People are somewhat conflicted in their evaluations of those smarter than they are whereas similarly and less intelligent people presented less of an apparent conflict in evaluations (which was unfavorable)

The potentially conflicted evaluations of others based on their intelligence. Peter K. Jonason, Jamie Hughes. Personality and Individual Differences, Volume 168, 1 January 2021, 110299. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2020.110299

Highlights
• Manipulated intelligence of targets relative to participants.
• Measured likability in favorable and unfavorable evaluations.
• Generally, more favorable evaluations than unfavorable ones.
• More conflicted (favorable ≈ unfavorable) likeability for smarter targets.
• Less intelligent people were rated least favorably.

Abstract: Individual differences in intelligence are apparent and likely to come with important interpersonal consequences. We examined (N = 476) how (manipulated) individual differences in intelligence affect likability ratings of men and women. We found that (1) ratings were generally more favorable than unfavorable, (2) the difference between favorable and unfavorable ratings of the female target differed more than those same evaluations of the male target, (3) the favorable evaluation tendency was present across relative intelligence but weakest when the target was smarter than the participant, (4) the smarter target was rated more unfavorably, and (5) the equally smart target was rated more favorably than the less intelligent target. Results suggest that people are somewhat conflicted in their evaluations of those smarter than they are whereas similarly and less intelligent people presented less of an apparent conflict in evaluations.

Keywords: IntelligencePerson-perceptionSocial comparisonSex differencesSex roles

4. Discussion

Never have the consequences of individual differences in intelligence been more noticeable. Smarter people are more likely to get hired, make better decisions in relation to dangers (e.g., COVID-19; Williams, 2020), and gain admission to top-tier universities. But these functional benefits stand aside interpersonal benefits. For men being more intelligent can lead to better success at attracting sexual and romantic partners (Jonason et al., 2019; Jonason & Antoon, 2019; Prokosch et al., 2009) and men with less intelligence are judged harshly as counselors (Abramowitz & O'Grady, 1991). In contrast, women who are intelligent may suffer from unfavorable evaluations because they are in violation of traditional sex roles and that such women may threaten people's traditional ideas of what it means to be a woman (Eckes, 2002). This “backlash” can be seen in how the female target who was smarter received less favorable reactions than equally or less intelligent targets. Indeed, being perceived as less intelligent might actually be an asset to women (Abramowitz & O'Grady, 1991). However, these evaluations rarely considered the possibility that favorable and unfavorable evaluations might co-occur and, therefore, present a new view of how people evaluate others who differ in intelligence.

The most striking pattern (see Fig. 1) was that the target with more intelligence had more conflicted evaluations than the target who was less or similarly intelligent. By that we mean the difference between favorably and unfavorable evaluations was weakest in the former than the latter two. Smart men and women (no sex differences or moderation of this effect were detected) may have features that people like (e.g., resourcefulness, income) but simultaneously may have features that people do not like (e.g., arrogance, argumentativeness). This creates a conflicted wholistic evaluation in others which may create an approach-avoidance conflict towards smarter people in interpersonal or professional contexts. Indeed, these are just the kinds of people that may need to compensate for these negative expectations with humility, charm, and generosity. Alternatively, those with similar and less intelligence may not pose the kinds of intellectual and ego threats that smart people create in others leading to conflicted sentiments and less approach-avoidance conflicts.

We have provided a unique glimpse into the role of individual differences in likeability as a function of relative intelligence in men and women. Despite this, our study was limited by its reliance on a W.E.I.R.D. sample of MTurk workers, using a context-free, ultra-brief manipulation of relative intelligence, and a failure to examine potential mechanisms for these effects like personality (Schmitt et al., 2008), sex roles (Bem, 1974), or sexism (Glick & Fiske, 1997). Despite these shortcomings, we have provided insights into how people judge others based on intelligence. We failed to find evidence consistent with stereotype content theory (Eckes, 2002), and, instead, found that greater insights into how people are evaluated may come from a simultaneous examination of favorable and unfavorable axes.

Sexual minority men showed statistically higher levels of body dissatisfaction than heterosexual men, with no difference among gay & bisexual men; sexual minority & heterosexual women had no difference in body dissatisfaction

Body dissatisfaction and sexual orientations: A quantitative synthesis of 30 years research findings. Jinbo He et al. Clinical Psychology Review, August 11 2020, 101896. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2020.101896

Highlights
• Sexual minority men showed statistically higher levels of body dissatisfaction than heterosexual men.
• Gay men and bisexual men had no difference in body dissatisfaction.
• Sexual minority women and heterosexual women had no difference in body dissatisfaction.
• Lesbian women and bisexual women had no difference in body dissatisfaction.
• Inconsistency of the studies comparing sexual minority men and heterosexual men was moderated by multiple study features.
• Inconsistency of the studies comparing sexual minority women and heterosexual women was moderated only by survey method.

Abstract: Previous research studies on the relationship between body dissatisfaction and sexual orientation in men and women showed inconsistent results. To better understand this body of research, we conducted a quantitative synthesis based on a three-level random-effects meta-analytic model. In total, we analyzed 229 effect sizes from 75 primary studies published between 1986 and 2019. Results showed that sexual minority men had a higher level of body dissatisfaction than heterosexual men (57 studies, 128 effect sizes), with a small to medium effect size (d = 0.34; 95% CI: 0.28, 0.39). Other comparisons—bisexual men vs. gay men (6 studies, 9 effect sizes), sexual minority women vs. heterosexual women (36 studies, 85 effect sizes), and bisexual women vs. lesbian women (6 studies, 7 effect sizes)—showed smaller and statistically insignificant differences. Moderator analyses revealed that the inconsistency in previous studies comparing sexual minority men and heterosexual men could be partially explained by specific study features, including publication year, survey method, participants' age, participants' BMI, and measures used to assess body dissatisfaction. The inconsistent findings in comparing sexual minority women and heterosexual women could be partially explained by the different survey methods used in previous studies. Explanations and implications are discussed.

Keywords: Body imageBody dissatisfactionBody satisfactionSexual orientationLesbianGayBisexualMeta-analysisQuantitative synthesis

Physical characteristics of politicians such as their obesity can be used as proxy variables for political corruption when the latter are not available, for instance at a very local level

Obesity of politicians and corruption in post‐Soviet countries. Pavlo Blavatskyy. Economics of Transition and Institutional Change, July 18 2020. https://doi.org/10.1111/ecot.12259

Abstract: We collected 299 frontal face images of 2017 cabinet ministers from 15 post‐Soviet states (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan). For each image, the minister's body‐mass index is estimated using a computer vision algorithm. The median estimated body‐mass index of cabinet ministers is highly correlated with conventional measures of corruption (Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index, World Bank worldwide governance indicator Control of Corruption, Index of Public Integrity). This result suggests that physical characteristics of politicians such as their body‐mass index can be used as proxy variables for political corruption when the latter are not available, for instance at a very local level.

The presence of African American soldiers in the U.K. during World War II reduced anti-minority prejudice, a result of the positive interactions which took place between soldiers and the local population

Shocking Racial Attitudes: Black G.I.s in Europe. David Schindler, Mark Westcott. The Review of Economic Studies, rdaa039, August 3 2020. https://doi.org/10.1093/restud/rdaa039

Abstract: Can attitudes towards minorities, an important cultural trait, be changed? We show that the presence of African American soldiers in the U.K. during World War II reduced anti-minority prejudice, a result of the positive interactions which took place between soldiers and the local population. The change has been persistent: in locations in which more African American soldiers were posted there are fewer members of and voters for the U.K.’s leading far-right party, less implicit bias against blacks and fewer individuals professing racial prejudice, all measured around 2010. Our results point towards intergenerational transmission from parents to children as the most likely explanation.

In two studies we tested the hypothesis that observers can accurately distinguish between convicted criminals and matched controls, merely by scrutinizing facial photographs

The face of crime: Apparent happiness differentiates criminal and non-criminal photos. Kennon M. Sheldon, Mike Corcoran & Jason Trent. The Journal of Positive Psychology, Aug 10 2020. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2020.1805500

ABSTRACT: In two studies we tested the hypothesis that observers can accurately distinguish between convicted criminals and matched controls, merely by scrutinizing facial photographs. Based on the Eudaimonic Activity Model, we further hypothesized that criminals and non-criminals differ in their apparent emotional positivity. Finally, based on honest signaling theory, we hypothesized that such emotionality differences can explain observers’ ability to distinguish criminals and non-criminals. In Study 1 participants evaluated photos of people later convicted of crimes, and photos of matched controls. In Study 2 participants evaluated photos of Catholic priests later convicted of sexual offenses, and photos of the priests who replaced them at their parishes. All three hypotheses were supported. Furthermore, in Study 2, participants’ own facial photos were rated by assistants. Consistent with honest signal theories, observer’s facial positivity, as well as their self-rated positive affect, predicted their ability to perceive positive emotions in non-criminal faces.

KEYWORDS: Happiness, eudaimonia, honest signaling theory, criminality, eudaimonic activity model, facial perceptions

On Aristotelian virtue, human flourishing, human sexuality & animal instinct, innocence, erotic neutralization & the view that sex is an exceptional aspect of morality

Childhood ‘Innocence’ is Not Ideal: Virtue Ethics and Child–Adult Sex. Thomas O’Carroll. Sexuality & Culture volume 22, pages1230–1262(2018). Apr 2018. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12119-018-9519-1

Abstract: Malón (Arch Sexual Behav 44(4):1071–1083, 2015) concluded that the usual arguments against sexual relationships between adults and prepubertal children are inadequate to rule out the moral permissibility of such behaviour in all circumstances. Malón (Sex Cult 21(1):247–269, 2017) applied virtue ethics in an attempt to remedy the postulated deficiency. The present paper challenges the virtue ethics approach taken in the second of Malón’s articles by: (1) contesting the view that sex is an exceptional aspect of morality, to which a virtue approach needs to be applied; (2) contesting the view that virtue ethics succeed, where other arguments fail, against the moral admissibility of child–adult sexual relations; (3) proposing that such relations can be seen as virtuous in the context of an alternative view of what constitutes virtue.

Check also Malón, A. (2017). Adult–child sex and the demands of virtuous sexual morality. Sexuality and Culture, 21(1), 247–269. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs12119-016-9392-8

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Why should the sexual dimension, by contrast, remain a closed book in terms either of open-minded theoretical discussion or, even more vitally, at the level of fact-gathering, hypothesis-forming and testing? Unfortunately, these are happening very little, especially as regards the production of quantified scientific research; on a very small scale, though, there have been richly descriptive qualitative studies of an exploratory kind, plus exhortation to study what is normal beyond the usual WEIRD baseline (Blaise 2013; Leahy 1991, 1992; Narvaez 2016; Sandfort 1984, 1987).

Three different strategies used by people to place themselves within an ideologically homogeneous information environment: selective approach, selective avoidance, & the belief in the importance of silencing others

From 2019... Personality Factors Differentiating Selective Approach, Selective Avoidance, and the Belief in the Importance of Silencing Others: Further Evidence for Discriminant Validity. Yariv Tsfati. International Journal of Public Opinion Research, edz031, October 8 2019. https://doi.org/10.1093/ijpor/edz031

Abstract: Recent research proposed self-report measures tapping three different strategies used by people to place themselves within an ideologically homogeneous information environment: selective approach, selective avoidance, and the belief in the importance of silencing others (BISO). Using online survey data collected in Israel (n = 749), the present investigation explores the discriminant validity of these constructs. Confirmatory factor model comparisons support their empirical differentiation. In addition, it is argued that the constructs are empirically different given the fact that they correlate differently with personality factors. BISO is more strongly and positively associated with authoritarianism. Selective avoidance is more strongly negatively associated with openness to experience. Selective approach was positively associated with empathy, with which selective avoidance was negatively associated.