Читать книгу Social Psychology - Daniel W. Barrett - Страница 33

One of the most fascinating and complex aspects of human nature is our sociality, which is our tendency to develop and maintain relationships with others (Crosier, Webster, & Dillon, 2012; Gifford, 2013; Leary, 2010; Semin & Echterhoff, 2011). Humans, like other primates, are fundamentally social creatures (Gamble, Gowlett, & Dunbar, 2014). In this text, we’ll examine why our relationships are so important and what sorts of goals they help us meet. Why do you think we need friends or lovers? Each semester I ask my students to think about one of their stronger platonic (nonromantic) friendships and to write down the reasons the friendship developed and why they maintained it. Students frequently mention similarity of attitudes and interests, that they can have fun together, or the ability to depend on each other in times of need, which are all of course important. However, one factor that they often neglect is physical proximity—who they live near, work with, or sit next to in class. As we will discuss in Chapter 11, proximity is one of the strongest influences on who we befriend. In fact, a study of police cadets—who were both seated in class and assigned rooms in a residence hall alphabetically—showed that last name was a strong predictor of who became friends with whom (Segal, 1974). Cadets with last names that begin with the same or nearby letter were more likely to become friends than other pairs of cadets. Why do you think that you have the romantic and nonromantic relationships that you have? What role might proximity have played?

People are inherently social creatures.

Will & Deni McIntyre / Science Source.