Key terms chapter 8
• Social bonds: Hypothetical links between known people that induce a sense of happiness or
well-being in the presence of the bonded other, and a sense of wanting or longing (perhaps
even distress) in their absence
• Love: The emotion that is associated with being in an attachment relationship
• Triangular theory of love: An explanation of love in terms of a combination of three factors
(passion, intimacy, and commitment)
• Matching hypothesis: States that people are more likely to form long-standing relationships
with those who are equally as physically attractive as they are
• Oxytocin: A hormone involved in attachment formation that acts on certain receptors in the
brain
• Vasopressin: A similar attachment-forming hormone to oxytocin for which males have
greater sensitivity than females
• Attachment: A powerful type of social bond that tends to be limited to particular kinds of
relationships (e.g. infant–parent, romantic partners)
• Imprinting: The process by which animals (particularly birds) recognize and seek proximity
with a mother-figure
• Medial Pre-Optic Area (MPOA): A region of the hypothalamus that, in many mammalian
species, triggers parental behaviors by responding to pregnancy-related hormonal changes
• Strange Situation Test: A measure of attachment during infancy in which the infant
experiences separations and reunions with a stranger and with an attachment figure
• Securely attached: A type of attachment characterized by proximity seeking with the
attachment figure and distress at separation
• Insecure/avoidant: A type of attachment characterized by ambivalence towards the
attachment figure and avoidance of contact at reunion
• Insecure/anxious: A type of attachment characterized by extreme distress at separation
• Prairie voles: A type of rodent that is unusual because it forms enduring pair-bonds
• Montane voles: A species of rodent that is often studied due to its promiscuity rather than
monogamy
• Pair-bonding: A long-enduring attachment with a sexual partner
• Hypothalamicpituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis: A neural pathway that is activated during stress
and produces changes in stress-related hormones such as cortisol
• Grief: An intense feeling of loss that occurs as a result of permanent separation (normally
death) from a loved one
• Loniness: A perceived social isolation and/or lack of intimacy
• Social bonds: Hypothetical links between known people that induce a sense of happiness or
well-being in the presence of the bonded other, and a sense of wanting or longing (perhaps
even distress) in their absence
• Love: The emotion that is associated with being in an attachment relationship
• Triangular theory of love: An explanation of love in terms of a combination of three factors
(passion, intimacy, and commitment)
• Matching hypothesis: States that people are more likely to form long-standing relationships
with those who are equally as physically attractive as they are
• Oxytocin: A hormone involved in attachment formation that acts on certain receptors in the
brain
• Vasopressin: A similar attachment-forming hormone to oxytocin for which males have
greater sensitivity than females
• Attachment: A powerful type of social bond that tends to be limited to particular kinds of
relationships (e.g. infant–parent, romantic partners)
• Imprinting: The process by which animals (particularly birds) recognize and seek proximity
with a mother-figure
• Medial Pre-Optic Area (MPOA): A region of the hypothalamus that, in many mammalian
species, triggers parental behaviors by responding to pregnancy-related hormonal changes
• Strange Situation Test: A measure of attachment during infancy in which the infant
experiences separations and reunions with a stranger and with an attachment figure
• Securely attached: A type of attachment characterized by proximity seeking with the
attachment figure and distress at separation
• Insecure/avoidant: A type of attachment characterized by ambivalence towards the
attachment figure and avoidance of contact at reunion
• Insecure/anxious: A type of attachment characterized by extreme distress at separation
• Prairie voles: A type of rodent that is unusual because it forms enduring pair-bonds
• Montane voles: A species of rodent that is often studied due to its promiscuity rather than
monogamy
• Pair-bonding: A long-enduring attachment with a sexual partner
• Hypothalamicpituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis: A neural pathway that is activated during stress
and produces changes in stress-related hormones such as cortisol
• Grief: An intense feeling of loss that occurs as a result of permanent separation (normally
death) from a loved one
• Loniness: A perceived social isolation and/or lack of intimacy
