COMM 245 Lecture 9: CHAPTER 9 FORMING AND MAINTAINING SOCIAL BONDS (Acio)
CHAPTER 9 FORMING AND MAINTAINING SOCIAL BONDS
➢How People Form Relationships
○Attraction Theory
■Explains why individuals are drawn to particular others
●Physical Attraction
○Symmetry and Proportion
●Social Attraction
○Social Status (Ex: Popular, Actress)
●Task Attraction
○How good someone is at something
○Ex: Skilled basketball player
■Certain characteristics make someone attractive
●Appearance (Symmetry, Proportion, Brand)
●Proximity (Being around you all the time)
●Similarity (Things in common)
●Complementarity (Qualities that compliment you)
○Uncertainty Reduction Theory
■Suggest we get to know others to reduce our uncertainty about them
■We want to get to know each other because we want to be more certain
about who someone is
■Since we find uncertainty unpleasant, we are motivated to reduce it
■“The more we know about someone, the more we like someone”
●NOT ALWAYS TRUE
○Social Exchange Theory
■Seeking relationships which benefits outweigh costs
■We seek relationships where our CL is better or equal to our CLAlt
●Benefits = Comfort, Companionship
●Costs = Time, Money
■Comparison Level: standards; our realistic expectation of what we want
and think we deserve from a relationship
■Comparison Level for Alternatives: a relationship now compared to
another relationship; our assessment of how our current relationship
compares to our other options
●In domestic abuse, the person being abused will not leave because
they think they only have one option; there is no alternative
○Equity Theory
■Suggests that we seek relationships in which our ratio of costs and benefits
is the same as our partners
Document Summary
Explains why individuals are drawn to particular others. Proximity (being around you all the time) Suggest we get to know others to reduce our uncertainty about them. We want to get to know each other because we want to be more certain about who someone is. Since we find uncertainty unpleasant, we are motivated to reduce it. The more we know about someone, the more we like someone . We seek relationships where our cl is better or equal to our clalt. Costs = time, money and think we deserve from a relationship. Comparison level: standards; our realistic expectation of what we want. Comparison level for alternatives: a relationship now compared to another relationship; our assessment of how our current relationship compares to our other options. In domestic abuse, the person being abused will not leave because they think they only have one option; there is no alternative.
