GRE Subject Test: Psychology : Attraction & Close Relationships

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for GRE Subject Test: Psychology

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Example Questions

Example Question #1 : Attraction & Close Relationships

__________ attached people report the highest rate of happy and trusting relationships.

Possible Answers:

Ambivalent 

Avoidant

Securely

Anxious

Correct answer:

Securely

Explanation:

John Bowlby and colleagues have studied attachment styles and their correlates by examining the health of adult relationships. The choices provided are terms that Bowlby coined to capture the four major categories of attachment styles. As the name implies, secure attachment denotes the healthiest style and the surest predictor of happy and trusting relationships.

Example Question #2 : Attraction & Close Relationships

Which of the following is not a component of Sternberg's “Triangular Theory of Love?” 

Possible Answers:

Commitment 

Communication

Intimacy 

Passion

Correct answer:

Communication

Explanation:

Sternberg proposed a tri-pointed model of romantic love that he entitled, "Triangular Theory of Love." While communication is always at the core of a healthy relationship, it is not one of the three primary factors in his model whereas the remaining three responses listed in this question are. For Sternberg, intimacy, passion, and commitment coalesce into what he calls consummate love. 

Example Question #3 : Attraction & Close Relationships

When it comes to physical attraction between people of the opposite sex, the "matching hypothesis" implies which of the following?

Possible Answers:

We are attracted to people who reciprocate our liking of them

Females seek males who match their parents' images

Males seek females like their mothers, and females seek males like their fathers

We seek people who are about as attractive as we are

Correct answer:

We seek people who are about as attractive as we are

Explanation:

The 2010 movie 'She's Out of My League' captured this social psychological concept with comedic accuracy. The matching hypothesis describes the well-documented social tendency of pairing with a romantic partner who society would deem roughly equivalent in terms of physical attraction. Even if that's not what we value most highly, looks seem to set a range for whom we consider.

Example Question #4 : Attraction & Close Relationships

Generally speaking, a person is not likely to be attracted to a prospective love interest who possesses which of the following traits?

Possible Answers:

Also is attracted to him or her

Physically attractive

Near to him or her

Opinions similar to his or her own

Emotionally reserved

Correct answer:

Emotionally reserved

Explanation:

The disclosure reciprocity effect describes the process by which the act of two people sharing their feelings and/or secrets can facilitate emotional closeness between the two and increase attraction.

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