chapeter 1

• Affiliation


  The need to seek and maintain interpersonal relationships - a basic psychological need
• Need for affiliation


  • There are individual differences in the need for affiliation, which is a relatively stable trait
  • When affiliation needs are not met, it leads to a feeling of loss of control
  • Comparing ourselves to others in similar situations provides cognitive and emotional clarity
• Dismissing avoidance attachment style


  Tendency to avoid close relationships
• Affiliation


  • We spend most of our lives interacting with people, and the tendency to affiliate has a neurobiological basis
  • The need to affiliate with others and be accepted is as basic to our psychological well-being as hunger and thirst are to our physical well-being
  • A strong desire to affiliate with others seems to be a basic characteristic of our species
  • Human infants are apparently born with the motivation and ability to seek contact with their interpersonal world
  • Newborns tend to look toward faces in preference to other stimuli
• Individual differences in the need to affiliate


  • People differ greatly in their need for affiliation
  • Some people may prefer to be alone some of the time and in social situations some of the time
  • Social exclusion leads to increased sensitivity to interpersonal information and results in less effective cognitive functioning
• Secure attachment style


  A style characterised by high self-esteem and high interpersonal trust. It is the most successful and most desirable attachment style.
• Fearful avoidant style


  A style characterised by low self-esteem and low interpersonal trust. It's the most insecure attachment style and individuals tend to avoid close relationships altogether.
• Preoccupied attachment style


  A style characterised by low self-esteem and high interpersonal trust. There is a need for closeness and these individuals form relationships easily. Depression prone because they expect rejection eventually.
• Dismissing attachment style


  A style characterised by high self-esteem and low interpersonal trust. They mistrust potential partners, have a tendency to reject the other person for fear of being rejected first.
• The power of proximity


  • The more we see people, the more we tend to like them
  • Repeated exposure to any mildly negative, neutral or positive stimulus results in an increasingly positive evaluation of that stimulus
  • We usually respond with mild discomfort to unfamiliar things, but with repeated exposure, new stimuli become familiar and safe
  • Researchers have indicated that people who live or work in close proximity are likely to become acquainted, form friendships, and even marry one another
• Repeated exposure effect


  • The more often we are exposed to a new stimulus - a new person, a new idea, a new product - the more favourable our evaluation of it tends to become
  • With repeated exposure, negative emotions decrease and positive emotions increase
  • A familiar face, for example, elicits positive effect, is evaluated positively, and activates facial muscles and brain activity in ways associated with positive emotions
• Physical attraction


  • Physical appearance is a powerful factor in our liking for others, and even in our selection of prospective and actual mates
  • Attractive people are judged to be healthier, more intelligent, more trustworthy and as possessing desirable social characteristics like kindness, generosity, warmth to a greater extent than less attractive ones
  • The "what is beautiful is good" effect - a physical attractiveness stereotype
  • Our own desire to form relationships with attractive people leads us to project similar feelings to them
• Parent-child interactions


  • Parent-child interactions are of basic importance because this is usually one's first contact with another person
  • During the first year of life, human infants are extremely sensitive to facial expressions, body movements and the sounds people make
  • As interaction occurs between mother and child, the two individuals communicate and reinforce the actions of one another
  • The reciprocal interactions tend to be a positive educational experience for both adult and baby
  • The parent-child relationship affects the nature of interpersonal behaviour and shapes our social relationships throughout life
• Attachment styles


  The degree of security an individual feels in interpersonal relationships, as developed by Bowbly
• Family relationships


  • Besides the mother (or caregiver), other family members also interact with infants and young children
  • Children can be influenced in a variety of ways
  • Every interaction is potentially important as the young person is developing attitudes about the meaning and value of factors like trust, affection, self-worth, competition, and humour
  • Sibling relationships often combine feelings of affection, hostility and rivalry
• Friendships


  • In early childhood, we establish relationships with peers who share common interests
  • They generally begin on the basis of proximity
  • Many childhood friendships fade away but some can survive for decades and an entire life
  • Long term friendships have several important characteristics like not lying to each other, exhibiting modesty, spending a lot of time together, interacting in varied situations, self-disclosing and providing mutual emotional support
  • A close friend is valued for their generosity, sensitivity, honesty and someone with whom you can relax and be yourself
• Love


  A combination of emotions, cognitions, and behaviours that often play a critical role in intimate relationships
• Sternberg's Triangular Model of Love


  • Intimacy - the closeness two people feel and the strength of the bond that holds them together
  • Passion - based on romance, physical attraction and sexual excitement and motives associated with a couple's relationship
  • Decision/commitment - the cognitive factors i.e. the decision that you love and want to be with the other person and a commitment to maintain the relationship on a permanent basis
  • When all three angles of the triangle are equally strong and balanced, the result is consummate love - the ideal form but difficult to attain
• Types of love relationships based on Sternberg's model


  • Infatuation = Passion alone
  • Fatuous love = Passion + Commitment
  • Empty love = Decision/Commitment alone
  • Romantic love = Intimacy + passion
  • Liking = Intimacy alone
  • Companionate love = Intimacy + Commitment
• Passionate love


  An intense and often unrealistic emotional response to another person
• Companionate love


  Love that is based on friendship, mutual attraction, shared interests, respect, and concern for one another's welfare
• Unrequited love


  Love felt by one person for another who does not feel love in return
• Social exclusion


  The act of deliberately leaving someone out or ignoring them, which can lead to negative effects on their emotional and psychological well-being.
• Rejection


  The act of being dismissed or spurned by someone or something, which can also have negative effects on an individual's emotional and psychological well-being.