Finding that acute alcohol consumption had no reliable effect on risk-taking while gambling was consistent with existing animal research: No support was found for the relation between alcohol dose and risk-taking

Does Acute Alcohol Consumption Increase Risk-Taking while Gambling? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Tori L. Horn,James P. Whelan,Gregory T. Weil. Addiction, April 11 2022. https://doi.org/10.1111/add.15896

Abstract

Aims: To estimate the effect of acute alcohol consumption on risk-taking while gambling, examine blood alcohol concentration as a moderator, and explore possible moderators of this effect.

Design: A systematic review and meta-analysis was completed. A Boolean search strategy was used to identify studies that included (a) alcohol consumption as an independent variable; (b) a gambling or risk-taking task; (c) a control or placebo comparison; (d) human participants; and (e) English publications. Descriptive information, sample characteristics, and experimental data were extracted from each study.

Setting: Searched databases included: PsycINFO, Web of Science, Medline, Cochrane Library, and ProQuest Dissertations and Theses.

Participants: Experiments that compared the effects of alcohol and non-alcoholic or placebo beverages on risk-taking while gambling.

Measurement: Comprehensive Meta-Analysis version 3.3.070 was used. Standardized mean differences of risk-taking while gambling between the experimental and control conditions were calculated when studies did not report effect sizes. Random effects models were used for overall effect and meta-regressions while mixed effects models were used for subgroup analyses.

Findings: Twenty articles containing 47 alcohol versus control comparisons met inclusion criteria. The overall Hedges’ g for the difference between groups consuming alcohol and groups consuming a placebo or non-alcoholic drink control was 0.03, 95% CI [-.07, 0.12], p =.60, indicating no significant difference. Larger effect sizes were found for studies using non-alcoholic control drinks (Hedge’s g = .30, 95% CI [.01, 0.58]) compared to placebo beverages (Hedge’s g = -0.03, 95% CI [-0.13, 0.06]), Q(1)=4.67, p = .03.

Conclusions: Finding that acute alcohol consumption had no reliable effect on risk-taking while gambling was consistent with existing animal research. No support was found for the relation between alcohol dose and risk-taking. The significantly larger effect size for experiments using non-alcoholic versus placebo beverages suggests the potential role of expectancy effects.

Popular models on the threat–politics association suggest that threats cause right-wing political preferences; but failed replications got in the way

The complicated but solvable threat–politics relationship. Mark J. Brandt, Bert N. Bakker. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, Volume 26, Issue 5, May 2022, Pages 368-370. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2022.02.005

Abstract: Popular models on the threat–politics association suggest that threats cause right-wing political preferences. Failed replications, crossnational variation, and examples of threats causing left-wing preferences suggest this relationship is more complicated. We introduce a model of the reciprocal threat–politics relationship that reconciles prior conflicting findings and raises new questions.

Keywords: threatpolitical preferencesideologypsychophysiologycrossnationalattitudes

Economic effects of voluntary religious castration on the informal provision of cooperation: The case of the Russian Skoptsy sect

Economic effects of voluntary religious castration on the informal provision of cooperation: The case of the Russian Skoptsy sect. Vladimir Maltsev. European Economic Review, Apr 11 2022, 104109. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.euroecorev.2022.104109

Abstract: The article examines the effects of voluntary religious castration (VRC) on the informal provision of cooperation through boycott. To do so, it analyzes the Russian Skoptsy sect, active from 1772 to 1930. The Skoptsy were outlawed by the Russian state and had to secure cooperation through informal means. To do so, the sect relied on the threat of boycott against noncooperative individuals. I argue that VRC ensured the credibility of this threat. First, VRC created a high entry cost, which screened for single-minded and patient individuals who placed high value upon repeated in-group interaction. Second, VRC created a high exit cost from the sect because of the hostile attitude of the Russian populace to castrated individuals. Moreover, the public could cheaply identify the ex-sect members and punish them because of permanent physiological changes caused by VRC. The credible threat of ostracism secured widespread cooperation among the Skoptsy and enabled the sect to support its members through a system of mutual aid and inheritance. Cooperation in the sect also allowed for a rapid creation of wealth through market collusion, making the Skoptsy one of the richest sects in Russia and abroad.

Keywords: boycottinformal governancecastrationSkoptsyRussia

Economic uncertainty appears to shift individuals into different life history strategies (pace of life) as a function of childhood social-economic status, suggesting how ecological factors & early life environment influence fertility-related decisions

Effects of economic uncertainty and socioeconomic status on reproductive timing: A life history approach. Kenneth Tan et al. Current Research in Ecological and Social Psychology, Volume 3, 2022, 100040. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cresp.2022.100040

Highlights

• Adaptive responses to economic uncertainty depend on the harshness of early-life environment, as reflected by childhood socioeconomic status

• Reproductive timing should also be influenced by economic uncertainty and childhood socioeconomic status

• Under economic uncertainty, people who grew up in lower-SES environments reported wanting children sooner

• Under economic uncertainty, people who grew up in higher-SES environments reported wanting children later

• Reproductive timing was determined by considering the desire between reproduction and furthering one's education or career

Abstract: Why do some people have children earlier compared to others who delay reproduction? Drawing from an evolutionary, life history theory perspective, we posited that reproductive timing could be influenced by economic uncertainty and childhood socioeconomic status (SES). For individuals lower in childhood SES, economic uncertainty influenced the desire to reproduce earlier compared to individuals higher in childhood SES. Furthermore, the decision regarding reproductive timing was influenced by tradeoffs between earlier reproduction or furthering one's education or career. Overall, economic uncertainty appears to shift individuals into different life history strategies as a function of childhood SES, suggesting how ecological factors and early life environment can influence fertility-related decisions at the individual level and may contribute to the highly variable fertility patterns observed across countries.

General discussion

We examined whether variability in reproductive timing and attitudes can be influenced by economic uncertainty. Results showed that the association between people's childhood environment and their desired reproductive timing depended on economic uncertainty cues in their current environments: When facing current economic uncertainty, individuals who grew up in resource-scarce (versus resource-abundant) environments reported more positive attitudes toward earlier reproductive timing and desired to have their first child sooner (i.e., faster life history strategy). These findings were robust to two different measures of childhood SES: objective and subjective childhood SES.

Furthermore, we provided some insight as to why individuals differed in their reports of reproductive timing and replicated the key interaction between childhood environment and current economic uncertainty on life history tradeoffs. Individuals who grew up in resource-scarce (versus resource-abundant) environments reported preferring earlier reproduction to investing in education or work experience (i.e., faster life history strategy) when they faced current economic uncertainty. It should be noted that individuals with lower childhood SES still reported scores above the midpoint, indicating that they favored investing in education or work experience, albeit less strongly. Importantly, these tradeoffs regarding reproductive vs. somatic effort desire mediated the effect of economic uncertainty and childhood SES on reproductive attitudes.

A meta-analytic summary

The effect of economic uncertainty on reproductive timing was consistent across differing samples and varied measures of childhood SES. Nonetheless, due to sample size limitations and differing effect sizes, we sought to test the robustness of our effects. We conducted an integrative data analysis (IDA; Curran and Hussong, 2009), a technique that allows for primary or secondary analyses of data from multiple samples, in order to increase power and provide an overall test of hypotheses across datasets. To conduct the IDA, we standardized childhood SES within their respective sample, removing sample-level mean and variance differences, and controlled for study sample. We focused on the outcome variable of desired age of first child as that was the same construct across both studies.

There was no significant main effect of economic uncertainty, b = 0.16, t(3851) = 1.28, p = .20; 95% CI [-0.09, 0.41], no significant main effect of childhood SES, b = 0.02, t(385) = .17, p = .87; 95% CI [-0.24, 0.28], but a significant main effect of study, b = -0.61, t(385) = -2.22, p = .03; 95% CI [-1.15, -0.07]. Most important, consistent with hypotheses, there was a significant childhood SES × economic uncertainty interaction, b = 0.30, t(385) = 2.30, p = .02, R2 = 0.30; 95% CI [0.04, 0.56].

Among participants in the economic uncertainty condition, those with higher (versus lower) childhood SESs desired children marginally significantly further in the future, b = 0.32, t(385) = 1.72, p = .08; 95% CI [-0.04, 0.69]; among participants in the control/economic certainty condition, we did not detect an association between childhood SES and desired reproductive timing, b = -0.8, t(385) = -1.53, p = .13; 95% CI [-0.64, 0.08]. Test of simple slopes at high (+1 SD) and low (-1 SD) levels of childhood SES revealed that individual simple slopes indicating an effect of economic uncertainty was not significant for low-childhood SES individuals, b = -0.12, t(385) = -.69, p = .49; 95% CI [-0.48, 0.23] but was significant for high-childhood SES individuals, b = 0.46, t(385) = 2.57, p = .01; 95% CI [0.11, 0.81]. In summary, the aggregated analysis show evidence in support of our predictions.

By examining economic uncertainty, we build on past work examining the effects of mortality cues and reproductive timing from a life history perspective (Griskevicius et al., 2011). Like mortality cues, economic uncertainty represents unpredictability and harshness in the environment—in this case, stemming from the lack of resources (Ellis et al., 2009). Both economic uncertainty and mortality threat manipulations are extrinsic stressors that signal current environmental threat, and although they have been shown to have similar effects across some outcomes such as impulsivity and risk-taking, this has yet to be examined for outcomes related to reproductive timing (Griskevicius et al., 2013; Griskevicius et al., 2011). Moreover, developed East Asian countries are facing especially low fertility rates, and modernization might make mortality cues less salient compared to economic uncertainty cues. Indeed, some research has shown that economic endeavors are especially prioritized over reproductive effort in developed East Asian countries (Yong et al., 2019). Hence, the current findings provide novel insights beyond past work, regarding the effects of economic uncertainty on whether and why people reared in wealthier (versus poorer) environments have children earlier versus later.

We found inconsistent effects in fertility expectations in our comparison conditions across both studies. Specifically, in Study 1, individuals who were raised in different childhood environments showed no differences in reproductive timing when facing economic certainty, replicating previous research suggesting that benign and safe environments might not elicit SES effects on life history strategies (Griskevicus et al., 2011; 2013). However, in Study 2, individuals raised in different childhood environments showed opposing effects in the control condition compared to the economic uncertainty condition. One possible explanation might lie in how risk preferences might change as a function of childhood environment and economic uncertainty (Nettle, 2009). Prior research shows that individuals raised in wealthier childhood environments express greater appetite for risks when there is no immediate threat (Griskevicius et al., 2011). It might be that, for our participants in the control condition, those raised in wealthier environments felt better able to risk earlier reproduction and cope with subsequent child rearing, whereas those raised in poorer environments preferred slightly less risk and focused on investing in somatic effort, especially so in a developed and urban environment such as Singapore. Future research could examine this idea more thoroughly. Regardless, what is key is that economic uncertainty elicited divergent life history strategies in terms of reproductive timing.

Implications

The current research has implications for various literatures. For instance, the findings help substantiate an evolutionary life-history mismatch perspective on reproductive decisions (Li et al., 2018). According to this perspective, humans have evolved mechanisms that take in environmental cues related to harshness and uncertainty and process them according to decision rules that produce output in the form of attitudes and behaviors regarding reproductive decisions. Although these decision rules, on average, led to adaptive decisions in the ancestral past, they are now processing evolutionarily novel inputs that may not have the same implications for reproductive fitness.

Importantly, because resource uncertainty may have had life-or-death consequences for offspring throughout human evolutionary history, mechanisms may have evolved to adaptively adjust reproductive strategies in response to cues of resource scarcity and uncertainty. As the current work suggests, even though the modern world is relatively safe and abundant, such mechanisms may nonetheless still be processing cues such as economic uncertainty. Combined with other evolutionarily novel features found in modern societies that may be similarly processed by reproductive mechanisms, such as enormously large population densities (Sng et al., 2018) and the insatiability of social status in an increasingly global world (Li et al. 2015; Yong et al., 2019), such cues may lead to a maladaptive slowing down of fertility to the point where local populations drastically shrink. Future research may benefit from investigating the extent to which these and other evolutionarily novel modern conditions (e.g., a lack of exposure to elements of nature that might signify safety and resource abundance in ancestral times; Li et al., 2018) may be contributing to the ultra-low fertility found in all East Asian countries, parts of Southeast Asia and Europe, and an increasing number of other modern societies.

Limitations and future directions

Although we consistently found moderating effects of economic uncertainty cues on the relationship between childhood SES and desired reproduction timing, there were minor limitations regarding our manipulations in Study 1 (i.e., status uncertainty and negative affect) that we tried to address in Study 2. It could also be noted that in spite of our Study 2 manipulation being adapted from prior research (e.g., Griskevicius et al., 2010), the focal manipulation was about a contextual manipulation of uncertainty (unemployment) whereas the control condition was about an individual manipulation of uncertainty (losing one's wallet). Even though we are confident in the validity of our manipulations and results, future research could utilize more robust manipulations of uncertainty and ensuing comparisons to gain a better understanding of the effects of uncertainty on life history strategies.

Furthermore, the range of childhood SES from which we sampled was limited. University students typically are young and often come from middle- or upper-level SES backgrounds. Sampling from a wider range of childhood SES may uncover more powerful effects of childhood environment on reproductive timing. Nevertheless, the fact that we repeatedly found the moderating effect of economic uncertainty on the effects of perceived childhood SES suggests this effect may be quite robust in this population. Similarly, we sampled from a limited range of ages. Even though life history decisions in terms of reproductive timing are likely highly relevant to college-aged people, recruiting a sample that varies more in participant age might reveal potential boundary conditions of our effects. It should also be noted that our participant sample was largely female, but we did not find any gender main effects nor interactions with any of our findings. Importantly, our results regarding gender are consistent with prior life history research that examined the effects of mortality cues on reproductive timing and risk-taking, where mortality cues influenced men and women similarly and there were also no potential sex differences found on the main effect of reproductive timing as well (see Griskevicius et al., 2011; Griskevicius et al., 2011;). Nonetheless, we might not have had enough power to detect gender interactions because of our sample; future research should ensure a more equal representation between the sexes, even though we are relatively confident regarding the results that there are no potential sex differences.

In addition, our samples are from Singapore—a nation that is at or near the lowest nationwide fertility rate in the world and constitutes a cultural departure from typical psychology samples that examine Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic (WEIRD) participants (Henrich et al., 2010) . On the other hand, college students in Singapore do fall into the categories of E, I, and R. Future research could collect more culturally diverse samples to extend the generalizability of our results. Finally, given the limitations of our student samples, it remains unclear the extent to which our outcome measures that focus on intentions (i.e., desired age of first child, reproductive timing attitude, reproductive vs. somatic effort desire) generalize to actual reproduction timing and behavior. After all, most young undergraduates have little to no experience with reproductive decisions, and intentions to reproduce might not translate to actual reproduction behavior in the general population. However, meta-analytic data suggest that intentions strongly predict actual behavior, in spite of an intention-behavior gap (Sheeran and Webb, 2016). Furthermore, given that reproduction is costly both biologically and in terms of opportunity for increasing embodied capital, it would be adaptive for one to first have reproductive intentions to aid planning and preparing for the arrival of future offspring. As such, we believe that reproductive timing intentions are frequently a precursor to actual reproductive behavior. Nonetheless, future research should prospectively examine the association between childhood SES, economic uncertainty, and actual reproduction behaviors.

We did not fully examine the proximate psychological processes underlying these divergent effects. Future research is needed to examine other possible mediators, such as sense of control. Recent research points to sense of control as a psychological driver of behaviors associated with different life history strategies (Mittal and Griskevicius, 2014), and so may help explain why environmental uncertainty alters the association between childhood environment and reproductive timing, as well as other related concepts such as risk-taking and valuation of quantity versus quality (Griskevicius et al., 2013; White et al., 2013). Given that conditions of uncertainty are associated with less control, fast strategists may respond by prioritizing immediate reproductive efforts, which includes taking more risks for larger immediate payoffs and having children sooner (Mittal and Griskevicius, 2014). Conversely, slow strategists may respond by prioritizing somatic effort in an effort to regain the sense of control they are used to. Sense of control might also be related to optimism or confidence about abilities to deal with economic uncertainty, and results in the adoption of faster or slower life history strategies (Mittal and Griskevicius, 2014). Future research is needed to ascertain if sense of control or optimism are indeed mediating variables in the relationship between economic uncertainty and reproductive timing. One might also examine mortality thoughts that could arise from economic uncertainty, as resource scarcity could represent cues of unpredictability and harshness in ancestral environments (Griskevicius et al., 2013).

Finally, the link between economic uncertainty and fertility is particularly relevant in current times, given the coronavirus-19 pandemic and its influence on economic uncertainty and instability (see Fernandes, 2020). Future research can fruitfully investigate how variables such as disease prevalence—which has been shown to be linked adaptively to cross-cultural differences in personality traits (Schaller and Murray, 2008)—and economic uncertainty interact and influence reproductive timing mechanisms.

While caloric resctrictions (CR) & intermittent fasting improve lifespan in diverse mice, we observed no enhancement of working memory or contextual fear memory on this feeding, & 40% CR to be damaging in the context of long-term memory

Life-long Dietary Restrictions have Negligible or Damaging Effects on Late-life Cognitive Performance: A Key Role for Genetics in Outcomes. Andrew R. Ouellette et al. bioRxiv Apr 10 2022. https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.04.09.487742

Abstract: Several studies report that caloric restriction (CR) or intermittent fasting (IF) can improve cognition, while others report limited or no cognitive benefits. Here, we compare the effects of 20% CR, 40% CR, 1-day IF, and 2-day IF feeding paradigms to ad libitum controls (AL) on Y-maze working memory and contextual fear memory (CFM) in a large population of Diversity Outbred mice that model the genetic diversity of humans. While CR and IF interventions improve lifespan, we observed no enhancement of working memory or CFM in mice on these feeding paradigms, and report 40% CR to be damaging in the context of long-term memory. Using Quantitative Trait Loci mapping, we identified the gene Slc16a7 to be associated with late-life long-term memory outcomes in mice on lifespan promoting feeding paradigms. Limited utility of dieting and fasting on memory in mice that recapitulate genetic diversity in the human population highlights the need for anti-aging therapeutics that promote cognitive function, with a neuronal monocarboxylate transporter encoded by Slc16a7 highlighted as novel target.

Communicating authenticity is associated with increased interest in and perceived connection to another person, more comments and views for TED talks, receiving a financial investment from investors, & more social media likes & retweets

Authentic First Impressions Relate to Interpersonal, Social, and Entrepreneurial Success. David M. Markowitz et al. Social Psychological and Personality Science, April 6, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1177/19485506221086138

Abstract: This article examines how verbal authenticity influences person perception. Our work combines human judgments and natural language processing to suggest verbal authenticity is a positive predictor of interpersonal interest (Study 1: 294 dyadic conversations), engagement with speeches (Study 2: 2,655 TED talks), entrepreneurial success (Study 3: 478 Shark Tank pitches), and social media engagements (Studies 4a–c; N = 387,039 Tweets). We find that communicating authenticity is associated with increased interest in and perceived connection to another person, more comments and views for TED talks, receiving a financial investment from investors, and more social media likes and retweets. Our work is among the first to evaluate how authenticity relates to person perception and manifests naturally using verbal data.

Keywords: authenticity, impression formation, natural language processing, first impressions

Higher inequality creates an environment of restlessness in which both the poor and the rich feel obliged to seek wealth and status, albeit for different reasons

Restless in an Unequal World: Economic Inequality Fuels the Desire for Wealth and Status. Zhechen Wang, Jolanda Jetten, Niklas K. Steffens. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, April 3, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1177/01461672221083747

Abstract: Building on theories explaining social outcomes of economic inequality, our research examined the psychological impact of inequality on the desire for wealth and status. Our studies provide both experimental (Studies 1 and 3, Ns = 321 and 596) and correlational (Study 2; N = 141,477 from 73 countries and regions) evidence that higher inequality heightens people’s desire for wealth and status. Notably, this effect of inequality on desire is independent of the influence of societal wealth. Moreover, our results reveal social class differences in why inequality fuels motivations: Lower-class individuals are more likely to respond to higher inequality with a heightened desire reflecting self-improvement concerns, whereas upper-class individuals are more likely to respond with a heightened desire reflecting social comparison concerns. These findings suggest that higher inequality creates an environment of restlessness in which both the poor and the rich feel obliged to seek wealth and status, albeit for different reasons.

Keywords: economic inequality, social class, desire for wealth, desire for status

The overall effect size of having same-sex parents on the developmental outcomes of the children was positive and significantly different from that of heterosexual parents

A meta-analysis examining the relationship between parents’ sexual orientation and children's developmental outcomes. Mario I. Suárez,Elizabeth W. Stackhouse, Jeffrey Keese & Christopher G. Thompson. Journal of Family Studies, Apr 6 2022. https://doi.org/10.1080/13229400.2022.2060121

Abstract: Despite the Obergefell v. Hodges (2015) Supreme Court decision allowing same-sex marriage, the current political climate has emboldened state legislatures in the United States to push for anti-LGBTQ adoption legislation, some citing that LGBTQ couples have a negative effect on children. This meta-analysis synthesized data from 32 studies on 6 developmental outcomes (child gender role behaviour, gender identity, sexual orientation, cognitive function, psychological adjustment, and quality of parent–child relationship). The overall effect size of having same-sex parents on the developmental outcomes of the children was positive and significantly different from that of heterosexual parents. Moderator analyses found that location, socioeconomic status, type of relationship, date of publication, and the child's sexual preference were significant. We provide implications for practitioners and policy, as well as recommendations for future research in this area.

Keywords: Meta-analysissame-sex parentsLGBQqueerdevelopmentalsexual orientation

39,606 working adults in 49 countries: The self-employed consistently exhibit stronger religiosity of behaving, bonding, and belonging than paid workers

Individual Religiosity and Career Choice: Does Cultural Religiosity Moderate the Relationship? Abu H. Ayob, Shifa Mohd Nor. Cross-Cultural Research, April 6, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1177/10693971221080622

Abstract: Although research on the influence of religion on entrepreneurial entry has progressed substantially, the conceptual and empirical approaches are still far from being conclusive. To advance, we utilize the big our religious dimensions to examine how internal (believing and behaving) and external (bonding and belonging) religiosity may affect the propensity of individuals to be self-employed rather than paid employees. Together, we test if the country’s level of religiosity moderates the relationship. Drawing on the recent World Values Survey Wave 7 (2017–2021), we analyzed data from a sample of 39,606 working adults in 49 countries. In general, we found that the self-employed consistently exhibit stronger religiosity of behaving, bonding, and belonging than paid workers. However, the moderating effects suggest that religiosity at the country level prevails over individual religiosity—consistent with the idea that social environment is a more dominant factor even in individual decision making.

Keywords: religiosity, big four religious dimensions, cultural religiosity, career choice, self-employment, World Values Survey

We found that only 37% of asexual adults had concordant sexual and romantic orientations and that most asexual adults self-identify as either sex-neutral (41%) or sex-averse (54%)

Concordance Between Romantic Orientations and Sexual Attitudes: Comparing Allosexual and Asexual Adults. Alyssa N. Clark & Corinne Zimmerman. Archives of Sexual Behavior, Apr 5 2022. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10508-021-02194-3

Abstract: Sexual and romantic orientations are often considered one and the same, and attitudes about engaging in sexual behavior are assumed to be predominantly positive. The current study explored the concordance between sexual and romantic orientations among allosexual and asexual adults as well as the frequency with which they identify as having a sex-positive, sex-neutral, or sex-averse attitude. As expected, allosexual adults were largely sex-positive (82%) and almost all (89%) had a romantic orientation that matched their sexual orientation. In contrast, we found that only 37% of asexual adults had concordant sexual and romantic orientations and that most asexual adults self-identify as either sex-neutral (41%) or sex-averse (54%). Further, we used a semantic differential task to assess sexual intimacy attitudes and how they varied for adults based on sexual attitude. Asexual adults, regardless of sexual attitude, had less positive attitudes overall than allosexual adults. Interestingly, aromantic asexual adults did not have more negative attitudes about sexual intimacy than romantic asexual participants. Although asexual adults held less positive attitudes about sex than allosexual adults, there was considerable heterogeneity within our asexual sample. The current study provides further insight into the concordance between romantic and sexual orientation, and the associations among sexual and intimacy attitudes for both allosexual and asexual adults. These findings will have implications for future research on how asexual adults navigate romantic relationships.

Time after time: Factors predicting murder series' duration

Time after time: Factors predicting murder series' duration. April Miin Miin Chai et al. Journal of Criminal Justice, Volume 81, July–August 2022, 101915. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2022.101915

Abstract

Purpose: The duration of time that the serial offender remains free in the community to commit murders may be seen as a direct measure of their longevity; a sign of their success. The aim of this study is to predict the duration of the serial homicide series by examining the factors that contribute to the length of time a serial murderer is able to remain free of police detection.

Methods: Generalized estimating equations with a negative binomial link function were used to examine factors predicting the duration of series in a sample of 1258 serial murder cases.

Results: Results showed that offenders' criminal history, race (i.e., White and Hispanic), and victims of minority backgrounds significantly predicted longer duration in their murder series. A combination of multiple killing methods and atypical methods also predicted longer murder series, while the moving of the victim's body predicted shorter duration in the series.

Conclusions: This study builds upon the serial homicide literature, particularly the duration of the series. Results from this study help inform investigative efforts in serial homicide cases.

Psychopathy and crimes against humanity: A conceptual and empirical examination of human rights violators

Psychopathy and crimes against humanity: A conceptual and empirical examination of human rights violators. Robert D. Hare et al. Journal of Criminal Justice, Volume 81, July–August 2022, 101901. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2022.101901

Abstract

Purpose: There is a dearth of empirical data on the contributions of personality, psychopathology, and psychopathy to terrorism and its actors. Because of a fortuitous set of circumstances, we had access to a sample of men convicted of crimes against humanity (CAH) committed during the Pinochet regime, each rated by expert clinicians on the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R). We also had PCL-R ratings for samples of general offenders and community participants.

Methods: We determined the psychometric properties of the PCL-R for these samples, performed structural equation modeling (SEM) to investigate the factor structure of the PCL-R, and conducted a latent profile analysis (LPA) of the obtained factors to identify classes or subtypes within the samples.

Results: The PCL-R's psychometric properties and factor structure were in accord with findings from other countries and settings. The PCL-R total scores of the CAH and general offenders were virtually the same but much higher than those of the community sample. However, the CAH group had extraordinarily high scores on the Interpersonal/Affective facets yet relatively low scores on the Lifestyle/Antisocial facets. LPA identified the expected four latent classes, with most CAH men located within the Callous-Conning class.

Conclusions: The results of this study provide unique information about the psychopathic propensities of a sample of state violators of human rights. Their pattern of PCL-R scores was consistent with an extreme disposition for self-serving, callous, and ruthless treatment of others, without guilt or remorse, and in the absence of a prior documented history of severe antisocial behavior.

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The relevance of the above outline is that the participants in the current study were members of the DINA, CNI, or related military and police organizations, referred to as the Armed Forces. They operated in an unstable political and socioeconomic environment that fostered and rewarded both the “bright” and “shadow” aspects of leadership (Fisher, Hutchings, & Sarros, 2010). The former includes physical courage, risk-taking, adaptability, self-reliance, and support of subordinates. The latter involves unethical or unlawful behaviors of leaders and followers, influenced or facilitated by being in a dangerous, chaotic, or violent environment. As noted by Fisher et al. (2010, p. S107), “The lack of taboos and prohibitive rules found in war may allow leaders to rationalize behaviors that would be unacceptable in a different context.” Before and during the Pinochet years, the socioeconomic and political conditions provided a fertile environment for ambitious men with bright and shadow leadership qualities who shared the regime's view that communism was a threat to the country. We might argue that such a milieu would be particularly favorable for those most willing and able to exploit the opportunities afforded by “darkness and chaos,” with little concern for the morality of their actions. Babiak and Hare (2019, p. 164) suggested, “[P]sychopaths are emotionally unaffected by the human physical and psychological carnage that accompanies chaotic disasters. They are, by nature, predisposed to take callous but pragmatic advantage of the turmoil and terror experienced by others.” Why, then, is there such a dearth of research on psychopathy and terrorism?

Psychologists and other behavioral scientists face several difficulties in researching terrorism and terrorists. These include definitional issues, the sheer complexity and diversity of terrorist organizations and actors, difficulty in gaining access to the actors, poor research designs, and failure to use validated clinical and forensic measures of personality traits and mental disorders. Victoroff (2005) noted that terrorism research is expensive, potentially dangerous, and may involve ethical concerns from institutional review boards (IRBs). Interestingly, Mills, Massoumi, and Miller (2020) have discussed the ethics of researching terrorism and political violence. Monahan (2015) has outlined the often-insurmountable difficulties he and his colleagues have in gaining Institutional Review Board [IRB] approval and institutional access to groups of known terrorists, particularly for research to identify risk factors for the future commission of terrorist acts.4 Morrison, Silke, and Bont (2021) have proposed a framework for IRBs to evaluate research proposals for terrorism research.

Behavioral scientists may be reluctant to study terrorism because it intrudes into other stakeholders' domains. As put by Horgan (2017, p. 201), “To characterize terrorism as an expression of psychological disturbance is problematic. At the very least, it might appear to belittle the social and political context in which terrorism flourishes while also cloaking the psychological development of the terrorist in unnecessary and misleading ideological baggage.” Behavioral scientists also may find—as did we—that it is daunting to enter fields of inquiry and debate that are vast, heterogeneous, imbued with ideological and political dynamics, and lacking in the fruits of impartial empirical endeavors. Schuurman (2020, p. 1020) described terrorism as “a field of study in which experts mostly talked amongst themselves, endlessly referencing books, articles, and media reports.” Our attempts to review the literature on terrorism—more accurately, the literature—confirmed Schuurman's description and revealed that journal, chapter, and book citation rates generally were surprisingly low for such vital topics.

Unlike most academic studies, which have ready access to student or offender participants, “...active terrorists are not likely to cooperate with psychological or psychiatric assessment...authorities may deny access to incarcerated terrorists because of security and secretive concerns. The result is that the data derived from systematic investigations are severely limited” Piccinni et al. (Piccinni, Marazziti, & Veltri, 2017, p. 142). In a review of recent terrorism research, Schuurman (2020) reported that only two of 2552 articles in nine journals devoted to terrorism involved clinical assessments, a situation he considered to be “...particularly problematic [and] urgently in need of a more extensive and robust empirical basis”(p. 1020).” However, according to Lutz (2010, p. 33), “Governments, much to the dismay of academics everywhere, are more interested in practical research (often narrowly defined) and not very interested in the pure research that so many academics are particularly fond of.” Even without the above obstacles, constructive and informative psychopathy research in this field requires willing participants and researchers with the training and experience to conduct reliable and valid clinical/forensic (PCL-R) assessments of the participants, not solely with self-report personality tests or inventories. In our view, self-reports are helpful but not sufficient for the individual assessment of psychopathy.

There is relatively little systematic empirical research on the personality and psychopathology of terrorists, with some notable exceptions discussed below. Well-known truisms about the topic are somewhat discouraging for potential researchers. As stated by Monahan (2012, p. 179), “In no society studied to date have personality traits been found to distinguish those who engage in terrorism from those who refrain from it.” Piccinni et al. (2017) stated, “No evidence exists that terrorist behavior is caused by either prior psychiatric disorders or psychopathy” (p.143). Corner et al. (2021) put it more forcefully, “The search for a single ‘terrorist personality was always overly ambitious, yet at the same time overly simplistic. It was doomed to failure from the start.” It also was naïve, or perhaps merely an early and convenient starting point for understanding the nature of those who engage in terroristic acts. No doubt for these reasons, Ferguson and McAuley (2021, p. 6) stated, “The research on how and why people become involved in violent extremism has moved away from answers based on psychopathology or personality profiles” to the roles of social and collective identity. The authors did not rule out the contribution of personality factors to understanding terrorism. Still, they noted that “community and societal context along with global ideological forces” might have more explanatory value than personality traits, a view consistent with much of the literature on terrorism and violent extremism. However, Merari (2010, p. 253) commented, “By and large, the opinion that terrorists do not have a common psychological profiles rests on the absence of research rather than on direct findings” [our emphasis].

Further, he advocated for the use of standard psychological tests and clinical interviews, as in his studies of suicide bombers. In this sense, the truisms mentioned above are misleading. In any event, behavioral scientists now direct their efforts to the development of theories and research on group and individual differences among terrorists (Corner et al., 2021; Doering et al., 2020; Horgan, 2017; Monahan, 2015), and within various forms of terrorism (Victoroff, 2005).

Some investigators now argue that it is essential to renew efforts to examine the roles of psychology and psychopathology—especially psychopathy—in accounting for the behaviors of terrorists (Gill & Corner, 2017; Horgan, 2017). Zepinic (2018) commented that psychopaths in power are involved in crimes against humanity, use terrorism as a methodology rather than ideology, do not consider themselves criminals, and rarely if ever, are assessed for psychopathy [our emphasis]. Bogerts et al. (2018, p. 131) suggested that a significant proportion of terrorists have a “biological predisposition to violent behavior.” The primary basis for this suggestion is the authors' review of the burgeoning literature on the structural and functional brain anomalies associated with psychopathy, empathy, and aggression and the argument that the violence of both psychopaths and terrorists is planned, instrumental, and remorseless.

Criminology, a discipline traditionally concerned with social, economic, and group factors, now considers personality—more specifically, psychopathy—as an integral part of its accounts of criminality. DeLisi (2009, p. 268, Note 2) commented, “Despite the long clinical history of psychopathy, it was arguably only ‘introduced’ to criminology in 1996 (Hare, 1996).” Fox, Jennings, and Farrington (2015) described how the interpersonal and affective features of psychopathy had provided insights into the ten leading developmental and life-course (DLC) theories in criminology. “It is important to incorporate such personality constructs into key criminological theoretical frameworks” (Fox et al., 2015, p. 275). Correctly measured, psychopathy has much to contribute to the understanding of terrorism and its actors, over and above the contributions of environmental forces (Bogerts et al., 2018; Gill & Corner, 2017).

At one time, there was speculation that the clinical construct of psychopathy could help to explain the dynamics of terrorism. However, the zeitgeist was not receptive to this suggestion. In an informative review and integration, Gill and Corner (2017) described how psychopathy (and more generally, mental disorders) progressed from being early keys to understanding terrorism to be part of more inclusive contextual-social-political-psychological variables. They noted that the empirical research was of poor quality and often confused psychopathy with more general psychopathology. Interestingly, Corner and Gill (2022, p. 392) commented, “Standard clinical procedures require direct access to individuals in clinical settings for prolonged periods. These protocols were not followed in terrorism studies.”

Further, “The lack of valid concepts and objective empirical research, alongside the advancement of psychological research concerning psychopathy, and development of the widely accepted validated measure (PCL-R) aided the gradual demise of the psychopath as-terrorist theory. This permitted other psychological theories to come to the fore.” The PCL-R provided a clinical/empirical measure that made it difficult for commentators to use the term casually and allowed clinicians and researchers to study both groups and the individuals therein. Häkkänen-Nyholm and Nyholm (2012, p. 195) commented, “...even if there are no empirical studies about the subject, a very dangerous situation may occur when you have persons with psychopathic traits in the lead of both the nation's politics and the military. In practice, the military and political leadership may be personified in one person.” Of course, the name that immediately comes to mind is Pinochet. However, we did not assess him and therefore did not comment on his personality traits; many others have done so.

In their review, Corner et al. (2021) identified only two studies that used a validated measure of psychopathy, the short form of the SRP (SRP-SF; Paulhus et al., 2016). Each study conducted an online survey of community participants to examine the association between the SRP-SF and self-reported right-wing authoritarianism (Jones, 2013) or self-sacrifice for a cause (Bélanger, Caouette, Sharvit, & Dugas, 2014). Most of the other reviewed studies had administered self-report inventories of normal-range personality traits—considered by some to be pertinent to psychopathy—to a variety of community and terrorist samples. These studies tell us little about the psychopathy-terrorism link. Investigation of the nexus between psychopathy and terrorism is demanding. It requires access to sizable groups of individuals involved in specified types of terrorist acts. It is essential to consider the milieu in which the acts occurred and to use validated clinical/forensic measures of psychopathy for group and individual analyses.

For the world has always been like a yoke around my neck—My delight’s in the day of my downfall, my downfall the day of my greatest delight

CCLXIV

Your Honor the good friend who relieves pain/Su Señoría el buen amigo que alivia el dolor,

My only king, these poems* by Shlomoh ibn Gabirol about his heartache, the theme of this and next letters, are, I think, appropriate to let You know, Your Honor, how do I live without Your presence. Only a handful of English versions are available, and I cannot read Hebrew nor Arabic:/Mi único rey, estos poemas* de Solomón ibn Gabirol acerca de sus dolores del alma, el tema de esta carta, son, creo, apropriados para hacerle saber a Su Señoría cómo vivo sin Su presencia:

[On Leaving Saragossa/Al dejar Zaragoza]

[I’m buried, but not in a graveyard,                      [Sepultado, mas no en el cementerio,

in the coffin of my own home.                              que en mi morada está mi propia caja.

I suffer with neither father nor mother,                  Doliente estoy, de madre y padre falto,

indigent, young, and alone—                               [...], aislado y miserable;

on my own without even a brother,                      solitario, no tengo ni un hermano,

not a friend apart from my mind                           y salvo en el pensamiento, ni un amigo.

Let my eyes in the world wander,                         El mundo entero surca mi mirada,

they’ll never glimpse what I want:                         no encuentro en él aquello que deseo.

Death grows daily sweeter to me,                        Es preciosa la muerte a mis pupilas,

the world’s gossip means less and less.               es liviana la tierra a mis oídos.

[...]

For the world has always been                             Para mi ha sido el mundo como un yugo

like a yoke around my neck—                              encima de mi cuello. ¿Qué me queda

and what good does it do me to linger                  por hacer en la tierra todavía

by blindness and grief beset?                              que no sea cargar con mi ceguera?

My soul in my death will delight                            Mi alma ha de gozarse con mi muerte

if it leads to the Lord and his rest—                      si ha encontrado mi Roca de refugio:

I’d put an end to my life,                                      de mi vida me hastío y ya me hartara

an end to this dwelling in flesh.                            de que sea mi carne mi aposento.

My delight’s in the day of my downfall,                  El día de mi júbilo será el de mi quebranto

my downfall the day of my greatest delight].          y en el día de mi fatalidad está mi gozo.]

[On leaving Sefarad/Al dejar Sefarad]

                                                        [Vuelve, alma mía, a Dios, vuelve y retorna

                                                         tu corazón; suplícale; una lágrima

                                                         vierte delante de él: quizás ordene

                                                         que te saquen del pozo en el que yaces,

                                                         de entre bestiales hombres      que odias y abominas;

                                                         cuando escribes, no saben      si escribes o si tachas,

                                                         cuando hablas, ignoran      si eres veraz o mientes.

                                                         [...]

                                                         Me he quedado en la tierra      tan solo, que prefiero

                                                         entre ajenos andar nomadeando.

                                                         Ha caído en mi canto la aspereza

                                                         y solo Dios conoce mi sendero.]

[Praising Shemuel haNaguid/En alabanza de Samuel haNaguid]

                                                       [¿Quién es aquélla

                                                        que se alza y se asoma como la aurora?

                                                        [...]

                                                        Hechizos veo en ella, no siendo bruja.

                                                        [...]

                                                        Amigo de mi alma, amado, eres

                                                        bálsamo de dolores

                                                        y de toda dolencia remedio y curo.

                                                        Te he amado hasta el extremo; no tiene cabo

                                                        mi amor por ti. Estoy pronto,

                                                        examíname; el alma pónmela a prueba.

                                                        Por mi querencia

                                                        mi poema te alaba

                                                        creciendo en hablas puras, sin balbuceo.]

[To a friend that left/A un amigo que se fue]

                                                       [Por vuestras vidas,

                                                        las de los labios rojos, que arrastrasteis

                                                        mi corazón con sogas, a mi lado

                                                        tornad y de mi amor hacer memoria;

                                                        [...] llevadle mi saludo

                                                        a un hombre cuyos dichos

                                                        sobre mi corazón están grabados.

                                                        ¿Acaso has olvidado      mi llanto en aquel día

                                                        de la separación?

                                                        [...]

                                                        ¡Que tenga de nosotros      piedades Dios y cuide

                                                        de que antes de que llegue      la muerte nos reunamos!]

[Complaints for Yecutiel ben Isaac's forgetfulness/Queja del olvido de Yecutiel ben Isaac]

                                                       [—Trátame con cuidado;

                                                        concédele a mi alma      un tiempo de sosiego

                                                        ¿Acaso soy el mar?      ¿De rocas es mi fuerza?

                                                        Pues que me han golpeado los dolores,

                                                        las angustias me acosan y me cercan;

                                                        he aquí que consume      la dolencia mi carne

                                                        y contristó mi alma,      turbando mis ideas.

                                                        [...]

                                                        Exhausto me han dejado      mi cuita y mi gemido;

                                                        no puedo soportar      más duelos y tristezas.

                                                        Se ha alzado en contra mía      como cruel mi sino

                                                        y a las profundidades

                                                        del desaliento me he precipitado.

                                                        [...]

                                                        Un traidor es el hado,      que corteja traidores

                                                        y hace guiños a todos los inicuos;

                                                        ha secado el ramaje      de los más generosos,

                                                        pero de los perversos      sus frondas reverdece.

                                                        [...]

                                                        Aquel que fue tenido      por uno de mis íntimos,

                                                        en quien mi alma      tuviera confianza,

                                                        espinos a sus ojos      he sido y aguijones

                                                        para su corazón y su costado.]

[To whom who, being ill, didn't pay visit to him/A aquél que, estando enfermo el poeta, no le visitó]

                                                       [En ti está mi esperanza,      solo tú eres mi anhelo,

                                                        hacia ti va el deseo de mi entorno;

                                                        por ti gime mi entraña y encamino

                                                        mi sueño en tu recuerdo,

                                                        como si en ti estuviera,      amigo, solamente

                                                        la cura de mi alma si vinieras

                                                        a visitar mi mal. [...]

                                                        Con tal que tú pudieras

                                                        distinguir mis amores con tus ojos,

                                                        el corazón de vidrio ¡quién me diera!]

Always having You in mind, and with a great heaviness of heart after so much time without seeing You, Yours faithfully/Teniéndoos siempre en mente y con gran pesadumbre del alma tras tanto tiempo sin veros, Suyo fielmente

                 a. r. ante Su Señoría

--

Notes

*  Adapted from Selected Poems of Solomon ibn Gabirol, translated by Peter Cole (Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press, 2001), & the Spanish version from Selomó ibn Gabirol—Poesía secular, by Elena Romero (Madrid: Alfaguara, 1978)

2003-2018: Psychiatrists had the highest suicide rate among health professionals

Li, T., Petrik, M. L., Freese, R. L., & Robiner, W. N. (2022). Suicides of psychologists and other health professionals: National Violent Death Reporting System data, 2003–2018. American Psychologist, Apr 2022. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0001000

Abstract: Suicide is a prevalent problem among health professionals, with suicide rates often described as exceeding that of the general population. The literature addressing suicide of psychologists is limited, including its epidemiological estimates. This study explored suicide rates in psychologists by examining the National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s data set of U.S. violent deaths. Data were examined from participating states from 2003 to 2018. Trends in suicide deaths longitudinally were examined. Suicide decedents were characterized by examining demographics, region of residence, method of suicide, mental health, suicidal ideation, and suicidal behavior histories. Psychologists’ suicide rates are compared to those of other health professionals. Since its inception, the NVDRS identified 159 cases of psychologist suicide. Males comprised 64% of decedents. Average age was 56.3 years. Factors, circumstances, and trends related to psychologist suicides are presented. In 2018, psychologist suicide deaths were estimated to account for 4.9% of suicides among 10 selected health professions. As the NVDRS expands to include data from all 50 states, it will become increasingly valuable in delineating the epidemiology of suicide for psychologists and other health professionals and designing prevention strategies.

Contrary to previous research findings, our findings suggest that third-party observers cannot reliably detect attraction in others

Can third-party observers detect attraction in others based on subtle nonverbal cues? Iliana Samara, Tom S. Roth, Milica Nikolic, Eliska Prochazkova & Mariska E. Kret. Current Psychology, Apr 8 2022. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12144-022-02927-0

Abstract: In a series of three studies, we examined whether third-party observers can detect attraction in others based on subtle nonverbal cues. We employed video segments of dates collected from a speed-dating experiment, in which daters went on a brief (approx. 4 min) blind-date and indicated whether they would like to go on another date with their brief interaction partner or not. We asked participants to view these stimuli and indicate whether or not each couple member is attracted to their partner. Our results show that participants could not reliably detect attraction, and this ability was not influenced by the age of the observer, video segment location (beginning or middle of the date), video duration, or general emotion recognition capacity. Contrary to previous research findings, our findings suggest that third-party observers cannot reliably detect attraction in others. However, there was one exception: Recognition rose above chance level when the daters were both interested in their partners compared to when they were not interested.

General discussion

In a series of three experiments, we found no strong evidence supporting the notion that people can reliably detect attraction or its absence in thin video slices of people on a date based on nonverbal subtle emotional cues. However, we found that accuracy was increased based on whether the person presented in the video was attracted to their partner. Specifically, we found that the third-party observers were more accurate in detecting attraction when the daters were attracted to their partners than detecting the absence of attraction when the daters indicated not being attracted to their partner. In addition, recognizing attraction was not influenced by age or length of the stimuli presented.

In accordance with previous findings (e.g., Place et al., 2009), we found that people cannot reliably detect attraction from initial interactions. Given that previous findings have emphasized the importance of subtle nonverbal cues in communicating attraction (e.g., Eibl-Eiblsfeldt, 1989; Keltner & Buswell, 1997), one might question whether the observed low accuracy in detecting attraction might be the result of a low frequency of occurrence of behaviours associated with attraction. In other words, was there sufficient information present in the stimuli themselves that the participants might have picked up? Indeed, we only found minor numerical differences in behaviours associated with attraction (e.g., coyness, genuine smiles) in the First Impression 3-s videos (see Supplemental Material). Thus, the observed low accuracy might result from the low frequency of behaviour occurrence. Nonetheless, our findings replicate previous research (e.g., Place et al., 2009) and further support the notion that people cannot reliably detect attraction when viewing others in the initial phases of their interaction.

Our findings do not provide support for the notion that third-party observers can detect attraction when viewing segments from later phases of a date, which contrasts with previous research (Place et al., 2009). In all experiments, participants performed near chance level independent of the length of the segment (3, 6, or 9 s) or the phase of the interaction (first impression or verbal interaction). Our analyses (see Supplementary Material) of the coded behaviours illustrate that daters that were attracted to their partner exhibited behaviours associated with attraction for a longer duration compared to daters that were not interested in their partner (in videos taken from the middle of the speed date). This finding suggests that the observed low accuracy is not due to the low frequency of behaviour occurrence. Instead, it might be more probable that people cannot detect attraction as third-party observers using thin video slices even when the signs of attraction are there.

It may be advantageous for humans to mask what they feel in certain situations, and they often use their cognitive resources to do so (Kret, 2015). This masking might render interpreting nonverbal cues more complex and thus, lead to confusion and awkward social encounters (Abbey, 1982; Abbey & Melby, 1986) when the expressions of the sender are misinterpreted (Burgoon et al., 2002; Grammer, 1990). These factors may be a source of error in people involved in a one-on-one interaction (i.e., a date), given that the high-intensity motivational environment might decrease accurate emotion detection (Maner et al., 2005; Prochazkova et al., 2021).

It has been speculated that the ability to detect attraction in others has an adaptive function, allowing people to collect more information to guide their mating choices (see Simao & Todd, 2002). However, a more parsimonious explanation would be that the ability to detect attraction as a third-party observer is merely a by-product of detecting attraction when faced with a potential mate, which would undoubtedly be a beneficial quality for anyone navigating their romantic environment. However, previous research consistently demonstrates that people cannot detect attraction in others and instead project their interest to a given partner (Lee et al., 2020; Samara, Roth, & Kret, 2020; see also Prochazkova et al., 2021). Thus, it remains possible that people cannot detect attraction above chance level.

Emotions can be efficiently detected from facial expressions (Ekman, 1992). Previous research has shown that basic emotions, such as disgust, fear, and happiness, can be recognized in scenes within 200 ms (Righart & de Gelder, 2008). This effect suggests that detection and recognition of emotional expressions likely rely on quick facial expression processing (see also Meeren, van Heijnsbergen, & de Gelder, 2005, for similar findings on the interaction between facial expressions and body language). Here, we examined whether attraction can be detected as efficiently as other emotions. Given our null findings, we cannot conclude whether indeed attraction can be detected as efficiently as other emotions based on three experiments. Future research should help elucidate how easily and accurately complex emotions like attraction are perceived and processed.

In all experiments, we consistently found that people are likely to detect attraction when the person observed is indeed exhibiting such signals. Indeed, even though attraction cannot be expressed with a single behaviour (Moore, 1985), people likely have experience in decoding such cues and are thus more likely to detect them efficiently. This is further corroborated by our consistent replication of this effect in initial encounters as well as later in the interactions irrespective of video length (3, 6, and 9 s). Date members that were attracted to their partner likely illustrated affiliation more clearly (e.g., see Grammer et al., 1999). In contrast, disinterested partners might have opted to display rejection more subtly (or perhaps not at all), making it more challenging to interpret. However, it should be noted that we did not find robust differences in attraction cues between daters that were interested in their partner compared to daters that were not in the 3-s stimuli, even though a robust difference was found for coy smiles in the 9-s stimuli. An alternative explanation for the finding is that participants were more likely to detect attraction when indeed, participants had a general propensity to respond positively rather than negatively (see Supplemental Material). This could be due to expectancy effects, given that participants were informed that these video segments are from a blind date study. Future research should further investigate the role of expectancy effects in the ability of third-party observers to detect attraction.

This finding directly contrasts with previous research (Hall et al., 2015 Experiment 2). In their study, the authors asked participants to view 1-min segments of others on a date and indicate whether they thought the person on the video was flirting with their partner. Given that the people that report feeling attracted to their partner are also more likely to report flirting (Hall et al., 2015; Experiment 1), this is a reliable indicator of detecting attraction. Furthermore, their results suggest that participants were more accurate in detecting attraction when the person depicted was not flirting than when they were flirting. The authors suggest that these findings could be due to a) the implicit risk of openly displaying interest in another, which would have rendered any flirting difficult to decode, and b) that the probability of flirting in zero-acquaintance settings is relatively low (e.g., Abbey, 1982; Saal et al., 1989); therefore, people might not be familiar with flirting expressions in such settings. We disagree with both of these interpretations. Flirting, in general, is quite ambiguous, as flirting cues are also easily confused with friendliness (Farris et al., 2008; Moore, 2010). Furthermore, previous research has documented several flirting signals in first time-encounters, such as self-grooming (McCormick, Perper, & Jones, 1983), suggesting that these are signals typically exhibited in such situations. Crucially, in a previous study (Prochazkova et al., 2021), it was found that almost half (44%) of the participants reported that they would be interested in going on another date with their partner rendering the reduced-likelihood interpretation unlikely. In short, we consistently show that attraction is detected above the chance level when it is indeed there.

Based on the Perception–Action Model of Empathy (PAM; de Waal & Preston, 2017), we expected that participants with more experience with romantic interactions (i.e., adults) would be more accurate in detecting attraction than participants with less experience with romantic interactions (i.e., children). However, in Experiment 2, we found no substantial differences between adults and children, suggesting that children’s lower accuracy in detecting attraction in Experiment 1 was likely due to cognitive overload.

One limitation that should be discussed is the fact that our responses were coded in a binary way. This approach was necessary to calculate accuracy based on the responses of the study conducted by Prochazkova et al. (2021), where responses were also coded binary. It could be argued that this approach reduced the variation that would otherwise be shown if responses were coded in a continuous way. This is indeed possible, even though it should be noted that using a scale for attraction and a binary response for another date has been shown to correlate highly (Roth et al., 2021a, 2021b). Nonetheless, future studies using speed-dating paradigms could also employ a continuous response regarding attraction and willingness to go on another date, which can then be used in studies employing third-party observers. In this manner, a more nuanced accuracy scale can be calculated.

In conclusion, here we demonstrate that people might not reliably detect when others are attracted to their partner and when not. Furthermore, we showed that the overall accuracy in detecting attraction is not influenced by age, or the phase of the interaction observed. The only factor that reliably influenced accuracy is whether attraction is indeed present.

Even when all explicit gender-identifying language was stripped from the recommendation letters, a machine learning algorithm was able to predict applicant gender at a rate better than chance

Text Mining for Bias: A Recommendation Letter Experiment. Charlotte S. Alexander. American Business Law Journal, April 6 2022. https://doi.org/10.1111/ablj.12198

Abstract: This article uses computational text analysis to study the form and content of more than 3000 recommendation letters submitted on behalf of applicants to a major U.S. anesthesiology residency program. The article finds small differences in form and larger differences in content. Women applicants' letters were more likely to contain references to acts of service, for example, whereas men were more likely to be described in terms of their professionalism and technical skills. Some differences persisted when controlling for standardized aptitude test scores, on which women and men scored equally on average, and other applicant and letter-writer characteristics. Even when all explicit gender-identifying language was stripped from the letters, a machine learning algorithm was able to predict applicant gender at a rate better than chance. Gender stereotyped language in recommendation letters may infect the entirety of an employer's hiring or selection process, implicating Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Not all gendered language differences were large, however, suggesting that small changes may remedy the problem. The article closes by proposing a computationally driven system that may help employers identify and eradicate bias, while also prompting a rethinking of our gendered, racialized, ableist, ageist, and otherwise stereotyped occupational archetypes.