Illusory improvement: Participants remembered their romantic relationship one year ago more negatively they had reported it originally, creating a sense of improvement over time

Projecting current feelings into the past and future: Better current relationship quality reduces negative retrospective bias and increases positive forecasting bias. Johanna Peetz, Justin P. K. Shimizu, Courtney Royle. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, April 7, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1177/02654075221084280

Abstract: We examine bias in how people perceive their romantic relationship over time. Participants appraised their relationship 6 months and 1 year ago on average more negatively than they had done at the time (retrospective bias) but showed no significant mean-level forecasting bias. Higher relationship quality at the time of appraisal was linked to less negative retrospective bias but to more positive forecasting bias (Study 1). Similarly, participants who were experimentally manipulated to focus on the high relationship quality aspects in their relationship (vs. considering challenging aspects of their relationship) showed more forecasting bias and less retrospective bias (Study 2). This pattern occurred due to participants’ projecting positive current feelings onto predicted relationship quality in the future and remembered relationship quality in the past. This projection reduced the overall negative bias in recalled relationship quality for those currently perceiving higher relationship quality but increased positive bias in forecasted relationship quality.

Keywords: Temporal appraisal, illusory improvement, relationship change, relationship bias

Illusory improvement

People like to see improvement over time and prefer to remember the past in a way that implies such improvement—even if this means remembering the past self as worse than it actually was. For example, students rating themselves 4 months apart showed similar ratings at each point in time. However, when reflecting on what they were like 4 months ago, students rated their past self more negatively than they had at that time, creating a sense of improvement over time (Wilson & Ross, 2001). In the realm of relationships, people similarly distort their memory of their relationship over time, creating a sense of relationship improvement (Frye & Karney, 2004; Karney & Coombs, 2000; Karney & Frye, 2002; Ogolsky & Surra, 2014; Sprecher, 1999; Zygar-Hoffman & Schönbrodt, 2020).

Retrospective bias

People can be motivated to see improvement in their relationships even where none exists. Such illusory improvement might be expressed in direct judgments of change (e.g., “My relationship has improved”) or might be expressed in how the relationship is judged at different points in time (e.g., “Last April my relationship was good, now my relationship is great”). Thus, in retrospective judgments, people might judge the relationship more negatively in the past than it really was, creating a sense of improvement.

Several studies have shown a memory bias when recalling how one’s relationship has changed over time (Frye & Karney, 2004; Ogolsky & Surra, 2014; Sprecher, 1999). For example, newly dating people reported retrospectively that their commitment had increased in the past 7 months, whereas concurrent rating actually stayed the same (Ogolsky & Surra, 2014), and newlyweds reported remembering an increase in relationship satisfaction in the past 6 months at each point of assessment over 2.5 years, even though actual ratings declined across time points (Frye & Karney, 2004). Thus, it appears that people want to believe that their relationship has been improving, despite actually stable or declining relationship appraisals over time.

While these studies looked at perceived retrospective trajectories rather than a comparison of how the relationship was rated at a given time and how it is rated retrospectively for that same time, there exists also evidence of such retrospective memory bias. In a study assessing marital satisfaction of the wives of university staff over two decades, retrospective reports of marital satisfaction 10 years ago were negatively biased, such that they reported remembering their relationship to have been worse 10 years ago than they had reported at the time (Karney & Coombs, 2000). This negative retrospective bias also extends to evaluating specific emotions rather than global relationship judgments: Two experience sampling studies comparing relationship partner’s online reports of annoyance at their partner over 2 weeks with their remembered annoyance at the partner at the end of the 2 weeks showed exaggerated annoyance in retrospect (Zygar-Hoffman & Schönbrodt, 2020). To sum up, people tend to perceive illusory improvement in their relationships by recalling their relationship as having been worse in the past than they actually thought at the time.

Forecasting bias

Do people also expect improvement for their relationship in the future? When asked to predict the future of their relationship, the tendency is to be optimistic (MacDonald & Ross, 1999; Murray & Holmes, 1997). Does this optimism extend to predicting how the relationship quality will develop in the future? Evidence on whether people expect their relationship to get better over time is mixed. In a large sample of newlywed spouses, the vast majority predicted their marriage would become better (82%) and less than 1% predicted that their relationship would get worse in the next years (Lavner et al., 2013). However, when actually tracking their marital satisfaction over the following 4 years, participants showed, on average, a decline in marital satisfaction (Lavner et al., 2013). This represents illusory improvement in forecasted trajectories, at least in newlyweds. However, in another study, married relationship partners rating their relationship problems expected these problems to be about as severe in 6 months as they were currently, suggesting no overall forecasting bias (Frye & Karney, 2002). Similarly, an experience sampling study tracking couple’s forecasts of their partners’ prorelational (responsive) behaviors for the next day found both positive and negative forecasting errors (Lemay et al., 2015). Instead of a general tendency toward forecasting positive change, Lemay and colleagues found that relationship partners exhibited a temporal projection bias, where forecasts were biased by current feelings. Participants who experienced more positive affect today or perceived more positive behaviors from their partner today predicted more positive affect and more responsive partner behaviors tomorrow, independent of actual feelings and behaviors the next day (Lemay et al., 2015).

The role of relationship quality

Positive illusions about relationships can be beneficial: for example, people who idealized their partner more reported more increases in relationship satisfaction after 1 year (Murray & Holmes, 1997). In a meta-analysis across 14 studies that assessed relationship quality and bias about various relationship-relevant outcomes, Fletcher and Kerr (2010) found that greater relationship quality was on average linked with perceiving the partner or the relationship overly positively. Furthermore, expectations about the future quality of a relationship tend to be a better predictor of relationship commitment than current relationship quality (Baker et al., 2017; Lemay, 2016), suggesting that perceiving illusory improvement may function as a relationship maintenance strategy (also see Rusbult et al., 2001). If illusory improvement serves a relationship maintenance function, higher current relationship quality should not only be linked to more positive forecasting bias (i.e., more improvement into the future), but it should also be linked to more negative retrospective bias (i.e., more improvement from the past).

On the other hand, it is possible that current relationship quality simply biases appraisals of past and future relationship quality to be more similar to current relationship quality—a temporal projection bias. The temporal projection bias has been shown to influence future affect and future behavior predictions in close relationships (Lemay et al., 2015). Outside of close relationships, similar projection biases have been shown to distort both memories about past loneliness and expectations about future loneliness (Teneva & Lemay, 2020) and past and future emotions more generally (Chang et al., 2018). Such a temporal projection bias would predict that higher current relationship quality should be linked to more positive forecasting bias in relationship quality—but linked to less negative retrospective bias. When projecting current feelings on past relationship appraisals, the more positive participants feel about their relationship in the present, the more positively they would see the relationship in the past (rather than seeing the relationship in the past more negatively to support illusory improvement perceptions).

Forecasting bias

Both illusory improvement and temporal projection patterns would predict that relationship quality at the time of forecast should increase the tendency to predict more change to the better in global relationship judgments for the future. Indeed, this has been borne out in past research (Baker et al., 2017; Frye, 2006; Lemay, 2016; Rusbult et al., 2001). In a study on temporal comparison, Frye (2006) found that the more satisfied participants reported being in their relationship, the more positive change in relationship problems they expected (although the extent to which this expected change might be illusory could not be determined in this particular study, since actual change was not assessed). In the present studies we examine the link of perceived relationship quality with the extent of bias in predicted future relationship quality (Study 1) and examine whether experimental manipulation of relationship quality at the time of forecast increases the extent of positive forecasting bias (Study 2).

Retrospective bias

On the other hand, when it comes to the link between relationship quality and retrospective bias about the relationship in the past, the conception of illusory improvement biases as relationship maintaining is at odds with temporal projection biases. How is relationship quality linked with retrospective biases about the relationship? When examining participants’ recollections of their marriage 10 years ago, those who were most satisfied with their marriage at the time of recall were least likely to bias their recollections of the relationship whereas those least satisfied with their relationship were most biased (Karney & Coombs, 2000). Similarly, those with better global relationship satisfaction at the time of recall showed less retrospective bias about their annoyed feelings toward their partner in the past 2 weeks (Zygar-Hoffmann & Schönbrodt, 2020). Thus, higher relationship quality at the time of recall appears to be associated with less, rather than more, retrospective bias about the relationship in the past. In the present studies we examine the link of perceived relationship quality on the extent of bias in recalled past relationship quality (Study 1) and examine whether experimental manipulation of relationship quality at the time of recall affect the extent of negative retrospective bias (Study 2).

Some kinds of play are more individually or socially adaptive than others; thus, we must not forget that hazing, bullying, animal cruelty, gambling, risk taking, compulsions, & addictions of many kinds can have their origins in play

The centrality and origins of play: The mystery and evolution of animal play. Gordon Burghardt. Apr 6 2022. https://iai.tv/articles/the-centrality-and-origins-of-play-auid-2095

The existence of play in non-human animals is a direct challenge to old-fashioned scientific ideas. Play is dismissed as a human projection or as functional practice for adulthood that only ‘higher”  mammals are capable of. Not so, writes Gordon Burghardt, the contemporary study of play finds it across the animal kingdom from birds to spiders, and help makes sense of why, for us humans, play can be spontaneous, purposeless and fun.

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The Meaning of Play

Rather than search for the “true” or “real” meaning of play, as if it is a unitary phenomenon, the conceptual framework outlined above suggests that we look for the factors in both the environment and the organism that facilitate the performance of play. Some kinds of play are more individually or socially adaptive than others. Thus, we must not forget that hazing, bullying, animal cruelty, gambling, risk taking, compulsions, and addictions of many kinds can have their origins in play.

Why males go to war? Study shows a deep evolutionary legacy for mammals — male bias in intergroup conflict & female bias in collective movements ("female guides")

Sex bias in intergroup conflict and collective movements among social mammals: male warriors and female guides. Jennifer E. Smith, Claudia Fichtel, Rose K. Holmes, Peter M. Kappeler, Mark van Vugt and Adrian V. Jaeggi. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, April 4 2022. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2021.0142

Abstract: Intergroup conflict is a major evolutionary force shaping animal and human societies. Males and females should, on average, experience different costs and benefits for participating in collective action. Specifically, among mammals, male fitness is generally limited by access to mates whereas females are limited by access to food and safety. Here we analyse sex biases among 72 species of group-living mammals in two contexts: intergroup conflict and collective movements. Our comparative phylogenetic analyses show that the modal mammalian pattern is male-biased participation in intergroup conflict and female-biased leadership in collective movements. However, the probability of male-biased participation in intergroup conflicts decreased and female-biased participation increased with female-biased leadership in movements. Thus, female-biased participation in intergroup conflict only emerged in species with female-biased leadership in collective movements, such as in spotted hyenas and some lemurs. Sex differences are probably attributable to costs and benefits of participating in collective movements (e.g. towards food, water, safety) and intergroup conflict (e.g. access to mates or resources, risk of injury). Our comparative review offers new insights into the factors shaping sex bias in leadership across social mammals and is consistent with the ‘male warrior hypothesis' which posits evolved sex differences in human intergroup psychology

Woman faces that appeared as attractive drive imitation more; in contrast, the facial attractiveness of men had no significant influence on imitation

The influence of facial attractiveness and personal characteristics on imitation. Jie Shen et al. The Journal of Social Psychology, Mar 30 2022. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224545.2022.2052002

Abstract: Imitation plays a crucial role in learning and communication, although a little is known whether individuals imitate each other based on particular personality traits. Facial features and personal characteristics are the major components of personal impressions. This study adopted the color paradigm to explore the effect of the two factors on imitation. Experiment 1 examined the effect of facial attractiveness and face gender on imitation. The results showed that woman who appeared attractive drove imitation more than woman who did not. However, men who appeared attractive and unattractive differed insignificantly. Experiment 2 investigated the effect of facial attractiveness and personal characteristics on imitation. The results of Experiment 1 were verified, stating that positive personal characteristics drove imitation more than negative personal characteristics. The study found that facial attractiveness still affected imitation when characteristics information appeared. Regarding negative personal characteristics, individuals who appeared attractive drove imitation more than individuals who did not. The results indicate that imitation is automated, influenced not only by face types but also by personal characteristics.

Keywords: Facial attractivenesspersonal characteristicsimitationcolor paradigm

Being More Educated and Earning More Increases Romantic Interest: Data from 1.8 M Online Daters from 24 Nations

Being More Educated and Earning More Increases Romantic Interest: Data from 1.8 M Online Daters from 24 Nations. Peter K. Jonason & Andrew G. Thomas. Human Nature, Apr 5 2022. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12110-022-09422-2

Abstract: How humans choose their mates is a central feature of adult life and an area of considerable disagreement among relationship researchers. However, few studies have examined mate choice (instead of mate preferences) around the world, and fewer still have considered data from online dating services. Using data from more than 1.8 million online daters from 24 countries, we examined the role of sex and resource-acquisition ability (as indicated by level of education and income) in mate choice using multilevel modeling. We then attempted to understand country-level variance by examining factors such as gender equality and the operational sex ratio. In every nation, a person’s resource-acquisition ability was positively associated with the amount of attention they received from other site members. There was a marked sex difference in this effect; resource-acquisition ability improved the attention received by men almost 2.5 times that of women. This sex difference was in every country, admittedly with some variance between nations. Several country-level traits moderated the effects of resource-acquisition ability, and in the case of unemployment this moderating role differed by sex. Overall, country-level effects were more consistent with evolutionary explanations than sociocultural ones. The results suggest a robust effect of resource-acquisition ability on real-life mate choice that transcends international boundaries and is reliably stronger for men than women. Cross-cultural variance in the role of resource-acquisition ability appears sensitive to local competition and gender equality at the country level.

Discussion

Using 1.8 M online dating profiles, we found that resource-acquisition ability and sex had a small, but robust influence on the amount of interest a dating profile received. Specifically, being a woman or having higher resource-acquisition ability led to increased numbers of messages, “winks,” and “likes” from other members (i.e., IOI). These patterns showed considerable cross-cultural consistency: resource-acquisition ability generally increased IOI in all countries, and, except for the USA, profiles of women generally received more IOI than those of men. Even in the USA, this sex difference reversed only at high levels of resource-acquisition ability (more than 2 SD above the mean). There was some variability between nations in the enhancing effect of resource-acquisition ability and its differential effect on the sexes, but this was simply a matter of degree. That is, resource-acquisition ability enhanced dating profile attention broadly, and for men more than women specifically, in all countries, though some more than others. These national sex differences accounted for only a slither of the total variance in attention received among the population. Nonetheless, we were still able to associate this variance with some country-level traits: gross national income, sex ratio, unemployment, and gender development.

Besides informing on the roles of culture, sex, and resource-acquisition ability on mate choice, we examined how differences in social, political, and economic differences in the various nations accounted for mate choice and sex differences therein. Although we cannot claim our results are definitive (given, e.g., sampling homogeneity in the countries), our results reveal that (1) sex differences persist in all countries sampled and (2) they appear relatively insensitive to the nation-level variables we considered. This may be more in line with evolutionary models of sex differences in mate choice than sociocultural ones because the latter treat sex differences as artifacts of culture (e.g., Eagly & Wood, 1999). Our results showed considerable agreement with studies from labs, smaller datasets, and mate preference research suggesting that even when people are actively choosing mates from the comfort of their couches, regardless of their country of origin, evolved mate selection tendencies are expressed.

Our research draws attention to the unique challenges of working with data of this magnitude (e.g., everything was significant). To cope with these challenges, we relied on confidence intervals to understand country-level patterns and descriptive differences (i.e., percent increase) as prima facie evidence of ostensible population-level effects. This process revealed just how small some of these effects might be. This may, in part, be the result of being unable to account for the primary feature that predicts romantic interest—physical attraction (Jonason & Antoon, 2019; Jonason et al., 2019; Kenrick et al., 1993; Li et al., 2002). At the same time, as both epidemiologists and evolutionary theorists have appreciated for some time, small effects over large populations and periods of time are not bereft of impact (Dawkins, 1996; Rose et al., 2008). In the online dating space, one additional message received might, for some people, change their mating trajectory entirely, with real consequences for their happiness and their reproductive success. One fruitful approach to deal with these kinds of data in the future may be to adopt Bayesian analyses instead of null-hypothesis-testing procedures.

Limitations and Conclusions

Despite the size and scope of our study, it still had several limitations. First, we focused only on two predictors of romantic interest even though our data have several more. We did so because of the exponentially increasing complexity afforded by including more variables, and instead of focusing on describing who gets more IOI, we focused on theory-testing of microscopic issues. Of all the variables we have, we felt that resource-acquisition ability was the timeliest (e.g., the rise of the topic of sapiosexuality), the most useful for considering mate choice in relation to two theoretical paradigms, and one that has applied implications for mate searching and child mortality (Egebark et al., 2021; Hopcroft, 2021). The magnitude of these data is simply too much to conscientiously allow for exploratory tests when everything is likely to be “significant” but unlikely to be meaningful. Subsequent studies will examine the effects of height, marital status, number of children, and more. We presented here the first of a series of studies relying on “real” and “really big” data to understand cross-cultural patterns in mate choice using those seeking mates and people’s bone fide interest in them, not some hypothetical interest.

Second, resource-acquisition ability, as a factor influencing mate choice, is likely to have several related indicators, such as ambition, social status/level, and earning capacity (Buss, 1989; Li et al., 2002). We were only able to examine two of them—treated as a single index—given the limitations of what was collected. Although the two may not fully represent the larger construct of competence or resource-acquisition ability as we envision them, we think the results are more than defensible given their alignment with theory and having, themselves, been used as indicators of research in the past (Egebark et al., 2021; Hopcroft, 2021; Jonason & March, 2021). Indeed, the moderate correlation between the two may be reflective of the fact that we have only two indicators on a much larger mate-choice determinant (along with potential error in that data).

Third, despite the cross-national nature of this data, our sample was still WEIRD. (Henrich et al., 2010). Although countries such as Chile and Mexico might not traditionally be considered “Western,” they are educated, industrialized, and rich enough to have online dating services and Internet access. This may have created some range restriction and limit our results to just the countries where the dating service operates. It remains to be seen whether these patterns would hold up in African, South American, and Asian nations. Nevertheless, if we take an evolutionary perspective, differences in countries are a matter of degree for local calibration; Homo sapiens are humans everywhere (Buss, 1989; Thomas et al., 2020).

A final limitation involves our ability to account for country-level variance. Members in our dataset came from 24 countries, which allowed us to develop an understanding of how consistently resource-acquisition ability affects dating profile attention and how much this varies from country to country. However, even with two dozen nations, this aspect of our analysis was underpowered. Thus, we took a conservative approach when adding them to the base model. In contrast, other studies on the idea of “evoked culture” tend to examine country-level effects while controlling for variables such as longitude and latitude (Gangestad et al., 2006), though arguably, even then, such analyses are underpowered. Including more countries, particularly from non-WEIRD nations, would help us draw firmer conclusions.

In conclusion, we have provided the most definitive answers yet to the questions of the role of resource-acquisition ability in mate choice, whether there are sex differences in that role, and what nation-level factors might account for national patterns overall and in the sexes. We showed that greater resource-acquisition ability leads to more dating profile interest in data from more than 1.8 million people living in 24 nations who use the services of an international, online dating company. While both sexes received a boost in interest when they had more resource-acquisition ability, the increase was almost 2.5 times stronger in men than in women. And last, resource-acquisition ability tended to be slightly less important in richer countries with more women of reproductive age than men, and slightly more important in cultures with greater gender equality. Higher levels of unemployment also seemed to make resource-acquisition ability more important, but this effect was restricted to the amount of attention women’s profiles received. The relative primacy and robustness of sex differences suggest evolutionary models of mate choice may be more powerful than sociocultural ones when it comes to resource-acquisition ability.

Mandarin Chinese speakers overestimated how well native English-speaking Americans understood what they said in Chinese, & understood their intentions, even when informed that the listeners knew no Chinese

Lau, B. K. Y., Geipel, J., Wu, Y., & Keysar, B. (2022). The extreme illusion of understanding. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General. Apr 2022. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0001213

Abstract: Though speakers and listeners monitor communication success, they systematically overestimate it. We report an extreme illusion of understanding that exists even without shared language. Native Mandarin Chinese speakers overestimated how well native English-speaking Americans understood what they said in Chinese, even when they were informed that the listeners knew no Chinese. These listeners also believed they understood the intentions of the Chinese speakers much more than they actually did. This extreme illusion impacts theories of speech monitoring and may be consequential in real-life, where miscommunication is costly. 

Men who pervasively gaze at women’s bodies more likely to assume women invite/tolerate rough sexual conduct toward them; women who pervasively gaze at men’s bodies more likely to attribute responsibility to women for their role in sexual assault

Body Gaze as a Marker of Sexual Objectification: A New Scale for Pervasive Gaze and Gaze Provocation Behaviors in Heterosexual Women and Men. Ross C. Hollett, Shane L. Rogers, Prudence Florido & Belinda Mosdell. Archives of Sexual Behavior, Mar 29 2022. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10508-022-02290-y

Abstract: Body gaze behavior is assumed to be a key feature of sexual objectification. However, there are few self-report gaze measures available and none capturing behavior which seeks to invite body gaze from others. Across two studies, we used existing self-report instruments and measurement of eye movements to validate a new self-report scale to measure pervasive body gaze behavior and body gaze provocation behavior in heterosexual women and men. In Study 1, participants (N = 1021) completed a survey with newly created items related to pervasive body gaze and body gaze provocation behavior. Participants also completed preexisting measures of body attitudes, sexual assault attitudes, pornography use, and relationship status. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses across independent samples suggested a 12-item scale for men and women to separately measure pervasive body gaze (5 items) and body gaze provocation (7 items) toward the opposite sex. The two scales yielded excellent internal consistency estimates (.86–.89) and promising convergent validity via positive correlations with body and sexual attitudes. In Study 2, a subsample (N = 167) of participants from Study 1 completed an eye-tracking task to capture their gaze behavior toward matched images of partially and fully dressed female and male subjects. Men exhibited body-biased gaze behavior toward all the female imagery, whereas women exhibited head-biased gaze behavior toward fully clothed male imagery. Importantly, self-reported body gaze correlated positively with some aspects of objectively measured body gaze behavior. Both scales showed good test–retest reliability and were positively correlated with sexual assault attitudes.

Trend that seems to be increasing: Many women in the world’s richer countries appear to seek Mr. Perfect, while their male counterparts are more willing to accept Ms. Goodenough

Skirbekk, V. (2022). Finding a Mate: Contemporary Partnership and Conception. Chapter in: Decline and Prosper!. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. Pp 217–245. Apr 1 2022. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-91611-4_12

Abstract: In many countries, marriage is no longer considered a prerequisite for childbearing. Cohabitation and children born outside of marriage are both on the rise. Advances in assisted reproductive technology have made it more feasible to have a child without a partner or within the context of a same-sex union, at least for women. In this chapter, I discuss the delay and decrease in marriage, the spread of cohabitation, how people find a mate, trends in same-sex unions, and how changes in partnerships have affected fertility. Although fewer people are married, marriage continues to be one of the most persistent and strongest determinants of fertility. Many individuals also appear to have problems finding a partner, although the reasons differ fundamentally for men and women.

Keywords: Partnership Union formation Mate selection Cohabitation and Marriage Same-sex partnerships In vitro fertilization

More life satisfaction: The "sickly sweet" smell of death (putrescine) may prompt individuals to love their lives more

Smelling Death, Loving Life: the Impact of Olfactory Chemosignals on Life Satisfaction. Michael D. Barnett, Ben K. Mokhtari & Jenna M. Moore. Chemosensory Perception, Mar 16 2022. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12078-022-09297-8

Abstract

Introduction: Previous research suggests that putrescine — the chemical compound that gives decomposing organic matter its distinctive odor — may trigger an inborn evolutionary mechanism that prompts individuals to avoid the smell of decay. The purpose of these two experiments was to investigate the effects of exposure to putrescine on human cognition.

Methods: Two between-subjects experiments (experiment 1 N = 109; experiment 2 N = 108) compared individuals exposed to either putrescine, ammonia, or water. Experiment 1 measures included odorant ratings (i.e., intensity, familiarity, repugnance, goodness), implicit measures (i.e., word completion task, moral judgment vignettes, and opinions on the death penalty), and explicit measures (i.e., death attitudes, self-esteem, and life satisfaction); experiment 2 measures included odorant ratings and life satisfaction.

Results: In experiment 1, there were no differences by odorant condition on implicit measures; however, those exposed to putrescine reported higher life satisfaction than those exposed to water. These results were replicated in experiment 2.

Conclusions: Exposure to putrescine may activate psychological threat management processes, which are then interpreted as higher life satisfaction.

Implications: Human olfactory perception is sensitive to putrescine, and putrescine may exert some subtle psychological effects on human cognition.

From a Survey and Twin Study: The belief that human attributes are determined by biology belongs to the few psychological traits that are not influenced by genes

Genetic and Environmental Influences on Biological Essentialism, Heuristic Thinking, Need for Closure, and Conservative Values: Insights From a Survey and Twin Study. J. J. Morosoli, F. K. Barlow, L. Colodro-Conde & S. E. Medland. Behavior Genetics, Apr 3 2022. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10519-022-10101-2

Abstract: Biological essentialism, the belief that human attributes are determined by biology, is a core component of essentialist thinking. Previous studies have shown that individual differences in essentialist thinking are associated with heuristic thinking, cognitive ability and style, conservative values, and prejudice. None, however, have examined whether biological essentialism is itself heritable, or the extent to which familial aggregation explains associations with core correlates. In order to do this, we analyzed data from a genetically informative sample of families with twins in Australia (N = 2,103), as well as general population samples from the UK (N = 501) and the US (N = 500). Genetic factors had little influence in individual differences in biological essentialism or in its relationship with heuristic thinking. Conservative values were genetically correlated with cognitive styles (i.e., need for closure and heuristic thinking). These findings support a bigger role of genes in explaining the relationship between cognitive processes and moral reasoning and ideology than they do the association between cognitive processes and essentialist thinking.

Participants with dark personality traits (Machiavellianism, narcissism, psychopathy) didn't feel like they needed to reduce them, while the others would have liked even a little more of them

Lighten the darkness: Personality interventions targeting agreeableness also reduce participants' levels of the dark triad. Nathan W. Hudson. Journal of Personality, March 14 2022. https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.12714

Abstract

Objective: Previous research suggests that people want to change their big five traits—and moreover, they may be able to do so. This paper extends these findings in three ways. First, I examined the extent to which people want to change their levels of the dark triad—Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy. Second, I tested whether desires to change the dark triad predicted actual changes in the corresponding traits across approximately four months. Finally, participants received an intervention designed to change their big five personality traits. Consequently, I tested whether this intervention could also facilitate changes in the dark triad.

Method: The present study was a 16-wave, weekly, intensive longitudinal design (N = 467).

Results: Results revealed that participants generally did not want to change their levels of the dark triad. Nevertheless, individual variance in desires to change the dark triad did predict actual changes in the dark triad across four months. Moreover, interventions targeting agreeableness spurred changes in all three dark triad traits.

Conclusions: This research suggests that taking small steps to become more agreeable may also reduce individuals' levels of the dark triad. These findings may have implications for future research, as well as therapeutic treatments.

Found occupational stereotypes to differ substantially on both warmth & competence dimensions, with Firefighters presenting the most favorable and Politicians and Unemployed people showing the least favorable evaluations

Stereotype content of occupational groups in Germany. Maria-Therese Friehs, Felicia Aparicio Lukassowitz, Ulrich Wagner. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, March 31 2022. https://doi.org/10.1111/jasp.12872

Abstract: The stereotype content model (SCM) is a prominent model of social perception proposing two dimensions of evaluation: Warmth and competence. Occupational stereotypes have rarely been assessed in this model, especially in the German context, albeit their important impact on how individuals experience gainful occupation and navigate everyday social interactions. Responding to recent methodological critiques regarding the SCM's scale performance, we developed a context-adapted, well-performing German-language SCM scale and assessed warmth and competence ratings of 13 occupational groups in a heterogeneous sample (N = 425). Using the alignment optimization procedure to allow for more reliable latent mean value comparisons, we found occupational stereotypes to differ substantially on both dimensions, with Firefighters presenting the most favorable and Politicians and Unemployed people showing the least favorable evaluations. We discuss our findings in terms of their content-wise and methodological meaning as well as their implications for research and in occupational contexts.

5 DISCUSSION

In this study, we pursued the double goals of developing a scale to measure perceived warmth and competence, the two fundamental dimensions of social perception as defined by the SCM (Fiske et al., 2002), and employing it to describe current occupational stereotypes in Germany. Using an online survey in a heterogeneous adult sample and applying the state-of-the-art alignment optimization procedure to compare latent warmth and competence means, we found substantial differences between the perception of the 13 occupational groups included in the survey. The results as well as their implications will be discussed in the following.

5.1 Development of a stereotype content scale to assess occupational stereotypes

One goal of this article was to develop and apply a stereotype content scale that assesses the social perception of occupational groups with adequate reliability, dimensionality, and comparability. This was necessary as the functionality of established German and English scales has been challenged due to its unclear dimensionality and because preconditions for (latent) mean value comparison were often not given (Friehs et al., 2022; Kotzur et al., 2019, 2020). Though initial and exemplary steps have been taken to remedy this issue (Halkias & Diamantopoulos, 2020), existing well-performing SCM scales have not proven their applicability for assessing human targets and social groups, but rather focused on products or countries. Thus, we carefully selected indicators suitable for the context of assessing occupational stereotypes and applied a comprehensive factor-analytical scale development procedure. As a result, we can present a scale with a well-defined dimensionality, good model fit for all occupational groups we assessed, and acceptable internal consistency. We hope that this scale will assist in producing more structurally valid SCM findings and will provide options for cumulative research on stereotype content by using identical scales in future research.

Naturally, this is only the first application of the newly developed scale, and as scale construction and validation are ongoing processes (Flake et al., 2017), future applications and continuous careful examinations of the SCM scale are needed. In a minor internal replication study again assessing occupational stereotypes, we found independent support for our proposed SCM scale (see Supporting Information Material L). Nonetheless, future research should apply the scale to occupation-unrelated groups (e.g., social groups defined by gender, origin, or other features, or experimental conditions) to critically evaluate its applicability. For all further applications, we call for a careful examination of the measurement models using confirmatory factor analysis. Moreover, the used alignment optimization procedure might have led to differing results compared to other more traditional or conservative procedures of comparing latent mean values, like MGCFA (Friehs et al., 2022; Kotzur et al., 2020). Indeed, the data of Kotzur et al. (2019) showed somewhat diverging results depending on the method of analysis (alignment optimization in Kotzur et al., 2019; MGCFA in Friehs et al., 2022), and this finding has also been reported elsewhere (Magraw-Mickelson et al., 2020; Seddig et al., 2020).

Allowing for a residual covariation between the two competence indicators, as we did in this study, is new to (factor-analysis-based) SCM research. Although the procedure is in line with theoretical considerations about subdimensions of warmth and competence (Abele et al., 2021; Stanciu, 2015), it somewhat hinders applications of the scale to analyze observed means, because only advanced modeling approaches can account for this residual covariation. The residual covariation could also have contributed to the relatively low internal consistencies of the scale. Additional contributing factors could be the relatively low number of indicators per scale and the fact that we reported McDonald's ω values, which—unlike Cronbach's α—do not assume τ-equivalence of indicators (Hayes & Coutts, 2020). ω values have very rarely been reported in SCM research (but see Friehs et al., 2022; Kotzur et al., 2020), and indeed, if we had computed αs, the average internal consistencies would have been substantially higher. We do not believe that the internal consistency disqualifies the further usage of our scales, as we have presented plentiful additional evidence of the scales’ dimensionality and structural validity (Flake et al., 2017). Interestingly, we found that the internal consistency of the warmth scale was lower than that of the competence scale, which is in line with recent findings that warmth is assessed more idiosyncratic and less consistent across raters (Koch et al., 2020).

5.2 Occupational stereotypes in Germany

Another goal was to describe occupational stereotypes in Germany. Previous research applying the SCM or related constructs provided ample empirical evidence to predict occupational stereotypes for some groups. As such, we were able to confirm our assumptions concerning both the warmth and competence assessments of Firefighters and Police officers, the warmth prediction of Bankers, Child care workers, and Politicians, as well as the competence expectations concerning Unemployed people, Physicians, and Teachers. Nonetheless, some of our hypotheses were contradicted outright, such as the high warmth rating of Teachers or the high competence perceptions of Politicians, or deviated slightly from our expectations, for instance for Judges, Farmers, and Craftspeople. We will not offer a detailed discussion of all findings, but in the following, we will outline some select and unexpected findings.

Based on the results reported in the literature, we expected both Physicians (Asbrock, 2010; Gesellschaft für Konsum-, Markt-, und Absatzforschung e.V., 2018; He et al., 2019; Imhoff et al., 2013) and Teachers (Eckes, 2002; Gesellschaft für Konsum-, Markt-, und Absatzforschung e.V., 2018; He et al., 2019; Imhoff et al., 2013) to be perceived as highly warm. What is more, we would have assumed contextual circumstances (i.e., the global COVID-19 pandemic during the time of data collection; see below) to reinforce this positive warmth assessment due to increased public salience and appreciation of the contributions these occupational groups make to societal functioning. However, we found both occupational groups to score medium on warmth, with at least two occupational groups showing significantly higher warmth ratings. Similar findings were recently reported in the Swedish context (Strinić et al., 2021). Our data cannot provide explanatory information for this deviation from theory, so these issues might be worth investigating in future research.

We are also surprised by the prominently negative occupational stereotypes of Politicians, which were rated lowest on warmth and second-lowest on competence. Though previous international literature would have led us to expect higher competence ratings (Fiske & Durante, 2014; He et al., 2019), these findings are not singular in the German context (e.g., forsa Politik-und Sozialforschung GmbH, 2019; Gesellschaft für Konsum-, Markt-, und Absatzforschung e.V., 2018; Wagner et al., 2020) and consistent with results focusing on other information sources, such as the screening of occupational groups mentioned frequently and negatively on the Internet (Gesellschaft für Konsum-, Markt-, und Absatzforschung e.V., 2018). Nonetheless, they give rise to substantial societal concerns: Cuddy et al. (2007) proposed that warmth and competence stereotypes are predictive of emotional and behavioral responses. Consequently, the negative occupational stereotypes of politicians might in part be responsible for current political issues, such as the rise of right-wing populist parties, which proclaim their distinctness from established politicians and vote for fundamental changes in the political system, or the recent reports of hate mail threatening the lives of various politicians. In the long run, these negative perceptions of politicians might impair the functioning of the democratic system through a loss of interest in and disengagement from political parties and initiatives, reduced voter participations, and support for nondemocratic movements and ambitions.

Finally, the SCM usually predicts frequent observations of ambivalent stereotypes (i.e., high ratings on one dimension paired with low ratings on the other; Abele et al., 2021; Cuddy et al., 2009; Durante et al., 2013, 2017; Fiske, 2015; Fiske et al., 2002). In contrast, our findings showed overall strong and significant positive correlations between warmth and competence both within and between occupational groups. This led to a distinct absence of ambivalently rated occupational groups. Importantly, this pattern is not indicative of a unidimensional stereotype scale, as the EFA results indicated (at least) bidimensional solutions in all occupational groups except one. Naturally, from a statistical perspective, the across-group relation between the warmth and competence dimensions is highly dependent on the selection of occupational groups. Thus, our finding might just be explained by a tendency to select nonambivalently stereotyped occupational groups for assessment (Fiske et al., 2002). However, comparable findings have been reported elsewhere (Durante et al., 2013, 2017; Kervyn et al., 2015). One explanation might be the fact that for both warmth and competence, it is assumed desirable to be rated highly, and therefore these dimensions correlate positively with general evaluations (Kervyn et al., 2013; Osgood et al., 1957). In fact, Sayans-Jiménez et al. (2017) found the support of a bifactor model of stereotype content featuring both the SCM dimensions and an independent global evaluation factor. On the other hand, high correlations between warmth and competence factors within and across occupational groups could be indicative of acquiescence or halo-effects (Judd et al., 2005). The lack of ambivalently evaluated groups is also in line with the findings of Durante et al. (2013, 2017), which predict little ambivalent stereotypes in societies with relatively low inequality and low conflict, such as Germany.

5.3 Relevance of the research results

Our findings might be applied in the investigation of social interactions and processes in specific work contexts: Oftentimes, workplaces are characterized by the intimate collaboration of differently stereotyped occupational groups (e.g., nurses and physicians in hospitals, teachers and child care workers in schools). Employees holding lower-status positions may be stereotyped as less competent and, therefore, passed over, so that information exchange and collaboration are disturbed (Koch et al., 2021). Reversely, employees in high-status positions stereotyped as highly competent might not be informed about smaller issues and problems due to strong perceptions of hierarchy, which might lead to “blind spots” and impaired decision-making processes based on incomplete information (Tourish, 2005). Acknowledging the ways in which different staff members could potentially be biased by social perception processes is crucial for well-functioning teamwork, which is a necessity in most contemporary working environments.

As mentioned before, occupational stereotypes might also strengthen occupational segregation (i.e., the distribution of individuals from different demographic backgrounds across occupations; He et al., 2019). Groups such as women, physically or mentally impaired people, or those with low socioeconomic status might be underrepresented in occupations scoring high on competence (He et al., 2019), a circumstance by which occupational stereotyping is reinforced. Occupational segregation can be reduced by predicting the social groups that might be underrepresented in a particular job and specifically encouraging and promoting their access to that occupation (e.g., with nondiscriminatory job advertisements). By knowing about occupational stereotypes and intervening accordingly, future labor shortages might be prevented (He et al., 2019). Thus, our research might also be applied to define and examine strategies to change occupational stereotypes.

5.4 Future research directions

As discussed above, we acknowledge that our findings concerning the warmth and competence assessments of different occupational groups are relational and dependent on the specific other occupational groups we assessed. Future research comparing different occupational groups might thus come to somewhat different conclusions. What is more, our study contained only a small number of occupational groups (compared to other SCM research, e.g., Asbrock, 2010; Eckes, 2002; He et al., 2019), thus limiting the descriptive and comparative informational value. Most certainly, the number and choice of groups in our study does not reflect the full range of occupational groups relevant in any society. Nonetheless, we collected data from a heterogeneous sample, most of whom had no substantial prior experience with filling in online surveys. Thus, we needed to keep survey length and participant strain to a minimum (Halkias & Diamantopoulos, 2020). Further research may investigate the stereotypes associated with more or other occupational groups.

We would also like to draw attention to the potential influence of the context this study was conducted in, as this may influence the occupational stereotypes of some groups. During the data collection period, Germany just experienced a relaxation of severe restrictions of everyday life and personal freedom due to the first wave of the global COVID-19 pandemic as well as a decreasing number of severe medical treatments. This context might impact the evaluations of some occupational groups, such as Physicians and Hospital and elderly care nurses. Likewise, schools and nurseries were closed for the most part, and parents were forced to care for their children at home, which might affect the perception of Teachers and Child care workers. This period was also marked by a large number of short-term and extensive political decisions, mainly to stabilize Germany's economy and to provide more extended health care, potentially impacting the stereotype content of Politicians. Our data collection period also overlapped somewhat with the lamentable incident of George Floyd's death in the United States on May 25, 2020, which initiated a wave of protests and a fierce public debate about racism in the police force both in the United States and in Germany. Consequently, the social perception of Police officers might be influenced by these circumstances. Previous SCM research has not, to the best of our knowledge, focused on the impact of relevant external circumstances, nor on the change of occupational stereotypes over time. Thus, further research applying repeated cross-sectional or longitudinal surveys might help answer these questions.

Finally, future research could apply the assumption that warmth and competence perceptions are predictive of emotional and behavioral reactions toward the assessed occupational groups (Cuddy et al., 2007). Thus, on the base of the presented findings, future research could predict and investigate the affective and conative responses certain occupational group memberships elicit in professional interactions or societal discourses. This approach might be applied to a variety of contemporary problems, for instance the striking contrast between the highly positive social perceptions of professions in the child, hospital, or elderly care sector on the one hand, and their precarious working conditions and insufficient remuneration on the other hand (DGB Niedersachsen, 2020). Another application might lie in the investigation of reported phenomena of actively harming or hindering representatives of different occupational groups fulfilling their occupational role (e.g., attacking firefighters and paramedics in action). The SCM and related theories may be put to the test as a theoretical framework to describe and explain these phenomena.