Lecture notes
Social Psychology
- Module
- PS2030
- Institution
- Royal Holloway University Of London
Social Psychology for Marco’s classes, those notes were really helpful honestly
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III- Friendship and romantic relationshipsThe importance of relationships and belonging:
Example of victor who was socially isolated. Some people took pity on him and took him to the
village to integrate him. He never learnt how to socialise and behave. Feral children suffer from
social deficits.
-> Evidence: if you suffer from social deficits and isolation, it’s hard to make up for it later in life.
● Case Study: Harlow (1959)
= Studied on rhesus monkeys. Separated rhesus monkeys from their parents and raised them in
isolation. Made tweaks such as a fluffy mother without milk or a cage monkey with milk (comfort
over nourishment).
= When monkeys were then socially integrated afterwards, they were not able to and struggled.
Were aggressive, etc.
-> (Feldman, 1998) :Prevalence of loneliness: 1⁄4 ppl in the U.S. Survey reported to have felt very
lonely
= Adolescents & young adults report being loneliest.
● Baumeister & Leary (1995):
= An evolutionary basis for seeking relationships. The need to belong is universal, guides social
cognition and is satiable. There are profound negative consequences if the need isn’t met.
-> Study conducted shows 2 conditions, abt recall information : one in which they were told about
info abt individuals and the other where they were informed about their relationship. People tend
to group people and remember them by social interactions
● Types of social support (Stroebe)
= Emotional (feeling loved), evaluation (help make up your mind about things), information (about
==============-poplk;’/.factual things) and instrumental (concrete help).
● Reasons for affiliating (Hill, 1987):
= Reduces uncertainty through comparison with others. Be positively stimulated, obtain
confirmation and recognition and receive emotional support.
● Lack of social support: consequences
= Mortality rates are higher for single, divorced, unmarried and widowed people.
= Psychological problems are more in common in divorced people.
= Suicide rates are higher for divorced people. (However, women cope better).
= Cancer patients who belong to a support group survive longer.
= Schachter,(1959) : Study in which participants were administered shocks-> ½ were told the
shocks were strong + ½ weak (high/low anxiety condition) -> they were given the option of waiting
alone or with others and more anxious people preferred the company of others.
,= Cohen & Hoberman’s ‘buffer effect’ of social support (1983): more people who reported stress,
the more they were suffering from physical symptoms and were much more pronounced for people
with less social support.
Theories of relationships:
● Relational self theory: (Andersen & Chen, 2002)
= People have different selfs with different people. Relational selves are built in interactions.
= People who remind us to prior significant others, activate relational selves. (Not liking someone
and if someone looks like that person you automatically act in a negative way).
● Attatchment styles, Ainsworth:
= Secure: finds it easy to get close to others, comfortable with mutual dependence, don’t worry
about being abandoned.
= Anxious: feels others are reluctant to get close as one would like, worries that their partner
doesn’t really love them, extreme desire to merge with other which might put other off.
= Avoidant: uncomfortable being close, difficult to trust, doesn’t like to depend on others.
● Clark & Mills (1993): types of relationships:
= Exchange relationship: no responsibility, equity/reciprocity, eg. strangers, work, etc. If not
satisified, will leave.
= Communal relationship: mutual responsibility, needs principle, can do more even if dissastisfied,
eg. family.
● Social exchange theory:
= Maximisation of own utility, rewards exceeding costs.
= Satisfaction depends on comparison level (to past signficant others, percieved options, etc).
= Comparing friendships to past friendships, your own marriage compared to your friend’s, etc.
= Evaluating cost and gain.
● Imago theory/therapy (Hendrix)
= Explains why we choose a specific partner. Resemblance with our parents and a chance to heal
childhood wounds.
= Looks for partners that can relive childhood traumas so you can achieve a better outcome this
time as you are mature now to face it.
Interpersonal attraction:
->Think about your best friend, what is it about them that makes you like them?
● Factors fostering interpersonal attraction: friends + romance
-> Proximity/exposure -> Similarity ->Reciprocal liking ->Physical attractiveness
● Effects of physical attractiveness:
= Interpersonal liking, judged to produce better work, earn more, lighter sentences in court,
judged to be happier, attractive infants get more attention.
,= Sigall & Landy’s (1973) Effects on liking are more pronounced for women and early on in
relationships.
● Physical arousal (Dutton & Aron, 1974)
= Study Ppts were told that they would be given electrical shocks. A female confederate was
present. Men who expected severe rather than light shocks: thought the woman was more
attractive.
^^^^ misattribution of physical arousal (adrenaline, heart racing)
-> Face is perceived as physically attractive: average faces, certain features such as babyishness,
large eyes, small nose (female), strong jaw (male). Bilateral symmetry. Also waist, hip ratio (female)
and colour red.
● Matching hypothesis (Goffman)
= Relationship aspiration = desire for goal + perceived probability of goal attainment.
= (Forgas, 1993): levels of physical attractiveness between partners and friends tends to match
Romantic relationships and love:
● Types of love (Aronson)
= Passionate (intense longing, physiological arousal, feelings of greater fulfilment and ecstasy
when reciprocated). New romantic relationships known as Limerence.
= Companionate (intimacy and affection, deep care for the other, not necessarily passion or arousal
in their presence). Mature romantic relationships.
● Sternberg’s triangular theory of love (1986)
= I+P = romantic/passionate love
= I+C = companionate love
= I, P + C = consummate love (best type)
-> Study proves that according what happened to you during the childhood, if you were raised with
divorced parents : You would not believe in long lasting love and thus, you will end up
self-fulfilling that thought and jeopardise your chances of really finding someone long lasting
● Love and marriage across cultures
-> In a study conducted by , arranged marriages reported love being present after 10 years
whereas love marriages are not as strong. This could be explained by : when you marry someone
you love, you have more expectations and thus expect your partner to be able to guess what you
need. (which is known to be one of the major factors that lead to divorce). whereas arranged
marriages tend to be chosen by the parents who tend to choose someone similar to them, their
values and their beliefs, which helps get along better and we form a companionship with that
person.
Relationship dissatisfaction and break-up:
● Predictors of marital dissatisfaction
, = Neuroticism (high) = Sensitivity to rejection = Lower SES = Financial and work-related problems =
Negative attribution patterns = Marrying at a young age = Lack of conflict-management styles.
● The interaction dynamics approach (Gottman & Levenson, 1992)
= The way couples interact can be a powerful predictor of dissatisfaction and divorce.
= Harmful behaviours: criticism, defensiveness, stonewalling and contempt.
= 93% predictive accuracy over 14yrs in Indiana study.
● Rusbult (1980): models of relationships
= Why do abused wives not leave their husbands is what Rusbult wanted to explain.
There are four factors that explain commitment. <<<
= What rewards do they get (eg. financial benefit) = Do they have a good alternative? Do they have
any?
= How much have they invested in the relationship
IV- the causes of prejudice and inter group conflict
Authoritarian personality
-> Adorno et al., 1950 : Individualistic approach , after the research of the holocaust: Adorno
argued that high levels of obedience is linked to a psychological disorder of a person’s
personality.// Personality defect
-> Stresses childhood personality, takes a psychoanalytic approach.
-> Argue that if a child is brought up in an environment where the father figure is Authoritarian,
lots of rules and regulations and there is physical violence to when rules are broken, a personality
defect is implanted in the child. Lots of repressed frustration in the child. It is displaced onto
vulnerable targets (eg. minorities).
-> it was more about the kind of parents you had, specifically the father figure ( psychoanalytic -
influenced by freud)
● Ways to measure
-> F = fascist. Believed that these types of people would be right wing fascist.
->PROCEDURE & PPTS: study developed the f-scale to study the causes of an obedient
personality. 2000 middle class white Americans. One of its measurable factors was Authoritarian
Aggression (towards ppl who violate conventional values).
-> FINDINGS: ppl who scored highly on the f-scale showed excessive respect for ppl w/ a higher
social status. They were contemptuous of the ‘weak’ & had fixed stereotypes. They are inflexible
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