Gender differences in climate change views are statistically significant only in relatively affluent countries, the differences are larger at higher levels of affluence, & greater climate risk amplifies the difference in concern

Gender and climate change views in context: a cross-national multilevel analysis. Kyle W. Knight & Jennifer E. Givens. The Social Science Journal, Apr 27 2021. https://doi.org/10.1080/03623319.2021.1913041

Abstract: Women express statistically significantly greater climate change concern than men in a number of countries, but this gender gap is not universal around the world. We use multilevel models with cross-level interactions to analyze how the individual-level effects of gender on climate change concern and perceived seriousness are influenced by three macro-level contextual factors: national affluence, climate risk, and gender equality. We find that gender differences in climate change views are statistically significant only in relatively affluent countries, the differences are larger at higher levels of affluence, and greater climate risk amplifies the difference in concern but not perceived seriousness. The effect of gender on climate change views does not statistically significantly vary by level of gender equality.

KEYWORDS: Climate changegender gapconcernperceived seriousnessmultilevelcross-national

Is Divisive Politics Making Americans Sick? Associations of Perceived Partisan Polarization with Physical and Mental Health Outcomes Among Adults in the US

Is Divisive Politics Making Americans Sick? Associations of Perceived Partisan Polarization with Physical and Mental Health Outcomes Among Adults in the United States. Sameera S. Nayak et al. Social Science & Medicine, May 4 2021, 113976, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.113976

Highlights

• Perceived partisan polarization has plausible effects on physical and mental health

• Increased perceived polarization was associated with incident anxiety and depression

• No significant associations were found with hypertension or high cholesterol

• Perceived partisan polarization may be a key determinant of mental health outcomes

Abstract:

Objectives: To investigate whether changes in perceived partisan polarization since the 2016 US presidential election and current perceptions of polarization are associated with the onset of physical and mental health conditions in adults.

Methods: We surveyed a nationally-representative sample (n=2,752) of US adults between December 2019 and January 2020. We used multivariable logistic regression to estimate associations between perceived polarization and the incidence of hypertension, high cholesterol, obesity, diabetes, and anxiety, depressive, and sleep disorders in or after 2016 and current self-rated health. Our secondary exposure variables measured perceptions of mass and elite polarization at the state and national level. Perceived mass polarization measured perceptions of the partisan gap between Democrat and Republican voters; perceived elite polarization measured perceptions of the partisan gap between Democrat and Republican elected officials.

Results: Participants reporting an increase in polarization had 52-57% higher odds of developing depressive disorders (OR=1.52, 95% CI: 1.01, 2.29, P=0.047) and anxiety disorders (OR=1.57, 95% CI: 1.07, 2.29, P=0.02) compared to participants who perceived no change in polarization. Those reporting high (vs. low) levels of perceived state-level mass polarization had a 49% higher odds of incident depressive disorders (P=0.03). Participants who perceived high levels of state-level elite polarization reported a 71% higher odds of incident depressive disorders (P=0.004) and a 49% higher odds of incident sleep disorders (P=0.03).

Conclusions: Perceptions of partisan polarization may represent important factors that are linked to the onset of mental health and sleep disorders.

Keywords: Partisan polarizationsocial determinants of healthdepressionanxietypresidential election

National development—and particularly economic growth—is under severe challenge as an important and legitimate objective of action within the development industry

National Development Delivers: And How! And How? Lant Pritchett. April 26, 2021. https://lantpritchett.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Development-Delivers_firstdraft.pdf

Abstract: Core dual ideas of early development, economics and practice, were that (a) national  development was a four-fold transformation of countries towards: (i) a more productive  economy, (ii) a more responsive state, (iii) more capable administration, and (iv) a shared  identity and equal treatment of citizens and that (b) this four-fold transformation of national  development would lead to higher levels of human wellbeing. The second is strikingly correct:  development delivers. National development is empirically necessary for high wellbeing (no  country with low levels of national development has high human wellbeing) and also empirically sufficient (no country with high national development has low levels of human wellbeing).  Three measures of national development: productive economy, capable administration, and  responsive state, explain (essentially) all of the observed variation in an omnibus indicator of  wellbeing based on over 58 distinct indicators, the Social Progress Index. How national  development delivers on wellbeing varies, in three ways. One, economic growth is much more  important for achieving wellbeing at low versus high levels of income. Two, economic growth  matters more for “basic needs” than for other dimensions of wellbeing (like social inclusiveness or environmental quality). Three, state capability matters more for wellbeing outcomes that  depend on public production than on private goods (and for some wellbeing indicators, like  physical safety, for which growth doesn’t matter at all). While these findings may seem too  common sense to be worth a paper, national development—and particularly economic growth—is, strangely, under severe challenge as an important and legitimate objective of action within the  development industry. 

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I argue that this de-emphasis on national development is wrong. National development (including economic growth) does powerfully deliver on human wellbeing for low-income countries—but much less so for richer countries. The development debate is largely a confusion of preference and priority and the powerful human tendency to project our immediate concerns onto others: to look in a mirror and describe what we see out a window. Suppose one ignores the “cold” economic numbers and takes the Social Progress Index (and its three major components Basic Human Needs, Foundations of Wellbeing, and Opportunity) as the “true” normative goal to be pursued. National development, measured by GDP per capita, State Capability, and Democracy is a strongly necessary and sufficient condition for achieving high levels of human wellbeing measured on these indicators. There are no countries with high levels of the SPI with low national development and there are no countries with high levels of national development with low levels of SPI.

In addition, a flexible examination of the connections between the different physical indicators of wellbeing and three components of national development (GDPPC, State Capability, and Democracy) reveals three interesting, and ultimately sensible, findings.

First, if one allows the impact of GDPPC on wellbeing indicators to vary flexibly across the level of GDPC the data shows that growth is tremendously more important for improving well being in developing than in developed economies.

Second, for developing countries GDPPC is much more important for elements the SPI regards as “Basic Needs” (like nutrition and basic health, access to water and sanitation, improved shelter) than it is for those classified as “Opportunity.”

Third, if one separates the components of national development into “economic” (GDPPC) and “governance” (state capability and democracy) the data suggests that growth has a larger impact on elements of wellbeing that are “private” goods (like nutrition) whereas “governance” is more important for “public” goods—like the environment.

The empirical data suggest that Prime Minister Arden and the OECD might be right, at their high levels of national development, to emphasize as their priorities direct measures of wellbeing over GDP (or national development). But developing country politicians—even with the exact same preferences—cannot reach the levels of human wellbeing enjoyed by those living New Zealand without much higher levels of GDP per capita and state capability.

Both men and women stereotype women (but not men) who engage in casual sex as having low self-esteem, mediated by inferences that women who have casual sex are unsatisfied with their mating strategy

Lay Beliefs About Gender and Sexual Behavior: First Evidence for a Pervasive, Robust (but Seemingly Unfounded) Stereotype. Jaimie Arona Krems et al. Psychological Science, May 4, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797620983829

Abstract: Although casual sex is increasingly socially acceptable, negative stereotypes toward women who pursue casual sex remain pervasive. For example, a common trope in television, film, and other media is that women who engage in casual sex have low self-esteem. Despite robust work on prejudice against women who engage in casual sex, little empirical work has focused on the lay theories individuals hold about them. Across six experiments with U.S. adults (N = 1,469), we found that both men and women stereotype women (but not men) who engage in casual sex as having low self-esteem. This stereotype is held explicitly and semi-implicitly; is not driven by individual differences in religiosity, conservatism, or sexism; and is mediated by inferences that women who have casual sex are unsatisfied with their mating strategy—yet the stereotype persists when women are explicitly described as choosing to have casual sex. Finally, the stereotype appears to be unfounded; across experiments, the same participants’ sexual behavior was not significantly correlated with their self-esteem.

Keywords: social perception, social cognition, self-esteem, sex differences, sex/gender, stereotypes, sexual behavior, open data

Single dose testosterone administration enhances novelty responsiveness and short-term habituation in healthy males

Single dose testosterone administration enhances novelty responsiveness and short-term habituation in healthy males. Huihua Fang et al. Hormones and Behavior, Volume 131, May 2021, 104963. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yhbeh.2021.104963

Highlights

• Testosterone increased P2 habituation in response to repeated standard tones.

• Testosterone attenuated involuntary attention toward repeated sensory events.

• Testosterone increased P3a responses to infrequent deviant tones.

• Testosterone decreased Mismatch Negativity responses to infrequent deviant tones.

• Testosterone facilitated involuntary attentional orienting toward sensory changes.

Abstract: The role of testosterone in sensory perception suggests that testosterone likely regulates adaptive responses to sensory changes, including habituation to repeated events and responsiveness to novel events. To test this hypothesis, we investigated how testosterone modulates brain responses to rapid changes in sensory inputs. Using a double-blind, placebo-controlled, within-participant design, each participant received a single dose of either testosterone or placebo, and then completed a passive auditory oddball task in which infrequent deviant tones were embedded in a series of frequent standard tones. Analysis of novelty-evoked potentials revealed smaller Mismatch Negativity (MMN) responses, but larger P3a responses in the testosterone session than in the placebo session. This suggests testosterone attenuates MMN responses that are associated with pre-attentive novelty detection and enhances P3a responses that are associated with involuntary attentional orientation toward novelty. Along with the repetition of standard tones, P2 responses on the auditory evoked potentials became significantly attenuated in the testosterone session, but not in the placebo session. This suggests testosterone enhances short-term habituation of P2 responses to recurring sensory events, which has been associated with bottom-up attention allocation. Mediation analysis further revealed that the role of testosterone in promoting attentional orientation toward novelty could be explained by the influence it exerts on short-term habituation and pre-attentive novelty detection. Overall, testosterone facilitated involuntary attention switching—withdrawal of attention from repeated sensory events and orientation toward novel sensory events—at the cost of attenuated pre-attentive novelty detection. This finding provides insight into the interplay between endocrinology and involuntary attentional processes.

Keywords: TestosteroneHabituationNovelty responsivenessInvoluntary attention orientationAuditory evoked potentials

While children felt about 3 years or 34% older than their chronological age, older adults (60+ years) felt, on average, between 10.74 and 21.07 years or 13%–18% younger

Pinquart, M., & Wahl, H.-W. (2021). Subjective age from childhood to advanced old age: A meta-analysis. Psychology and Aging, 36(3), 394–406, May 2021. https://doi.org/10.1037/pag0000600

Abstract: The present meta-analysis analyzed how the gap between subjective age and chronological age changes across the life-span and whether the size of this gap varies across regions of the globe. In addition, we tested for sources of the national differences. A systematic search in electronic databases (PsycInfo, Medline, Google Scholar, PSYNDEX) and cross-referencing identified 294 studies (with mean age ranging from 8 to 105 years) that were included in random-effects meta-analyses. While children felt about 3 years or 34% older than their chronological age, older adults (60+ years) felt, on average, between 10.74 and 21.07 years or 13%–18% younger. Associations between chronological age and the size of proportional differences between subjective and chronological were best described as a quadratic relationship, while associations with the size of absolute differences could also be described as a linear relationship. The widening of the gap between subjective age and chronological age across adulthood was found in all continents. Although adults reported a relatively younger subjective age across the globe, these differences were strongest in North America, Western Europe, and Australia/Oceania, and weakest in Africa. The regional differences disappeared after statistically controlling for national levels of individualism-collectivism, power distance, preference for young people rather than older adults, and quality of life of older people.