Women perceived a deontological man as more interested in long-term bonds, of more long-term mating quality, and less prone to infidelity, relative to a utilitarian man

Is pulling the lever sexy? Deontology as a downstream cue to long-term mate quality. Mitch Brown, Donald F. Sacco. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships,  https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407517749331

Abstract: Deontological and utilitarian moral decisions have unique communicative functions within the context of group living. Deontology more strongly communicates prosocial intentions, fostering greater perceptions of trust and desirability in general affiliative contexts. This general trustworthiness may extend to perceptions of fidelity in romantic relationships, leading to perceptions of deontological persons as better long-term mates, relative to utilitarians. In two studies, participants indicated desirability of both deontologists and utilitarians in long-term mating (LTM) and short-term mating contexts. In Study 1 (n = 102), women perceived a deontological man as more interested in long-term bonds, more desirable for LTM, and less prone to infidelity, relative to a utilitarian man. However, utilitarian men were undesirable as short-term mates. Study 2 (n = 112) had both men and women rate opposite-sex targets’ desirability after learning of their moral decisions in a trolley problem. We replicated women’s preference for deontological men as long-term mates. Interestingly, both men and women reporting personal deontological motives were particularly sensitive to deontology communicating long-term desirability and fidelity, which could be a product of the general affiliative signal from deontology. Thus, one’s moral basis for decision-making, particularly deontologically motivated moral decisions, may communicate traits valuable in LTM contexts.

Keywords: Evolutionary psychology, infidelity, mating, morality

Chimpanzees greet emphatically but show no leave-taking behaviour — Do they see a future? Seems not...

“Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow”, But Only For Humans? William C. McGrew & Lucy Baehren. Human Ethology Bulletin, Volume 31, No 4, 5-14, published December 30, 2016. https://doi.org/10.22330/heb/314/005-014

ABSTRACT: Homo sapiens show greeting rituals when they meet and leave-taking rituals when they part. Presumably this reflects the species’ fission-fusion social organisation, and such displays show notably symmetrical form and content. But what about non-humans? Here we seek in our nearest living relations (Pan troglodytes) these behavioural complexes in two ways: We report frequencies of meeting and parting in daily life and solicit data on greeting and leave-taking from field sites of long-term study of these apes. Chimpanzees greet emphatically but show no leave-taking behaviour. This lack of symmetry in our nearest living relations (as well as in other animals) suggests that human greeting and leave-taking may be unique.

Keywords: Chimpanzee, Pan troglodytes, greeting, parting, fission-fusion social system, human uniqueness

Self-enhancement, righteous anger, and moral grandiosity — The findings illustrate tactical self-enhancement: the instrumental use of one’s negative emotions for self-enhancement purposes.

Self-enhancement, righteous anger, and moral grandiosity. Jeffrey D. Green, Constantine Sedikides, Daryl R. Van Tongeren, Anna M. C. Behler & Jessica M. Barber. Self and Identity, https://doi.org/10.1080/15298868.2017.1419504

Abstract: Do people self-enhance by dwelling in righteous anger in an effort to preserve their self-views as pillars of morality? We addressed this question in two experiments. Participants read a story about an injustice (experiencing righteous anger) or grocery shopping (experiencing neutral emotion), indicated their interest in reading injustice-relevant or happiness-relevant newspaper articles, and rated themselves on moral and agentic traits. Participants who experienced righteous anger (vs. neutral emotion) maintained their anger (i.e., exhibited stronger interest in reading injustice- than happiness-relevant articles) and rated themselves more positively on moral, but not on agentic, traits. Furthermore, anger maintenance mediated the effect of righteous anger on moral grandiosity. The findings illustrate tactical self-enhancement: the instrumental use of one’s negative emotions for self-enhancement purposes.

Keywords: Self-enhancement, anger, moral grandiosity, self-views, emotion regulation