Bystanders intervene to impede grooming in Western chimpanzees and sooty mangabeys. Alexander Mielke, Liran Samuni, Anna Preis, Jan F. Gogarten, Catherine Crockford, Roman M. Wittig. Royal Society Open Science, DOI: 10.1098/rsos.171296
Abstract: Grooming interactions benefit groomers, but may have negative consequences for bystanders. Grooming limits bystanders' grooming access and ensuing alliances could threaten the bystander's hierarchy rank or their previous investment in the groomers. To gain a competitive advantage, bystanders could intervene into a grooming bout to increase their own grooming access or to prevent the negative impact of others' grooming. We tested the impact of dominance rank and social relationships on grooming intervention likelihood and outcome in two sympatric primate species, Western chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) and sooty mangabeys (Cercocebus atys atys). In both species, rather than increasing their own access to preferred partners, bystanders intervened mainly when an alliance between groomers could have a negative impact on them: when the lower-ranking groomer was close to the bystander in rank, when either groomer was an affiliation partner whose services they could lose, or the groomers were not yet strongly affiliated with each other. Thus, bystanders in both species appear to monitor grooming interactions and intervene based on their own dominance rank and social relationships, as well as triadic awareness of the relationship between groomers. While the motivation to intervene did not differ between species, mangabeys appeared to be more constrained by dominance rank than chimpanzees.
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Wednesday, November 8, 2017
The Humanizing Voice: Speech Reveals, and Text Conceals, a More Thoughtful Mind in the Midst of Disagreement
The Humanizing Voice: Speech Reveals, and Text Conceals, a More Thoughtful Mind in the Midst of Disagreement. Juliana Schroeder, Michael Kardas, Nicholas Epley. Psychological Science, https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797617713798
Abstract: A person’s speech communicates his or her thoughts and feelings. We predicted that beyond conveying the contents of a person’s mind, a person’s speech also conveys mental capacity, such that hearing a person explain his or her beliefs makes the person seem more mentally capable—and therefore seem to possess more uniquely human mental traits—than reading the same content. We expected this effect to emerge when people are perceived as relatively mindless, such as when they disagree with the evaluator’s own beliefs. Three experiments involving polarizing attitudinal issues and political opinions supported these hypotheses. A fourth experiment identified paralinguistic cues in the human voice that convey basic mental capacities. These results suggest that the medium through which people communicate may systematically influence the impressions they form of each other. The tendency to denigrate the minds of the opposition may be tempered by giving them, quite literally, a voice.
Check also Your attention makes me smile: Direct gaze elicits affiliative facial expressions. Jari K. Hietanen et al. Biological Psychology, http://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2017/11/your-attention-makes-me-smile-direct.html
Abstract: A person’s speech communicates his or her thoughts and feelings. We predicted that beyond conveying the contents of a person’s mind, a person’s speech also conveys mental capacity, such that hearing a person explain his or her beliefs makes the person seem more mentally capable—and therefore seem to possess more uniquely human mental traits—than reading the same content. We expected this effect to emerge when people are perceived as relatively mindless, such as when they disagree with the evaluator’s own beliefs. Three experiments involving polarizing attitudinal issues and political opinions supported these hypotheses. A fourth experiment identified paralinguistic cues in the human voice that convey basic mental capacities. These results suggest that the medium through which people communicate may systematically influence the impressions they form of each other. The tendency to denigrate the minds of the opposition may be tempered by giving them, quite literally, a voice.
Check also Your attention makes me smile: Direct gaze elicits affiliative facial expressions. Jari K. Hietanen et al. Biological Psychology, http://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2017/11/your-attention-makes-me-smile-direct.html
Speaking From Ignorance: Not Agreeing With Others We Believe Are Correct
Speaking From Ignorance: Not Agreeing With Others We Believe Are Correct. Bert Hodges et al. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2014, Vol. 106, No. 2, 218–234. DOI: 10.1037/a0034662
Abstract: Values-pragmatics theory (Hodges & Geyer, 2006) predicts that people will sometimes disagree with others they believe are correct, for reasons similar to those explaining agreement with incorrect answers in an Asch (1956) situation. In 3 experiments, we found evidence that people in a position of ignorance sometimes do not agree with the correct answers of others in positions of knowledge. Experiments 1a and 1b found this speaking-from-ignorance (SFI) effect occurred 27% of the time. Experiment 2 introduced experimental controls and self-report data indicating that the SFI effect (30%) was generated by realizing values (e.g., truth, social solidarity) and pragmatic constraints to act cooperatively, rather than by a wide array of alternatives (e.g., normative pressure, reactance). Experiment 3 experimentally manipulated concern for truthfulness, yielding 49% nonagreeing answers, even though there were monetary incentives to give correct, agreeing answers. The overall pattern suggests that people are not so much conformists or independents as they are cooperative truth tellers under social and moral constraints. Results, while surprising for social influence theories, illustrate the dynamics of divergence and convergence that appear across studies in cultural anthropology and developmental psychology, as well as in social psychology.
Keywords: conformity, divergence, pragmatics, truth, values
Abstract: Values-pragmatics theory (Hodges & Geyer, 2006) predicts that people will sometimes disagree with others they believe are correct, for reasons similar to those explaining agreement with incorrect answers in an Asch (1956) situation. In 3 experiments, we found evidence that people in a position of ignorance sometimes do not agree with the correct answers of others in positions of knowledge. Experiments 1a and 1b found this speaking-from-ignorance (SFI) effect occurred 27% of the time. Experiment 2 introduced experimental controls and self-report data indicating that the SFI effect (30%) was generated by realizing values (e.g., truth, social solidarity) and pragmatic constraints to act cooperatively, rather than by a wide array of alternatives (e.g., normative pressure, reactance). Experiment 3 experimentally manipulated concern for truthfulness, yielding 49% nonagreeing answers, even though there were monetary incentives to give correct, agreeing answers. The overall pattern suggests that people are not so much conformists or independents as they are cooperative truth tellers under social and moral constraints. Results, while surprising for social influence theories, illustrate the dynamics of divergence and convergence that appear across studies in cultural anthropology and developmental psychology, as well as in social psychology.
Keywords: conformity, divergence, pragmatics, truth, values
Users who feature either cat or dog images in their tweets are more neurotic, less conscientious, and less agreeable
Personality Profiles of Users Sharing Animal-related Content on Social Media. Courtney Hagan, Jordan Carpenter, Lyle Ungar & Daniel Preotiuc-Pietro. Anthrozoös, Volume 30, 2017, Issue 4, Pages 671-680. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08927936.2017.1370235
ABSTRACT: Animal preferences are thought to be linked with more salient psychological traits of people, and most research examining owner personality as a differentiating factor has obtained mixed results. The rise in usage of social networks offers users a new medium in which they can broadcast their preferences and activities, including about animals. In two studies, the first on Facebook status updates and the second on images shared on Twitter, we revisited the link between Big Five personality traits and animal preference, specifically focusing on cats and dogs. We used automatic content analysis of text and images to unobtrusively measure preference for animals online using large datasets. In study 1, a dataset of Facebook status updates (n = 72,559) were analyzed and it was found that those who mentioned ownership of a cat (by using the phrase “my cat” (n = 5,053)) in their status updates were more open to experience, introverted, neurotic, and less conscientious when compared with the general population. Users mentioning ownership of a dog (by using “my dog” (n = 8,045)) were only less conscientious compared with the rest of the population. In study 2, a dataset of Twitter images was analyzed and revealed that users who featured either cat (n = 1,036) or dog (n = 1,499) images in their tweets were more neurotic, less conscientious, and less agreeable than those who did not. In addition, posting images containing cats was specific to users higher in openness, while posting images featuring dogs was associated with users higher in extraversion. These findings taken together align with some previous findings on the relationship between owner personality and animal preference, additionally highlighting some social media-specific behaviors.
Keywords: Big Five, cat people, dog people, Facebook, social media, Twitter
ABSTRACT: Animal preferences are thought to be linked with more salient psychological traits of people, and most research examining owner personality as a differentiating factor has obtained mixed results. The rise in usage of social networks offers users a new medium in which they can broadcast their preferences and activities, including about animals. In two studies, the first on Facebook status updates and the second on images shared on Twitter, we revisited the link between Big Five personality traits and animal preference, specifically focusing on cats and dogs. We used automatic content analysis of text and images to unobtrusively measure preference for animals online using large datasets. In study 1, a dataset of Facebook status updates (n = 72,559) were analyzed and it was found that those who mentioned ownership of a cat (by using the phrase “my cat” (n = 5,053)) in their status updates were more open to experience, introverted, neurotic, and less conscientious when compared with the general population. Users mentioning ownership of a dog (by using “my dog” (n = 8,045)) were only less conscientious compared with the rest of the population. In study 2, a dataset of Twitter images was analyzed and revealed that users who featured either cat (n = 1,036) or dog (n = 1,499) images in their tweets were more neurotic, less conscientious, and less agreeable than those who did not. In addition, posting images containing cats was specific to users higher in openness, while posting images featuring dogs was associated with users higher in extraversion. These findings taken together align with some previous findings on the relationship between owner personality and animal preference, additionally highlighting some social media-specific behaviors.
Keywords: Big Five, cat people, dog people, Facebook, social media, Twitter
Supernatural Belief Is Not Modulated by Intuitive Thinking Style or Cognitive Inhibition
Supernatural Belief Is Not Modulated by Intuitive Thinking Style or Cognitive Inhibition. Miguel Farias et al. Scientific Reports 7, Article number: 15100 (2017), doi:10.1038/s41598-017-14090-9
Abstract: According to the Intuitive Belief Hypothesis, supernatural belief relies heavily on intuitive thinking—and decreases when analytic thinking is engaged. After pointing out various limitations in prior attempts to support this Intuitive Belief Hypothesis, we test it across three new studies using a variety of paradigms, ranging from a pilgrimage field study to a neurostimulation experiment. In all three studies, we found no relationship between intuitive or analytical thinking and supernatural belief. We conclude that it is premature to explain belief in gods as ‘intuitive’, and that other factors, such as socio-cultural upbringing, are likely to play a greater role in the emergence and maintenance of supernatural belief than cognitive style.
Abstract: According to the Intuitive Belief Hypothesis, supernatural belief relies heavily on intuitive thinking—and decreases when analytic thinking is engaged. After pointing out various limitations in prior attempts to support this Intuitive Belief Hypothesis, we test it across three new studies using a variety of paradigms, ranging from a pilgrimage field study to a neurostimulation experiment. In all three studies, we found no relationship between intuitive or analytical thinking and supernatural belief. We conclude that it is premature to explain belief in gods as ‘intuitive’, and that other factors, such as socio-cultural upbringing, are likely to play a greater role in the emergence and maintenance of supernatural belief than cognitive style.
In humans, some sexual traits suggest monogamous mating, while others suggest selection for polygyny
Humans as a model species for sexual selection research. Michael Lawrence Wilson, Carrie M. Miller, Kristin N. Crouse. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, Volume 284, issue 1866. DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2017.1320
Abstract: Ever since Darwin, questions about humans have driven sexual selection research. While studies of other organisms are often justified as useful for improving understanding of humans, humans themselves can be useful models. Although humans present some drawbacks as model organisms (complicated societies, slow reproduction and strong ethical constraints on experimental options), humans nonetheless offer many advantages (being abundant, accessible and having detailed historical records for some populations). As an additional challenge, humans exhibit a rather puzzling combination of traits. Some traits (pair-bonding, biparental care and modest sexual dimorphism in body size) suggest selection for monogamous mating, while other traits (including sexual dimorphism in body composition and appearance) suggest selection for polygyny. Such puzzles have motivated research on other species, resulting in a rich set of comparative data that provides insights into humans and other species. Recent studies of visual trait dimorphism suggest that human appearance reflects adaptation for multi-level societies, rather than high levels of polygyny. In addition to biological traits, human cultural traits have undergone rapid evolution. Changes in subsistence strategies profoundly affect opportunities for sexual selection. The enormous variability of human behaviour and ecology provides abundant opportunities to test key hypotheses, and poses challenging puzzles for future research.
Check also Competing for Love: Applying Sexual Economics Theory to Mating Contests. Roy F. Baumeister et al. Journal of Economic Psychology, July 29 2017, http://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2017/08/competing-for-love-applying-sexual.html
Abstract: Ever since Darwin, questions about humans have driven sexual selection research. While studies of other organisms are often justified as useful for improving understanding of humans, humans themselves can be useful models. Although humans present some drawbacks as model organisms (complicated societies, slow reproduction and strong ethical constraints on experimental options), humans nonetheless offer many advantages (being abundant, accessible and having detailed historical records for some populations). As an additional challenge, humans exhibit a rather puzzling combination of traits. Some traits (pair-bonding, biparental care and modest sexual dimorphism in body size) suggest selection for monogamous mating, while other traits (including sexual dimorphism in body composition and appearance) suggest selection for polygyny. Such puzzles have motivated research on other species, resulting in a rich set of comparative data that provides insights into humans and other species. Recent studies of visual trait dimorphism suggest that human appearance reflects adaptation for multi-level societies, rather than high levels of polygyny. In addition to biological traits, human cultural traits have undergone rapid evolution. Changes in subsistence strategies profoundly affect opportunities for sexual selection. The enormous variability of human behaviour and ecology provides abundant opportunities to test key hypotheses, and poses challenging puzzles for future research.
Check also Competing for Love: Applying Sexual Economics Theory to Mating Contests. Roy F. Baumeister et al. Journal of Economic Psychology, July 29 2017, http://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2017/08/competing-for-love-applying-sexual.html
Personality traits AND social relationships are deeply entwined in a bidirectional way
Mund, M., Jeronimus, B. F., & Neyer, F. J. (in press). Personality and social relationships: As thick as thieves. In C. Johansen (Ed.), Your personality makes you ill: Scientific proof or wishful thinking? San Diego: Elsevier, expected Jan 2018. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/319527661_Personality_and_social_relationships_As_thick_as_thieves
Abstract: This chapter shows that personality traits and social relationships are deeply entwined in a bidirectional way: Individuals select relationships partly based on their personality traits but at the same time develop across the lifespan partly in response to changes in their social environment. Life transitions are an important catalyst of changes in personality-relationship transactions. We argue that personality traits and social relationships are so closely tied that, in our view, the link between personality and health can only be understood against the backdrop of individuals’ relationships.
Abstract: This chapter shows that personality traits and social relationships are deeply entwined in a bidirectional way: Individuals select relationships partly based on their personality traits but at the same time develop across the lifespan partly in response to changes in their social environment. Life transitions are an important catalyst of changes in personality-relationship transactions. We argue that personality traits and social relationships are so closely tied that, in our view, the link between personality and health can only be understood against the backdrop of individuals’ relationships.
Deviations from expectations drive tipping behavior more so than wins and losses, and especially close wins
Sports Sentiment and Tipping Behavior. Qi Ge. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2017.10.016
Highlights
• Utilize data on taxi rides in New York City to investigate how emotions due to sporting event outcomes affect passengers’ tipping behavior.
• Formulate and test a reference-dependent preferences framework of tipping behavior.
• Find that deviations from expectations drive tipping behavior more so than wins and losses, with the most salient effects found under unexpected close wins.
• Find no support for loss aversion in the context of tipping behavior.
Abstract: This paper utilizes a high frequency dataset on taxi rides in New York City to investigate how emotions due to sporting event outcomes affect passengers’ tipping behavior. I formulate and empirically test a reference-dependent preferences framework of tipping behavior. The results indicate that the tipping amounts are driven by deviations from expectations much more so than wins and losses, with the most salient effects found under unexpected close wins. However, there is no support for loss aversion. The findings suggest that loss averse behavior may be subdued in the presence of social norms while surprises can result in freedom on the upside of tipping.
JEL classification: D03; D12; L83; Z2
Keywords: Reference-dependent preferences; Tipping behavior; Social norms
Highlights
• Utilize data on taxi rides in New York City to investigate how emotions due to sporting event outcomes affect passengers’ tipping behavior.
• Formulate and test a reference-dependent preferences framework of tipping behavior.
• Find that deviations from expectations drive tipping behavior more so than wins and losses, with the most salient effects found under unexpected close wins.
• Find no support for loss aversion in the context of tipping behavior.
Abstract: This paper utilizes a high frequency dataset on taxi rides in New York City to investigate how emotions due to sporting event outcomes affect passengers’ tipping behavior. I formulate and empirically test a reference-dependent preferences framework of tipping behavior. The results indicate that the tipping amounts are driven by deviations from expectations much more so than wins and losses, with the most salient effects found under unexpected close wins. However, there is no support for loss aversion. The findings suggest that loss averse behavior may be subdued in the presence of social norms while surprises can result in freedom on the upside of tipping.
JEL classification: D03; D12; L83; Z2
Keywords: Reference-dependent preferences; Tipping behavior; Social norms
Your attention makes me smile: Direct gaze elicits affiliative facial expressions
Your attention makes me smile: Direct gaze elicits affiliative facial expressions. Jari K. Hietanen et al. Biological Psychology, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2017.11.001
Highlights
• Facial EMG and autonomic responses were measured to another individual’s direct and averted gaze.
• Greater zygomatic responses were elicited by seeing another person with direct than averted gaze.
• The results suggest that another individual’s direct gaze is an affiliative, positive signal.
Abstract: Facial electromyographic responses and skin conductance responses were measured to investigate whether, in a neutral laboratory environment, another individual’s direct gaze elicits a positive or negative affective reaction in the observer. The results showed that greater zygomatic responses associated with positive affect were elicited by seeing another person with direct as compared to averted gaze. The zygomatic responses were greater in response to another person’s direct gaze both when the participant’s own gaze was directed towards the other and when the participant was not looking directly towards the other. Compatible with the zygomatic responses, the corrugator activity (associated with negative affect) was decreased below baseline more in response to another person’s direct than averted gaze. Replicating previous research, the skin conductance responses were greater to another person’s direct than averted gaze. The results provide evidence that, in a neutral context, another individual’s direct gaze is an affiliative, positive signal.
Keywords: affect; facial EMG; eye contact; facial expression; SCR
Highlights
• Facial EMG and autonomic responses were measured to another individual’s direct and averted gaze.
• Greater zygomatic responses were elicited by seeing another person with direct than averted gaze.
• The results suggest that another individual’s direct gaze is an affiliative, positive signal.
Abstract: Facial electromyographic responses and skin conductance responses were measured to investigate whether, in a neutral laboratory environment, another individual’s direct gaze elicits a positive or negative affective reaction in the observer. The results showed that greater zygomatic responses associated with positive affect were elicited by seeing another person with direct as compared to averted gaze. The zygomatic responses were greater in response to another person’s direct gaze both when the participant’s own gaze was directed towards the other and when the participant was not looking directly towards the other. Compatible with the zygomatic responses, the corrugator activity (associated with negative affect) was decreased below baseline more in response to another person’s direct than averted gaze. Replicating previous research, the skin conductance responses were greater to another person’s direct than averted gaze. The results provide evidence that, in a neutral context, another individual’s direct gaze is an affiliative, positive signal.
Keywords: affect; facial EMG; eye contact; facial expression; SCR
Your need to correct wrong information you believed depends on your cognitive abilities, not your political leaning
‘Fake news’: Incorrect, but hard to correct. The role of cognitive ability on the impact of false information on social impressions. Jonas de Keersmaecker, Arne Roets. Intelligence, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2017.10.005
Highlights
• Interplay between cognitive ability and false information on attitudes was examined.
• When people learn their attitudes are based on false information, they adjust them.
• People low (vs high) in cognitive ability adjust attitudes to lesser extent.
• Adjusted attitudes remained biased for people low in cognitive ability.
Abstract: The present experiment (N = 390) examined how people adjust their judgment after they learn that crucial information on which their initial evaluation was based is incorrect. In line with our expectations, the results showed that people generally do adjust their attitudes, but the degree to which they correct their assessment depends on their cognitive ability. In particular, individuals with lower levels of cognitive ability adjusted their attitudes to a lesser extent than individuals with higher levels of cognitive ability. Moreover, for those with lower levels of cognitive ability, even after the explicit disconfirmation of the false information, adjusted attitudes remained biased and significantly different from the attitudes of the control group who was never exposed to the incorrect information. In contrast, the adjusted attitudes of those with higher levels of cognitive ability were similar to those of the control group. Controlling for need for closure and right-wing authoritarianism did not influence the relationship between cognitive ability and attitude adjustment. The present results indicate that, even in optimal circumstances, the initial influence of incorrect information cannot simply be undone by pointing out that this information was incorrect, especially in people with relatively lower cognitive ability.
Keywords: Cognitive ability; Intelligence; Attitude change; Human judgment; Fake news; Cognitive bias
Highlights
• Interplay between cognitive ability and false information on attitudes was examined.
• When people learn their attitudes are based on false information, they adjust them.
• People low (vs high) in cognitive ability adjust attitudes to lesser extent.
• Adjusted attitudes remained biased for people low in cognitive ability.
Abstract: The present experiment (N = 390) examined how people adjust their judgment after they learn that crucial information on which their initial evaluation was based is incorrect. In line with our expectations, the results showed that people generally do adjust their attitudes, but the degree to which they correct their assessment depends on their cognitive ability. In particular, individuals with lower levels of cognitive ability adjusted their attitudes to a lesser extent than individuals with higher levels of cognitive ability. Moreover, for those with lower levels of cognitive ability, even after the explicit disconfirmation of the false information, adjusted attitudes remained biased and significantly different from the attitudes of the control group who was never exposed to the incorrect information. In contrast, the adjusted attitudes of those with higher levels of cognitive ability were similar to those of the control group. Controlling for need for closure and right-wing authoritarianism did not influence the relationship between cognitive ability and attitude adjustment. The present results indicate that, even in optimal circumstances, the initial influence of incorrect information cannot simply be undone by pointing out that this information was incorrect, especially in people with relatively lower cognitive ability.
Keywords: Cognitive ability; Intelligence; Attitude change; Human judgment; Fake news; Cognitive bias
Experiencing disagreement is linked to experiencing more other-condemning emotions, less well-being, and less humanity-esteem. Ideology doesn't moderate these.
Brandt, Mark J, Jarret Crawford, and Daryl Van Tongeren. 2017. “Worldview Conflict in Daily Life”. PsyArXiv. September 29. doi:10.1177/1948550617733517
Abstract: Building on laboratory and survey-based research probing the psychology of ideology and the experience of worldview-conflict, we examined the association between worldview-conflict and emotional reactions, psychological well-being, humanity-esteem, and political ideology in everyday life using experience sampling. In three combined samples (Total N= 328), experiencing disagreement compared to agreement was associated with experiencing more other-condemning emotions, less well-being, and less humanity-esteem. There were no clear associations between experiencing disagreement and experiencing self-conscious emotions, positive emotions, and mental stress. None of the relationships were moderated by political ideology. These results both replicate and challenge findings from laboratory and survey-based research, and we discuss possible reasons for the discrepancies. Experience sampling methods can help researchers get a glimpse into everyday worldview-conflict.
Abstract: Building on laboratory and survey-based research probing the psychology of ideology and the experience of worldview-conflict, we examined the association between worldview-conflict and emotional reactions, psychological well-being, humanity-esteem, and political ideology in everyday life using experience sampling. In three combined samples (Total N= 328), experiencing disagreement compared to agreement was associated with experiencing more other-condemning emotions, less well-being, and less humanity-esteem. There were no clear associations between experiencing disagreement and experiencing self-conscious emotions, positive emotions, and mental stress. None of the relationships were moderated by political ideology. These results both replicate and challenge findings from laboratory and survey-based research, and we discuss possible reasons for the discrepancies. Experience sampling methods can help researchers get a glimpse into everyday worldview-conflict.