Interpersonal processes

Question 1

Interpersonal processes explore the

Answer 1

impact that social interactions within groups of people (min. 2 people) have on the motives, emotions and behaviour of individuals

Question 2

Interpersonal attraction

Answer 2

refers to the desire to affiliate (i.e. seek out the company of other people and spend time with) other people

Question 3

We affiliate or become attracted to other people because

Answer 3

of our own need to belong (i.e. to behave in ways that will include us in groups we consider important and to in ways that avoid being excluded by them)

Question 4

We affiliate or become attracted to people who are

Answer 4

in physical proximity, are rewarding to be around, are similar in values, attitudes and attractiveness and are physical attractive

Question 5

Proximity facilitates

Answer 5

familiarity, which in turn facilitates liking (or attraction); ‘interaction accessibility’ is another important component of proximity influencing attraction

Question 6

(3) reasons We tend to be attracted to people

Answer 6

(i) are similar attitudes, values and interests because they validate our world view; but we are also attracted to people different to ourselves if the difference is complementary
(ii) who are similar to ourselves in physical attractiveness (‘matching hypothesis’)
(iii) who are physical attractive because it is rewarding or pleasing to look at them, and it rewarding to be associated with them

Question 7

Interpersonal attraction underlies

Answer 7

all social relationships including love relationships and friendships

Question 8

Two common theories of love are:

Answer 8

(i) Hatfield (1988) and (ii) Sternberg (1988)

Question 9

Hatfield (1988) argues that there are two types of love:

Answer 9

(i) Passionate love (wildly emotional, marked by intense physiological arousal and complete absorption in the other person) and (ii) Companionate love (a deep affection, friendship and emotional intimacy)

Question 10

Sternberg’s(1988) ‘triangular theory of love’ argues that there are love is made up of three components:

Answer 10

(i) Intimacy (feelings of closeness), (ii) Passion (sensual arousal) and (iii) Commitment (dedication to the other person and the relationship)

Question 11

Females generally prefer

Answer 11

males with more resources and older males because they are more likely to have resources, as well as for their emotional and mental maturity,

Question 12

Males, generally prefer

Answer 12

attractive females to elicit sufficient arousal over the long term and to increase their own status and younger females because they are likely to be more fertile

Question 13

There are three steps required before a person will help:

Answer 13

(i) Step 1: Notice the event, (ii) Step 2: Decide of the event is an emergency, (iii) Step 3: Assume personality responsibility to offer help; if any of these steps have not occurred, a bystander will not intervene

Question 14

Being the only one available to help does not guarantee that we will; prosocial (or helping) behaviour depends on a number of other factors:

Answer 14

(i) mood (people in a good mood are likely to help because it maintains their good mood; people in a mild to moderately bad mood are also likely to help because helping makes you feel good about yourself and so this can alleviate your negative mood state; people in an intensely bad mood are generally not likely to help and that is because they are distracted by their negative mood state), (ii) they possess the specific skills and capacity required for the helping task (iii) personality (people higher on empathy, self-efficacy, self-monitoring and emotionality are more likely to help – people high on empathy tend to feel more responsibility to offer help; people high on self efficacy tend to feel more capable of offering help; people high on self-monitoring are those who are concerned with making a good impression on other people, so they will help others if it makes them look good; and people high on emotionality are more likely to interpret an ambiguous situation as an emergency and thus offer help) and (iv) whether you know the person in need of help (especially if they are related to)

Question 15

According to the evolutionary perspective,

Answer 15

we are more likely to help those we are biologically related to than those we are not because then our genes will survive; thus, the implication is that all human behaviour is inherently self-interested

Question 16

Altruism is

Answer 16

a form of prosocial behaviour that seems to have no gain for the helper, and may even carry a potential cost to the helper

Question 17

The topic of social influence is

Answer 17

the study of how the presence of other people alters the way individuals think, feel and behave

Question 18

One common type of social influence studied in social psychology is

Answer 18

obedience

Question 19

Obedience occurs when

Answer 19

a person complies with the orders of a perceived legitimate authority figure

Question 20

The most famous study on obedience was by

Answer 20

Stanley Milgram