Why Relationships Matter
What theory says humans have a natural drive to form and maintain strong social relationships?
What is the Need to Belong theory
What type of attraction means being drawn to someone’s personality?
What is social attraction
Which theory suggests people reduce uncertainty by communicating and gathering information about others?
What is Uncertainty Reduction Theory
What theory says people weigh costs and benefits to decide if a relationship is worth it?
What is Social Exchange Theory
What theory compares self-disclosure to peeling layers of an onion?
What is Social Penetration Theory
Name at least two types of rewards we get from social relationships.
What are emotional, material, and health rewards
List two of the four qualities that strongly influence interpersonal attraction.
What are appearance, proximity, similarity, and complementarity
Who founded Uncertainty Reduction Theory?
Who are Berger and Calabrese
What is it called when one person receives more benefits but also pays more costs in a relationship?
What is Equity Theory
Name one benefit of self-disclosure.
What is building trust, reciprocity, emotional release, or helping others
According to research, what group of people are especially likely to experience loneliness if they don’t see friends or family often?
Who are elderly individuals living alone (also deployed soldiers)
What kind of attraction describes being drawn to someone’s abilities and dependability?
What is task attraction
What theory suggests people judge new relationships based on whether the expected outcomes will be positive or negative?
What is Predicted Outcome Value Theory
What is a “comparison level” in Social Exchange Theory?
What is it’s our expectations for costs and benefits in a relationship, based on past experiences and cultural norms.
What’s one risk of self-disclosure?
What is rejection, hurting others, obligation, or violating privacy
According to research, lacking strong positive relationships can be as harmful to your health as doing what?
What is smoking 15 cigarettes a day
According to attraction theory, why do humans value physical attractiveness?
Because it signals good health and genetic fitness.
What’s the main difference between Uncertainty Reduction Theory and Predicted Outcome Value Theory?
What is URT says more info = more liking, while POVT says negative info can reduce liking
Name two of the five relational maintenance behaviors remembered by the acronym SOAPS.
What are Social networks, Openness, Assurances, Positivity, Sharing tasks
Friendships are usually voluntary and platonic. What’s one exception?
What is a “friends with benefits” relationship
Which psychologist is credited with developing the “Need to Belong” theory?
Who is Roy Baumeister
Give one example of how culture influences perceptions of attractiveness.
What is valuing fuller figures in some African/Australian tribal cultures, lip plates in Ethiopia/Brazil, or long neck rings in Myanmar
According to cross-cultural research, why might Japanese adults disclose less information than U.S. adults when meeting someone new?
What is Because Japan is a high uncertainty-avoiding culture, while the U.S. is uncertainty-accepting.
If one partner feels they are “underbenefited” compared to the other, what does Equity Theory predict about the relationship’s future?
The underbenefited partner will be less satisfied and may not want to maintain the relationship.
According to research, how do men’s friendships often differ from women’s friendships?
Men’s focus more on shared activities; women’s focus more on emotional expressiveness.