Incarceration has meaningful reoffending-reducing average effects that diminish in incarceration length; as a result, budget-neutral reductions in sentence length combined with increases in incarceration rates can decrease recidivism

How Does Incarceration Affect Reoffending? Estimating the Dose-Response Function. Evan K. Rose and Yotam Shem-Tov. Journal of Political Economy, Jul 2021. https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/716561

Abstract: We study the causal effect of incarceration on reoffending using discontinuities in North Carolina’s sentencing guidelines. A regression discontinuity analysis shows that one year of incarceration causes a reduction in the likelihood of being reincarcerated within three, five, and eight years from sentencing by 44%, 29%, and 21%. To parse the potentially heterogeneous dose-response relationship underlying these effects, we develop an econometric model of prison sentences and recidivism. We find that incarceration has meaningful reoffending-reducing average effects that diminish in incarceration length. As a result, budget-neutral reductions in sentence length combined with increases in incarceration rates can decrease recidivism.

6 Concluding remarks

Our analysis shows that incarceration substantially reduces reoffending in the years after sentencing. The effects are not concentrated among a specific type of criminal incident: we observe reductions in violent, property, and drug crimes, as well as reincarceration overall. We then use a Roy-style selection model to parse the heterogeneous dose-response underlying these effects. We find that the average treatment effects of incarceration are diminishing in sentence length. In addition, we find that while the offenders given longest sentences have the highest recidivism risk, they also experience the largest reductions in reoffending due to exposure to prison. Budget neutral changes in sentencing that take advantage of these patterns by shortening sentences overall but sending a larger fraction of offenders to prison can generate meaningful reductions in recidivism. This exercise, however, speaks only to better allocations of sentences given current levels incarceration spending; it does not imply that all offenders should be incarcerated for at least a brief period. Indeed, a broader cost-benefit analysis may find it is optimal to reduce incarceration overall. Our estimates are an important contribution to the on-going debate over U.S. criminal justice policy. After growing steadily since the 1970s, incarceration rates began to decline slightly in the mid-2000s. Recent policy changes, however, have the potential to at least check these recent reductions. While our estimates show that incarceration sentences do not increase reoffending, they also demonstrate that incarceration has room to rehabilitate inmates further, especially when compared to carceral regimes in other developed countries such as Norway. Since incarceration is unlikely to be abolished in the near future, understanding what features of imprisonment itself can be rehabilitative or damaging to offenders is a useful area for future research

Why Women Choose Divorce: An Evolutionary Perspective

Why Women Choose Divorce: An Evolutionary Perspective. Gillian Parker et al. Current Opinion in Psychology, July 31 2021. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2021.07.020

Abstract: In Western dual-educated, male-female marriages, women who divorce face greater burdens due to decreased income and primary or sole responsibility for caring for children than do men who divorce. Why, then, do these women initiate divorce more and fare better psychologically after divorce than men? Here, we articulate an evolutionary mismatch perspective, informed by key findings in relationship science. We argue that mismatches between women’s evolved preferences and configurations of modern marriage often clash, producing dissatisfaction. Women’s unprecedented career ascendance also affords women ever more freedom to leave. We discuss pressures from social expectations for men and women that contribute to or compound these vulnerabilities. We conclude with key questions for future research, which can contribute to strategies for mitigating relationship dissatisfaction and the profound loss and pain that results from divorce.

Keywords: divorceevolutionary mismatchesgender rolesunpaid labormate preferences

1.4. Working toward solutions

In sum, a loss of interdependence, along with evolved-preference mismatches, pose threats to modern marriage. Before solutions, we need research to address gaps in the literature. We suggest that answering questions in four key areas will help.

1.4.1. Undoing gendered norms

First, conflicts over unpaid labor stem in part from gendered norms that differ by sex – for example, that women are caregivers and men are breadwinners. Can associations between type of labor and masculinity and femininity be lessened? Messaging campaigns that reframe these activities could help to increase women’s and men’s comfort with counter-normative work and satisfaction in counter-normative marriages.

1.4.2. Childcare assistance

Second, if gendered associations with paid and unpaid labor prove difficult to undo, might assistance with childcare be a better or more immediate solution? Research should address whether this solution challenges gender norms less and the extent to which reduces the burden on mothers, potentially producing greater satisfaction in marriages in which women major or primary breadwinners. Assistance could be hired, provided by employers, or provided by the government, which is growing in political popularity56. In some instances, help could also come from extended kin, particularly grandparents, who have a vested interest in the happiness of their children and the success of their grandchildren. Without assistance many women will continue to feel pressured to do double-duty or attempt to have their male partners help – but with tasks that men do not prefer, potentially damaging the satisfaction of both partners.

1.4.3. Agreements about specializations and interdependence

Third, households, like organizations, could run more efficiently when each person specializes in, rather than shares, a type of labor57. With specialization can come greater interdependence between partners – each needs the other for the family to succeed. Research should address whether couples can be more explicit about division of labor and whether this enhances interdependence, producing positive relationship maintenance processes.

1.4.4. Meta-knowledge about mismatches

Last, can knowledge of evolved psychology allow partners to recognize that pangs of dissatisfaction are “ancestral relics” and reframe them in ways that are less harmful to relationships? This is a question whose answer might have broad relevance to other evolutionary mismatches, including those that can occur in the realm of romantic relationships (e.g., casual sex58) and well-known mismatches between evolved preferences for foods high levels of sugar, fat, and salt and preserving good health. We see this as a particularly intriguing question and a priority.

A fast-growing body of evidence suggests that people have difficulties in envisioning how their future selves will look like and behave; so, what determines that one’s future self feels like a dissimilar stranger or exactly the same person?

Stranger or a Clone? Future Self Connectedness Depends on Who You Ask, When You Ask, and What Dimension You Focus On. Eirini Kapogli, Jordi Quoidbach. Current Opinion in Psychology, July 31 2021. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2021.07.023

Abstract: A fast-growing body of evidence suggests that people have difficulties in envisioning how their future selves will look like and behave. So, what determines that one’s future self feels like a dissimilar stranger or exactly the same person? Here we review relevant work and propose a three-factor framework in an effort to organize and highlight important findings. Our review suggests that who we are, what dimension we focus on, as well as the cognitive and affective states we are in, impact the way we envision our future self being similar or different from our current self. We conclude with remaining questions that are yet to be explored.

Keywords: future selfperceived similarityperceived dissimilarityself-continuityconnectedness

Partner's traits which motivate people to stay in an intimate relationship: The “Faithful and trustworthy” & the “Does well with my friends and family” factors, were associated with more years in a relationship

Partner's traits which motivate people to stay in an intimate relationship: An explorative analysis. Menelaos Apostolou, Christoforos Christoforou. Personality and Individual Differences, Volume 183, December 2021, 111155. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2021.111155

Highlights

• Identified 75 partner traits that motivate people to stay in an intimate relationship

• Classified the 75 partner traits in 11 broader factors

• Found that the extracted factors were associated with longer relationship length and better relationship prospects

Abstract: Intimate relationships vary in how long they last, and the current study attempted to identify partners' traits which are associated with longer relationship length and better perceived relationship prospects. In particular, Study 1 employed open-ended questionnaires and in-depth interviews in a sample of 207 Greek-speaking participants, and identified 75 partner traits which motivate people to continue an intimate relationship. Using quantitative research methods in a sample of 1189 Greek-speaking participants, Study 2 classified these traits in 11 broader factors. The “Faithful and trustworthy” and the “Does well with my friends and family” factors, were associated with more years in a relationship. Furthermore, the “Faithful and trustworthy,” the “Gives me sexual satisfaction,” the “Committed to me” and the “Fun to be with” factors, had a positive effect on the perceived prospects of the current relationship, which was mediated by relationship satisfaction. In addition, the “Does well with my friends and family,” had a direct positive effect on relationship prospects.

Keywords: Relationship lengthRelationship stabilityRelationship satisfactionMating strategiesMating

Some Revenge Now or More Revenge Later? Applying an Intertemporal Framework to Retaliatory Aggression

West, Samuel J., Emily Lasko, Calvin Hall, Nayaab Khan, and David Chester. 2021. “Some Revenge Now or More Revenge Later? Applying an Intertemporal Framework to Retaliatory Aggression.” PsyArXiv. July 30. doi:10.31234/osf.io/wpfrs

Abstract: Retaliatory aggression is a rewarding behavior. Decisions about rewarding behaviors often involve an intertemporal bias, such that people prefer immediate rewards and discount delayed rewards. We integrated these literatures to test whether the delay discounting framework could be applied to retaliatory aggression. Across six studies (total N = 1,508), participants repeatedly chose between immediate-but-lesser or delayed-but-greater retaliation. As with other rewards (e.g., money), participants preferred immediate-but-lesser retaliation, discounting the value of delayed-but-greater revenge. Rates of aggression discounting were temporally stable and associated with greater aggressive behavior. Experimentally-induced angry rumination reduced discounting rates, motivating participants to wait longer to inflict greater harm. Participants with greater antagonistic traits (e.g., physical sadism), displayed stronger preferences for delayed-but greater vengeance. These findings suggest that some dispositionally aggressive individuals may delay retaliation in service of greater future revenge. Our results bolster the important role of reward in retaliatory aggression and suggest that an intertemporal framework is likely a fruitful area of investigation for antisocial behavior. We discuss the implications of our findings in relation to contemporary theories of aggression and broader theories of antisocial behavior.

None of the constructs of the dark triad are meaningfully related to intelligence; this challenges the notion that the dark triad is an adaptive set of personality traits that enables individuals to effectively manipulate their social surroundings

General Intelligence and the Dark Triad: A Meta-Analysis. Moritz Michels. Journal of Individual Differences, Jul 29 2021. https://doi.org/10.1027/1614-0001/a000352

Abstract: The dark triad of personality (D3) – consisting of psychopathy, Machiavellianism, and narcissism – is a set of socially aversive personality traits. All three traits encompass disagreeable behavior and a particular disregard for the well-being of others, but also a tendency to strategic and deceptive manipulation of social environments in order to attain one′s goals. To exercise these complex manipulations effectively it seems beneficial to have high cognitive abilities. Therefore, a meta-analysis was conducted to examine possible relationships between intelligence and the dark triad. A total of 143 studies were identified to estimate the strength of relationships between the D3 and general, verbal, and nonverbal intelligence. The results indicate that none of the constructs of the dark triad are meaningfully related to intelligence. However, there was a small negative correlation between intelligence and Factor 2 psychopathy. The substantial heterogeneity regarding the observed effect sizes could not be explained with meta-regression for the most part. There was no evidence for a publication bias. In total, the results challenge the notion that the dark triad is an adaptive set of personality traits that enables individuals to effectively manipulate their social surroundings.

Is this analysis realistic?: Male rape happens about as often as female rape, and possibly exceeds it; evidence also shows that 80% of those who rape men are women

 On the Sexual Assault of Men. David DiMarco, John Mizzoni & Ryan Savitz. Sexuality & Culture, Jul 29 2021. https://rd.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12119-021-09901-1

Abstract: Anyone who engages in sexual intercourse with someone who is under the influence of drugs or alcohol, unconscious, oblivious to their surroundings or not able to voice dissent can be charged with the crime of rape. No individual should be used, without their consent, for another person’s pleasure. The lack of informed consent makes rape unethical. Ethically the victim being male should be irrelevant. Yet male rape is rarely reported and frequently minimized, as will be shown by the 2010 CDC National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey as well as other sources in this paper which will show that male rape happens about as often as female rape, and possibly exceeds it. Evidence also shows that 80% of those who rape men are women. Reconsidering stereotypes of the rape of men is an important part of rethinking masculinity. Among these stereotypes is the assumption that male rape is rare, as well as assumptions about the experience of male rape victims. The goal of this paper is to show that male rape is a prevalent problem and that the victims endure the same emotional and psychological after-effects as female rape victims.

The meta-analysis provides evidence that men’s self-perceived mate value positively predicts their tendency to engage in short-term mating, but that the total effect size is small

Men’s Mate Value Correlates with a Less Restricted Sociosexual Orientation: A Meta-Analysis. Steven Arnocky, Jessica Desrochers, Amanda Rotella, Graham Albert, Carolyn Hodges-Simeon, Ashley Locke, Jacob Belanger, Danielle Lynch & Benjamin Kelly. Archives of Sexual Behavior, Jul 29 2021. https://rd.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10508-021-01937-6

Abstract: Men, relative to women, can benefit their total reproductive success by engaging in short-term pluralistic mating. Yet not all men enact such a mating strategy. It has previously been hypothesized that high mate value men should be most likely to adopt a short-term mating strategy, with this prediction being firmly grounded in some important mid-level evolutionary psychological theories. Yet evidence to support such a link has been mixed. This paper presents a comprehensive meta-analysis of 33 published and unpublished studies (N = 5928) in which we find that that self-reported mate value accounts for roughly 6% of variance in men’s sociosexual orientation. The meta-analysis provides evidence that men’s self-perceived mate value positively predicts their tendency to engage in short-term mating, but that the total effect size is small.

Positive intergroup contact, under some conditions, can undermine the interest of members of both socially disadvantaged and advantaged groups to act for equality

Ambivalent Effects of Positive Contact Between Women and Men on Collective Actions for Women’s Rights. Alexandra Vázquez et al. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, December 3, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167220974162

Abstract: Positive intergroup contact, under some conditions, can undermine the interest of members of both socially disadvantaged and advantaged groups to act for equality. However, little is known about whether similar effects appear in a unique form of intergroup relations, gender relations. In two correlational studies and two experiments, we investigated the relationships among quality of contact, perceived discrimination, fusion with the feminist movement, and willingness to engage in collective action for women’s rights. For women (Study 1a), positive contact with men was associated with less perceived discrimination, less fusion, and less collective action. For men (Study 1b), the relationships were in the opposite direction. Studies 2a and 2b revealed that recalling experiences of gender discrimination nullified the effects of contact for both women and men as compared to a control condition. Thus, when discrimination is not explicitly recognized, positive contact might have sedative effects on women, but mobilizing effects on men.

Keywords: collective action, discrimination, gender inequality, identity fusion, intergroup contact

Why friendships end: The most important factor was selfishness, followed by romantic involvement, the lack of frequent interaction, and the perceptions of friends and family

Apostolou, M., & Keramari, D. (2021). Why friendships end: An evolutionary examination. Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences, Jul 2021. https://doi.org/10.1037/ebs0000269

Abstract: People make friendships, some of which last a lifetime, whereas others are short-lived. Within the context of an evolutionary theoretical framework, this study aims to identify the reasons that lead people to terminate a friendship. More specifically, in Study 1, by using a combination of qualitative research methods in a sample of 133 Greek-speaking participants, we identified 55 such reasons. In Study 2, by using exploratory factor analysis in a sample of 557 Greek-speaking participants, we classified these reasons in four broader factors for terminating a friendship. As indicated by the means, the most important factor was selfishness, followed by romantic involvement, the lack of frequent interaction, and the perceptions of friends and family. Moreover, significant sex and age effects were found for most factors.