Smartphone use undermines enjoyment of face-to-face social interactions

Smartphone use undermines enjoyment of face-to-face social interactions. Ryan Dwyer, Kostadin Kushlev, Elizabeth Dunn. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2017.10.007

Highlights
•    We examine whether phone use impacts the benefits derived from social interactions.
•    We test the effect using a field experiment and experience sampling.
•    Phone use leads to distraction, which undermines benefits of social interaction.

Abstract: Using a field experiment and experience sampling, we found the first evidence that phone use may undermine the enjoyment people derive from real world social interactions. In Study 1, we recruited over 300 community members and students to share a meal at a restaurant with friends or family. Participants were randomly assigned to keep their phones on the table or to put their phones away during the meal. When phones were present (vs. absent), participants felt more distracted, which reduced how much they enjoyed spending time with their friends/family. We found consistent results using experience sampling in Study 2; during in-person interactions, participants felt more distracted and reported lower enjoyment if they used their phones than if they did not. This research suggests that despite their ability to connect us to others across the globe, phones may undermine the benefits we derive from interacting with those across the table.

Keywords: Mobile phones; Technology; Distraction; Social interaction; Well-being

Check also Connecting Alone: Smartphone Use, Quality of Social Interactions and Well-being. Valentina Rotondi, Luca Stanca, and Miriam Tomasuolo. Journal of Economic Psychology, http://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2017/10/time-spent-with-friends-is-worth-less.html

Infants Distinguish Between Two Events Based on Their Relative Likelihood

Kayhan, E., Gredebäck, G. and Lindskog, M. (2017), Infants Distinguish Between Two Events Based on Their Relative Likelihood. Child Dev. doi:10.1111/cdev.12970

Abstract: Likelihood estimations are crucial for dealing with the uncertainty of life. Here, infants' sensitivity to the difference in likelihood between two events was investigated. Infants aged 6, 12, and 18 months (N = 75) were shown animated movies of a machine simultaneously drawing likely and unlikely samples from a box filled with different colored balls. In different trials, the difference in likelihood between the two samples was manipulated. The infants' looking patterns varied as a function of the magnitude of the difference in likelihood and were modulated by the number of items in the samples. Looking patterns showed qualitative similarities across age groups. This study demonstrates that infants' looking responses are sensitive to the magnitude of the difference in likelihood between two events.

Evolution of external female genital mutilation: why do males harm their mates?

Evolution of external female genital mutilation: why do males harm their mates? Pierick Mouginot, Gabriele Uhl, Lutz Fromhage. Royal Society Open Science, November 2017. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.171195

Abstract: Sperm competition may select for male reproductive traits that influence female mating or oviposition rate. These traits may induce fitness costs to the female; however, they may be costly for the males as well as any decrease in female fitness also affects male fitness. Male adaptations to sperm competition manipulate females by altering not only female behaviour or physiology, but also female morphology. In orb-weaving spiders, mating may entail mutilation of external structures of the female genitalia, which prevents genital coupling with subsequent males. Here, we present a game theoretical model showing that external female genital mutilation is favoured even under relatively high costs of mutilation, and that it is favoured by a high number of mate encounters per female and last-male sperm precedence.

---
Males may evolve traits that shift the remating or oviposition rate of the female from the female’s optimum towards their own due to selection on competitive fertilization success [1,2]. Defensive adaptations to sperm competition include mate guarding, copulatory plugs,manipulative seminal fluids and internal genital damage. These adaptations can manipulate the female by altering her behaviour or physiology, but also her genital anatomy [3]. Examples of male-inflicted damages to female genitalia have been documented in numerous taxa, especially among arthropods [4,5]. Most of these genital damages are inflicted internally by the male intromittent organ, and it is debated how these harmful traits have evolved [6–8].

Recently, it has been described that males inflict external damage to the female genitalia in two species of orb-weaving spiders as a defensive adaptation to sperm competition.

Check also Male reproductive suppression: not a social affair. Z. Valentina Zizzari, Andrea Jessen, and Joris M. Koene. Current Zoology, Volume 63, Issue 5, 1 October 2017, Pages 573–579,
http://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2017/09/homosexual-acts-may-help-impair.html

Faces with makeup were perceived to have more unrestricted sociosexuality; with more makeup were perceived as more unrestricted

Evidence that makeup is a false signal of sociosexuality. Carlota Batres et al. Personality and Individual Differences, Volume 122, 1 February 2018, Pages 148–154. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2017.10.023

Highlights
•    Makeup makes women appear to have more unrestricted sociosexuality.
•    Women's self-reported sociosexuality does not relate to their makeup habits.
•    People use makeup as a cue for perceiving sociosexuality but it is an invalid cue.

Abstract: While the positive effect of makeup on attractiveness is well established, there has been less exploration into other possible functions of makeup use. Here we investigated whether one function of makeup is to signal sociosexuality. Using a large, well-controlled set of photographs, we found that faces with makeup were perceived to have more unrestricted sociosexuality than the same faces without makeup. Similarly, women wearing more makeup were perceived to have more unrestricted sociosexuality. The target women who were photographed also completed questionnaires about their makeup habits and the Sociosexual Orientation Inventory. Targets' self-reported sociosexuality was not associated with their makeup habits, with observer ratings of the amount of makeup they wore, or with observer ratings of their sociosexuality when attractiveness was controlled. Thus our study shows that people use makeup as a cue for perceiving sociosexuality but that it is an invalid cue.

Keywords: Makeup; Sociosexuality; Attractiveness; Faces; Perception

Happiness in Behaviour Genetics: An Update on Heritability and Changeability

Happiness in Behaviour Genetics: An Update on Heritability and Changeability. Ragnhild Bang Nes, Espen Røysamb. Journal of Happiness Studies, October 2017, Volume 18, Issue 5, pp 1533–1552.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-016-9781-6

Abstract: In this paper we summarize recent behaviour genetic findings on happiness measured as life satisfaction (LS) and subjective wellbeing (SWB) and discuss important implications pertaining to stability and change, including the potential of individual and societal interventions. Broadly speaking, two main research strategies explore genetic and environmental influences on happiness, including quantitative and molecular genetics. Whereas molecular genetics seeks to trace the causal pathways from specific DNA variants, quantitative genetics estimates the magnitude of overall genetic and environmental influences without specifying actual DNA sequences and usually without specifying specific environmental circumstances. Molecular genetic studies have entered the happiness arena, but have shown mixed results. Most replicated findings are therefore based on quantitative genetics and derived from twin and family studies decomposing variation and co-variation into genetic, shared, and non-shared environmental sources. Recent meta-analyses of such studies report genetic influences (i.e., heritability) to account for 32–40 % of the variation in overall happiness (i.e., SWB, LS), and indicate that heritability varies across populations, subgroups, contexts and/or constructs. When exploring stable SWB levels, heritability is reported in the 70–80 % range, whereas momentary positive affect is often entirely situational. Happiness is thus heritable, stable, variable and changeable. What do these findings imply? Can happiness be raised as a platform in individuals and societies? We suggest that individual and societal interventions that target causal pathways and address both amplifying and compensatory processes (i.e., focus on developing strengths and mitigating risks)—thus providing for positive gene-environment matchmaking, are likely to be effective and longer lasting.

Swiping right: Sociosexuality, intentions to engage in infidelity, and infidelity experiences on Tinder

Swiping right: Sociosexuality, intentions to engage in infidelity, and infidelity experiences on Tinder. Dana A. Weiser et al. Personality and Individual Differences, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2017.10.025

Highlights
•    A minority of participants reported infidelity facilitated by Tinder.
•    Most knew individuals who had used to Tinder to engage in infidelity.
•    Sociosexuality and intentions to engage in infidelity were associated with infidelity.
•    Gender not associated with infidelity when sociosexuality and intentions included.

Abstract: Tinder is a popular mobile dating app among young adults that may be used to facilitate meeting extradyadic partners. Participants who had used or were using Tinder (n = 550) indicated that most knew somebody who had used Tinder to meet extradyadic partners, and several participants reported that their own infidelity had been facilitated by Tinder. Participants were varied as to whether Tinder was an effective method for meeting extradyadic partners. Sociosexuality and intentions to engage in infidelity were associated with having used Tinder to engage in infidelity. Gender was not significantly associated with using Tinder to meet extradyadic partners when sociosexuality and intentions to engage in infidelity were also included in analyses.

Keywords: Extradyadic; Infidelity; Infidelity intentions; Online infidelity; Sociosexual orientation; Tinder

Link between our creations and our self-concept, emerging at age 5, leads us to value them more positively than others’ creations

When and how does labour lead to love? The ontogeny and mechanisms of the IKEA effect. Lauren E. Marsh, Patricia Kanngiesser, Bruce Hood. Cognition, Volume 170, January 2018, Pages 245–253.         https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2017.10.012

Abstract: We elevate our constructions to a special status in our minds. This ‘IKEA’ effect leads us to believe that our creations are more valuable than items that are identical, but constructed by another. This series of studies utilises a developmental perspective to explore why this bias exists. Study 1 elucidates the ontogeny of the IKEA effect, demonstrating an emerging bias at age 5, corresponding with key developmental milestones in self-concept formation. Study 2 assesses the role of effort, revealing that the IKEA effect is not moderated by the amount of effort invested in the task in 5-to-6-year olds. Finally, Study 3 examines whether feelings of ownership moderate the IKEA effect, finding that ownership alone cannot explain why children value their creations more. Altogether, results from this study series are incompatible with existing theories of the IKEA bias. Instead, we propose a new framework to examine biases in decision making. Perhaps the IKEA effect reflects a link between our creations and our self-concept, emerging at age 5, leading us to value them more positively than others’ creations.

Keywords: Ownership; Value; IKEA-effect; Development; Effort justification

Why Are Women More Easily Disgusted Than Men?

Sex Differences in Disgust: Why Are Women More Easily Disgusted Than Men? Laith Al-Shawaf, David M.G. Lewis, David M. Buss. Emotion Review, https://doi.org/10.1177/1754073917709940

Abstract: Women have consistently higher levels of disgust than men. This sex difference is substantial in magnitude, highly replicable, emerges with diverse assessment methods, and affects a wide array of outcomes—including job selection, mate choice, food aversions, and psychological disorders. Despite the importance of this far-reaching sex difference, sound theoretical explanations have lagged behind the empirical discoveries. In this article, we focus on the evolutionary-functional level of analysis, outlining hypotheses capable of explaining why women have higher levels of disgust than men. We present four hypotheses for sexual disgust and six for pathogen disgust, along with testable predictions. Discussion focuses on additional new hypotheses and on future research capable of adjudicating among these competing, but not mutually exclusive, hypotheses.

---
In sum, there are at least four theoretically plausible, non-mutually-exclusive factors driving the evolution of women's heightened sexual disgust relative to men: (a) greater minimum obligatory parental investment (the parental investment hypothesis), (b) higher likelihood and greater costs of contracting STIs (the sexually transmitted infections hypothesis), (c) defense against rape and sexual coercion (the rape avoidance hypothesis). and (d) sex differences in reputational damage as a consequence of promiscuous or deviant sexual behavior (the reputational damage hypothesis).

[...]

In summary, we have proposed six hypotheses for the evolution of elevated female pathogen disgust: (a) reduced risk-taking among women because female vehicles are more critical than male vehicles to the long-term propagation of the genes residing in their offspring's bodies; (b) greater female likelihood of directly transmitting infections to offspring; (c) a greater role for women in keeping children away from pathogens and teaching them effective disease-avoidance principles; (d) a greater role for ancestral women in food cleaning and food preparation; (e) lower levels of disgust among men in order to convey immune strength and facilitate short-term mating; and (f) higher male thresholds for disgust related to blood, injury, and death because of selective pressures related to hunting and warfare.