Content of Everyday Conversations in Iran

What Shall We Talk about in Farsi? Content of Everyday Conversations in Iran. Mahdi Dahmardeh, R. I. M. Dunbar. Human Nature, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12110-017-9300-4

Abstract: Previous empirical studies have suggested that language is primarily used to exchange social information, but our evidence on this derives mainly from English speakers. We present data from a study of natural conversations among Farsi (Persian) speakers in Iran and show that not only are conversation groups the same size as those observed in Europe and North America, but people also talk predominantly about social topics. We argue that these results reinforce the suggestion that language most likely evolved for the transmission of information about the social world. We also explore sex differences in conversational behavior: while the pattern is broadly similar between the sexes, men may be more sensitive than women are to discussing some topics in the presence of many other people.

Children’s Gender-Typed Behavior from Early to Middle Childhood in Adoptive Families with Lesbian, Gay, and Heterosexual Parents

Children’s Gender-Typed Behavior from Early to Middle Childhood in Adoptive Families with Lesbian, Gay, and Heterosexual Parents. Rachel H. Farr et al. Sex Roles, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11199-017-0812-5

Abstract: Gender-typed behaviors—both gender-conforming and nonconforming—were investigated longitudinally among children in 106 adoptive U.S. families with lesbian, gay, and heterosexual parents at two times (Wave 1, preschool-age; Wave 2, school-age) over 5 years. At Wave 1 (W1), parents reported on children’s gender-typed behavior using the Pre-School Activities Inventory (PSAI; Golombok and Rust 1993), and children’s gender-typed toy play was evaluated using observational methods. At Wave 2 (W2), children reported on their own gender-typed behavior using the Children’s Occupations, Activities, and Traits Personal Measure (COAT-PM; Liben and Bigler 2002). Observations of children’s gender-conforming toy play and parents’ reports of children’s gender nonconformity (PSAI) in early childhood (W1) were associated with children’s self-reports of gender nonconformity (COAT-PM) in middle childhood (W2); toy play was most strongly predictive of gender nonconformity 5 years later. Children’s gender-typed behavior also varied by age and gender at both time points, but no significant differences were found as a function of parental sexual orientation across time. Informative to ongoing debates about same-sex parenting, our findings indicate that among children reared by lesbian, gay, and heterosexual parents, gender-typing appears to be similar, and predominantly gender-conforming, across early to middle childhood.

Partner Choice, Investment in Children, and the Marital College Premium

Chiappori, Pierre-André, Bernard Salanié and Yoram Weiss. 2017. "Partner Choice, Investment in Children, and the Marital College Premium." American Economic Review, 107(8):2109-67. https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/aer.20150154

Abstract: We construct a model of household decision-making in which agents consume a private and a public good, interpreted as children's welfare. Children's utility depends on their human capital, which depends on the time their parents spend with them and on the parents' human capital. We first show that as returns to human capital increase, couples at the top of the income distribution should spend more time with their children. This in turn should reinforce assortative matching, in a sense that we precisely define. We then embed the model into a transferable utility matching framework with random preferences, a la Choo and Siow (2006), which we estimate using US marriage data for individuals born between 1943 and 1972. We find that the preference for partners of the same education has significantly increased for white individuals, particularly for the highly educated. We find no evidence of such an increase for black individuals. Moreover, in line with theoretical predictions, we find that the "marital college-plus premium" has increased for women but not for men.


JEL Classification

D12 Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
J12 Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure; Domestic Abuse
J13 Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
J15 Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
J24 Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

Impact of Adolescent Educational Expectations on Deviant Coping During the Transition to Adulthood

Great Expectations Unmet: The Impact of Adolescent Educational Expectations on Deviant Coping During the Transition to Adulthood. Patrick Cundiff. Sociological Inquiry, August 2017, Pages 449–471, http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/soin.12156/abstract

Abstract: Previous research has shown that during adolescence, holding high expectations of college education serves as a protective factor for delinquency and substance use. Little is known whether the protective factor of college expectations extends into young adulthood, especially among ambitious youth who do not earn a degree. Using longitudinal data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, this research focuses on the longer term effects of adolescent educational expectations on deviant coping. This study finds that failing to realize realistically high expectations of college education during the transition to adulthood increases an individual's likelihood of deviant coping during the transition to adulthood.

Adult sex ratio and social status predict mating and parenting strategies in Northern Ireland

Adult sex ratio and social status predict mating and parenting strategies in Northern Ireland. Caroline Uggla & Ruth Mace. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society: Biological Sciences, Sep 19 2017, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28760761

Abstract: Evidence from animal species indicates that a male-biased adult sex ratio (ASR) can lead to higher levels of male parental investment and that there is heterogeneity in behavioural responses to mate scarcity depending on mate value. In humans, however, there is little consistent evidence of the effect of the ASR on pair-bond stability and parental investment and even less of how it varies by an individual's mate value. In this paper we use detailed census data from Northern Ireland to test the association between the ASR and pair-bond stability and parental investment by social status (education and social class) as a proxy for mate value. We find evidence that female, but not male, cohabitation is associated with the ASR. In female-biased areas women with low education are less likely to be in a stable pair-bond than highly educated women, but in male-biased areas women with the lowest education are as likely to be in a stable pair-bond as their most highly educated peers. For both sexes risk of separation is greater at female-biased sex ratios. Lastly, our data show a weak relationship between parental investment and the ASR that depends on social class. We discuss these results in the light of recent reformulations of parental investment theory.

Sexual diversity in the United States: Results from a nationally representative probability sample of adult women and men

Sexual diversity in the United States: Results from a nationally representative probability sample of adult women and men. Debby Herbenick et al. PLoS One, July 2017, http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0181198

Abstract: In 2015, we conducted a cross-sectional, Internet-based, U.S. nationally representative probability survey of 2,021 adults (975 men, 1,046 women) focused on a broad range of sexual behaviors. Individuals invited to participate were from the GfK KnowledgePanel®. The survey was titled the 2015 Sexual Exploration in America Study and survey completion took about 12 to 15 minutes. The survey was confidential and the researchers never had access to respondents’ identifiers. Respondents reported on demographic items, lifetime and recent sexual behaviors, and the appeal of 50+ sexual behaviors. Most ( > 80%) reported lifetime masturbation, vaginal sex, and oral sex. Lifetime anal sex was reported by 43% of men (insertive) and 37% of women (receptive). Common lifetime sexual behaviors included wearing sexy lingerie/underwear (75% women, 26% men), sending/receiving digital nude/semi-nude photos (54% women, 65% men), reading erotic stories (57% of participants), public sex (≥43%), role-playing ( ≥ 22%), tying/being tied up ( ≥ 20%), spanking ( ≥ 30%), and watching sexually explicit videos/DVDs (60% women, 82% men). Having engaged in threesomes (10% women, 18% men) and playful whipping ( ≥ 13%) were less common. Lifetime group sex, sex parties, taking a sexuality class/workshop, and going to BDSM parties were uncommon (each < 8%). More Americans identified behaviors as “appealing” than had engaged in them. Romantic/affectionate behaviors were among those most commonly identified as appealing for both men and women. The appeal of particular behaviors was associated with greater odds that the individual had ever engaged in the behavior. This study contributes to our understanding of more diverse adult sexual behaviors than has previously been captured in U.S. nationally representative probability surveys. Implications for sexuality educators, clinicians, and individuals in the general population are discussed.

Majority Rules: Gender Composition and Sexual Norms and Behavior in High Schools

Majority Rules: Gender Composition and Sexual Norms and Behavior in High Schools. Kristen Harknett & Stephen Cranney. Population Research and Policy Review, August 2017, Pages 469-500, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11113-017-9436-2

Abstract: Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, we examine the relationship between the gender composition of high schools and sexual ideals, attitudes, and behaviors reported by 12,617 students. Theory predicts that a surplus of females in a dating market gives males greater bargaining power to achieve their underlying preference for avoiding committed relationships and engaging in casual sex. We find relationships between the gender composition of a high school and sexual norms and behaviors that depart from this theoretical prediction: In high schools in which girls outnumber boys, students report a less sexually permissive normative climate and girls report less casual sex compared with their counterparts at schools in which boys outnumber girls. Our results inform predictions about social consequences following from the feminization of school institutions.

Beauty in the blink of an eye: The time course of aesthetic experiences

Verhavert, S., Wagemans, J. and Augustin, M. D. (2017), Beauty in the blink of an eye: The time course of aesthetic experiences. Br J Psychol. doi:10.1111/bjop.12258

Abstract: Under normal circumstances, perception runs very fast and seemingly automatic. In just a few ms, we go from sensory features to perceiving objects. This fast time course does not only apply to general perceptual aspects but also to what we call higher-level judgements. Inspired by the study on ‘very first impressions’ by Bar, Neta, and Linz (2006, Emotion, 6, 269) the current research examined the speed and time course of three aspects of the aesthetic experience, namely beauty, specialness, and impressiveness. Participants were presented with 54 reproductions of paintings that covered a wide variety of artistic styles and contents. Presentation times were 10, 50, 100 and 500 ms in Experiment 1 and 20, 30 and 40 ms in Experiment 2. Our results not only show that consistent aesthetic judgements can be formed based on very brief glances of information, but that this speed of aesthetic impression formation also differs between different aesthetic judgements. Apparently, impressiveness judgements require longer exposure times than impressions of beauty or specialness. The results provide important evidence for our understanding of the time course of aesthetic experiences.

What does it mean to feel loved: Cultural consensus and individual differences in felt love

What does it mean to feel loved: Cultural consensus and individual differences in felt love. Saeideh Heshmati et al. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407517724600

Abstract: Cultural consensus theory is a statistical framework (CCT) for the study of individual differences in the knowledge of culturally shared opinions. In this article, we demonstrate how a CCT analysis can be used to study individual differences and cultural consensus on what makes people feel loved, or more generally any social behaviors that are governed by cognitive schemata. To highlight the advantages of the method, we describe a study in which people reported on their everyday experiences of feeling loved. Our unique approach to understanding this topic is to focus on people’s cognitive evaluations on what feeling loved (both romantically and nonromantically) entails by exploring the shared agreement regarding when one is most likely to feel loved and the individual differences that influence knowledge of these shared agreements. Our results reveal that people converge on a consensus about indicators of expressed love and that these scenarios are both romantic and nonromantic. Moreover, people show individual differences in (1) the amount of knowledge they have about this consensus and (2) their guessing biases in responding to items on love scenarios, depending on personality and demographics—all conclusions made possible by the CCT method.


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In our exploration of relationships between people’s ability in knowing the consensus on felt love and their demographic background, we found that depending on people’s gender, race, personality traits, and relationship status, they have differential ability of knowing the consensus on felt love. More specifically, we found that male participants show less knowledge of the consensus on felt love than female participants. This gender difference about experiences of love aligns with many of the past research on this topic (Fehr & Broughton, 2001; Hendrick, Hendrick, Foote, & Slapion-Foote, 1984; Sprecher & Toro-Morn, 2002). Specifically, research has shown that men and women differ in their thought process about the concept of love. Men are more likely to think about sexual commitment and the pleasure of intercourse when thinking about love, whereas women are more prone to thinking about love as emotional commitment and security (Buss, 2000; Cimbalo & Novell, 1993; Hazan & Shaver, 1987). This distinction between male and female perceptions of romantic love, not to be confused with love experienced in casual day-to-day interactions, could partially explain why men displayed less knowledge of the consensus in the scenarios of love presented in this study. Our items on felt love were less centered on sexual and intimate relationships and behaviors and more centered on emotional support and supportive behavior from others during everyday momentary experiences. Thus, an everyday nonsexual approach to love could be more in line with the cognitive framework of women than men.

In terms of relationship status, we also found that people in relationships know more about the consensus on felt love than people who are single. Since love is defined as an interpersonal connection between two people who share a micro-moment of positivity in the midst of their daily life (Fredrickson, 2013), people who are in a relationship and have more chances of experiencing and receiving these signals of love may have more knowledge of what makes them feel loved than those who are not in a relationship. Moreover, based on previous research, people who have maintained a good quality relationship show better relational characteristics (Stafford & Cannary, 1991) and higher emotional intelligence (Brackett, Warner, & Bosco, 2005) than people who have not and thus could be an explanation why these people know more about the shared belief about love among people.

Understanding the Therapist Contribution to Psychotherapy Outcome: A Meta-Analytic Approach

Understanding the Therapist Contribution to Psychotherapy Outcome: A Meta-Analytic Approach. Robert J King et al. Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research, September 2017, Volume 44, Issue 5, pp 664–680, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10488-016-0783-9

Abstract: Understanding the role that therapists play in psychotherapy outcome, and the contribution to outcome made by individual therapist differences has implications for service delivery and training of therapists. In this study we used a novel approach to estimate the magnitude of the therapist contribution overall and the effect of individual therapist differences. We conducted a meta-analysis of studies in which participants were randomised to receive the same treatment either through self-help or through a therapist. We identified a total of 15 studies (commencement N = 910; completion N = 723) meeting inclusion criteria. We found no difference in treatment completion rate and broad equivalence of treatment outcomes for participants treated through self-help and participants treated through a therapist. Also, contrary to our expectations, we found that the variability of outcomes was broadly equivalent, suggesting that differences in efficacy of individual therapists were not sufficient to make therapy outcomes more variable when a therapist was involved. Overall, the findings suggest that self-help, with minimal therapist input, has considerable potential as a first-line intervention. The findings did not suggest that individual differences between therapists play a major role in psychotherapy outcome.

how feminist scholars can employ empirical evidence to weaken the popularized, patriarchal theory of sexual economics

Myths of Sexual Economics Theory: Implications for Gender Equality. Laurie A. Rudman
Psychology of Women Quarterly, Volume: 41 issue: 3, page(s): 299-313. http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0361684317714707

Abstract: The authors of sexual economics theory (Baumeister & Twenge, 2002; Baumeister & Vohs, 2004) argue that sex is a female commodity that women exchange for men’s resources; therefore, women (not men) are responsible for the cultural suppression of sexuality, ostensibly to preserve the value of sex. In this article, I describe the central tenets of sexual economics theory and summarize a growing body of research contradicting them. I also explain the negative implications of the claims of sexual economics theory for gender equality and heterosexual relationships. Researchers, clinicians, and educators engaged in understanding human sexuality may use the arguments provided in this article to counteract gender myths. This article also serves as a case study of how feminist scholars can employ empirical evidence to weaken a popularized, patriarchal theory.

Keywords: sexual economics theory, close relationships, human sexuality, gender equality

Predicting anti-vegetarian prejudice from pro-beef attitudes across cultures

What's your beef with vegetarians? Predicting anti-vegetarian prejudice from pro-beef attitudes across cultures. Megan Earle and Gordon Hodson. Personality and Individual Differences
Volume 119, 1 December 2017, Pages 52-55. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2017.06.034

Highlights
•    Pro-beef attitudes are robust predictors of anti-vegetarian prejudice.
•    This association is found in the U.S.A., France, Brazil and Argentina.
•    For Americans, this relation is particularly strong.
•    Attitudes towards meat are crucial for anti-vegetarian prejudice cross-culturally.
•    Relation varies in magnitude across countries.

Abstract: Contrary to other forms of prejudice (e.g., racism), explicit expressions of anti-vegetarian/vegan prejudice are common. But this bias has only recently received empirical attention, with very little cross-cultural evidence. Some theoretical approaches (e.g., Social Identity Theory) focus on social factors in understanding intergroup relations, but there is growing recognition that individual differences may also be crucial in understanding group processes. Here we hypothesize that the degree to which an individual enjoys (likes/desires/consumes) beef may be systematically related to prejudice towards non-meat eaters. Using data from the U.S.A, France, Brazil, and Argentina (N = 1695) we find that pro-beef attitudes are a robust predictor of anti-vegetarian prejudice across cultures (β = 0.47), with a particularly strong association in the USA (β = 0.65), where 43% of anti-vegetarian attitudes are explained by individual differences in beef enjoyment. This work contributes a cross-cultural comparison of anti-vegetarian prejudice and its predictors to the rapidly expanding literature on bias towards this growing social group.

Keywords: Prejudice, Meat, Vegetarian, Cross-cultural

Invention of the alphabet: a non-institutional cultural product by illiterate Canaanite miners

Invention of alphabets...

Pharaoh's Land and Beyond: Ancient Egypt and Its Neighbors. Edited by Pearce Paul Creasman, Richard H. Wilkinson. Chapter XI, The Flow of Words: Interaction in Writing and Literature during the  Bronze Age. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017. ISBN 978-0190229092

The high iconicity of the hieroglyphic script again played a key role on the stage of intellectual history at another crossroad of Egyptian and Levantine cultures. […]

Unlike the case of the Minoan and Anatolian scripts, the invention of the alphabet was not born in the environment of erudite scribes, but was apparently created as a non-institutional cultural product by illiterate Canaanite miners. Though they were experts in their professional field of mining, the inventors of the alphabet were far removed from the circles of professional writing in cuneiform and Egyptian. It is precisely this naïveté that allowed them to invent something completely new, as they were unencumbered by the scripts of their day. They were able to think outside the box, inventing a novel writing system--an alphabetic script made of fewer of thirty signs.

[…]

Like the inventors of the Cretan and Anatolian hieroglyphs, the Canaanites borrowed the Egyptian idea of turning pictures into script. Yet, not being professional scribes and not working in the service of any official ideology or institution, they did not bother to invent a whole set of new icons. They adopted roughly two dozen icons from the hieroglyphs around them--those that they found useful for their own purposes--and added a few new signs of their own.


https://books.google.com/books?id=4zslDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT5&lpg=PT5&dq=%22The+Flow+of+Words:+Interaction+in+Writing+and+Literature+during+the++Bronze+Age%22&source=bl&ots=71Y_2QZ5t9&sig=8u3c5f6t42tcS6k9Qu-BuAgjadE&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false

Sex Differences in Distress from Infidelity in Early Adulthood and in Later Life: On Shackelford Et Al. 2004

IJzerman, Hans, Irene Blanken, Mark Brandt, Hanneke Oerlemans, Marloes v d Hoogenhof, and Mathé Oerlemans. 2017. “Sex Differences in Distress from Infidelity in Early Adulthood and in Later Life: A Replication and Meta-analysis of Shackelford Et Al. (2004)”. PsyArXiv. June 28. osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/3urkp.

Abstract: Shackelford and colleagues (2004) found that men, compared to women, are more distressed by sexual than emotional infidelity, and this sex difference continued into older age. We conducted four high-powered replications (total N = 1,952) of this effect and found different results. A meta-analysis of original and replication studies finds the sex difference in younger samples (though with a smaller effect size), and no effect among older samples. Furthermore, we found attitude toward uncommitted sex to be a mediator (although not consistently in the same direction) between participant sex and relative distress between sexual and emotional infidelity. We hypothesize that the discrepancies between the original and replication studies may be due to changing cultural attitudes about sex across time. Confirming this speculative interpretation requires further investigation.

An analysis of the effects of political ideology and ethnic identity on procedural justice

Sebastian Roché, Guillaume Roux, (2017) "The “silver bullet” to good policing: a mirage: An analysis of the effects of political ideology and ethnic identity on procedural justice", Policing: An International Journal, Vol. 40 Issue: 3, pp.514-528, https://doi.org/10.1108/PIJPSM-05-2016-0073

Abstract:

Purpose: Procedural justice (PJ) during police-citizen interactions has often been portrayed as a “silver bullet” to good policing, as it could function as a means to gain trust, voluntary obedience and public cooperation. PJ research is based on the assumption that there exists “true fairness.” However, it is still unclear what people actually mean when they evaluate the police as “fair” in surveys. By focusing the analysis to underexplored aspects of PJ, namely, the identity and political antecedents of the attribution of procedural fairness, the authors highlight the social and ideological reasons that influence people’s perceptions of police fairness. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Findings: The present study finds support for the notion that aggressive policing policies (police-initiated contacts, e.g. identification checks, road stops) negatively impacts attributions of fairness to police. In addition, the findings show that ***attributions of fairness are not only interactional (i.e. related to what police do in any given situation) or related to individual cognitive phenomena, but for the most part pertain to broader social and political explanations***. Political and ethnic cleavages are the key to understanding how police are judged by the public. ***The findings therefore question the nature of what is actually measured when fairness is attributed to police, finding that more punitive and conservative respondents tend to assess the police as fair***. The authors find that the attribution of fairness seems to correspond to upholding the existing social order.

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Design/methodology/approach: In order to explain the attribution of fairness of police, the study comprises a range of independent variables organized into five overarching domains: prior experience with police, victimization, socioeconomic status and (disadvantaged) context of residence, ethnicity and political attitudes and punitive values. The analysis is based on a representative sample of France, as well as a booster sample of a deprived, urban province (Seine-Saint-Denis) in order to better incorporate ethnic effects into the model (March 2011; n=1.498, 18+).

Research limitations/implications: This study has limitations inherent to any cross-sectional survey and the findings pertain only to a single country (France). Furthermore, the authors did not analyze all possible confounding variables to perceived fairness.

Social implications: The findings pose a practical problem for police and government to implement, as the authors ultimately find that there is no single recipe, or “silver bullet,” for being deemed fair across all social, ethnic and political groups – and, of course, the expectations of one group might conflict with those of another.

Originality/value: The study demonstrates that existing theory needs to better incorporate those explanations of fairness which extend beyond interactional processes with police, and refer instead to the social and political cleavages in society.

Keywords: Ideology, Ethnic identity, Cleavage, Police-initiated contacts, Political attitudes

How do we know there are issues with our senses and that reality exists?

I guess that the other animals do the same...

Pavlovian conditioning–induced hallucinations result from overweighting of perceptual priors. A. R. Powers, C. Mathys, P. R. Corlett. Science  Aug 11 2017, Vol. 357, Issue 6351, pp. 596-600. DOI: 10.1126/science.aan3458

Abstract: Some people hear voices that others do not, but only some of those people seek treatment. Using a Pavlovian learning task, we induced conditioned hallucinations in four groups of people who differed orthogonally in their voice-hearing and treatment-seeking statuses. People who hear voices were significantly more susceptible to the effect. Using functional neuroimaging and computational modeling of perception, we identified processes that differentiated voice-hearers from non–voice-hearers and treatment-seekers from non–treatment-seekers and characterized a brain circuit that mediated the conditioned hallucinations. These data demonstrate the profound and sometimes pathological impact of top-down cognitive processes on perception and may represent an objective means to discern people with a need for treatment from those without.

My comment: We all suffer from hallucinations in our lives... An example is hearing our phone ringing very briefly and very softly when it is not possible that it sounded (no coverage, total isolation, and other phones could not be heard piercing the thick walls). We check and immediately find that no call is pending of being attended to. These researchers found that the cerebellum in some way dispells the hallucination with a constant check of past expectations and beliefs against reality, but some people with schizophrenia hear, with great confidence, sounds or voices ***five times*** more frequently than healthy controls. The more advanced is the illness, the less activity is seen in the cerebellum.

Academic competencies: Their interrelatedness and gender differences at their high end

Bergold, S., Wendt, H., Kasper, D., & Steinmayr, R. (2017). Academic competencies: Their interrelatedness and gender differences at their high end. Journal of Educational Psychology, 109(3), 439-449. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/edu0000140

Abstract: The present study investigated (a) how a latent profile analysis based on representative data of N = 74,868 4th graders from 17 European countries would cluster the students on the basis of their reading, mathematics, and science achievement test scores; (b) whether there would be gender differences at various competency levels, especially among the top performers; (c) and whether societal gender equity might account for possible cross-national variation in the gender ratios among the top performers. The latent profile analysis revealed an international model with 7 profiles. Across these profiles, the test scores of all achievement domains progressively and consistently increased. Thus, consistent with our expectations, (a) the profiles differed only in their individuals’ overall performance level across all academic competencies and not in their individuals’ performance profile shape. From the national samples, the vast majority of the students could be reliably assigned to 1 of the profiles of the international model. Inspection of the gender ratios revealed (b) that ***boys were overrepresented at both ends of the competency spectrum***. However, there was (c) some cross-national variation in the gender ratios among the top performers, which could be partly explained by women’s access to education and labor market participation. The interrelatedness of academic competencies and its practical implications, the role of gender equity as a possible cause of gender differences among the top performers, and directions for future research are discussed.

My comment: men are disproportionatelly brutish, have more sickos, have more retarted individuals and commit more crimes than women... but also the most intelligent of the population are desproportionately men.

I say this with a heavy heart; when a child I was a rabid militant feminist, and later I was a theoretical feminist (that is, I believed the girls were superior in most aspects to us and were the same in general intel, what me measure with IQ tests), until a few months ago. Not anymore.

Predicting real-world outcomes: Critical thinking ability is a better predictor of life decisions than intelligence

Predicting real-world outcomes: Critical thinking ability is a better predictor of life decisions than intelligence. Heather A. Butler, Christopher Pentoney, and Mabelle P. Bong. Thinking Skills and Creativity, Volume 25, September 2017, Pages 38-46, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2017.06.005

Highlights
•    Critical thinking and intelligence predicted the occurrence of real-world outcomes.
•    Those higher in critical thinking and intelligence reported fewer negative life events.
•    Critical thinking was a stronger predictor of real-world outcomes than intelligence.

Abstract: We all probably know someone who is very intelligent, but does blatantly stupid things. Despite evidence that intelligence predicts a variety of life outcomes, the relationship between intelligence and good thinking is less clear. This research explored whether critical thinking ability or intelligence was the better predictor of real life events. Community adults and college students (n = 244) completed a critical thinking assessment, an intelligence test, and an inventory of life events. Individuals with higher critical thinking scores and higher IQs reported fewer negative life events. Critical thinking more strongly predicted life events than intelligence and significantly added to the variance explained by IQ. There is ample evidence that critical thinking can be taught, so there is hope that teaching critical thinking skills might prevent the occurrence of negative life events. We advocate for critical thinking instruction as a way to create a better future for everyone.

Check also: Wisdom and how to cultivate it: Review of emerging evidence for a constructivist model of wise thinking. Igor Grossmann. European Psychologist, in press. Pre-print: https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/qkm6v/

We fear death, again --- Why We Should Create Artificial Offspring: Meaning and the Collective Afterlife

Why We Should Create Artificial Offspring: Meaning and the Collective Afterlife. John Danaher. Science and Engineering Ethics, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11948-017-9932-0

Abstract: This article argues that the creation of artificial offspring could make our lives more meaningful (i.e. satisfy more meaning-relevant conditions of value). By ‘artificial offspring’ I mean beings that we construct, with a mix of human and non-human-like qualities. Robotic artificial intelligences are paradigmatic examples of the form. There are two reasons for thinking that the creation of such beings could make our lives more meaningful and valuable. The first is that the existence of a collective afterlife—i.e. a set of human-like lives that continue after we die—is likely to be an important source and sustainer of meaning in our present lives (Scheffler in Death and the afterlife, OUP, Oxford, 2013). The second is that the creation of artificial offspring provides a plausible and potentially better pathway to a collective afterlife than the traditional biological pathway (i.e. there are reasons to favour this pathway and there are no good defeaters to trying it out). Both of these arguments are defended from a variety of objections and misunderstandings.

Opportunistic Accountability: State–Society Bargaining Over Shared Interests

Opportunistic Accountability: State–Society Bargaining Over Shared Interests. Shelby Grossman, Jonathan Phillips, and Leah R. Rosenzweig. Comparative Political Studies, http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0010414017720706

Abstract: Conflicting preferences between the state and society underpin most accountability mechanisms by providing a credible way for society to impose costs on the state. Adapting a classic bargaining framework, we argue that broader conditions can support state–society bargaining. Policies that both the state and society value can also enhance society’s negotiating power, provided society has a relatively lower valuation and is more patient than the state. ***By threatening to sabotage their own interests but hurt the impatient state even more, citizens can compel the state to deliver broader policy benefits. We illustrate this logic with the case of polio vaccination in northern Nigeria, where entire communities have resisted the vaccine as a strategy to bargain for more desired services.*** To resolve and preempt noncompliance, the Nigerian government has enhanced service delivery in other areas, demonstrating the opportunity for improved accountability in the presence of shared-interest policies.

Digitally connected, socially disconnected: The effects of relying on technology rather than other people

Digitally connected, socially disconnected: The effects of relying on technology rather than other people. Kostadin Kushlev, Jason D.E. Proulx and Elizabeth W. Dunn. Computers in Human Behavior, Volume 76, November 2017, Pages 68-74. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2017.07.001

Highlights
•    We assessed the costs and benefits of relying on smartphones for information.
•    People were randomly assigned to look for a building with or without their phones.
•    People relying on their phones found the building faster and felt happier.
•    Participants using phones talked to fewer people and felt less socially connected.
•    On-the-go information is useful but has a hidden cost: missed social opportunities.

Abstract: In less than a decade, smartphones have transformed how, when, and where people access information. We propose that turning to technology for information may lead individuals to miss out on opportunities to cultivate feelings of social connection. Testing this hypothesis, we asked participants to find an unfamiliar building and randomly assigned them to solve this everyday problem either with or without their smartphones. Compared to those who could not rely on technology, participants who used their smartphones found the building more easily but ended up feeling less socially connected. Although having access to smartphones improved participants’ mood by making their task easier, this beneficial effect was diminished by the costs to social connection. Our findings provide the first experimental evidence that the benefits of pervasive connectivity may be undercut when technology supplants social interactions.

Dispelling stereotypes, nerds in high school had a lower income and less reproductive success

The Life History of the Nerd and Jock: Reproductive Implications of High School Labels. Edward Sturman, Holly Wright, Jennifer Bremser, and Tabitha Fish. Eleventh Annual Conference on the Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences, NEEPS 2017. Binghamton University, June 15-18, 2017. https://t.co/gckPMHScQg

Abstract: The present research sought to explore whether labels such as “nerd” and “jock” represent different life history strategies. We hypothesized that self-identified nerds would seek to maximize future reproductive success while the jock strategy would be aimed at maximizing current reproductive success. We also empirically tested Belsky’s (1997) theory of attachment style and life history. A mixed student/community sample was used (n=312, average age = 31) and completed multiple questionnaires on Survey Monkey. Dispelling stereotypes, nerds in high school had a lower income and did not demonstrate a future orientation in regards to reproductive success, although they did have less offspring. Being a jock in high-school was related to a more secure attachment style, higher income, and higher perceived dominance.

Political Affiliation, Spirituality, & Religiosity: Links to Emerging Adults’ Life Satisfaction & Optimism

Political Affiliation, Spirituality, and Religiosity: Links to Emerging Adults’ Life Satisfaction and Optimism. Cansu Berivan Ozmen, Gina M. Belsford and Caili R. Danieu. Journal of Religion and Health, pp 1–14. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10943-017-0477-y

Abstract: The goal of this study was to extend the existing literature regarding the intersection between belief systems shaping psychological processes and subjective well-being among emerging adults. A nationwide sample of 3966 college students reported on their political affiliation, spirituality, and religiosity in relation to their subjective well-being. Multivariate analyses demonstrated that politically conservative participants were significantly more optimistic and satisfied with life than their liberal counterparts and Republican emerging adults reported significantly higher life satisfaction than Democrats. Republican emerging adults also reported significantly higher rates of religiosity and spirituality than Democratic and Independent politically affiliated emerging adults. Our findings corroborate and expand upon existing literature regarding belief systems and political identity as determinants of subjective well-being in emerging adults.

Resident Neuroticism Accounts for Life Satisfaction Differences Between Conservative & Liberal USA States

State Resident Neuroticism Accounts for Life Satisfaction Differences Between Conservative and Liberal States of the USA. Stewart J. H. McCann. Psychological Reports, http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0033294117725072

Abstract: Past research indicates associations between higher conservatism and higher life satisfaction, lower neuroticism and higher life satisfaction, and higher conservatism and lower neuroticism. Qualified deduction led to the following hypothesis: Neuroticism can account for the association between higher conservatism and higher life satisfaction. The 50 American states served as the units of analysis. Responses of 619,397 residents to the 44-item Big Five Inventory in an internet survey conducted from 1999 to 2005 provided mean neuroticism scores for each state. Conservative-liberal leaning of over 84,000 respondents to CBS News/New York Times polls from 1999 to 2003 and the percent voting Republican in each state in the 2000 to 2008 presidential elections combined to form a conservatism score for each state. The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index provided life satisfaction scores for over 1,000,000 respondents, transforming to a 2008 to 2010 composite score for each state. In a sequential multiple regression equation with life satisfaction as the criterion, state socioeconomic status and white population percent entered first as a block, conservatism entered second, and neuroticism entered third, the demographic controls accounted for 45.7% of the variance, conservatism accounted for another 10.4%, and neuroticism accounted for an additional 10.6%. However, with the entry order of conservatism and neuroticism reversed, neuroticism accounted for another 19.6% but conservatism accounted for only an additional nonsignificant 1.4%. Therefore, the hypothesis was supported. Three alternativeexplanations suggested by other researchers were not supported in the state-level analysis.

Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained: People Anticipate More Regret from Missed Romantic Opportunities than from Rejection

Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained: People Anticipate More Regret from Missed Romantic Opportunities than from Rejection. Samantha Joel, Jason Plaks and Geoff MacDonald. University of Toronto. Open Science Framework, Aug 11 2017, https://osf.io/s45ce/

Abstract: Romantic pursuit decisions often require a person to risk one of two errors: pursuing a romantic target when interest is not reciprocated (resulting in rejection), or failing to pursue a romantic target when interest is reciprocated (resulting in a missed romantic opportunity). In the present research, we examined how strongly people wish to avoid these two competing negative outcomes. When asked to recall a regrettable dating experience, participants were more than three times as likely to recall a missed opportunity rather than a rejection (Study 1). When presented with romantic pursuit dilemmas, participants perceived missed opportunities to be more regrettable than rejection (Studies 2-4), partially because they perceived missed opportunities to be more consequential to their lives (Studies 3 and 4). Participants were also more willing to risk rejection rather than missed romantic opportunities in the context of imagined (Study 4) and actual (Study 5) pursuit decisions. These effects generally extended even to less secure individuals (low self-esteem, high attachment anxiety). Overall, these studies suggest that motivation to avoid missed romantic opportunities may help to explain how people overcome fears of rejection in the pursuit of potential romantic partners.

Spiritual Disciplines & Virtue Formation: Examining the Effects of Intercessory Prayer, Moral Intuitions, etc., on Generous Behavior

Spiritual Disciplines and Virtue Formation: Examining the Effects of Intercessory Prayer, Moral Intuitions, and Theological Orientation on Generous Behavior. Greenway, Tyler S., Ph.D., FULLER THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, SCHOOL OF PSYCHOLOGY, 2017, 160 pages; 10286232. gradworks.umi.com/10/28/10286232.html

Abstract: This study was designed to investigate the effects of intercessory prayer, moral intuitions, and theological orientation on generous behavior. Of particular interest for this project is the manner in which moral intuitions and the discipline of prayer interact. Research has found that both moral intuitions and prayer have an effect on virtuous behavior, but their interaction remains under investigated. It may be that intercessory prayer is more effective in producing or enhancing virtuous behavior when performed by individuals who tend to be motivated by particular moral intuitions when making moral decisions. This study was specifically designed to examine how intercessory prayer interacts with the moral intuitions of harm/care and fairness/reciprocity, which previous research has found are emphasized by both political conservatives and liberals, though liberals tend to rely on these intuitions more exclusively. ***Contrary to hypotheses, multiple regression analyses revealed that the prayer condition was associated with less monetary generosity than the control condition***. Exploratory hypotheses and results are considered, and the implications of this research are discussed.

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"Prayer may have led to less monetary generosity because it relieved any anxiety or dissonance experiened by the individuals. Prayer may have also led to less generosity because God was believed to be the solution to the problem, rather than participants' personal action"

Behavioral display of lumbar curvature in response to the opposite sex

Behavioral display of lumbar curvature in response to the opposite sex. Zeynep Şenveli Bilkent  University, Graduate Program in Neuroscience - Master's degree thesis. http://repository.bilkent.edu.tr/handle/11693/33362

Abstract: The aim of this thesis was to investigate the hypothesis that women adjust their lumbar curvature to approach the suggested biomechanical optimum of 45.5 degrees in response to the presence of an attractive member of the opposite sex. The experiment was designed to examine the relationship between a) participants’ ratings of an attractive male confederate and the displayed change in deviation from the optimum displayed by women, and b) participants’ ratings of the attractive male confederate and the displayed change in the absolute degree of lumbar curvature, both while controlling for potential confounds such as participants’ self-perceived physical attractiveness, self-esteem, personality traits, and sociosexual orientation. Initial statistical analyses revealed a significant change in participants’ lumbar curvature pre- to post-exposure to the attractive male confederate. Subsequent analyses to examine the nature of the change indicated that socio-sexual orientation reliably predicted the change in lumbar curvature, but not the change in deviation from the optimum. The remaining variables predicted neither the change in lumbar curvature nor the change in deviation from the optimum significantly. This study is aimed at increasing our understanding of the behavioral display of lumbar curvature for self-promotion purposes in response to the presence of opposite sex.