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.
Friday, February 2, 2018
Thursday, February 1, 2018
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
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
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
The origins of infants’ fairness concerns and links to prosocial behavior
The origins of infants’ fairness concerns and links to prosocial behavior. Jessica A. Sommerville, Elizabeth A. Enright. Current Opinion in Psychology, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2018.01.005
Highlights
• Infants possess a rudimentary sense of distributive fairness.
• Infants expect resources to be distributed equally to recipients.
• Infants evaluate individuals based on their adherence to fairness norms.
• Sharing experience may drive the developmental acquisition of fairness norms.
• Later, variability in the nature of infants’ sharing predicts fairness concerns.
• Limitations exist in infants’ fairness concerns: they do not punish unfair agents.
Abstract: Concerns about fairness are central to mature moral judgments. We review research regarding the origins of a sensitivity to distributive fairness, and how it relates to early sharing. Infants’ sensitivity to fairness appears to be commensurate with that of school-age children: infants notice violations to fairness norms and evaluate individuals based on their fair or unfair behavior. However, it may differ in other ways: there is no evidence that infants punish unfair individuals. Sharing behavior plays a role in both the developmental emergence of, and subsequent individual differences in, infants’ fairness concerns. These results motivate novel questions, such whether infants can entertain other models of fairness, whether infants’ socio-moral concerns hang together, and the relationship early fairness sensitivities and later fair behavior.
Highlights
• Infants possess a rudimentary sense of distributive fairness.
• Infants expect resources to be distributed equally to recipients.
• Infants evaluate individuals based on their adherence to fairness norms.
• Sharing experience may drive the developmental acquisition of fairness norms.
• Later, variability in the nature of infants’ sharing predicts fairness concerns.
• Limitations exist in infants’ fairness concerns: they do not punish unfair agents.
Abstract: Concerns about fairness are central to mature moral judgments. We review research regarding the origins of a sensitivity to distributive fairness, and how it relates to early sharing. Infants’ sensitivity to fairness appears to be commensurate with that of school-age children: infants notice violations to fairness norms and evaluate individuals based on their fair or unfair behavior. However, it may differ in other ways: there is no evidence that infants punish unfair individuals. Sharing behavior plays a role in both the developmental emergence of, and subsequent individual differences in, infants’ fairness concerns. These results motivate novel questions, such whether infants can entertain other models of fairness, whether infants’ socio-moral concerns hang together, and the relationship early fairness sensitivities and later fair behavior.
Wednesday, January 31, 2018
How Fleeting Is Fame? Collective Memory for Popular Music
Spivack, Stephen, Nathaniel H Spilka, and Pascal Wallisch 2018. “How Fleeting Is Fame? Collective Memory for Popular Music”. PsyArXiv. February 1. psyarxiv.com/tdfyc
Abstract: In this paper, we investigated the collective memory for popular music. To assess how well number-one hits are recognized over time, we randomly selected top songs from the last 76 years and presented them to a large sample of mostly millennial participants. In response to hearing each selection, participants were prompted to indicate whether they recognized each song. We found three distinct phases in collective memory: a steep linear drop-off in recognition for the music from this millennium, a stable plateau from the 1960s to the 1990s, and a further but more gradual drop-off for music from the 1940s and 1950s. More than half of recognition variability between songs can be accounted for by exposure as measured by Spotify play counts. We conclude that in the musical realm, fame is fleeting - but perhaps not as fleeting as previously suggested.
Abstract: In this paper, we investigated the collective memory for popular music. To assess how well number-one hits are recognized over time, we randomly selected top songs from the last 76 years and presented them to a large sample of mostly millennial participants. In response to hearing each selection, participants were prompted to indicate whether they recognized each song. We found three distinct phases in collective memory: a steep linear drop-off in recognition for the music from this millennium, a stable plateau from the 1960s to the 1990s, and a further but more gradual drop-off for music from the 1940s and 1950s. More than half of recognition variability between songs can be accounted for by exposure as measured by Spotify play counts. We conclude that in the musical realm, fame is fleeting - but perhaps not as fleeting as previously suggested.
Languages with many speakers tend to be structurally simple while small communities sometimes develop languages with great structural complexity. The opposite pattern is observed for non-structural properties of language such as vocabulary size
Simpler grammar, larger vocabulary: How population size affects language. Florencia Reali, Nick Chater, Morten H. Christiansen. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2017.2586
Abstract: Languages with many speakers tend to be structurally simple while small communities sometimes develop languages with great structural complexity. Paradoxically, the opposite pattern appears to be observed for non-structural properties of language such as vocabulary size. These apparently opposite patterns pose a challenge for theories of language change and evolution. We use computational simulations to show that this inverse pattern can depend on a single factor: ease of diffusion through the population. A population of interacting agents was arranged on a network, passing linguistic conventions to one another along network links. Agents can invent new conventions, or replicate conventions that they have previously generated themselves or learned from other agents. Linguistic conventions are either Easy or Hard to diffuse, depending on how many times an agent needs to encounter a convention to learn it. In large groups, only linguistic conventions that are easy to learn, such as words, tend to proliferate, whereas small groups where everyone talks to everyone else allow for more complex conventions, like grammatical regularities, to be maintained. Our simulations thus suggest that language, and possibly other aspects of culture, may become simpler at the structural level as our world becomes increasingly interconnected.
Abstract: Languages with many speakers tend to be structurally simple while small communities sometimes develop languages with great structural complexity. Paradoxically, the opposite pattern appears to be observed for non-structural properties of language such as vocabulary size. These apparently opposite patterns pose a challenge for theories of language change and evolution. We use computational simulations to show that this inverse pattern can depend on a single factor: ease of diffusion through the population. A population of interacting agents was arranged on a network, passing linguistic conventions to one another along network links. Agents can invent new conventions, or replicate conventions that they have previously generated themselves or learned from other agents. Linguistic conventions are either Easy or Hard to diffuse, depending on how many times an agent needs to encounter a convention to learn it. In large groups, only linguistic conventions that are easy to learn, such as words, tend to proliferate, whereas small groups where everyone talks to everyone else allow for more complex conventions, like grammatical regularities, to be maintained. Our simulations thus suggest that language, and possibly other aspects of culture, may become simpler at the structural level as our world becomes increasingly interconnected.
Warm and touching tears: tearful individuals are perceived as warmer because we assume they feel moved and touched
Warm and touching tears: tearful individuals are perceived as warmer because we assume they feel moved and touched. Janis H. Zickfeld & Thomas W. Schubert. Cognition and Emotion, https://doi.org/10.1080/02699931.2018.1430556
ABSTRACT: Recent work investigated the inter-individual functions of emotional tears in depth. In one study (Van de Ven, N., Meijs, M. H. J., & Vingerhoets, A. (2017). What emotional tears convey: Tearful individuals are seen as warmer, but also as less competent. British Journal of Social Psychology, 56(1), 146–160. Https://doi.org/10.1111/bjso.12162) tearful individuals were rated as warmer, and participants expressed more intentions to approach and help such individuals. Simultaneously, tearful individuals were rated as less competent, and participants expressed less intention to work with the depicted targets. While tearful individuals were perceived as sadder, perceived sadness mediated only the effect on competence, but not on warmth. We argue that tearful individuals might be perceived as warm because they are perceived as feeling moved and touched. We ran a pre-registered extended replication of Van de Ven et al. Results replicate the warmth and helping findings, but not the competence and work effects. The increase in warmth ratings was completely mediated by perceiving feeling moved and touched. Possible functions of feeling moved and touched with regard to emotional tears are discussed.
KEYWORDS: Tears, feeling moved, stereotype content model, kama muta
ABSTRACT: Recent work investigated the inter-individual functions of emotional tears in depth. In one study (Van de Ven, N., Meijs, M. H. J., & Vingerhoets, A. (2017). What emotional tears convey: Tearful individuals are seen as warmer, but also as less competent. British Journal of Social Psychology, 56(1), 146–160. Https://doi.org/10.1111/bjso.12162) tearful individuals were rated as warmer, and participants expressed more intentions to approach and help such individuals. Simultaneously, tearful individuals were rated as less competent, and participants expressed less intention to work with the depicted targets. While tearful individuals were perceived as sadder, perceived sadness mediated only the effect on competence, but not on warmth. We argue that tearful individuals might be perceived as warm because they are perceived as feeling moved and touched. We ran a pre-registered extended replication of Van de Ven et al. Results replicate the warmth and helping findings, but not the competence and work effects. The increase in warmth ratings was completely mediated by perceiving feeling moved and touched. Possible functions of feeling moved and touched with regard to emotional tears are discussed.
KEYWORDS: Tears, feeling moved, stereotype content model, kama muta
Do the Right Thing: Experimental evidence that preferences for moral behavior, rather than equity or efficiency per se, drive human prosociality
Do the Right Thing: Experimental evidence that preferences for moral behavior, rather than equity or efficiency per se, drive human prosociality. Valerio Capraro, David G. Rand. Judgment and Decision Making, Vol. 13, No. 1, January 2018, pp. 99-111. http://journal.sjdm.org/17/171107/jdm171107.html
Abstract: Decades of experimental research show that some people forgo personal gains to benefit others in unilateral anonymous interactions. To explain these results, behavioral economists typically assume that people have social preferences for minimizing inequality and/or maximizing efficiency (social welfare). Here we present data that cannot be explained by these standard social preference models. We use a “Trade-Off Game” (TOG), where players unilaterally choose between an equitable option and an efficient option. We show that simply changing the labelling of the options to describe the equitable versus efficient option as morally right completely reverses the correlation between behavior in the TOG and play in a separate Dictator Game (DG) or Prisoner’s Dilemma (PD): people who take the action framed as moral in the TOG, be it equitable or efficient, are much more prosocial in the DG and PD. Rather than preferences for equity and/or efficiency per se, our results suggest that prosociality in games such as the DG and PD are driven by a generalized morality preference that motivates people to do what they think is morally right.
Keywords: prosociality, morality, equity, efficiency
Abstract: Decades of experimental research show that some people forgo personal gains to benefit others in unilateral anonymous interactions. To explain these results, behavioral economists typically assume that people have social preferences for minimizing inequality and/or maximizing efficiency (social welfare). Here we present data that cannot be explained by these standard social preference models. We use a “Trade-Off Game” (TOG), where players unilaterally choose between an equitable option and an efficient option. We show that simply changing the labelling of the options to describe the equitable versus efficient option as morally right completely reverses the correlation between behavior in the TOG and play in a separate Dictator Game (DG) or Prisoner’s Dilemma (PD): people who take the action framed as moral in the TOG, be it equitable or efficient, are much more prosocial in the DG and PD. Rather than preferences for equity and/or efficiency per se, our results suggest that prosociality in games such as the DG and PD are driven by a generalized morality preference that motivates people to do what they think is morally right.
Keywords: prosociality, morality, equity, efficiency
Higher status people derogate ideological opponents less (i.e., evaluate them more charitably); greater rhetoric handling prowess (RHP: feeling more confident and less intimidated while arguing) mediates the effect
Aiden P. Gregg, Nikhila Mahadevan, and Constantine Sedikides (2018). Taking the High Ground: The Impact of Social Status on the Derogation of Ideological Opponents. Social Cognition: Vol. 36, Special Issue: The Status of Status: Vistas from Social Cognition, pp. 43-77. https://doi.org/10.1521/soco.2018.36.1.43
Abstract: People tend to derogate their ideological opponents. But how does social status affect this tendency? We tested a prediction derived from hierometer theory that people with higher status would derogate ideological opponents less (i.e., evaluate them more charitably). We further predicted that greater rhetoric handling prowess (RHP: feeling more confident and less intimidated while arguing) would mediate the effect. Study 1 established a link between higher status and lesser opponent derogation correlationally. Study 2 did so experimentally. Using a scale to assess RHP developed and validated in Study 3, Study 4 established that RHP statistically mediated the correlational link between status and derogation. In Study 5, experimentally manipulating status affected RHP as predicted. However, in Study 6, experimentally manipulating RHP did not affect opponent derogation as predicted. Thus, our findings were substantially, but not entirely, consistent with our theoretically derived predictions. Implications for hierometer theory, and related theoretical approaches, are considered.
KEYWORDS: derogation, status, social status, rhetoric, hierometer theory
Abstract: People tend to derogate their ideological opponents. But how does social status affect this tendency? We tested a prediction derived from hierometer theory that people with higher status would derogate ideological opponents less (i.e., evaluate them more charitably). We further predicted that greater rhetoric handling prowess (RHP: feeling more confident and less intimidated while arguing) would mediate the effect. Study 1 established a link between higher status and lesser opponent derogation correlationally. Study 2 did so experimentally. Using a scale to assess RHP developed and validated in Study 3, Study 4 established that RHP statistically mediated the correlational link between status and derogation. In Study 5, experimentally manipulating status affected RHP as predicted. However, in Study 6, experimentally manipulating RHP did not affect opponent derogation as predicted. Thus, our findings were substantially, but not entirely, consistent with our theoretically derived predictions. Implications for hierometer theory, and related theoretical approaches, are considered.
KEYWORDS: derogation, status, social status, rhetoric, hierometer theory
For the poor, thoughts about cost and money are triggered by mundane circumstances, they are difficult to suppress, they change mental associations, and they interfere with other experiences
Anuj K. Shah, Jiaying Zhao, Sendhil Mullainathan, and Eldar Shafir (2018). Money in the Mental Lives of the Poor. Social Cognition: Vol. 36, Special Issue: The Status of Status: Vistas from Social Cognition, pp. 4-19. https://doi.org/10.1521/soco.2018.36.1.4
Abstract: Recent research has studied how resource scarcity draws attention and creates cognitive load. As a result, scarcity improves some dimensions of cognitive function, while worsening others. Still, there remains a fundamental question: how does scarcity influence the content of cognition? In this article, we find that poor individuals (i.e., those facing monetary scarcity) see many everyday experiences through a different lens. Specifically, thoughts about cost and money are triggered by mundane circumstances, they are difficult to suppress, they change mental associations, and they interfere with other experiences. We suggest that the poor see an economic dimension to many everyday experiences that to others may not appear economic at all.
KEYWORDS: scarcity, money, spontaneous thoughts, financial concerns, attention
Abstract: Recent research has studied how resource scarcity draws attention and creates cognitive load. As a result, scarcity improves some dimensions of cognitive function, while worsening others. Still, there remains a fundamental question: how does scarcity influence the content of cognition? In this article, we find that poor individuals (i.e., those facing monetary scarcity) see many everyday experiences through a different lens. Specifically, thoughts about cost and money are triggered by mundane circumstances, they are difficult to suppress, they change mental associations, and they interfere with other experiences. We suggest that the poor see an economic dimension to many everyday experiences that to others may not appear economic at all.
KEYWORDS: scarcity, money, spontaneous thoughts, financial concerns, attention
Tuesday, January 30, 2018
Androstadienone, a Chemosignal Found in Human Sweat, Increases Individualistic Behavior and Decreases Cooperative Responses in Men
Androstadienone, a Chemosignal Found in Human Sweat, Increases Individualistic Behavior and Decreases Cooperative Responses in Men. A Banner, I Frumin, S G Shamay-Tsoory. Chemical Senses, bjy002, https://doi.org/10.1093/chemse/bjy002
Abstract: A growing body of evidence suggests that humans can communicate socially relevant information, such as aggression, dominance and readiness for competition, through chemosensory signals. Androstadienone (androsta-4,16,-dien-3-one), a testosterone-derived compound found in men's axillary sweat, is a main candidate for a human pheromone that may convey such information. The current study aimed to investigate whether androstadienone serves as a chemosignaling threat cue to men, thus triggering avoidance behavior during competitive interaction with another man. In a double-blind, placebo-controlled, within-subject study design, 30 healthy, normosmic, heterosexual male participants completed the Social Orientation Paradigm (SOP), a monetary game played against a fictitious partner that allows three types of responses to be measured in the context of provocation: an aggressive response, an individualistic withdrawal response, and a cooperative response. Participants completed the SOP task twice, once under exposure to androstadienone and once under exposure to a control solution. The results indicate that androstadienone increased individualistic responses while it decreased cooperative responses. These findings support the role of androstadienone as a threatening signal of dominance that elicits behavioral avoidance and social withdrawal tendencies, possibly as a submissive response.
Abstract: A growing body of evidence suggests that humans can communicate socially relevant information, such as aggression, dominance and readiness for competition, through chemosensory signals. Androstadienone (androsta-4,16,-dien-3-one), a testosterone-derived compound found in men's axillary sweat, is a main candidate for a human pheromone that may convey such information. The current study aimed to investigate whether androstadienone serves as a chemosignaling threat cue to men, thus triggering avoidance behavior during competitive interaction with another man. In a double-blind, placebo-controlled, within-subject study design, 30 healthy, normosmic, heterosexual male participants completed the Social Orientation Paradigm (SOP), a monetary game played against a fictitious partner that allows three types of responses to be measured in the context of provocation: an aggressive response, an individualistic withdrawal response, and a cooperative response. Participants completed the SOP task twice, once under exposure to androstadienone and once under exposure to a control solution. The results indicate that androstadienone increased individualistic responses while it decreased cooperative responses. These findings support the role of androstadienone as a threatening signal of dominance that elicits behavioral avoidance and social withdrawal tendencies, possibly as a submissive response.
The echo chamber is overstated: the moderating effect of political interest and diverse media
The echo chamber is overstated: the moderating effect of political interest and diverse media. Elizabeth Dubois & Grant Blank. Information, Communication & Society, https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2018.1428656
ABSTRACT: In a high-choice media environment, there are fears that individuals will select media and content that reinforce their existing beliefs and lead to segregation based on interest and/or partisanship. This could lead to partisan echo chambers among those who are politically interested and could contribute to a growing gap in knowledge between those who are politically interested and those who are not. However, the high-choice environment also allows individuals, including those who are politically interested, to consume a wide variety of media, which could lead them to more diverse content and perspectives. This study examines the relationship between political interest as well as media diversity and being caught in an echo chamber (measured by five different variables). Using a nationally representative survey of adult internet users in the United Kingdom (N = 2000), we find that those who are interested in politics and those with diverse media diets tend to avoid echo chambers. This work challenges the impact of echo chambers and tempers fears of partisan segregation since only a small segment of the population are likely to find themselves in an echo chamber. We argue that single media studies and studies which use narrow definitions and measurements of being in an echo chamber are flawed because they do not test the theory in the realistic context of a multiple media environment.
KEYWORDS: Echo chamber, high-choice media environment, political interest, media diversity, survey
Check also: Polarized Mass or Polarized Few? Assessing the Parallel Rise of Survey Nonresponse and Measures of Polarization. Amnon Cavari and Guy Freedman. The Journal of Politics, https://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2018/03/polarized-mass-or-polarized-few.html
ABSTRACT: In a high-choice media environment, there are fears that individuals will select media and content that reinforce their existing beliefs and lead to segregation based on interest and/or partisanship. This could lead to partisan echo chambers among those who are politically interested and could contribute to a growing gap in knowledge between those who are politically interested and those who are not. However, the high-choice environment also allows individuals, including those who are politically interested, to consume a wide variety of media, which could lead them to more diverse content and perspectives. This study examines the relationship between political interest as well as media diversity and being caught in an echo chamber (measured by five different variables). Using a nationally representative survey of adult internet users in the United Kingdom (N = 2000), we find that those who are interested in politics and those with diverse media diets tend to avoid echo chambers. This work challenges the impact of echo chambers and tempers fears of partisan segregation since only a small segment of the population are likely to find themselves in an echo chamber. We argue that single media studies and studies which use narrow definitions and measurements of being in an echo chamber are flawed because they do not test the theory in the realistic context of a multiple media environment.
KEYWORDS: Echo chamber, high-choice media environment, political interest, media diversity, survey
Check also: Polarized Mass or Polarized Few? Assessing the Parallel Rise of Survey Nonresponse and Measures of Polarization. Amnon Cavari and Guy Freedman. The Journal of Politics, https://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2018/03/polarized-mass-or-polarized-few.html
There is a small positive relation between service quality and percentage of a bill tipped; service quality was a stronger predictor of percentage of the bill tipped than food quality, frequency of patronage, and dining party size
Banks, G. C., Woznyj, H. M., Kepes, S., Batchelor, J. H. and McDaniel, M. A. (), A meta-analytic review of tipping compensation practices: An agency theory perspective. Personnel Psychology. Accepted Author Manuscript. doi:10.1111/peps.12261
Tipping represents a form of compensation valued at over $50 billion a year in the U.S. alone. Tipping can be used as an incentive mechanism to reduce a principal-agent problem. An agency problem occurs when the interests of a principal and agent are misaligned and it is challenging for the principal to monitor or control the activities of the agent. However, past research has been limited in the investigation of the extent to which tipping is effective at addressing this problem. Following an examination of 74 independent studies with 12,271 individuals, meta-analytic results indicate that there is a small, positive relation between service quality and percentage of a bill tipped (rho =.15 without outliers). Yet, in support of the idea behind tipping, relative weights analyses illustrate that service quality was a stronger predictor of percentage of the bill tipped than food quality, frequency of patronage, and dining party size. Evidence also suggests that racial minority servers tend to be tipped less than White servers (Cohen's d = .17), and females tend to be tipped more than males (Cohen's d = .15). Still, given the magnitude of the effect, one might question if tipping is an effective compensation practice to reduce the principal-agent problem. We discuss theoretical and practical implications for future research.
Tipping represents a form of compensation valued at over $50 billion a year in the U.S. alone. Tipping can be used as an incentive mechanism to reduce a principal-agent problem. An agency problem occurs when the interests of a principal and agent are misaligned and it is challenging for the principal to monitor or control the activities of the agent. However, past research has been limited in the investigation of the extent to which tipping is effective at addressing this problem. Following an examination of 74 independent studies with 12,271 individuals, meta-analytic results indicate that there is a small, positive relation between service quality and percentage of a bill tipped (rho =.15 without outliers). Yet, in support of the idea behind tipping, relative weights analyses illustrate that service quality was a stronger predictor of percentage of the bill tipped than food quality, frequency of patronage, and dining party size. Evidence also suggests that racial minority servers tend to be tipped less than White servers (Cohen's d = .17), and females tend to be tipped more than males (Cohen's d = .15). Still, given the magnitude of the effect, one might question if tipping is an effective compensation practice to reduce the principal-agent problem. We discuss theoretical and practical implications for future research.
Only Bad for Believers? Religion, Pornography Use, and Sexual Satisfaction Among American Men
Only Bad for Believers? Religion, Pornography Use, and Sexual Satisfaction Among American Men. Perry, Samuel L., Whitehead, Andrew L. The Journal of Sex Research, https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2017.1423017
Abstract: Research has often demonstrated a negative association between pornography use and various intrapersonal and relationship outcomes, particularly for men. Several recent studies, however, have suggested that the negative association between pornography use and these indicators is stronger among more religious Americans, suggesting that moral incongruence (engaging in an activity that violates one’s sacred values) and the attendant shame or cognitive dissonance, rather than pornography use per se, may be the primary factor at work. The current study tested and extended this theory by examining how religion potentially moderates the link between pornography use and sexual satisfaction in a national random sample of American adults (N = 1,501). Analyses demonstrated that while pornography use was negatively associated with sexual satisfaction for American men (not women), among men who rarely attended religious services or held a low opinion of the Bible this negative association essentially disappeared. Conversely, the negative association between frequency of pornography consumption and sexual satisfaction was more pronounced for men with stronger ties to conventional religion. These findings suggest that the connection between pornography use and sexual satisfaction, especially for men, depends largely on what viewing pornography means to consumers and their moral community and less so on the practice itself.
Abstract: Research has often demonstrated a negative association between pornography use and various intrapersonal and relationship outcomes, particularly for men. Several recent studies, however, have suggested that the negative association between pornography use and these indicators is stronger among more religious Americans, suggesting that moral incongruence (engaging in an activity that violates one’s sacred values) and the attendant shame or cognitive dissonance, rather than pornography use per se, may be the primary factor at work. The current study tested and extended this theory by examining how religion potentially moderates the link between pornography use and sexual satisfaction in a national random sample of American adults (N = 1,501). Analyses demonstrated that while pornography use was negatively associated with sexual satisfaction for American men (not women), among men who rarely attended religious services or held a low opinion of the Bible this negative association essentially disappeared. Conversely, the negative association between frequency of pornography consumption and sexual satisfaction was more pronounced for men with stronger ties to conventional religion. These findings suggest that the connection between pornography use and sexual satisfaction, especially for men, depends largely on what viewing pornography means to consumers and their moral community and less so on the practice itself.
Offspring sex ratio: Coital rates and other potential causal mechanisms
Offspring sex ratio: Coital rates and other potential causal mechanisms. William H.James, VictorGrech. Early Human Development, Volume 116, January 2018, Pages 24-27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earlhumdev.2017.10.006
Highlights
• Sex ratios at birth (SRB) are elevated by increased coital rates.
• Maternal stress induces male foetal losses.
• Periconceptual parental hormone concentrations may influence SRB.
• Understanding SRB influences may help understand causes of diseases with unusual SRB.
• E.g.: testicular cancer, hepatitis B, Toxoplasma gondii and, perhaps, prostatic cancer
Abstract: In recent years, scientists have begun to pay serious attention to the hypothesis that human parental coital rates around the time of conception causally influences the sexes of subsequent births. In this paper, the grounds of the argument are outlined. The point is important because, if the hypothesis were credible, it can potentially explain one of the best established (and otherwise unexplained) epidemiological features of sex ratio at birth – its rises during and just after World Wars 1 and 2 insofar as increased coital rates increase the ratio. Moreover, the greater the understanding of the variations of sex ratio at birth, the greater will be the understanding of the causes of those selected diseases associated with unusual sex ratios at birth (testicular cancer, hepatitis B, Toxoplasma gondii, and, perhaps, prostatic cancer).
Highlights
• Sex ratios at birth (SRB) are elevated by increased coital rates.
• Maternal stress induces male foetal losses.
• Periconceptual parental hormone concentrations may influence SRB.
• Understanding SRB influences may help understand causes of diseases with unusual SRB.
• E.g.: testicular cancer, hepatitis B, Toxoplasma gondii and, perhaps, prostatic cancer
Abstract: In recent years, scientists have begun to pay serious attention to the hypothesis that human parental coital rates around the time of conception causally influences the sexes of subsequent births. In this paper, the grounds of the argument are outlined. The point is important because, if the hypothesis were credible, it can potentially explain one of the best established (and otherwise unexplained) epidemiological features of sex ratio at birth – its rises during and just after World Wars 1 and 2 insofar as increased coital rates increase the ratio. Moreover, the greater the understanding of the variations of sex ratio at birth, the greater will be the understanding of the causes of those selected diseases associated with unusual sex ratios at birth (testicular cancer, hepatitis B, Toxoplasma gondii, and, perhaps, prostatic cancer).
Our primary result is that collective bargaining rights lead to about a 27% increase in complaints of officer misconduct for the typical sheriff’s office
Dharmapala, Dhammika and McAdams, Richard H. and Rappaport, John, The Effect of Collective Bargaining Rights on Law Enforcement: Evidence from Florida (December 31, 2017). University of Chicago Coase-Sandor Institute for Law & Economics Research Paper No. 831; U of Chicago, Public Law Working Paper No. 655. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3095217
Abstract: Growing controversy surrounds the impact of labor unions on law enforcement behavior. Critics allege that unions impede organizational reform and insulate officers from discipline for misconduct. The only evidence of these effects, however, is anecdotal. We exploit a quasi-experiment in Florida to estimate the effects of collective bargaining rights on law enforcement misconduct and other outcomes of public concern. In 2003, the Florida Supreme Court’s Williams decision extended to county deputy sheriffs collective bargaining rights that municipal police officers had possessed for decades. We construct a comprehensive panel dataset of Florida law enforcement agencies starting in 1997, and employ a difference-in-difference approach that compares sheriffs’ offices and police departments before and after Williams. Our primary result is that collective bargaining rights lead to about a 27% increase in complaints of officer misconduct for the typical sheriff’s office. This result is robust to the inclusion of a variety of controls. The time pattern of the estimated effect, along with an analysis using agency-specific trends, suggests that it is not attributable to preexisting trends. The estimated effect of Williams is not robustly significant for other potential outcomes of interest, however, including the racial and gender composition of agencies and training and educational requirements.
Keywords: Collective bargaining rights; police unions; police misconduct; law enforcement
Abstract: Growing controversy surrounds the impact of labor unions on law enforcement behavior. Critics allege that unions impede organizational reform and insulate officers from discipline for misconduct. The only evidence of these effects, however, is anecdotal. We exploit a quasi-experiment in Florida to estimate the effects of collective bargaining rights on law enforcement misconduct and other outcomes of public concern. In 2003, the Florida Supreme Court’s Williams decision extended to county deputy sheriffs collective bargaining rights that municipal police officers had possessed for decades. We construct a comprehensive panel dataset of Florida law enforcement agencies starting in 1997, and employ a difference-in-difference approach that compares sheriffs’ offices and police departments before and after Williams. Our primary result is that collective bargaining rights lead to about a 27% increase in complaints of officer misconduct for the typical sheriff’s office. This result is robust to the inclusion of a variety of controls. The time pattern of the estimated effect, along with an analysis using agency-specific trends, suggests that it is not attributable to preexisting trends. The estimated effect of Williams is not robustly significant for other potential outcomes of interest, however, including the racial and gender composition of agencies and training and educational requirements.
Keywords: Collective bargaining rights; police unions; police misconduct; law enforcement
The effects of social priming, the voodoo theory of social psychology, manifested themselves only when the experiments weren't double blinded, exposing a self-fulfilling prophecy
The Role of Experimenter Belief in Social Priming. Thandiwe S. E. Gilder, Erin A. Heerey. Psychological Science, https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797617737128
Abstract: Research suggests that stimuli that prime social concepts can fundamentally alter people’s behavior. However, most researchers who conduct priming studies fail to explicitly report double-blind procedures. Because experimenter expectations may influence participant behavior, we asked whether a short pre-experiment interaction between participants and experimenters would contribute to priming effects when experimenters were not blind to participant condition. An initial double-blind experiment failed to demonstrate the expected effects of a social prime on executive cognition. To determine whether double-blind procedures caused this result, we independently manipulated participants’ exposure to a prime and experimenters’ belief about which prime participants received. Across four experiments, we found that experimenter belief, rather than prime condition, altered participant behavior. Experimenter belief also altered participants’ perceptions of their experimenter, suggesting that differences in experimenter behavior across conditions caused the effect. Findings reinforce double-blind designs as experimental best practice and suggest that people’s prior beliefs have important consequences for shaping behavior with an interaction partner.
Keywords: social power, priming, experimenter effects, open data, preregistered
h/t: Rolf Degen https://twitter.com/DegenRolf/status/958243341338054657
Abstract: Research suggests that stimuli that prime social concepts can fundamentally alter people’s behavior. However, most researchers who conduct priming studies fail to explicitly report double-blind procedures. Because experimenter expectations may influence participant behavior, we asked whether a short pre-experiment interaction between participants and experimenters would contribute to priming effects when experimenters were not blind to participant condition. An initial double-blind experiment failed to demonstrate the expected effects of a social prime on executive cognition. To determine whether double-blind procedures caused this result, we independently manipulated participants’ exposure to a prime and experimenters’ belief about which prime participants received. Across four experiments, we found that experimenter belief, rather than prime condition, altered participant behavior. Experimenter belief also altered participants’ perceptions of their experimenter, suggesting that differences in experimenter behavior across conditions caused the effect. Findings reinforce double-blind designs as experimental best practice and suggest that people’s prior beliefs have important consequences for shaping behavior with an interaction partner.
Keywords: social power, priming, experimenter effects, open data, preregistered
h/t: Rolf Degen https://twitter.com/DegenRolf/status/958243341338054657
Monday, January 29, 2018
Participants reported feeling younger than they actually were and wanting to be younger than their chronological age
Subjective Age and Its Correlates Among Middle-Aged and Older Adults. Shiri Shinan-Altman, Perla Werner. The International Journal of Aging and Human Development, https://doi.org/10.1177/0091415017752941
Abstract: The present study evaluates discrepancies in subjective age as reported by middle-age persons (aged 44–64 years) in comparison to older adults (aged 65 years and older), using a multidimensional definition of the concept. A convenience sample of 126 middle-aged and 126 older adults completed subjective age measures (felt age, desired age, and perceived old age), attitudes toward older adults, knowledge about aging, and sociodemographic questionnaires. Overall, participants reported feeling younger than they actually were and wanting to be younger than their chronological age. Perceived mean for old age was about 69 years. Discrepancies in felt age and desired age were significantly larger for the older group compared to the middle-aged group. Regarding perceived old age, compared to the younger group, older adults reported that old age begins at an older age. Findings suggest that middle-aged and older adults’ perceptions regarding themselves and regarding old age in general are independent and need, therefore, separate research and practical attention.
Keywords: subjective age, older adults, middle aged
Abstract: The present study evaluates discrepancies in subjective age as reported by middle-age persons (aged 44–64 years) in comparison to older adults (aged 65 years and older), using a multidimensional definition of the concept. A convenience sample of 126 middle-aged and 126 older adults completed subjective age measures (felt age, desired age, and perceived old age), attitudes toward older adults, knowledge about aging, and sociodemographic questionnaires. Overall, participants reported feeling younger than they actually were and wanting to be younger than their chronological age. Perceived mean for old age was about 69 years. Discrepancies in felt age and desired age were significantly larger for the older group compared to the middle-aged group. Regarding perceived old age, compared to the younger group, older adults reported that old age begins at an older age. Findings suggest that middle-aged and older adults’ perceptions regarding themselves and regarding old age in general are independent and need, therefore, separate research and practical attention.
Keywords: subjective age, older adults, middle aged
Men’s and Women’s Youngest and Oldest Considered and Actual Sex Partners
Antfolk, Jan, 2018. “Men’s and Women’s Youngest and Oldest Considered and Actual Sex Partners”. PsyArXiv. January 29. doi:10.1177/1474704917690401
Abstract: Whereas women prefer slightly older sexual partners, men—regardless of their age—have a preference for women in their twenties. Earlier research has suggested that this difference between the sexes’ age preferences is resolved according to women’s preferences. Earlier research has not, however, sufficiently considered that the age-range of considered partners might change over the life span. Here, we investigated the age limits (youngest and oldest) of considered and actual sex partners in a population-based sample of 2,655 adults (aged 18-50 years). Over the investigated age span, women reported a narrower age-range than men and women tended to prefer slightly older men. We also show that men’s age-range widens as they get older: While they continue to consider sex with young women, men also consider sex with women their own age or older. Contrary to earlier suggestions, men’s sexual activity thus reflects also their own age-range, although their potential interest in younger women is not likely converted into sexual activity. Compared to homosexual men, bisexual and heterosexual men were more unlikely to convert young preferences into actual behavior, supporting female-choice theory.
Abstract: Whereas women prefer slightly older sexual partners, men—regardless of their age—have a preference for women in their twenties. Earlier research has suggested that this difference between the sexes’ age preferences is resolved according to women’s preferences. Earlier research has not, however, sufficiently considered that the age-range of considered partners might change over the life span. Here, we investigated the age limits (youngest and oldest) of considered and actual sex partners in a population-based sample of 2,655 adults (aged 18-50 years). Over the investigated age span, women reported a narrower age-range than men and women tended to prefer slightly older men. We also show that men’s age-range widens as they get older: While they continue to consider sex with young women, men also consider sex with women their own age or older. Contrary to earlier suggestions, men’s sexual activity thus reflects also their own age-range, although their potential interest in younger women is not likely converted into sexual activity. Compared to homosexual men, bisexual and heterosexual men were more unlikely to convert young preferences into actual behavior, supporting female-choice theory.
Participants liked targets less, were less romantically interested in targets, and rated targets as less attractive after discovering political dissimilarity with them
Mallinas, Stephanie, Jarret Crawford, and Shana Cole 2018. “Political Opposites Do Not Attract: The Effects of Ideological Dissimilarity on Impression Formation”. PsyArXiv. January 29. psyarxiv.com/p3j8v
Abstract: Past research shows that people like others who are similar to themselves, and that political partisans tend to dislike those with opposing viewpoints. Two studies examined how initial person impressions changed after discovering that the target held similar or dissimilar political beliefs. Using potential mates as targets, we found that participants liked targets less, were less romantically interested in targets, and rated targets as less attractive after discovering political dissimilarity with them. Further, they became more uncomfortable with targets after discovering ideological dissimilarity. Theoretical implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.
Abstract: Past research shows that people like others who are similar to themselves, and that political partisans tend to dislike those with opposing viewpoints. Two studies examined how initial person impressions changed after discovering that the target held similar or dissimilar political beliefs. Using potential mates as targets, we found that participants liked targets less, were less romantically interested in targets, and rated targets as less attractive after discovering political dissimilarity with them. Further, they became more uncomfortable with targets after discovering ideological dissimilarity. Theoretical implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.
In women, pleasure prioritization & sexual agency are associated with lower odds of performing undesired sexual acts to please a partner—and sexual agency is associated with lower odds of succumbing to verbal pressure for intercourse
“Bad Girls” Say No and “Good Girls” Say Yes: Sexual Subjectivity and Participation in Undesired Sex During Heterosexual College Hookups. Heather Hensman Kettrey. Sexuality & Culture, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12119-018-9498-2
Abstract: Young people’s sexuality is often discursively constructed within the confines of a masculine/feminine binary that minimizes young women’s sexual subjectivity (i.e., desire, pleasure, and agency) while taking young men’s subjectivity for granted. Accordingly, young women who acknowledge themselves as sexual subjects are constructed as “bad girls” who incite males’ purportedly uncontrollable desire and, thus, invite undesired sexual attention. However, there is reason to hypothesize that young women who view themselves as sexual subjects may be less likely than other women to engage in undesired sexual activity (i.e., sex that their partners desire, but they do not desire for themselves). In this study, I used data from the Online College Social Life Survey (N = 7255) to explore relationships between two measures of sexual subjectivity (i.e., pleasure prioritization and sexual agency) and college women’s participation in undesired sexual activity during hookups (i.e., performance of undesired sexual acts to please a partner and succumbing to verbal pressure for intercourse). Logistic regression analyses suggest that pleasure prioritization and sexual agency are associated with lower odds of performing undesired sexual acts to please a partner—and sexual agency is associated with lower odds of succumbing to verbal pressure for intercourse. These findings point to the importance of sexuality education that includes discussions of women’s sexual subjectivity.
Abstract: Young people’s sexuality is often discursively constructed within the confines of a masculine/feminine binary that minimizes young women’s sexual subjectivity (i.e., desire, pleasure, and agency) while taking young men’s subjectivity for granted. Accordingly, young women who acknowledge themselves as sexual subjects are constructed as “bad girls” who incite males’ purportedly uncontrollable desire and, thus, invite undesired sexual attention. However, there is reason to hypothesize that young women who view themselves as sexual subjects may be less likely than other women to engage in undesired sexual activity (i.e., sex that their partners desire, but they do not desire for themselves). In this study, I used data from the Online College Social Life Survey (N = 7255) to explore relationships between two measures of sexual subjectivity (i.e., pleasure prioritization and sexual agency) and college women’s participation in undesired sexual activity during hookups (i.e., performance of undesired sexual acts to please a partner and succumbing to verbal pressure for intercourse). Logistic regression analyses suggest that pleasure prioritization and sexual agency are associated with lower odds of performing undesired sexual acts to please a partner—and sexual agency is associated with lower odds of succumbing to verbal pressure for intercourse. These findings point to the importance of sexuality education that includes discussions of women’s sexual subjectivity.
Consciousness of the Future as a Matrix of Maybe: Pragmatic Prospection and the Simulation of Alternative Possibilities
Baumeister, Roy, Heather M Maranges, and Hallgeir Sjåstad 2018. “Consciousness of the Future as a Matrix of Maybe: Pragmatic Prospection and the Simulation of Alternative Possibilities.”. PsyArXiv. January 29. psyarxiv.com/a3r7h
Abstract: Thinking about the future highlights the constructive nature of consciousness, as opposed to merely representing what is there — because the future is not yet available to be seen. We elaborate this point to emphasize how consciousness deals in alternative possibilities, and indeed preconscious interpretation confers meaning by recognizing these alternatives. Crucially, the goal of prospection is less to predict what is sure to happen than to prepare for action in situations defined by sets of incompatible alternative options, each of which might or might not come true. We review multiple lines of evidence indicating that people conceptualize the future as just such a matrix of maybe. Thus, people think of the future as highly changeable. Most prospective thinking involves planning, which is designed to bring about one outcome rather than alternatives. Optimism may often reflect an initial, automatic response that is soon followed by conscious appreciation of obstacles and other factors that can produce less desired, alternative outcomes. People moralize the future more than the past, presumably to promote the more desirable outcomes. Anticipated emotion helps people evaluate future possible outcomes. People specifically anticipate the matrix of maybe and sometimes seek to preserve multiplicity of options. We integrate these patterns of findings with a pragmatic theory of prospection: Thinking of the future as a multi-maybe matrix is useful for guiding action.
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Recent laboratory work provides further evidence that it takes the power of conscious human thought to project the future as a matrix of maybe. Redshaw and Suddendorf (2016) provided dramatic evidence that human children far surpass adult nonhuman apes on this. Their apparatus was a tube shaped like an inverted Y. Thus, a ball or grape was dropped into the top and could come out either opening at the bottom. Either the participant caught it or it was gone. One could guess by holding one’s hand under either of the openings, thereby succeeding about half the time — or one could use both hands to cover both openings, thereby succeeding 100% of the time. Two-year-old human children failed to solve this, but three-year-olds and older children all soon achieved the perfect solution and caught the ball on every subsequent trial. In contrast, chimpanzees and orangutans never solved it. In fact, a couple of them stumbled by accident on the correct solution, happening to use both hands and catching the treat — but they failed to learn even from this success and on the next trial went back to one-hand guessing. Thus, success at this task required adjusting one’s behavior to the fact that two different outcomes are possible, and this was apparently beyond the mental powers of the smartest nonhuman primates, whereas human children could all figure it out. Human children could understand the future as multiple different maybes, but grownup apes apparently cannot think that way.
Abstract: Thinking about the future highlights the constructive nature of consciousness, as opposed to merely representing what is there — because the future is not yet available to be seen. We elaborate this point to emphasize how consciousness deals in alternative possibilities, and indeed preconscious interpretation confers meaning by recognizing these alternatives. Crucially, the goal of prospection is less to predict what is sure to happen than to prepare for action in situations defined by sets of incompatible alternative options, each of which might or might not come true. We review multiple lines of evidence indicating that people conceptualize the future as just such a matrix of maybe. Thus, people think of the future as highly changeable. Most prospective thinking involves planning, which is designed to bring about one outcome rather than alternatives. Optimism may often reflect an initial, automatic response that is soon followed by conscious appreciation of obstacles and other factors that can produce less desired, alternative outcomes. People moralize the future more than the past, presumably to promote the more desirable outcomes. Anticipated emotion helps people evaluate future possible outcomes. People specifically anticipate the matrix of maybe and sometimes seek to preserve multiplicity of options. We integrate these patterns of findings with a pragmatic theory of prospection: Thinking of the future as a multi-maybe matrix is useful for guiding action.
---
Recent laboratory work provides further evidence that it takes the power of conscious human thought to project the future as a matrix of maybe. Redshaw and Suddendorf (2016) provided dramatic evidence that human children far surpass adult nonhuman apes on this. Their apparatus was a tube shaped like an inverted Y. Thus, a ball or grape was dropped into the top and could come out either opening at the bottom. Either the participant caught it or it was gone. One could guess by holding one’s hand under either of the openings, thereby succeeding about half the time — or one could use both hands to cover both openings, thereby succeeding 100% of the time. Two-year-old human children failed to solve this, but three-year-olds and older children all soon achieved the perfect solution and caught the ball on every subsequent trial. In contrast, chimpanzees and orangutans never solved it. In fact, a couple of them stumbled by accident on the correct solution, happening to use both hands and catching the treat — but they failed to learn even from this success and on the next trial went back to one-hand guessing. Thus, success at this task required adjusting one’s behavior to the fact that two different outcomes are possible, and this was apparently beyond the mental powers of the smartest nonhuman primates, whereas human children could all figure it out. Human children could understand the future as multiple different maybes, but grownup apes apparently cannot think that way.
Sunday, January 28, 2018
Unconscious bias in Australian Public Service shortlisting processes: APS officers discriminated in favour of female and minority candidates
Going blind to see more clearly: unconscious bias in Australian Public Service shortlisting processes. Results of a randomised controlled trial. Michael J. Hiscox, Tara Oliver, Michael Ridgway, Lilia Arcos-Holzinger, Alastair Warren and Andrea Willis. Behavioural Economics Team of the Australian Government (BETA) in partnership with the Australian Public Service Commission, Jun 2017. https://www.pmc.gov.au/domestic-policy/behavioural-economics/going-blind-see-more-clearly-unconscious-bias-australian-public-service-aps-shortlisting-processes
Women are under-represented in management and executive level positions across the private and public sectors. In 2016, women comprised 59.0% of the Australian Public Service (APS), but accounted for 48.9% of its executive level officers and only 42.9% of its Senior Executive Service (SES) officers. These statistics may reflect gender discrimination in hiring and promotion processes as a result of unconscious cognitive biases that affect decision-making.
Addressing the gender imbalance across the APS is the key priority of the Australian Public Service Gender Equality Strategy 2016-19. Aimed at driving high performance and boosting productivity the strategy calls for the APS to reflect contemporary reality and states that the APS must embrace diversity and that it should benefit from people of all backgrounds.
Study: This study aimed to test the magnitude of gender and ethnic minority bias in APS shortlisting processes, and the impact of introducing a gender/ethnicity-blind approach to reviewing job applications for shortlisting purposes.
The study was a randomised controlled trial conducted in partnership with 15 APS agencies. Participants were drawn from senior and executive level officers in these agencies. To identify any effects participants were asked to complete a fictitious shortlisting exercise with 16 fictitious CVs. The aim was to see whether de-identifying a CV (by removing a candidate’s name and personal information) changed the way it was assessed.
Results: The results showed that overall, de-identifying applications at the shortlisting stage does not appear to assist in promoting diversity within the APS in hiring. Overall, APS officers discriminated in favour of female and minority candidates.
Women are under-represented in management and executive level positions across the private and public sectors. In 2016, women comprised 59.0% of the Australian Public Service (APS), but accounted for 48.9% of its executive level officers and only 42.9% of its Senior Executive Service (SES) officers. These statistics may reflect gender discrimination in hiring and promotion processes as a result of unconscious cognitive biases that affect decision-making.
Addressing the gender imbalance across the APS is the key priority of the Australian Public Service Gender Equality Strategy 2016-19. Aimed at driving high performance and boosting productivity the strategy calls for the APS to reflect contemporary reality and states that the APS must embrace diversity and that it should benefit from people of all backgrounds.
Study: This study aimed to test the magnitude of gender and ethnic minority bias in APS shortlisting processes, and the impact of introducing a gender/ethnicity-blind approach to reviewing job applications for shortlisting purposes.
The study was a randomised controlled trial conducted in partnership with 15 APS agencies. Participants were drawn from senior and executive level officers in these agencies. To identify any effects participants were asked to complete a fictitious shortlisting exercise with 16 fictitious CVs. The aim was to see whether de-identifying a CV (by removing a candidate’s name and personal information) changed the way it was assessed.
Results: The results showed that overall, de-identifying applications at the shortlisting stage does not appear to assist in promoting diversity within the APS in hiring. Overall, APS officers discriminated in favour of female and minority candidates.
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