Sunstein, Cass R., Unleashed (August 22, 2017). http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3025749
Abstract: Significant social change often comes from the unleashing of hidden preferences; it also comes from the construction of novel preferences. Under the pressure of social norms, people sometimes falsify their preferences. They do not feel free to say or do as they wish. Once norms are weakened or revised, through private efforts or law, it becomes possible to discover preexisting preferences. Because those preferences existed but were concealed, large-scale movements are both possible and exceedingly difficult to predict; they are often startling. But revisions of norms can also construct rather than uncover preferences. Once norms are altered, again through private efforts or law, people come to hold preferences that they did not hold before. Nothing has been unleashed. These points bear on the rise and fall (and rise again, and fall again) of discrimination on the basis of sex and race (and also religion and ethnicity). They also help illuminate the dynamics of social cascades and the effects of social norms on diverse practices and developments, including smoking, drinking, police brutality, protest activity, veganism, drug use, crime, white nationalism, “ethnification,” considerateness, and the public expression of religious beliefs.
Sunday, October 7, 2018
Re “Masturbation: Scientific Evidence and Islam’s View”: Evidence to support a negative relationship between masturbation & health was not scrutinized, & evidente to support or a non-negative relationship was largely ignored
Response to “Masturbation: Scientific Evidence and Islam’s View”. David Speed, Ryan T. Cragun. Journal of Religion and Health, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10943-018-0627-x
In a recent article entitled, “Masturbation: Scientific Evidence and Islam’s View”, the author Hoseini (2017) set out to discuss the harmful effects of masturbation and how it was prohibited within Islam. Generally, Hoseini’s arguments appeared to have started with a conclusion rather than arriving at one based on all of the available data. Overall, Hoseini’s argumentation suffered from three recurring issues: (1) Masturbation was inexplicably portrayed as deviant; (2) Evidence to support a negative relationship between masturbation and health was not scrutinized; (3) Evidence to support a non-negative relationship between masturbation and health was largely ignored. Each of these points will be addressed in turn.
In a recent article entitled, “Masturbation: Scientific Evidence and Islam’s View”, the author Hoseini (2017) set out to discuss the harmful effects of masturbation and how it was prohibited within Islam. Generally, Hoseini’s arguments appeared to have started with a conclusion rather than arriving at one based on all of the available data. Overall, Hoseini’s argumentation suffered from three recurring issues: (1) Masturbation was inexplicably portrayed as deviant; (2) Evidence to support a negative relationship between masturbation and health was not scrutinized; (3) Evidence to support a non-negative relationship between masturbation and health was largely ignored. Each of these points will be addressed in turn.
Sex differences in adolescent physical aggression: Evidence from sixty‐three low‐and middle‐income countries: Sex differences in physical aggression decrease as societal gender inequality increased
Sex differences in adolescent physical aggression: Evidence from sixty‐three low‐and middle‐income countries. Amy Nivette, Alex Sutherland, Manuel Eisner, Joseph Murray. Aggressive Behavior, https://doi.org/10.1002/ab.21799
Abstract: A great deal of research shows that adolescent and adult males are more likely to engage in physical aggression and violence than females are. However, few studies have examined cross‐cultural variation in sex differences, particularly among low‐ and middle‐income countries [LMICs]. Based on social role and sexual selection theories, we derived two hypotheses regarding possible variations in sex differences across societal contexts: 1) sex differences increase with societal gender polarization (social role theory) and 2) sex differences are exacerbated in societies where socio‐economic opportunities are scarce, unequal, or insecure (prediction derived from sexual selection theory). The current study examined the prevalence of and variation in sex differences in physical aggression, as measured by frequent fighting, among 247,909 adolescents in 63 low‐ and middle‐income countries. The results show that, overall, males were over twice as likely (OR = 2.68; 95% CI = 2.60–2.76) to report frequent fighting in the past 12 months than females. However, sex differences vary significantly across LMICs, wherein countries with higher female prevalence rates have smaller sex differences in frequent fighting. Contrary to expectations derived from social role theory, sex differences in physical aggression decrease as societal gender inequality increased. In regards to sexual selection theory, we find no evidence that sex differences in frequent fighting varies according to societal rule of law or income inequality.
Abstract: A great deal of research shows that adolescent and adult males are more likely to engage in physical aggression and violence than females are. However, few studies have examined cross‐cultural variation in sex differences, particularly among low‐ and middle‐income countries [LMICs]. Based on social role and sexual selection theories, we derived two hypotheses regarding possible variations in sex differences across societal contexts: 1) sex differences increase with societal gender polarization (social role theory) and 2) sex differences are exacerbated in societies where socio‐economic opportunities are scarce, unequal, or insecure (prediction derived from sexual selection theory). The current study examined the prevalence of and variation in sex differences in physical aggression, as measured by frequent fighting, among 247,909 adolescents in 63 low‐ and middle‐income countries. The results show that, overall, males were over twice as likely (OR = 2.68; 95% CI = 2.60–2.76) to report frequent fighting in the past 12 months than females. However, sex differences vary significantly across LMICs, wherein countries with higher female prevalence rates have smaller sex differences in frequent fighting. Contrary to expectations derived from social role theory, sex differences in physical aggression decrease as societal gender inequality increased. In regards to sexual selection theory, we find no evidence that sex differences in frequent fighting varies according to societal rule of law or income inequality.
How people psychologically manage violations to the belief that the world is fair and just: people generally believe in karmic retribution
Just world violations prompt beliefs in karmic retribution. Jack McDonald. Thesis for M.S., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. http://hdl.handle.net/2142/101488
Abstract: How likely are people to think that someone who perpetrates a crime against another person will experience an adverse event in response? In other words, how much do people believe in karmic retribution? Across three studies, we examined this question in the present research. Participants were randomly assigned to read about a sexual crime that varied in its level of severity (e.g., a man whistles suggestively at a woman vs. a man takes an up-skirt photo of a woman). People who read about more severe crimes thought that a negative event would be more likely to happen to the offender of the crime. Importantly, people thought negative events were more likely to affect offenders of severe crimes even when the event was entirely unrelated to the crime (e.g., getting hit by a car after assaulting a woman), and even if a person did not intentionally create the adverse event (e.g., getting cancer). Dispositional belief in a just world did not consistently moderate the effect of crime severity on the likelihood of negative events. These findings provide novel evidence for the question of how people psychologically manage violations to the belief that the world is fair and just, and provide empirical support that people generally believe in karmic retribution.
Abstract: How likely are people to think that someone who perpetrates a crime against another person will experience an adverse event in response? In other words, how much do people believe in karmic retribution? Across three studies, we examined this question in the present research. Participants were randomly assigned to read about a sexual crime that varied in its level of severity (e.g., a man whistles suggestively at a woman vs. a man takes an up-skirt photo of a woman). People who read about more severe crimes thought that a negative event would be more likely to happen to the offender of the crime. Importantly, people thought negative events were more likely to affect offenders of severe crimes even when the event was entirely unrelated to the crime (e.g., getting hit by a car after assaulting a woman), and even if a person did not intentionally create the adverse event (e.g., getting cancer). Dispositional belief in a just world did not consistently moderate the effect of crime severity on the likelihood of negative events. These findings provide novel evidence for the question of how people psychologically manage violations to the belief that the world is fair and just, and provide empirical support that people generally believe in karmic retribution.
Are Tinder & Dating Apps Changing Dating & Mating? More than 80% of unpartnered heterosexual adults have not gone on any dates or met any new people in the past 12 months; being unpartnered is more stable that thought
Are Tinder and Dating Apps Changing Dating and Mating in the USA? Michael Rosenfeld. Families and Technology, National Symposium on Family Issues book series, volume 9, pp 103-117. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-95540-7_6
Abstract: I use in-depth interviews and a new national survey to examine how people use phone dating apps (such as Tinder and Grindr), how often they use them, and why. Gay men are the most active users of the phone dating apps. Unpartnered heterosexual adults do not use phone dating apps very often and meet few new partners through apps. According to the survey data, more than 80% of unpartnered heterosexual adults have not gone on any dates or met any new people in the past 12 months, which suggests that being unpartnered is a more stable status for heterosexual adults than previously thought.
Abstract: I use in-depth interviews and a new national survey to examine how people use phone dating apps (such as Tinder and Grindr), how often they use them, and why. Gay men are the most active users of the phone dating apps. Unpartnered heterosexual adults do not use phone dating apps very often and meet few new partners through apps. According to the survey data, more than 80% of unpartnered heterosexual adults have not gone on any dates or met any new people in the past 12 months, which suggests that being unpartnered is a more stable status for heterosexual adults than previously thought.
The evolutionary dynamics of adaptive virginity, sex‐allocation, & altruistic helping in haplodiploids: when mating is costly (e.g., when mating increases predation risk), virginity be an adaptive reproductive strategy
The evolutionary dynamics of adaptive virginity, sex‐allocation, and altruistic helping in haplodiploid animals. Petri Rautiala, Heikki Helanterä, Mikael Puurtinen. Evolution, https://doi.org/10.1111/evo.13399
Abstract: In haplodiploids, females can produce sons from unfertilized eggs without mating. However, virgin reproduction is usually considered to be a result of a failure to mate, rather than an adaptation. Here, we build an analytical model for evolution of virgin reproduction, sex‐allocation, and altruistic female helping in haplodiploid taxa. We show that when mating is costly (e.g., when mating increases predation risk), virginity can evolve as an adaptive female reproductive strategy. Furthermore, adaptive virginity results in strongly divergent sex‐ratios in mated and virgin queen nests (“split sex ratios”), which promotes the evolution of altruistic helping by daughters in mated queen nests. However, when helpers evolve to be efficient and increase nest production significantly, virgin reproduction is selected against. Our results suggest that adaptive virginity could have been an important stepping stone on the pathway to eusociality in haplodiploids. We further show that virginity can be an adaptive reproductive strategy also in primitively social haplodiploids if workers bias the sex ratio toward females. By remaining virgin, queens are free to produce sons, the more valuable sex in a female‐biased population. Our work brings a new dimension to the studies linking reproductive strategies with social evolution.
Abstract: In haplodiploids, females can produce sons from unfertilized eggs without mating. However, virgin reproduction is usually considered to be a result of a failure to mate, rather than an adaptation. Here, we build an analytical model for evolution of virgin reproduction, sex‐allocation, and altruistic female helping in haplodiploid taxa. We show that when mating is costly (e.g., when mating increases predation risk), virginity can evolve as an adaptive female reproductive strategy. Furthermore, adaptive virginity results in strongly divergent sex‐ratios in mated and virgin queen nests (“split sex ratios”), which promotes the evolution of altruistic helping by daughters in mated queen nests. However, when helpers evolve to be efficient and increase nest production significantly, virgin reproduction is selected against. Our results suggest that adaptive virginity could have been an important stepping stone on the pathway to eusociality in haplodiploids. We further show that virginity can be an adaptive reproductive strategy also in primitively social haplodiploids if workers bias the sex ratio toward females. By remaining virgin, queens are free to produce sons, the more valuable sex in a female‐biased population. Our work brings a new dimension to the studies linking reproductive strategies with social evolution.
The categorical model of classification in the V edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders is problematic; a proposed solution is an empirically based dimensional organization of psychopathology, HiTOP
Personality in a Hierarchical Model of Psychopathology. Thomas A. Widiger et al. Association for Psychological Science, https://doi.org/10.1177/2167702618797105
Abstract: The categorical model of classification in the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders is sorely problematic. A proposed solution is emerging in the form of a quantitative nosology, an empirically based dimensional organization of psychopathology. More specifically, a team of investigators has proposed the Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP). The purpose of this article is to discuss the potential role, importance, and implications of personality within the HiTOP dimensional model of psychopathology. Suggested herein is that personality provides a foundational base for the HiTOP dimensional model of psychopathology. Implications concern the potential value of the early assessment of and screening for personality as well as the development of protocols for the treatment of personality trait domains, which may in turn contribute to substantial improvements in quality of life as well as mental and physical health.
Keywords: personality, psychopathology, personality disorder, health, dimensional
Abstract: The categorical model of classification in the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders is sorely problematic. A proposed solution is emerging in the form of a quantitative nosology, an empirically based dimensional organization of psychopathology. More specifically, a team of investigators has proposed the Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP). The purpose of this article is to discuss the potential role, importance, and implications of personality within the HiTOP dimensional model of psychopathology. Suggested herein is that personality provides a foundational base for the HiTOP dimensional model of psychopathology. Implications concern the potential value of the early assessment of and screening for personality as well as the development of protocols for the treatment of personality trait domains, which may in turn contribute to substantial improvements in quality of life as well as mental and physical health.
Keywords: personality, psychopathology, personality disorder, health, dimensional
Chitwan Valley Family Study, Nepal, confirms: Aging adults with more highly educated children experience better health and higher survival; possible mechanisms are older adults' better health behaviors, & their greater support in later life
Offspring education and parental mortality: Evidence from South Asia. Emily Smith-Greenaway, Sarah Brauner-Otto, William Axinn. Social Science Research, Volume 76, November 2018, Pages 157-168. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2018.07.001
Abstract: Decades of research show that education not only confers individual health benefits, but it also spills over to advantage subsequent generations. More recently, research has confirmed that the intergenerational health benefits of education can also flow upward: aging adults with more highly educated children experience better health and higher survival. Research has documented this finding in high-income settings, and also in select low- and middle-income contexts, raising questions about how having an adult child who attended relatively low levels of education can benefit aging parents' well-being. In this study, we use multilevel, long-term panel data on a cohort of older adults from the Chitwan Valley Family Study in rural Nepal to establish whether the association between offspring education and parents' survival is observable in this extremely poor, agrarian context. Extending past studies, we then leverage additional data on older adults to examine the association between offspring education and two theorized mechanisms: older adults' better health behaviors and their greater support in later life.
Abstract: Decades of research show that education not only confers individual health benefits, but it also spills over to advantage subsequent generations. More recently, research has confirmed that the intergenerational health benefits of education can also flow upward: aging adults with more highly educated children experience better health and higher survival. Research has documented this finding in high-income settings, and also in select low- and middle-income contexts, raising questions about how having an adult child who attended relatively low levels of education can benefit aging parents' well-being. In this study, we use multilevel, long-term panel data on a cohort of older adults from the Chitwan Valley Family Study in rural Nepal to establish whether the association between offspring education and parents' survival is observable in this extremely poor, agrarian context. Extending past studies, we then leverage additional data on older adults to examine the association between offspring education and two theorized mechanisms: older adults' better health behaviors and their greater support in later life.
Black-white differences in happiness, 1972–2014
Black-white differences in happiness, 1972–2014. John Iceland, Sarah Ludwig-Dehm. Social Science Research, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2018.10.004
Abstract: This paper examines the extent to which the black-white gap in happiness—an important indicator of subjective well-being—has narrowed over the 1972 to 2014 period. Analyzing data from the General Social Survey, we find that that the difference in levels of happiness between whites and blacks is substantial, but declined over time. Results from a decomposition analysis shed new light on the sources of change. We find that observable differences in characteristics of whites and blacks explain a significant and growing proportion of the happiness gap. The two most important characteristics are income and marital status, as both are strongly associated with race and happiness, and the proportion of the difference in the gap that they explain has generally increased over time. Overall, the declining gap in happiness is consistent with the moderate narrowing of substantial racial disparities in other realms, such as life expectancy, residential segregation, and neighborhood conditions, suggesting small steps toward equality in some realms, even as high levels of inequality persist in others.
Abstract: This paper examines the extent to which the black-white gap in happiness—an important indicator of subjective well-being—has narrowed over the 1972 to 2014 period. Analyzing data from the General Social Survey, we find that that the difference in levels of happiness between whites and blacks is substantial, but declined over time. Results from a decomposition analysis shed new light on the sources of change. We find that observable differences in characteristics of whites and blacks explain a significant and growing proportion of the happiness gap. The two most important characteristics are income and marital status, as both are strongly associated with race and happiness, and the proportion of the difference in the gap that they explain has generally increased over time. Overall, the declining gap in happiness is consistent with the moderate narrowing of substantial racial disparities in other realms, such as life expectancy, residential segregation, and neighborhood conditions, suggesting small steps toward equality in some realms, even as high levels of inequality persist in others.
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