Synthetic Copulin Does Not Affect Men’s Sexual Behavior

Synthetic Copulin Does Not Affect Men’s Sexual Behavior. Megan N. Williams, Coren Apicella. Adaptive Human Behavior and Physiology, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40750-017-0083-y

Abstract: Chemical communication plays an important role in the social interactions and mating behavior of diverse animal taxa; yet its role in humans remains equivocal. Using a randomized, placebo-controlled experiment involving 243 male participants, we test whether exposure to synthetic copulin – a mixture of volatile fatty acids secreted vaginally in primates, increases 1) men’s sexual motivation using an incentivized behavioral task, 2) self-reported willingness to take sexual risks, 3) preference for short-term mating, 4) perceptions of female attractiveness and 5) self-reported mate value. Because chemical receptors are found throughout the body and human chemosensory pathways have yet to be definitively identified, we also manipulate the location of copulin exposure (i.e. olfactory epithelium versus epidermal keratinocytes in the genital region). Finally, we examine whether prior sexual experience mediate any behavioral effects. Unlike previous reports, we fail to find any effects of copulin exposure on measures of men’s sexual behavior.

Soda Consumption and Taxation as a Test of Self-Interested Voting Behavior

Brock, C. and Kelly, K. J. (2017), Pennies for Pounds: Soda Consumption and Taxation as a Test of Self-Interested Voting Behavior. World Medical & Health Policy, 9: 418–434. doi:10.1002/wmh3.249

Abstract: Utilizing 2014 Texas Lyceum Poll data, we determine whether voters would support instating a soda tax in Texas. We use self-reported statements of political ideology, perceptions of public health, and soda consumption to examine what happens when voters face conflict between ideological preferences and consumption habits. We expect that liberals who do not drink large quantities of soda will support a soda tax in keeping with the liberal philosophy of supporting government involvement in public health; however, for liberals who more frequently drink soda, we expect they will be less likely to support a soda tax because it conflicts with their financial self-interest. We find evidence in support of these expectations. We also find that conservatives who view public health as poor are more likely to think sociotropically and to support a soda tax. These results suggest that soda-tax advocates should prime public health considerations to garner public support.

About the girls... Lack of cyclical shifts in facial symmetry, and facial and body masculinity preferences—a hormone based study

La donna è mobile? Lack of cyclical shifts in facial symmetry, and facial and body masculinity preferences—a hormone based study. Urszula M. Marcinkowska, Andrzej Galbarczyk, Grazyna Jasienska. Psychoneuroendocrinology, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2017.11.007

Highlights
•    Participants’ fertility was measured with LH-based ovulation tests and multiple oestradiol leve measurements per cycle.
•    Each participants attended three meetings throughout one menstrual cycle.
•    We found no significant differences between women’s preferences for either body or facial masculinity, or for facial symmetry.
•    Differences remained non-significant after controlling for participants’ sexual openness, relationship status, and self-judged attractiveness.

Abstract: Although under investigation for more than two decades, a common agreement on the occurrence of cyclical shifts in women’s masculinity and symmetry preferences is still missing. Such shifts are considered to be an important feature of sexual selection as they supposedly direct women’s attention towards cues for “good genes” (e.g. masculinity and symmetry) during times when probability of conception is the highest. Multiple studies have, however, failed to find these shifts. We attempt to address this lack of agreement analysing a sample of 110 healthy women, using intra-participant design and repeated measurements of oestradiol and LH during the cycle. To ensure the reliable detection of increased conception probability, both LH- based ovulation tests and multiple oestradiol measurements were used. We found no significant differences between women’s preferences during different cycle phases for either body or facial masculinity, or for facial symmetry. Differences remained non-significant after controlling for participants’ sexual openness, relationship status, and self-judged attractiveness. We suggest that putative cyclical shifts in preferences for cues for good genes are either very small (impossible to be tracked even with a relatively large sample) or they are far more complex than previously assumed, and further studies accounting for more confounding variables should be undertaken.

Keywords: Sexual preferences; Facial masculinity; Estradiol; LH Surge; Cyclical Changes

Criminals with higher verbal IQs were more likely to avoid arrest for criminal behavior

The role of verbal intelligence in becoming a successful criminal: Results from a longitudinal sample. Cashen M. Boccio, Kevin M. Beaver, Joseph A. Schwartz. Intelligence, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2017.10.003

Highlights
•    We examined the relationship between verbal IQ and criminal success.
•    Verbal IQ was significantly associated with criminal justice processing.
•    Criminals with higher verbal IQs were more likely to avoid arrest for criminal behavior.

Abstract: Intelligence has been linked with success across a wide array of life domains. To date, however, relatively little research has examined whether intelligence may predict criminal success—that is, engaging in criminal behaviors, but escaping detection and arrest. The current study addresses this gap in the literature by examining the associations among verbal intelligence, criminal involvement, and criminal justice processing (i.e., arrest) using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health). Our findings reveal that verbal intelligence is associated with criminal justice processing, wherein individuals with higher verbal intelligence scores are more likely to avoid arrest for criminal behavior when compared with individuals with comparatively lower verbal intelligence scores. We discuss the implications of these findings for future research.

Keywords: Arrest; Criminal behavior; Intelligence

There was no significant difference in health status between former drinkers and lifetime abstainers in study of Koreans aged 40-69

The Association Between Health Changes and Cessation of Alcohol Consumption. Ji-Eun Park, Yeonhee Ryu, Sung-Il Cho. Alcohol and Alcoholism, Volume 52, Issue 3, 1 May 2017, Pages 344–350. https://doi.org/10.1093/alcalc/agw089

Abstract

Aims: To assess whether health changes affect cessation of alcohol consumption and to compare the health status of former drinkers and abstainers.

Methods: Cohort data from 9001 Korean participants aged 40–69 years old were analyzed. Alcohol consumption was assessed every 2 years for 10 years. Participant age, sex, marital status, education level, employment status, smoking, chronic disease, perceived health and changes in these variables were analyzed to identify factors associated with quitting alcohol drinking. The number of diseases and perceived health of former drinkers and people who at baseline were lifetime abstainers were compared.

Results: Among 4037 drinkers at baseline, 673 (16.7%) were classed as quitters and 3364 (83.3%) were classed as non-quitters. Sex, age and worsened perception of health were significantly associated with cessation of drinking. Women and individuals >60 years were more likely to cease drinking. There was a significant association between disease onset or treatment and alcohol cessation for cancer cases, but not for cardiovascular disease or chronic disease cases. There was no significant difference in number of diseases or perceived health between former drinkers and people who at baseline were lifetime abstainers.

Conclusions: The effect of disease onset or treatment on alcohol consumption cessation depended on disease type. Former drinkers did not show significantly worse health than people who at baseline were lifetime abstainers. Further studies of alcohol consumption and its effects on health are needed to consider disease occurrence and changes in alcohol consumption.

Short summary: Disease onset or treatment significantly affected alcohol consumption cessation for cancer cases, but not for cardiovascular disease or other chronic disease cases. There was no significant difference in health status between former drinkers and lifetime abstainers.

Perceived Entitlement Causes Discrimination Against Attractive Job Candidates in the Domain of Relatively Less Desirable Jobs

Lee, M., Pitesa, M., Pillutla, M. M., & Thau, S. (2017). Perceived Entitlement Causes Discrimination Against Attractive Job Candidates in the Domain of Relatively Less Desirable Jobs. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pspi0000114

Abstract: People generally hold positive stereotypes of physically attractive people and because of those stereotypes often treat them more favorably. However, we propose that some beliefs about attractive people, specifically, the perception that attractive individuals have a greater sense of entitlement than less attractive individuals, can result in negative treatment of attractive people. We examine this in the context of job selection and propose that for relatively less desirable jobs, attractive candidates will be discriminated against. We argue that the ascribed sense of entitlement to good outcomes leads to perceptions that attractive individuals are more likely to be dissatisfied working in relatively less desirable jobs. When selecting candidates for relatively less desirable jobs, decision makers try to ascertain whether a candidate would be satisfied in those jobs, and the stereotype of attractive individuals feeling entitled to good outcomes makes decision makers judge attractive candidates as more likely to be dissatisfied in relatively less (but not more) desirable jobs. Consequently, attractive candidates are discriminated against in the selection for relatively less desirable jobs. Four experiments found support for this theory. Our results suggest that different discriminatory processes operate when decision makers select among candidates for relatively less desirable jobs and that attractive people might be systematically discriminated against in a segment of the workforce.

Although “Lehman Sisters” may have acted quite differently from “Lehman Brothers,” the differences in outcomes may often be substantially smaller than the differences observed in the average behavior of males and females

Do Gender Preference Gaps Impact Policy Outcomes? Ranehill, Eva, and Weber, Roberto A. University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics, Working Papers in Economics #713. https://ideas.repec.org/p/hhs/gunwpe/0713.html

Abstract: A large body of evidence documents systematic gender differences in a variety of important economic preferences, such as risk-taking, competition and pro-sociality. One potential implication of this literature is that increased female representation in decision-making bodies may significantly affect organizational and policy outcomes. However, research has yet to establish a direct connection from gender differences in simple economic choice tasks, to voting over policy and to the resulting outcomes. We conduct a laboratory experiment to provide a test of such a connection. In small laboratory “societies,” people repeatedly vote for a redistribution policy and engage in a real-effort production task. In this environment, we observe a substantial difference in voting behavior, with women voting for significantly more egalitarian redistribution policies. This gender difference is large relative to other differences based on observable characteristics and is partly explained by gender gaps in economic preferences and in beliefs about relative performance. Gender voting gaps persist with experience and in environments with varying degrees of risk. We also observe policy differences between male- and female-controlled groups, though these are considerably smaller than the mean individual differences—a natural consequence of the aggregation of individual preferences into collective outcomes. Thus, we provide evidence for why substantial and robust gender differences in preferences may often fail to translate into differential policy outcomes with increased female representation in policymaking.

Check also: Individual risk preferences and the demand for redistribution. Manja Gärtner, Johanna Mollerstrom and David Seim. Journal of Public Economics, v 153, September 2017, Pages 49-55. http://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2017/08/individual-risk-preferences-and-demand.html

The Selfish Brain: What Matters Is My Body, not Yours?

The Selfish Brain: What Matters Is My Body, not Yours? Yoshiaki Kikuchi, Madoka Noriuchi. Chp 5 in Emotional Engineering, Vol. 6. https://www.springerprofessional.de/the-selfish-brain-what-matters-is-my-body-not-yours/15234916

Abstract: Our behavioral response to our own crisis situations activates an automatic neural mechanism for protecting ourselves, while our response to others’ crisis situations is not always toward saving them. That is, this automatic neural mechanism is implemented in our brain essentially for protecting not others, but the self, based on a biological principle. In this regard, it can be said that we have a type of Selfish Brain mechanism, which works primarily for protecting the self. Here, we focused on bodily unstable situations, and investigated whether the Selfish Brain could be observed or not, by viewing these bodily unstable situations of the self and others, and comparing the neural and behavioral responses, based on a third-person perspective paradigm. We found significant brain activity specific to one’s own bodily crisis, but no significant activity in others’ crisis situations. These self-specific regions included the regions that would be activated during genuine unstable bodily states: the right parieto-insular vestibular cortex, inferior frontal junction, posterior insula, and parabrachial nucleus. These right-lateralized cortical and brainstem regions may mediate vestibular information processing for detection of vestibular anomalies, defensive motor responding (in which the necessary motor responses are automatically prepared/simulated to protect one’s own body), and sympathetic activity, as a form of alarm response during whole-body instability. Furthermore, there were no significant differences between the self and others in terms of subjective feelings. These findings suggest that the Selfish Brain mechanism is integral to our brains, and it works unconsciously and automatically to resolve one’s own crisis.

Ability to perceive person identity from other human voices seems prodigious, but limitations emerge... Spontaneous laughter impairs such recognition. seems too monkey-ish.

Impoverished encoding of speaker identity in spontaneous laughter. Nadine Lavan, , Bethanie Short, Amy Wilding, Carolyn McGettigan. Evolution and Human Behavior, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2017.11.002

Abstract: Our ability to perceive person identity from other human voices has been described as prodigious. However, emerging evidence points to limitations in this skill. In this study, we investigated the recent and striking finding that identity perception from spontaneous laughter - a frequently occurring and important social signal in human vocal communication - is significantly impaired relative to identity perception from volitional (acted) laughter. We report the findings of an experiment in which listeners made speaker discrimination judgements from pairs of volitional and spontaneous laughter samples. The experimental design employed a range of different conditions, designed to disentangle the effects of laughter production mode versus perceptual features on the extraction of speaker identity. We find that the major driving factor of reduced accuracy for spontaneous laughter is not its perceived emotional quality but rather its distinct production mode, which is phylogenetically homologous with other primates. These results suggest that identity-related information is less successfully encoded in spontaneously produced (laughter) vocalisations. We therefore propose that claims for a limitless human capacity to process identity-related information from voices may be linked to the evolution of volitional vocal control and the emergence of articulate speech.

Keywords: Speaker identity; Voice; Volitional vocalisation; Laughter; Speaker discrimination

The Joint Effects of Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Age on the Incarceration and Sentence Length Decisions

The Joint Effects of Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Age on the Incarceration and Sentence Length Decisions. Tina Freiburger and Alyssa Sheeran. Race and Justice,  https://doi.org/10.1177/2153368717739676

Abstract: The current study adds to the literature examining the effects of race, ethnicity, gender, and age on sentencing decisions. The results indicate that Black and male defendants were more likely to be incarcerated in jail as opposed to receiving a probation sentence than White and female defendants. When race, ethnicity, and gender interactions were considered, it appeared that the race effect was driven by Black males' reduced likelihood to receive probation as opposed to jail. Black females were the least likely to be jailed. Age interactions revealed that being young disadvantaged Black males but advantaged other groups. The decision to incarcerate a defendant in jail versus prison was not significantly influenced by race, ethnicity, or gender. When sentence length was examined, Black males received significantly shorter jail sentences than all groups except Black females. When age was considered, Hispanic defendants 30-39 received longer jail sentences than almost every group.

In China, the “Fall in Love Emotional Education” school teaches how to groom oneself, approach a woman and flirt with contacts -- Gov't as matchmaker

In China, an Education in Dating. By SUI-LEE WEE
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/18/business/china-dating-schools.html
The New York Times, Nov 18 2017

JINAN, China — Zhang Zhenxiao is 27 years old. He has never been in a relationship. He has never kissed a woman.

Now, Mr. Zhang is ready for love — but like many men in China, he doesn’t know where to begin.

So Mr. Zhang turned to a dating coach. The “Fall in Love Emotional Education” school, which caters to straight men, has taught him how to groom himself, approach a woman and flirt his way into her smartphone contacts.

“There are many people who lack the ability to have a relationship,” said Mr. Zhang, who enrolled in a three-day course during a weeklong holiday in October. “Many times, it’s not that there’s something wrong with us. It’s that we don’t know what details to pay attention to.”

While dating is hard everywhere, it is arguably worse for Chinese men looking for a woman. China’s now-ended one-child policy, carried out in a country with a strong cultural preference for boys, prompted many couples to abort female fetuses. In 2016, there were about 33.6 million more men than women in China, according to the government.

“They are caught in a very difficult situation, especially for those with no money,” said Li Yinhe, a prominent scholar of sexuality in China.

China worries about its lonely hearts. Newspapers warn that a surplus of unhappy, single men in China could lead to an increase in human trafficking, sex crimes and social instability. So the government is playing matchmaker.

In June, the Communist Youth League, a training ground for many top officials, organized a mass speed dating event for 2,000 young singles in the eastern province of Zhejiang. The same month, the All-China Women’s Federation in northwestern Gansu Province helped organize a similar event for “leftover men and women,” a term used in China to refer to unmarried people in their late 20s or older.

For decades, Chinese marriages were arranged through matchmakers or families. In some places, parents still post the résumés of their single children on trees and lampposts.

Marriage was utilitarian, done so people could start a family. Even when the notion of “freedom to love” became popular after 1950, there were few social venues for people to snuggle and mingle. Until the late 1990s, sex outside marriage was illegal.

Mr. Zhang’s dating coach, Zhang Mindong, said he was once like the men he teaches. A self-professed loser, or “diaosi,” Zhang Mindong said he suffered a painful breakup in 2012. He turned to the internet to find solutions and discovered the term “pick-up artist.”

Zhang Mindong started his school in the eastern city of Jinan in 2014, which he now runs with Cui Yihao, 25, and Fan Long, 29. Their services range from $45 for an online course to about $3,000 for one-on-one coaching. Similar schools have opened in several Chinese cities in recent years.

The number of students who take offline courses at “Fall in Love Emotional Education” has grown from one in 2014, to more than 300 now, according to Zhang Mindong. About 90 percent of graduates end up with girlfriends, he said.

At the October session, there was Yu Ruitong, a 23-year-old software developer who had three previous relationships; Ye Chaoqun, a 27-year-old small business owner who is hoping to make the woman he likes fall in love with him; and James Zhang, a 30-year-old cancer doctor who is looking to expand the circle of women he knows. Both Mr. Ye and James Zhang have returned to polish what they learned earlier — this time free of charge.

To show his students what they were up against, Zhang Mindong held up a profile of an attractive woman on a dating app that had garnered “likes” from 7,000 men. “This is the environment in China,” he said.

In the first hour, Zhang Mindong proclaimed them sartorial disasters. Most of the first day was devoted to improving dress. (“Narrow collars, sleeves should be folded up above the elbow and trousers should be fitted.”) They bought clothes and got haircuts.

“After getting into a relationship with a woman, many Chinese men let themselves go. They don’t wash their hair, change their clothes and become really dirty,” said Zhang Mindong, who was wearing hip glasses and a fitted white shirt.

“But that’s not the case for women, and this is why so many Chinese men can’t have a long-term relationship.”

The makeovers are followed by the students posing for photos — reading Stephen Hawking’s “A Brief History of Time,” sipping tea and nibbling canapés presented in a silver bird cage, looking pensively out a window. That culminated in selfies with Wang Zhen, a female friend of Mr. Cui’s.

That’s designed for dating in the digital era. In China, where the mobile internet has revolutionized social life, getting to know a person takes place almost exclusively on WeChat, a popular social media tool that is used by nearly 1 billion people.

Most social interactions in China usually start or end with people scanning each other’s WeChat QR codes — a practice known as saoing — or adding each other’s WeChat IDs. Many women form their impressions of men based on photographs on WeChat’s “Moments,” a Facebook-like tool.

On a Thursday night outside a busy shopping mall in Jinan, the students got their first challenge: approach women and ask for their WeChat contacts.

“You give her two choices: ‘Why don’t you add me or I sao you?’” Zhang Mindong told the students. “So no matter what she picks, you’ll succeed.”

After practicing their moves on Ms. Wang, the students set off. Zhang Zhenxiao rushed up to two women, who paused but continued walking. He chased after them and stopped them again. After a minute, they walked away.

“I didn’t succeed,” a dejected Mr. Zhang said, returning to the group.

“No, the fact that you approached them means you did,” Mr. Cui said, patting him on the back.

By the end of the night, all the students had obtained at least one WeChat contact.

The classes, held in an apartment on the grounds of Shandong University, have an air of brotherly camaraderie — the students, huddled together on a floral couch scribbling in notebooks, practiced real smiles and flirtatious banter with their coaches.

A materials buyer for a renovations company, Zhang Zhenxiao said he had never learned how to talk to a woman. His high school forbade students from mixing with members of the opposite sex. His parents had an arranged marriage.

Now, they are giving him pressure to settle down. He is on a quest for his ideal woman — a bubbly tomboy who likes wearing jeans and not skirts all the time.

“I think there are many single women who are just like me,” he said, “all longing for love.”


Follow Sui-Lee Wee on Twitter: @suilee.

Zhang Tiantian contributed research in Beijing.

A version of this article appears in print on November 19, 2017, on Page BU1 of the New York edition with the headline: In China, Guys Enroll In Dating 101.


Check also High sex ratios in rural China: declining well-being with age in never-married men. Zhou X, and Hesketh T. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2017 Sep 19;372(1729). pii: 20160324. doi: http://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2017/09/high-sex-ratios-in-rural-china.html
 

Racial Bias in Policing — Traffic Tickets and Officer Leniency

A Few Bad Apples? Racial Bias in Policing. Felipe Goncalves and Steven Mello. Nov 2017. http://www.princeton.edu/~fmg/JMP

Abstract: We estimate the degree to which individual police o cers practice racial discrimination. Traffic police regularly discount the charged speed on drivers’ tickets to avoid a discrete jump in the fine schedule. This behavior leads to an excess mass in the distribution of charged speeds just below the jump. Using a bunching estimation design and data from the Florida Highway Patrol, we show that minorities are less likely to receive this break than white drivers. We disaggregate to the individual police officer level and find significant heterogeneity across o cers in their degree of discrimination, with 40% of officers explaining the entirety of the aggregate discrimination. Our measure of discrimination is easy to calculate and can be used by police departments as part of an early warning system. Using a simple personnel policy that reassigns officers across locations based on their lenience, departments can effectively reduce the aggregate disparity in treatment.

JEL Classification: J71, K42
Keywords: Discrimination, Racial Bias, Police, Traffic Enforcement.

Being a Jew under the Mamluks: Some Coping Strategies

Being a Jew under the Mamluks: Some Coping Strategies. Dotan Arad. In Stephan Conermann (ed.): Muslim-Jewish Relations in the Middle Islamic Period. http://www.v-r.de/de/muslim_jewish_relations_in_the_middle_islamic_period/t-0/1096911

The Mamluk rulers imposed a number of restrictions on all their non-Muslim subjects. Some of these are known from the earlier Muslim period, such as the well-known “Pact of ʿUmar.” Others were new restrictions imposed during the Mamluk period. In addition to the laws of Dhimmihood, Jews also frequently had to cope with interreligious hostility, acts of fanaticism, and various forms of harassment. What methods did Jews employ to improve their lot? In this article I want to discuss some of the strategies which the Jews adopted under these circumstances.

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And these, the Jewish people of that era, were the dhimmis with better treatment... Other groups, like the Christians, were treated more unfavorably.


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