week 1 Flashcards
4 reasons relationships are a human need
1- ppl naturally pursure relations (easy to form and hard to break)
2- w/o close connections, we suffer
3- we only need to many relationships (satiation)
4- the need to belong is innate and universal
the need to belong
- why relationships are adaptove
- the deep roots of the desire for intimate connections
the donner party
rich ppl who decided they wanted to treck across the USA - they were unprepared and things kept going wrong
got stuck in the middle of no where and only about half of them survived
- ppl w bigger family size survived more
humans are weak so they use what
connections instead
in the past we needed others to survive; now what does it mean in present day
that its still in our DNA and still feels like life or death
social support in the past
sharing resources (not sharing w outgroup)
divvying tasks
providig assistance (probably to the in group not outgroup)
sense of belonging - social benefits like talkng to others - donner partyy - parents surviving for theor children
think survivor and the first thing they do is make alliances
relationships are adaptive
humans have a fundamental need to form and maintain a minimum quantity of lasting, positive, and significant interpersonal relationships
need to belong proposal
ppl hv a fundamental need for social connection
1.1) social bonds are easy to form
A)Minimal Group Situations: people are willing to form meaningful groups based on meaningless distinctions
B) Friendships based on proximity
C) Form friendships with people we share unpleasant experiences with - military, stats class
D) Pets can help us meet our social needs
McConnell et al., 2011
- Pet owners were found to be less
lonely, less depressed, happier with
their lives
-Thinking about one’s pet warded off
feelings of rejection in an experiment
*when lonely we are more likely to anthropomorphize pets (ascribe human traits like sympathy)
E) We form parasocial relationships
One-sided relationships with
personalities from the media
(celebrities, news anchors, characters,
etc.) Favorite television characters are seen as real people (Gardner & Knowles,
2007) Tuning into favourite TV shows
makes people feel less lonely, and
buffers against effects of rejection
(Derrick et al., 2007)
F) In a pinch, even inanimate objects will do. Social isolation and loneliness lead to increased materialism over time (Rik, 2013) We anthropomorphize our possessions
1.2) social bonds are difficult to break
A) People are reluctant to admit that even relatively meaningless relationships will end
- we dont like to admit we are loosing relations
B) Many rituals promote the maintenance of relatively weak social bonds
- sending happy bday, liking Ig post, holiday cards
C) Many experience reluctance, difficulty ending
toxic/abusive relationships (e.g., Choice & Lamke,
1999)
2) w/o close connections we suffer
A) Lack of social connection is a strong
predictor of mortality – rivals predictors like
smoking (House, Landis, & Umberson,
1988)
B) Loneliness has huge physiological and
psychological consequences (review:
Hawkley & Cacioppo, 2010)
-Poorer self-regulation; fewer health-
promoting behaviours
-Reduced sleep quality
-Poorer physiological functioning (increased
blood pressure, cortisol)
-Lower immune system functioning
-Associated with cognitive impairment,
C) Susceptibility to illness (Cohen et al.,
1997)
-Pre-study questionnaire: social network
diversity
-Different types of close relationships (friends,
siblings, romantic partner, etc.)
-Quarantined for 5 days, given nasal drops of
common-cold virus
-Those with more diverse networks
were less likely to develop the
cold
than those with less diverse networks
marriage as a buffer
Happily married couples are healthier, psychologically
and physically, then other groups
- True across cultures (Diener et al., 2000)
-Marriage is even better than cohabiting for psychological
health (Kim & McKendry, 2002)
- Health benefits of relationships/marriage extend to
same-sex couples
3)need to belong can be satiated
u only like 6 close friends to fulfill
A) As an intimate relationship
develops, people spend less time
with other people such as friends
(Johnson & Hutson, 1983)
B) Attachment to ex-partners and
current partners are hydraulic
(Spielmann et al., 2013)
4) the need to belong is universal
Principles we’ve been discussing do not seem to be
culture-specific- people everywhere need close
relationships
A) Relationships everywhere are easy to form
- people naturally form small groups across cultures (Coon,
1946)
B) Relationships everywhere are difficult to break
- distress on ending relationships is universal (Hazan & Shaver,
1994)
-This universality suggests that belonging is a basic human
function; basic human need
where do research q come from
a)Personal experience
b) Social problems
c) Previous research
d) Theories
what kind of measue for resrach
Measurement challenges in relationship science
Often studying abstract constructs
Need to operationalize constructs in order to measure them
self report, observational, psysiological
self report measures
Fixed or open-ended
Pros
Allow us to “get inside people’s heads”
Inexpensive and easy to obtain
Cons
Difficulties in recall
Social desirability
social desireability
q like cheating would be bad
observational measures
Gather data about relationship events
without having to ask people who are
experiencing those events directly
Home-based observation
In-lab observation
Anywhere!
observational; airport study
Romantic couples unobtrusively observed as they said
goodbye
Avoidant partners sought less physical contact, embraced and held hands less
Anxious partners expressed more fear and sadness
psychological measures
Can give us insight into the body’s involuntary
reactions and ultimately how people feel and
react in romantic relationships
Heart rate, muscle tension, brain activity
who do we study
convience sample, representative sample
convience sample
Examples include:
Undergraduate students
Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (crowd sourcing)
People recruited from Kijiji, Craigslist, etc.
Pro: Are easier to get
Con: May not be representative of
people in broader population
representative
Examples include:
General Social Survey
Statistics Canada data
Community samples recruited strategically
VERY difficult to get
Relationships researchers generally
use a combination of convenience
and more (though not totally)
representative samples
