Section 7: Affilaiation and Friendship

Question 1

Who is a friend?

Answer 1

affectionate relationship but not intimate/romantic partner
voluntary
similarity
equality
trust
can be yourself

Question 2

What is a domain general theory? What are the two examples of domain-general theories that we talked about?

Answer 2

explain all behavior
Reinforcement affect model: motivated to affiliate with and come to like those we affiliate with positive feelings
Social exchange theory: motivate and affiliate with people who allow us to maximize our benefits and minimize costs

Question 3

What is a domain specific theory? What 4 specific domains did we discuss as motivations for affiliation & friendship?

Answer 3

why outcome may vary from 1 domain to the other

1. social support
2. getting info
3. gaining status
4. exchanging material benefits

Question 4

What is social support?

Answer 4

emotional, informational, on material assistance provided by others

Question 5

What needs does social support satisfied? What gender differences exist in seeking social support, and why (be specific: with the hormones are involved in the biological explanation?)?

Answer 5

Women= Tend and befriend, release oxytocin when stress, agreeable, empathy
Men= fight or flight, release androgen, releases aggression

Question 6

Social support is positively correlated with longer and happier lives – what’s that about?

Answer 6

wards off loneliness and isolation

loneliness and depression lead to sleep issues, drug and alcohol abuse, mortality

Question 7

Why/how does friendship and affiliation contribute to getting information?

Answer 7

need to validate our view of the world and of ourselves
need to be accurate
-social comparison
-self-disclosure

Question 8

What is self-disclosure

Answer 8

share intimate info about self

Question 9

how does self-disclosure vary between men and women? Under what circumstances are people likely to self-disclose

Answer 9

women = more likely to
benefits = mutual. then satisfaction with relationship
risks: betrayal, lack of privacy

Question 10

. Gaining status is another motivation for affiliation & friendship. In what types of situations would we want to seek to gain status? What cultural differences exist? What gender differences exist?

Answer 10

-work place, middle school
cultural differences: US- like people on same level, Japan- like people higher
-men=more about gaining status, respect
women=more social support, affection

Question 11

. What is social exchange theory? (Thibault & Kelley, 1959). What four types of social exchange did we talk about in class? Be sure that you can identify these types of exchange.

Answer 11

Friendships and relationships motivated by general desire to maximize rewards and minimize costs

1. communal sharing
2. authority ranking
3. equity
4. market pricing

Question 12

. Equity theory (Walster et al., 1978) is a specific type of social exchange. How does equity theory explain satisfaction in relationships?

Answer 12

happiest when relationships are equitable

ratio is costs/benefits = 1

Question 13

Equity is different from equality: how?

Answer 13

equity= give more, draw more benefits

Question 14

People whose benefits > costs are overbenefited, people whose benefits

Answer 14

communal: best friend
exchange: aquatints and business associates