Genetic influences were strongest in education and weakest in income, and always strongest among those with the most advantaged socioeconomic background, independent of the socioeconomic indicator used

Socioeconomic Background and Gene–Environment Interplay in Social Stratification across the Early Life Course. Jani Erola, Hannu Lehti, Tina Baier, Aleksi Karhula. European Sociological Review, jcab026, August 4 2021. https://doi.org/10.1093/esr/jcab026

Abstract: To what extent are differences in education, occupational standing, and income attributable to genes, and do genetic influences differ by parents’ socioeconomic standing? When in a children’s life course does parents’ socioeconomic standing matter for genetic influences, and for which of the outcomes, fixed at the different stages of the attainment process, do they matter most? We studied these research questions using Finnish register-based data on 6,529 pairs of twins born between 1975 and 1986. We applied genetically sensitive variance decompositions and took gene–environment interactions into account. Since zygosity was unknown, we compared same-sex and opposite-sex twins to estimate the proportion of genetic variation. Genetic influences were strongest in education and weakest in income, and always strongest among those with the most advantaged socioeconomic background, independent of the socioeconomic indicator used. We found that the shared environment influences were negligible for all outcomes. Parental social background measured early during childhood was associated with weaker interactions with genetic influences. Genetic influences on children’s occupation were largely mediated through their education, whereas for genetic influences on income, mediation through education and occupational standing made little difference. Interestingly, we found that non-shared environment influences were greater among the advantaged families and that this pattern was consistent across outcomes. Stratification scholars should therefore emphasize the importance of the non-shared environment as one of the drivers of the intergenerational transmission of social inequalities.

Discussion and Conclusions

In this article, we have presented our findings on the gene–environment interplay over the early life course in education, occupational standing, and income. In summary, our study highlights five findings. First, our baseline findings for education, occupational status, and income show that the relative importance of shared environmental influences was negligible. This challenges previous findings on the substantial influence of the shared environment on education (Branigan, McCallum and Freese, 2013). The results differ from those of earlier studies in Finland studying older cohorts but are similar to those in Norway involving more recent cohorts with similar institutional settings (Silventoinen et al., 2004; Nisén et al., 2013; Ørstavik et al., 2014; Lyngstad, Ystrøm and Zambrana, 2017). For income, the result is in line with a previous Finnish study (Hyytinen et al., 2019). There have been no previous studies on genetic influences in ISEI in Finland, and, to our knowledge, very few elsewhere.

Second, we find that genetic influences are strongest among the most advantaged families. This partly confirms our first hypothesis: There is no linear relationship between the strength of genetic influences and the quality of the family environment, and the differences between the other groups of families are small. Thus, the enhancement mechanism seems to work principally at the top end of the social spectrum. A similar pattern has been found in previous studies studying the social stratification of genetic influences using twin data (Baier and Lang, 2019).

Third, the social stratification of genetic influences is to some extent depending on the age at which parental SES is observed. In contrast to our expectations, parental social background measured early during childhood led to weaker interactions with genetic influences. This finding is an important addition to previous research on the role of socioeconomic rearing environment at different stages of the early life course. It suggests that the average contribution SES would be more or less constant across childhood and youth (Erola, Jalonen and Lehti, 2016). If gene-environment interactions were not taken into account, we would miss the life-course-specific pattern. It may be that parents have not reached their final level of socioeconomic attainment during children’s early childhood, and once parents have achieved that, their status reflects more accurately their genetic potential. If this is the case, the differences we observe in the association between family background and genetic influences according to children’s age can follow from gene–environment correlation related to parent’s socioeconomic attainment. For future research, the results suggest that in order to fully account for stratification according to parental educational and socioeconomic characteristics in genetic influences, one should prefer indicators of parental SES that are observed later than during early childhood.

Fourth, in line with our third hypothesis, we found that the contribution of socioeconomic parental characteristics to genetic influences is stronger the earlier the maturity of an outcome is reached. More specifically, parental characteristics matter mostly for the genetic influences in education, and for occupational standing mostly because it is mediated by their children’s education. Notably, in the case of income, stratification by parental characteristics was weak even before their children’s own education was considered. This is striking: It suggests that nearly all of the factors behind parents’ success or failure in terms of their observed socioeconomic outcomes cannot on average explain that much of how their children succeed economically by age 32–36.

Finally, the results showed the stronger importance of the non-shared environment among the children of parents of high SES. This result was consistent across the three outcomes as well as the indicators of parental SES, and aligned with previous studies showing that socioeconomic outcomes within families differ more strongly among advantaged children (Goldstein and Warren, 2000; Heflin and Pattillo, 2006). A possible explanation can be borrowed from research on stratified parenting (Lareau, 2011; Kalil, Ryan and Corey, 2012) showing that parents of higher social status make more child-specific investments based on their children’s individual talents or particular weaknesses that can accentuate differences among their children (Baier, 2019). However, similar findings could also result from the multiplicative processes if advantaged parents or the children themselves prefer differential treatment. For example, the same innate talent in math could lead to different educational and career pathways and could encourage careers in either business or academia.

Our results also contribute to the broader discussion on equality of opportunity. As comparative research has shown that social background matters relatively little in Finland, this could lead one to expect that the genetic influences in attainment should also be particularly strong. To some extent, the results are in line with this: The shared environment alone matters very little compared to the results on older birth cohorts in Finland (Silventoinen et al., 2004; Branigan, McCallum and Freese, 2013; Nisén et al., 2013). However, there is an addition: the comparison of outcomes shows that a negligible impact of shared environmental influences does not mean that only the impact of genes would automatically become stronger; it can also change the differences due to the non-shared environment. To date, the role of non-shared environmental influences has barely been discussed in the literature on genetic influences in socioeconomic attainment (as a notable exception, see Beam and Turkheimer, 2013). These channels nonetheless appear to be relevant for intergenerational socioeconomic transmission processes.

A caveat regarding the data is that we could not follow income as long as would have been preferable (until over age 40); we only covered log mean income from at age 32–36. It may be that the stronger role of genes in the incomes of the highly educated parents we observe now reflects their children’s improved chances to fulfil their own genetic potential, rather than the parents’ investments for their children. If this is the case, the genetic influences on income would become even stronger later. Furthermore, the immediate family context is not the only environment that we are exposed to during childhood and youth. Extended families, schools, or neighbourhoods could have also contributed to the gene–environment interplay. Also a detailed analysis of gender differences was beyond the scope of our study.

Moreover, it may be that our method of estimating genetic influences by comparing same and different sex twins led to a bias in the results; for instance, previous twin studies on education in Finland have found a substantive effect of shared influences that we did not observe. Testing our hypotheses with increasingly available molecular genomic data could shed light on the mechanisms involved; for instance, in the context of the third hypothesis on mediation, direct measures for genetic influences relevant for education, occupation, and income would allow us to test directly to what extent the same genetic influences contribute to each outcome.

In sum, the results underline the value of studying the gene–environment interplay for a better understanding of intergenerational socioeconomic inequalities. Clearly, genetic inheritance plays a key role in this and should be more strongly integrated into stratification research. Importantly, the results show that our theoretical assumptions about the relationship between social inequalities, genes, and shared and non-shared environments are still relatively underdeveloped, especially regarding the importance and role of the non-shared environment. In the future, one of the key tasks of research on intergenerational social mobility and attainment should be the development of better theories on the relationship between gene–environment interplay and its implications for equality of opportunity. The latter goal calls for comparisons of results by applying similar research designs across multiple nations.

A new study challenges assumptions about energy expenditure by people, including the idea that metabolism slows at middle age

Daily energy expenditure through the human life course. Herman Pontzer et al. Science  Aug 13 2021:Vol. 373, Issue 6556, pp. 808-812. DOI: 10.1126/science.abe5017

A lifetime of change

Measurements of total and basal energy in a large cohort of subjects at ages spanning from before birth to old age document distinct changes that occur during a human lifetime. Pontzer et al. report that energy expenditure (adjusted for weight) in neonates was like that of adults but increased substantially in the first year of life (see the Perspective by Rhoads and Anderson). It then gradually declined until young individuals reached adult characteristics, which were maintained from age 20 to 60 years. Older individuals showed reduced energy expenditure. Tissue metabolism thus appears not to be constant but rather to undergo transitions at critical junctures.

Abstract: Total daily energy expenditure (“total expenditure”) reflects daily energy needs and is a critical variable in human health and physiology, but its trajectory over the life course is poorly studied. We analyzed a large, diverse database of total expenditure measured by the doubly labeled water method for males and females aged 8 days to 95 years. Total expenditure increased with fat-free mass in a power-law manner, with four distinct life stages. Fat-free mass–adjusted expenditure accelerates rapidly in neonates to ~50% above adult values at ~1 year; declines slowly to adult levels by ~20 years; remains stable in adulthood (20 to 60 years), even during pregnancy; then declines in older adults. These changes shed light on human development and aging and should help shape nutrition and health strategies across the life span.

Popular version: What We Think We Know About Metabolism May Be Wrong. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/12/health/metabolism-weight-aging.html

At around age 5, children become gradually capable of strategically using prosocial acts to achieve ulterior goals such as to improve their reputation, to be chosen as social partners, to elicit reciprocity, & to navigate interpersonal obligations

The development of prosocial behavior – from sympathy to strategy. Sebastian Grueneisen, Felix Warneken. Current Opinion in Psychology, August 12 2021. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2021.08.005

Abstract: Children act prosocially already in their first years of life. Research has shown that this early prosociality is mostly motivated by sympathy for others, but that, over the course of development, children’s prosocial behaviors become more varied, more selective, and more motivationally and cognitively complex. Here, we review recent evidence showing that, starting at around age 5, children become gradually capable of strategically using prosocial acts as instrumental means to achieve ulterior goals such as to improve their reputation, to be chosen as social partners, to elicit reciprocity, and to navigate interpersonal obligations. Children’s sympathy-based prosociality is thus being extended and reshaped into a behavioral repertoire that enables individuals to pursue and balance altruistic, mutualistic, and selfish motives.

Keywords: Prosocial behaviorchildrencooperationstrategicaltruism

From 2020... People living with close others (children or romantic partners) experienced better well-being before and during the pandemic’s first 6 months

From 2020... The Benefits of Living with Close Others: A Longitudinal Examination of Mental Health Before and During a Global Stressor. Sisson NM, Willroth EC, Le BM, Ford BQ. PsyArXiv, Dec 1 2020. DOI: 10.31234/osf.io/v9mc4. https://europepmc.org/article/ppr/ppr321868

Abstract: For better or worse, the people we live with may exert a powerful influence on our mental health, perhaps especially during times of stress. The COVID-19 pandemic—a large-scale stressor that prompted health recommendations to stay home to reduce disease spread—provided a unique context for examining how the people we share our homes with may shape our mental health. A seven-wave longitudinal study assessed mental health month-to-month before and during the pandemic (February through September, 2020) in two diverse samples of U.S. adults (N = 656; N = 544). Pre-registered analyses demonstrated that people living with close others (children and/or romantic partners) experienced better well-being before and during the pandemic’s first six months. These groups also experienced unique increases in ill-being during the pandemic’s onset, but parents’ ill-being also recovered more quickly. These findings highlight the crucial protective function of close relationships for mental health both generally and amidst a pandemic.

The full supply chain of blue hydrogen makes the hydrogen greenhouse footprint more than 20% greater than burning natural gas or coal for heat & some 60% greater than burning diesel oil for heat

How green is blue hydrogen? Robert W. Howarth, Mark Z. Jacobson. Energy Science & Engineering, August 12 2021. https://doi.org/10.1002/ese3.956

Abstract: Hydrogen is often viewed as an important energy carrier in a future decarbonized world. Currently, most hydrogen is produced by steam reforming of methane in natural gas (“gray hydrogen”), with high carbon dioxide emissions. Increasingly, many propose using carbon capture and storage to reduce these emissions, producing so-called “blue hydrogen,” frequently promoted as low emissions. We undertake the first effort in a peer-reviewed paper to examine the lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions of blue hydrogen accounting for emissions of both carbon dioxide and unburned fugitive methane. Far from being low carbon, greenhouse gas emissions from the production of blue hydrogen are quite high, particularly due to the release of fugitive methane. For our default assumptions (3.5% emission rate of methane from natural gas and a 20-year global warming potential), total carbon dioxide equivalent emissions for blue hydrogen are only 9%-12% less than for gray hydrogen. While carbon dioxide emissions are lower, fugitive methane emissions for blue hydrogen are higher than for gray hydrogen because of an increased use of natural gas to power the carbon capture. Perhaps surprisingly, the greenhouse gas footprint of blue hydrogen is more than 20% greater than burning natural gas or coal for heat and some 60% greater than burning diesel oil for heat, again with our default assumptions. In a sensitivity analysis in which the methane emission rate from natural gas is reduced to a low value of 1.54%, greenhouse gas emissions from blue hydrogen are still greater than from simply burning natural gas, and are only 18%-25% less than for gray hydrogen. Our analysis assumes that captured carbon dioxide can be stored indefinitely, an optimistic and unproven assumption. Even if true though, the use of blue hydrogen appears difficult to justify on climate grounds.

Popular version: For Many, Hydrogen Is the Fuel of the Future. New Research Raises Doubts. TNYT, Aug 2021. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/12/climate/hydrogen-fuel-natural-gas-pollution.html

5 IS THERE A PATH FOR TRULY “GREEN” BLUE HYDROGEN?

Some of the CO2eq emissions from blue hydrogen are inherent in the extraction, processing, and use of natural gas as the feedstock source of methane for the SMR process: fugitive methane emissions and upstream emissions of carbon dioxide from the energy needed to produce, process, and transport the natural gas that is reformed into hydrogen are inescapable. On the other hand, the emissions of methane and carbon dioxide from using natural gas to produce the heat and high pressure needed for SMR and to capture carbon dioxide could be reduced if these processes were instead driven by renewable electricity from wind, solar, or hydro. If we assume essentially zero emissions from the renewable electricity, then carbon dioxide emissions from blue hydrogen could be reduced to the 5.8 g CO2 per MJ that is not captured from the SMR process (Equation 11) plus the indirect emissions from extracting and processing the natural gas used as feedstock for the SMR process, estimated as 2.9 g CO2 per M (7.5% of 38.5 g CO2 per MJ; see section on “total carbon dioxide and methane emissions for gray hydrogen”), for a total of 8.7 g CO2 per MJ. This is a substantial reduction compared with using natural gas to power the production of blue hydrogen. However, the fugitive methane emissions associated with the natural gas that is reformed to hydrogen would remain if the process is powered by 100% renewable energy. These emissions are substantial: 3.5% of 14 g CH4 per MJ (Equation 3). Using the 20-year GWP value of 86, these methane emissions equal 43 g CO2eq per MJ of hydrogen produced. The total greenhouse gas emissions, then, for this scenario of blue hydrogen produced with renewable electricity are 52 g (8.7 g plus 43 g) CO2eq per MJ. This is not a low-emissions strategy, and emissions would still be 47% of the 111 g CO2eq per MJ for burning natural gas as a fuel, using the same methane emission estimates and GWP value (Table 1). Seemingly, the renewable electricity would be better used to produce green hydrogen through electrolysis.

This best-case scenario for producing blue hydrogen, using renewable electricity instead of natural gas to power the processes, suggests to us that there really is no role for blue hydrogen in a carbon-free future. Greenhouse gas emissions remain high, and there would also be a substantial consumption of renewable electricity, which represents an opportunity cost. We believe the renewable electricity could be better used by society in other ways, replacing the use of fossil fuels.

Similarly, we see no advantage in using blue hydrogen powered by natural gas compared with simply using the natural gas directly for heat. As we have demonstrated, far from being low emissions, blue hydrogen has emissions as large as or larger than those of natural gas used for heat (Figure 1; Table 1; Table 2). The small reduction in carbon dioxide emissions for blue hydrogen compared with natural gas are more than made up for by the larger emissions of fugitive methane. Society needs to move away from all fossil fuels as quickly as possible, and the truly green hydrogen produced by electrolysis driven by renewable electricity can play a role. Blue hydrogen, though, provides no benefit. We suggest that blue hydrogen is best viewed as a distraction, something than may delay needed action to truly decarbonize the global energy economy, in the same way that has been described for shale gas as a bridge fuel and for carbon capture and storage in general.43 We further note that much of the push for using hydrogen for energy since 2017 has come from the Hydrogen Council, a group established by the oil and gas industry specifically to promote hydrogen, with a major emphasis on blue hydrogen.5 From the industry perspective, switching from natural gas to blue hydrogen may be viewed as economically beneficial since even more natural gas is needed to generate the same amount of heat.

We emphasize that our analysis in this paper is a best-case scenario for blue hydrogen. It assumes that the carbon dioxide that is captured can indeed be stored indefinitely for decades and centuries into the future. In fact, there is no experience at commercial scale with storing carbon dioxide from carbon capture, and most carbon dioxide that is currently captured is used for enhanced oil recovery and is released back to the atmosphere.44 Further, our analysis does not consider the energy cost and associated greenhouse gas emissions from transporting and storing the captured carbon dioxide. Even without these considerations, though, blue hydrogen has large climatic consequences. We see no way that blue hydrogen can be considered “green.”

People higher in verbal ability had more polarized responses to COVID-19; skill with numbers predicted lower risk perceptions, but not polarization; people higher in verbal ability interpreted information to support beliefs

Ability-related political polarization in the COVID-19 pandemic. Brittany Shoots-Reinhard et al. Intelligence, August 12 2021, 101580. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2021.101580

Highlights

• People higher in verbal ability had more polarized responses to COVID-19.

• Skill with numbers predicted lower risk perceptions, but not polarization.

• People higher in verbal ability interpreted information to support beliefs.

• People higher in verbal ability were more polarized in media consumption.

Abstract: In two large-scale longitudinal datasets (combined N = 5761), we investigated ability-related political polarization in responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. We observed more polarization with greater ability in emotional responses, risk perceptions, and product-purchase intentions across five waves of data collection with a diverse, convenience sample from February 2020 through July 2020 (Study 1, N = 1267). Specifically, more liberal participants had more negative emotional responses and greater risk perceptions of COVID-19 than conservative participants. Compared to conservatives, liberal participants also interpreted quantitative information as indicating higher COVID-19 risk and sought COVID-related news more from liberal than conservative news media. Of key importance, we also compared verbal and numeric cognitive abilities for their independent capacity to predict greater polarization. Although measures of numeric ability, such as objective numeracy, are often used to index ability-related polarization, ideological differences were more pronounced among those higher in verbal ability specifically. Similar results emerged in secondary analysis of risk perceptions in a nationally representative longitudinal dataset (Study 2, N = 4494; emotions and purchase intentions were not included in this dataset). We further confirmed verbal-ability-related polarization findings on non-COVID policy attitudes (i.e., weapons bans and Medicare-for-all) measured cross-sectionally. The present Study 2 documented ability-related polarization emerging over time for the first time (rather than simply measuring polarization in existing beliefs). Both studies demonstrated verbal ability measures as the most robust predictors of ability-related polarization. Together, these results suggest that polarization may be a function of the amount and/or application of verbal knowledge rather than selective application of quantitative reasoning skills.

Keywords: COVID-19 pandemicPolarizationPolitical ideologyCognitive abilityIntelligenceMotivated reasoningNumeracy

Our findings contribute to the literature by suggesting that testosterone and competition lead to greater unethical behaviour in men, and that anger plays a role in promoting unethical behaviour

The association between testosterone and unethical behaviours, and the moderating role of intrasexual competition. Marcelo Vinhal Nepomuceno, Eric Stenstrom. British Journal of Psychology, August 7 2021. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjop.12525

Abstract: Researchers have called for a greater use of neuroscientific methods to advance theories in ethical behaviour. Our research takes a neuroscientific approach to investigating unethical behaviour by examining the roles of testosterone and intrasexual competition. We propose that unethical behavioural intentions will be greater for high-testosterone individuals in response to highly intrasexually competitive situations as a means of enhancing status. In an experiment, we measure baseline testosterone and assign participants to an intrasexually competitive or control condition. We demonstrate that in men, but not in women, testosterone is positively associated with unethical behavioural intentions in response to an intrasexual competition prime. Furthermore, using textual analysis, we find that testosterone is positively associated with the usage of anger-related words in response to an intrasexual competition prime among men. In turn, anger-related words are positively associated with unethical behaviour, suggesting that anger may play a role in motivating high-testosterone men to behave unethically. Overall, our findings contribute to the literature by suggesting that testosterone and competition lead to greater unethical behaviour in men, and that anger plays a role in promoting unethical behaviour.

Check also No strong evidence for a causal role of testosterone in promoting human aggression, positive but weakly correlations:

Is testosterone linked to human aggression? A meta-analytic examination of the relationship between baseline, dynamic, and manipulated testosterone on human aggression. S. N. Geniole et al. Hormones and Behavior, December 28 2019, 104644. https://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2019/12/no-strong-evidence-for-causal-role-of.html

Research on therapists’ cultural competence, therapy process in cross-cultural dyads, & cross-cultural differences in gender and sexual orientation

A Knowledge Synthesis of Cross-Cultural Psychotherapy Research: A Critical Review. Eunjung Lee, Andrea Greenblatt, Ran Hu. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, July 7, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1177/00220221211028911

Abstract: This article presents a current knowledge synthesis of empirical studies on cross-cultural psychotherapy since 1980. Guided by a critical review framework, our search in seven relevant databases generated 80 studies published in English. Main themes are organized into (1) therapists’ cultural competence (n = 46); (2) therapy process in cross-cultural dyads (n = 22); and (3) cross-cultural differences in gender, sexual orientation, or social class (n = 12). Compared to previous reviews on cross-cultural psychotherapy, the findings of this review highlight a broad range of methodological rigor in both quantitative and qualitative studies. Most studies examined actual therapy participants rather than participants in analog studies, thus emulating more therapy-near experiences in cross-cultural psychotherapy research. Also, several studies explored cross-cultural compositions beyond racial and ethnic majority therapist-minority client dyads, and included therapists of color as the participants, exploring reverse power dynamics in therapy and giving voices to foreign-born therapists. The therapy process research provides rich and full descriptions around the dynamic and interactional therapy process in cross-cultural dyads, which can be used to foster cultural sensitivities among therapists in their practice and training. We discuss the limitations of the studies included in the review and its implications for psychotherapy practice, training, and future research.

Keywords: cross-cultural competence, cross-cultural psychotherapy process, cultural matching, culturally adapted psychotherapy, multicultural counseling competencies, racial microaggression

Discussion

A critical review does not demonstrate the systematicity of other literature reviews (e.g., a systematic review), thus does not require a formal quality assessment of included studies. Its findings are interpretive and open for “further evaluation, not an endpoint in itself” (Grant & Booth, 2009, p. 97). The current critical review thus provides a renewed understanding of cross-cultural psychotherapy, with the hope that this interpretation yields further inquiries. The current review has several notable contributions to cross-cultural psychotherapy: (1) highlighting the current state of empirical research on cross-cultural psychotherapy using a variety of methods and published in the past 40 years (1980-2019); (2) identifying various cultural compositions of client-therapist dyads that have been studied; (3) giving analytical attention to therapy process factors and micro-analysis of cross-cultural communications, which may sensitize therapists in their interactions with diverse clients in everyday practice; and (4) broadening the construct of culture by raising attention to additional dimensions of culture, such as gender, sexual orientation, or social class, in addition to race and ethnicity.

Overall, research on cultural competence was the most dominant theme identified within the included studies. All studies on cultural competence exclusively focused on racial and ethnic minority clients when examining the impact of therapy approaches. There has been a criticism about how culturally competent therapy (i.e., exclusively focuses on racial and ethnic minority clients and positions therapists in a blank screen) further otherizes racial and ethnic minority clients and reifies Euro-centric notions of psychotherapy (Lee, 2010). In our review, most of the studies attempted to clarify details of demographic information with some variations in its detail except five studies (Cohen, 2016; Goren, 1992; Millard, 2017; Shiner et al., 2017; Ziguras et al., 2003). Although the focus of these studies is on gender, sexual orientation, or class, it also raises some concerns around how culture is conceptualized: understanding gender role in therapy dyads should not be separated from each therapy participant’s cultural values and contexts. Some studies discussed racial and ethnic descriptions of their clients while exploring studies on gender and low income (Wintersteen et al., 2005; Evans et al., 1984; Okun et al., 2017). However, other than using diversity as descriptors of participants, there is little examination of how diversity factors interact with one another and their impact on cross-cultural encounters.

For therapists’ demographic information, some studies expanded on descriptors including the level of clinical training, years of practice experience, exposure to multicultural training, and experiences of working with culturally diverse clients. Paying attention to these therapist factors is promising given the psychotherapy research finding that the therapist factor explains variances in outcomes even in a manualized treatment (Beutler et al., 2016). Also, it highlights that therapist factors are more nuanced than their race, ethnicity, and gender in cross-cultural psychotherapy. Furthermore, all studies exploring therapist factors, such as therapist bias, perceptions, and White identity in cross-cultural or intra-cultural dyads, found that therapists’ responses to clients differ depending on the client’s ethnic identity (i.e., White versus people of color), highlighting the impacts of the therapists’ preconceived notions/biases/White identity on therapeutic relationship building and treatment outcomes (Burkard et al., 1999, 2003; Ridley, 1986; Zane et al., 1994). These studies certainly contribute to current psychotherapy research by de-centering focus solely on racial and ethnic minority clients and re-centering what therapists contribute to cross-cultural encounters in therapy.

Most studies in our review reported minimal information related to the actual implementation of clinical interventions. While 56 studies (70%) mentioned a particular therapy model, most did not provide information such as the total number of sessions, therapists’ therapeutic orientation, and therapy and contents. Only eight studies (Crisante & Ng, 2003; Dansereau et al., 1996; Li & Kim, 2004; Miranda et al., 2003; Moran & Bunn, 2019; Lee & Horvath, 2014; Lee, Tsang, Bogo, Wilson, et al., 2018b; Naeem et al., 2010) provided somewhat detailed therapy descriptions, mainly culturally adaptive or micro-therapy process studies. There are always content variations when applying any therapy model in any therapy dyad composition. If racially matched dyads have better or worse therapy outcomes compared to their counterparts, it would be critical to see under what therapeutic conditions this outcome is valid. Overall, we found a lack of information on the therapy itself, despite the main inquiry being on (cross-cultural) therapy. We wonder if empirical research in cross-cultural psychotherapy may assume the therapy intervention is static while exclusively focusing on demographic cultural differences that exist in therapy dyads. Cultural adaptation is not monolithic but highly multifaceted and contextual. To inform therapists in practice, it would be critical to explicitly document the nature of therapy in future studies.

Recent reviews highlighted the importance of exploring the therapy process in cross-cultural dyads (Worthington et al., 2007; Tao et al., 2018). In our review, we observed increased research on the theme of therapy process in cross-cultural dyads. Specifically, of the 22 studies focused on different therapy process factors in cross-cultural dyads, the majority (71.4%, n = 15) were published after 2010. Untangling complexities among various process factors in cross-cultural dyads, these studies focus on multiple cultural differences that exist between clients and therapists. Some studies focused on process dynamics of White therapists and racial and ethnic minority clients (Burkard et al., 2006; Change & Berk, 2009; Lee & Bhuyan, 2013; Lee & Horvath, 2013, 2014), whereas some explored dynamics of the reverse dyads between therapists of color and White clients (Bayne & Branco, 2018; Okun et al., 2017). Others consider both clients and therapists coming from various cultural diversities (Foster, 2014; Knox et al., 2003; Lee, Tsang, Bogo, Johnstone, et al., 2018a).

In terms of cultural differences residing within therapy dyads, 12.5% of the reviewed studies (n = 10) focused on exploring a process of broaching cultural differences, and others exploring a process of bridging cultural differences. Findings indicated that efforts to bridge, particularly on the part of the therapist, distinguished successful therapy dyads from unsuccessful therapy dyads (e.g., Bayne & Branco, 2017). This demonstrates the critical need to incorporate bridging behaviors into the therapy encounter. In terms of broaching, most studies indicated that not all therapists choose to discuss issues of culture and race with their clients, with several studies noting the negative impacts of racial microaggressions on therapy alliance and outcomes (Foster et al., 2014; Constantine, 2007) yet still little broaching of this experience in therapy (Owen et al., 2014). Further research is needed to examine barriers to broaching within the clinical dyad.

Paying attention to micro-details of cross-cultural encounters in therapy, eight studies of therapy process research utilized audio- and/or video-taped actual therapy sessions (Okun et al., 2017; Lee & Bhuyan, 2013; Lee, Tsang, Bogo, Johnstone, et al., 2018a; Lee, Tsang, Bogo, Wilson, 2018b; Lee et al., 2019; Lee & Horvath, 2013, 2014; Su, 2012). Their findings further demonstrated dynamic processes of cross-cultural interactions. Specifically, these subset studies used naturalistic methods to examine minute-by-minute negotiations within the dyads, allowing for a practical understanding of how culture is negotiated and discussed in cross-cultural clinical encounters that may not be apparent in other forms of research. Instead of focusing on nominal values of race and ethnicity as the parameters of studying cross-cultural competence, these studies pay attention to how differences and similarities are negotiated through a dance of therapy process, which is dynamic, interactive and context-dependent. Using discourse analysis and conversation analysis in process-oriented psychotherapy research may be both methodologically innovative and practically meaningful as these research approaches unveil the complex dynamics of cross-cultural processes.

Our critical review also showed that sexual orientation and class issues were under-conceptualized in studies examining cultural differences in therapy dyads. We found that clients of culturally dominant groups (e.g., heterosexual upper-middle-class men) were rarely perceived as cultural; culture in therapy is positioned as solely linked to the marginalized groups of clients (Moleiro et al., 2018). Despite the importance of clinicians’ self-reflection and capacity to discuss these differences and potential clinical ruptures (Goettsche, 2015), process-oriented psychotherapy research in cross-cultural encounters found that therapists do not often intentionally start conversations with clients about cultural issues (Lee & Horvath, 2013, 2014). For instance, Cohen (2016) found that it is not clinicians but largely clients who initiate conversations about social class and that clinicians typically discuss only the clients’ social class not their own.

Implications for Cross-Cultural Psychotherapy Practice, Training, and Future Research

This review has several implications for practice, training, and research. First, therapists’ self-awareness and critical reflection of their own biases and cultural positions have long been recognized as critical aspects in cross-cultural psychotherapy (Sue et al., 1992). This review revealed that these important tasks of critical reflection are challenging, especially when therapists’ Whiteness and biases are not addressed. Further, not addressing these issues may have detrimental effects on clients, the therapy process, and client outcomes. It is thus critical to continue studying how therapists may engage in critical reflection regularly and identifying approaches that help therapists to mitigate sociocultural biases in their cross-cultural practice.

Second, cultural presentations are subtle and implicitly conveyed, and so it is difficult to illustrate naturally occurring nuanced cultural dynamics and train therapists how to discuss them with clients toward alliance building and achieving therapy goals. Findings from therapy process research provide rich discussion around the complexities of clinical process in cross-cultural dyads. These research examples may work as practice materials to re-script cultural misunderstandings toward repairing alliances in cross-cultural practice and can be used for examples in training therapists, thus closely linking research into practice and education.

Lastly, given the complexities of multiple diversities, clinical dynamics and power are shifting constantly within cross-cultural therapy dyads. With further empirical research on various sources of similarities and differences perceived and experienced by both therapists and clients, we may have more confidence in psychotherapy research being truly cross-cultural.

Male Allies at Work: Gender-Equality Supportive Men Reduce Negative Underrepresentation Effects Among Women

Male Allies at Work: Gender-Equality Supportive Men Reduce Negative Underrepresentation Effects Among Women. Charlotte E. Moser, Nyla R. Branscombe. Social Psychological and Personality Science, August 9, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1177/19485506211033748

Abstract: Does commitment to allyship from a dominant group member cue identity-safety for women in male-dominated environments? We examine this question by assessing women’s perceptions of workplaces that included the presence (vs. absence) of a male ally (Studies 1–3) or a female ally (Study 3), and determine the impact of Black versus White allies for Black and White women. Across three studies (N = 1,032) and an integrative data analysis, we demonstrate that an equality-supportive male ally reduces anticipated isolation and workplace hostility and increases anticipated support, respect, and gender-equality norms for women in general populations (Studies 1 and 2) and women in science, technology, and math (Study 3). These results represent a possible strategy to help retain women in male-dominated fields.

Keywords: allyship, gender, intergroup relations, STEM, underrepresentation

In men, higher wages predicted a higher proportion of being married, whereas in women higher wages were associated with a lower proportion of being married

Contemporary selection pressures in modern societies? Which factors best explain variance in human reproduction and mating? Martin Fieder, Susanne Huber. Evolution and Human Behavior, August 11 2021. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2021.08.001

Abstract: Phenotypic traits in humans are under selection pressure and are still evolving, but the relative importance of these traits remains to be investigated. We therefore analyzed jointly phenotypic traits associated with number of children and having ever been married. This provides insights into the relative contribution of each trait and indicates the potential selection pressure induced by a specific trait relative to others. To shed light on potential selection on the genome level, all analyses include a multivariate polygenic risk score of general cognitive ability. We used the data from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (WLS), a dataset consisting of 4991 men and 5326 women almost all whites, educated at least at A-level. The focus was on the association between age, education level, wages, religious intensity, fathers' age at child's birth, ratings of facial attractiveness, number of siblings of the respondent, as well as the polygenic risk score of general cognitive ability on the following dependent variables: i) number of children, ii) ever being married, and iii) age at first birth. For each factor we additionally examined the relative contribution to the overall variance explained of the dependent variable. Having been married and, thus, mate selection, is the most important determinant for the number of children for both men and women. Wages explain most of the total variance for “ever married”, yet in different directions for men and women, as is also the case for the association between wages and number of children. In both women and men, education explains most of the variance in age at first birth, and the effect is postponing. Furthermore, although the phenotype education is negatively associated with the number of children in both sexes, this holds true for the polygenic risk score for cognitive ability only in men. In addition, in men, the polygenic risk score for cognitive ability also has a positive effect on reproduction due to its positive interaction with wages. Anyhow, with the exception of having ever been married, all other variables explain only a small proportion of the variation in fertility outcomes. Although our results are consistent with the hypothesis that there is selection pressure for rather recently arising traits as education and income, on the basis of our results we are not able to draw any final conclusion on selection.

Keywords: Variance mating and reproductionIncomePolygenic risk scoreReligiousnessEducationSelection

Attributions to God were greater for positive events than for negative events, but attributions to Satan were greater for negative events than for positive events, especially among more religious participants

Krull, D. S. (2021). On nudges from the unseen: Attributions to God and Satan for major historical events. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, Aug 2021. https://doi.org/10.1037/rel0000437

Abstract: Previous research on supernatural attributions has primarily investigated judgments about stressful events and judgments about everyday behavior. Two studies investigated attributions to God and attributions to Satan for major historical events. Attributions to God were greater for positive events than for negative events, but attributions to Satan were greater for negative events than for positive events, especially among more religious participants. However, attributions to God were greater for negative events than attributions to Satan were for positive events. Attributions to God were also greater than attributions to Satan overall and this tendency was better predicted by belief in God’s greater power (β = 0.39) than by greater belief in God (β = 0.01). Participants believed God has greater control than Satan (d = .81).

Intimate partner violence: Early experiences with parental effort predict men's adoption of a sequence of cognitive and behavioral traits that lead to antagonistic thoughts and behaviors towards intimate female partners

A Cascade Model of Socio-Developmental Events Leading to Men’s Perpetration of Violence against Female Romantic Partners. Farnaz Kaighobadi, Aurelio José Figueredo, Todd K. Shackelford, and David F. Bjorklund. In press, Evolutionary Psychology, August 2021. https://toddkshackelford.com/downloads/2021/Kaighobadi-et-al-EP.pdf

Abstract: Conceptually driven by life history theory, the current study investigated a hypothesized hierarchy of behaviors leading to men’s perpetration of violence in intimate relationships. Using a series of hierarchical regressions, we tested a causal cascade model on data provided by 114 men in a committed romantic relationship. The results supported the hypothesized hierarchy of sociodevelopmental events: (1) Men’s childhood experiences with their parents’ parental effort predicted men’s life history strategies; (2) men’s life history strategies predicted men’s behavioral self-regulation; (3) men’s self-regulation predicted men’s perceptions of partner infidelity risk; (4) perceptions of infidelity risk predicted men’s frequency of engagement in nonviolent mate retention behaviors; (5) men’s mate retention behaviors predicted men’s frequency of partner-directed violence. The overall cascade model explained 36% of variance in men’s partner-directed violence.

Keywords: life history theory, self-regulation, partner infidelity risk, mate retention behaviors, intimate partner violence

Previous research investigating the predictors of intimate partner violence (IPV) has broadly proceeded from one of two theoretical perspectives. The standard social science perspective has focused on the roles of the proximate environment and socialization on the development of antagonistic behaviors in intimate relationships, as expressed in feminist theory, social learning theory, and ecological theories (see Ali & Naylor, 2013, for review). An evolutionary psychological perspective has focused on the ultimate or evolutionary predictors of such behaviors, providing evidence that men’s violence against their female partners may be a manifestation of sexual jealousy evolved in response to the adaptive problem of paternity uncertainty (Buss & Duntley, 2011; Kaighobadi, Shackelford, & Goetz, 2009; Shackelford, Goetz, Guta, & Schmitt, 2005; Wilson & Daly, 1993).

In response to these two independent and sometimes contrary perspectives, life history (LH) theory was introduced to provide a framework that synthesizes proximate with evolutionary predictors of IPV to build a comprehensive model of men’s violence against intimate partners (see Figueredo, Gladden, & Beck, 2010, for a review). Figueredo and colleagues (2017) situated intimate partner violence within the more general context of interpersonal aggression towards both male and female targets by both male and female perpetrators. A structural equation model with cross-sample equality constraints showed complete configural invariance and a marginally acceptable degree of parametric invariance across five cross-cultural samples. This model specified LH strategy as the sole exogenous factor that, through various indirect effects, predicted about 75% of the variance in interpersonal aggression. Based on these results, it is a straightforward prediction that men’s violence against their female partners should be influenced by their LH strategy. The aim of the current study is to advance evolutionary psychological theories of IPV by integrating LH theory into a developmental cascade model of events that lead to men’s violence against their female partners.

Evolutionary Psychological Theories of Intimate Partner Violence

Evolutionary psychology addresses the design and function of evolved psychological mechanisms or adaptations. Evolutionary psychologists may be especially interested in understanding the function of behaviors that are costly to both the actor and recipient, but prevalent nevertheless, such as violence, in general, and IPV, in particular.

Previous evolutionary psychological research has established strong associations between male sexual jealousy, non-violent male mate retention behaviors (Buss & Shackelford, 1997), and men’s violence against female partners (Buss, 2000; Daly & Wilson, 1988; Kaighobadi, Starratt, Shackelford, & Popp, 2008). These researchers hypothesized that male sexual jealousy evolved in response to the adaptive problems of female sexual infidelity and subsequent cuckoldry, or unwitting investment in genetically unrelated offspring (Kaighobadi, Shackelford, & Goetz, 2009; Thornhill & Thornhill, 1992; Wilson & Daly, 1992). The reproductive costs of cuckoldry, including loss of time, energy, resources, and alternative mating opportunities, are potentially so great that men are hypothesized to have evolved psychological mechanisms that function to motivate anti-cuckoldry tactics. Mate retention behaviors are one such class of anti-cuckoldry tactics. These behaviors vary in the costs inflicted upon partners, ranging from subtle manipulation to outright physical violence (Buss & Shackelford, 1997). Female^Bdirected violence is a more severe class of anti-cuckoldry tactics that functions to keep a partner invested in the current relationship and to prevent her from sexual infidelity (see Kaighobadi et al., 2009, for review). Thornhill and Thornhill (1992) hypothesized that forced sex in the context of an intimate relationship may be an anti-cuckoldry tactic designed over human evolutionary history in response to the specific problem of sperm competition. Sperm competition occurs when the sperm of two or more males simultaneously compete for fertilization of a female’s ovum or ova (Parker, 1970). According to this hypothesis, by forcing their partners to have sex, men who are suspicious of their partner’s infidelity introduce their own sperm into their partner’s reproductive tract and thereby decrease the risk of cuckoldry (Thornhill & Thornhill, 1992).

Whereas much evolutionary psychological research has addressed ultimate causes of IPV and sexual coercion, other research has been dedicated to understanding individual differences or proximate correlates of men’s perpetration of IPV. Previous research has identified links between men’s partner^Bdirected violence and men’s personality traits, including antisocial tendencies (Dutton, 1994; Dutton & Starzomski, 1993), self-centeredness (Dean & Malamuth, 1997), lack of emotional regulation (McNulty & Hellmuth, 2008), and impulsivity (Stuart & Holtzworth-Munroe, 2005). LH theories have integrated both ultimate and proximate predictors of IPV into a single, overarching framework (see Figueredo et al., 2017, for review).