Prenatal maternal stress: Pregnant women especially vulnerable to chronic stress; potential challenging situations such as body image issues, lifestyle changes, fluctuating hormones, induce lasting changes to fetal stress response ("fetal programming")

Prenatal stress perturbs fetal iron homeostasis in a sex specific manner. Peter Zimmermann, Marta C. Antonelli, Ritika Sharma, Alexander Müller, Camilla Zelgert, Bibiana Fabre, Natasha Wenzel, Hau-Tieng Wu, Martin G. Frasch & Silvia M. Lobmaier. Scientific Reports volume 12, Article number: 9341, Jun 4 2022. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-13633-z

Abstract: The adverse effects of maternal prenatal stress (PS) on child’s neurodevelopment warrant the establishment of biomarkers that enable early interventional therapeutic strategies. We performed a prospective matched double cohort study screening 2000 pregnant women in third trimester with Cohen Perceived Stress Scale-10 (PSS-10) questionnaire; 164 participants were recruited and classified as stressed and control group (SG, CG). Fetal cord blood iron parameters of 107 patients were measured at birth. Transabdominal electrocardiograms-based Fetal Stress Index (FSI) was derived. We investigated sex contribution to group differences and conducted causal inference analyses to assess the total effect of PS exposure on iron homeostasis using a directed acyclic graph (DAG) approach. Differences are reported for p < 0.05 unless noted otherwise. Transferrin saturation was lower in male stressed neonates. The minimum adjustment set of the DAG to estimate the total effect of PS exposure on fetal ferritin iron biomarkers consisted of maternal age and socioeconomic status: SG revealed a 15% decrease in fetal ferritin compared with CG. Mean FSI was higher among SG than among CG. FSI-based timely detection of fetuses affected by PS can support early individualized iron supplementation and neurodevelopmental follow-up to prevent long-term sequelae due to PS-exacerbated impairment of the iron homeostasis.

Discussion

PS disrupts fetal iron homeostasis in a sex-specific manner

This study indicates a sex-dependent difference in fetal iron homeostasis and FSI due to PS in an otherwise healthy cohort, mainly driven by the male sex. Causal inference approach allowed us to independently verify fetal sex as an important effect modifier on the causal pathway between PS and cord blood ferritin. The findings strengthen previous published FSI results10.

The PS effect on the fetal iron biomarkers has been poorly understood. Rhesus monkey infants born to stressed mothers were more likely to develop iron deficiency7. Likewise, several studies in humans have shown a correlation between PS and cord blood zinc protoporphyrin/heme index as well as PS and ferritin levels4,5,6.

During pregnancy, maternal stress hormones such as cortisol influence the growing fetus and its neurodevelopment, presumably via epigenetic mechanisms9,19. Cortes and colleagues proposed an influence of chronic stress through a stress-induced altered expression of a variant of the enzyme acetylcholinesterase on the iron-regulating system in fetal sheep brain-derived primary microglia cultures15. They assumed the afferent cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway signaling on microglial α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors to down-regulate metal ion transporter and ferroportin, which acts as a hepcidin receptor (Fig. 1).

Animal studies observed stress-dependent cognitive deficits mainly seen in males20,21. In humans, sex-specific PS effects are reflected by lower scores in conduct assessments and higher test scores for emotional disturbance in males compared to females13,22,23. Campbell et al. applied six specific PS questionnaires, each twice in the second and third trimester, to 428 ~ 28-years-old mothers and found newborns of pregnant women exposed to violence to be stronger associated with cord blood ferritin levels lower in boys than in girls4.

The relation of iron homeostasis biomarkers to PS

Our results show no relationship between the presence of maternal anemia, fetal iron deficiency and PS. These findings are in agreement with literature suggesting that the fetus is robust against moderate changes of the maternal iron homeostasis24,25.

Within the DAG framework, we estimated that PS reduced the cord blood serum ferritin levels by approximately 15%. These findings are exceeding the adaption factor for inflammatory processes in infants the WHO uses in a current guideline26. We assume that during pregnancy even relatively small additional shifts in fetal iron homeostasis, especially in ferritin levels, may induce sex-specific neurodevelopmental effects27. Our observations regarding the link between PS, fetal iron homeostasis and the postnatal neurodevelopmental trajectories warrant further investigations, because this condition may be corrected therapeutically via targeted prenatal and/or postnatal iron supplementation2.

The PS effect transmitted by maternal cortisol on the fetal neurodevelopment may depend on the time course of exposure28,29. Hypothetically, taking our explanation further antepartum, i.e., to ~ 3.5 weeks earlier at the time of taECG recording, we speculate that PS-induced differences in hepcidin at that time may lead to the reported changes in iron parameters that could still be detected in the cord blood1. Our exploratory findings of higher FSI within certain ranges of at-birth iron biomarkers support this notion. The absence of group differences of cord blood iron parameters including the whole cohort may reflect adaptions (more pronounced in females) that occur as pregnancy progresses20.

The role of the immune system

Our data in leukocytes showed no evidence of increased inflammatory processes in SG neonates (Table S1). Nevertheless, acute inflammatory processes, a common phenomenon during delivery, may have had an effect on our cord blood findings transmitted by other cellular messengers such as the cytokine IL-6 (Fig. 1). In general, inflammation upregulates the acute phase protein ferritin influencing its role as a biomarker of the iron storage30. Inflammation also upregulates hepcidin levels leading to an intestinal sequestration of iron14. Cord blood interleukin levels were increased in chronically stressed mother’s infants31. Taken together, the effects of PS can be mediated by inflammatory processes and this link should be investigated further in future studies including a broader characterization of the maternal and neonatal inflammatory profiles32.

FSI as a potential biomarker of PS in late gestation

The present findings confirm that FSI is increased in PS during the third trimester of pregnancy10. Because the FSI showed poor association with the measured iron biomarkers, we assume that PS influences fHR and mHR coupling by different pathways. Moreover, in our DAG framework it is conceivable that FSI may serve as an indicator of subsequent altered neurodevelopmental trajectories, even in the absence of biochemical PS correlates such as alterations in iron homeostasis33,34.

ML-based predictions of PS

With our ML approach, we mimicked a real-life scenario to identify mother–fetus dyads affected by PS. Our results are consistent with findings in other clinical settings where electronic medical record mining identified patients at risk even without additional biophysical assessments, such as ECG35. Notably, adding biophysical characteristics improves ML model performance, thus emphasizing the potential of antepartum mother–child monitoring using taECG to improve the early detection of health abnormalities such as PS.

Strengths and limitations

Strengths of the FELICITy study are the prospective design preventing recall bias and the definition of criteria for a matching system to exclude possible confounders. Additionally, eventual confounding factors such as the intake of iron supplement and ethnic group showed no group differences (Fig. S1). This is the first prospective longitudinal study starting in utero aiming to assess PS and fetal biomarkers. Additionally, it is the first study to use causal inference and machine learning approaches to investigate sex-dependent influence of PS on the fetal iron homeostasis. There are certain limitations. Our inclusion criteria prevented us from enrolling non-German-speaking patients. This may have biased how the PS effects are represented in the multicultural Munich population. Also, we used a matching system that could not include every screened CG patient. Due to the uncertainties of a human study, several subject numbers for different sub-analyses were lower. Furthermore, we focused on measuring PS in the third trimester which necessarily neglected earlier stages of pregnancy and a possible temporal dynamic of PS over the entire course of pregnancy.

We chose not to include other potential effect modifiers on the causal pathway of the DAG such as inflammatory processes as they are difficult to define quantitatively and were not the focus of this study. However, future studies could further refine estimates of PS → Iron Biomarker average exposure effect by adjusting for these covariates.

This study did not differentiate between arterial or venous origin of the analyzed cord blood samples. To our knowledge this issue has not been addressed in literature so far. In general, the placental iron transfer and the assessment of the fetal iron status using cord blood parameters are poorly understood36,37. As of the date of the manuscript’s submission no commonly used normal ranges of cord blood iron parameters exist. The established ranges start with the child's birth26 but are not applicable to cord blood ranges since in cord blood usually, iron parameters are higher38. These issues warrant further research to identify potential biasing effects on cord blood analysis.

Maximizing men ("No matter what I do, I have the highest standards for myself") who had attractive wives more satisfied at start of their marriages; maximazing women who had high status husbands experienced less steep declines in satisfaction over time

Maximizing Tendencies in Marriage: Accentuating the Implications of Readily Observable Partner Characteristics for Intimates’ Satisfaction. Juliana E. French, Andrea L. Meltzer.Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, March 5, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167219832337

Abstract: People differ in their tendencies to labor over decisions and to make choices that maximize their outcomes—a difference known as maximization. Here, we used two independent, 3-year longitudinal studies of newlywed couples to demonstrate that this individual difference in decision making has important implications for romantic relationships. Consistent with the idea that maximizers are more likely to compare their current romantic partners to potential alternative partners’ readily observable qualities, such as their physical attractiveness and status, results demonstrated that intimates’ maximization moderated the implications of these sex-differentiated variables for marital satisfaction. Specifically, maximizing men who had attractive (vs. unattractive) wives were more satisfied at the start of their marriages. Likewise, maximizing women who had high (vs. low) status husbands experienced less steep declines in satisfaction over time. These findings demonstrate that maximization has important implications for long-term romantic relationships by accentuating the effects of readily observable partner qualities on relationship outcomes.

Keywords: maximizing tendencies, physical attractiveness, status, sex differences, marriage

Discussion

Rationale and Summary of Results

After choosing a long-term partner, intimates face a barrage of potential alternative partners. Given that maximizers (vs. satisficers) more frequently attend to such potential alternatives and compare the readily observable, desirable traits of those alternatives (e.g., physical attractiveness, status) to their current partners’ traits, they may be at greater risk of experiencing poorer relationship outcomes, to the extent that their partners compare less favorably to such alternatives. Nevertheless, if their partners compare more favorably to such alternatives, maximizers (vs. satisficers) may experience better relationship outcomes. Given the sex-differentiated preferences for partner physical attractiveness and partner status (e.g., Buss, 1989; Buss & Barnes, 1986; Kenrick et al., 1990; Li et al., 2002; Meltzer et al., 2014b; but also see Eastwick & Finkel, 2008), we predicted that maximizing men (vs. women) would be more satisfied to the extent that their partners are relatively attractive, and that maximizing women (vs. men) would be more satisfied to the extent that their partners have relatively high status. We pooled the data from two independent, 3-year longitudinal studies of newlywed couples to test these predictions. Results were consistent with predictions. Maximizing men (vs. women) were more satisfied at the start of their marriages to the extent that they had physically attractive partners; in contrast, satisficing men and women were no more or less satisfied at the start of their marriages to the extent that they had physically attractive partners. Likewise, maximizing women (vs. men) experienced less steep declines in marital satisfaction across the first three years of marriage to the extent that their partners had high incomes; in contrast, satisficing men and women experienced no more or less steep declines in marital satisfaction to the extent that their partners had high incomes. It is worth noting, however, that our higher order associations emerged as marginally (rather than traditionally) significant; results should thus be interpreted with caution until they can be replicated.

An astute reader may have noticed that maximizing women with attractive (vs. unattractive) partners were relatively less satisfied at the start of their marriages, and maximizing men with high (vs. low) status partners experienced relatively steeper declines in satisfaction over time. Although we did not predict such simple effects a priori, these findings are consistent with other research. Other scholars have demonstrated, for example, that women with attractive (vs. unattractive) partners are more concerned about sexual infidelity (White, 1980), which appears to be a valid concern—attractive, partnered men not only desire more frequent extra-pair relations (White, 1980), they engage in more frequent sexual infidelity (Gangestad & Thornhill, 1997; cf. Rhodes, Morley, & Simmons, 2013). Likewise, other scholars have demonstrated that increases in partnered women’s income leads to declines in their partners’ overall well-being over time (Rogers & DeBoer, 2001), and is associated with an increased likelihood of marital dissolution (Ono, 1998; Teachman, 2010). As the current work demonstrates, however, individual differences such as women’s maximizing tendencies can moderate these associations. Indeed, partner attractiveness was negatively associated with maximizing wives’ initial marital satisfaction but unassociated with satisficing wives’ initial marital satisfaction, and partner income was positively associated with maximizing husbands’ declines in marital satisfaction but unassociated with satisficing husbands’ declines in marital satisfaction.

Implications and Future Directions

These results have several important theoretical implications. Perhaps most notably, the current research demonstrates the critical implications of an important individual difference in decision-making styles for long-term romantic relationships—maximization. The choice of a long-term partner is a relatively enduring one that has notable implications for people’s overall physical and mental health (Holt-Lunstad et al., 2010; Proulx et al., 2007; Robles et al., 2014). For these reasons, decision making in this domain is critical; thus, it is likely that people attend to certain qualities in potential partners that will maximize their outcomes. Nevertheless, there are individual differences in such maximizing tendencies, and the current research provides novel evidence that such differences have implications for long-term relationship outcomes. Moreover, the current findings suggested that maximizers are not always successful in maximizing their outcomes. Indeed, maximizing men with unattractive partners were relatively dissatisfied with their marriages, and maximizing women with low-status partners experienced relatively steeper declines in marital satisfaction over time. These negative outcomes are likely due to maximizers’ tendencies to frequently attend to relationship alternatives (Mikkelson & Pauley, 2013). Although we were unable to directly test this mechanism in the current research, future research may benefit from doing so. Future research may also benefit from continuing to examine additional ways that maximization influences romantic relationships. For example, given men’s relative preference for sexual novelty (Little, DeBruine, & Jones, 2014), maximizing men (vs. women) may be at greater risk of lower sexual satisfaction in their long-term relationships, though this effect may be buffered by their partners’ willingness to introduce sexual novelty. Likewise, maximization may play an important role in individuals’ decision to marry such that maximizers may engage in longer courtships or be more hesitant to agree to marriage.

The current research also has implications for our understanding of maximization more generally. In contrast to most previous research demonstrating that maximizers (vs. satisficers) experience more negative outcomes following decision-making processes (Besharat et al., 2014; Bruine de Bruin et al., 2016; Newman et al., 2018), the current studies are among the first (at least to our knowledge) to demonstrate that some maximizers can actually experience more positive outcomes—especially in decision-making domains where an exhaustive search of all possibilities is impossible (Newman et al., 2018; Schwartz et al., 2002). Indeed, maximizing men were more satisfied to the extent that they had attractive partners, and maximizing women were more satisfied to the extent that they had high-status partners. Future research may benefit from further exploring other domains in which maximizers experience similar positive outcomes.

Readers familiar with the maximization literature may have noticed that, in the current research, maximization was, on average, unassociated with intimates’ initial satisfaction or changes in marital satisfaction (see the simple effects of maximization in Tables 2 and 3). Decisions regarding who to marry are critically important, and may be one of the most important decisions that people make in their lives. Given the enduring nature of such a decision, it is possible that newly married couples are less susceptible to such negative outcomes (at least at the beginning) because they may more heavily weigh the potential costs and benefits of their decision, and because they hold relatively positive illusions (Murray, Holmes, & Griffin, 1996). Indeed, we are unaware of other research that has examined the implications of maximization for such important life decisions. Although Mikkelson and Pauley (2013) demonstrated that maximizers (vs. satisficers) were less satisfied with their relationships, they utilized samples of undergraduate women, and the implications of choosing dating partners in young adulthood are notably less consequential than the implications of choosing marriage partners in adulthood. Of course, in the current research, the null association between intimates’ maximizing tendencies and their relationship outcomes were moderated by the quality of their partners.

The current findings also help reconcile inconsistencies in support for evolutionary-based theories such as sexual strategies theory (Buss & Schmitt, 1993) and parental investment theory (Trivers, 1972). According to such theories, partner attractiveness should more positively impact men’s (vs. women’s) long-term relationship outcomes, and partner status should more positively impact women’s (vs. men’s) long-term relationship outcomes. Although such effects have emerged in numerous studies (e.g., Li et al., 2013; Meltzer et al., 2014b), they have failed to emerge in other studies (Eastwick & Finkel, 2008; Eastwick et al., 2014). It is worth noting that the sex-differentiated effect of partner attractiveness trended toward significance in the current research, and the sex-differentiated effect of partner status emerged in the predicted direction. Nevertheless, both effects emerged more strongly for maximizers than for satisficers. It may thus be that unknown sample differences in maximization have accentuated sex differences in prior studies that demonstrated the predicted effect (e.g., Li et al., 2013; Meltzer et al., 2014b) and attenuated those differences in research that failed to demonstrate the predicted effect (e.g., Eastwick & Finkel, 2008, though see Meltzer et al., 2014a). Considering maximizing tendencies and other important individual differences in future research may provide more consistent results.

Finally, future research may benefit from considering the function of individual differences in maximizing tendencies—that is, why some people expend the time and energy necessary to labor over their decision making, such as choosing a suitable long-term partner, whereas other people do not. It may be that such individual differences reflect differences in individual needs, such as those stemming from different life histories. According to life history theory, the harshness and unpredictability of people’s childhood environments can affect their psychological and behavioral functioning in adulthood (e.g., Belsky, Steinberg, & Draper, 1991; Simpson, Griskevicius, Kuo, Sung, & Collins, 2012). People who are exposed to unpredictable early environments tend to be more opportunistic, be more impulsive, and are more likely to seek immediate gratification; thus, they may also be more likely to adopt satisficing tendencies when choosing a relationship partner. That is, they may be more likely to choose a “good enough” partner. People who are exposed to stable early environments, in contrast, tend to be long-term planners who delay gratification for later and potentially larger payoffs; thus, they may be more likely to adopt maximizing tendencies when choosing a relationship partner. That is, they may consider all possible partners in hopes of choosing the “best” partner. In other words, people’s maximizing tendencies may be a result of their early environmental exposure. Future research may benefit from examining this possibility, as well as whether early environmental experiences similarly moderate the effects of partner physical attractiveness and partner status on long-term relationship outcomes.

Strengths and Limitations

Several strengths of this research enhance our confidence in the findings reported here. First, the studies drew from, and did not vary across, two independent studies of marriage, which allowed for increased power. Second, in contrast to using newly formed or hypothetical relationships, the current study utilized samples of participants who were all young, married couples for whom the measured outcomes were real and consequential. Finally, analyses in the current study controlled numerous potential confounds (i.e., own attractiveness, own income, partner age, partner extraversion, and partner student status), helping to decrease the possibility that the results were spurious or suppressed due to associations with those variables. Nevertheless, supplemental analyses also demonstrated that the key effects continued to emerge in uncontrolled models.

Despite these strengths, several factors limit interpretations of the current findings until they can be replicated and extended. First, whereas the relative homogeneity of our two samples enhances our confidence in the pattern of associations that emerged, this lack of variability limits our ability to generalize these findings to other samples of couples (e.g., short-term couples, older married couples, nonheterosexual couples). Maximizing tendencies, for example, may similarly affect relatively shorter term relationships (e.g., dating relationships). Likewise, it is possible that maximizing tendencies may not moderate the association between partner attractiveness and relationship satisfaction among older couples. Given that the current predictions were derived from evolutionary perspectives and the notion that partner attractiveness is important to relationship outcomes due to its association with fertility and successful reproduction, partner attractiveness may no longer differentially affect older men’s and women’s long-term relationships (for a related discussion, see Meltzer et al., 2014a). Future research may benefit from examining this possibility and the extent to which the current findings generalize. Second, although we had a priori, theoretically driven predictions for two different traits that should matter for intimates’ relationship satisfaction in contextually different ways, the predicted effects emerged as marginally (rather than traditionally) significant. Nevertheless, there are notable challenges associated with conducting longitudinal, dyadic research (e.g., stringent inclusion criteria, resource intensiveness; see Finkel, Eastwick, & Reis, 2015) as well as known statistical difficulties of detecting moderator effects (McClelland & Judd, 1993); thus, we believe that the results reported here warrant notable consideration. Of course, future research would benefit from replicating the current results using a larger sample that is specifically designed to test these associations. Finally, the data presented here are correlational and thus are unable to support strong causal conclusions. Although we were able to control some variables that could have been responsible for the associations observed here, other potential third variables remained uncontrolled.

Among singles, no significant differences in psychological distress by sexual identity; among partnered respondents, queer/pansexual women reported the highest distress & lesbian/gay women reported the lowest distress

Wilson, B. D. M., Krueger, E. A., Pollitt, A. M., & Bostwick, W. B. (2022). Partnership status and mental health in a nationally representative sample of sexual minorities. Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, 9(2), 190–200. Jun 2022. https://doi.org/10.1037/sgd0000475

Abstract: Research has consistently shown mental health differences between sexual minority subgroups with bisexual people often reporting higher levels of psychological distress than lesbians and gay men. Relationship status has been suggested, but not well studied, as a potential factor contributing to subgroup differences in mental health. Using a national probability sample of nontransgender sexual minority adults across three age cohorts (18–25, 34–41, 52–59 years), we assessed group differences in psychological distress (Kessler 6) between lesbian/gay (N = 505), bisexual (N = 272), and queer/pansexual (N = 75) respondents. We examined whether relationship status (single/partnered) moderated the relationship between sexual identity and psychological distress. Among those that were partnered, we tested whether key partner characteristics related to sexual identity—gender of partner (cisgender same-sex/transgender or cisgender different-sex) and partner sexual identity (same or mixed sexual orientation relationship)—were significantly associated with psychological distress. In bivariate analyses, bisexual and queer/pansexual respondents reported more psychological distress than gay/lesbian respondents, among both men and women. In multivariable analyses, there was not a significant main effect of sexual identity, but there was a significant interaction between sexual identity and partnership status on psychological distress among women. Specifically, while there were no significant differences in psychological distress between subgroups of single women, among partnered women, queer/pansexual women had more distress than lesbian/gay women. Further, partnership was associated with reduced distress among lesbian/gay women, but not among bisexual or queer/pansexual women. Among men, there were no significant interaction effects between sexual identity and partnership status on psychological distress. Being in a mixed orientation relationship, but not gender of partner, was a significant predictor of psychological distress among both women and men across sexual identities. Additional research should assess the partnership dynamics contributing to the association between partnership characteristics and mental health among sexual minority populations.

Masculine norms of emotional control predicted whether men followed CDC recommendations suggests that noncompliance with those recommendations may be a way of men demonstrating that they are not afraid

Mahalik, J. R., Di Bianca, M., & Harris, M. P. (2022). Conformity to masculine norms and men’s responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. Psychology of Men & Masculinities, Jun 2022. https://doi.org/10.1037/men0000401

Abstract: The study examined men’s conformity to masculine norms as related to adherence to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendations for mitigating the spread of COVID-19 as well as men’s attitudes toward mask wearing. Five hundred eighty nine participant men, predominantly White and heterosexual, completed the 10–15 min anonymous online survey through Prolific. After controlling for demographics, results indicated that the masculine norms of emotional control and power over women were related to less adherence to CDC recommendations; and that self-reliance, power over women, and heterosexual self-presentation were related to more negative attitudes toward mask wearing. Limitations and future research such as improving men’s participation in combatting COVID-19, and other public health crises, by addressing men’s specific salient masculine norms when developing and implementing public health outreach and prevention are discussed.

Impact Statement: The study examined men’s conformity to specific masculinity norms to predict their adherence to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendations for combatting COVID-19 and their attitudes toward mask wearing. The findings can aid in public health efforts to improve men’s participation in combatting the pandemic and future public health crises.

The presence of feminine males in Samoa & Mexico, when masculine men are willing to engage in sexual activity with them, induces women to compete intersexually in comparable ways to intrasexual competition with rival women

Intra- and Intersexual Mate Competition in Two Cultures: A Comparison of Women’s Response to Mate Competition with Women and Gender-Nonbinary Males in Samoa and among the Istmo Zapotec. Scott W. Semenyna, Francisco R. Gómez Jiménez & Paul L. Vasey. Human Nature, Jun 3 2022. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12110-022-09424-0

Abstract: The present study examined women’s mate competition tactics in response to female and feminine-male rivals in two cultures in which competition against both occurs. In Samoa and the Istmo Zapotec (Southern Mexico), women not only compete with other women (intrasexually) but also compete with rival feminine males (intersexually) in order to access/retain the same masculine men as sexual/romantic partners. Using a mixed-method paradigm, women were asked about their experiences of intra- and intersexual mate competition, and these narratives were recorded. The tactics reportedly employed by participants, and those attributed to mate competitors, were categorized according to established taxonomies of mate competition tactics, and their frequencies compared. Within-culture, the likelihood that participant women had ever experienced intra- and intersexual mate competition did not differ. Furthermore, participants reported a similar pattern of behavioral tactics whether their rival was another woman or a feminine male. These included benefit provisioning tactics during mate acquisition and cost-inflicting tactics during mate retention. Similarly, the mate competition tactics attributed to rival women and rival feminine males bore a striking resemblance, focused on enticing target men. Results highlight the mate competition tactics employed by women outside of a Euro-American context, and the way cultural factors impact mating landscapes presumed to be exclusively heterosexual. The presence of feminine males, alongside masculine men’s willingness to engage in sexual activity with them, induces women in such cultures to compete intersexually in comparable ways to intrasexual competition with rival women.

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Notes

Samoans in general, and often fa’afafine themselves, refer to fa’afafine using both masculine and feminine pronouns, even within the same narrative or sentence, as illustrated in this passage. This is not intended as a slur toward fa’afafine by participant women, nor is it taken as insulting by fa’afafine; it simply reflects the fact that fa’afafine are readily acknowledged as being natal males.

Semenyna et al. (2020) report data on intersexual mate competition (i.e., the second and fourth columns in the data tables). Data pertaining to intrasexual mate competition (i.e., the first and third columns in the data tables) have not previously been reported, analyzed, or compared with intersexual mate competition.

Much like Samoan women, Istmo Zapotec women would frequently vacillate between masculine and feminine pronouns when referring to a muxe.

Both those who perceived COVID-19 racial disparities to be greater & those who read more about those disparities (which reduced empathy) reported reduced fear of COVID-19 & less support for safety precautions

Highlighting COVID-19 racial disparities can reduce support for safety precautions among White U.S. residents. Allison L.Skinner-Dorkenoo et añ- Social Science & Medicine, Volume 301, May 2022, 114951. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.114951

Highlights

• Tested relations with White US residents' awareness of COVID-19 racial disparities.

• Perceiving greater COVID-19 racial disparities predicted reduced fear of COVID-19.

• Exposure to information about COVID-19 racial disparities reduced empathy.

• Reduced empathy and fear of COVID-19 predict reduced support for safety precautions.

• Highlighting racial disparities may paradoxically perpetuate racial inequalities.

Abstract: U.S. media has extensively covered racial disparities in COVID-19 infections and deaths, which may ironically reduce public concern about COVID-19. In two preregistered studies (conducted in the fall of 2020), we examined whether perceptions of COVID-19 racial disparities predict White U.S. residents’ attitudes toward COVID-19. Utilizing a correlational design (N = 498), we found that those who perceived COVID-19 racial disparities to be greater reported reduced fear of COVID-19, which predicted reduced support for COVID-19 safety precautions. In Study 2, we manipulated exposure to information about COVID-19 racial disparities (N = 1,505). Reading about the persistent inequalities that produced COVID-19 racial disparities reduced fear of COVID-19, empathy for those vulnerable to COVID-19, and support for safety precautions. These findings suggest that publicizing racial health disparities has the potential to create a vicious cycle wherein raising awareness reduces support for the very policies that could protect public health and reduce disparities.

Keywords: Racial disparitiesCOVID-19Systemic racismPublic healthAttitudes

8. Discussion

In Study 2, we replicated the systemic knowledge findings from Study 1 and observed initial evidence that informing White U.S. residents of COVID-19 racial disparities can causally reduce fear of COVID-19 and support for safety precautions. Previous research had shown a similar pattern of results among White U.S. residents who reported relatively high racial biases (Harell and Lieberman, 2021; Stephens-Dougan, 2021), but our findings—which were largely unmoderated by political orientation—suggest a more general phenomenon. We had speculated that framing COVID-19 racial disparities as a product of persistent health inequalities might serve as a buffer against this tendency, consistent with individual differences in systemic knowledge. However, we observed even less concern about COVID-19 when racial disparities were framed as a result of systemic inequalities. In addition, our exploratory mediation analysis provided suggestive evidence that the reduced fear and empathy for those vulnerable to COVID-19 that resulted from framing COVID-19 racial disparities as a product of persistent health inequalities, may have reduced support for safety precautions. Taken together, these findings point to the potential drawbacks of highlighting COVID-19 racial disparities among White U.S. residents.

8.1. General discussion

Our studies examined the association between White U.S. residents’ perceptions of COVID-19 racial disparities and their attitudes toward COVID-19. We hypothesized that those who perceived racial disparities in COVID-19 to be greater would be less concerned about COVID-19—as indicated by reduced fear and support for safety precautions. Indeed, both studies provided some evidence of this tendency. In Study 1, we observed that those who perceived COVID-19 racial disparities in the U.S. to be greater were less fearful of COVID-19, and our exploratory mediation was consistent with the notion that this may lead to reduced support for safety precautions. Our experimental manipulation (Study 2) provided evidence that informing White U.S. residents of COVID-19 racial disparities can reduce fear, empathy, and support for COVID-19 safety precautions. We postulated that framing COVID-19 racial disparities as a product of persistent health inequalities could undermine the tendency to justify the status quo (Kay et al., 2009) and help increase concern about COVID-19. However, our findings indicate that this framing further reduced fear and support for safety precautions—perhaps because this information signaled that these disparities were not just transitory epidemiological trends which could potentially shift and disproportionately impact White people in the future. In fact, our exploratory mediation analysis provided suggestive evidence that both reduced fear of COVID-19 and empathy for those most vulnerable may contribute to the observed reduction in support for safety precautions. Emerging evidence is consistent with this interpretation: White U.S. residents who perceived COVID-19 racial disparities to be a result of genetic susceptibility reported lower adherence to CDC COVID-19 safety recommendations (Crist and Schlegel, 2021). Our findings are also in line with trends observed in public opinion polls indicating that White U.S. residents increased their support for reopening the economy—in spite of public health risks—between late March and early June of 2020 (Cox, 2020), which corresponds with the release of data indicating racial health disparities in COVID-19.

Overall, individual differences in systemic knowledge of the contributors to COVID-19 racial disparities predicted greater fear of COVID-19, support for safety precautions, and empathy for those most vulnerable. Given the parallels between the systemic knowledge measure and the persistent inequalities framing condition, it may be surprising that these factors had opposing effects on our outcomes. However, the persistent inequalities article merely framed racial disparities as a product of persistent inequalities and did not provide extensive education on the systemically biased policies and practices that gave rise to persistent inequalities. The systemic knowledge measure, in contrast, captures a deeper understanding of systemic racism, consistent with prior work on theories of racial ignorance (e.g., Bonam et al., 2019; Mueller, 2018; Nelson et al., 2012; Salter et al., 2018). Furthermore, supplementary analyses indicated that across both studies systemic knowledge was strongly correlated (rs > 0.70) with acknowledgement of systemic racism in the U.S. (Neville et al., 2000).

Examining the impact of efforts to address and educate people about population health disparities is critically important (Lewis et al., 2020), and our work is not the first to conclude that informing people of racial health disparities has the potential to backfire (Harell and Lieberman, 2021; Lee et al., 2017; Niederdeppe et al., 2008; Stephens-Dougan, 2022). Experimental investigation of reactions to systemic inequality in an entirely different domain—the criminal justice system—has shown a pattern similar to our study, such that alerting White U.S. citizens of racial disparities in the criminal justice system reduced support for criminal justice reform (Hetey and Eberhardt, 2014, 2018). Indeed, psychologists and communications scholars have argued that educating the public about systemic inequalities in a way that motivates (rather than depresses) health and social policy changes could be critical to addressing inequalities (Hetey and Eberhardt, 2018; Niederdeppe et al., 2008). Previous scholarship has recommended the use of narratives and visual images in public communication about population health disparities; thus, incorporating these factors in future research may lead to more optimal outcomes (Niederdeppe et al., 2008).

Future work should also examine the generality of these findings across U.S. residents and messages about racial disparities. Although our data included White participants from all U.S. states and was fairly representative of the White U.S. adult population, our participants tended to be younger (residents 65+ were underrepresented) and had lower incomes than the median U.S. household (U.S. Census Bureau, 2019). It is also worth considering how discussions of disparities develop over the course of a public health crisis. For instance, the emergence of COVID-19 vaccines in early 2021—which were disproportionately received by White U.S. residents during the initial rollout (DiRago et al. in press; Sacarny and Daw, 2021)—may have further reduced fear of COVID-19 and support for safety precautions beyond what we observed in our samples. Future work will also be critical for determining the extent to which the findings observed here generalize to other public health issues and messages about disparities. Even if the effects observed here do not generalize to all messages about racial disparities, the fact that some such messages can reduce public concern about health crises and dampen support for precautions among White U.S. residents should raise serious concerns. Future research that examines a broader stimulus set (Yarkoni, 2020) and considers how to publicly address racial and ethnic disparities without spurring these unintended consequences will be essential.

What is beautiful is perceived as good, but this view is compensated by a perception of vanity (less moral and more immoral)

Han, D. E., & Laurent, S. M. (2022). Beautiful seems good, but perhaps not in every way: Linking attractiveness to moral evaluation through perceived vanity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Jun 2022. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspa0000317

Abstract: For almost 50 years, psychologists have understood that what is beautiful is perceived as good. This simple and intuitively appealing hypothesis has been confirmed in many ways, prompting a wide range of studies documenting the depth and breadth of its truth. Yet, for what is arguably one of the most important forms of “goodness” that there is—moral goodness—research has told a different story. Although greater attractiveness is associated with a host of positive attributes, it has been only inconsistently associated with greater perceived morality (or lesser immorality), and meta-analyses have suggested the total effect of beauty on moral judgment is near zero. The current research documents one plausible reason for this. Across nine experiments employing a variety of methodological and measurement strategies, we show how attractiveness can be perceived as both morally good and bad. We found that attractiveness causally influences beliefs about vanity, which translates into beliefs that more attractive targets are less moral and more immoral. Then, we document a positive association between attractiveness and sociability—the nonmoral component of warmth—and show how sociability exerts a countervailing positive effect on moral judgments. Likewise, we document findings suggesting that vanity and sociability mutually suppress the effects of attractiveness on each other and on moral judgments. Ultimately, this work provides a comprehensive process account of why beauty seems good but can also be perceived as less moral and more immoral, highlighting complex interrelations among different elements of person perception.

Although it is consistently found that men ascribe considerable importance to a partner's appearance, a woman of good looks has roughly the same changes of being in a relationship than a woman of poor looks

Apostolou, M., & Philippou, R. (2022). What predicts involuntary singlehood: Investigating the effects of self-esteem and having desirable traits in a Greek-speaking sample. Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences, Jun 2022. https://doi.org/10.1037/ebs0000299

Abstract: Many people are involuntarily single; that is, they are not in an intimate relationship, although they want to be so. The current research attempted to examine whether having traits that people prefer in a partner, and one’s level of self-esteem, predicted singlehood status. Using an online sample of 986 Greek-speaking participants, we found that self-esteem had a significant and large effect on predicting marital status for men, with higher scores being associated with higher probability to be in a relationship or single by choice than involuntarily single. However, self-esteem had no effect on marital status for women. Furthermore, in most cases, participants’ self-ratings in desirable traits had no significant direct effects on predicting marital status neither for men nor for women. Still, for men, a number of these traits had significant indirect effects. Overall, having desirable traits was not associated directly with lower probability to be involuntarily single, but for men, some of these traits enhanced their self-esteem, with higher self-esteem being associated with a considerable decrease in the probability to be involuntarily single. The implications of these findings on evolutionary theorizing on mate choice are further discussed. 

This paper presents a novel framework to estimate the elasticity between nighttime lights and quarterly economic activity

Measuring Quarterly Economic Growth from Outer Space. Robert C. M. Beyer, Yingyao Hu, Jiaxiong Yao. IMF Working Paper No. 2022/109, June 3, 2022. https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WP/Issues/2022/06/03/Measuring-Quarterly-Economic-Growth-from-Outer-Space-518876

Summary: This paper presents a novel framework to estimate the elasticity between nighttime lights and quarterly economic activity. The relationship is identified by accounting for varying degrees of measurement errors in nighttime light data across countries. The estimated elasticity is 1.55 for emerging markets and developing economies, ranging from 1.36 to 1.81 across country groups and robust to different model specifications. The paper uses a light-adjusted measure of quarterly economic activity to show that higher levels of development, statistical capacity, and voice and accountability are associated with more precise national accounts data. The elasticity allows quantification of subnational economic impacts. During the COVID-19 pandemic, regions with higher levels of development and population density experienced larger declines in economic activity.

The Psychology of Lying and Deception Detection: People are more likely to believe information that is consistent with their own beliefs or consistent with the beliefs held by those in their social circle

Truth-Default Theory and the Psychology of Lying and Deception Detection. Timothy R. Levine. Current Opinion in Psychology, June 3 2022, 101380. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2022.101380

Highlights

• Truth-default theory posits that honesty is the starting place for human communication, and highlights people’s vulnerability to false and misleading information.

• Truth-default theory explains differences in deception detection outcomes across lab and everyday life situations.

• People are more likely to believe information that is consistent with their own beliefs, consistent with the beliefs held by those in their social circle, and that is ubiquitous in their communication environment.

Abstract: Truth-default theory offers an account of human deceptive communication where people are honest unless they have a motive to deceive and people passively believe others unless suspicion and doubt are actively triggered. The theory is argued to account for wide swings in vulnerability to deception in different types of situations in and out of the lab. Three moderators are advanced to account for differential vulnerability to political misinformation and disinformation. Own belief congruity, social congruence, and message repetition are argued to combine to affect the probability that implausible and refutable false information is accepted as true.

Keywords: MisinformationDisinformationConfirmation BiasSocial ProofLies

The current state of the data could not support beliefs that sexualized game content influences either players' mental well-being or sexist attitudes and behaviors

Does sexualization in video games cause harm in players? A meta-analytic examination. Christopher J. Ferguson et al. Computers in Human Behavior, June 2 2022, 107341. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2022.107341

Highlights

• Whether sexualization in video games causes negative outcomes is a matter of concern.

• Meta-analysis examined sexualization effects on misogynistic and mental health outcomes.

• Exposure to sexualization in games was not found to be associated with negative outcomes.

• Better quality studies were less able to find evidence for effects.

Abstract: Whether video games with sexualized content do or do not relate to mental health and body image problems in players, and/or sexualization and hostility toward women, is an issue of broad public interest. However, evidence from empirical studies has generally been mixed. To examine this issue, we explored the degree to which sexualization in games was related to both well-being/body dissatisfaction and sexism/misogyny among players in two separate meta-analyses. Results revealed that sexualization in games was neither related to well-being/body dissatisfaction (r = 0.082, k = 10, n = 2,010, p = .066) nor sexism/misogyny (r = 0.040, k = 15, n = 15,938, p = .070). Better designed studies, and those that showed less evidence for researcher expectancy effects (for sexism/misogyny outcomes), tended to find less evidence for effects. As appears commonly in other realms of media effects, the evidence is weak that sexualized games influence player attitudes and behavior.

Keywords: Video gamesSexualizationMental healthSexism

Under some conditions fact checking can increase fake news

Bayesian Persuasion with Lie Detection. Florian Ederer, Weicheng Min. May 2022. https://florianederer.github.io/lies.pdf

Abstract: How does lie detection constrain the potential for one person to persuade another to change her action? We consider a model of Bayesian persuasion in which the Receiver can detect lies with positive probability. We show that the Sender lies more when the lie detection probability increases. As long as this probability is sufficiently small, the Sender’s and the Receiver’s equilibrium payoffs are unaffected by the presence of lie detection because the Sender simply compensates by lying more. However, when the lie detection probability is sufficiently high, the Sender’s equilibrium payoff decreases and the Receiver’s equilibrium payoff increases with the lie detection probability.