All flashcards
Flashcard 1: What is the mere exposure effect in social psychology?
Answer: Repeated exposure to a stimulus increases liking for it. Familiarity breeds liking, not contempt, in most neutral contexts.
Flashcard 2: What is the similarity-attraction principle?
Answer: People are more attracted to others who share attitudes and values. We like those who are like us - a fundamental principle of attraction.
Flashcard 3: What is the reciprocity principle as a determinant of attraction?
Answer: People tend to like those who communicate liking toward them. We tend to return the feelings others express toward us.
Flashcard 4: What is the social exchange theory of relationships?
Answer: Relationships persist when perceived rewards exceed perceived costs. Views relationships as cost-benefit analyses of interpersonal exchanges.
Flashcard 5: What does equity theory predict about relationship satisfaction?
Answer: Satisfaction is highest when partners perceive fair input-output balance. Partners compare their contribution-benefit ratios for relationship health.
Flashcard 6: What is the difference between passionate love and companionate love?
Answer: Passionate: arousal/intense; companionate: intimacy/commitment. Distinguishes initial intense attraction from deeper, stable attachment.
Flashcard 7: What are the three components of Sternberg's triangular theory of love?
Answer: Intimacy, passion, and commitment. These three dimensions combine to create different types of love.
Flashcard 8: What is the frustration-aggression hypothesis?
Answer: Frustration increases the likelihood of aggressive behavior. Blocked goals create negative arousal that can trigger aggression.
Flashcard 9: What is the difference between instrumental aggression and hostile aggression?
Answer: Instrumental: goal-oriented; hostile: driven by anger to harm. Distinguishes calculated aggression from emotion-driven aggression.
Flashcard 10: What is the matching hypothesis in interpersonal attraction?
Answer: People tend to pair with others of similar physical attractiveness. Based on research showing couples typically have comparable attractiveness levels.
Flashcard 11: What is the social learning theory account of aggression?
Answer: Aggression is learned through observation and reinforcement. Bandura showed children imitate aggressive models they observe.
Flashcard 12: What is the catharsis hypothesis regarding aggression?
Answer: Expressing aggression reduces aggressive drive (not well supported). Research shows venting anger often increases, not decreases, aggression.
Flashcard 13: What is the bystander effect in emergencies?
Answer: Helping decreases as the number of bystanders increases. More witnesses paradoxically leads to less individual helping.
Flashcard 14: What is diffusion of responsibility as it relates to helping behavior?
Answer: Responsibility to help is spread across observers, reducing action. Each bystander assumes others will act, so no one does.
Flashcard 15: What is the empathy-altruism hypothesis?
Answer: Empathy for a person in need can produce altruistic helping. True altruism may exist when we feel another's pain as our own.
Flashcard 16: What is the difference between passionate and companionate love?
Answer: Passionate: arousal; companionate: intimacy and commitment. Passionate fades quickly; companionate grows over time.
Flashcard 17: What does the social exchange theory propose about relationship satisfaction?
Answer: Satisfaction depends on perceived rewards minus costs. We evaluate relationships like economic transactions.
Flashcard 18: What is the self-disclosure reciprocity norm in relationship development?
Answer: Disclosure by one person tends to elicit disclosure by the other. Sharing personal information creates mutual vulnerability and trust.
Flashcard 19: What is the similarity-attraction effect?
Answer: Perceived similarity increases interpersonal liking. We like those who share our attitudes, values, and interests.
Flashcard 20: What is the halo effect as a bias in person perception?
Answer: One positive trait leads to globally positive judgments. Initial impressions color all subsequent evaluations.
Flashcard 21: What is the matching hypothesis in romantic attraction?
Answer: People prefer partners with similar physical attractiveness. We seek partners at our own attractiveness level to avoid rejection.
Flashcard 22: What is the mere exposure effect in interpersonal attraction?
Answer: Repeated exposure increases liking, even without interaction. Familiarity breeds comfort and positive feelings.
Flashcard 23: Which option best defines altruism in social psychology?
Answer: Helping motivated primarily by concern for others. Pure altruism lacks self-interested motives.
Flashcard 24: What are the three components of Sternberg's triangular theory of love?
Answer: Intimacy, passion, and commitment. Complete love requires all three; absence creates different love types.
Flashcard 25: Identify the term: attraction to those physically or psychologically nearby.
Answer: Propinquity (proximity) effect. Physical closeness increases interaction opportunities.
Flashcard 26: What is the definition of aggression used in social psychology?
Answer: Behavior intended to harm another person. Intent to harm is key, regardless of actual damage.
Flashcard 27: What is the frustration-aggression hypothesis?
Answer: Frustration increases the likelihood of aggression. Blocked goals create negative arousal that motivates harm.
Flashcard 28: What does social learning theory predict about aggression after observing a model?
Answer: Aggression increases via observational learning and reinforcement. We imitate aggressive behaviors that are rewarded.
Flashcard 29: What is the difference between hostile aggression and instrumental aggression?
Answer: Hostile: anger-based; instrumental: goal-oriented. Hostile seeks to hurt; instrumental uses harm as a means.
Flashcard 30: What is the bystander effect in emergencies?
Answer: Helping decreases as the number of bystanders increases. Responsibility dilutes across multiple potential helpers.