gain–loss theory

a theory of interpersonal attraction stating that people’s like (or dislike) for another person is more strongly affected by the degree to which they believe they have gone up (or down) in that individual’s estimation than by the unvarying degree to which they think they are attractive (or unattractive) to that person. [first studied in 1965 by U.S. psychologists Elliot Aronson (1932– ) and Darwyn E. Linder (1939– )]

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Psychology term of the day

July 27th 2024

primary insomnia

in DSM–IV–TR, a sleep disorder characterized by difficulty in initiating or maintaining a restorative sleep to a degree in which the severity and persistence of the sleep disturbance causes clinically significant distress, impairment in a significant area of functioning, or both. The disorder is not caused by a general medical condition or the effects of a substance and is not exclusively an aspect of another sleep disorder or mental disorder. It is termed insomnia disorder in DSM–5. See dyssomnia. Compare primary hypersomnia.