Socio explanations of formation of human relationships (Levine et al & Zajonc)

Question 1

Define attraction

Answer 1

The interest in and liking of one individual by another, or the mutual interest and liking. A positive view of the person, based on shared experiences or physical characteristics

Question 2

What does the sociocultural approach look for?

Answer 2

Terms/theories:

• Cultural dimensions: Individualism vs collectivism
• Globalization and cultural differences / norms

What does the sociocultural approach look for?
→ The sociocultural approach looks at the role of our environment and culture upon how we form relationships. Culture and our environment can set different expectations of how relationships form and maintain…

Question 3

Define Cultural Dimensions: Individualism vs. Collectivism

Answer 3

→ The culture we live in dictates our expectations of relationship formation and maintenance - whether a culture values the individual or the group (individualism - importance on the rights and concerns of one person, whereas collectivism stresses importance on community)

→ Collectivism prioritizes the group - long-term relationships are essential to that, whereas individualistic societies value individual choice and personal freedom

Question 4

Define Zajonc’s Mere Exposure Theory

Answer 4

we like those we are around more we like things that we see repeatedly (the more we see something/someone the more we like it/them) therefore familiarity plays a role in determining who and what we like

Question 5

Thesis for Sociocultural Formation of Human Relationships

Answer 5

Both Cultural Dimensions (differences in individualism vs. collectivism) and Zajonc’s Mere Exposure Theory supports the role of attraction in the formation of human relationships.

Question 6

Levine et al Aim

Answer 6

Wanted to investigate the importance placed on love in a marriage in 11 different cultures (both individualist vs. collectivist societies)

Question 7

Levine et al Method

Answer 7

1. 500 male and 700 female students of liberal arts in cities from eleven countries
2. Questionnaire on the importance of romantic love- examined individualism/collectivism, their economic status, marriage and family statistics

Question 8

Levine et al Findings

Answer 8

Individualistic countries were much more likely to rate love as essential for the establishment of marriage and the disappearance of love as a sufficient reason for ending marriage. When asked if they would marry someone who had everything they desired, participants from the collectivist cultures were more likely to say yes, even if they weren’t in love

Higher importance to love = nations with higher marriage rates, lower fertility rates, and higher divorce rates

Question 9

Levine et al Link

Answer 9

Strong cross-cultural differences in the perceived importance of love as a prerequisite for establishing and maintaining marriages. Highly individualistic cultures tend to prioritize personal autonomy and self-expression, which may explain the emphasis on one’s happiness (love). Collectivistic cultures tend to prioritize social harmony and interdependence, which may explain one’s appeal to finding one who can provide — sustenance.

Question 10

Levine et al Strengths

Answer 10

• Cross-cultural comparison
• Large sample

Critical thinking: methodological considerations

• provide relatively cheap, quick, and efficient ways of obtaining large amounts of information from a large sample of people
• respondents may lie due to social desirability
• correlation is not and cannot be taken to imply causation. Even if there is a very strong association between two variables we cannot assume that one causes the other, thus meaning that there is low internal validity
• allows the researcher to investigate naturally occurring variables that may be unethical or impractical to test experimentally
• allows the researcher to clearly and easily see if there is a relationship between variables

Question 11

Levine et al Weaknesses

Answer 11

• Potential of bias as they were students
• Doesn’t represent all subpopulations of country

Question 12

Zajonc (1971) Mere Exposure Effect

Answer 12

The general hypothesis that repeated exposure of the individual to a stimulus is a sufficient condition for the enhancement of his attitude toward it

Question 13

Zajonc Aim

Answer 13

to see if proximity would increase the likelihood of liking someone

Question 14

Zajonc Method

Answer 14

Researchers asked participants to evaluate photos of strangers.

Some were shown repeatedly during the experiment.

Asked to rate how much they would like the stranger on a scale.

Question 15

Zajonc Findings

Answer 15

Strangers who were shown more frequently were rated more positively, and their rating of likeability increased compared to a person who was shown only once.

Question 16

Zajonc Link

Answer 16

Zajonc argues that their mere exposure effect increases a sense of trust and falsely tricks someone to think more positively and hence feel attracted to an individual the more often they are seen.

Question 17

Zajonc Strengths

Answer 17

Highly controlled environment → high internal validity (researchers operationalized the frequency of participants being exposed to the photo, empirically)

Question 18

Zajonc Weaknesses

Answer 18

Lacks ecological validity - further research should be done into the mere exposure effect, therefore, a field experiment or naturalistic observation may be used. Furthermore, there is limited cross cultural validity (lacks generalizability).

Question 19

Limitations of sociocultural approach:

Answer 19

Cultural trends and expectations of relationships may be a response to biological standards in a community eg. “physical health” may be more important in a mate depending on the importance of offspring in a community. Difficult to separate from biological and cognitive approaches.

Question 20

Bio Counterclaim (Buss et al)

Answer 20

Evolutionary factors → Darwin’s evolutionary theory and sexual selection: Darwin claims that all human behaviour is a product of natural selection (ie. the best adapted or fittest individuals survive to mate to pass their genes). This process of selection is split into…

• Intersexual selection: members of one sex (usually females) choose members of the other sex based on a defining characteristic – choosier with a mate as they have to produce fit offspring… supporting the Parental Investment Theory
• Intrasexual selection: Competition within one sex (usually males) to be the “strongest” – to be able to pass on their genes to the female

Buss

AIM: Test 3 evolution based assumptions in a large cross-cultural sample

1. Men search for women with high reproductive value (youth and looks)
2. Women search for men who invest in offspring – with resources he can provide
3. Chastity valued

METHOD:

1. 37 samples from 33 countries with 10,000 participants – samples were collected from different techniques
2. Each sample asked to complete 2 surveys (1. Biographical data, what age do you prefer to marry? How many children? 2. How important characteristics are on a 4-point scale in terms of desirability)

FINDINGS:

1. 36/37 Women valued “Good financial prospects” valued wealth and security
2. Men preferred more fertile, younger women
3. Males value physical attractiveness

LINK: Supports evolutionary explanations of human behavior as males and females have specific preferences for mates, otherwise known as selective advantages are more appealing – supports parental investment theory, women prioritize men who are rich and can attribute to the success of the offspring

STRENGTHS:

• Good reliability of data because of large number of participants – cross-cultural
• High ecological validity – how generalizable to real life settings - Questionnaires were sent to a diverse set of real participants from the population with translation

WEAKNESSES:

• Low internal validity due to questionnaire (prone to social desirability bias / self-reporting)
• No cause and effect relationship

Question 21

Sociocultural Explanation of formation of human relationships conclusion

Answer 21

→ The sociocultural approach argues that environmental and cultural factors play a key role in our relationships.

→ However, this argument is difficult to separate from the biological and cognitive approaches.

→ it is important not to see relationships through only one lens. It is clear that an interactionist approach is necessary – involving biological, cognitive and sociocultural factors.