LOVE

Question 1

Sternberg triangular theory of love

Answer 1

• 3 components- intimacy, passion, commitment
• Love is a multidimensional component
• Depending on how these combine result in different forms of love
• Passion= infatuation
• Romantic love= passion+ intimacy
• Compassionate= intimacy + commitment
• Consummate love= intimacy + passion + commitment
• Sternberg produces a Triangular love scale (1997)- 45 component measure.
• Globally accurate

Question 2

Proximity and attractiveness

Answer 2

• 1950s (Festinger et al., )- study on student housing- those who lived closer, started to develop increased interpersonal attraction.

Question 3

Familiarity

Answer 3

• Moreland and Beach, 1992- the more familiar we are with each other the more likely to find each other attractive- number of visits (which makes you more familiar) linked to attractiveness

The mere exposure effect= repeated exposure to an object results in greater attraction to that object. However Norton et al., 2007- argued familiarity can be negative, as the more we know someone the more we learn things that are dissimilar to our views, so more to dislike
o Mere exposure research= study showed a weak effect for familiarity when 4 new women were introduced into a class of students. But found a strong and increasing effect across visits for attractiveness (Moreland and Beach, 1992)

Question 4

Attitude similarity

Answer 4

• Newcomb 1961- those in rented accommodation, initially attracted due to proximity, but over time having compatible attitudes seemed more important; students with similar pre acquaintance attitudes became more attracted to one another
• Tidwell et al., (2013)- 187 undergrad students attended speed dating event and interacted with 12 members of the opposite sex each for 4 minutes. Found perceived, not actual, similarity significantly predicted romantic liking

o Clore 1976- ‘law of attraction’ based off consistent and reliable findings that attitude similarity predicts or maintains attraction. The law states that attraction towards a person bears a linear relationship to the actual proportion of similar attitudes shared with that person.

Question 5

fear and love

Answer 5

• Capilano suspension bridge study (Dutton and Aron, 1974)-
• Condition A- ‘scary’ bridge
• Condition B- safe bridge
• A male approaches the bridge stopped half way by a female researcher- asked them to do a thematic apperception test (shown a women crying and asked them to write a story on what happened and also offered a phone call)
• In condition A – more romantic content in the story was written and more phone calls
• This may be as those on the scary bridge had more physical arousal which linked them to more attractiveness/ love ideas to the female researchers.