Those who held more superstitious beliefs were more fearful of getting COVID-19

Superstitious beliefs, locus of control, and feeling at risk in the face of Covid-19. Arvid Hoffmann et al. Personality and Individual Differences, Volume 196, October 2022, 111718. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2022.111718

Highlights

• We examined superstitious beliefs, locus of control, and feeling at risk of Covid-19.

• Superstitious beliefs were positively related to feeling at risk of Covid-19.

• Internal locus of control was negatively related to feeling at risk of Covid-19.

• Internal locus of control negatively moderated the effect of superstitious beliefs.

Abstract: Unprecedented uncertainty during the Covid-19 pandemic stimulated anxiety among individuals, while the associated health restrictions contributed to a feeling of loss of control. Prior research suggests that, in times of crisis, some individuals rely on superstitious beliefs as a coping mechanism, but it remains unclear whether superstition is positively or negatively associated with fear of Covid-19 during the pandemic, and the role that individuals' locus of control plays in this regard. In two studies conducted among individuals in Belgium and the U.S., we therefore examined the relationship between superstitious beliefs, locus of control, and feeling at risk of Covid-19. Across both countries, we found that superstition is positively, and internal locus of control negatively, related with feeling at risk of Covid-19. Moreover, in Belgium, the effect of superstition was less pronounced for individuals with a higher level of internal locus of control. The absence of an interaction effect between superstition and locus of control in the U.S. could be explained by this country's higher level of superstitious beliefs and lower level of internal locus of control combined with a stronger feeling of being at risk of Covid-19 or cultural differences such as Belgium's higher uncertainty avoidance compared to the U.S.

Keywords: Covid-19FearFeeling at riskLocus of controlPandemicSuperstitious beliefs

5. General discussion

The results of our two studies improve our understanding of the role of superstitious beliefs on feeling at risk of Covid-19. Our findings add to prior work by documenting how being superstitious increased one's fear of Covid-19, no matter whether the individual held positive or negative superstitious beliefs (cf. Wiseman & Watt, 2004). Thus, superstitious beliefs did not seem to act as a coping mechanism to deal with an uncertain situation as suggested by some recent studies (Schippers, 2020), but rather were associated with an increased feeling of being at risk. Furthermore, unlike the inconclusive findings of prior research (Stanke & Taylor, 2004), we demonstrated across both our studies that an internal locus of control was negatively correlated with individuals' superstitious beliefs and was also negatively related to their fear of Covid-19.

In light of the necessity to better understand the drivers of individuals' feeling of being at risk of Covid-19 to be able to improve public health measures and policy communications, our findings provide several practical guidelines. Specifically, it is important for public policy makers to understand which measures can help restore within individuals a sense of control over their life outcomes and reduce the reliance on superstitious rituals. Health interventions focused on helping individuals understand their sources of personal power, their core beliefs, and envisioning future goals can assist in building their personal agency (Shankar et al., 2019). Given that fear appeals often have unintended consequences, such as distrust in public health authorities, skepticism of health messaging, and a lack of uptake in recommended health behaviors (Stolow et al., 2020), our recommendations aim to reduce fear and increase knowledge.

Practically speaking, our findings lead us to posit that policy makers should: (i) address misinformation and reduce the reliance on unverified sources such as social media to fight superstitious beliefs about Covid-19 and help individuals distinguish facts from unfounded opinions; (ii) highlight the ability of individuals to reduce the spread of the virus through their own actions, stressing individuals' personal agency to stimulate their internal locus of control; and (iii) provide clear and verified facts on infectiousness and mortality, using an intuitive way to present probabilities to decrease the fear of Covid-19 among individuals with lower numeracy.

Similar to “accuracy nudges” designed to reduce the spread of Covid-19 misinformation on social media (Pennycook et al., 2020), to stimulate individuals to question superstitious beliefs policy makers could use statements such as “Rely on facts, not feelings in fighting Covid-19.” To increase internal locus of control and decrease fear of Covid-19, campaigns could also include statements such as “I have the power to slow the spread.” Indeed, similar to the famous World War II slogan, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2021) stressed individuals' potential for control over the pandemic and infection by stating “We Can Do It!”

Optimal intervention design might vary due to cultural differences. Apart from the aforementioned difference in uncertainty avoidance between Belgium and the U.S., which suggests that successful interventions in Belgium need to focus on reducing ambiguity, there is also an important difference between both countries in terms of their long-term orientation. Belgium scores much higher than the U.S. in this regard (82 vs. 26) (Hofstede et al., 2005), and individuals in the former (latter) country might thus be more responsive to health communication highlighting the long-term (short-term) virtues of changes in behavior in order to fight Covid-19.

Despite its contributions, our research was subject to some limitations which provide opportunities for future research. First, although we used a well-established measure of locus of control from Rotter (1966) and found that it had satisfactory reliability, we also found that two items that were scored in the opposite direction of the other five items had low loadings, suggesting the need for scales without reversed items as per Swain et al. (2008). Second, research should further investigate the interaction effect between superstitious beliefs and internal locus of control on feeling at risk of Covid-19 using samples from different countries, as we found such an interaction effect in Belgium but not in the U.S. Related to this is the need to more formally account for cultural differences. Third, we note that the zero-order correlations between the key variables was substantially higher in the Amazon Mturk sample of Study 2 compared to the Qualtrics sample of Study 1, which could indicate common method variance bias. However, our tests in this regard did not support such an explanation and research has shown that Amazon Mturk samples are not more prone to bias than other participant pools, offering reliable data (Paolacci & Chandler, 2014). Hence, we call for future research to examine this issue in more detail. Fourth, we measured fear of Covid-19 by adapting an item from the well-established Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire of Broadbent et al. (2006) but acknowledge that more recently a dedicated Covid-19 Phobia Scale (C19P-S) has been developed by Arpaci et al. (2020). To examine generalizability across alternative measures, future research could also include the C19P-S scale in examinations of the relationship between superstitious beliefs, internal locus of control, and fear of Covid-19. Finally, given the cross-sectional nature of our studies, we cannot make claims regarding causality. Future research could run longitudinal surveys or experiments to establish causality.

Letters To A Spanish Youngster CCLXX

Letters To A Spanish Youngster CCLXX

[...]

Your Honor the admired priest of Aphrodite, the best servant of Love,/Su Señoría el admirado sacerdote de Afrodita, el mejor sirviente de Amor,

I think these poems of ibn Gabirol* suit my purpose of showing how much I miss You and how sorrowful I am for not being useful to Your person:/Creo que estos poemos de ibn Gabirol se ajustan a mi propósito de mostrarle cuánto le hecho de menos y cuán pesaroso me siento por no ser útil a Su personaL

[Cry for his father’s death/Llanto por la muerte de su padre]

                                                                        [En el día

                                                                         de la separación se me agotaron

                                                                         los ojos en el llanto

                                                                         [...]

                                                                         Si invoco a mis amigos       en vano es su consuelo

                                                                         [...]

                                                                         Es para mí más dura la dolencia

                                                                         de la separación que cualquier otra

                                                                         enfermedad

                                                                         [...]

                                                                         Al marcharse mi [amado]       me dejó desolado

                                                                         y llevando tras él mi corazón

                                                                         segó mi pensamiento

                                                                         ¿Cómo voy a vivir sin él? Mi alma

                                                                         por él se ha consumido hasta el extremo

                                                                         [...]

                                                                         Una cosa te pido: hazle presente

                                                                         la magnitud de mis anhelos. […]

[Lamentations for some friends departure/Lamento por la partida de unos amigos]

                                                                        [Dejadme solo, amigos;       voy a amargarme en llanto

                                                                         y quizás con mis lágrimas sofoque

                                                                         la llama de mi alma; que es su hoguera

                                                                         un infierno, […]

                                                                         No bien me he sosegado       y espero encontrar cura,

                                                                         la angustia de mi alma se despierta

                                                                         y crece mi tumulto.

                                                                         Me muero de dolor, y tengo el bálsamo

                                                                         de Guil’ad al alcance de la mano;          <<< Jer 8.22

                                                                         […]

                                                                         Yo juro por mi alma que me importa

                                                                         su alma y su sosiego [...]

                                                                         Con corazón cabal y con certeza

                                                                         siempre le amé […]

                                                                         Dios guarde a mis amigos, mis amados,

                                                                         que tomaron camino

                                                                         y al tiempo de alejarse, se alejaron

                                                                         mi gozo y mi contento.

                                                                         […] ¿Y cómo

                                                                         podré vivir después de su partida

                                                                         y permaneceré tras su viaje

                                                                         cuando ellos son mi alma,       mi espíritu y mi aliento?

                                                                         […]

                                                                         Espero, sin embargo, que regrese

                                                                         mi alma hacia mi cuerpo;       y tengo la esperanza

                                                                         de hallarle a mi dolencia       remedio y refrigerio

                                                                         volviendo a mis amados,

                                                                         guardando su alianza y contemplando

                                                                         sus rostros que iluminan mis tinieblas.]

[On the lovers’ separation/Sobre la separación de los amantes]

                                                                        [Los nuncios del amor,       que habitan en las almas

                                                                         mostrando a los amantes       las reglas del querer,

                                                                         se alegran mientras dura       la unión[.]

                                                                         […]

                                                                         De cierto son fatiga       los días del que ama;

                                                                         al hombre de amoríos       llamadle hombre de penas:

                                                                         los días de la unión

                                                                         del fuego del amor       se quedan consumidos,

                                                                         las noches de abandono

                                                                         se nublan de amargura y de lamento.

                                                                         Ya sea para bien o para mal,

                                                                         que caiga yo por tanto

                                                                         en manos de la unión todos mis días.]

Unhappy and in pain for being of no use for Your Honor, giving no comfort or help, Yours faithfully/Infeliz y con el dolor de no ser de utilidad a Su Señoría, a la que no doy consuelo o ayuda, 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).

 

Some social wasps recognise each other’s faces and memorise information about the status of other individuals; such information can be acquired through observing interactions between familiar individuals and might involve transitive inference

Social cognition in insects. Lars Chittka, Natacha Rossi. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, May 12, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2022.04.001

Highlights

Some social wasps recognise each other’s faces and memorise information about the status of other individuals; such information can be acquired through observing interactions between familiar individuals and might involve transitive inference.

Bumblebees can learn simple ‘tool use’ techniques by observing skilled conspecifics and such techniques can spread through entire colonies in a process akin to cultural diffusion of novel innovations.

Female fruit flies copy mate preferences from other females and such preferences might be maintained over generations via conformity bias.

Given these forms of advanced social cognition in insects, we suggest investigating whether the elaborate architectures of social insect colonies might in part be the result of cultural evolution processes, even possibly in the distant past.

Abstract: Insects feature some of the most complex societies in the animal kingdom, but a historic perception persists that such complexity emerges from interactions between individuals whose behaviours are largely guided by innate routines. Challenging this perception, recent work shows that insects feature many aspects of social intelligence found in vertebrate societies, such as individual recognition, learning object manipulation by observation, and elements of cultural traditions. Insects also display emotion-like states, which may be linked to social behaviours such as rescuing others from danger. We review recent developments in insect social cognition and speculate that some forms of now-hardwired behaviour (e.g., nest construction) could have initially been the result of individual innovation and subsequent cultural spread, with evolution later cementing these behaviours into innate behaviour routines.

Comparisons made faces look more attractive, even comparisons with more attractive faces

Comparisons make faces more attractive: An ERP study. Shangfeng Han, Jie Hu, Jie Gao, Jiayu Fan, Xinyun Xu, Pengfei Xu, Yuejia Luo. Brain and Behavior, May 12 2022. https://doi.org/10.1002/brb3.2561

Abstract: Facial attractiveness judgment largely depends on the characteristics of the facial structure and the personality of the observer. However, little is known about the influence of contextual variations on facial attractiveness. In this electroencephalogram study, participants judged the attractiveness of faces presented individually or in pairs with either a higher-attractive face (HAF) or lower-attractive face (LAF). The attractiveness judgment rating of the target face was significantly higher when presented in pairs with HAFs or LAFs than when presented individually and was accompanied by a larger late positive complex. These results suggest that contextual faces enhance the attractiveness judgment of target faces. Microstate analyses revealed that the global field power (GFP) of state 3 was significantly correlated with the attractiveness judgment in the HAF condition whereas the GFP of state 2 was significantly correlated with the attractiveness judgment in the LAF condition. Interestingly, the GFP of state 2 mediated the relationship between narcissism and facial attractiveness judgment in the context of LAFs. Source location analyses showed that states 3 and 2 activated the superior and middle frontal gyrus, which are involved in emotion processing. Our findings suggest that facial attractiveness can be enhanced by contextual comparison with other faces, subject to personality of the observer.

Quantum computers are expected to break modern public key cryptography owing to Shor’s algorithm; as a result, these cryptosystems need to be replaced by quantum-resistant algorithms

Transitioning organizations to post-quantum cryptography. David Joseph, Rafael Misoczki, Marc Manzano, Joe Tricot, Fernando Dominguez Pinuaga, Olivier Lacombe, Stefan Leichenauer, Jack Hidary, Phil Venables & Royal Hansen. Nature volume 605, pages 237–243. May 11 2022. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04623-2

Abstract: Quantum computers are expected to break modern public key cryptography owing to Shor’s algorithm. As a result, these cryptosystems need to be replaced by quantum-resistant algorithms, also known as post-quantum cryptography (PQC) algorithms. The PQC research field has flourished over the past two decades, leading to the creation of a large variety of algorithms that are expected to be resistant to quantum attacks. These PQC algorithms are being selected and standardized by several standardization bodies. However, even with the guidance from these important efforts, the danger is not gone: there are billions of old and new devices that need to transition to the PQC suite of algorithms, leading to a multidecade transition process that has to account for aspects such as security, algorithm performance, ease of secure implementation, compliance and more. Here we present an organizational perspective of the PQC transition. We discuss transition timelines, leading strategies to protect systems against quantum attacks, and approaches for combining pre-quantum cryptography with PQC to minimize transition risks. We suggest standards to start experimenting with now and provide a series of other recommendations to allow organizations to achieve a smooth and timely PQC transition.

The Mania of Narcissus (Joseph Guislain 1852, ‘the patient infatuated with his beauty, his charms, his wit, dress, talents, and birth’) is not restricted to the clinical setting, & a larger-scale narcissism can interfere with planetary health

Planetary Health: We Need to Talk about Narcissism. Alan C. Logan and Susan L. Prescott. Challenges 2022, 13(1), 19; May 7 2022. https://doi.org/10.3390/challe13010019

Abstract: Concepts of planetary health attempt to collectively address the biological, psychological, social, and cultural factors contributing to “Anthropocene Syndrome”, which encompasses the many wicked interrelated challenges of our time. It is increasingly evident that the wide array of causative factors is underpinned by attitudes, values, and worldviews. Emerging research suggests that certain dispositions or ‘traits’—observable along the continuum from individuals to large groups—may be central to the promotion of health of all systems, at all scales. Here in this viewpoint, we focus on the personality trait of narcissism in the collective context of planetary health. First described in 1852 by pioneering psychiatrist Joseph Guislain, the Mania of Narcissus refers to ‘the patient infatuated with his beauty, his charms, his wit, dress, talents, and birth’. We argue that Guislain’s observations are not restricted to the clinical setting, and that a larger-scale narcissism can interfere with the principles of planetary health. We propose that increasing narcissism, at scales ranging from the individual to the collective, is an important consideration in attitudes and behaviors that undermine health along the continuum of person, place, and planet. Despite a growing body of research directed at collective narcissism, and the role that empathy plays in healthy relationships between humans and nature, it is our contention that the role of narcissism and empathy are important but neglected aspects of the planetary health agenda.

Keywords: value systems; narcissism; attitudes; behaviors; mental health crisis; COVID-19; non-communicable diseases (NCDs); health inequities; environmental degradation; planetary health; social justice; social and economic determinants of health; biodiversity losses; climate change; the exposome

Whimsical playfulness (liking odd and/or unusual things, persons, or activities) was related to the Seven Sexy traits (small effect sizes)

“Play with me, Darling!” Testing the Associations Between Adult Playfulness and Indicators of Sexuality. Kay Brauer et al. The Journal of Sex Research. May 2022. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/360336481

Abstract: Previous studies have shown that individual differences in adult playfulness are important in interpersonal relationships. However, there is a lack of research on the role of playfulness in human sexuality. Using three studies with four independently collected samples (Ntotal = 1,124) we tested the differential relations between global playfulness and four facets of playfulness (Other-directed, Lighthearted, Intellectual, Whimsical; OLIW) with broad (“Sexy Seven”) and narrow (sociosexuality, sexual sensation seeking, and sexual compulsivity) sexuality-related personality traits and sadomasochistic sexual practices (BDSM). Our main findings were: (1) Each of the Sexy Seven traits was related to global playfulness or at least one playfulness facet while only Whimsical playfulness (liking odd and/or unusual things, persons, or activities) was related to each Sexy Seven trait; (2) Sexual sensation seeking related to playfulness with small effect sizes (f2 ≤ 0.11), Whimsical playfulness positively related to narrow traits of sexuality; and (3) those engaging in BDSM were more playful than non-practitioners. The findings support the notion that playfulness (particularly Whimsical playfulness) relates to sexuality-related personality traits and sadomasochistic practices may be one way of expressing adult playfulness.

4.5% of University Students Reported Exchanging Sex for Money or Other Compensation in a Public Univ Sample

University Students Who Report Exchanging Sex for Money or Other Compensation: Findings from a Public University Sample. Lara B. Gerassi, Sarah Lowe & Kate Walsh. Archives of Sexual Behavior, May 12 2022. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10508-021-02215-1

Abstract: Whether and how university students exchange sex for financial compensation in the USA is critically understudied. The purpose of this secondary analysis was to determine whether undergraduate and graduate students at a large public university report exchanging sex for financial or other compensation, and identify factors (e.g., demographics, childhood adversity, mental health) associated with exchanging sex. Participants were 600 college students (Mage = 21.3 years [SD = 3.8]); 72% cisgender women; 43.4% racial/ethnic minority) from a large public university in the Northeastern USA who completed cross-sectional, online questionnaires about lifetime trauma, adversity exposure, sexual behaviors, and current mental health and substance use symptoms. A total of 4.5% of participants reported exchanging sex for money, alcohol/drugs, or other forms of compensation. Bivariate analysis revealed that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans students (versus cisgender, heterosexual students), students who had more severe childhood trauma, who reported being removed from their family home in childhood, and students who were diagnosed with a mental health disorder before age 18 were more likely to report exchanging sex. In a multivariable model, only emotional neglect and greater alcohol use problems were significantly associated with likelihood of exchanging sex. To our knowledge, this is the first US study to determine whether university students exchange sex for money, alcohol/drugs, or other compensation. Findings suggest that universities could consider addressing exchanging sex in person-centered, supportive sexual health programming, university health services responses, and community spaces that support LGBTQ+ students. Future research is needed to understand students’ circumstances in exchanging sex and differentiate compensation type.

The findings are inconsistent with those of the original study and provide evidence that altruism does not predict mating success in humans

Judd, L. J., Mills, J. G., & Allen, M. S. (2022). Altruism does not predict mating success in humans: A direct replication. Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/ebs0000298

Abstract: Altruistic behavior is predicted to be a costly signal that benefits an individual in terms of reproductive success. This study sought to directly replicate a previous investigation that demonstrated a positive association between altruism and indices of mating success (Arnocky et al., 2017). Participants (n = 445; 329 women, 116 men; Mage = 22.9 years) completed measures of altruism, personality, self-reported mating success, lifetime sexual partners, lifetime casual sex partners, and frequency of copulation with their current sexual partner. Linear regression models demonstrated that, across models both including and excluding the covariates of age and personality, altruism was unrelated to self-reported mating success, lifetime sexual partners, casual sexual partners, and frequency of copulation. Findings remained unchanged in sensitivity analyses with nonheterosexual participants removed from the sample and with data transformed to remove skewness. Overall, the findings are inconsistent with those of the original study and provide evidence that altruism does not predict mating success in humans. Further research is needed that tests for cross-cultural variation to determine whether altruism has a role in mating success across world regions.

Our findings show fairly significant damage to the image of Russia as a country as well as the Russian government; however, the reputational damage of the Russian people is minimal

The reputational cost of military aggression: Evidence from the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Peyman Asadzade, Roya Izadi. Research & Politics, May 12, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1177/20531680221098337

Abstract_ Large-scale military aggression is argued to damage the international image of the aggressor and mobilize global public opinion against it. Previous cross-country research also finds that negative views of the aggressor are usually limited to the government and do not extend to the citizens of the invading country. Our article provides micro-level evidence on attitude change toward Russia as a country, the Russian people, and the Russian government after its invasion of Ukraine. We use data from a survey conducted between the morning of 21 February 2022 (3 days before the Russian invasion of Ukraine) and the night of 28 February 2022 (5 days after the invasion) in the United States to evaluate how the Russian invasion of Ukraine affected attitudes toward the country, its people, and the government. We also conduct a subgroup analysis to explore the magnitude of attitude change across sociodemographic and political subgroups after the invasion. Our findings show fairly significant damage to the image of Russia as a country as well as the Russian government. However, the reputational damage of the Russian people is minimal. The results also suggest that Republican and religious subgroups had the largest attitude change on Russia and the Russian government.

Keywords: War, public opinion, international image

Conclusions

Our study provides empirical evidence on the reputational cost of military aggression by using survey data that was collected amidst the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Our study offers a nuanced and more complex understanding of war and global public opinion. The findings demonstrate that unjustified military aggression does create negative global public opinion on the aggressor party but the negative attitude is mostly directed at the government and the country. The results show that the ordinary citizens of the aggressor government remain immune to the reputational damage.

While our study offers a nuanced picture of war and international image, several cautions should be noted. First, although our survey started 3 days before the attack, public discussion on the possibility of a Russian attack had already begun a few weeks before the attack. Especially, reports from the United States intelligence agencies on the likelihood of a Russian invasion prompted a wide range of speculations among political pundits as well as the public before the attack. Therefore, attitudes on Russia might have started to harden even before the invasion. Therefore, it is possible that our study underestimates the full magnitude of attitude change.

It is also important to emphasize that our study uses a student sample. While using student samples is a common practice in social science research, it is also argued that they are less externally valid compared to the samples drawn from the general population. We compared our results on unfavorable attitudes toward Russia to those of PEW and Gallup polling conducted in 2020 and 2021, respectively (the graph is reported in the appendix). Overall, our pre-invasion sample shows less negative attitudes toward Russia compared to the PEW and Gallup samples (5% less than PEW and 10% less than Gallup). Given the difference, it is possible that our sample somewhat underestimates negative attitudes toward Russia.

Furthermore, it is critical to highlight that the survey was carried out in the United States. While we have witnessed a fairly large number of rallies in support of Ukraine in Europe and North America (Schwartz, 2022), evidence for broad anti-Russian sentiments in the rest of the world is not quite as strong. It could be due to the difficulty of collective action in authoritarian environments (especially in countries with strong ties to Russia) or because of widespread anti-Western sentiments in a large number of countries in the Global South (Aydin, 2007; Lewis, 1993) where many citizens might perceive the war as a confrontation between Russia and the West. Given the presence of anti-Western sentiments in the Global South for a variety of historical reasons (e.g., colonialism or past interventionist policies), the findings need to be interpreted with caution. While the results may show us the magnitude of negative attitudes toward Russian in the United States or perhaps most of Europe, they do not necessarily travel to the Global South.

Beauty is associated with lower support for redistribution and with a higher likelihood of believing that economic success depends more on individual effort rather than external circumstances

Attractiveness and Preferences for Redistribution. Andrea Fazio. Economics & Human Biology, May 11 2022, 101145. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ehb.2022.101145

Highlights

• We show that beauty is associated with lower support for redistribution and with a higher likelihood of believing that economic success depends more on individual effort rather than external circumstances.

• We also find that attractiveness correlates with voting for the Free Democratic Party (FDP), which historically advocates a low level of taxation.

• The beauty premium in the labor market does not fully explain our results.

• The relationship between beauty and preferences for redistribution might depend on how attractive individuals rationalize the advantages they get thanks to their beauty.

Abstract: Using unique German survey data, we show that beauty is associated with lower support for redistribution and that attractive individuals are more likely to believe that economic success depends more on individual effort rather than external circumstances. These results are consistent with voting behavior, as we find that beauty correlates with voting for the Free Democratic Party (FDP), which historically advocates a low level of taxation. These associations do not differ by gender and remain also if household income and employment status are controlled for, suggesting that the relationship between attractiveness and political preferences is not fully explained by the beauty premium in the labor market. We test alternative channels that might drive our results, but the correlation between attractiveness and preferences for redistribution always persists. We suggest that our results might be explained by the way in which attractive individuals rationalize the advantages they get thanks to their beauty.

JEL: D63D69D72Z1

Keywords: BeautyPolitical PreferencesPreferences for Redistribution

Interpersonal distancing is attentionally demanding and hence vulnerable to unintentional lapses due to inattention: 97pct of all participants reported unintentional lapses due to hyperfocus and spontaneous mind-wandering, inter alia

Brown, Chris R. H., Dr, and Sophie Forster. 2022. “Lapses in the Person Radar: Attentional Traits Predict Difficulty in Interpersonal Distancing.” PsyArXiv. May 11. doi:10.31234/osf.io/2yrfj

Abstract: Within the psychological literature and during the COVID-19 pandemic, the regulation of interpersonal distance has typically been viewed as a voluntary choice, with implications for public health interventions. Here we highlight that lapses in interpersonal distancing can also occur unintentionally. Using a novel measure across 3 undergraduate samples (total N = 1225) we found that almost all (>97%) participants reported unintentional lapses in maintaining interpersonal distance, with 16% experiencing such lapses frequently. Thirty percent of the variance in these reports was accounted for by attentional traits: Inattentive and hyperactive-impulsive ADHD symptoms jointly predicted difficulties with interpersonal distancing, with the former relationship fully mediated by hyperfocus and spontaneous mind-wandering. The results are consistent with a view of interpersonal distancing as attentionally demanding and hence vulnerable to unintentional lapses due to inattention. We discuss the implications for epidemiology, social cognition and functioning, and design of social spaces.

Sex-differentiated components of sexual morality: Women expressed more moral condemnation of short-term sex, and especially transactional sex-for-money exchanges; sexual infidelity more morally condemned by women than by men

Asao, K., Crosby, C. L., & Buss, D. M. (2022). Sexual morality: Multidimensionality and sex differences. Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences, May 2022. https://doi.org/10.1037/ebs0000297

Abstract: Despite the increase in the scientific study of morality over the past decade, one important domain remains relatively underexplored—sexual morality. The current article begins to fill this gap by exploring its multidimensionality and testing several evolution-based hypotheses about sex differences in moralizing distinct components of sexual morality, including incest, sexual coercion, sexual infidelity, and short-term mating. Study 1 (N = 920) and Study 2 (N = 543) tested predictions derived from evolutionary psychological hypotheses and used factor analysis to identify seven core factors of sexual morality separately for male and female actors: infidelity, short-term sex, sexual coercion, outgroup sex, long-term mating, same-sex sexuality, and paraphilic sex. Study 3 (N = 380) provided an independent test of the evolution-based hypotheses and factor structure. Results strongly support sex-differentiated predictions about short-term sex, but not sexual coercion or incest (possibly owing to ceiling effects). Discussion centers around sexual morality as a complex domain not readily explained by more domain-general theories of morality and the necessity of comprehensive theories of morality to include sex-differentiated components in their formulations.

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Small differences, but women are also more opposed to incest, sexual coercion, paraphilic sex; more approving of outgroup sex and less disapproving of homosexual sex.

“Meating halfway”: Exploring the attitudes of meat eaters, veg*ns, and occasional meat eaters toward those who eat meat and those who do not eat meat

“Meating halfway”: Exploring the attitudes of meat eaters, veg*ns, and occasional meat eaters toward those who eat meat and those who do not eat meat. Sara Pabian et al. The Journal of Social Psychology, May 10 2022. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00224545.2022.2074288

Abstract: Empirical studies have persistently reported negative attitudes of meat eaters toward vegetarians and vegans (veg*ns), but scant attention has been paid to veg*ns’ attitudes toward meat eaters. We aimed to investigate the attitudes of meat eaters and veg*ns from both perspectives. In addition, we explored the attitudes of occasional meat eaters. We performed a cross-sectional study (Study 1) among meat eaters, veg*ns, and occasional meat eaters, as well as a content analysis of publicly available tweets (Study 2). Study 1 (N = 477, Mage = 23.45, SD = 5.91) showed that the attitudes of veg*ns toward meat eaters are significantly more negative compared to the attitudes of meat eaters toward veg*ns, but both were lower than the midpoint on scales measuring negative attitudes toward the other. Study 2 showed that only a small portion (<1%) of tweets (N = 1,328) on meat eating or veg*nism contained signs of negative attitudes. The two studies provide little evidence of the existence of strong negative attitudes.

Keywords: Meat eatersoccasional meat eatersattitudesin-group biasintergroup perception veg*ns

Across cultures, women are much higher than men on fearful personality traits. Why? The sex difference in fear is mediated by that in physical strength.

Physical Strength Partly Explains Sex Differences in Trait Anxiety in Young Americans. Nicholas Kerry, Damian R. Murray. Psychological Science, April 2, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797620971298

Abstract: Among the most consistent sex differences to emerge from personality research is that women score higher than men on the Big Five personality trait Neuroticism. However, there are few functionally coherent explanations for this sex difference. The current studies tested whether this sex difference is due, in part, to variation in physical capital. Two preregistered studies (total N = 878 U.S. students) found that sex differences in the anxiety facet of Neuroticism were mediated by variation in physical strength and self-perceived formidability. Study 1 (N = 374) did not find a predicted mediation effect for overall Neuroticism but found a mediation effect for anxiety (the facet of Neuroticism most strongly associated with grip strength). Study 2 (N = 504) predicted and replicated this mediation effect. Further, sex differences in anxiety were serially mediated by grip strength and self-perceived formidability. These findings add to a nascent literature suggesting that differences in physical attributes may partially explain sex differences in personality.

Keywords: anxiety, Neuroticism, personality, sex differences, physical strength, formidability, open data, open materials, preregistered

General Discussion

In two studies, grip strength negatively predicted anxiety, and sex differences in anxiety were serially mediated by grip strength and self-perceived formidability. These findings suggest that some sex-based variation in personality may be partly attributable to variation in physical attributes.

These results suggest the testable hypothesis that other psychological and behavioral sex differences could be partly explained by differences in physical attributes. For example, there is evidence that social dominance and aggression—both of which tend to be higher in men—also covary intrasexually with physical strength (Farrington, 1989; Gallup et al., 2007; Price et al., 2011). Future research might investigate whether these and other psychological sex differences can be partly explained by differences in strength or stature.

Important limitations of this work should be noted. First, within-sex associations between strength and anxiety were small and somewhat inconsistent, and sex still accounted for some variance in anxiety beyond that explained by physical strength. Imperfect measurement of the key variables may have contributed to the small effects observed (see the Supplemental Material). Another possible explanation for the small within-sex effects is that the measures of strength and formidability employed here acted as a proxy for another variable, such as health or attractiveness (which both covary with grip strength; see Gallup & Fink, 2018). Although we cannot rule out this explanation, analyses reported in the Supplemental Material found relationships to be robust when controlling for several potential confounds, including body mass index, age, and a measure of self-perceived attractiveness. Similarly, though, these effects could be explained by a common underlying physiological factor, such as developmental testosterone levels (testosterone levels correlate negatively with anxiety in both sexes; see McHenry et al., 2014). Finally, a key limitation relating to the causal interpretation of these findings is that the mediational models presented here use cross-sectional data and cannot alone demonstrate causality. Thus, although the data here are consistent with the hypothesis that lower physical strength leads to higher anxiety, we cannot rule out alternative causal explanations.

Further, several additional questions remain unanswered. Is the association between strength and anxiety best explained by developmental calibration (i.e., people adapting behaviors to their strengths and weaknesses), genetic pleiotropy (i.e., genes associated with physical formidability also being associated with lower dispositional anxiety; see Lukaszewski & Roney, 2011), or facultative epigenetic processes whereby methylation of genes associated with strength also has consequences for anxiety? And, importantly, will these relationships generalize to other cultures, and would effects be larger for cultures and populations in which formidability is a more functional part of social life? Although these and other questions must be addressed in future research, the studies presented here support the hypothesis that sex differences in anxiety can be partly explained by differences in physical strength and self-perceived formidability. These findings suggest that further work on sex differences in personality may benefit from an increased focus on the role of physical attributes.

Honor cultures research centered almost exclusively on men and physical aggression as a means of reputation defense; present research indicates honor endorsing women also active in reputation maintenance and defense (spreading rumors, social exclusion)

Honor-endorsing women and relational aggression: Evidence for the presence of feminine aggression norms in southern U.S. women. Stephen Foster et al. Personality and Individual Differences, Volume 194, August 2022, 111668. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2022.111668

Highlights

• Culture of honor research has failed to focus on female-centric aspects of the culture.

• It is expected that women may engage in relationally-aggressive behavior to defend one's reputation.

• Relationally-aggressive reputation defense only emerges when honor-endorsing women do not fulfill honor norms and values.

• Provides first evidence for feminine aggression norms.

Abstract: Research on honor cultures has centered almost exclusively on men and men's use of physical aggression as a means of reputation defense, while tacitly overlooking women's role(s). Across three studies (N = 813), we examined whether honor endorsing women, like men, exhibit aggressive tendencies, albeit in the form of relational aggression. We found that women's honor endorsement predicted greater use of reactive relational aggression (e.g., ignoring and excluding others; Studies 1 and 2), but only among women who felt they were not achieving what it means to be an honorable woman (Study 2). Lastly, we found that women higher in feminine honor endorsement were more supportive of women who relationally aggressed (i.e. spreading rumors, social exclusion) in response to reputation threats (Study 3). Taken together, the present research indicates that honor endorsing women are more active in reputation maintenance and defense than prior work has acknowledged.

Keywords: Culture of honorFeminine normsRelational aggressionAggression

Higher levels of perceived tightness in own jurisdiction were associated with higher levels of mask wearing & handwashing during COVID-19, more endorsement of future policy changes to contain the pandemic, higher reported feelings of responsibility for one’s life

Does State Tightness-Looseness Predict Behavior and Attitudes Early in the COVID-19 Pandemic in the USA? Ashley Gilliam et al. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, March 30, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1177/00220221221077710

Abstract: We investigated how tightness-looseness, reflecting strictness of social norms, of state of residence in the USA predicts behaviors and attitudes related to COVID-19. Because individual-level tightness may better capture current attitudes during the pandemic, whereas state-level archival measures reflect historical factors, we assessed the extent to which tightness-looseness at both levels predicted adherence to public health guidelines and biases toward outgroups related to COVID-19. In Spring 2020, 544 mTurk participants, primarily from the 13 tightest and 13 loosest states, completed survey questions about health behaviors in response to COVID-19, endorsement of future policy changes, feeling of responsibility for lives, and attitudes toward groups marginalized during the pandemic (i.e., Asians, older adults). State-level results indicated some associations with attitudes toward Asians and older adults, but effects were not robust. Results based on individuals’ ratings of the tightness of their state indicated that higher levels of perceived tightness were associated with higher levels of protective self-reported public health behaviors (e.g., mask wearing, handwashing) during COVID-19, more endorsement of future policy changes to contain the pandemic, higher reported feelings of responsibility for one’s life, and stronger negative attitudes toward Asians. The relations between tightness and health outcomes persisted after controlling for political attitudes and demographics. Thus, individual, more than state, tightness-looseness accounted for some degree of public health behaviors (unique contribution of individual tightness: R2 = .034) and attitudes toward marginalized groups (R2 = .020) early during the COVID-19 pandemic. The implications of these findings for interventions to support behavior change or combat anti-Asian bias are discussed.

Keywords: COVID-19, culture, behavior change, attitudes, outgroup

Hunter-Gatherer Children’s Object Play and Tool Use: An Ethnohistorical Analysis

Hunter-Gatherer Children’s Object Play and Tool Use: An Ethnohistorical Analysis. Sheina Lew-Levy et al. Front. Psychol., May 11 2022 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.824983

Abstract: Learning to use, make, and modify tools is key to our species’ success. Researchers have hypothesized that play with objects may have a foundational role in the ontogeny of tool use and, over evolutionary timescales, in cumulative technological innovation. Yet, there are few systematic studies investigating children’s interactions with objects outside the post-industrialized West. Here, we survey the ethnohistorical record to uncover cross-cultural trends regarding hunter-gatherer children’s use of objects during play and instrumental activities. Our dataset, consisting of 434 observations of children’s toys and tools from 54 hunter-gatherer societies, reveals several salient trends: Most objects in our dataset are used in play. Children readily manufacture their own toys, such as dolls and shelters. Most of the objects that children interact with are constructed from multiple materials. Most of the objects in our dataset are full-sized or miniature versions of adult tools, reflecting learning for adult roles. Children also engage with objects related to child culture, primarily during play. Taken together, our findings show that hunter-gatherer children grow up playing, making, and learning with objects.

Discussion

Learning to make and use tools is central to our species’ success. Many features of object play—including non-functional non-stereotypical actions, and joint social engagement—have been hypothesized to help children efficiently develop physical, cognitive, and social skills needed to make, modify, and use tools (Smith, 1982; Bjorklund and Gardiner, 2011; Bateson and Martin, 2013; Solis et al., 2017). In the present paper, we took an ethnohistorical approach to exploring object play and use in hunter-gatherer societies. In doing so, we help shed light on how objects are incorporated into the everyday lives of children outside the post-industrialized West. In what follows, we relate our findings to current research on play across cultures and discuss emerging research questions.

Most objects in our dataset were used in play. This finding echoes those from observational studies, which show that play makes up a large proportion of hunter-gatherer children’s time budgets, and that children incorporate many objects manufactured by themselves or others, as well as raw materials, into their play (e.g., Boyette, 2016; Froehle et al., 2019; Salali et al., 2019; Lew-Levy et al., 2020a). It is important to note that in some cases, children may engage in activities that are simultaneously playful and instrumental (see also Crittenden, 2016). For example, children may engage in target practice with the goal of improving their hunting skill, even if they do so during a game with peers. Similarly, children engage in instrumental activities in the service of play by making their own toys. Much of this nuance is lost in our coding scheme, partially because we have opted to use binary coding to simplify analyses, and partially because it is often not possible to identify children’s own goals via ethnographer descriptions. Nonetheless, these findings raise the possibility that children may be proficient at using a variety of objects to meet both playful and instrumental goals.

Children were more likely to engage with objects socially during play than during instrumental activities. Such social object play may be an important avenue for observing and imitating others, receiving teaching, learning about cultural norms such as sharing, and for innovating with peers (Bakeman et al., 1990; MacDonald, 2007; Imamura and Akiyama, 2016; Lew-Levy et al., 2017, 2020b,2021). Children were also more likely to use safe objects while in play than while in instrumental activities. Many ethnographers note that children in hunter-gatherer societies are free to play with dangerous objects (see Lancy, 2016 for review). Our findings support these observations: our dataset includes several examples of children engaging in play with risky objects such as knives, canoes, or stilts. Play with risky objects may have developmental benefits by helping children master age-appropriate challenges (Sandseter and Kennair, 2011). Further, play contexts may be created such that risk, including object-related risk, is minimised (Gopnik, 2020). Nonetheless, our findings suggest that children use relatively less risky objects when in play than when engaging in instrumental activities. This may be because some risky objects, such as knives and bows, are more instrumental in nature and thus, might invite more instrumental activities.

We found that many of the objects used by children were full-sized or miniature versions of adult tools, and that a majority of children’s objects were composite in nature, overall reflecting the observed complexity of adult material culture across societies (Boyd et al., 2013; Sterelny, 2021). Miniature or full-sized versions of adult objects may help children learn about adult roles and activities as well as object affordances (Riede et al., 2018). Further, adult objects were more likely to be used during instrumental than play activities, reflecting their functional nature. This finding echoes ethnographic studies which demonstrate that children learn through participation across a range of cultural contexts (Lancy, 2012; Rogoff, 2014; Lew-Levy et al., 2019). In contrast, objects reportedly used by children only such as dolls, figures, and games, were overwhelmingly used in play. Engaging with child culture artifacts during play may facilitate the acquisition of child-specific ecological knowledge (Gallois et al., 2017), the retention of technologies which have been abandoned by adults (Imamura, 2016), and the development of strong social ties with their peers (Corsaro and Eder, 1990). Some objects may facilitate learning about both future adult roles and peer cultures. For example, while they are not scaled-down tools, dolls nonetheless commonly represent babies. By making and playing with dolls, children may simultaneously learn about object affordances, practice adult social roles, and reinterpret adult culture to meet the concerns of their peer world (Corsaro, 1993; Edwards, 2000).

There were no gender differences in objects used in play vs. instrumental activities, reflecting findings from time allocation studies on the topic in hunter-gatherer societies (Boyette, 2016; Lew-Levy et al., 2020a). Boys were more likely to use risky objects, which may echo cross-cultural findings regarding gender differences in risk taking (Apicella et al., 2017). Our results regarding age were imprecise and hence inconclusive, largely because few ethnographers provided enough detail to confidently attribute age categories to object users, resulting in most user ages being categorized as “unknown.” Tentatively, however, our results suggest that children in middle childhood and adolescence (i.e., seven years or over) were more likely to use objects during play and more likely than infants and children in early childhood (i.e., six years or younger) to use risky objects, suggesting that children’s use of objects becomes more varied with age. Note that the increased use of risky objects with age need not signify actual increased risk in object use; this could be an expression of older children having acquired the necessary skill to wield risky objects safely.

Our study has several limitations. We had few observations for precise age categories, limiting our ability to infer developmental trends in object play and use. In the case of object complexity, values were not missing completely at random, but instead are biased toward missing values for girls. Gender differences related to complexity should thus be interpreted cautiously. By focusing on inanimate objects, we have overlooked how children play with babies and animals, the form and learning function of which may share similarities with some forms of object play. The records included within eHRAF reflect biases inherent to the ethnohistoric literature: virtually all ethnographers were adults, and most were men. In addition, all observations were made before the full advent of interest in children as culture-bearers and prior to the emergence of systematic studies in this domain. As a result, many aspects of children’s activities may be less systematically recorded compared to other aspects of culture. In addition, eHRAF is known for its bias toward North America. While it does represent the single best source for comparative cross-cultural analysis, and while we used statistical methods to overcome such biases, the sample’s representativity in the strict sense cannot be claimed. Finally, the present study used binary coding of variables of interest to facilitate analysis and because ethnographer descriptions often lacked the details necessary for more continuous coding (e.g., ratings). We acknowledge that this approach obscures much of the nuance inherent to children’s activities, and indeed, human behavior more generally.

Despite these caveats, our descriptive study points to several new avenues of research which can help further our understanding regarding the learning function of object play across individuals and societies. First, many experimental studies examine how children’s play with raw materials (e.g., clamps, sticks, pipe cleaners) contributes to their ability to modify and recombine these into functional tools. However, these tasks often represent ill-structured problems in the sense that children lack information about the transformations needed to accomplish the desired end goal (Cutting et al., 2011). Our data suggests that in contrast to playing with component pieces, hunter-gatherer children often play with composite objects. By engaging with the end-state first, children may more easily come to understand the functional properties of component pieces, and thus, may more easily apply their knowledge to tool selection and modification tasks (Cutting et al., 2014; Riede et al., 2018). Some experimental studies investigating the learning function for play also focus on children’s solo play with objects. However, our findings suggest that most play with objects occurs socially. Developmental research has long demonstrated that collaborative learning bolsters children’s ability to solve novel tasks (Azmitia, 1988; Perlmutter et al., 1989; Rendell et al., 2011) and their logical reasoning skills (Tomasello et al., 1993; Kruger and Tomasello, 1996). Such socio-cognitive capabilities may also be central to children’s ability to make and innovate tools (Gönül et al., 2019; Lew-Levy et al., 2021). Next, most experimental research on object play focuses on deferred functions related to tool use and tool making skill. However, our findings hint at the possibility that playing with objects may more immediately have a central role in the development and maintenance of peer cultures. Finally, if object play contributes to the development of problem solving skills, then the diversity and complexity of children’s play objects should covary with that of adult toolkits (Riede et al., 2018). Testing this possibility requires careful attention to potential confounds such as environmental risk, population size, raw material availability, and subsistence strategy (Kline and Boyd, 2010; Collard et al., 2013). We are in the process of expanding our dataset to include these variables in the hopes of further investigating how children’s learning through object play contributes to the observed cross-cultural variation in material culture. Such analyses will help shed new light on how object play and play object provisioning may have bolstered technological innovation in the past.