Individual differences in talking enjoyment: The roles of life history strategy and mate value. Shelia M. Kennison et al. Cogent Psychology, http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/23311908.2017.1395310
Abstract: The present research explored the possibility that individual differences in talking enjoyment may play a role in human reproduction, such as mate advertising in humans. Prior research on talking has tended to focus on sex differences in the amount of talking. We present a new self-report measure to assess individual differences in talking enjoyment and explore its relationships with self-perceived mate value and life history strategy, which we measured using Figueredo et al.’s (2006) Mini-K. In Study 1, we assessed talking enjoyment with an 11-item talking enjoyment questionnaire (TEQ) and found that a) women’s average talking enjoyment and Mini-K ratings were significantly higher than men’s; b) talking enjoyment was predicted by life history strategy as measured by and self-rated mate value; and c) the relationship between sex and talking enjoyment was mediated by life history strategy. In Study 2, we replicated the results of Study 1 with a revised 8-item talking enjoyment questionnaire after confirming its test-retest reliability. The results provide new insights into individual differences in talking enjoyment. Directions for future research on the relationship talking behavior and mate selection in humans are discussed.
Keywords: talking, life history strategy, mate value, sex differences
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We also explored the possibility that individual differences in talking behavior would be related to individuals’ life history strategy, which has been used to describe differences in individuals’ reproductive behaviors. Life history strategy is a core concept within life history theory (MacArthur & Wilson, 1967) in which different species or different individuals within species can be described as having a fast life history (i.e., r type), having shorter lives, shorter periods of development, higher numbers of offspring with higher mortality rates, and usually devoting time and resources into current versus future reproductive activities or a slow life history (i.e., K type), having longer lives, longer periods of development, seeking long-term versus short-term mates, and producing fewer, but potentially more robust offspring.
Descriptions of the life history strategy in humans have noted that individuals vary in terms of environmental stability and resources (Chisholm, 1993; Roff, 2002; Trivers, 1972), resulting in some individuals having a faster life history (i.e., less stability and fewer resources) and others having a slower life history (i.e., more stability and more resources). Figueredo, Vásquez, Brumbach, and Schneider (2004) suggest that people with a slower life history strategy delay mating and invest effort, time, and resources into social mobility, which improves the odds of long-term survival for both the individual and their future children. We reasoned that individuals with longer life history strategies may enjoy talking more because talking may promote the formation of social bonds both in and outside of the family (Bluck & Alea, 2009).
[...]
Other research has found that there is a relationship between life history strategy and self-perceived mate value (Dillon, Adair, Wang, & Johnson, 2013). Dillon et al. (2013) recruited heterosexual, monogamous couples and assessed their life history strategies. Each individual in the couple provided ratings of their own and their partner’s mate value using both the mate value inventory (Fisher, Cox, Bennett & Gavric, 2008) and a task that involving rating physical attractiveness. The results showed that individuals with slower life history strategy rated themselves and their partners higher in mate value than others. Attractiveness ratings were also higher for individuals with a slower life history strategy.
[...]
Our results from both studies are consistent with Figueredo et al.’s (2004) proposal that those with a slower life history strategy invest in activities related to social mobility, which would typically involve talking as a means of forming new social relationships. Talking to others is likely to be an important way for individuals not only to meet a greater number of potential mates, but also be a way to gain social status. Taken together the two findings support suggestions from prior research that language may be used in mate advertising (Redhead & Dunbar, 2013; Gersick & Kurzban, 2014; Miller, 1997, 1998; 1999). The results are also compatible with Rosenberg and Tunney (2008)’s view that what people say, specifically the choice of vocabulary, may reflect the intelligence of the speaker and function as a fitness cue, which can be used for mate selection.
We do not believe that the present results should be interpreted as indicating that people are always consciously aware that their talking behavior functions to advertise their value as a prospective mate. In some cases, individuals may purposely engage in overt demonstrations of mate advertising (i.e., flirting); however, it may be the case that the general tendency to be talkative serves the individuals’ reproductive activities without awareness on the part of the individual.
Check also: Gossip as an Intrasexual Competition Strategy: Sex Differences in Gossip Frequency, Content, and Attitudes. Adam C. Davis. Evolutionary Psychological Science, http://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2017/10/gossip-as-intrasexual-competition.html
And: What Shall We Talk about in Farsi? Content of Everyday Conversations in Iran. Mahdi Dahmardeh, R. I. M. Dunbar. Human Nature, http://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2017/08/content-of-everyday-conversations-in.html. Pay attention to the table there.
Saturday, October 21, 2017
Study on a Christian Chinese sample: sense of self-worth, well-being and locus of control
Study on a Christian Chinese sample: sense of self-worth, well-being and locus of control. Fei Wu, Qin Gong & Yanqing Dai. Mental Health, Religion & Culture, Volume 20, 2017 - Issue 3, Pages 239-245. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13674676.2017.1338680
ABSTRACT: The purpose of this study was to explore Chinese Christians’ sense of self-worth, well-being, locus of control and the correlations between these variables. One hundred and two Chinese Christians with a range of 18–40 years old were surveyed by the Scale of Self-worth, Chinese version of General Well-Being Scale and internal–external Locus of Control Scale. A control group of 134 Chinese non-Christians participated in the same survey. Christians scored lower on locus of control and higher on self-worth than the non-Christians. No significant general well-being difference was between the Christian and non-Christian samples. The correlations were significant between locus of control and self-worth/general well-being (negative) and between self-worth and general well-being (positive). Results suggest that Christians experience better self-worth and tend to be internals on locus of control.
KEYWORDS: Christians, Locus of Control, sense of self-worth, general well-being
ABSTRACT: The purpose of this study was to explore Chinese Christians’ sense of self-worth, well-being, locus of control and the correlations between these variables. One hundred and two Chinese Christians with a range of 18–40 years old were surveyed by the Scale of Self-worth, Chinese version of General Well-Being Scale and internal–external Locus of Control Scale. A control group of 134 Chinese non-Christians participated in the same survey. Christians scored lower on locus of control and higher on self-worth than the non-Christians. No significant general well-being difference was between the Christian and non-Christian samples. The correlations were significant between locus of control and self-worth/general well-being (negative) and between self-worth and general well-being (positive). Results suggest that Christians experience better self-worth and tend to be internals on locus of control.
KEYWORDS: Christians, Locus of Control, sense of self-worth, general well-being
In a realistic scenario, when women see an attractive potential partner, time slows. Opposite for men.
Time slows down whenever you are around for women but not for men. Margarida Rosa Pinho. Thesis, University of the Minho. Jul 2017. https://repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt/handle/1822/46685
Astract: What happens when we unexpectedly see an attractive potential partner? Previous studies in laboratorial settings suggest that the visualization of attractive and unattractive photographs influences time. The major aim of this research is to study time perception and attraction in a realistic social scenario, by investigating if changes in subjective time measured during a speed dating are associated with attraction. In the event, the duration of the dates was variable and participants had to estimate the time that passed. Among other measures, participants also rated the potential partners in terms of their physical attractiveness before and after the dates and reported if they would like to exchange contact with them. Results showed that, in a real speed dating situation, when there is a perception of the partner as being physically more attractive, women tend to overestimate the duration of that meeting, whereas men tend to underestimate its duration. Such changes may reflect evolutionary adaptations which make the human cognitive system more responsive in situations related to reproductive fitness.
---
More specifically, our results showed that the more females rated a potential partner as
physically attractive, the longer they perceived the duration of the date. That goes along with
the popular idea that “time slows down whenever you are around” (Swift, 2010). This may be
due to a bigger allocation of women’s cognitive resources to process more information of the
meeting (Loftus, Schooler, Boone, & Kline, 1987) and of the potential partner they are
interested in. More specifically, even though physical attractiveness is important in a potential partner, for women there are other characteristics that have a higher value, such as good economic perspectives (Buss & Barnes, 1986; Bech-Sørensen & Pollet, 2016). Therefore, searching for cues of positive traits in a potential mate requires the use of cognitive resources. Besides that, research has shown that when women perceived the partner as attractive, they tend to be more motivated to make a good impression on the partner and pay more attention to the things they say that might influence this impression (Dong & Wyer, 2014). According to Ornstein’s storage size model (1969), when people store more information in memory, they tend to perceive the duration of that interval of time as being longer. Furthermore, women may consider the experience with a partner who they consider physically attractive as positive in an emotional view. This result is also consistent with that study of Kellaris and Kent (1992) in which time did seems to slow downs when participants were exposed to positively balanced music, compared to participants exposed to negatively balanced music. The authors suggested that when people receive positive emotional information they tend to pay more cognitive resources to listening to music. Therefore, they tend to perceive the received stimulus information as bigger and remember the event as being longer (Ornstein, 1969). Besides that, a study conducted by Zhang, Zhang, Yu, Liu and Luo (2017) showed a reliable sex differences in temporal distortion with an emotional stimulus. Women, compared to men, tended to overestimated the durations presented in lexico-semantic level using emotional words.
However, for men, our results showed that time does not seems to slow down whenever someone attractive is around. In fact, the more males rated a female participant as physically attractive, the shorter they perceived the duration of the speed date. This seems to be consistent with the idea that “time flies when you are having fun”. Research has shown that men’s preferences for potential mates are based mostly in physical attractiveness (Todd, Penke, Fasolo, & Lenton, 2007). Therefore, when they have a meeting with a potential partner that they perceive as being physically attractive, they do not need to spend much cognitive resources searching for other cues, feeling automatically motivate to be with her. Consequently, they will tend to estimate the time that passed as being shorter. This result also suggests that time perception in males during the dates may be affected by motivation because, according to previous literature, positive approach motivation causes the perception of time to be shorter (Gable & Poole, 2012). Besides that, the subjective perception of the passage of time seems to be an important component to evaluate the experience of boredom (Danckert & Allman, 2005). So, when males are interested and motivated in the date with a physical attractive potential partner, they tend to estimate the date duration as shorter and, on the other hand, this time underestimation reinforces the perception of an interesting date (Sackett, Meyvis, Nelson, Converse, & Sackett, 2010). Underestimate the duration of the date may prolong approach-motivated behaviour (Gable & Poole, 2012) and this increases the probability of a successful mating. On time, Einstein said “Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute”.
According to Trivers (1972) theory, the relative parental investment of the sexes in their offspring is the key variable controlling the operation of sexual selection. A sexual intercourse that for a male is a reduced investment, for a female can produce a 9-month investment. For a female, this investment requires more choosiness in the partner choice. Besides that, prior research showed that females tend to be more selective (Kurzban & Weeden, 2005) and more discriminating (Todd, Penke, Fasolo, & Lenton, 2007) than males. Therefore, it is expected that females allocate more attention to capture a greater number of characteristics of the potential partner in addition to physical attractiveness, such as intelligence, earning prospect and other signs suggesting he could be good partner in the future. This process seems to imply an exhaustive evaluation in the first meeting which required spending a lot of cognitive resources. On the other hand, men are attracted for less characteristics of the partner compared to females (Luo & Zhang, 2009). So, males do not waste so much energy and resources in cognitive processing of information and focus more energy in having fun with the partners they perceived as being more attractive. Such changes may reflect evolutionary adaptations which make the human cognitive system more responsive in situations related to reproductive fitness. Williams (2012) suggested that sex differences in timing might be due to the effects of circulating estrogen in adult females versus testosterone in adult males. Besides that, gonadal hormones had been found to influence sexual motivation (Wallen, 2001). In men, testosterone increases interest in a woman, engagement in self-presentation, smiling and making eye contact. (Meij, Almela, Buunk, Fawcett & Salvador, 2011). Meij, Almela, Buunk, Fawcett and Salvador (2011) suggested that during encounters with the opposite sex, testosterone may promote the display of affiliative behaviours that increase a man’s mating prospects and during social contact with a potential partner testosterone is linked to the initiation of courtship behaviours. On the other hand, in women estradiol seems to be a significant positive predictor of sexual desire (Roney & Simmons, 2013).
Astract: What happens when we unexpectedly see an attractive potential partner? Previous studies in laboratorial settings suggest that the visualization of attractive and unattractive photographs influences time. The major aim of this research is to study time perception and attraction in a realistic social scenario, by investigating if changes in subjective time measured during a speed dating are associated with attraction. In the event, the duration of the dates was variable and participants had to estimate the time that passed. Among other measures, participants also rated the potential partners in terms of their physical attractiveness before and after the dates and reported if they would like to exchange contact with them. Results showed that, in a real speed dating situation, when there is a perception of the partner as being physically more attractive, women tend to overestimate the duration of that meeting, whereas men tend to underestimate its duration. Such changes may reflect evolutionary adaptations which make the human cognitive system more responsive in situations related to reproductive fitness.
---
More specifically, our results showed that the more females rated a potential partner as
physically attractive, the longer they perceived the duration of the date. That goes along with
the popular idea that “time slows down whenever you are around” (Swift, 2010). This may be
due to a bigger allocation of women’s cognitive resources to process more information of the
meeting (Loftus, Schooler, Boone, & Kline, 1987) and of the potential partner they are
interested in. More specifically, even though physical attractiveness is important in a potential partner, for women there are other characteristics that have a higher value, such as good economic perspectives (Buss & Barnes, 1986; Bech-Sørensen & Pollet, 2016). Therefore, searching for cues of positive traits in a potential mate requires the use of cognitive resources. Besides that, research has shown that when women perceived the partner as attractive, they tend to be more motivated to make a good impression on the partner and pay more attention to the things they say that might influence this impression (Dong & Wyer, 2014). According to Ornstein’s storage size model (1969), when people store more information in memory, they tend to perceive the duration of that interval of time as being longer. Furthermore, women may consider the experience with a partner who they consider physically attractive as positive in an emotional view. This result is also consistent with that study of Kellaris and Kent (1992) in which time did seems to slow downs when participants were exposed to positively balanced music, compared to participants exposed to negatively balanced music. The authors suggested that when people receive positive emotional information they tend to pay more cognitive resources to listening to music. Therefore, they tend to perceive the received stimulus information as bigger and remember the event as being longer (Ornstein, 1969). Besides that, a study conducted by Zhang, Zhang, Yu, Liu and Luo (2017) showed a reliable sex differences in temporal distortion with an emotional stimulus. Women, compared to men, tended to overestimated the durations presented in lexico-semantic level using emotional words.
However, for men, our results showed that time does not seems to slow down whenever someone attractive is around. In fact, the more males rated a female participant as physically attractive, the shorter they perceived the duration of the speed date. This seems to be consistent with the idea that “time flies when you are having fun”. Research has shown that men’s preferences for potential mates are based mostly in physical attractiveness (Todd, Penke, Fasolo, & Lenton, 2007). Therefore, when they have a meeting with a potential partner that they perceive as being physically attractive, they do not need to spend much cognitive resources searching for other cues, feeling automatically motivate to be with her. Consequently, they will tend to estimate the time that passed as being shorter. This result also suggests that time perception in males during the dates may be affected by motivation because, according to previous literature, positive approach motivation causes the perception of time to be shorter (Gable & Poole, 2012). Besides that, the subjective perception of the passage of time seems to be an important component to evaluate the experience of boredom (Danckert & Allman, 2005). So, when males are interested and motivated in the date with a physical attractive potential partner, they tend to estimate the date duration as shorter and, on the other hand, this time underestimation reinforces the perception of an interesting date (Sackett, Meyvis, Nelson, Converse, & Sackett, 2010). Underestimate the duration of the date may prolong approach-motivated behaviour (Gable & Poole, 2012) and this increases the probability of a successful mating. On time, Einstein said “Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute”.
According to Trivers (1972) theory, the relative parental investment of the sexes in their offspring is the key variable controlling the operation of sexual selection. A sexual intercourse that for a male is a reduced investment, for a female can produce a 9-month investment. For a female, this investment requires more choosiness in the partner choice. Besides that, prior research showed that females tend to be more selective (Kurzban & Weeden, 2005) and more discriminating (Todd, Penke, Fasolo, & Lenton, 2007) than males. Therefore, it is expected that females allocate more attention to capture a greater number of characteristics of the potential partner in addition to physical attractiveness, such as intelligence, earning prospect and other signs suggesting he could be good partner in the future. This process seems to imply an exhaustive evaluation in the first meeting which required spending a lot of cognitive resources. On the other hand, men are attracted for less characteristics of the partner compared to females (Luo & Zhang, 2009). So, males do not waste so much energy and resources in cognitive processing of information and focus more energy in having fun with the partners they perceived as being more attractive. Such changes may reflect evolutionary adaptations which make the human cognitive system more responsive in situations related to reproductive fitness. Williams (2012) suggested that sex differences in timing might be due to the effects of circulating estrogen in adult females versus testosterone in adult males. Besides that, gonadal hormones had been found to influence sexual motivation (Wallen, 2001). In men, testosterone increases interest in a woman, engagement in self-presentation, smiling and making eye contact. (Meij, Almela, Buunk, Fawcett & Salvador, 2011). Meij, Almela, Buunk, Fawcett and Salvador (2011) suggested that during encounters with the opposite sex, testosterone may promote the display of affiliative behaviours that increase a man’s mating prospects and during social contact with a potential partner testosterone is linked to the initiation of courtship behaviours. On the other hand, in women estradiol seems to be a significant positive predictor of sexual desire (Roney & Simmons, 2013).
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