The Relationship Between Sexualized Appearance and Perceptions of Women’s Competence and Electability

The Relationship Between Sexualized Appearance and Perceptions of Women’s Competence and Electability. Julia K. Smith et al. Sex Roles, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11199-018-0898-4

Abstract: Women do not have a uniform or standardized “suit” to wear in the workplace so they must make daily decisions about what to wear. Some propose that women should dress in a sexualized way to gain power and influence, but sexy attire is related to lower perceptions of competence for women in leadership positions. We explored the effect of revealing or conservative attire on perceptions of women’s leadership competence. We also used eye-tracker technology to determine whether looking at sexualized body parts (i.e., breasts, hemline) was related to lower perceptions of leadership competence and electability. A female candidate for a student senate presidency at a U.S. university wearing revealing clothing was perceived by 191 college students as less honest and trustworthy, electable, and competent than one wearing conservative clothing. Sexualized body parts were looked at longer when the candidate was wearing revealing clothing compared to conservative clothing. Furthermore, mediation analyses indicated that the revealing clothing led participants to gaze at sexualized body parts, which, in turn, led to perceiving the candidate as less honest/trustworthy, which lowered their evaluations of her competence and electability. These findings suggest that viewing a woman in a sexy outfit can lead others to stare more at her body and make negative evaluations of her personal attributes. This finding has implications for the choices women make in workplace and leadership contexts.

Unsocial subjects vs social ones: No significant differences in self-esteem, social comparisons, emotional regulation, self-harm, suicidal ideations, quality of relations with others, anxiety sensitivity, social anhedonia or depression

Does it matter when we want to Be alone? Exploring developmental timing effects in the implications of unsociability. Robert J. Coplan, Laura L. Ooi, Danielle Baldwin. New Ideas in Psychology, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.newideapsych.2018.01.001

Highlights
•    Unsociability refers to a non-fearful preference for solitude.
•    We discuss various approaches to conceptualizing and measuring this construct.
•    A theoretical model of developmental timing effects for unsociability is proposed.
•    Links between unsociability and well-being may vary across development.

Abstract: Unsociability is a characteristic that refers to individual differences in the non-fearful preference for solitude. There is continued debate pertaining to the potential costs and benefits of solitude for our well-being. In this essay, we consider various approaches to the conceptualization and measurement of unsociability, and explore its implications for socio-emotional functioning. Further, we propose a somewhat speculative theoretical model of developmental timing effects for unsociability, which postulates non-linear variations in the implications of a heightened preference for solitude from early childhood to emerging adulthood. After considering the existing empirical support for this model, we outline remaining topics of concerns and suggest the most pressing directions for future research.

Keywords: Unsociability; Solitude; Social withdrawal; Preference for solitude; Developmental timing

---My question is: why then there is such apprehension in parents with child's unsociabilty? I trust the parents more than the researchers, something is not being captured in these samples we are studying.

Disclosure: I am quite unsocial.

Young infants expect an unfamiliar adult to comfort a crying baby: Evidence from a standard violation-of-expectation task and a novel infant-triggered-video task

Young infants expect an unfamiliar adult to comfort a crying baby: Evidence from a standard violation-of-expectation task and a novel infant-triggered-video task. Kyong-sunJin  et al. Cognitive Psychology, Volume 102, May 2018, Pages 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cogpsych.2017.12.004

Highlights
•    We examined whether young infants would expect an adult to comfort a crying baby.
•    12- and 4-mo-olds showed this expectation in a standard violation-of-expectation task.
•    8-mo-olds showed this expectation in a new forced-choice infant-triggered-video task.
•    Expectations about comforting actions are already present early in life.
•    Our findings constrain theoretical accounts of early prosociality and morality.

Abstract: Do infants expect individuals to act prosocially toward others in need, at least in some contexts? Very few such expectations have been uncovered to date. In three experiments, we examined whether infants would expect an adult alone in a scene with a crying baby to attempt to comfort the baby. In the first two experiments, 12- and 4-month-olds were tested using the standard violation-of-expectation method. Infants saw videotaped events in which a woman was performing a household chore when a baby nearby began to cry; the woman either comforted (comfort event) or ignored (ignore event) the baby. Infants looked significantly longer at the ignore than at the comfort event, and this effect was eliminated if the baby laughed instead of cried. In the third experiment, 8-month-olds were tested using a novel forced-choice violation-of-expectation method, the infant-triggered-video method. Infants faced two computer monitors and were first shown that touching the monitors triggered events: One monitor presented the comfort event and the other monitor presented the ignore event. Infants then chose which event they wanted to watch again by touching the corresponding monitor. Infants significantly chose the ignore over the comfort event, and this effect was eliminated if the baby laughed. Thus, across ages and methods, infants provided converging evidence that they expected the adult to comfort the crying baby. These results indicate that expectations about individuals’ actions toward others in need are already present in the first year of life, and, as such, they constrain theoretical accounts of early prosociality and morality.

Exposure to predators does not lead to the evolution of larger brains in experimental populations of threespine stickleback

Samuk, K., Xue, J. and Rennision, D. J. (), Exposure to predators does not lead to the evolution of larger brains in experimental populations of threespine stickleback. Evolution. Accepted Author Manuscript. doi:10.1111/evo.13444

Abstract: Natural selection is often invoked to explain differences in brain size among vertebrates. However, the particular agents of selection that shape brain size variation remain obscure. Recent studies suggest that predators may select for larger brains because increased cognitive and sensory abilities allow prey to better elude predators. Yet, there is little direct evidence that exposure to predators causes the evolution of larger brains in prey species. We experimentally tested this prediction by exposing families of 1000–2000 F2 hybrid benthic-limnetic threespine stickleback to predators under naturalistic conditions, along with matched controls. After two generations of selection, we found that fish from the predator addition treatment had significantly smaller brains (specifically smaller telencephalons and optic lobes) than fish from the control treatment. After an additional generation of selection, we reared experimental fish in a common environment and found that this difference in brain size was maintained in the offspring of fish from the predator addition treatment. Our results provide direct experimental evidence that (a) predators can indeed drive the evolution of brain size – but not in the fashion commonly expected and (b) that the tools of experimental evolution can be used to the study the evolution of the vertebrate brain.

Causal effect of beliefs about skill on risky choices: Low (high) skill subjects are more (less) willing to take risks on gambles where the probabilities depend on relative skill

How do beliefs about skill affect risky decisions? Adrian Bruhin, Luís Santos-Pinto, David Staubli. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2018.01.016

Highlights
•    In this paper, we use a laboratory experiment to study the causal effect of beliefs about skill on risky choices.
•    The paper offers an innovative experimental test that is free of strategic confounds and based on revealed preference.
•    Low (high) skill subjects are more (less) willing to take risks on gambles where the probabilities depend on relative skill.
•    This suggests that the wrong people may engage in risky activities V such as entering competitive markets or career paths V while the right people may be crowded out.
•    Revealed beliefs are only moderately correlated with stated beliefs and so relying only on stated beliefs may be misleading.

Abstract: Beliefs about relative skill matter for risky decisions such as market entry, career choices, and financial investments. Yet in most laboratory experiments risk is exogenously given and beliefs about relative skill play no role. We use a laboratory experiment without strategy confounds to isolate the impact of beliefs about relative skill on risky choices. We find that low (high) skill individuals are more (less) willing to take risks on gambles where the probabilities depend on relative skill than on gambles with exogenously given probabilities. This happens because low (high) skill individuals overestimate (underestimate) their relative skill. Consequently, the wrong people may engage in risky activities where performance is based on relative skill while the right people may be crowded out.

Keywords: Individual risk taking behavior; Self-confidence; Laboratory experiment

Less married or commited people view watching pornography as infedility, compared to the uncommited. Likely reason is the contact with reality once we are in a commited relationship

Is Viewing Sexually Explicit Material Cheating on Your Partner? A Comparison Between the United States and Spain. Charles Negy et al. Archives of Sexual Behavior, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10508-017-1125-z

Abstract: This cross-sectional study examined whether university students from the U.S. (n = 392) and Spain (n = 200) considered the viewing of sexually explicit material (SEM) to be tantamount to committing infidelity. Participants’ ages ranged from 18 to 36 (U.S. sample) and 18 to 35 (Spain sample), respectively. At both universities, the study was made available to students via a computer program that allows recruitment and completion of the questionnaires online. It was found that the majority of U.S. and Spanish participants (73 and 77%, respectively) indicated that they did not consider viewing SEM as an act of infidelity. Also, overall, U.S. participants, those who were not currently in a relationship, and those who do not view SEM, were significantly more likely to believe that viewing SEM constituted infidelity compared to Spanish participants, those currently in a relationship, and those who view SEM. Finally, it was found that among U.S. and Spanish participants, intolerance of infidelity in general, negative attitudes toward SEM, and the proclivity for jealousy significantly correlated with believing that viewing SEM was tantamount to infidelity. For U.S. participants only, religiosity and (low) self-esteem also correlated with the belief that viewing SEM was infidelity. Implications of the findings are discussed.

Election turnout rates for women have even slightly exceeded turnout rates for men in recent elections due to the higher sense of civic duty of female citizens, which is due to higher level of conscientiousness than men

Why no gender gap in electoral participation? A civic duty explanation. Miguel Carreras. Electoral Studies, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electstud.2018.01.007

Abstract: Previous research in comparative political behavior has generated an interesting paradox. Female citizens are less likely to engage in a variety of political activities (e.g. contacting politicians and working for parties), and are less cognitively engaged with the political process (i.e. they have lower levels of political interest and political efficacy). However, for reasons that remain unclear, several cross-national surveys reveal that there is no gender gap in electoral participation. In a number of countries, such as the United States, turnout rates for women have even slightly exceeded turnout rates for men in recent elections. I argue that the main reason for this pattern is the higher sense of civic duty of female citizens. This theory is grounded in research in social psychology that demonstrates that women have a higher level of conscientiousness than men. I use data from the 2014 ISSP Citizenship module to test my theoretical expectations, and find strong support for the argument that civic duty mediates the relationship between sex and electoral participation.

Physical beauty, social mobility, and optimistic dispositions

Things are looking up: Physical beauty, social mobility, and optimistic dispositions. R. Urbatsch. Social Science Research, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2018.01.006

Abstract: Physical attractiveness tends to inspire friendlier reactions and more positive evaluations from others, so that the beautiful are likelier to succeed across many kinds of endeavors. Does this history of success lead to a more optimistic, hopeful attitude? Evidence from the 2016 General Social Survey and the 1972 National Election Study suggests that it often does: those whom interviewers rate as better-looking tend to report higher expectations that life will turn out well for them, and show signs of greater upward social mobility. Since optimism is itself an important contributor to success in many social endeavors, these findings suggest an understudied mechanism by which beauty leads to better life outcomes, as well as a means by which social interactions may shape personal dispositions.

Keywords: Attractiveness; Optimism; Hope; Status

Due to the innate need for preservation of a positive self-image, it is likely that teaching people about biases they hold, may cause a boomerang effect in cases where being associated with a specific bias implies negative social connotations

The boomerang effect of psychological interventions. Aharon Levy & Yossi Maaravi. Social Influence, Volume 13, 2018 - Issue 1, Pages 39-51. https://doi.org/10.1080/15534510.2017.1421571

Abstract: Research has found that teaching people about psychological biases can help counteract biased behavior. On the other hand, due to the innate need for preservation of a positive self-image, it is likely that teaching people about biases they hold, may cause a boomerang effect in cases where being associated with a specific bias implies negative social connotations. In the three studies below we examine situations in which psychological bias implies negatively associated behavior, and show that teaching people about bias in those contexts can be counterproductive.

Keywords: Psychological bias, bias awareness, chauvinism, voting, bias reduction

Consensual Nonmonogamy: Psychological Well-Being and Relationship Quality Correlates

Consensual Nonmonogamy: Psychological Well-Being and Relationship Quality Correlates. Alicia N. Rubel & Anthony F. Bogaert. The Journal of Sex Research, Volume 52, 2015 - Issue 9, Pages 961-982. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2014.942722

Abstract: Consensually nonmonogamous relationships are those in which all partners explicitly agree that each partner may have romantic or sexual relationships with others (Conley, Ziegler, Moors, Matsick, & Valentine, 2013 Conley, T. D., Ziegler, A., Moors, A. C., Matsick, J. L., & Valentine, B. (2013). In this article, research examining the associations between consensual nonmonogamy, psychological well-being, and relationship quality is reviewed. Specifically, three types of consensual nonmonogamy are examined: swinging, open relationships (including sexually open marriage and gay open relationships), and polyamory. Swinging refers to when a couple practices extradyadic sex with members of another couple; open relationships are relationships in which partners agree that they can have extradyadic sex; and polyamory is the practice of, belief in, or willingness to engage in consensual nonmonogamy, typically in long-term and/or loving relationships. General trends in the research reviewed suggest that consensual nonmonogamists have similar psychological well-being and relationship quality as monogamists. Methodological challenges in research on consensual nonmonogamy and directions for future research are discussed.

Internet pornography use is motivated by hedonic and self-focused sexual motivations, and is likely to lead to increases in hedonic sexual motivation both in solitary and in social sexual encounters

Grubbs, Joshua, Abby Braden, Shane W Kraus, Joshua Wilt, and Paul Wright 2017. “Pornography and Pleasure-seeking: Toward a Hedonic Reinforcement Model”. PsyArXiv. December 5. psyarxiv.com/jevb7

Abstract: Internet pornography use is a common recreational activity in developed nations, with substantial majorities of people from numerous countries reporting exposure to or consistent use this media. Despite this ubiquity, the majority of research on internet pornography use has been relegated to topical or specialty journals, with little attention psychological science at a broader level. This work seeks to consolidate this body of research into a novel theoretical framework that conceptualizes internet pornography use in terms that are relevant to the psychological sciences more broadly. This framework has been termed the Hedonic Reinforcement Model of pornography consumption. In support of this model, a review of research is conducted, demonstrating that internet pornography use may be seen as being influenced by and an influencer of human sexual motivation. In the first step of the present model, the present work contends that IPU is motivated by hedonic and self-focused sexual motivations, most often being a solitary, pleasure-seeking pursuit. Second, this model contends that IPU uniquely rewards hedonic motivations, due to its accessibility, novelty, and customizable nature. Finally, the present model contends that IPU is likely to lead to increases in hedonic sexual motivation both in solitary and in social sexual encounters.

Dictator game: Aversion to taking is strong, and dictators are willing to sacrifice 31% of endowment to avoid taking

Taking Aversion. Oleg Korenoka, Edward L. Millnera, Laura Razzolinib. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2018.01.021

Highlights
•    New experiment to measure whether dictators prefer a giving game to a taking game with identical payoff possibilities.
•    Most dictators prefer the giving game
•    Aversion to taking is strong: dictators are willing to sacrifice 31% of endowment to avoid taking.
•    Consistent with Levitt and List's model of social preferences: moral cost of taking exceeds the moral cost of not giving.

Abstract: We determine whether the moral cost of taking exceeds the moral cost of not giving. We design and conduct an experiment to determine whether a dictator prefers a giving game over a taking game when the payoff possibilities are identical and to measure the strength of the preference. We find that aversion to taking is prevalent and strong. Over 85% of the dictators in our experiment choose to play a giving game over a taking game when the payoff possibilities are identical and, on average, dictators are willing to sacrifice over 31% of their endowment to avoid taking.

Keywords: Taking; Dictator Game; Impure Altruism; Equivalent Variation

Women were especially sensitive to laughter’s affiliative value, reporting greater disinterest in affiliating with targets laughing deliberately

Spontaneous Laughter as an Auditory Analog to Affiliative Intent. Mitch Brown, Donald F. Sacco, Steven G. Young. Evolutionary Psychological Science, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40806-017-0135-3

Abstract: Spontaneous laughter may serve as an auditory cue to affiliative intent within social contexts, whereas volitional laughter may connote deceptive, or non-affiliative, social communication. It would thus be advantageous to distinguish between affiliative and deceptive laughter to identify and prefer conspecifics genuinely interested in affiliating, particularly those whose current affiliative needs are unmet. Furthermore, women’s greater capability to discriminate between emotional cues should implicate them as being especially favorable toward spontaneous laughter. Because social exclusion heightens interest in affiliation, social exclusion should heighten favorability toward those communicating spontaneous laughter, which should be especially augmented among women. The current research examined both trait and state factors that might be moderate responses to spontaneous and volitional laughter. We experimentally activated affiliative motives and tasked men and women with indicating their preferences for spontaneous and volitional laughs. Although activation of affiliative needs did not alter preferences for laughter, participants ultimately preferred spontaneous laughs over volitional. Women were especially sensitive to laughter’s affiliative value, reporting greater disinterest in affiliating with targets emitting volitional laughs, a finding consistent with research indicating women’s heightened sensitivity toward affiliative cues and sensitivity to potentially exploitive conspecifics due to sexual dimorphism.