1 / 34

Relationships

Relationships. Lecture Outline. Passionate and companionate love Mate preferences Attraction: Propinquity Attraction: Similarity Universals and cultural specifics of physical attractiveness. Passionate vs. companionate love (Berscheild & Walster). Passionate love

ghalib
Download Presentation

Relationships

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Relationships

  2. Lecture Outline • Passionate and companionate love • Mate preferences • Attraction: Propinquity • Attraction: Similarity • Universals and cultural specifics of physical attractiveness

  3. Passionate vs. companionate love (Berscheild & Walster) • Passionate love • Intense longing, ecstasy/despair • Intense but brief • Like a drug, a burning fire • Companionate love • Feelings of intimacy, care, connection • Slow growing but long lasting • Like vines growing and intertwining, binding

  4. Romantic Love • Romantic love is an evolutionary adaptation to ensure that children had adequate resources and protection. • Romantic love exists everywhere - 89% of subsistence societies have shown clear support of it, and it’s likely that it exists in the remaining 11%. • However, marriages based on romantic love is not universal. Arranged marriages have been common in many cultures

  5. Love and Marriage across Cultures (Levine et al, 1995) If a man (woman) had all other qualities you desired, would you marry this person if you were not in love? (% AGREE) Patna, Fresno, Birm, Kyoto HK India Calif UK JP 49% 3.5% 7.3% 2.3% 5.8%

  6. Love and Marriage across Cultures (Levine et al, 1995) If love has completely disappeared from a marriage, OK for couple to make a clean break and start new lives? (% AGREE) Patna, Fresno, Birm, Kyoto HK India Calif UK JP 46% 35% 45% 41% 47%

  7. Are Arranged Marriages Satisfying? • Most arranged marriages end up becoming loving relationships, even if they start out without love. • Studies find that arranged marriages are at least as happy as love marriages (e.g., Turkish, Israeli, Indian, Unification Church, Chinese, and Japanese

  8. Would any of you like to have an arranged marriage?

  9. Two Loves, Two Errors Danger points Intensity Passionate Companionate Time (1 year) From: Haidt, The Happiness Hypothesis

  10. The Longer Term Picture Companionate Intensity Passionate Time (60 years) From: Haidt, The Happiness Hypothesis

  11. Mate Preferences (rank) by gender in 37 cultures Trait M F Mutual attraction 1 1 Dependable character 2 2 Maturity 3 3 Good health 5 7 Sociability 7 6 Good looks 10 13

  12. Gender Differences in Mate Preferences • There are reliable gender differences in mate preferences--drum rolls, please • On average, men prefer physical attractiveness and youth more than women • On average, women prefer status and older age more than men • Warning: the naturalistic fallacy

  13. Largest and Smallest gender differences • Chastity: Large cultural variation and unreliable or no gender differences • Good financial prospects: large gender differences and little cultural variation

  14. Gender Differences in Mate Preferences Parental investment theory • Evolution has instilled in men and women desires that are advantageous to their reproductive success • Biologically, women invest more in their offspring then men • Women are the choosier gender in humans • Women should prefer men with resources • Men should prefer fertility (youthful appearance)

  15. Fig. 3.6 top

  16. Fig. 3.6 middle

  17. Gender Differences in Mate Preferences Is the parental investment predictions anything more than common sense? • cross-species comparisons (the Panamanian poison-arrow frog, hyenas, emperor penguins) • Cross culturally universal • but also large cultural variation—overall more cultural differences than gender differences • Gender inequality correlated with the size of the gender difference in preference for status (Eagly and Wood)

  18. Some Conclusions about Gender Differences in Mate Preferences • Systematic average gender differences predicted by parental investment theory • Cultural context plays more important role than gender for all other traits • Complex interaction of life history, culture, and gender-specific preferences • Naturalistic fallacy—evolutionary explanation is not moral justification!

  19. Propinquity Physical proximity encourages liking, friendships, and romance • “Police Academy” study

  20. Fig. 3.2

  21. Propinquity Explanations of Propinquity Effects • Availability encourages interactions • Anticipating Interactions produces warm feelings • The Mere Exposure Effect: repeated exposure breeds familiarity, which encourages liking

  22. Fig. 3.3 Turkish words examples: kadirga, afworbu, lokanta

  23. Mere Exposure Effect • Does not need conscious reflection—same effect with subliminal exposure • One psychological factor as to why advertising works

  24. Similarity Similarity breeds attraction “birds of a feather…” • Engaged couples study • Bogus Stranger” studies What about opposites attract? Yes, few exceptions • Sexual attraction: heterosexual relationships, incest avoidance • A few personality traits (dominant/submissive, talkative/quiet, nurturing/needy

  25. Why Does Similarity Encourage Attraction? • Social validation • Smooth social interactions • We Expect Similar Others to Like Us • Similar Others Have Qualities We Like

  26. Physical Attractiveness: Important feature of first impressions ”Halo effect”: belief that attractive people possess other positive qualities • Attractive people earn more • Attractive defendants are less likely to be convicted, and receive lighter sentences • Men more likely to come to aid of attractive females • Essays attributed to attractive author evaluated more favorably • Etc.

  27. Origins of Physical Attractiveness Is it arbitrary cultural convention or are there innate preferences? • Cultural aspect #1: Thinness

  28. Origins of Physical Attractiveness Is it arbitrary cultural convention or are there innate preferences? • Cultural aspect #1: Skin tone • Only recently, tanned skin is seen as attractive • Cultural aspect #2: Thinness • In cultures with unstable food supply men prefer heavier women (Symons, 1979) • Men who are hungry or feel poor prefer heavier women (Nelson & Morrison, 2005)

  29. Of Hunger and Beauty(Nelson & Morrison, 2005) • Body weight preference • Hungry vs satiated • 15 pt scale

  30. Origins of Physical Attractiveness Innate aspects • Babies look longer at what adults consider to be attractive faces • Video clip #3 • Cross cultural agreement on attractive faces

  31. Origins of Physical Attractiveness Innate architecture of physical attractiveness • Bilateral symmetry (facial and bodily) is attractive • Average faces are attractive (Langlois & Roggman, 1990) • Healthy complexion • Explanation: features that were associated with reproductive health in the ancestral environment are felt to be attractive

More Related