Social Connection Flashcards
What is a rich source of happiness for humans?
Social connection
Social connection is essential for both physical and psychological wellbeing.
What motivates people to share experiences with others?
Desire to forge a social connection
This motivation may exist independently of the hedonic value of the shared experience.
True or False: Participants reported a significant increase in hedonic value when sharing experiences.
False
Participants did not report a commensurate increase in hedonic value or emotional amplification.
What are the two components of the hedonic and motivational system?
- Wanting
- Liking
Wanting refers to the expectancy prior to the experience, while liking refers to the affective reaction of the actual experience.
Fill in the blank: The desire for shared experiences may be robust to immediate changes in its _______.
affective qualities
This suggests that social motivations can persist regardless of the immediate emotional outcomes.
What did Study 1 investigate regarding shared experiences?
The hedonic impact of shared experiences
It tested whether shared experiences increase enjoyment or amplify emotions.
How do shared experiences affect the enjoyment of positive and negative experiences according to Boothby and colleagues?
- Increase enjoyment of tasty foods
- Decrease enjoyment of bitter unenjoyable foods
Shared experiences can amplify both positive and negative emotions.
What is one possible reason why shared experiences are valued?
They offer opportunities for social connection
Even minimalistic contexts can present opportunities for connection.
What did Studies 2a-c test regarding shared experiences?
Whether people will continue to choose to share experiences even when they do not increase enjoyment
This explores the strength of social motives.
What was a key finding from the meta-analysis on social synchrony?
It has a small but reliably positive impact on affect
Social synchrony is a strong form of shared experience.
True or False: Individuals need to actively consider the long-term adaptive value of their social connections.
False
The drive for social connection may persist without active consideration of long-term benefits.
What types of experiences did Studies 1a-d measure?
Both positive and negative experiences
Participants shared experiences in various contexts, including lab and online settings.
Fill in the blank: The anticipation of rewards such as food or drugs corresponds to _______.
wanting
This is supported by activation in the nucleus accumbens and striatal dopaminergic systems.
What is one aphorism that supports the idea that shared experiences are more enjoyable?
“Happiness quite unshared can scarcely be called happiness; it has no taste” (Charlotte Bronte)
This reflects the sentiment that shared experiences enhance enjoyment.
What does the drive for social connection suggest about people’s behavior in minimalistic shared experiences?
People will still seek to connect even when experiences lack hedonic value
The desire to connect can outweigh the immediate emotional outcomes.
What neural regions correspond to the ‘liking’ component of the hedonic system?
- Medial orbitofrontal cortex
- Ventromedial prefrontal cortex
These regions are associated with the subjective value of achieving rewarding outcomes.
What did Study 3 explore regarding shared experiences?
The association between shared experiences and social connection
This helps explain why people persist in choosing to share experiences.
True or False: Shared experiences can amplify negative emotions more than positive ones.
True
Sharing negative experiences can make them feel worse, as shown in several studies.
