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Love, Friendship, and Social Support, Reflection:
It is eye opening to…
Love, Friendship, and Social Support
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Friendship
Workplace Friendships
- Job satisfactions
- Job involvement
- Organization commitment
- Less likely to leave job
Internet Friendships
- often as intimate as in-person relationships
- especially true for those who are more socially anxious and/or lonely
Love
3 types of love
- Intimacy: includes caring, closeness, and emotional support
- Passion: comprised of physiological and emotional arousal. Can include physical attraction, emotional responses that promote physiological changes, and sexual arousal
- Commitment: refers to the cognitive process and decision to commit to love another person and the willingness to work to keep that love over the course of your life
Love and Biology
- scanned the brains of people who had just fallen in love (fMRI)
- similar to a brain of an addict on a drug high
- serotonin production increased by as much as 40%
Breakup:
- brain processes it in a similar way to quitting an addiction
- breakups are physically painful!!
Long-term love and sexual desire activate different areas of the brain
- sexual needs activate the part of the brain that is particularly sensitive to innately pleasurable things such as food
- love requires conditioning, like a habit
Wehn sexual needs are rewarded consistently, then love can develop
- love grows out of positive rewards, expectancies, and habit
Internet Dating
- dating sites generally reduce issues of proximity as individuals do not have to be close to each other
- online relationships leave room for deception, people have to be cautious
Social Support
Perceived
- when things go wrong, you know you have friends and family to help you
- also linked to well-being
- serves as a buffer to stress, increases happiness and well-being, makes lives better in general
Received: the actual receipt of support or helping behaviors from others
- unlike perceived, benefits of received support are less clear and straightforward
- support may not be considered as helpful to the person receiving the support if it is unwanted
Quantity or Quality?
- we have a cognitive limit with regard to how many people we can maintain social relationships with
- General consensus is about 150
- both quantity and quality matter
Being socially connected is imperative to achieving personal well-being
- suicide tends to be higher among those who become disconnected from society
- Gives us a sense of purpose and identity to our lives
- Research shows that close relationships are the psychological equivalent of food and water, necessary for survival
Reflection:
It is eye opening to realize how much the mere exposure effect and physical proximity dictate who I become friends with. I used to think I naturally click with certain people, but knowing that simply crossing paths frequently actively increases attraction makes me realize how much my daily environment shapes my social circle
I never really thought about the difference between perceived and received support before. It makes total sense that just knowing I have reliable friends in my corner acts as a powerful, constant buffer against stress, which can occasionally eel uncomfortable or unhelpful if it is unwanted
Learning that love activates the brain similarly to an addiction completely changes how I view relationship endings. Knowing that losing love is processed by the brain similarly to withdrawal, and can cause actual physical pain, makes me much more patient and empathetic towards friends going through heartbreak instead of just expecting them to quickly move on