Learning goals:
Understand human’s need for attachment
and the benefits affiliation provides
Understand various theories of attraction
Identify characteristics desired in a
relationship
Identify and understand key factors in
promoting interpersonal attraction
Identify theories of love and distinguish
between types of love
Need for affiliation
Humans have an innate basic need for
affiliation.
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Distraction hypothesis
Social comparison theory
Benefits of affiliation:
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Sense of attachment
Social integration
Reassurance of worth
Sense of reliable alliance
Guidance
Opportunity for nurturance
Top 10 “Wish List”
Create a top ten wish list for
characteristics you desire in your ideal
mate.
Importance of Attraction
Characteristics all people desire in a mate:
Warmth
Competence
Physical attractiveness
While all people desire similar
characteristics, there are considerable sex
differences in the value or importance
placed on each
Explanation of findings
Evolutionary theory
evolutionary psychology states that men and
women are attracted to different characteristics
in each other because these foster reproductive
success
Key Factors:
proximity
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mere exposure effect
physical attractiveness
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matching hypothesis
halo effect
self-fulfilling prophecy
similarity effect
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ingroup bias
social comparison
repulsion hypothesis
reciprocity effects
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self-fulfilling prophecy
ingratiation
Defining Love
Companionate love
 the feelings of intimacy and affection we feel for another person when we
care deeply for the person, but do not necessarily experience passion or
arousal in his or her presence.
Passionate love
 is the feeling of intense longing, accompanied by physiological arousal,
we feel for another person; when our love is reciprocated, we feel great
fulfillment and ecstasy, but when it is not, we feel sadness and despair.
Theories of Love
triangular theory of love
different kinds of love consist of varying degrees of
three components: intimacy, passion, and commitment
love styles
basic theories people have about love that guide their
behavior in relationships. Six styles have been
identified: Eros, Ludus, Storge, Pragma, Mania and
Agape
attachment styles
your attachment as an adult will be influenced by your
attachment style to your parents as a child
Love Styles:
Eros:
passionate, physical love
Ludus: love as a game
Storge: love that evolves out of friendship
Pragma: pragmatic love
Mania: emotional, roller-coaster love
Agape: self-less love
Attachment Styles
secure attachment style
 develops in those who have responsive caregivers as infants an is
characterized by trust, a lack of concern with being abandoned, and the
view that one is worthy and well-liked
avoidant attachment style
 develops in those who have aloof and distant caregivers as infants and is
characterized by a suppression of attachment needs, because attempts to
be intimate have been rebuffed
anxious/ambivalent attachment style
 develops in those who had inconsistent and overbearing caregivers as
infants and is characterized by a concern that others will not reciprocate
one’s desire for intimacy, resulting in higher than average levels of
anxiety