PSYCH 2C03 Lecture Notes - Lecture 30: Thematic Apperception Test
11 Feb 2019
School
Department
Course
Professor
Social Psychology
November 29, 2017
Interpersonal Attraction Pt 2
What About Love?
• Recall Two-Factor Theory of Emotion
o Physiological Arousal
o Attribution re. Source of that Arousal
• Love is an emotion
• Two-Factor Theory of Love
o Increased arousal – “My heart is pounding”
o Look for something to explain it – “Look at the hottie over there! I must be in
love”
Dutton & Aron Field Experiments
• See if they can make people fall in love
• Two IV’s
o Physiological arousal (high vs. low bridge)
o Appropriate love object (Female vs. Male)
• Love object wait at end of bridge
o Ask if the participant will participate in survey
• Two DV’s
o TAT (thematic apperception test – image) coded for sexual imagery
o % calling “for more info” (assesses sexual attraction)
• Results
o TAT Stories
▪ Male target low sexual imagery regardless of arousal
▪ Female target high sexual imagery for high arousal
• High sexual imagery for low arousal as well
o Phone Calls
▪ Female target got lot of calls in high arousal situation
• No control for this experiment
o People who cross high bridge are more daring (more likely to approach a woman
and try to get with her)
• Another experiment
o Shows the same results for all people who cross the high bridge but with delayed
approach time
But…
• What about unattractive people?
o Do they become more attractive?
