Gender Composition and Group Confidence Judgment: The Perils of All-Male Groups

Gender Composition and Group Confidence Judgment: The Perils of All-Male Groups. Steffen Keck, Wenjie Tang.  Management Science, https://pubsonline.informs.org/doi/abs/10.1287/mnsc.2017.2881

Abstract: We explore the joint effects of group decision making and group gender composition on the calibration of confidence judgments. Participants in two laboratory experiments, individually and in groups of three, stated confidence interval estimates for general-knowledge questions and for financial forecasts. Across both studies, our results reveal that groups with at least one female member are significantly better calibrated than all-male groups. This effect is mediated by the extent to which group members share opinions and information during the group discussion. Moreover, we find that compared to a statistical aggregation of individual confidence intervals, group discussions have a neutral or positive effect on the quality of confidence judgments for groups with at least one female group member; in contrast, group discussion actually harms confidence calibration for all-male groups. Overall, our findings indicate that compared to all-male groups, even the inclusion of a small proportion of female members can have a strong effect on the quality of group confidence judgment.

The Rejection of Collective Religiosity Centred Around the Worship of Moral Gods Is Associated with High Mutational Load

The Mutant Says in His Heart, “There Is No God”: the Rejection of Collective Religiosity Centred Around the Worship of Moral Gods Is Associated with High Mutational Load. Edward Dutton, Guy Madison, Curtis Dunkel. Evolutionary Psychological Science, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40806-017-0133-5

Abstract: Industrialisation leads to relaxed selection and thus the accumulation of fitness-damaging genetic mutations. We argue that religion is a selected trait that would be highly sensitive to mutational load. We further argue that a specific form of religiousness was selected for in complex societies up until industrialisation based around the collective worship of moral gods. With the relaxation of selection, we predict the degeneration of this form of religion and diverse deviations from it. These deviations, however, would correlate with the same indicators because they would all be underpinned by mutational load. We test this hypothesis using two very different deviations: atheism and paranormal belief. We examine associations between these deviations and four indicators of mutational load: (1) poor general health, (2) autism, (3) fluctuating asymmetry, and (4) left-handedness. A systematic literature review combined with primary research on handedness demonstrates that atheism and/or paranormal belief is associated with all of these indicators of high mutational load.

h/t: https://twitter.com/DegenRolf

Men Who Compliment a Woman's Appearance Using Metaphorical Language: Associations with Creativity, Masculinity, Intelligence and Attractiveness

Men Who Compliment a Woman's Appearance Using Metaphorical Language: Associations with Creativity, Masculinity, Intelligence and Attractiveness. Zhao Gao et al. Front. Psychol., 21 December 2017 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02185

Abstract: Language may have evolved as a signal of mental fitness. However, it remains unclear what language form and topic men use to covertly signal mate quality. In this study 69 men created compliments to impress unfamiliar women they chose to either date or work with and provided hand scans to compute 2D4D ratio as a proxy for prenatal testosterone exposure and masculinity indicator. Compliments were coded in terms of form (literal vs. metaphorical) and topic (women's appearance vs. non-appearance), with metaphorical ones being subsequently rated by 114 women for psycholinguistic features, indices of intelligence and willingness to have a romantic relationship with the author. Results showed that in a dating context, men produced more metaphorical form compliments targeting appearance compared to the working context and they were associated with men's art creativity and negatively with 2D4D ratio (i.e., positively with masculinity). Women preferred establishing a romantic relationship with a higher proportion of the men producing metaphorical compliments in a dating than a working context. Furthermore, in the dating but not the working context, women perceived men producing such compliments as being more intelligent, and importantly this correlated with the men's actual verbal intelligence. Overall, findings suggest that men may use metaphorical language compliments targeting women's appearance in a dating context to signal covertly their mate quality.

Wiser reasoning appeared in conjunction with greater (vs. lower) emotionality, especially the recognition of a greater number of present emotions and greater balance of intensity across experienced emotions

Grossmann, Igor, and Harrison Oakes. 2017. “Wisdom of Yoda and Mr. Spock: The Role of Emotions and the Self”. PsyArXiv. December 21. psyarxiv.com/jy5em

Abstract: A distanced perspective and downregulated emotions are commonly viewed as central to wiser reflection on adverse experiences. The latter belief stands in contrast to the possibility that recognizing and balancing emotional diversity conveys critical insights for navigating adversity. A series of experiments (N=1,574) addressed these hypotheses, examining how wise reasoning about experienced interpersonal conflict related to presence, intensity, and balance of emotions, experimentally varying participants’ perspective (3rd- vs. 1st-person). Across the studies, including pre-registered direct replications, a 3rd- (vs. 1st-) person perspective led to wiser reasoning. Notably, wiser reasoning appeared in conjunction with greater (vs. lower) emotionality, especially the recognition of a greater number of present emotions and greater balance of intensity across experienced emotions. Together, these results demonstrate wisdom boosts in the face of experienced adversity, simultaneously suggesting that wisdom does not require the elimination of emotions. Instead, wise reflection benefits from a rich and balanced emotional life.

Parents of daughters, whether unborn or recently born, are shown to be almost twice as risk-averse as parents of sons

Female Babies and Risk-Aversion. Ganna Pogrebna, Andrew J. Oswald, David Haig.
IZA Institute of Labor Economics, Discussion Paper No. 10717. http://legacy.iza.org/en/webcontent/publications/papers/viewAbstract?dp_id=10717

Abstract: Being told the sex of your unborn child is a major exogenous 'shock'. In the first study of its kind, we collect before-and-after data from hospital wards. We test for the causal effects of learning child gender upon people's degree of risk-aversion. Using a standard Holt-Laury criterion, the parents of daughters, whether unborn or recently born, are shown to be almost twice as risk-averse as parents of sons. The study demonstrates this in longitudinal ('switching') data and cross-sectional data. The study finds it for fathers and mothers, babies in the womb and recently born children, and for a West European nation and an East European nation.

Keywords: pregnancy, risk attitudes, daughters, child gender, Trivers-Willard hypothesis

Joy is a distinct positive emotion: Assessment of joy and relationship to gratitude and well-being

Joy is a distinct positive emotion: Assessment of joy and relationship to gratitude and well-being. Philip C. Watkins, Robert A. Emmons, Madeline R. Greaves & Joshua Bell. The Journal of Positive Psychology, https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2017.1414298

Abstract: In three studies we investigated joy and its relationship to subjective well-being (SWB). We developed measures of joy based on recent conceptualizations of joy in the humanities and social sciences. In Studies 1 and 2 we developed reliable measures of state and trait joy. In Study 3 we used a two-month prospective design to investigate the relationship of joy to gratitude and SWB. We found that dispositional gratitude predicted increases in state joy over time. We also found that trait joy predicted increases in state gratitude, providing evidence for an intriguing upward spiral between joy and gratitude. Finally, we found that trait joy was associated with increases in SWB over time. Factor analyses indicated that joy loaded separately from other positive emotions. We conclude that joy is a discrete positive emotion, it can be measured reliably with self-report instruments, and that it may be an important component of well-being.

Keywords: Joy, gratitude, subjective well-being, happiness

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We have seen that joy is not constrained to non-material pleasures. But what is the spiritual dynamic of joy? Much work remains to be done on this front, but in our studies we found small to moderate relationships between joy and spiritual well-being and gratitude to God. Thus, there is clearly a spiritual dimension to joy, in the words of C.S. Lewis, ‘Joy is the serious business of Heaven’ (1963, p. 93). The correlations between gratitude to God and joy support our suggestion that when a good object is experienced as a divine gift, joy is more likely, but clearly our results are far from definitive on this issue. We propose, along with Lewis (1955) and Nietzsche, that the spiritual dimension of joy may be in that it promotes spiritual longing – a longing for the transcendent. In Nietzsche’s words (2006, p. 264):

Yet all joy wants eternity –
    – Wants deep, deep, eternity.

In sum, we propose that the experience of joy is enhanced when there is a perceived spiritual purpose to the joy object, and that a spiritual thought/action tendency of joy is that it promotes a desire for the transcendent.

Assessing Intentional Resume Deception: Development and Nomological Network of a Resume Fraud Measure

Assessing Intentional Resume Deception: Development and Nomological Network of a Resume Fraud Measure. Christine A. Henle, Brian R. Dineen, Michelle K. Duffy. Journal of Business and Psychology, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10869-017-9527-4

Abstract: Resume fraud is pervasive and has detrimental consequences, but researchers lack a way to study it. We develop and validate a measure for empirically investigating resume misrepresentations purposely designed to mislead recruiters. In study 1, an initial set of items designed to measure three theorized resume fraud dimensions (fabrication, embellishment, omission) are rated for content validity. In study 2, job seekers complete the measure and its factor structure is evaluated. In study 3, another sample of job seekers is surveyed to verify the measure’s factor structure and to provide evidence regarding construct validity. In study 4, working adults who recently conducted a job search are surveyed to determine which individuals are more likely to commit resume fraud and whether resume fraud relates to critical work behaviors. We confirm the three-factor structure of our measure and offer evidence of construct validity by showing that socially desirable responding, Machiavellianism, moral identity, conscientiousness, emotional stability, and agreeableness are related to resume fraud. Additionally, we find that resume fraud predicts reduced job performance and increased workplace deviance beyond deceptive interviewing behavior. Resume fraud is rarely studied despite the negative impact it can have on job-related outcomes. Researchers can use this measure to explore further the antecedents and outcomes of resume fraud and to advise recruiters on how to minimize it. We develop a measure focusing on intentional resume misrepresentations designed to deceive recruiters. This is one of the first studies to examine the antecedents and outcomes of resume fraud.

Beauty Is in the Eye of the Beer Holder: An Initial Investigation of the Effects of Alcohol, Attractiveness, Warmth, and Competence on the Objectifying Gaze in Men

Beauty Is in the Eye of the Beer Holder: An Initial Investigation of the Effects of Alcohol, Attractiveness, Warmth, and Competence on the Objectifying Gaze in Men. Abigail R. Riemer et al. Sex Roles, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11199-017-0876-2

Abstract: Despite literature revealing the adverse consequences of objectifying gazes for women, little work has empirically examined origins of objectifying gazes by perceivers. Integrating alcohol myopia and objectification theories, we examined the effects of alcohol as well as perceived female attractiveness, warmth, and competence on objectifying gazes. Specifically, male undergraduates (n = 49) from a large U.S. Midwestern university were administered either an alcoholic or placebo beverage. After consumption, participants were asked to focus on the appearance or personality (counterbalanced) of pictured women who were previously rated as high, average, or low in attractiveness, warmth, and competence. Replicating previous work, appearance focus increased objectifying gazes as measured by decreased visual dwell time on women’s faces and increased dwell time on women’s bodies. Additionally, alcohol increased objectifying gazes. Whereas greater perceived attractiveness increased objectifying gazes, more perceived warmth and perceived competence decreased objectifying gazes. Furthermore, the effects of warmth and competence perceptions on objectifying gazes were moderated by alcohol condition; intoxicated participants objectified women low in warmth and competence to a greater extent than did sober participants. Implications for understanding men’s objectifying perceptions of women are addressed, shedding light on potential interventions for clinicians and policymakers to reduce alcohol-involved objectification and related sexual aggression.

Gender differences in most aspects of personality—Big Five traits, Dark Triad traits, self-esteem, subjective well-being, depression and values—are conspicuously larger in cultures with more egalitarian gender roles, gender socialization and sociopolitical gender equity -- objectively measured attributes such as tested cognitive abilities and physical traits such as height and blood pressure are also more different

Schmitt, D. P., Long, A. E., McPhearson, A., O'Brien, K., Remmert, B. and Shah, S. H. (2017), Personality and gender differences in global perspective. Int J Psychol, 52: 45–56. doi:10.1002/ijop.12265

Abstract: Men's and women's personalities appear to differ in several respects. Social role theories of development assume gender differences result primarily from perceived gender roles, gender socialization and sociostructural power differentials. As a consequence, social role theorists expect gender differences in personality to be smaller in cultures with more gender egalitarianism. Several large cross-cultural studies have generated sufficient data for evaluating these global personality predictions. Empirically, evidence suggests gender differences in most aspects of personality—Big Five traits, Dark Triad traits, self-esteem, subjective well-being, depression and values—are conspicuously larger in cultures with more egalitarian gender roles, gender socialization and sociopolitical gender equity. Similar patterns are evident when examining objectively measured attributes such as tested cognitive abilities and physical traits such as height and blood pressure. Social role theory appears inadequate for explaining some of the observed cultural variations in men's and women's personalities. Evolutionary theories regarding ecologically-evoked gender differences are described that may prove more useful in explaining global variation in human personality.

Preschool children and chimpanzees prefer to pay to watch punishment of antisocial other, instead of saving effort or money and stop watching

Preschool children and chimpanzees incur costs to watch punishment of antisocial others. Natacha Mendes, Nikolaus Steinbeis, Nereida Bueno-Guerra, Josep Call & Tania Singer. Nature Human Behaviour (2017). doi:10.1038/s41562-017-0264-5

Abstract: When misfortune befalls another, humans may feel distress, leading to a motivation to escape. When such misfortune is perceived as justified, however, it may be experienced as rewarding and lead to motivation to witness the misfortune. We explored when in human ontogeny such a motivation emerges and whether the motivation is shared by chimpanzees. Chimpanzees and four- to six-year-old children learned through direct interaction that an agent was either prosocial or antisocial and later saw each agent’s punishment. They were given the option to invest physical effort (chimpanzees) or monetary units (children) to continue watching. Chimpanzees and six-year-olds showed a preference for watching punishment of the antisocial agent. An additional control experiment in chimpanzees suggests that these results cannot be attributed to more generic factors such as scene coherence or informational value seeking. This indicates that both six-year-olds and chimpanzees have a motivation to watch deserved punishment enacted.

Knowing one would receive the answers to anagrams made them persist for less time trying to solve the task

Risko, E. F., Huh, M., McLean, D., & Ferguson, A. M. (2017). On the prospect of knowing: Providing solutions can reduce persistence. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 146(12), 1677-1693. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/xge0000334

Abstract: Our willingness to persist in problem solving is often held up as a critical component in being successful. Allied against this ability, however, are a number of situational factors that undermine our persistence. In the present investigation, the authors examine 1 such factor—knowing that the answers to a problem are easily accessible. Does having answers to a problem available reduce our willingness to persist in solving it ourselves? Across 4 experiments, participants (university students from a large Canadian University) solved multisolution anagrams and were either provided the answers after giving up (and knew they would receive the answers) or not. Results demonstrated that individuals persisted for less time in the former condition. In addition, participants did not seem to be aware of the effect that answers had on their decisions to quit. Implications for our understanding of the role that access to answers has on persistence across a number of domains (e.g., education, Internet) are discussed.

Exposure to male sexual scents (androstenone) influences women’s drinking (they drink more)

Tan, R., & Goldman, M. S. (2017). Exposure to male sexual scents (androstenone) influences women’s drinking. Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology, 25(6), 456-465. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pha0000162

Abstract: In a demonstration of a heretofore unknown motivational pathway for alcohol consumption, we recently showed that exposure to scents emitted by human females during the fertile phase of their menstrual cycle could increase men’s drinking. The current study examined the reverse: whether exposure to male sexual scents (androstenone) would increase women’s drinking. One hundred three female participants were primed with either androstenone or a control prime (plain water) camouflaged as a men’s “cologne.” They then completed a laboratory assessment of beer consumption and related measures. (Nonalcoholic beer was used for methodological and safety reasons.) Results indicated that females exposed to the androstenone prime drank significantly more than those exposed to the control prime. Social and sexual expectancies taken subsequent to drinking (to avoid unwanted manipulation influences) were correlated with drinking in the primed group but not in the neutral group, supporting the idea that information-processing pathways related to alcohol use had been engaged in the primed group. Few females were ovulating, precluding assessment of the effects of fertility on this process. Because of the centrality of sexual signaling to fundamental evolutionary/biological forces, these results indicate a potentially powerful influence on alcohol consumption that calls for continued investigation.

The Geography of Poverty and Nutrition: Food Deserts and Food Choices Across the United States

The Geography of Poverty and Nutrition: Food Deserts and Food Choices Across the United States. Hunt Allcott, Rebecca Diamond, Jean-Pierre Dubé. NBER Working Paper No. 24094. http://www.nber.org/papers/w24094

We study the causes of “nutritional inequality”: why the wealthy tend to eat more healthfully than the poor in the U.S. Using two event study designs exploiting entry of new supermarkets and households' moves to healthier neighborhoods, we reject that neighborhood environments have economically meaningful effects on healthy eating. Using a structural demand model, we find that exposing low-income households to the same food availability and prices experienced by high-income households would reduce nutritional inequality by only 9%, while the remaining 91% is driven by differences in demand. In turn, these income-related demand differences are partially explained by education, nutrition knowledge, and regional preferences. These findings contrast with discussions of nutritional inequality that emphasize supply-side issues such as food deserts.

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