Module 79: Attraction

Question 1

What are three factors in attraction?

Answer 1

Proximity, Attractiveness, & Similarity

Question 2

Mere Exposure Effect

Answer 2

The phenomenon that repeated exposure to novel stimuli increases liking them

• ancestors - mostly likely had survival value. What was familiar was general safe and approachable

Question 3

How does familiarity lead to acceptance?

Answer 3

Overtime people get used to the other and accept

• mere exposure helps accept
  ex. white penguin excepted by tuxedoed penguins

Question 4

Does the mere exposure effect apply to ourselves?

Answer 4

Researcher Lisa DeBruine found that humans like other people when their faces incorporate some morphed features of their own.

Question 5

What is considered attractive?

Answer 5

Conceptions of attractiveness vary by culture and over time. Yet some adult physical features, such as a healthy appearance and a relatively symmetrical face seem attractive everywhere

Question 6

What makes a face attractive?

Answer 6

Facial features that are neither unusually large nor small and symmetrical faces and bodies are perceived as more sexually attractive

Question 7

How do our feelings influence our perceptions of attractiveness?

Answer 7

People who have more appealing traits are seen as more physically attractive.

As we see our loved ones again and again, their physical imperfections grow less noticeable and their attractiveness grows more apparent

Question 8

Do opposites really attract?

Answer 8

In real life, opposites retract. More alike people are, the more their liking endures.
- like minded people = longer relationship & less fights
Similarity attracts perceived dissimilarity does not

Question 9

How does being liked and respected ourselves impact attractiveness of others?

Answer 9

When we believe someone likes us, we feel good and respond to them warmly, which leads them to like us even more.

We will like those whose behavior is rewarding to us, including those who are both able and willing to help us achieve our goals.

Question 10

How does love change over time?

Answer 10

Sometimes people move quickly from initial impressions, to friendship, to the more intense, complex, and mysterious state of romantic love.

If love endures, temporary passionate love will mellow into a lingering companionate love

Question 11

Passionate Love

Answer 11

An aroused state of intense positive absorption in another, usually present at the beginning of a romantic relationship.

• passionate love mixes something new with something positive
• we intensely desire to be with our partner

Question 12

Passion

Answer 12

Seeing ou partner stimulates blood flow to a brain region linked to craving and obsession.

Question 13

Schachter-Singer Two-Factor Theory of Emotion

Answer 13

Our physical reactions and our thoughts (perceptions, memories, and interpretations) together create emotion.

• emotions have two ingredients: physical arousal and cognitive appraisal
• an emotional experience, they argued, requires a conscious interpretation of the arousal
• crossing bridge experiment

Question 14

Companionate Love

Answer 14

The deep affectionate attachment we feel for those with whom our lives are intertwined

• as love matures, it typically becomes a steadier companionate love, a deep, affectionate attachment
• in the most satisfying marriages, attraction and sexual desire endure, minus the obsession of early stage romance

Question 15

What chemicals are involved in love?

Answer 15

Testosterone, Dopamine, & Adrenaline

• they flood the body and produce intense physiological changes during the passionate love phase
• as passionate love transitions to compassionate love, the release of oxytocin supports feelings of trust, calmness, and bonding with the mate.

Question 16

Equity

Answer 16

A condition in which people receive from a relationship in proportion to what they give to it.
- when equity exists, the chances for sustained and satisfying companionate love have been good.

Question 17

Self-Disclosure

Answer 17

The act of revealing intimate aspects of ourselves to others.

• sharing includes self-disclosure, revealing likes and dislike, dreams and worries, and both proud and shameful moments
• breeds liking and liking breeds

Question 18

How important is positive support?

Answer 18

Relationship conflicts are inevitable, but hurtful communications are not.

For unhappy couples, disagreements, criticisms, and put-downs are routine.

For happy couples in enduring relationships, positive interactions (compliments, touches, laughing) outnumber negative interactions (sarcasm, disapproval, insults) by at least 5 to 1.