|Question 8Verbal

Source Texts

Text
Text 1
Studies contributing to the body of evidence that people generally enjoy socializing have routinely focused on interactions in ongoing relationships (from spouses to classmates), but psychologist Selin Salman-Engin and colleagues have demonstrated the benefit of making connections with strangers. Greater positive affect was reported by participants in their study who warmly thanked a shuttle driver than by those who didn't speak to the driver.

Text 2
Social relations research commonly draws on a model that centers an individual within three concentric circles. The innermost circle holds one's strongest ties (e.g., a treasured friend), the next holds close but less important ties (e.g., a teammate), and the outermost holds weak ties (those more distant but important enough to be counted as part of one's social network).
Based on the texts, what would Salman-Engin and colleagues (Text 1) most likely say about the discussion of the model in Text 2?
It underscores that most research on social interactions fails to capture a category of connection that has the capacity to contribute positively to individuals' sense of well-being.
A
It reflects an overemphasis on relationship longevity in researchers' evaluations of the relative importance of various connections in an individual's social network.
B
It explains researchers' observations that individuals typically expect interactions with familiar people to be more positive than their interactions with unfamiliar people would be.
C
It emphasizes distinctions among types of close connections that aren't adequately represented in social relations research, since most studies categorize relationships as either close or casual.
D