Social Psych Mid-Term #3 Chapter 9

T/F: Computer-generated images that average the features of different faces are NOT seen as more attractive than the individual faces.

FALSE, the computer-generated averaged out images are seen as more attractive.

Does reciprocity work better when someone's opinion of us stays positive? Or when it converts from positive to negative?

When it converts from positive to negative. We like others who like us and are socially selective.

T/F: When it comes to romantic relationships, opposites attract.

FALSE

"Birds of a feather flock together" or "opposites attract" which is more common?

"Birds of a feather flock together"

Two ingredients to passionate love

1) A heightened state of physiological arousal and 2) the belief that this arousal was triggered by the beloved person.

sexual orientation

A person's preference for member of the same sex (homosexuality), opposite sex, (heterosexuality) or both sexes (bisexuality)

Companionate love

A secure, trusting, stable partnership. (2)

Triangular theory of love

A theory proposing that love has three basic components: intimacy, passion, and commitment--that can be combined to produce 8 subtypes.

loneliness

A feeling of deprivation about existing social relations

reciprocity

A mutual exchange between what we give and receive--for example, liking those who like us.

Loneliest groups in American society?

Adolescents and young adults

With external threats and fear people seek?

Affiliation

Evolutionary perspective of attraction

All humans exhibit patterns of attraction and mate selection that favor the conception, birth, and survival of their offspring.

When is loneliness most likely to strike?

During times of transition or disruption (first year of college, after a break up)

Stage theories propose that close relationships go through specific stages BUT

Evidence for a fixed sequence is weak

T/F: Infants do NOT discriminate between faces considered attractive and unattractive in their culture.

FALSE

T/F: People who are physically attractive are happier and have higher self-esteem than those who are unattractive

FALSE

Three components of intimate relationships:

Feelings of attachment, fulfillment of psychological needs and interdependence

Males: Saw picture of women with the red background as more attractive

Females: Did not go with the "romantic red"

In exchange relationships, people are oriented toward reward and immediate reciprocity;

In communal relationships, partners are responsive to each other's needs.

Why do Evolutionary Psychologists say that women seek men with financial security?

In order to ensure the survival of their offspring.

Do we prefer people who are: non-selective, moderately selective, or too selective?

Moderately selective

Men tend to seek out women who are not promiscuous because

Promiscuity diminishes certainty of paternity

Stage theories:

Propose that close relationships go through specific stages, but evidence for a fixed sequence is weak

Passionate Love

Romantic love characterized by high arousal, intense attraction, and fear of rejection. (1)

Three characteristics that influence attraction:

Similarity, reciprocity, and being hard to get.

People are motivated to establish and maintain an optimum level of?

Social contact

With embarrassment people seek?

Solitude

One condition that can strongly arouse our need for affiliation is?

Stress

T/F: Contrary to popular belief, complementarity in needs or personality does not spark attraction.

TRUE

Two basic and necessary factors in the attraction process

The Proximity Effect The Mere Exposure Effect

what-is-beautiful-is-good stereotype

The belief that physically attractive individuals also posses desirable personality characteristics.

Commitment

The cognitive component, which reflects the decision to make a long term commitment to a loved partner

need for affiliation

The desire to establish and maintain many rewarding interpersonal relationships

Intimacy

The emotional component, which involves liking and feelings of closeness

Passion

The motivational component, which contains drives that trigger attraction, romances and sexual desire.

Mere exposure Effect

The phenomenon whereby the more often people are exposed to a stimulus, the more positively they evaluate that stimulus. Familiarity breeds attraction.

excitation transfer

The process whereby arousal caused by one stimulus is added to arousal from a second stimulus and the combined arousal is attributed to the second stimulus.

matching hypothesis

The proposition that people are attracted to others who are similar in physical attractiveness

The Proximity Effect

The single best predictor of whether two people will get together is physical proximity or nearness. (IE where we live influences our friends and who we date) Proximity does not necessarily spark attraction.

hard-to-get-effect

The tendency to prefer people who are highly selective in their social choices over those who are readily available.

Men seek women who are young and attractive because

These are attributes that signal health and fertility

T/F: After the honeymoon period, there is an overall decline in levels of marital satisfaction

True

T/F: Men are more likely than women to interpret friendly gestures by the opposite sex in sexual terms

True

T/F: People seek out the company of others, even strangers, in times of stress

True

T/F: Perceptions of facial beauty are largely consistent across cultures?

True

People facing an imminent threat seek each other out in order to gain?

cognitive clarity

An exclusive homosexual orientation is rare among humans and other animals, what is more common?

homosexual behaviors

Arousal intensifies emotional reactions both:

positive and negative

People with secure attachment styles have more...

satisfying romantic relationships than do those with insecure (anxious or avoidant) styles

Loving

the kind of feeling you would have for a romantic partner

Liking

the type of feeling you would have for a platonic friend