Consumers are eager to express their evaluations with no ostensible purpose for doing so because externalizing one’s evaluations (likes/dislikes) enables a form of self-expression that appears to be deep & global

The Pleasure of Assessing and Expressing Our Likes and Dislikes. Daniel He Shiri Melumad Michel Tuan Pham. Journal of Consumer Research, ucy079, https://doi.org/10.1093/jcr/ucy079

Abstract: Although consumer-behavior theory has traditionally regarded evaluations as instrumental to consumer choice, in reality consumers often assess and express what they like and dislike even when there is no decision at stake. Why are consumers so eager to express their evaluations when there is no ostensible purpose for doing so? In this research, we advance the thesis that this is because consumers derive an inherent pleasure from assessing and expressing their likes and dislikes. In support of this thesis, the results of seven studies show that compared to a variety of simple and commonplace control judgments, assessing and expressing one’s likes and dislikes results in greater task enjoyment. This occurs because externalizing one’s evaluations enables a form of self-expression that appears to be deep and global. These findings have important implications for marketers and policymakers.

Keywords: evaluation, browsing, attitudes, affect, self-expression, hedonics

Who punishes promiscuous women? Both women and women, but only women inflict costly punishment

Who punishes promiscuous women? Both women and women, but only women inflict costly punishment. Naomi K. Muggleton, Sarah R. Tarran, Corey L. Fincher. Evolution and Human Behavior, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2018.12.003

Abstract: Across human societies, female sexuality is suppressed by gendered double standards, slut shaming, sexist rape laws, and honour killings. The question of what motivates societies to punish promiscuous women, however, has been contested. Although some have argued that men suppress female sexuality to increase paternity certainty, others maintain that this is an example of intrasexual competition. Here we show that both sexes are averse to overt displays of female sexuality, but that motivation is sex-specific. In all studies, participants played an economic game with a female partner whose photograph either signalled that she was sexually-accessible or sexually-restricted. In study 1, we found that men and women are less altruistic in a Dictator Game (DG) when partnered with a woman signalling sexual-accessibility. Both sexes were less trusting of sexually-accessible women in a Trust Game (TG) (study 2); women (but not men), however, inflicted costly punishment on a sexually-accessible woman in an Ultimatum Game (UG) (study 3). Our results demonstrate that both sexes are averse to overt sexuality in women, whilst highlighting potential differences in motivation.

Go to More Parties? Rather than a time out from “real” life, social occasions hold an outsized potential to unexpectedly shift the course that real life takes

Goffman, A. (2018). Go to More Parties? Social Occasions as Home to Unexpected Turning Points in Life Trajectories. Social Psychology Quarterly, https://doi.org/10.1177/0190272518812010

Abstract: Reviving classical attention to gathering times as sites of transformation and building on more recent microsociological work, this paper uses qualitative data to show how social occasions open up unexpected bursts of change in the lives of those attending. They do this by pulling people into a special realm apart from normal life, generating collective effervescence and emotional energy, bringing usually disparate people together, forcing public rankings, and requiring complex choreography, all of which combine to make occasions sites of inspiration and connection as well as sites of offense and violation. Rather than a time out from “real” life, social occasions hold an outsized potential to unexpectedly shift the course that real life takes. Implications for microsociology, social inequality, and the life course are considered.

Keywords: emotions, interaction rituals, life course, microsociology, qualitative methods

Retraction of Sternberg (2012) "A model for ethical reasoning": Although the claims in the article seem valid, the retraction is to address substantial overlap with the author’s previously published works

"A model for ethical reasoning": Retraction of Sternberg (2012). (2018). Review of General Psychology, 22(4), 420. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/gpr0000167

Abstract: Reports the retraction of "A model for ethical reasoning" by Robert J. Sternberg (Review of General Psychology, 2012[Dec], Vol 16[4], 319-326). Although the claims in the article are scientifically valid, the retraction is to address substantial overlap with the author’s previously published works. Those previous works are as follows: Sternberg, R. J. (2010). Teaching for ethical reasoning in liberal education. Liberal Education, 96. Retrieved from https://www.aacu.org/publications-research/periodicals/teaching-ethical-reasoning-liberal-education. Sternberg, R. J. (2012). Teaching for ethical reasoning. International Journal of Educational Psychology, 1, 35–50. http://dx.doi.org/10.4471/ijep.2012.03 The Editor was alerted to this potential overlap, which was then confirmed. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2012-31876-001.) This article presents a model of ethical reasoning. The article reviews lapses in ethical reasoning and the great costs they have had for society. It presents an eight-step model of ethical reasoning that can be applied to ethical challenges and illustrates its application. It proposes that ethical reasoning can be taught across the curriculum. It further points to a source of frustration in the teaching and application of ethics: ethical drift. Finally it draws conclusions.