1. Week 6 SOCIAL INTERACTION AND ATTRACTION
Social Psychology
Week 6
SOCIAL INTERACTION AND
ATTRACTION

2. Is Social Media Destroying Your Self-Esteem?
Considered in light of Newsweek’s recent feature on the mounting evidence that intense internet usage contributes to increased anxiety and depression and even psychosis, it’s a fair and timely question to ask.

3. Social Needs
Around the world and across age-groups, most people spend about 3/4th of their time with other people.
People do not merely want the presence of others, but close ties to people who care about them.

4. Benefits of Social Relations
Attachment (comfort & security)
Social integration (shared interests & attitudes)
Reassurance of Worth
Sense of Reliable Alliance (help in times of need)
Guidance
Opportunity for Nurturance

5. Watch video Watch video – “Gender Differences in Sexual Assertiveness”
Watch video on “Rules of Attraction”
Do activity

6. Loneliness
The subjective discomfort we feel when our social relations lack some important feature

7. Loneliness
This is different from aloneness, or the objective state of being apart from others
People are somewhat more likely to feel lonely when they are alone
Especially if social norms dictate that one “should” be with others (e.g., Saturday night)

8. Loneliness
About 1 in 4 Americans reports feeling very lonely in the past 2 weeks
Situational loneliness occurs due to life changes
Chronic loneliness occurs for about 10% of Americans regardless of the situation
Possible biological basis
Associated with depression, substance abuse, and illness

9. Loneliness No segment of society is immune
Those who are more at risk include:
children of divorced parents
shy people
people with lower self-esteem
poor people
single people

10. Loneliness
Contrary to stereotype, teenagers and young adults are more at risk than the elderly
It is not clear if this is a “generation gap” in willingness to report feelings, a function of greater life transitions among the young, or greater social skills and more realistic expectations among the elderly

11. What factors go into attraction
What encourages you to go into a social/personal relationship?
Watch “Love – you’re doing it wrong”

12. Why has the Internet become such a popular and accepted form of relating?
What are the positive and negative aspects of interacting online?
Are there new skills that may be relevant to being successful in the online dating world

13. Basic principles of attraction
In general…
We like people who like us
We like people who satisfy our needs
We like people when the rewards they provide outweigh the costs (Social Exchange Theory)

14. The Equity Theory
Relationships are most satisfying when the ratio between benefits and contributions is similar for both partners.
There might be individual differences in importance of equity.

15. Basic principles of attraction
Specific Determinants of Liking…
Proximity
Familiarity
Similarity
Personal Qualities of the Other
Let’s take a closer look…

16. Proximity
The best single predictor of whether two people will be friends is how far apart they live
Watch “Inside the Female Brain”

17. Proximity Why does proximity have an effect? Ease of availability
Lower cost in terms of time, money, forethought
Cognitive dissonance pressures to like those with whom we must associate
The mere anticipation of interaction increases liking

18. Familiarity
The mere exposure effect : simply being exposed to a person (or other stimulus) tends to increase liking for it

19. Familiarity
Why does familiarity promote liking? Possibilities include:
Evolutionarily adaptive
Unfamiliar objects & people may be dangerous
Improves recognizing, which is a 1st step to liking
Familiar is more predictable
Familiar is assumed to be more similar to oneself

20. Similarity
We like others who are similar to us in attitudes, interests, values, background & personality

21. Similarity
In romantic relationships, the tendency to choose similar others is called the matching principle.
People tend to match their partners on a wide variety of attributes
age, intelligence, education, religion, attractiveness, height
But friendship and love can transcend differences in background

22. Similarity Why do people prefer similar others?
Similar others are more rewarding
Interacting with similar others minimizes the possibility of cognitive dissonance
We expect to be more successful with similar others

23. Similarity What mechanisms foster similarity in close relationships?
Selective attraction – only considering those who are similar on certain dimensions (e.g. religion)
Social influence – the people are initially less similar (when they start the relationship), but influence each other through interactions (becoming more similar)

24. Shared environmental factors – similar experiences may lead people to have similar attitudes, etc.
As people interact with similar others, they tend to become even more similar

25. Similarity Limits to Similarity include:
Differences can also be rewarding
Differences allow people to pool-shared knowledge and skills to mutual benefit
Similarity can be threatening when someone similar to us experiences an unfortunate fate

26. Physical Attractiveness
One reason we like more attractive people is that they are believed to possess other good qualities (stereotype)
In fact, according to on study (Feingold, 1992), more attractive people may be more socially skilled
They are also believed to be more intelligent, dominant, & mentally healthy

27. Physical Attractiveness
In a classic study on the importance of physical attractiveness, college students were randomly assigned to each other as dates for an evening. People who were more attractive were better liked by their date (Walster et al., 1966).

28. Physical Attractiveness
Other Effects of Attractiveness
Physically attractive people are more likely to receive help, job recommendations, and more lenient punishments
People who are disabled may have to overcome stereotypes that portray them as unattractive & lonely

29. Physical Attractiveness
Who is Attractive?
Culture plays a large role in standards of attractiveness
However, people do tend to agree on some features that are seen as more attractive:
Statistically “average” faces
Symmetrical or balanced faces

30. Physical Attractiveness
Why does attractiveness matter?
People believe attractiveness is correlated with other positive characteristics
Being associated with an attractive other leads a person to be seen as more attractive him or herself
According to evolutionary theory, attractiveness may provide a clue to health and reproductive fitness

31. Personal Relationships
There are three basic characteristics of personal relationships:
Frequent interaction over a long period of time
Many different kinds of activities
Strong mutual influence

32. Interdependence Theory
Analyzes the exchange and coordination of outcomes between interdependent partners

33. Interdependence Theory
A reward is anything a person gains from an interaction
It can be particular or general, symbolic or concrete
Basic types of rewards:
Love Information
Money Goods
Status Services

34. Interdependence Theory
A cost is any negative consequence that occurs in an interaction or relationship
Time
Energy
Conflict
Others’ Disapproval
Opportunity Cost

35. Self-Disclosure
Self-disclosure is a special type of conversation in which we share intimate information and feelings with another person.

36. Self-Disclosure Reasons we disclose Social Approval
Relationship Development
Self-Expression
Self-Clarification
Social Control

37. Self-Disclosure Liking Self-Disclosure
In general, we most like people whose self-disclosure is reciprocal and gradual.
The impact of self-disclosure on liking depends on the nature of the relationship.
E.g., an intimate self-disclosure by one’s roommate may be received very differently than an intimate self-disclosure by a random stranger in a lecture hall.

38. Self-Disclosure Self-disclosure also entails risks:
Indifference
Rejection
Loss of Control
Betrayal
Because of the risks of self-disclosure, we sometimes conceal our deepest feelings and keep secrets

39. What would you do?
HOMEWORK assignment: Watch an episode of “What would you do?” on Hulu.com and then write a paper…see handout for further instructions.

40. Final Paper
Unit 4 Graded PROJECT Part 2: Literature Review (Due WEEK 8 – NEXT WEEK)
Unit 10 Graded PROJECT Part 4: FINAL White Paper (Due WEEK 10)
Unit 11 Graded PROJECT Part 5: Student project presentation (Due WEEK 10)