The Boy Next Doorish

My boyfriend and I met last year in a biology class. However, we were just acquaintances last year and we would occasionally make small talk or work on bio homework together. Randomly throughout second semester freshman year him and I kept running into each other every time my roommate and I would go out to eat somewhere or go get coffee. The more we ran into each other and started talking to each other I started to realize I had a crush on him. This can be explained by the mere exposure effect, meaning the more we saw each other the more we liked each other (Zajonc, 1968).

Interestingly, when I moved into my dorm this year I discovered he was living directly across the hall and it didn't take long before we started dating. Because we lived so close we saw each other more and which led to us liking each other more, this is know as the proximity effect (Latané, Lui, Nowak, Bonevento, & Zheng, 1995). The proximity effect states that how close we work or live to others is the best predictor of who we will be friends or lovers with( Latané et al., 1995). As such, typically the closer you work to or live by someone the more likely it is that you will develop a close relationship with that person. Our physical proximity increased our exposure to each other and we eventually ended up dating.

Latané, B., Liu, J. H, Nowak, A., Bonevemto, M., & Zheng, L. (1995). Distance matters: Physical space and social impact. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 21, 795-805.

Zajonc, R. B. (1968). Attitudinal effects of mere exposure. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology Monograph Supplement, 9(2), 1-27.

Just Keep Runnnning....

I am currently in the agonizing process of getting back in shape :s I am not entirely sure what I was smoking but over spring break I agreed to run in a marathon relay with a friend of mine and her mom. I used to be a cross country runner so I didn't think it would be tooo awful to run four miles but every muscle in my legs is currently reminding me that I was wrong.

With almost a month until the race I am now running every other day with my boyfriend. However, he is in a lot better shape than me and can run a lot faster and a lot longer. So not to compromise his work out We run one mile together then I run back and he keeps going a few extra. On the first mile I am so impressed with my running no quitting, complaining, and I keep a decent pace. Buttt on my run back I am running by myself and I am positive my pace is wayyyy slower than the first mile.

The difference in pace in my two miles can be explained by the evaluation apprehension theory (Geen, 1991; Henchy & Glass, 1968). The evaluation apprehension theory explains that performance of a task will either be improved or impaired when the task is performed around people who are able to critique or evaluate the performance (Geen, 1991; Henchy & Glass, 1968) Which means when my boyfriend is running with me I run faster because he is fit, in shape, and a good runner. I run faster because I don't want him to think I am lazy and slow. My performance improves because thank god it is my dominant response still lingering some how from cross country. However, if I had never run before running with him would probably result in me running slower, complaining, and quitting pretty quick. Hopefully the evaluation apprehension theory will also have an effect during the relay.

Geen, R. G. (1991). Social motivation. Annual Review of Psychology, 42, 377-399.

Henchy, T., & Glass, D. C. (1968) Evaluation apprehension and the social facilitation of dominant and subordinate responses. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 10, 446-454.

Demonstrate a Concept.... getting what you want :)

In the video above is of an interaction between my older sister (Kaylee) and I. Kaylee and I have a pretty good relationship in that we are always there for each other and want to help each other out in what ever way possible. In the video above I was hoping she would lend me a little money for gas. In order to get her to agree to lending me some money for gas I asked first for a more outrageous amount of money, knowing that rent is due and she wouldn't have an excess of cash. First, I asked Kaylee for a hundred dollars to pay off my parking tickets. It seemed she felt bad but told me she didn't have that much money to give. Then, i asked for a smaller amount, the amount that i had been wanting to begin with, 20 dollars for gas. Because Kaylee felt bad for already saying no once, and because the second request seemed very reasonable compared to the first, Kaylee agreed to lend me 20 dollars.

The video of my sister and I demonstrates the door-in-the-face technique (Cialdini, Vincent, Lewis, Catalan, Wheeler & Darby, 1975). The door-in-the-face technique is a compliance strategy that works using two steps. First, you should ask for something you know the other person will not or cannot give you. Then, after they refuse request something that seems more reasonable (the thing you really want). By comparison the second request will seem much more doable and the person will more than likely comply with the second request, this concept is called perceptual contrast ( Cialdini et al., 1975). In addition, the door-in-the-face technique works because of reciprocal concessions (Cialdini et al., 1975). That is, it seems the person making the request is making an effort to give a little or bargain, when this happens the other person feels pressure to agree with the new better deal.

Cialdini, R. B., Vincent, J. E., Lewis, S. K., Catalan, J., Wheeler, D., & Darby, B. L. (1975). Reciprocal concessions procedure for inducing compliance: The door-in-the-face technique. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 31, 206-215

My summer job consisted of dressing in a Hawaiian T-shirt, listening to the same IZ cd everyday, and handing out smoothie samples. I was working for a coffee and smoothie shop my mom's friend owned that was located in an H.E.B. A large part of the job was handing out samples when the store was slow since it was relatively new and a lot of H.E.B shoppers were unaware it existed. Of course the owner had a plan in mind by handing out the samples. She didn't do it just to give me an extra thing to do (even though it felt like it at times),but instead she hoped that by giving people something for free they would be inclined to want to be nice back and purchase a drink.
The idea that people feel like they should return acts of kindness is know as the norm of reciprocity(Gouldner, 1960).In other words, my boss hoped she would appeal to a social norm of treating others how they treat you. She was also good about giving people discounts when I was training if I took to long to make a drink. This way when people took our free samples they felt obligated to buy a drink, and if they received a discount they felt obligated to come back and buy one full price the next time.

Gouldner, A. W. (1960). The norm of reciprocity: A preliminary statement. American Sociological Review, 25, 161-178

Hell in Heels

Comfortable and high heels are rarely used in the same sentence. I have one favorite pair of black heels that I absolutely love that were decently expensive for my budget and that tear apart my feet. However, I have worn them to pretty much every formal or semi formal outing I have gone to since I bought them. They hurt like hell but I'm convinced every time that they look great and that the pain is completely worth it. I've even gotten so much use out of them that I think it's time to get rid of them but the thought makes me sad.

The idea that we love what we suffer for is called effort justification (Aronson & Mills, 1959). That is, I love these awful, expensive, painful heels so much because I want to justify spending so much money and causing my self pain time and time again. Because of course I wouldn't pay money for pain unless I absolutely loved the shoes and knew at the end of the day that the suffering was worth it.

Aronson, E., & Mills, J. (1959). The effect of severity of initiation on liking for a group. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 59, 177-181.

Daddy's Little Angel Mommies Little Devil.

My mom always had to play bad cop when my sister and I were growing up because my dad had to travel alot with work. Although I know it's been a tough position for her to be in we have had many argument because of differences in opinion and all that jazz. My mother is pretty conservative and very controlling on what my sister and I were exposed to (we couldn't even watch power rangers, and I am still yet to see any Austin powers or American Pie movies) additionally she liked to control how we thought about things. It seems now in every area we are opposites, she's pro-life I'm pro-choice, she believes in waiting until marriage I believe it's ok to have premarital sex in committed relationships, she thinks love is between a man and a woman and I believe there shouldn't be any regulations on who people chose to love... I'm sure you get the point. It is possible the passion behind my beliefs began because of psychological reactance, meaning I chose to think the opposite of my mother on many topics because I was reacting to my mother wanting to control how I thought about these topics ( Brehm & Brehm, 1981). An example of my psychological reactance happened on my sixteenth birthday. I had just been ungrounded from a two week grounding after some argument her and I had. In Scotland where I was living at the time you could get body piercings without parent consent at sixteen. Knowing how my mom felt about body piercings I decided to go get a nose ring to show her I was in control of my life and not her and assert my newly regained freedom. It ended up taking her two days to realize but needless to say my freedom didn't last long :s

Brehem, S. S., & Brehem, J. W. (1981). Psychological reactance: A theory of freedom and control. New York: Academic Press.

IAT

We are all prejudice on some level because certain ideals are so systemically embedded in our culture and society. I am currently in a feminist studies class so I believed I wouldn't have any unconscious biases towards women in the work place. However, i took an Implicit Associates Test (IAT) that revealed I have a slight bias towards associating women with family and men with careers.

Development of the IAT is credited to Tony Greenwald, Brain Nosek, and Mahzarin Banaji. An IAT is a computerized test that is designed to detect unconscious biases. It uses 4 categories, in this case typically male and female names and career associated words and family associated words. On the left side of the screen it will say men and on the right it will say women. The test begins by asking you to classify names into the male or female categories by hitting the e key and the i key on the keyboard. The e key means you believe the word presented belongs in the category on the left and the hitting the i key means you believe the presented word belongs in the right category. After this initial test female is presented on the left and male is presented on the right and you repeat the test. Next the test gets more complicated. Words are displayed that are either male or female names and career or family words. Two categories start on the left, family and women and the other to start on the right men and career. The test is completed in the same manner using the keys e and i to classify the words into their appropriate catergories. Finally the categories are rematched so women and career appear on the same side and men and family appears on the other. The test judges how quick you assign the categories to the correct side and how many errors you make in the process, It is believed that you will be quicker to assign the words to the categories you are most comfortable with or favor(Greenwald, Nosek & Banaji, 2003).

In addition to the gender IAT i also completed an age IAT revealing that I have an automatic preference for young people compared to old people. I feel the results of both of my tests were accurate. Although, i would consider myself a feminist I feel our society is still influenced by the women with family and men with careers norm. I actively try to think otherwise but I believe the stereotype is still somewhere in the back of my mind. In addition, I feel as though it is way more exciting to be young. There are more things that I am able and willing to do at this age than I feel like there will be when I am 60.

I was interested to see if I could trick the IAT and change my results. I re-took the age IAT and attempted to take a little more time to consider which category the displayed word belonged in. I got the exact same results.

The gender IAT was mind opening because it shows that what I consciously think and what I unconsciously believe are not consistent, and that I too am influenced by social norms I try so hard to avoid. Additionally, my unsuccessful attempt to change my score showed me that my unconscious is not easily duped.

Greenwald, A. G., Nosek, B. A., & Banaji, M. R. (2003). Understanding and using the implicit associations test: I. An improved scoring algorithum. Journal of Personal and Social Pyschology, 85, 197-216.