User:Atcovi/Spring2024/Social Psychology/Ch. 7

Summary: Liking, Love, and Other Close Relationships
Through interpersonal attraction (evaluations we make of other people), we have a strong desire to interact with other people in a positive gain (strong need for affiliation).


 * Direct effect = another person is responsible for arousing positive emotions or feelings.
 * Indirect effect = emotion comes from another source, and another person is simply associated with its presence. Advertisers and political tacticians use indirect effect to sway people politically/in a marketing environment.

Proximity (nearness to each other in physical space) --> repeated exposure effect --> familiarity/increased attraction [the steps to finding a girlfriend?]. Attraction towards others is influenced by their physical attractiveness, mostly.
 * Social media serves as the buffer.

Repeatively exposed to something you strongly dislike will only DECREASE your liking (and vice versa).

Factors that determine our attraction towards a person

 * 1) Attitude similarity
 * 2) Our beliefs.
 * 3) Our values.
 * 4) Our interests.

The similarity-dissimilarity effect is when people respond positively to alikes and negatively to un-alikes. The proportion of similarity ↑ as attraction ↑.

The matching hypothesis is the theory that we choose partners that look about as attractive as us (like-for-like), not necessarily the most attractive person.

Theories on similarity perspective

 * Balance theory
 * Social comparison theory

People ↑ in agreeableness and extraversion --> ↑ interpersonal attractiveness. The traits we want in others vary.

Love?
When the 3 main components are strong = consummate love.
 * Love: Combination of emotions, cognitions, and behaviors that influence close relationships.

What do we want in a romantic partner? Answer is influenced by gender preferences + future roles we want our partner to fill in.

A dominant-submissive relationship, man-woman, is an exception to the complementaries rule of thumb in attraction.
 * Companionate love = Friendship, mutual attraction, shared interests, respect, and cocern for each other.
 * Passionate love = Intense emotional response to another person.
 * Love that is not returned (Manny --> Dominique), unrequited love.
 * Jealousy and adultery can destroy romantic love.

Relationships?

 * We first develop attachment styles based on self-esteem and interpersonal trust in these relationships. These attachment styles range in: secure, fearful-avoidant, preoccupied, and dismissing. Interactions with parents, siblings, and other close relatives are important for development of attitudes.
 * Firstly developed on proximity/parental friendships. Similarity is strong. Perceived similarity > actual similarity. Close friendships are developed through adventurous stories, social support for each other, and revealing of personal situations/secrets.