Religious shoppers spend less money. Didem Kurt, J. Jeffrey Inman, Francesca Gino. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2018.03.019
Highlights
• People living in more religious U.S. counties spend less on grocery purchases and make fewer unplanned purchases.
• Unplanned grocery spending decreases with religiosity measured at the individual-level.
• A religious prime lowers people’s unplanned grocery spending.
• Religiosity has an indirect effect on unplanned grocery spending through frugality.
Abstract: Although religion is a central aspect of life for many people across the globe, there is scant research on how religion affects people's non-religious routines. In the present research, we identify a frequent consumption activity that is influenced by religiosity: grocery shopping. Using both field and laboratory data, we find that grocery spending decreases with religiosity. Specifically, we document that people who live in more religious U.S. counties spend less money on groceries and make fewer unplanned purchases. We also demonstrate this negative relationship by measuring religiosity at the individual level and employing a religious prime. That is, the more religious people are, the less willing they are to follow through on novel purchase opportunities that arise during their grocery shopping trips. This effect is consistent with the account that many religions emphasize the value of being prudent with money. Additional analysis supports our predicted indirect effect of religiosity on spending through frugality.
Keywords: Religion; Money; Frugality; Consumption; Unplanned purchases
h/t: https://twitter.com/DegenRolf
Thursday, April 12, 2018
Participants demonstrated a strong motivation to engage in shared experiences. At the same time, participants did not experience a commensurate increase in hedonic value or emotional amplification, suggesting that the social value of shared experiences does not derive from their hedonic value
Jolly, Eshin, Diana Tamir, Bethany Burum, and Jason Mitchell 2018. “Wanting Without Enjoying: The Social Value of Sharing Experiences”. PsyArXiv. April 12. doi:10.17605/OSF.IO/B3ZJU
Abstract: Social connection can be a rich source of happiness. Humans routinely go out of their way to seek out social connection and avoid social isolation. However, research has yet to explain the proximal forces that motivate people to share experiences with others. Here we used a novel experience-sharing and decision-making paradigm to understand the value of shared experiences. In seven experiments, across Studies 1 and 2, participants demonstrated a strong motivation to engage in shared experiences. At the same time, participants did not experience a commensurate increase in hedonic value or emotional amplification, suggesting that the social value of shared experiences does not derive from their hedonic value. In Study 3 we measured participants’ beliefs about the reasons people engage in shared experiences. Participants reported being motivated by the desire to forge a social connection; they did not report being motivated by the emotional benefits of a shared experience. Together, these findings suggest that the desire to share an experience may be distinct from the subjective experience of achieving that state. Individuals are driven to connect with others even when the act of doing so is no more enjoyable or emotionally evocative.
h/t: https://twitter.com/DegenRolf
Abstract: Social connection can be a rich source of happiness. Humans routinely go out of their way to seek out social connection and avoid social isolation. However, research has yet to explain the proximal forces that motivate people to share experiences with others. Here we used a novel experience-sharing and decision-making paradigm to understand the value of shared experiences. In seven experiments, across Studies 1 and 2, participants demonstrated a strong motivation to engage in shared experiences. At the same time, participants did not experience a commensurate increase in hedonic value or emotional amplification, suggesting that the social value of shared experiences does not derive from their hedonic value. In Study 3 we measured participants’ beliefs about the reasons people engage in shared experiences. Participants reported being motivated by the desire to forge a social connection; they did not report being motivated by the emotional benefits of a shared experience. Together, these findings suggest that the desire to share an experience may be distinct from the subjective experience of achieving that state. Individuals are driven to connect with others even when the act of doing so is no more enjoyable or emotionally evocative.
h/t: https://twitter.com/DegenRolf
By 3 years of age, children tattle about rule violations they observe, even as unaffected bystanders; they tattled on the transgressor more when the transgressor had caused harm than no harm
Young children tattle to enforce moral norms. Meltem Yucel, Amrisha Vaish. Social Development, https://doi.org/10.1111/sode.12290
Abstract: By 3 years of age, children tattle about rule violations they observe, even as unaffected bystanders. It is argued that tattling is one way in which children enforce norms and that in the long term, it helps sustain co‐operation (e.g., Vaish, Missana, & Tomasello, 2011). However, an alternative explanation could be that children are worried that the victim might blame them and so feel the need to inform the victim about who caused the harm. The present study aimed to tease these possibilities apart. Children observed a puppet either causing harm to another puppet (e.g., destroying their artwork) or no harm (e.g., destroying a different object). Importantly, the situation was constructed such that children knew they could not be blamed for the transgressions. Nonetheless, 3‐year‐old children tattled on the transgressor more when the transgressor had caused harm than no harm. Thus, young children's tattling about third‐party moral transgressions seems to be aimed at enforcing norms. An additional, exploratory goal of this study was to examine the relation between children's temperament and norm enforcement. Temperamental shyness negatively correlated with children's protesting and tattling behavior, though more research is needed to better understand the role of temperament in early norm enforcement.
h/t: https://twitter.com/DegenRolf
Abstract: By 3 years of age, children tattle about rule violations they observe, even as unaffected bystanders. It is argued that tattling is one way in which children enforce norms and that in the long term, it helps sustain co‐operation (e.g., Vaish, Missana, & Tomasello, 2011). However, an alternative explanation could be that children are worried that the victim might blame them and so feel the need to inform the victim about who caused the harm. The present study aimed to tease these possibilities apart. Children observed a puppet either causing harm to another puppet (e.g., destroying their artwork) or no harm (e.g., destroying a different object). Importantly, the situation was constructed such that children knew they could not be blamed for the transgressions. Nonetheless, 3‐year‐old children tattled on the transgressor more when the transgressor had caused harm than no harm. Thus, young children's tattling about third‐party moral transgressions seems to be aimed at enforcing norms. An additional, exploratory goal of this study was to examine the relation between children's temperament and norm enforcement. Temperamental shyness negatively correlated with children's protesting and tattling behavior, though more research is needed to better understand the role of temperament in early norm enforcement.
h/t: https://twitter.com/DegenRolf
Mothers' voices became significantly lower-pitched and more monotonous during the first year postpartum compared to during pregnancy or before
Women's voice pitch lowers after pregnancy. Katarzyna Pisanski, Kavya Bhardwaj, David Reby. Evolution and Human Behavior, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2018.04.002
Abstract: Women's voice pitch (the perceptual correlate of fundamental frequency, F0) varies across the menstrual cycle and lowers after menopause, and may represent a putative signal of women's fertility and reproductive age. Yet, despite dramatic changes in women's sex hormone levels and bodies during and after pregnancy, previous between-subject and case studies have not found systematic changes in F0 due to pregnancy. Here, we tracked within-individual variation in 20 mothers' voices during their first pregnancy, as well as up to 5 years before conception and 5 years postpartum. Voice recordings from 20 age-matched nulliparous women were measured as a control. Linear Mixed Models indicated that F0 mean, range and variation changed significantly following pregnancy in mothers, controlling for age at time of recording, whereas we did not observe any F0 changes across corresponding timeframes in our sample of nulliparous controls. Mothers' voices became significantly lower-pitched and more monotonous during the first year postpartum compared to during pregnancy or before. These F0 parameters did not decrease within-individuals over a 5-year period prior to conception above and beyond the effects of ageing. Although voice pitch decreased following pregnancy, mothers' F0 parameters reverted after the first year postpartum, approaching pre-pregnancy levels. Our results demonstrate that pregnancy has a transient and perceptually salient masculinizing effect on women's voices.
Keywords: Pregnant; Fundamental frequency; Sex hormones; Vocal communication; Nulliparous
h/t: https://twitter.com/DegenRolf
Abstract: Women's voice pitch (the perceptual correlate of fundamental frequency, F0) varies across the menstrual cycle and lowers after menopause, and may represent a putative signal of women's fertility and reproductive age. Yet, despite dramatic changes in women's sex hormone levels and bodies during and after pregnancy, previous between-subject and case studies have not found systematic changes in F0 due to pregnancy. Here, we tracked within-individual variation in 20 mothers' voices during their first pregnancy, as well as up to 5 years before conception and 5 years postpartum. Voice recordings from 20 age-matched nulliparous women were measured as a control. Linear Mixed Models indicated that F0 mean, range and variation changed significantly following pregnancy in mothers, controlling for age at time of recording, whereas we did not observe any F0 changes across corresponding timeframes in our sample of nulliparous controls. Mothers' voices became significantly lower-pitched and more monotonous during the first year postpartum compared to during pregnancy or before. These F0 parameters did not decrease within-individuals over a 5-year period prior to conception above and beyond the effects of ageing. Although voice pitch decreased following pregnancy, mothers' F0 parameters reverted after the first year postpartum, approaching pre-pregnancy levels. Our results demonstrate that pregnancy has a transient and perceptually salient masculinizing effect on women's voices.
Keywords: Pregnant; Fundamental frequency; Sex hormones; Vocal communication; Nulliparous
h/t: https://twitter.com/DegenRolf
Species with more pronounced sexual dimorphism, indicating the highest levels of male investment in reproduction, had estimated extinction rates that were ten times higher than those of the species with the lowest investment. Sexual selection can be a substantial risk factor for extinction
High male sexual investment as a driver of extinction in fossil ostracods. Maria João Fernandes Martins, T. Markham Puckett, Rowan Lockwood, John P. Swaddle & Gene Hunt. Nature (2018), doi:10.1038/s41586-018-0020-7
Abstract: Sexual selection favours traits that confer advantages in the competition for mates. In many cases, such traits are costly to produce and maintain, because the costs help to enforce the honesty of these signals and cues1. Some evolutionary models predict that sexual selection also produces costs at the population level, which could limit the ability of populations to adapt to changing conditions and thus increase the risk of extinction2,3,4. Other models, however, suggest that sexual selection should increase rates of adaptation and enhance the removal of deleterious mutations, thus protecting populations against extinction3, 5, 6. Resolving the conflict between these models is not only important for explaining the history of biodiversity, but also relevant to understanding the mechanisms of the current biodiversity crisis. Previous attempts to test the conflicting predictions produced by these models have been limited to extant species and have thus relied on indirect proxies for species extinction. Here we use the informative fossil record of cytheroid ostracods—small, bivalved crustaceans with sexually dimorphic carapaces—to test how sexual selection relates to actual species extinction. We show that species with more pronounced sexual dimorphism, indicating the highest levels of male investment in reproduction, had estimated extinction rates that were ten times higher than those of the species with the lowest investment. These results indicate that sexual selection can be a substantial risk factor for extinction.
h/t: https://twitter.com/DegenRolf
Abstract: Sexual selection favours traits that confer advantages in the competition for mates. In many cases, such traits are costly to produce and maintain, because the costs help to enforce the honesty of these signals and cues1. Some evolutionary models predict that sexual selection also produces costs at the population level, which could limit the ability of populations to adapt to changing conditions and thus increase the risk of extinction2,3,4. Other models, however, suggest that sexual selection should increase rates of adaptation and enhance the removal of deleterious mutations, thus protecting populations against extinction3, 5, 6. Resolving the conflict between these models is not only important for explaining the history of biodiversity, but also relevant to understanding the mechanisms of the current biodiversity crisis. Previous attempts to test the conflicting predictions produced by these models have been limited to extant species and have thus relied on indirect proxies for species extinction. Here we use the informative fossil record of cytheroid ostracods—small, bivalved crustaceans with sexually dimorphic carapaces—to test how sexual selection relates to actual species extinction. We show that species with more pronounced sexual dimorphism, indicating the highest levels of male investment in reproduction, had estimated extinction rates that were ten times higher than those of the species with the lowest investment. These results indicate that sexual selection can be a substantial risk factor for extinction.
h/t: https://twitter.com/DegenRolf
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