Answer 6

• People say that physical attractiveness doesn’t matter, but it is the biggest predictor of how well a person will be liked after one meeting!!
• Study after study shows that beauty influences how we act and judge others– both consciously and unconsciously.

Question 7

Expectations to Reward Theory of Attraction

Answer 7

• Matching Hypothesis: most people find friends/mates that are at their level of attractiveness.
• Expectancy Value Theory: people weigh the potential value of a possible relationship against their expectations of success in establishing that relationship.
• Cognitive Dissonance Theory: people are motivated to avoid conflicting cognitions (ex: values)

Question 8

Cognitive Attributions

Answer 8

• Fundamental Attribution Error: the tendency to emphasize internal causes and ignore external pressures when judging other people (calling someone an asshole for cutting you off instead of considering that they might be having an emergency)
• Self-Serving Bias: the tendency to take credit for successes and deny responsibility for failures in your own life (when you do well on a test, you don’t say, “Wow! Mrs. Tate is an amazing professor! That was a really well-worded question!”, you think you did awesome)

Question 9

Triangular Theory of Love

Answer 9

(see slide)

Question 10

Motivation

Answer 10

• All processes involved in starting, directing, and maintaining physical and psychological activates
• Involves mental processes that select and direct our behavior.
• P. 371

Question 11

Types of Motivation

Answer 11

• Drive: a motivation with a strong biological component; plays an important tole in survival or reproduction.
  ex: sex drive, hunger, thirst.
• Motive: urges that are mainly learned.
  ex: need for achievement.

Question 12

Types of Motivation

Answer 12

• Intrinsic Motivation: desire to perform an activity that comes from within
  Doing an activity because you enjoy it
  Ex: watching a movie, playing guitar
• Extrinsic Motivation: desire to perform an activity for external consequences.
  During an activity because you’ll get a reward or avoid a punishment.
  Ex: doing your chores so you don’t get grounded; busing tables because you get a pay check.

Question 13

More on Motivation

Answer 13

• Activities can have a combination of intrinsic and extrinsic motivators.
• Rewards tend to reduce intrinsic motivation = ‘over-justification’ (when an artists starts painting for a living, they might not enjoy painting anymore)
• Motives can be conscious or unconscious.
• Most things involve both drives and motives.
  Ex: Eating

Question 14

Theories of Motivation

Answer 14

• Instinct Theory
• Drive Theory
• Cognitive Theory
• Psychodynamic Theory
• Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Question 15

Instinct Theory

Answer 15

• Certain behaviors are completely determined by innate factors.
• Outdated theory (flawed)
  Ex: eating involves more than just our biological need to satisfy hunger.

Question 16

Drive Theory

Answer 16

• A biological need produces a drive which motivates an organism to act to reduce the drive level. Ex:
  Hunger –> eat –> no starving!
  Cold –> shelter –> no freezing!
• Doesn’t explain everything.
  Ex: Why people travel for fun, skydive, play with friends, ect.

Question 17

Cognitive Theory

Answer 17

• Behavior is determined by
  1) Expectations of attaining a goal
  2) Personal value of a goal
• Our locus of control (where our influences originate) determines these expectations.
• Internal locus of control (grades are a result of how hard I study)
• External locus of control (grades are a result of luck and teacher biases)

Question 18

Psychodynamic Theory (Freud)

Answer 18

• Everything is based on two instinctual drives:
  1) Sex (eros)
  2) Aggression (thanatos)