Lecture 10 - Romance

Question 1

What did Dion et al. (1972) find about physical attractiveness?

Answer 1

Physically attractive people are assumed to have more positive traits and better life outcomes

Question 2

What is the contrast effect in attraction?

Answer 2

When around an attractive stranger, your own attractiveness is perceived as lower due to comparison

Question 3

What is the assimilation effect in attraction?

Answer 3

When around attractive friends, their attractiveness transfers to you, increasing your perceived attractiveness

Question 4

How does warmth influence attraction? (Folks & Sears, 1977; Friedman et al., 1988)

Answer 4

Warmth, smiling, being attentive, and showing emotions make people more likeable

Question 5

What is the pratfall effect? (Aronson et al., 1966)

Answer 5

The pratfall effect refers to how a highly competent who makes a minor blunder is rated as more attractive than one who is flawless

Question 6

What did Clark & Hatfield (1989) find regarding sexual offers?

Answer 6

They found that men were far more likely than woman to accept casual sex offers from strangers

Question 7

What are the criticisms or nuances of Clark & Hatfield’s study?

Answer 7

Bold women may be perceived positively (e.g., successful), but men doing the same are often seen as “creepy” - results can shift depending on context or gender of the proposer

Question 8

According to Kleinke et al (1986), which chat-up lines are most successful?

Answer 8

Context-sensitive, friendly lines (e.g., “Want to dance?” or “Can I help you with your groceries?”) are more effective than cheesy or sexual ones

Question 9

According to Hatfield (1988), what are the two main types of love?

Answer 9

1) Passionate love (intense and sexual)
2) Companionate love (affectionate and stable)

Question 10

What cultural differences did Levine et al. (1995) find about love and marriage?

Answer 10

• In Western cultures, love is often seen as a prerequisite for marriage
• In arranged-marriage cultures, love is expected to develop over time

Question 11

How did the views change from 1967 to 1976 on marrying without love?

Answer 11

The willingness to marry someone without love dropped significally in the US - from 65% of men and 24% of women to around 20% of each

Question 12

What is the suffocation model of modern love?

Answer 12

As modern romance focuses on fulfilling higher psychological needs (e.g., self-actualisation), it becomes harder to sustain due to limited time and high expectations

Question 13

What societal trend complicates romantic fulfilment?

Answer 13

Dual-earner households have increased significally, leaving less time for nurturing relationships

Question 14

According to the survey results of Kanin et al. (1970), what are some common feelings during intense romantic love?

Answer 14

• Boosts to well-being (79%)
• Difficulty concentrating (37%)
• “floating on a cloud” (29%)
• Feeling nervous (22%)
• Feeling carefree (22%)

Question 15

What did Cooper et al. (2006) find about humourous vs. sexual lines?

Answer 15

• Women preferred humorous lines more than men and disliked sexually suggestive lines more than men did
• Extraverted women responded best to humour