exam #3 psychology

role of similarity in attraction

- 'Birds of a feather flock together' - or - 'opposites attract' - Think about visiting online with someone similar - or dissimilar. Who do you want to meet? - Research = people tend to associate with others similar to them - ConservativeMatch.com, LiberalHearts.com, Jdate.com, ChristianCafe.com - Demographic similarity - Similarity in attitudes - Similarity in physical attractiveness - Similarity in experience [I-share]

guns as situational cues

- Bartholow et al. [2005]: hunters and non-hunters differ in gun perception - o Hunters associate hunting guns with pleasure, not aggression - o Non-hunters exposed to hunting guns had more aggressive thoughts & behaved more aggressively - o HOWEVER, exposure to assault guns made hunters think / act more aggressively than non-hunters - Weapons effect testosterone levels in men - Jennifer Klinesmith et al [2006]: male subjects handled either a handgun or children's game for 15 minutes - o Testosterone levels were higher in gun subjects - o Later, subjects given chance to aggress by putting hot sauce in water another subject was to drink - o Greater testosterone = more hot sauce

Differentiate types of relationship attachments and how they affect relationships

- Based on Mary Ainsworth, John Bowlby and others - Secure: 'I find it relatively easy to get close to others and am comfortable depending on them and have them depend on me. I don't often worry about being abandoned or someone getting too close' [56%] - Avoidant: 'I am somewhat uncomfortable being close to others; I find it hard to trust them completely and hard to allow myself to depend on others. I am nervous when anyone gets too close and often partners want me to be more close than I am comfortable being' [23%] - Anxious: 'I find that others are reluctant to get close as I would like. I often worry that my partner doesn't really love me or won't want to stay with me. I want to merge completely with another person, and this sometimes scares people away' [21%] Lee's Styles of Love - Primary Love Styles - o Eros (erotic love) - o Ludus (game-playing, uncommitted love) [+m] - o Storge (friendship love) [+w] - Secondary Love Styles - o Mania (demanding and possessive love) [+w] - o Pragma (pragmatic love) [+w] - o Agape (other-oriented, altruistic love)

evolutionary perspective in mate selection, What are the theorized differences in what women and men seek?

- David Buss [2003]: The Evolution of Desire - Mate selection world-wide favors conception, birth, survival of offspring - Men and women by nature must differ in their optimal mating behaviors - o Women must be highly selective because they are biologically limited in the number of children they can bear and raise in a lifetime - [must protect children, seek older men who are financially set] - o Men can father an unlimited number of children and ensure their reproductive success by inseminating many women - [attracted to physical beauty = fertility, pursue women who will be faithful so paternity is not an issue]

factors that may increase the need for affiliation

- In celebration [team victories, goals accomplished]o - - Stress [anxiety and fear situations] [neighbors who never said hello = friendly after a storm]

Location and Helping

- More help in a big city or small town? small town - Milgram: cities produce 'stimulus overload' - Big city folks = heterogeneous groups = less help due to reduced empathy + greater anonymity - Research: urban settings produce less help than rural settings - Greater economic well being of a city = more help - Robert Levine et al. [2008] tested 24 US cities with 'pen drop,' 'limping magazine dropper,' and request for a quarter - Results

the effects of stress on need for affiliation

- Schachter [1959] subject about to get shocked chose to wait with similar others [misery loves miserable company] - Zimbardo [1961] subjects about to be embarrassed chose to wait alone - Difference: fear vs. embarrassment? - Yacov Rofé suggests 'utility' is the answero We only seek others under stress when they can help us reduce negative impact of the situation - o We seek 'cognitive clarity' from similar others [patients awaiting open heart surgery prefer rooming with others in same condition]

Aggression as Catharsis

- Some suggest that aggression helps to 'blow off steam' or promote catharsis - Research has generally not supported this - o Observing / imagining aggressing increases arousal and aggression [not reducing them] - o Aggression can 'feel good' therefore reward and continue aggression - o Screaming or hitting a punching bag may feel good to people who 'believe in' catharsis - o Low levels of aggression may loosen restraints against further aggression - Better methods?: dissipating over time, creating an incompatible response like distracting with laughter - Research: catharsis = more likely to stoke up aggression, not extinguish it

What are the costs related to beauty?

- ex: marilyn monroe - Attractive people can't tell if they are liked because of their talent or beauty - o Brenda Major [1984]: M-F subjects saw self as attractive vs. unattractive, wrote essay while being 'observed' or not, all got positive ratings on essay - unattractive = accepted praise as genuine - attractive = believed praise came from their looks - Pressure to maintain beautiful status - o Surgeries, extreme diets & exercise, eating disorders, steroids - o Women are more likely to suffer this pressure of the 'modern mania for slenderness' [Polivy] - o Studies: girls / women shown slim model photos more negatively rate their own bodies - o The thinness image may be set early in life - o Barbie to Human Comparison

In what ways are we 'blinded by beauty?

- we derive pleasure from being round pretty people [like scenery] - o fMRI: men shown pretty people = activity in brain areas related to food, money, drugs and sex rewards - o The magic 'rubs off' on us: average looking people are seen as more attractive when near attractive people, and less around unattractive people - o Beauty [and Ugly] Rubs Off - What-is-beautiful-is-good' stereotype: the belief that physically attractive people also posses desirable personality characteristicsInfluences: - o Stories like Cinderellao Movie character study [1940s - 1990s] - o Study: subjects shown film clip of strong vs. weak link between beauty and virtue - 'Separate study' = subjects rated equal grad school applications with attractive vs. average photos - Results = those who saw 'beautiful is good' clip more highly rated the attractive applicant ? - Good looking people are judged to be: smarter, more successful, well adjusted, socially skilled, confident, assertive - but vain - Are these perceptions true? - Only to a limited extent - o More friends, better social skills, more active sex life, better at attracting a mate - o But NOT related to intelligence, personality, adjustment or self esteem

Differentiate how women and men differ in terms of aggression, and note relevant findings

Across all cultures: men are more violent - In US, 90% murderers, 79% victims = male - o Similar across other violent cultures - o Female school shooters = virtually non-existent - o Boys ages 1- 6 more aggressive than girls - Males - females equal in experience of anger - Males are more physically aggressive - o Females equally aggressive but in different ways - o "Boys may use their fists to fight, but it's over quickly; girls use their tongues, and it goes on forever" [Galen & Underwood, 1997] - o Males = more overtly aggressive, females = indirectly aggressive [intent to cause social harm] - Norms regarding males / females and physical violence - o This finding is generally consistent among different cultures - Sexual orientation: gay men less physically aggressive, but equal to straight men in indirect aggression

more on aggression

Aggression can result from: noise, crowding, physical pain, threats to self-esteem, jealousy, social rejection, bad odors, your team losing a big game - Negative affect = bad feelings - Negative affect = linked to provocation and aggression

Is aggression learned?

Aggression is strongly affected by learning - o Rewards & punishments both affect aggression - o Punishment only reduces aggression when immediate, strong, and consistent [not likely in real world] - Does corporal punishment reduce aggression? - o Elizabeth Gershoff [2002] meta-analysis, 60 years, 36000 subjects = strong evidence for positive correlation between aggression as child or adult, anti-social acts, and adult criminal behavior - o Caveat: corporal punishment = less likely to correlate with later aggression when given in context of a loving parent-child relationship - Reminder: this research is correlational

Understand how cultures differ in aggression

Aggression varies between cultures both in amount and type - USA = decrease in violent crime [but still high] - US murder rate is among highest - US violent crimes [murder, rape, assault] among highest Individualist cultures tend to have higher rates of aggression and violent crime - o IC = less concerned with social harmony and avoidance of open conflict [supported by study] - US is particularly high in gun violence, especially among males [70% murders = guns, 79% murder victims = male] - Overall violent crime in US lower than England, murder rate is higher - US violence = toward individuals [not groups] - Attitudes toward violence vary [OK to slap wife?] - o US = high disapproval of 'slap wife,' and yet domestic violence is high in US - Definitions of aggression vary [Japanese men groping school girls on public transportation = 'OK' there] - Bullying happens around the world [5 - 90% estimates] - o Results: depression, anxiety, retaliation [school shooters] - Non-violent cultures - o The Chewong have no words for fighting, aggression or warfare - o In US, Amish and Mennonites are generally non-violent [2006 massacre] - Teens and young adults, intra vs. interracial, African American males, [AA = 13% population, 49% victims, 93% intra-racial, regionally = South #1, West #2

effects of alcohol

Alcohol lowers inhibitions against aggression - Increases aggression even in persons not normally aggressive - Alcohol Myopia: responding to initial salient social cues while missing subtle social cues

What are the rewards for helping others?

Another reason we help: it's rewarding - People are most likely to help when rewards seem high and costs seem low [consider the reverse] - Cost-benefit analysis appears both in deliberate helping decisions and emergency helping as well - Arousal : Cost-Reward Model: people react in emergency situations by acting in cost effective ways that reduce arousal of shock and alarm Helping Others = Feeling Good - Helping improves mental and physical health - Rilling et al. [2002]: brain scans of women playing prisoners dilemma, mutual cooperation = activity in reward centers - o Could have earned more $ but chose to cooperate - Rewards of helping are sometimes delayed [textbook example: parent putting aside a relaxed evening to help child with homework] - Children learn that helping = rewards - o Shift from extrinsic to intrinsic motivation to help - Dear Abby: 'The surest way to forget your own troubles is to do something nice for those less fortunate. The adrenaline rush you'll get is more powerful than speed and the high is perfectly legal' - Negative State Relief Model: people help others in order to counteract / improve their own bad mood Helping Others = Being Good - Helping because 'it's the right thing to do' - 'Being good' actions may be triggered by social norms to 'do the right thing' - Examples: - o NYC Ladder Company 6 & Josephine Harris - o 'Sully' Sullenberger and US Air Flight 1549 - Acts may be triggered by norms, but also can make helpers 'feel good' as well

Differentiate the altruistic and egoist motives for helping and make note of research findings

Are helping behaviors always egoistic and motivated by selfishness / conformity? - Or are we ever truly altruistic and motivated to increase the welfare of others? - Most helping behaviors can be interpreted as egoistic - volunteer work, helping homeless, donating blood, risking life for a stranger - Daniel Batson says some behaviors are truly altruistic and empathy plays a key role

Whom do people help?

Attractive people - Physically attractive people are more likely to receive help - o Asking for directions on campus - o Playing a competitive vs. cooperative game - o Requesting money in an emergency - Why? - o Hoping to develop a relationship with person? - o Gueguen [2007]: large breasts & smiles = more help - Attractiveness effect works even anonymously - o Benson [1976] items + 'photo' left in airport phone booth - Received more 'mail' when photo was of attractive person - Interpersonal attractiveness also gets help

altruistic personality and related the findings

Can we predict the altruistic personality from looking at the overall personality? - Consider the cases of: Oskar Schindler, Bill Gates, Bono, Ted Turner, Dikembe Mutombo, Mother Teresa - Research has failed to produce concrete traits - o Two most common traits: empathy [perspective taking] and advanced moral reasoning - o Moral reasoning [cold] + empathy [hot] = helping behavior [Paul Miller et al. 1996]o Midlarsky & Fagin-Jones: contrasted 'non-Jewish Holocaust heroes' with non-helping Holocaust bystanders = empathetic concern + moral reasoning was the difference

role of cognition and aggression

Cognition: Automatic and Deliberate Guns as Situational Cues - Guns are simply instruments of aggression - people pull the trigger - Leonard Berkowitz: hypothesized that weapons act as a situational cue and increase aggression - Berkowitz & LePage [1967]: confederate provoked male subjects, subjects later given chance to shock confederate, pistol & rifle vs. badminton racquets present - o Stronger shocks delivered when guns were present

two major components of empathy

Cognitive: 'perspective taking' Emotional: 'empathic concern'

heat and aggression

Craig Anderson et al [2000] and others have found ample support that heat is linked to increased aggression [People 'lose their cool' when it gets hot] - Peaking in the summer: violent crimes, homicides, assaults, rapes, riots, uprisings - Summer vs. winter, hot years vs. cooler ones, hotter cities vs. cooler ones - Indirect aggression increases, too - Examples: - o People interpret ambiguous events more hostilely - o Honk horn longer while driving in a non-A/C car - o MLB pitchers more likely to hit a batter - In the US, recall South and West = more aggression

the 'Five Steps to Helping

Darley & Latané's Five Steps to Helping in an Emergency - Notice that something has happened - o Self-absorption and distractions may interfere - Interpret event as an emergency - o Ambiguity, victim-attacker relationship - o Pluralistic Ignorance = others not reacting [can happen in classroom] - Latané & Darley [1968] 'smoke in the room' study; o Diffusion of Responsibility = others will or should take responsibility and help [can only happen with others present] - Decide to help - o Competence = take action; if not competent = call for help - Provide help - o Audience Inhibition = fear of making a bad impression on audience

evolutionary perspective on helping and the research findings that support it

Doesn't risking self to help others contradict evolutionary principles of 'survival of the fittest?' - Doesn't helping others decrease the chances of survival? - Evolutionary theory emphasizes both survival of the fittest and of the individual's genes - One can promote survival of genes by helping those with whom one shares genes - o 'kin selection' - Seen in animals like squirrels, monkeys, other mammals, birds who warn of predators at risk to self [and lemurs who mob attacking snakes]

arousal

Emotions [positive or negative] influence aggression, but so does arousal - Recall the concept of excitation transfer from chapter on attraction - o Men found women more attractive while exercising [exercise is emotionally neutral, though] - o Zillman [1983, 2003] found exercise arousal can increase aggression [and noise, violent movies, arousing music] - People expect heat to lower arousal but it tends to increase it [and aggression] - o People may misattribute heat arousal for anger

What is meant by empathy?

Empathy: understanding or vicariously experiencing another person's perspective and feeling sympathy, compassion for the person - Two key components: - o Cognitive: 'perspective taking' - o Emotional: 'empathic concern' - [contrast with 'personal distress' = self-oriented anxiety reactions to persons in need of help] Are infants or young chimps capable of perspective taking? - Warneken & Tomasello [2006]: 18 month old infants placed with experimenter who faked need for help [reaching for object], 22 of 24 helped experimenter [infants understood need for help] - o Experimenter never requested help - o Experimenter never praised infants for helping - o For each 'helping' task, experimenter created a non-help prompt task [throwing item on floor, not reaching] - Infants rarely offered help - o Infants understood experimenter was trying to achieve a goal [therefore had empathy] - o Similar results with young chimpanzees [& fight empathy]

evolutionary theory accounts for aggression, but focus more on the info on genetics

Evolutionary perspective: warriors or pacifists - which ultimately wins? - o Many argue the warrior will attract more mates, be accepted in ingroups and preserve genes best - ...therefore passing on 'aggressive' gene stock

what are the types of aggression?

Forms: physical, verbal (spiteful comments, rumors), acts of omission or failure to act - o Violence: extreme acts of aggression - o Anger: strong feelings of displeasure, irritation - o Hostility: a negative, antagonistic attitude toward an individual or group - Instrumental Aggression: inflicting harm in order to benefit or obtain something of value - Emotional Aggression: inflicting harm for it's own sake [heat of the moment, 'hot' or 'cold'] - o Hard to distinguish the two - some believe all aggression is instrumental

frustration-aggression hypothesis

Frustration: Aggression as a Drive - Dollard's 1939 Frustration and Aggression - - - - - - - - Frustration - Aggression Hypothesis: - o Frustration [interrupting progress toward a desired goal] will always elicit a motive to aggress - o All aggression is caused by frustration - Just as food deprivation creates a hunger drive, frustration elicits an aggressive drive - Displacement: aggressing against a substitute target because original source target is not safe or inaccessible - o Hunger can be satisfied by a steak or dollar menu burger - o Other displacement examples: making hostile jokes, telling violent stories, observing aggression of others [real or fictional] Rats, Dolls and Displacement - Shocked a pair of rats = caused fighting - Placed doll with rats, started shock = rats fighting each other - Removed one rat, started shock = rat attacked doll - When direct target is not an option, we target: - Closest thing, next thing, dissimilar things Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis: Supporting Evidence - Anecdotal evidence: road rage, Black Friday shopping aggression, Columbine assailants [plus most school shooters] - o However, critics believed Dollard et al. overstated their case - Displacement: societal frustrations from economic / social issues may drive genocide and lynchings ['scapegoating'] - o However, early empirical evidence was weak - o But the tide has recently turned [worker ? home aggression relationship recently validated]

Moods and Helping

Good Moods and Doing Good - Research: people tend to help more when in a good mood - Cunningham [1979]: sunny vs. cloudy day, sunny = more stopped to answer survey - o ...and left bigger tips [Minneapolis, MN] - Baron [1997]: pleasant scents [coffee shop / bakery] = good mood = more likely to give change for a dollar - Forgas [2008]: mall sales clerks approached by confederate with positive, negative or neutral comment, then second confederate ask for help finding a nonexistent item, results = as expected - Other studies: successful task completion, reading positive statements, being offered a cookie, listening to uplifting music, imagining a Hawaiian vacation, finding money = increase the odds of helping Research: bad moods tend to elicit helping - Regan et al. [1967]: shopping mall, subjects approached to take photo, guilt vs. no guilt, given a chance to help shortly after - o Non-guilt control group = 15% helped - o Guilt group = 55% helped - Cunningham [1980] [?] 80% vs. 40% helped - Explanation: guilt motivates us to mend and strengthen social relationships = more help - But effect might not occur when negative mood causes self absorption, mood is seen as externally caused by others

Is aggression innate or 'hard wired' into people?

In general, persons who are aggressive in one situation tend to be in other situations - Childhood aggression predicts adolescence and adulthood aggression [plus criminality, alcohol abuse, antisocial behavior] - General predictive traits: hostile thinking, angry expressions, irritability - 'Provocation' dependent traits: emotional susceptibility, narcissism, type-A persons, impulsivity - o When not provoked, no more aggressive than others

responsibility attribution,

Is the person in need a helpless victim or responsible for his or her fate? - Richard Barnes [1979]: subjects received call from 'classmate' asking for class notes - o 'I just don't seem to have the ability to take notes...I try but just can't do it' - o I just don't seem to have the motivation to take notes...I can take really good notes but don't try' - o Results as expected - Dooley [1995]: subjects read about person with AIDS acquired through blood transfusion vs. sexual promiscuity or drug use [similar lung cancer study]

reciprocal altruism

Kin selection doesn't explain all helping - o Sometimes relatives don't help their own - o Many people help non-relatives as well - Why help those not related? - Reciprocal Altruism: helping others to increase the chances they will help you later - o 'Scratch my back and I'll scratch yours' - o A helps B, B helps A, both A & B increase survival - o Animal examples: reciprocal grooming, teeth cleaning, food sharing, fight support - Frans de Waal 2003: chimps & food sharing x grooming - o Study: recording of distress vocalization of specific monkey played for reciprocal vs. non-reciprocal monkeys - Reciprocals [and relatives] got strong responses

What are the costs for helping others?

NYC Ladder Company 6 = among the lucky - Many others risked and died helping others - o Abraham Zelmanowitz refused to leave his quadriplegic friend who could not descend stairs of twin towers - o Charles Bybee tried to rescue a suicidal woman trying to get hit by a car / he was hit and died [age 62, 2009] - Sometimes long-term help can be costly and impair health [caring for terminally ill person] - 'Good Samaritan' laws lower costs of helping - 'Duty to Rescue' laws [Canada, Europe] create penalties for not helping [Photographers at Princess Diana crash site implicated]

social rejection

One of the worst 'hurts' is social rejection - Again, most school shooters reported experiencing social rejection as a catalyst - However, these reports are anecdotal - Cresciono & Baumeister [2009]: subjects found themselves suddenly 'ignored' by two other 'participants' then given chance to aggress or not = increased aggression - o Effect is even more pronounced for persons extra sensitive to social rejection

who do we help.... closeness

People are more likely to help others close to them than strangers - o Communal relationships: mutual responsibility - help out of care for other and don't keep score - o Exchange relationships: based on reciprocity - Help with expectations of getting something [scorekeeping] - Exception to helping those close to us: - o Self-evaluation maintenance model: we sometimes don't help when it threatens our ego / self-esteem - May help stranger more than friend if helping friend shines spotlight on them and takes away from self-esteem

Who is likely to help

Personality Influences - Aside from situational factors, are some people more helpful than others? - Research: - o People who help in one situation are more likely to help in many situations - o Helping traits are fairly stable over time - o Eisenberg [2002]: preschool children who are helpful continue in later childhood ? adulthood - o Twin studies [monozygotic - identical twins] tend to share empathetic traits and helping behavior - o Suggesting at least some genetic foundation in helping behavior

socialization and the nature vs. nurture argument on aggression

Politicians debate the issue when it comes to funding programs aimed at reducing aggression - To be clear, both nature [genes, brain chemistry] and nurture [learning, role models, scripts] both play a role in aggression

Is help always welcomed?

Receiving help is always positive, right? - o Grateful, relieved, comforted - o Embarrassed, obligated, inferior - There are potential costs to giving and receiving help - Stigmatized / minority groups face dilemma: - o Is help genuine, unassuming? Is it well intentioned but patronizing? Or is it controlling and designed to 'keep person in their place?' - Non-stigmatized persons rarely consider these questions - Stigmatized groups struggle, especially if help is unsolicited

What things can be done to reduce aggression and violence?

Reducing Violence: Situational / Sociocultural Factors - Reduce stressors such as frustration, discomfort, and provocation - Teach and model nonviolent responses to frustrations and social problems - Emphasize cooperation over competitiveness - Change cost-reward payoffs associated with aggression Media Effects - Censorship - Prosocial programming - Education may be most effective approach - o Increase critical viewing skills

understand the nature of intimate relationships and the theories used to explain how and why we engage in them [including social exchange and equity theories]

Social Exchange Theory: people are motivated to maximize benefits & minimize costs in their social relationships [an economic / business model] - Relationships that provide more rewards and fewer costs will be more satisfying and endure longer - o Rewards: love, companionship, consolation, sexual gratification - o Costs: efforts to maintain, conflicts, compromise, sacrifice - The development of an intimate relationship is associated with the overall level of rewards - Costs are often overlooked in the 'honeymoon' phase - Comparison Level [CL]: average expected outcome in relationships [can be high vs. low] - Comparison Level for Alternatives [Clalt]: expectations of what would receive in an alternative situation - Investments in relationship increase commitment - o Commitment levels predict relationship duration - o Mutually committed couples last longest - o High commitment = more forgiving of flirting, lying, forgetting an anniversary, an affair Equity Theory: people are most content with a relationship when the ratio between the benefits and contributions is similar for both partners - Different than equality - Balance is what counts - Underbenefited = angry, resentful - Overbenefited = guilty - 'Trust Insurance System' = unconscious tally of costs and benefits [as in Murray et al. 2009]: - o Insecurity causes one to do more for partner - o Lowered feelings of insecurity same day - o Next day, benefitted partner = fewer doubts about relationship

gender in aggression

Social Learning Theory suggest that males / females are taught different lessons about aggression - o Male roles tend to accept / reward aggression - o Female roles tend to reject / punish aggression - o Boys who fight earn social status, girls who fight are scorned - o Girls who successfully use 'relational aggression' reap social benefits more so than boys

the social learning theory,

Social Learning Theory: behavior is learned through the observation of others, as well as through both direct and vicarious rewards and punishments - Albert Bandura's classic 'Bobo' studies - o Aggressive vs. passive models affected aggression - o Reward and punishment conditions both affected aggression - Aggressive 'scripts' modeled by parents and others may influence aggression in children - o Study of US vs. European born NHL hockey players - Conversely, non-aggressive model / scripts can calm and reduce aggression

What is the sociocultural perspective about and how does it explain attraction differently than the evolutionary perspective?

Sociocultural Perspectives - MF differences may be 'psychological' rather than 'evolutionary' - Alternative explanations: - o Women trade youth and beauty for money because they often lack direct access to economic power - o Men are fearful of sexual infidelity because it represents a threat to the relationship, not fatherhood issues - o The differences typically found between the sexes are small compared to the similarities [2.7 yrs vs. 3.4 yrs] - o Stated vs. actual preferences may differ - Speed dating study - what we say we want vs. what we really like

hostile attribution bias

Some aggressive processes are automatic; others may require higher-order cognition - o Emotional aggression may be tempered by higher level awareness of the costs of fighting - Thoughts may influence acts of aggression - Hostile Attribution Bias: the tendency to perceive hostile intent in other [Q: is this an automatic or higher process?] - o Seeing hostile intent not seen by others - o Such biased interpretations may increase aggressive responses [creating self-perpetuating cycle] - DeWall [2009]: some subject experienced social rejection, others did not - then required to interpret ambiguous actions of another person - o Rejected subjects tended to interpret ambiguous acts as hostile = more likely to blast confederate with noise in later task

excitation transfer

Sometimes can misattribute physiological arousal to passionate love [excitation transfer] Ellen Berscheid & Elaine Hatfield [1974] Passionate Love: The Thrill of It - Passionate love requires: - o Heightened state of physiological arousal; -- and --- - o Belief that arousal was triggered by beloved person - Sometimes can misattribute physiological arousal to passionate love [excitation transfer] - o Dutton & Aron [1974]: male subject crossed either rickety suspension bridge 230 ft above rocky rapids or bridge 10 ft off ground - met on bridge by attractive assistant who gave her phone #, results were as predicted....'love at first fright' - o Follow up study: man ran in place for 2 min vs. 15 sec, attractive woman seen as more attractive - Arousal alone [no distress] produced increased attraction

the role of testosterone and serotonin in evolutionary theory

Testosterone levels correlate highly with aggression in animals, less so in humans - However, a variety of studies have shown the link with physical aggression and violence - o Fraternity study = high [crude] vs. low [academic] - Women with high testosterone = more aggressive - Men with longer ring vs. index finger = higher prenatal testosterone exposure = aggressive However, these findings are correlational - o Alternative explanation: aggressive acts temporarily drive up testosterone levels [as do stressful situations] - Ethics prevent true experiments, but gender reassignment hormonal treatments lend a clue as to possible results - Also, low serotonin = higher aggression - o road rage treatment with anti-depressants]

empathy-altruism hypothesis

The Empathy-Altruism Hypothesis - Batson says both perspective taking and emotional concern are key - But sometimes people in helping situations focus on their own feelings - Batson suggest it's only when focused on others' feelings that altruism occurs - Example: Softball game, 1st homerun, injury, opposing team members stepped up and made it happen for injured player - o Didn't do it for glory - 'Everyone else would have done it' Empathy-altruism hypothesis: the idea that empathetic concern for a person in need produces an altruistic motive for helping - Key: when an escape from helping is offered, the egoists may bail out, the altruists help out

Differentiate various concepts and theories of love, especially Robert Sternberg's Triangular Theory of Love.

Three components combine to produce seven [0r 8] states of love - o Intimacy: the emotional component, involves liking and feelings of closeness - o Passion: the motivational component , contains drives that trigger attraction, romance, and sexual desire - o Commitment: the cognitive component, reflects the decision to make long-term commitment to a loved partner - Sternberg [1997]: ideal lover ,friend, sibling - o 'Ideal lover' = - o 'Friend' = - o 'Sibling' = Zick Rubin [1973] - o Liking: type of feeling one has for a platonic friend - o Loving: kind of feeling one has for a romantic partner - Elaine Hatfield et al. [1988] - o Passionate Love: romantic love characterized by high arousal, intense attraction, and fear of rejection - o Companionate Love: a secure, trusting, stable partnership

time pressure

Time pressure creates an obstacle in helping - o Time pressure = distraction & high costs to help - Darley & Batson [1973] 'Good Samaritan' Study - o Half told to prepare talk on Samaritan story, half to talk about jobs for seminary students - o Told either 'running ahead,' 'right on time,' or 'running behind' schedule - o On walk to record talk, came upon a choking confederate - o Running 'ahead' = 63% helped, 'on time' = 45% helped, but 'behind' = 10% - o Irony: several seminary students on the way to give a talk about the Good Samaritan 'literally stepped over the victim!'

who do we help... gender

Two strangers pass on the street. Suddenly, one needs help that might be dangerous. Others are watching. Person in need is female. - Two persons have a close relationship. Occasionally, one needs help that takes time and energy but is not dangerous. No one is around to see the helping act. Person in need is either male or female. - Situation A = classic male helper scenario - Situation B = classic female helper scenario Most older research focused on emergency situations = claimed males more likely to help - Some newer reviews focus on caring, compassionate help = women more likely to help - Think of 9-11 helper stories - o Most are dramatic and feature men helpers - o But women played a behind-the-scenes helping role - For general helping situations [not dramatic or compassionate] like picking up a dropped pen, the evidence is clear... - o Guesses? - o ___________________________________ - men are less likely to seek help than woman

cultivation

Violence can also influence values and attitudes toward aggression - Cultivation: effect of media on constructing a social reality people perceive as true [but is not] - o Media constructs a world that is more violent that it actually is - o People become more fearful, distrusting, likely to arm themselves, likely to perceive threat and act with aggression

Understand controversies surrounding media influences on aggression and related findings

Violence in Media - 2006 incident with Kimveer Gill at Dawson College in Montreal [3 guns, shot 20 people] - o 'Life is a video game. You've got to die sometime.' - o Gill was fascinated with a video game called 'Super Columbine Massacre' [Danny LeDonne] - o Ledonne contends his and other games do not promote 'real world' violence - The Big Question: Do these games - and other violence in media - cause real world aggression and violence? - Or do aggression / violence prone individuals simply gravitate to violent video games? A Major Target: Children and Teens - Directed at children and teens: violent cartoons and other programming, movies, gory video games, 'professional wrestling,' violent sports, music depicting violence, online videos displaying fights and violent pranks - Is it possible that all of this has little or no affect on violence and aggression? - Why the continued escalation in violence-themed media? - o If consumers didn't enjoy it, it wouldn't exist [$$$] Linking Media Violence to Real World Violence - Tons of anecdotal evidence: - o Store owner & customers taken into basement, forced to drink Drano [scene from Magnum Force] - o Many reports of teens acting out video game scenes [like Grand Theft Auto] - o Columbine massacre based partly on Doom - Most speculate that there is little link between violent media and aggression [because the link isn't total & 100%] - 'I've played lots of video games and I never killed anyone' - What do social psychologists say on the matter?

we help those who are... similar

We're more likely to help those like us - o Similar dress, attitudes, nationality increase help - Dissimilarity decreases help - o People tend to empathize more w/ similar persons - People tend to help ingroup members more - o Levine [2005]: assessed student supports of soccer team [UK] - Subjects questioned about support for team - Then walk across campus for another part of study - Encounter with 'jogger' who fell and faked pain - Jogger wearing favorite vs. rival team shirt - Results as expected Do we help persons of the same race more than others? - Based on ingroup research, prediction, yes - However, meta-analysis by Saucier et al [2005] found no consistent relationship [Why?] - o Offering help may be seen as act of superiority - o Prejudiced persons may publically offer help - o When offered an 'out,' prejudice people discriminate - Highlighting similarities / downplaying differences can increase helping between groups

How does media violence cause aggressive effects

While violent media doesn't necessarily 'cause' aggression, and is never the single cause, the evidence is clear: it contributes - Relationship is similar to smoking and cancer - Not everyone who smokes gets cancer - BUT smoking heightens the risk substantially and contributes to increased rates of cancer Evidence for the Link Between Violent Media and Aggression - Longitudinal study on 8 year olds = extent of violent media exposure predicted aggression and criminality in teen and adult years - Experiment: boys randomly assigned to play violent or non-violent games - o Violent game watchers later blasted noise in opponents ears more [some at levels said to cause permanent damage] - Major review: 46 longitudinal studies, 86 cross-sectional studies, 28 field & 124 lab experiments [50K subjects] showed strong relationship between media violence and aggression - o Lab experiments produced the strongest link - Video game research is still fairly new but has shown a significant link between violent games and: - o Aggressive behavior - o Aggressive cognition - o Aggressive affect - o Physiological arousal - o Decrease in helping behavior - o Hostile attribution bias - o Aggressive norms - APA + many others have concluded: - o Research 'reveals unequivocal evidence that media violence increases the likelihood of aggressive and violent behavior in both immediate and long-term contexts'

remember zimbardos experiment

all details of it

How is aggression defined?

behavior intended to harm another individual

when does it most likely occur?

during times of transition [when people leave us or we leave people]

How is loneliness defined

feelings of social deprivation

posative effects

if negative affect increases aggression, does positive affect reduce aggression? - Some evidence says 'yes' - Barron & Ball [1974]: subject were angered by a confederate, some shown funny cartoons after, cartoon viewing subjects aggressed less [in retaliation toward confederate in 'another study'] - Feeling good may be incompatible with anger and aggression

desensitization

reduction in emotion-related physiological reactivity in response to a stimulus [violence] - o Reduction in arousal to new or future violence - Study: subjects played violent or nonviolent video game for 20 min., then watched video of real violence - o Violent game players had lower heart rates & GSR - Subjects exposed to violence later rated a fight as less intense than others - Subjects playing violent games = 450% increase in response time helping an injured stranger - Movie theater study / person on crutches [poor controls]

Is beauty in the eye of the beholder or are there some general objective standards of beauty?

some of both

Mere Exposure Effect

the more often we are exposed to a stimulus, the more we like it - o Zajonce 1968, novel stimuli = foreign word, shape, face - o Effect works even without awareness [even stronger] - o Moreland & Beach [1992] subliminal priming in college classroom using female students - o Effect works with self-evaluations [reverse photo study, mirror effects]

proximity effect

the single best predictor of attraction is physical proximity, or nearness - Where we live influences the friends we make - o College students tend to date those who live either nearby or in the same type of housing

Weapons Effect

the tendency for aggression to increase by the mere presence of weapons - Berkowitz: 'The finger pulls the trigger, but the trigger may also be pulling the finger'

When do people help? theories and findings including the bystander effect

when rewards outweigh the costs Helping and the Presence of Others - Imagine you're a participant in a study of issues facing college students - Seated in a small room [for confidentiality] - Discussion taking place over intercom - You're one of 6 participants in the discussion - One participant mentions he struggles with seizures - o 'I could really-er-use some help so if somebody would-er- give me a little h-help-uh-er-er-er c-could somebody-er-uh-uh-uh [choking sounds]...I'm gonna die-er-er. I'm .....gonna die-er-help-er-er-seizure-er... [choking sound then quiet]' - What would you do? John Darley & Bibb Latané's Classic Study on the Presence of Others & Helping - Participants were actually alone - Groups of 2, 3, or 6 'participants' [tape recorded] - Results: - o All participants in 2 person groups rushed to the aide of the other 'participant' - o Participants in 3 - 6 person groups were less likely and slower to respond - o 38% of 6 person group subjects never left the room Bystander Effect: a situation in which the presence of others inhibits helping The Case of Kitty Genovese - March 13, 1964, 3:20 a.m. / Queens, New York - Kitty Genovese, 28, bar manager - Stalked, stabbed, sexually assaulted - She screamed for help, lights in apts went on - 38 neighbors witnessed the attack - Not one person intervened - After 45 minutes of terror, 1 called the police - She died upon arriving at the hospital - Who was to blame? Neighbors? Moral decline of the country? - Recent case: 2007 in St. Paul, MN, Ragé Ibrahim raped woman in apt hallway, surveillance video showed up to 10 neighbors observing the rape

does playing 'hard to get' work?

yes if done right. - 'Hard-to-Get Effect' is hard to demonstrate in research - o We're turned off by rejection - o We like those who are moderately selective - o But selectivity can change with situation - Mickey Gilley: "the girls all get prettier at closing time" - Pennebaker [1979]: in a Texas bar found support for the idea