The Economist On Sexual Harassment, Nov 2017

In The Economist, Friday November 17th 2017:

Sexual harassment: Changing patterns

A plethora of recent examples, from Hollywood and elsewhere, have demonstrated the pervasive nature of sexual harassment towards women. A new survey shows that the range of views on what constitutes harassment is vast, diverging by age, sex and nationality. But in general, younger respondents are more likely than their older peers to think that certain types of behaviour crossed the line, writes our data team

Left-Wing Authoritarianism in the United States

Conway, L. G., Houck, S. C., Gornick, L. J. and Repke, M. A. (2017), Finding the Loch Ness Monster: Left-Wing Authoritarianism in the United States. Political Psychology. doi:10.1111/pops.12470

Abstract: Although past research suggests authoritarianism may be a uniquely right-wing phenomenon, the present two studies tested the hypothesis that authoritarianism exists in both right-wing and left-wing contexts in essentially equal degrees. Across two studies, university (n = 475) and Mechanical Turk (n = 298) participants completed either the RWA (right-wing authoritarianism) scale or a newly developed (and parallel) LWA (left-wing authoritarianism) scale. Participants further completed measurements of ideology and three domain-specific scales: prejudice, dogmatism, and attitude strength. Findings from both studies lend support to an authoritarianism symmetry hypothesis: Significant positive correlations emerged between LWA and measurements of liberalism, prejudice, dogmatism, and attitude strength. These results largely paralleled those correlating RWA with identical conservative-focused measurements, and an overall effect-size measurement showed LWA was similarly related to those constructs (compared to RWA) in both Study 1 and Study 2. Taken together, these studies provide evidence that LWA may be a viable construct in ordinary U.S. samples.

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                                       Left-Wing Authoritarianism (LWA) Scale

For the following questions, please answer on a 1–7 scale, where 1=“I disagree completely,” 4=“neutral/undecided,” and 7=“I completely agree.”
_______1. Our country desperately needs a mighty and liberal leader who will do what has to be done to destroy the radical traditional ways of doing things that are ruining us.
_______2. Christian fundamentalists are just as healthy and moral as anybody else.
_______3. It’s always better to trust the judgment of the proper authorities in science with respect to issues like global warming and evolution than to listen to the noisy rabblerousers in our society who are trying to create doubts in people’s minds.
_______4. Christian Fundamentalists and others who have rebelled against the established sciences are no doubt every bit as good and virtuous as those who agree with the best scientific minds.
_______5. The only way our country can get through the crisis ahead is to get rid of our “traditional” values, put some tough leaders in power who oppose those values, and silence the troublemakers spreading bad (and so-called “traditional”) ideas.
_______6. There is absolutely nothing wrong with Christian Fundamentalist camps designed to create a new generation of Fundamentalists.
_______7. Our country needs traditional thinkers who will have the courage to defy modern progressive movements, even if this upsets many people.
_______8. Our country will be destroyed someday if we do not smash the traditional beliefs eating away at our national fiber and growing progressive beliefs.
_______9. With respect to environmental issues, everyone should have their own personality, even if it makes them different from everyone else.
_______10. Progressive ways and liberal values show the best way of life.
_______11. You have to admire those who challenged the law and the majority’s view by protesting against abortion rights or in favor of reinstating school prayer.
_______12. What our country really needs is a strong, determined leader who will crush the evil of pushy Christian religious people, and take us forward to our true path.
_______13. Some of the best people in our country are those who are challenging our government, supporting religion, and ignoring the “normal way” things are supposed to be done.
_______14. We should strongly punish those who try to uphold what they claim are “God’s laws” about abortion, pornography, and marriage, when they break the actual laws of the country in order to do so.
_______15. There are many radical, immoral Christian people in our country today, who are trying to ruin it for their religious purposes, whom the authorities should put out of action.
_______16. A Christian’s place should be wherever he or she wants to be. The days when Christians are submissive to the conventions of this country belong strictly in the past.
_______17. Our country will be great if we honor the ways of progressive thinking, do what the best liberal authorities tell us to do, and get rid of the religious and conservative “rotten apples” who are ruining everything.
_______18. With respect to environmental issues, there is no “ONE right way” to live life; everybody has to create their own way.
_______19. Christian Fundamentalists should be praised for being brave enough to defy the current societal and legal norms.
_______20. This country would work a lot better if certain groups of Christian troublemakers would just shut up and accept their group’s proper place in society.

Drosophila M. males also significantly reduced courtship activity following a failed mating experience from old females but did not do so for control (large, young, virgin) or small females

Balaban-Feld J, Valone TJ. Changes in courtship behaviour following rejection: The influence of female phenotype in Drosophila melanogaster. Ethology. 2017;00:1–6. https://doi.org/10.1111/eth.12715

Abstract: Courtship can be costly and so selection should favour individual males that reduce courtship towards female types that have a low probability of resulting in copulation. One way males can do this is by associating previous courtship failure with the traits of particular rejecting females. We characterised changes in male Drosophila melanogaster courtship behaviour following a failed mating attempt with one of the four female phenotypes that varied in size, age or mating status. To do this, we assessed individual courtship behaviour for each male presented again with a female of the same phenotype that previously rejected him. Males reduced subsequent courtship most strongly for recently mated (sexually non-receptive) females. More interestingly, males also significantly reduced courtship activity following a failed mating experience from old females but did not do so for control (large, young, virgin) or small females. As such, males significantly reduced courtship towards both female types possessing chemical cues associated with their phenotype (age and mating status), but not towards a female phenotype based on physical characteristics (body size). Our results suggest that males are able to modify their courtship behaviour following experience, but that they are better prepared to associate chemical traits that may be more reliable indicators of the likelihood of courtship failure.

Despite claims to the contrary neither dogs, elephants, dolphins, magpies, horses, manta rays, squid, or ants have shown compelling, reproducible evidence for self-recognition in any modality

The “olfactory mirror” and other recent attempts to demonstrate self-recognition in non-primate species. Gordon G. Gallup Jr. Behavioural Processes, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beproc.2017.12.010

Highlights
•    We review a recent attempt to develop an “olfactory mirror” test of self-recognition in domestic dogs.
•    We discuss the kind of data that are required to provide definitive evidence for self-recognition in dogs and other species.
•    Despite claims to the contrary no dogs, elephants, dolphins, magpies, horses, manta rays, squid, or ants have shown compelling, reproducible evidence for self-recognition in any modality.

Abstract: The recent attempt by Horowitz (2017) to develop an “olfactory mirror” test of self-recognition in domestic dogs raises some important questions about the kind of data that are required to provide definitive evidence for self-recognition in dogs and other species. We conclude that the “olfactory mirror” constitutes a compelling analog to the mark test for mirror self-recognition in primates, but despite claims to the contrary neither dogs, elephants, dolphins, magpies, horses, manta rays, squid, or ants have shown compelling, reproducible evidence for self-recognition in any modality.

Keywords: Olfactory self-recognition; Mirror self-recognition; Self-recognition in other modalities; Non-primate species

General sexual desire, but not desire for uncommitted sexual relationships, tracks changes in women's hormonal status

General sexual desire, but not desire for uncommitted sexual relationships, tracks changes in women's hormonal status. Benedict Jones et al. In bioRxiv, https://doi.org/10.1101/155788

Abstract: Several recent longitudinal studies have investigated the hormonal correlates of both young adult women's general sexual desire and, more specifically, their desire for uncommitted sexual relationships. Findings across these studies have been mixed, potentially because each study tested only small samples of women (Ns = 43, 33, and 14). Here we report results from a much larger (N = 375) longitudinal study of hormonal correlates of young adult women's general sexual desire and their desire for uncommitted sexual relationships. Our analyses suggest that within-woman changes in general sexual desire are negatively related to progesterone, but are not related to testosterone or cortisol. We observed some positive relationships for estradiol, but these were generally only significant for solitary sexual desire. By contrast with our results for general sexual desire, analyses showed no evidence that changes in women's desire for uncommitted sexual relationships are related to their hormonal status. Together, these results suggest that changes in hormonal status contribute to changes in women's general sexual desire, but do not influence women's desire for uncommitted sexual relationships.

When proficiency levels are only adequate, and without special investment in L2, native language jokes will be evaluated as funnier than foreign language jokes. With intermediate proficiency and investment, jokes can be experienced as similarly humorous in the two languages

Are jokes funnier in one’s native language? Ayşe Ayçiçeği-Dinn, Simge Şişman-Bal, Catherine L Caldwell-Harris. International Journal of Humor Research, https://doi.org/10.1515/humor-2017-0112

Abstract: Appreciating the humor in jokes involves incongruity-detection and resolution, which requires good language skills. Foreign language comprehension is challenging, including interpreting words within their sentence context. An implication is that jokes in a foreign language will be more difficult to understand and therefore probably less humorous, compared to native language jokes. To study this question while preserving humor across translations, jokes were selected from Turkish and English websites to minimize language play and cultural references. Turkish university students rated both Turkish and English jokes for humor. Humor for foreign language jokes was positively correlated with ease-of-understanding of specific jokes and also by the individual-differences characteristics of English proficiency and likely career investment (e.g., preparing for a future career as English teacher or translator). We propose the proficiency X investment theory: Foreign language jokes will be experienced as funnier than native language jokes when proficiency levels are high (ranging from good to excellent) and bilinguals have a high level of L2 investment. When proficiency levels are only adequate, and without special investment in L2, native language jokes will be evaluated as funnier than foreign language jokes. With intermediate proficiency and investment, jokes can be experienced as similarly humorous in the two language. Important in this pattern is the proposal that weaker L2-proficiency can trade-off with language investment to bolster L2 humor appreciation.

Keywords: humor appreciation; bilingualism; foreign language learning; Turkish students

Greater importance of intrasexual competition than female choice in human male sexual selection than we thought -- physical dominance, but not sexual attractiveness, predicted mating success

Kordsmeyer, Tobias, John Hunt, David Puts, Julia Ostner, and Lars Penke. 2017. “The Relative Importance of Intra- and Intersexual Selection on Human Male Sexually Dimorphic Traits"”. PsyArXiv. December 21. psyarxiv.com/edw4f

Abstract: Recent evidence suggests that in sexual selection on human males, intrasexual competition plays a larger role than female choice. In a sample of men (N = 164), we sought to provide further evidence on the effects of men’s physical dominance and sexual attractiveness on mating success and hence in sexual selection. Objective measures and subjective ratings of male sexually dimorphic traits purportedly under sexual selection (height, vocal and facial masculinity, upper body size from 3D scans, physical strength, and baseline testosterone) and observer perceptions of physical dominance and sexual attractiveness based on self-presentation video recordings were assessed and associated with mating success (sociosexual behaviour and number of potential conceptions) in a partly longitudinal design. Results from structural equation models and selection analyses revealed that physical dominance, but not sexual attractiveness, predicted mating success. Physical dominance mediated associations of upper body size, physical strength, as well as vocal and facial physical dominance and attractiveness with mating success. These findings thus suggest a greater importance of intrasexual competition than female choice in human male sexual selection.