Across 48 nations we found age-related increases in self-esteem from late adolescence to middle adulthood and significant gender gaps, with males consistently reporting higher self-esteem than females

Bleidorn, W., Arslan, R. C., Denissen, J. J. A., Rentfrow, P. J., Gebauer, J. E., Potter, J., & Gosling, S. D. (2016). Age and gender differences in self-esteem—A cross-cultural window. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 111(3), 396–410, May 2021. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000078

Research and theorizing on gender and age differences in self-esteem have played a prominent role in psychology over the past 20 years. However, virtually all empirical research has been undertaken in the United States or other Western industrialized countries, providing a narrow empirical base from which to draw conclusions and develop theory. To broaden the empirical base, the present research uses a large Internet sample (N = 985,937) to provide the first large-scale systematic cross-cultural examination of gender and age differences in self-esteem. Across 48 nations, and consistent with previous research, we found age-related increases in self-esteem from late adolescence to middle adulthood and significant gender gaps, with males consistently reporting higher self-esteem than females. Despite these broad cross-cultural similarities, the cultures differed significantly in the magnitude of gender, age, and Gender × Age effects on self-esteem. These differences were associated with cultural differences in socioeconomic, sociodemographic, gender-equality, and cultural value indicators. Discussion focuses on the theoretical implications of cross-cultural research on self-esteem.

Discussion

Two highly influential lines of past research have established that self-esteem is higher in men than in women (Kling et al., 1999) and that self-esteem increases from adolescence to middle adulthood (Orth & Robins, 2014). Yet, that prior research was overwhelmingly confined to Western cultures; this bias throws doubt on the generality of the patterns and potentially undermines attempts to understand the mechanisms driving gender and age differences in self-esteem. To begin to address this concern, we examined the cross-cultural generalizability of the gender and age trends in self-esteem across 48 nations. Specifically, we examined three questions concerning the cultural generalizability, cultural variability, and cultural correlates of gender, age, and Age  Gender effects on self-esteem. Consistent with previous research on Western samples, we found significant gender and age differences in self-esteem: Across all nations, men had higher levels of self-esteem than women did and both genders showed age-graded increases from late adolescence to middle adulthood. Both the shape and the average effect sizes for gender and age effects resembled previous findings and ranged between small to medium-sized effects (cf. Kling et al., 1999; Huang, 2010). The considerable degree of cross-cultural similarity has two major implications. First, it suggests that prior conclusions on gender and age differences in self-esteem are not some peculiarity of Western societies. Second, it might indicate that the normative gender and age differences in self-esteem are at least partly driven by universal mechanisms (Costa et al., 2001; Wood & Eagly, 2002). One such mechanism might be genetically based biological processes that transcend cultures and contexts. To date, only a few studies have examined biological sources, such as hormonal influences, of gender differences in self-esteem (Williams & Currie, 2000). Even fewer studies have examined potential biological explanations for age differences in self-esteem. This lack of research on the biological background of gender and age differences in self-esteem is surprising because global self-esteem shares many attributes with other broad personality characteristics for which biological explanations for gender and age differences, such as age-graded genetic influences, have been tested (e.g., Bleidorn, Kandler, Riemann, Angleitner, & Spinath, 2009; Kandler et al., 2010; for reviews see Bleidorn, Kandler, & Caspi, 2014; Briley & Tucker-Drob, 2014). The findings of the present research suggest that genetically based mechanisms might also play a role in the normative development of men’s and women’s self-esteem. Genetically informative studies and research on the biological pathways would be needed to shed light on the biological underpinnings of gender and age differences in self-esteem. An alternative explanation for the cross-cultural similarity would be that gender and age differences are largely influenced by universal sociocultural factors. For example, pancultural gender differences might result from universals in socially learned gender roles and stereotypes (Williams & Best, 1990; Wood & Eagly, 2002). In fact, several studies have shown that male attributes are positively correlated with self-esteem for both men and women, whereas the link between female attributes and self-esteem has been much weaker and less consistent (e.g., Gebauer, Wagner, Sedikides, & Neberich, 2013; Whitley, 1983; Wojciszke, Baryla, Parzuchowski, Szymkow, & Abele, 2011). In a similar vein, the majority of individuals in most cultures master relatively similar life tasks at roughly the same ages (e.g., graduation from school, one’s first job, parenthood). Such developmental turning points (Pickles & Rutter, 1991) can modify or redirect life trajectories by altering behavior, affect, cognition, or context and might be also relevant with regard to an individual’s self-esteem development (Orth & Robins, 2014). When these age-graded turning points are universal, they can produce the observed cross-cultural similarity in age differences in self-esteem. For example, during early and middle adulthood, individuals in many cultures increasingly engage in instrumental and social roles, such as professional, spouse, parent, or political party member. A successful mastery of new role demands and the socioemotional feedback associated with these social roles might convey a sense of self-worth and also lead to increases in self-esteem (e.g., Hogan & Roberts, 2004; Robins et al., 2002). For instance, a successful mastery of the challenges associated with the first job may boost young adults’ sense of mastery and consequently also lead to increased levels of self-esteem (Chung et al., 2014; Erol & Orth, 2011). Likewise, several studies have found that the transition to the first long-term romantic relationship is related to self-esteem development in young adults (Lehnart et al., 2010; Wagner, Becker, Lüdtke, & Trautwein, 2015). Despite the cross-cultural similarity in the overall pattern of gender and age differences, the 48 nations still differed significantly in the magnitude of the gender-specific trajectories. These cross-cultural differences in gender, age, and Age  Gender effects are inconsistent with strong universal explanations and suggest the relevance of culture-specific influences. In the present study, we adopted an exploratory perspective and examined the potential influences of a diverse set of 12 socioeconomic, sociodemographic, gender-equality, and cultural-value indicators. Overall, many of these cultural moderators did matter, albeit to a moderate degree (https://selfesteem.shinyapps.io/self_esteem). Specifically, gender differentiation was related to a nation’s GDP per capita, HDI, and mean age at marriage. Gender differentiation was also related to all Hofstede dimensions, except, perhaps surprisingly, masculinity. Overall, wealthy, developed, egalitarian, and individualistic nations were characterized by relatively larger gender differences in self-esteem. The above-described pattern is in line with previous crosscultural research on gender differences in Big Five personality traits. One potential explanation for the finding that the personality profiles of men and women tend to be less similar in more developed, prosperous, and egalitarian cultures was that different innate dispositional differences between men and women may have more space to develop in such cultures (Schmitt et al., 2008). An alternative explanation for this seemingly counterintuitive finding has been offered by Guimond et al. (2007). They proposed that cultural differences in the magnitude of gender differences in personality traits and other psychological constructs are partly the result of social comparison processes. Specifically, Guimond et al. (2007) predicted larger gender differences for cultures in which people are more likely to engage in between-gender social comparisons, because comparisons with other-gender individuals presumably induce self-stereotyping processes. In contrast, gender differences were supposed to be smaller in cultures in which people are more likely to engage in within-gender social comparisons because comparisons with same-gender individuals would reduce self-stereotyping processes. Guimond et al. compared samples from five different cultures with regard to their socialcomparison orientation and found that individuals from Western countries are more likely to engage in in between-gender social comparisons and, as a result, show larger gender differences than individuals from non-Western cultures. In the present study, we found particularly small gender differences in many Asian countries, such as Thailand or China, whereas gender differences tended to be generally larger in many Central and South American countries, such as Mexico or Chile (cf. Figure 2). Research on social comparison processes in these countries might help to further understand the role of within-gender versus betweengender social comparisons for the magnitude of gender differences in self-esteem. Another explanation of the larger gender differences in many Western societies concerns the cultural emphasis of girls’ and women’s physical appearance. Both males and females who feel physically attractive tend to have higher self-esteem (e.g., Feingold, 1994); yet numerous studies have shown that girls’ attitudes about their appearance become more negative during adolescence (Harter, 1993). This decline in girl’s perceived physical attractiveness is supposed to have particularly negative effects on selfesteem when cultural pressures regarding women’s physical appearance are high (Brumberg, 1997; Kling et al., 1999). Future research on cultural-beauty ideals and self-esteem would be needed to test this hypothesis in a cross-cultural research design. There were also significant cross-level interactions involving the age and Age  Gender effects on self-esteem. Specifically, for individualistic, prosperous, egalitarian, and developed nations with a lower adolescent birthrate and a later age at marriage, we found relatively smaller age effects on self-esteem for men but not for women (e.g., Norway). Moreover, we found more pronounced age effects on self-esteem for women from nations with greater gender equality and a longer history of women’s suffrage (e.g., Sweden or Finland). This finding implies that, in these nations, gender differences in self-esteem tend to become smaller with age. In contrast, even though the absolute gender gap is smaller in developing and less wealthy nations, the gender differences tend to become larger with age in these cultures. For example, in Australia—a nation with relatively high HDI and GDP scores—the absolute gender difference decreases from d  0.30 in adolescence to d  0.21 in middle adulthood. For Mexico—a nation with comparatively lower HDI and GDP scores—the absolute gender difference in self-esteem increases from d  0.24 in adolescence to d  0.35 (https://selfesteem.shinyapps.io/maps/). This pattern suggests that the gender-specific age trajectories of self-esteem are likely the result of distinct culture-specific, agegraded mechanisms, which are not necessarily related to the mechanisms that lead to the absolute gender differences in self-esteem. Consider, for example, the mechanisms that might underlie the effects of cultural differences in gender equality. Gender equality was unrelated to the absolute gender gap in self-esteem but positively correlated with steeper age effects on women’s self-esteem. In countries with less traditional gender roles and smaller genderbased gaps in economic participation, education, political empowerment, and health (e.g., Sweden, Norway, or Finland; cf. Table 1 and Figure 2), women are more likely to have access to status positions and instrumental roles, to experience a sense of mastery, and to receive appreciation and social support. As a consequence, women from countries with greater gender equality might show relatively stronger age-graded increases in self-esteem as they traverse early and middle adulthood. In summary, cultural differences in gender, age, and Age  Gender effects on self-esteem are systematically related to a broad set of socioeconomic, sociodemographic, gender-equality, and cultural value indicators. Specifically, individualistic, prosperous, egalitarian, developed nations with greater gender equality, lower adolescent birth rates and a later age at marriage are marked by larger gender gaps, which tend to decrease throughout early and middle adulthood. In contrast, collectivistic, poorer, developing nations with greater gender inequality, higher adolescent birth rates, and an earlier age at marriage are marked by smaller gender gaps, which tend to increase throughout early and middle adulthood. This pattern is likely the result of multiple macropsychological mechanisms that guide culture-specific self-esteem development in men and women. To shed more light on the nature and operation of these macropsychological mechanisms, longitudinal studies are needed that track self-esteem development over time in nonWestern societies.

Those who see themselves as less attractive might be willing to reject more attractive partners as a protective strategy

Harper, Kaitlyn, Fiona Stanley, Morgan Sidari, Anthony J. Lee, and Brendan P. Zietsch. 2021. “The Role of Accurate Self-assessments in Optimising Mate Choice.” PsyArXiv. March 23. doi:10.31234/osf.io/4qmuv

Abstract: Individuals are thought to seek the best possible romantic partner in exchange for their own desirability. We investigated the strategies that individuals use when choosing a partner, and whether these strategies optimise the quality of mutually interested partners (‘matches’). Further, we investigated whether these matching outcomes were affected by the accuracy of one’s self-perceived mate value. Participants (1501 total) took part in a speed dating experiment whereby they rated themselves and others on attractiveness variables and indicated their willingness to date each opposite sex partner they interacted with. We then calculated participants’ selectivity, minimum and maximum standards, accuracy, match quality, and match quantity. Individuals were somewhat accurate in their self-evaluations, and these self-evaluations guided individual’s minimum and maximum quality standards for a potential partner, leading to higher quality matches. These findings extend social exchange models by emphasising the adaptiveness of accurate self-evaluations in mating contexts.

 

Sex differences in personality scores on six scales: Many significant, but mostly small, differences

Sex differences in personality scores on six scales: Many significant, but mostly small, differences. Adrian Furnham & Luke Treglown. Current Psychology, Apr 10 2021. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12144-021-01675-x

Abstract: This study examined sex differences in domain and facet scores from six personality tests in various large adult samples. The aim was to document differences in large adult groups which might contribute new data to this highly contentious area. We reported on sex differences on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI); the Five Factor NEO-PI-R; the Hogan Personality Indicator (HPI); the Motives and Values Preferences Indicator (MVPI); the Hogan Development Survey (HDS) and the High Potential Trait Indicator (HPTI). Using multivariate ANOVAs we found that whilst there were many significant differences on these scores, which replicated other studies, the Cohen’s d statistic showed very few (3 out of 130) differences >.50. Results from each test were compared and contrasted, particularly where they are measuring the same trait construct. Implications and limitations for researchers interested in assessment and selection are discussed.

Discussion

The results of this study can be interpreted in various different ways. A sex-difference maximiser would note that a cursory glance at the six tables shows that the vast majority of ANOVAs (over 80%) shows significant sex differences, many at the p < .001 illustrating the fundamental point that there are many and important sex differences in personality, using a variety of measures and assessed at both the domain and facet level. On the other hand, the minimiser might take comfort in the effect size data (Cohen’s d) and note that there are very few large or even medium effect sizes, though this depends on how size is categorised.

Nearly all the hypotheses based on the previous literature were confirmed. Overall, the MBTI showed relatively small differences except in the Thinking-Feeling variable which has been the topic of much debate. It has been suggested (and refuted) that this factor is essentially measuring Neuroticism and hence the higher score for females which is consistent with the previous literature (Furnham, 2018),

The results from the NEO-PI-R confirmed some previous studies which showed males higher only on Conscientiousness but lower on Extraversion, Agreeableness, Openness and Neuroticism. The biggest domain differences were for three traits where females scored higher than males. The most unusual finding was the big difference on Openness (which was also shown in the HPTI trait of curiosity) where there is a limited literature and few speculations on sex differences. The smallest and fewest differences were on Consciousness and its facets. The facet analysis gave some indication of variability within domain but few where the differences went in the opposite direction. Two exceptions were the facets of assertiveness and excitement seeking in Extraversion where, as in many other studies males scored higher than females. Interestingly the highest d was for the Openness facet Feelings (d = .53) which reflects the finding in the MBTI. (Furnham, 1996).

The results of the HPI confirm previous studies with the biggest domain d’s being for Adjustment, Ambition and Curiosity with males scoring higher and Interpersonal Sensitivity with females scoring higher. Again, most of the facets scores went in the same direction though they did occasionally differ greatly in size: compare empathy and calmness in Adjustment.

The results of the replicated MVPI study showed two things: where there were significant differences the results went in the same direction, and that the biggest differences lay in male’s interest in power, business and science, values associated with entrepreneurship and work success (Furnham, 2018). Further, as in previous studies females scored higher in Altruism and Aesthetics.

The findings from the HDS show similar outcome in the two studies. When grouping the eleven traits into the recommended tri-partite system the results are clear: females tend to have scores on those traits moving away from (Cautious but not Reserved) and toward others (Dutiful not Diligent) while males score higher on traits in the moving against others category (especially Mischievous).

The final scale showed two of the six HPTI scales with relatively large differences: males score higher in Risk Approach and Ambiguity Acceptance which has been shown many times before. Although there was a sex difference on Competitiveness, the size of this was modest.

One interesting comparison could be between the scores of different tests which essentially (claimed to) measure the same construct. Thus, the sex difference d for Neuroticism in the NEO-PI-R was .35, Adjustment in the HPI was .30 and Adjustment in the HPTI was .14. Similarly, Conscientiousness in the NEO-PI-R was .12 and in the HPTI was .11, and Prudence .06. Equally the sex difference d in Agreeableness in the NEO-PI-R was .32 and Interpersonal Sensitivity in the HPI was .30. Therefore, the results seem to suggest similar sex differences on scales of different length and question measuring the same phenomenon. There were however exceptions: females were more Extraverted and Open on the NEO=PI-R, but less Sociable and Curious on the HPI.

One interesting issue concerns revisiting each question and facet to determine whether there was any inherent sex bias in the question wording and whether if these were removed the overall d would decline. This is not an issue of attempted to deny or reduce differences that exist but rather trying to reduce artefacts arising from question selection. Certainly, with changes in society, particularly with reference to sex and gender differences, questionnaire wording could cause both offense and differences in interpretation unless they are constantly updated.

Another issue to arise from this study is the great variability in the facet score items and labels that are essentially measuring the same dimension. Compare for instance the six Openness facets of the NEO-PI-R with six facets of the HPI. Given these labels it is expected that these two measures are relatively weakly correlated and measuring rather different factors.

Finally accepting that there are some real, biologically based, stable sex differences, as opposed to socialised gender differences, in personality traits the question arises as to why they occur. Results such as these cannot inform the nature-nurture debate, with (most) evolutionary psychologists offering a cohesive (and for some convincing) argument as to why there are replicable, consistent and cross-cultural findings. Minimizers who reject the “biology as destiny” approach attempt to explain all these differences in terms of primary and secondary socialisation (Buss, 1995). However, in a big review study Schmitt et al. (2017) concluded: “Social role theory appears inadequate for explaining some of the observed cultural variations in men’s and women’s personalities. Evolutionary theories regarding ecologically-evoked gender differences are described that may prove more useful in explaining global variation in human personality” (p45).

This study, like all, others has limitations. All participants were British adults taking part in a compulsory assessment centre. Though they might have been tempted by impression management there is no reason to suspect that there were sex differences in this behaviour. The reason why males outnumber females tended to reflect the profile of middle managers in those organisations which reflected all sectors, public and private. The sample was thus biased in terms of age, education and class and the question remains whether a more representative sample of people from a wider age range and social class background would have shown more or fewer sex differences. Furthermore, nearly all participants were from Europe and the effects of culture were thus not explored. It could be that sex differences are smaller in more Western, individualistic, democratic, egalitarian, and higher gender-parity cultural contexts than those from more traditional, developing countries.

It has been argued that personality changes over time and it may be that sex differences and similarities in personality are different for young, middle-aged and older participants (Roberts et al., 2001). Finally there is always the possibility that there are sex differences is self-report behaviours and biases, such that females exhibit more humility and males more hubris and that therefore some observed differences are more due to other factors and artefacts than actual personality differences.

81 % of mice display a preference for either the left or the right paw; In rats, 84 % of animals display a preference for either the left or the right paw; brain asymmetries are a basic characteristic of the rodent brain

Paw preferences in mice and rats: Meta-analysis. Martina Manns et al. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, May 15 2021. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.05.011

Highlights

• In mice, 81 % of animals display a preference for either the left or the right paw.

• In rats, 84 % of animals display a preference for either the left or the right paw.

• Rodents display individual- but not population-level lateralization for limb use.

• Brain asymmetries are a basic characteristic of the rodent brain.

Abstract: Mice and rats are among the most common animal model species in both basic and clinical neuroscience. Despite their ubiquity as model species, many clinically relevant brain-behaviour relationships in rodents are not well understood. In particular, data on hemispheric asymmetries, an important organizational principle in the vertebrate brain, are conflicting as existing studies are often statistically underpowered due to small sample sizes. Paw preference is one of the most frequently investigated forms of hemispheric asymmetries on the behavioural level. Here, we used meta-analysis to statistically integrated findings on paw preferences in rats and mice. For both species, results indicate significant hemispheric asymmetries on the individual level. In mice, 81 % of animals showed a preference for either the left or the right paw, while 84 % of rats show this preference. However, contrary to what has been reported in humans, population level asymmetries were not observed. These results are particularly significant as they point out that paying attention to potential individual hemispheric differences is important in both basic and clinical neuroscience.

Keywords: Animal modelClinical neuroscienceHandednessHemispheric asymmetriesLateralityRodentsTranslational neuroscience

From 2014... The Influence of the Digital Divide on Face Preferences in El Salvador: People without Internet Access Prefer More Feminine Men, More Masculine Women, and Women with Higher Adiposity

From 2014... Batres C, Perrett DI (2014) The Influence of the Digital Divide on Face Preferences in El Salvador: People without Internet Access Prefer More Feminine Men, More Masculine Women, and Women with Higher Adiposity. PLoS ONE 9(7): e100966. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0100966

Abstract: Previous studies on face preferences have found that online and laboratory experiments yield similar results with samples from developed countries, where the majority of the population has internet access. No study has yet explored whether the same holds true in developing countries, where the majority of the population does not have internet access. This gap in the literature has become increasingly important given that several online studies are now using cross-country comparisons. We therefore sought to determine if an online sample is representative of the population in the developing country of El Salvador. In studies of Hispanic men and women aged 18–25, we tested facial masculinity and adiposity preferences by collecting data in person as well as online. Our results showed that there were no differences in preferences between people who reported having internet access, whether they were tested online or in person. This provides evidence that testing style does not bias preferences among the same population. On the other hand, our results showed multiple differences in preferences between people who reported having internet access and people who reported not having internet access. More specifically, we found that people without internet access preferred more feminine men, more masculine women, and women with higher adiposity than people with internet access. We also found that people without internet access had fewer resources (e.g. running water) than people with internet access, suggesting that harshness in the environment may be influencing face preferences. These findings suggest that online studies may provide a distorted perspective of the populations in developing countries.

Discussion

Our results showed that there were no differences in preferences between people from El Salvador who reported having internet access, whether they were tested online or in person. This provides evidence that testing style does not bias preferences among the same population. On the other hand, our results showed multiple differences in preferences between people from El Salvador who reported having internet access and people from El Salvador who reported not having internet access. This suggests that, unlike samples from studies conducted online with participants from developed countries (e.g. [15]), samples from studies conducted online with participants from developing countries may not be fully representative of the populations (e.g. [12], [11], [21]). Future research needs to take this into account when using online samples from countries where a substantial portion of the population does not have internet access. This applies not only to face preference research but to all studies that use online testing in developing countries (e.g. [29]).

Our data provide evidence that, even within a small country, sub-sectors of the population have different preferences. We found that adiposity preferences in female faces were higher among people without internet access than people with internet access. This finding is consistent with previous literature that has found that heavier figures are considered more attractive in poorer and rural areas [3], [4].

Contrary to our expectations, we found that masculinity in male faces was considered more attractive by people with internet access than by people without internet access. Past research has suggested that risks to health from disease [11] or violence [12] may be responsible for differing levels of masculinity preferences in male faces. Neither interpretation holds for face preferences within El Salvador since we found that participants without internet access prefer more feminine male faces even though health risks [22] and homicide rates [23] are both higher in areas of El Salvador where internet is less accessible. Further research is needed in order to determine what is driving these differing face preferences within sub-sections of the population.

One possibility is that media exposure is driving both sexual dimorphism and adiposity preferences. Several studies have found that the media promotes certain beauty ideals, such as masculinity in men, and femininity and low body weight in women [30], [31]. People who have internet access experience greater exposure to the media through online advertisements and websites and are therefore likely to be more exposed to faces with accentuated masculinity and femininity as well as female faces with lower adiposity.

We also found that participants with internet access were more likely to have a television in their home, which exposes them even further to the media through commercials, television shows, and movies. For example, starring movie roles are more likely to be played by women with low body mass indices [31]. Exposure to such beauty ideals has been found to impact behaviour and preferences. For instance, one study found that adolescent Fijian girls became more interested in weight loss after television was introduced in their town [32]. Thus, media exposure may explain our findings of preferences for higher masculinity in male faces and higher femininity and lower adiposity in female faces among people with internet access in El Salvador. Under the media exposure interpretation, however, it remains unclear why past research has found that online participants from developing countries prefer more masculine male faces than online participants from developed countries [11], since people from developing countries tend to have lower levels of media exposure than people from developed countries [33].

A second explanation for our findings is that the level of harshness in the environment may be influencing face preferences. Our data provide evidence that people without internet access face a harsher environment than people with internet access. For example, we found that people without internet access are less likely to have access to running water in their home than people with internet access. One study found that women prefer less masculine men and men prefer more masculine women for long-term relationships when they are asked to imagine themselves in harsh circumstances [20]. Therefore, increased levels of environmental harshness could explain our findings of preferences for masculine women and feminine men among people without internet access.

The environmental harshness explanation could also explain our adiposity findings. Past research suggests that BMI preferences may reflect differing optimal weights in different environments [4]. For instance, heavier women are better equipped to survive in periods of famine [5] and therefore may be found more attractive in environments with food shortages. Although BMI and weight were higher among people with internet access, preferences for adiposity were higher among people without internet access. This suggests that, although higher levels of weight are considered more attractive in the non-internet population, it may be harder to achieve high levels of weight in such a harsh environment.

Although the environmental harshness explanation is consistent with our findings, further research is needed in order to identify what forms of hardship are most influential on preferences. For instance, Lee and Zietsch [34] found that when women are primed with pathogen prevalence they prefer good-gene traits, such as ‘muscularity’, but when they are primed with resource scarcity they prefer good-dad traits, such as ‘nurturing’. In an environment like El Salvador, where both pathogen prevalence and resource scarcity are real threats, it remains to be determined which form of hardship is more influential on preferences. It may be possible that, among people with internet access in developing countries, pathogen prevalence is more influential since they face less resource scarcity. This would explain why past studies have found that masculinity preferences are negatively correlated with country-level health indices in online samples [11]. On the other hand, people without internet access face both pathogen prevalence as well as resource scarcity. Using Lee and Zietsch’s [34] findings, our studies provide some preliminary evidence that resource scarcity may be more influential than pathogen prevalence in environments with both threats since our non-internet sample preferred more feminine men. In order to confirm this preliminary analysis, more sensitive questions that measure resource scarcity would need to be used in future studies.

In addition to the differences in access to television and running water, we also found that people without internet access have been to other countries fewer times, have children earlier, are less educated, and are less likely to have been born in a hospital than people with internet access. These differences suggest that people with internet access have very different lifestyles from people without internet access, which provides further evidence of a digital divide [17], [18]. Our findings show that the digital divide does influence face preferences and this relationship needs to be taken into consideration in future experiments in order to accurately measure the preferences of people from developing countries.

One limitation from our experiment is that, unlike our in-person samples, our online sample was neither compensated nor supervised and participants might therefore be less motivated to take the experiment seriously. Past studies, however, have found that participants who are uncompensated and unsupervised yield results that are comparable in quality to participants who are compensated and supervised [35]. Our study was also limited in that our experiment consisted of only 5 trials per condition, it only used faces of white men and women, and our participants came from only one country. It would be beneficial to examine if any differences in face preferences arise from using faces of another ethnicity versus faces of own ethnicity. Additionally, although all Salvadorians fall under the ethnicity of Hispanic, there are differences within this ethnicity that may reflect cultural and genetic heritage and might influence preferences. It would therefore be beneficial for other studies to examine the influence of the digital divide within other developing countries. While it is clear from past studies that preferences for facial characteristics differ across populations (e.g. [11]), there are a number of factors that can contribute to these differences (e.g. health [15], violence [12], societal-level measures of development [21], income inequality [12], ecological conditions [36], media [32]). In order to gain a better understanding of these influences, more studies that compare sub-sectors of the same geographical population (e.g. [37], [36]) need to be undertaken.

Not only is animal-source food wrong, plant-source food is wrong too... Let's transition to house flies, funghi, mealworm beetles and algae

Tzachor, A., Richards, C.E. & Holt, L. Future foods for risk-resilient diets. Nat Food (2021). May 13 2021. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-021-00269-x

Abstract: Future foods, such as microalgae, mycoprotein and mealworm, have been suggested as nutritious and sustainable dietary options. Here we consider one of the most profound, yet neglected, benefits of future foods farming systems—their potential to provide essential nutrition in the face of systemic disturbances—and discuss major barriers to realizing this prospect.

Popular version Maggots and kelp must be on the menu to curb global malnutrition - BBC Science Focus Magazine 

The benefits of cognitive diversity are not equally distributed about collective intelligence tasks, & are best seen for complex, multi-stage, creative problem solving, during problem posing & hypothesis generation

Sulik, Justin, Bahador Bahrami, and Ophelia Deroy. 2021. “The Diversity Gap: When Diversity Matters for Knowledge.” PsyArXiv. May 10. doi:10.31234/osf.io/hx7ze. Accepted in Perspectives on Psychological Science.

Abstract: Can diversity make for better science? Although diversity has ethical and political value, arguments for its epistemic value require a bridge between normative and mechanistic considerations, demonstrating why and how diversity benefits collective intelligence. However, a major hurdle is that the benefits themselves are rather mixed: quantitative evidence from psychology and behavioral sciences sometimes shows a positive epistemic effect of diversity, but often shows a null effect, or even a negative effect. Here we argue that, in order to make progress with these why and how questions, we need first to rethink when one ought to expect a benefit of cognitive diversity. In doing so, we highlight that the benefits of cognitive diversity are not equally distributed about collective intelligence tasks, and are best seen for complex, multi-stage, creative problem solving, during problem posing and hypothesis generation. Throughout, we additionally outline a series of mechanisms relating diversity and problem complexity, and show how this perspective can inform meta-science questions.

Relations between HEXACO personality and ideology variables are mostly genetic in nature

Relations between HEXACO personality and ideology variables are mostly genetic in nature. Reinout E. de Vries et al. European Journal of Personality, May 12, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1177/08902070211014035

Abstract: Existing work indicates that socio-political attitudes (or: ideology) are associated with personality, with Social Dominance Orientation and Right-Wing Authoritarianism relating most strongly to honesty-humility and openness to experience, the two value-related domains of the HEXACO framework. Using a sample of 7067 twins and siblings of twins (including 1376 complete twin pairs), we examined the degree to which these relations arise from common genetic and environmental sources. Heritability estimates for the HEXACO personality and ideology variables ranged from .34 to .58. Environmental factors shared by twins reared together showed negligible effects on individual differences in personality and ideology. At the phenotypic level, Social Dominance Orientation and Right-Wing Authoritarianism dimensions related most strongly to honesty-humility and openness to experience. These associations were mostly explained by genetic factors (48%–93%). Genetic correlations between openness to experience and the ideology scales ranged from –.29 to –.53; those between honesty-humility and the ideology scales ranged from –.31 to –.43. None of the environmental correlations exceeded |r| = .18. These results suggest that the relations between the two value-related domains of the HEXACO personality model and ideology are mostly genetic in nature, and that there is substantial overlap in the heritable components of personality and ideology.

Keywords: HEXACO, Social Dominance Orientation, Right-Wing Authoritarianism, heritability, personality

(De)Politicizing Polyamory: Social Media Comments on Media Representations of Consensual Non-Monogamies

(De)Politicizing Polyamory: Social Media Comments on Media Representations of Consensual Non-Monogamies. Daniel Cardoso, Ana Rosa & Marisa Torres da Silva. Archives of Sexual Behavior, May 11 2021. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-020-01887-5

Abstract: Our research sits at the intersection of communication studies, sociology, cyberculture, and political philosophy and theory. In 2014, a 10+-min segment on polyamory aired on Portuguese open-access national television, during the prime-time newscast, and was viewed by several million people, according to official reports. The news piece was also advertised and shared online, especially via Facebook, by the network’s official page. Moreover, the piece was aired within the context of a segment that celebrated the 40-year anniversary of the 1974 liberal revolution that overthrew the right-wing dictatorial regime that ruled Portugal for more than half of the twentieth century. This context served to frame polyamory (alongside other topics) as explicitly political by presenting them as freedoms seized by that liberal revolution. This study used a mixed-method approach to the analysis of online comments on Facebook made with respect to the referred news piece, by deploying both content analysis and critical discourse analysis to try to understand how the political nature of polyamory is negotiated (affirmed or disavowed), and what ideal of the “political” is mobilized in that negotiation, in connection with other elements of intimate citizenship and modes of systemic discrimination. Through this analysis, we will deepen our understanding of how lay people construe the “political” and the (non-)politicalness of polyamory. It also helps advance contemporary understandings of how polyamory is represented in mainstream media, understood by audiences, and how media—and debates on online social networks—can both amplify and help fight against harmful stereotypes of minorities. Through this research, we contribute to political theory by opening up new ways of conceptualizing the realm of the political as an open-ended definition that must encompass changes in modes of sociality, including a politics of relating as a sub-field, likewise to the study of social movements, and their strategies, around consensual non-monogamies. Overall, results show that the recognition of the validity of polyamory is not the same as the realization that relationship orientation is a political issue in itself and that a privatized mode of understanding politics seems prevalent as well as the default framework used in the comments we analyzed. In addition to that, and as other research has already noted, incivility and hate speech was prevalent in online comments and discussions, further dampening the political potential of dissident modes of existence, especially given that incivility is also deployed by those speaking in favor of Othered identities and experiences.

We choose not to see life's violence on our daily strolls; every time we say nature is beautiful, we are saying a prayer, fingering our worry beads

We choose not to see life's violence on our daily strolls; every time we say nature is beautiful, we are saying a prayer, fingering our worry beads. Camille Paglia's Sexual Personae: Art and Decadence from Nefertiti to Emily Dickinson, 1990. 

We are moving in this chapter toward a theory of beauty. I believe that the aesthetic sense, like everything else thus far, is a swerve from the chthonian. It is a displacement from one area of reality to another, analogous to the shift from earth-cult to sky-cult. Ferenczi speaks of the replacement of animal nose by human eye, because of our upright stance. The eye is peremptory in its judgments. It decides what to see and why. Each of our glances is as much exclusion as inclusion. We select, editorialize, and enhance. Our idea of the pretty is a limited notion that cannot possibly apply to earth’s metamorphic underworld, a cataclysmic realm of chthonian violence. We choose not to see this violence on our daily strolls. Every time we say nature is beautiful, we are saying a prayer, fingering our worry beads.

The cool beauty of the femme fatale is another transformation of chthonian ugliness. Female animals are usually less beautiful than males. The mother bird’s dull feathers are camouflage, protecting the nest from predators. Male birds are creatures of spectacular display, of both plumage and parade, partly to impress females and conquer rivals and partly to divert enemies from the nest. Among humans, male ritual display is just as extreme, but for the first time the female becomes a lavishly beautiful object. Why? The female is adorned not simply to increase her property value, as Marxism would demystifyingly have it, but to assure her desirability. Consciousness has made cowards of us all. Animals do not feel sexual fear, because they are not rational beings. They operate under a pure biologic imperative. Mind, which has enabled humanity to adapt and flourish as a species, has also infinitely complicated our functioning as physical beings. We see too much, and so have to stringently limit our seeing. Desire is besieged on all sides by anxiety and doubt. Beauty, an ecstasy of the eye, drugs us and allows us to act. Beauty is our Apollonian revision of the chthonian.

Intuitive perception of long-term mating strategies increases association with religiosity, perception of short-term mating strategies decreases association with religiosity

Intuitive Perceptions of the Relationship Between Mating Strategies and Religiosity: Participant Religiosity Influences Perceptions, but Not Gender. James A. Van Slyke. Evolutionary Psychological Science, May 12 2021. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40806-021-00286-w

Abstract: Recent evidence suggests that the adoption of religious beliefs and values may be used strategically to enhance long-term mating strategies, which implies an intuitive connection between differences in mating strategy and religiosity. This connection was investigated in a two-part primary hypothesis: perception of long-term mating strategies should increase association with religiosity and decrease association with nonreligiosity, while perception of short-term mating strategies should decrease association with religiosity and increase association with nonreligiosity. This was studied using a novel methodology of developing two mating strategy narratives (short-term vs. long-term) constructed from a preestablished measure and exploiting the tendency to use the representativeness heuristic and conjunction error to study the intuitive links between mating strategies and religiosity. Study 1 served as a pilot study using undergraduates and confirmed the primary hypothesis. Studies 2 and 3 expanded on study 1 by using a more representative sample through a larger Qualtrics panel of participants more closely matched to the general US population and also added the variables of participant religiosity and gender to the analysis. These studies not only confirmed the primary hypothesis but also demonstrated that how religiosity is described has an effect on whether or not it is associated with long-term strategies. Gender did not have an effect on the association between mating strategy and religiosity, but in study 3, nonreligious individuals did not associate long-term mating strategies with religiosity.

What Himba want in formal & informal concurrent partners: Men follow a dual strategy, preferring hard-working wives & attractive girlfriends; women prefer wealthy husbands & generous boyfriends

Partner preferences in the context of concurrency: What Himba want in formal and informal partners. Brooke A. Scelz, Sean P. Prall. Evolution and Human Behavior, Volume 39, Issue 2, March 2018, Pages 212-219. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2017.12.005

Abstract: Research on human mate preferences that distinguishes between short- and long-term partners has been conducted mainly in industrialized societies, where multiple mating and concurrent partnerships are stigmatized. However, cross-culturally, there is significant variation in the frequency and the level of acceptance of such relationships. Furthermore, the dichotomy between short- and long-term partnerships does not fully describe the diversity in actual extra-pair behavior, which ranges from single sexual encounters to multi-year love affairs. Here we present another comparison, between formal (marital) and informal (non-marital) partners, which we feel better captures this diversity. We assess the traits that men and women prefer in each type of partner among Himba pastoralists, where concurrent partnerships are common and accepted for both sexes. We situate our findings in relation to three main explanations for concurrent partnerships: dual-mating, trading-up and multiple investors. We find some similarities with the existing literature in the traits that are listed as important, including physical attractiveness, wealth and intelligence. Our evidence suggest that Himba men follow a dual strategy, preferring hard-working wives and attractive girlfriends. Women's preferences align most strongly with a multiple investors explanation, most clearly articulated through their preferences for wealthy husbands and generous boyfriends. Limited support is also found for a dual-mating strategy in women. These findings suggest that local cultural norms and ecologies modulate mate preferences in important ways.

Keywords: Mate choiceMate preferencesReproductive strategiesHimba

Active males, reactive females: stereotypic sex roles in sexual conflict research?

Active males, reactive females: stereotypic sex roles in sexual conflict research? Kristina Karlsson  Green, Josefin A. Madjidian. Animal Behaviour, Volume 81, Issue 5, May 2011, Pages 901-907. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2011.01.033

Abstract: Sexual selection research has always been a subject for debate. Much of the criticism has concerned the imposition of conventional sex roles based on an anthropomorphic view of animals imposed by the researcher. This conventional view may have hampered research, for example from acknowledging male mate choice. Sexual conflict theory is a fast-growing research field, which initially stems from sexual selection research. We investigated how the sexes are described in sexual conflict research and what characteristics they are assigned. We assessed these topics with literature studies of (1) the terminology used and (2) what parameters are incorporated in sexual conflict models. We found that males and females are consequently described with different words, which have different connotations regarding activity in the conflict. Furthermore, theoretical models mainly investigate conflict costs for females, although costs for both sexes are necessary for coevolutionary dynamics. We argue that sexual conflict research uses stereotypic characterizations of the sexes, where males are active and females reactive. Thus, previous discussions on the use of anthropomorphic terms in sexual selection seem not to have had any impact on sexual conflict research, which is why the topic of stereotyping the sexes is still of current importance. We suggest that scientific gains can be made by eliminating a sex-stereotyped perspective.

Keywords: gender biasmale costphilosophy of sciencesemanticssexual conflictsexual selection

People rated themselves as more attractive at later times of a bar's opening hours; this “closing time effect” applied to men regardless of their relationship status, and applied only to single women

Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder but rarely because of the beer. Tobias Otterbring, Kristian Rolschau. Personality and Individual Differences, Volume 179, September 2021, 110921. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2021.110921

Highlights

• The present research examined whether beauty is in the eye of the beer holder.

• People rated themselves as more attractive at later times of a bar's opening hours.

• This “closing time effect” applied to men regardless of their relationship status

• However, this “pretty” pattern only occurred among single women

• People erroneously attributed the “closing time effect” to alcohol consumption.

Abstract: Across three studies, the present research examined beliefs and real-world responses pertaining to whether bar patrons' self-rated attractiveness would be higher later in the night. Contrary to beliefs held by lay people (Study 1A) and researchers in relevant disciplines (Study 1B), the results of a field study (Study 2) revealed that patrons perceived themselves as more attractive at later times, regardless of the amount of alcohol consumed. Relationship status moderated this time-contingent finding, which only applied to patrons who were single. However, consistent with sexual strategies theory, this interplay was further moderated by the patrons' sex. Men rated themselves as more attractive later in the night irrespective of their relationship status, whereas this “pretty” pattern only held for single women. Taken together, the current work highlights the concept of time in forming consumers' evaluative judgments and adds to the literature on the closing time effect.

Keywords: TimeClosing time effectSex differencesAttractivenessRelationship statusSexual strategies theory

5. General discussion

As far as can be ascertained, this is the first scientific work to investigate the validity of the closing time effect with respect to self-rated attractiveness. Studies 1A–B found that lay people and scholars in relevant disciplines believe bar patrons rate their own level of attractiveness more favorably at later times of a bar's opening hours due to increased alcohol consumption. Contrary to this belief, Study 2 found time, but not alcohol intoxication, explained patrons' responses in an actual field setting. Specifically, patrons perceived themselves as more attractive at later times of a bar's opening hours, regardless of the amount of alcohol consumed or how drunk they felt. Relationship status moderated this time-contingent finding, which only applied to patrons who were single. However, consistent with sexual strategies theory (Buss & Schmitt, 1993), this interaction was further moderated by the patrons' sex. Men rated themselves as more attractive the later they responded, regardless of their relationship status, whereas this pattern held only for single women. Notably, the present article offers a novel approach of testing the closing time effect on self-rated attractiveness rather than the previous focus on opposite-sex ratings.

At a general level, the current research highlights the concept of time in forming consumers' evaluative judgments. In particular, the results suggest that merely spending time in consumption contexts associated with a time-restricted market for mating may boost certain individuals' perceptions of their own attractiveness in a way that likely facilitates approach behaviors towards potential mates and mirrors sex differences in short-term mating strategies (Buss, 1989; Buss & Schmitt, 2019; Schmitt, 2003).

While we found support for our theorizing under ecologically valid conditions, as called for by scholars in psychology and consumer research (Cialdini, 2009b; Otterbring et al., 2020), other factors cannot be explicitly ruled out as alternative accounts. It could be that patrons entering bars at later hours simply constitute more attractive crowds, according to themselves or others, but they may also represent a segment that wears fancier clothes and more alluring accessories than patrons entering at earlier hours, given that such style-based strategies seem to play a prominent role in mating contexts (Hill et al., 1987; Townsend & Levy, 1990). Furthermore, “night owls” (i.e., individuals with an eveningness disposition) are more likely to have narcissistic personality traits (Jonason et al., 2013), which is positively (and meta-analytically) related to physical attractiveness (Holtzman & Strube, 2010) as well as short-term mate appeal, including interest as a short-term romantic and sexual partner (Dufner et al., 2013). People with narcissistic tendencies also perceive themselves more positively and are particularly prone to display self-presentation tactics, such as altering their appearance to obtain social gains, wearing expensive, conspicuous clothing, and, among women, wearing makeup and showing cleavage (Back et al., 2010; Fox & Rooney, 2015; Vazire et al., 2008). Therefore, future research on the closing time effect should collect data on patrons' dress style and level of narcissism, since these factors may partially explain the findings reported herein.

A final suggestion for future research is to uncover the specific psychological process explaining our results. The present findings appear to contradict the predictions proposed by Johnco et al. (2010) stemming from mere exposure effects and commodity theory. Mere exposure effects can theoretically explain increases in opposite-sex ratings over time (Halberstadt et al., 2003). However, such exposure effects are unlikely to explain the current findings on self-rated attractiveness. Similarly, commodity theory can explain a general increase in attractiveness ratings of opposite-sex individuals as a function of time, since the scarcity of potential partners due to time restrictions may increase their perceived attractiveness (Cialdini, 2009a; Lynn, 1992), but seems implausible in explaining a rise in patrons' self-rated attractiveness. Moreover, commodity theory cannot explain why the closing time effect should be restricted to patrons who are single (Madey et al., 1996). Among the previous explanations for the closing time effect, reactance theory, as originally suggested by Pennebaker et al. (1979), appears best suited to explain why it occurs and why it might differ depending on bar patrons' relationship status. However, reactance theory cannot easily explain why men and women should be differentially influenced by the effect depending on their relationship status. As such, the theory that offers the most parsimonious explanation for precise pattern of results seems to be sexual strategies theory (Buss & Schmitt, 1993). Future research should try to replicate the current findings, while simultaneously investigating if the psychological mechanism underlying the closing time effect differs as a function of whether the attractiveness ratings relate to opposite-sex individuals or self-evaluations.

People who have had COVID-19 may be more sociable than those who have not had it; people who have had COVID-19 were more conservative-leaning

Personality Correlates of COVID-19 Infection Proclivity: Extraversion Kills. Vania Rolon et al. Personality and Individual Differences, May 14 2021, 110994. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2021.110994

Highlights

• People who have had COVID-19 may be more sociable than those who have not had it.

• Assertiveness and energy level showed no group differences.

• People who have had COVID-19 were more conservative-leaning.

• Group differences in political ideology pertained social conservatism in particular.

Abstract: The current research sought to shed light on the behavioral science that underlies the spread of SARS-CoV-2. We tested the extraversion hypothesis, which suggests that the sociability facet of extraversion may predispose people to becoming infected with the coronavirus via greater human-to-human contact. Since extraverts seek out social opportunities and seem less likely to follow containment measures related to social distancing, we hypothesized that people who have previously become infected would exhibit greater extraversion than would those who have not contracted the virus. We measured overall extraversion and three of its facets–sociability, assertiveness, and energy levels–as well as political orientation. We collected data from 217 adults, aged 40 and older, from the US and the UK, of whom 53 had had the virus at some point prior to the study, and 164 had not. Participants who had had COVID-19 were more dispositionally sociable and were also more conservative-leaning compared to participants who had never had COVID-19. Implications regarding the behavioral science underlying the current pandemic are discussed.

Keywords: COVID-19PersonalityExtraversionBFI-2

4. Discussion

The current research sought to add to the efforts to understand the COVID-19 pandemic by exploring the behavioral science surrounding the spread of SARS-CoV-2. People who contracted COVID-19 reported marginally greater sociability scores than did people who never contracted COVID-19, whereas differences in overall extraversion, assertiveness, and energy level did not differ significantly between groups. In terms of political orientation, exploratory analyses suggest that participants who had been infected with SARS-CoV-2 leaned relatively more conservative, especially regarding social issues, and, in the case of American participants, and potentially agreed more with the Republican Party than did participants who had never been infected.

4.1. Limitations and Future Research

While our sample size may not have been ideal, we believe our study to be a first step into looking at personality differences between people who have become infected with COVID-19 versus those who have not, especially since past research has mostly focused on personality traits and COVID-19 related measures (e.g., perceived susceptibility and obedience of contingency measures) but not actual infections. Larger samples with more evenly distributed techniques would benefit future work. Additionally, collecting data from a broader array of nations would be useful, particularly since the American and British left-right parties may differ from the left-right parties of other nations. While Pennycook (2020) explains how the U.S. right politicized the pandemic, in Mexico, for example, it was President Lopez Obrador’s left government making claims about the country having tamed COVID-19 or that facemasks have practically null utility (Loret de Mola, 2021).

Future research might be wise to test specific models that can provide a broader frame for the relationship between extraversion and COVID-19, perhaps by incorporating other similarly related variables such as risk aversion and disgust sensitivity. For instance, the balancing-selection model (see Nettle, 2006) argues that traits with heritable components that show high degrees of variability might have been selected because both high and low ends of such traits might have benefits and costs from an evolutionary perspective. High extraversion may provide increased social status, but also greater fitness-related costs in the form of more risk-taking behavior. Perhaps across many generations of human life, pandemics that thrive on people interacting with others wipe out sociable extraverts disproportionately.

The directionality of the extraversion-COVID-19 relationship also merits further research. Are extraverts more likely to get infected; can the virus impact hosts’ social behavior; or both? The nervous-system hijacking model (see Reiber et al., 2010; Seitz et al., 2020) suggests viruses may temporarily increase sociable activities in hosts to benefit their spread and replication. Given organisms like toxoplasma gondii can alter our behavior (da Silva and Langoni, 2009), and that SARS-CoV-2 shows up in neural tissue (Mao et al., 2020) and in spinal fluid (Wu et al., 2020) in severe cases–suggesting the virus is making contact with the nervous system in some way–the possibility of viruses affecting human host behavior should not go unresearched.

4.2. Conclusion

Because the SARS-CoV-2 spreads via human-to-human contact, the pandemic is largely an issue of human social behavior. We documented two important personality-based variables that potentially significantly relate to the spread of the virus: the sociability facet of extraversion and self-identified conservative tendencies. We hope that these findings can help inform policy and processes moving forward as we work together as a global community to stop this pandemic in its tracks and get back to life as we knew it.

The Cross-national Association of Gun Ownership Rates and Suicide Rates: An Analysis of 194 Nations

The Cross-national Association of Gun Ownership Rates and Suicide Rates: An Analysis of 194 Nations. Gary Kleck. Archives of Suicide Research, May 12 2021. https://doi.org/10.1080/13811118.2021.1922110

Abstract

Objective: To estimate the cross-national association between suicide rates and gun ownership rates

Method: The association is estimated using the largest sample of nations (n = 194) ever employed for this purpose. Three different measures of national gun ownership rates are related to total suicide rates, firearms suicide rates, and non-firearms suicide rates.

Results: Although gun ownership rates have a significant positive association with the rate of firearms suicide, they are unrelated to the total suicide rate.

Conclusions: Consistent with the results of most prior macro-level studies, cross-national data indicate that levels of gun availability appear to affect how many people choose shooting as their method of suicide, but do not affect how many people kill themselves.

Keywords: Cross-nationalgun ownershipsuicide rates

Interventions to induce skepticism had a significantly stronger average effect on attitudes than did ones that intended to promote belief in climate change; seems that belief in climate change is more easily weakened than strengthened

Influencing Climate Change Attitudes in the United States: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Jacob B.Rode, Amy L.Dent, Caitlin N.Benedict, Daniel B.Brosnahan, Ramona L.Martinez, Peter H.Ditto. Journal of Environmental Psychology, May 14 2021, 101623. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2021.101623

Highlights

• A meta-analysis was conducted on interventions for climate change attitudes.

• There was a small, statistically significant positive effect of interventions.

• Interventions were less effective at influencing policy attitudes than belief.

• There was no intervention type that was clearly the most effective.

Abstract: Researchers interested in climate change communication have investigated how people respond to messages about it. Through meta-analysis, the current research synthesizes the multitude of experimental studies on this topic to uncover which interventions are most effective at influencing attitudes about climate change. The meta-analysis focuses on experimental studies that included a control condition and measured climate change attitudes among participants in the United States. After a large literature search, 396 effect sizes were retrieved from 76 independent experiments (N = 76,033 participants). Intervention had a small, significant positive effect on attitudes, g = 0.08, 95% CI [0.05, 0.10], 95% prediction interval [-0.04, 0.19], p < .001. Surprisingly, type of intervention was not a statistically significant moderator of this effect, nor was political affiliation. However, type of attitude was a significant moderator: the treatment-control difference in attitudes was smaller for policy support than for belief in climate change, indicating that policy attitudes are more resistant to influence than belief in climate change. Interventions that aimed to induce skepticism (e.g., misinformation) had a significantly stronger average effect on attitudes than did ones that intended to promote belief in climate change, suggesting that belief in climate change is more easily weakened than strengthened.

Keywords: climate changeattitudesmeta-analysisinterventions

The Political Consequences of an Optimistic Personality: Is a psychological resource that contributes to the practice of good citizenship behaviors (more politically engaged & participatory than those with pessimistic dispositions)

The Political Consequences of an Optimistic Personality. Carey Stapleton, Jacob Oliver & Jennifer Wolak. Political Behavior, May 13 2021. https://rd.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11109-021-09717-7

Abstract: Optimists hope for the best possible outcome, while pessimists plan for the worst. We investigate how people’s predispositions to be optimistic versus pessimistic shape how they approach politics. We argue that an optimistic personality is a psychological resource that contributes to the practice of good citizenship behaviors. Using responses from the 2008 Cooperative Campaign Analysis Project and the 2018 Cooperative Congressional Election Study, we demonstrate that people with optimistic personalities are more politically engaged and participatory than those with pessimistic dispositions. Optimists express more positive views of the American people, the government, and national symbols as well. Because optimists have a more positive outlook toward the nation’s future, they help contribute to levels of diffuse support for government and its symbols. While we might worry that optimists hold an unrealistic view of the political world, we find little evidence that dispositional optimism is associated with less accurate perceptions of political realities.

From 2019... Personal info than can be inferred from eye-tracking data: A user's sex, age, ethnicity, personality traits, drug-consumption habits, emotions, fears, skills, interests, sexual preferences, & physical & mental health

From 2019... Kröger J.L., Lutz O.HM., Müller F. (2020) What Does Your Gaze Reveal About You? On the Privacy Implications of Eye Tracking. In: Friedewald M., Önen M., Lievens E., Krenn S., Fricker S. (eds) Privacy and Identity Management. Data for Better Living: AI and Privacy. Privacy and Identity 2019. IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology, vol 576. Springer, Cham. March 2020.  https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42504-3_15

Abstract: Technologies to measure gaze direction and pupil reactivity have become efficient, cheap, and compact and are finding increasing use in many fields, including gaming, marketing, driver safety, military, and healthcare. Besides offering numerous useful applications, the rapidly expanding technology raises serious privacy concerns. Through the lens of advanced data analytics, gaze patterns can reveal much more information than a user wishes and expects to give away. Drawing from a broad range of scientific disciplines, this paper provides a structured overview of personal data that can be inferred from recorded eye activities. Our analysis of the literature shows that eye tracking data may implicitly contain information about a user’s biometric identity, gender, age, ethnicity, body weight, personality traits, drug consumption habits, emotional state, skills and abilities, fears, interests, and sexual preferences. Certain eye tracking measures may even reveal specific cognitive processes and can be used to diagnose various physical and mental health conditions. By portraying the richness and sensitivity of gaze data, this paper provides an important basis for consumer education, privacy impact assessments, and further research into the societal implications of eye tracking.

Keywords: Eye tracking Gaze Pupil Iris Vision Privacy Data mining Inference 

3 Discussion and Implications

As shown in the previous section, various kinds of sensitive inferences can be drawn from eye tracking data. Among other categories of personal data, recorded visual behavior can implicitly contain information about a person’s biometric identity, personality traits, ethnic background, age, gender, emotions, fears, preferences, skills and abilities, drug habits, levels of sleepiness and intoxication, and physical and mental health condition.  To some extent, even distinct stages of cognitive information processing are discernable from gaze data. Thus, devices with eye tracking capability have the potential to implicitly capture much more information than a user wishes and expects to reveal. Some of the categories of personal information listed above constitute special category data, for which particular protection is prescribed by the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (Art. 9 GDPR).  Of course, drawing reliable inferences from eye tracking data is not a trivial task.

Many situational factors can influence eye properties and gaze behavior in complex ways, making it difficult to measure the effect of a particular action, internal process, or personal characteristic of the user in isolation [55]. Seemingly identical ocular reactions can result from completely different causes. For example, an intensive gaze fixation on another person’s face may indicate liking, aversion, confusion, recognition, and much more. Similarly, a sudden change in pupil size can be indicative of many different feelings or internal states, including physical pain, sexual arousal, interest, happiness, anger, or simply be a reaction to ambient events and conditions, such as noise or varying lighting [19, 55].

In spite of existing challenges and limitations, the reviewed literature demonstrates that there is considerable potential for inferences in many areas and that numerous research projects, patented systems, and even commercial products have already taken advantage of the richness of eye tracking data to draw inferences about individuals with high accuracy.

It should be acknowledged that many of the cited inference methods were only tested under controlled laboratory conditions and lack evaluation in real-world scenarios [4, 18, 27, 52, 65, 67, 69, 86, 88]. On the other hand, it may reasonably be assumed that some of the companies with access to eye tracking data from consumer devices (e.g., device manufacturers, ecosystem providers) possess larger sets of training data, more technical expertise, and more financial resources than the researchers cited in this paper.  Facebook, for example, a pioneer in virtual reality and eye tracking technology, is also one of the wealthiest and most profitable companies in the world with a multi-billion dollar budget for research and development and a user base of over 2.3 billion people [93]. It seems probable that the threat of unintended information disclosure from gaze data will continue to grow with further improvements of eye tracking technology in terms of cost, size, and accuracy, further advances in analytical approaches, and the increasing use of eye tracking in various aspects of daily life.

In assessing the privacy implications of eye tracking, it is important to understand that, while consciously directed eye movements are possible, many aspects of ocular behavior are not under volitional control – especially not at the micro level [19, 55].  For instance, stimulus-driven glances, pupil dilation, ocular tremor, and spontaneous blinks mostly occur without conscious effort, similar to digestion and breathing. And even for those eye activities where volitional control is possible, maintaining it can quickly become physically and cognitively tiring [58] – and may also produce certain visible patterns by which such efforts can be detected. Hence, it can be very difficult or even impossible for eye tracking users to consciously prevent the leakage of personal information.

Though this paper focuses on privacy risks, we do not dispute the wide-ranging benefits of eye tracking. Quite the opposite: we believe that it is precisely the richness of gaze data and the possibility to draw insightful inferences from it that make the rising technology so valuable and useful. But to exploit this potential in a sustainable and socially acceptable manner, adequate privacy protection measures are needed.

Technical safeguards have been proposed to prevent the unintended disclosure of personal information in data mining, including specialized solutions for eye tracking data [58, 80]. These comprise the fuzzing of gaze data (i.e., inserting random noise into the signal before passing it down the application chain) and the utilization of derived parameters (e.g., aggregated values instead of detailed eye fixation sequences) [58]. Experiments have already shown that approaches based on differential privacy can prevent certain inferences, such as user re-identification and gender recognition, while maintaining high performance in gaze-based applications [80]. In addition to approaches at the technical level, it should also be examined whether existing laws provide for sufficient transparency in the processing of gaze data and for proper protection against inference-based privacy breaches. The promises and limitations of existing technical and legal remedies are beyond the scope of this paper but deserve careful scrutiny and will be considered for future work.

Even though eye tracking is a demonstrative example, the threat of undesired inferences is of course much broader, encompassing countless other sensors and data sources in modern life [47]. In other recent work, we have examined sensitive inferences that can be drawn from voice recordings [49] and accelerometer data [48, 50], for instance. In our view, the vast possibilities of continuously advancing inference methods are clearly beyond the understanding of the ordinary consumer. Therefore, we consider it to be primarily the responsibility of technical experts, technology companies, and governmental agencies to inform consumers about potential consequences and protect them against such covert invasions of privacy. Also, since it is unlikely that companies will voluntarily refrain from using or selling personal information that can be extracted from already collected data, there should be strong regulatory incentives and controls

About the economy, women are less likely to provide a judgment than their male counterparts, are less likely to give "extreme" answers in which they strongly agree or disagree, & are less confident in their answer's accuracy

Confidence Men? Evidence on Confidence and Gender among Top Economists. Heather Sarsons and Guo Xu. AEA Papers and Proceedings. May 2021, Vol. 111, No. : Pages 65-68. https://pubs.aeaweb.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1257/pandp.20211086

Abstract: Using data from economists working in top US universities, we find that women are less confident than men along three margins. When asked about their level of agreement on survey questions about the economy, women are less likely to provide a judgment than their male counterparts. Conditional on providing a judgment, women are less likely to give "extreme" answers in which they strongly agree or disagree. Women are also less confident in the accuracy of their answer. We show that the confidence gap is driven by women being less confident when asked questions outside their field of expertise.

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Women are 7.3 percentage points less likely to provide extreme judgments (column 1). In terms of magnitude, this gap is economically large. Compared to the mean of the dependent vari-able (19.8 percent), this corresponds to a gap of 36 percent. The gap is somewhat smaller for the self-reported confidence level but still nontrivial (column 3). On average, women tend to report a confidence score that is 0.221 points lower than men. This corresponds to a gap of 4 percent when evaluated against the mean...

The results show that both men and women are less confident when asked questions outside of their field but that a confidence gap persists. For example, while men are 5 percentage points less likely to give an extreme answer when speaking on a topic out-side of their primary field, women are 9.2 per-centage points less likely to do so (column 1). For the measure of confidence, men are on aver-age 0.585 points less confident when speaking on a topic outside their primary field (column 2). Once again, that confidence gap is significantly larger for women. We would expect women to be less confident than men when answering questions outside of their field if women actually have a narrower range of expertise than men do. The results, however, do not change when we control for the respondents’ breadth of expertise using RePEc data and allow breadth to vary by gender. More importantly, accounting for the differential confidence when moving beyond one’s own field “explains away” the level effect of gender.

[...] it appears that the confidence gap emerges when women are speaking on topics on which they might be less informed.