Topic 3: Interpersonal Relationship

WHAT IS RELATIONSHIP AND WHY DOES PEOPLE NEED OTHER PEOPLE?

Why need others?

Social Needs Around the world and across age-groups, most people spend about 3/4s of their time with other people. People want not merely the presence of others but close ties to people who care about them.

Benefits of Social Relations Attachment (comfort & security) Social integration (shared interests & attitudes) Reassurance of Worth Sense of Reliable Alliance (help in times of need) Guidance Opportunity for Nurturance No single relationship can fulfill all our social needs

TYPES OF RELATIONSHIP

Attachment What is attachment? The most important form of social development that occurs during infancy is ATTACHMENT, the positive emotional bond that develops between a child and a particular individual. Bowlby viewed attachment as based on infant's needs for safety and security (especially from the mother)

Infant Attachment Attachment Attachment provides an infant responds positively to specific others, feels better when they are close, and seeks them out when frightened. Attachment provides a sense of security to the child information about the environment

Infant Attachment Critical for allowing the infant to explore the world Having a strong, firm attachment provides a safe base from which the child can gain independence. Attachment:- adaptive suggests that the tendency to form relationships is at least partly biologically based.

Infant Attachment Mary Ainsworth (1978) identified three major attachment styles:- Secure  strong bonding Avoidant  negative bonding Anxious/ambivalent  display a combination of positive and negative bonding

Adult Romantic Attraction Secure, Avoidant, Anxious/Ambivalent The proportion of adults classified these ways is similar to the proportion of infants However, unlike with children, adult attachments are reciprocal, between peers, and sexual.

Adult Romantic Attraction Many theorists believe that infant attachment to caregivers provides a “working model” for adult relationships. There is some evidence for continuity. However, attachment style may change if a person has a significant attachment-related event (e.g., divorce, abuse, etc.)

Adult Romantic Attraction In general, people with a secure attachment style have more satisfying, committed, close, and well-adjusted relationships than avoidant people. Secure people are more responsive to their partner’s needs than avoidant or anxious people.

SOCIAL COGNITION and BEHAVIOR

What is Social Cognition? Social Cognition is the study of how people form inferences from social information in the environment (Fiske & Taylor, 1991)

Social Cognition The study of how people make sense out themselves and others. It focuses on how people think about other people How they think they think about others and themselves.

What do you think of ….?

Social Cognition study focuses on what? Research on social cognition explores how people make social judgment about other people or social groups, about social roles and about their own experiences in social settings.

You are… Trying to share the feeling (probably by smiling too) But you are not sure who she is, why is she smiling and where she is at. In order to answer to all your queries, you have to make some POSSIBLE guess. In other words, we use our mental power (and schema) to understand the picture.

Why is social judgment process difficult? Information are often: Incomplete Ambiguous Contradictory Too complex

Social cognition looks at the higher mental processes that are engaged while in social situations or in dealing with social information. Through perception, memory, attention, reasoning, and problem solving ability. When dealing with BEHAVIOR, people tend to associate it with TRAITS.

Thus, the basis for social cognition is our perception and thinking process about other people (in relation to us) and also what others may think about us.

Steps in Social Inference Gather information Decide which information to use Integrate information Form Judgment Maybe…built relationship……

We do not store/encode all the information in our memory  only focus on certain aspects. So, how do we decide which information to focus on? Social Cognition research has shown that people use Schemas to encode incoming information.

Why is schemas important: Help to recognize important aspects of situations or about certain type of behavior Enable us to remember information better, and process information quickly. Can fill in gaps and knowledge Help people to interpret and evaluate new information.

Scenario…. What happens when you:- Go to a clinic Take exam We knew (expect) what is going to happen  because we already have a mental structure (from experience) of the event. Experiences enables us to build a mental framework that allows us to organize our knowledge & assumptions about each the subjects/event encountered. Social Psychologist describe such mental framework as Schemas  where through experience we acquire schema, i.e. the mental frameworks for organizing, interpreting and processing social information.

Theories of Interpersonal Attraction Social Exchange Theory Equity Theory

Theories of Interpersonal Attraction Social Exchange Theory People feelings about relationship depend on their perceptions of the reward and costs of the relationship The kind of relationship they deserve Chance for having a better relationship with someone else.

Theory 0f Interpersonal Attraction Equity Theory People are happiest with when they receive equal benefits from the relationship, i.e. Rewards & cost contributed by both parties are roughly equal.