Attraction

Module 4.3d:

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LEARNING TARGETS:

• Explain why we befriend or fall in love with some people but not others.
• Explain how romantic love typically changes as time passes.

Attraction

• Prosocial Behavior – behavior that intends to help or benefit someone.
• Three key ingredients to attraction:
• Proximity
• Physical attractiveness
• Similarity

Physical Attractiveness

• Positive first impressions are correlated with the attractiveness of the person
• Attractive people are judged to be happier, healthier, more successful, etc.
• Average is attractive
• Symmetrical faces are attractive as well!
• Most people see themselves at attractive – mere exposure effect.

Culture’s Role in Attractiveness

• Physical attractiveness is highly determined by culture
• There are some aspects that are cross cultural. Here’s what men and women are looking for in a potential mate…

Physical Attractiveness

• Implicit cultural message is “beautiful is good”
• Halo Effect - Attractive people are perceived as more intelligent, happier, and better adjusted
• Also seen as more vain and less modest.
• Really NO difference between attractive and less attractive people on the above characteristics
• Overall, attractive people tend to be less lonely, more popular, and less anxious in social situations
• Attractive people are more likely to attribute other people’s approval of their accomplishments to looks rather than effort or talent.
• Feelings affect our judgement of attractiveness. Someone who is nice is seen as more attractive than a person who is rude.

Effects of Personal Appearance

The Attractiveness Bias

Physically attractive people are rated higher on intelligence, competence, sociability, morality

• teachers rate attractive children as smarter, and higher achieving
• adults attribute cause of unattractive child’s misbehavior to personality, attractive child’s to situation
• judges give longer prison sentences to unattractive people

Brain reward when making eye contact with attractive people�

Results of an fMRI study show:

• Direct eye contact with a physically attractive person, a brain area called the ventral striatum is activated
• When an attractive person’s eye gaze is shifted away from the viewer, activity in the ventral striatum decreases

Why does this matter?

• Ventral striatum is a brain area that predicts reward:
• Neuronal activity increases when an unexpected reward

suddenly appears

• Decreases when an expected reward fails to appear
• In other words, it makes you feel like this.

Effects of Personal Appearance

The baby-face bias

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• People with rounder heads, large eyes, small jawbones, etc.,
• Rated as more naïve, honest, helpless, kind, and warm than mature-faced
• Generalize to animals, women, babies

Similarity

• People are reluctant to include dissimilar people in their group of friends.
• Close friends usually share interests, attitudes, age, intelligence level, and economic status.
• Reward Theory of Attraction – we like people whose behaviors are rewarding to us
• He makes me laugh
• She’s a good listener
• He’s supportive of me and my goals

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Romantic Love

Module 4.3d: Social Relations

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How does romantic love typically change over time?

Passionate Love

• An aroused state where there is a mix of something new with positive emotions.
• Usually present at the beginning of a love relationship
• Assumes that…
1. Emotions have two ingredients – physical arousal & cognitive appraisal (label)
2. Arousal from any source can enhance an emotions (see bridge crossing example pg. 509-510)

Give me a call sometime!

Companionate Love

• The deep affectionate attachment we feel for those with whom our lives are intertwined
• Hormone Oxytocin creates feelings of support, trust, calmness & bonding
• Two important factors:

• Equity – both receive in proportion to what they give.
• Self-disclosure – Reveal intimate details about yourself.
• Positive Support – positive interactions outnumber negative ones.

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Equity

• A condition in which people contribute and receive at about the same rate in a relationship
• Couples share in decision making and possessions
• Freely give and receive emotional support

Self-Disclosure

• Revealing intimate aspects of oneself to others
• Include likes, dislikes, fears, accomplishments, failures, shameful moments, goals, etc.

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Positive Support

• Positive Interactions (compliments, touches, laughing) should outnumber negative interactions (sarcasm, disapproval, insults) by at least 5 to 1.