Men with pedophilia who committed child sexual offenses on average had a 47 mm3 smaller hypothalamus per side

Hypothalamic volume in pedophilia with or without child sexual offense. Melanie Storch, Maria Kanthack, Till Amelung, Klaus M. Beier, Tillmann H. C. Krueger, Christopher Sinke, Henrik Walter, Martin Walter, Boris Schiffer, Stephanie Schindler & Peter Schoenknecht. European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience, Nov 12 2022. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00406-022-01501-w

Abstract: The hypothalamus regulates sexual behavior and is simultaneously associated with aggression and violence. Consequently, this brain region is relevant in research of pedophilia and child sexual offenses (CSO). The distinction between these two phenomena is of great importance and was the object of consideration of this study. We analyzed exclusively men, including 73 pedophilic offenders who committed CSO, an equal number of people with pedophilia but without such offenses, and 133 non-pedophilic, non-offending subjects who formed the control group. All data were collected in a multicenter in vivo study and analyzed using a semi-automated segmentation algorithm for 3-Tesla magnetic resonance images. Men with pedophilia who committed CSO on average had a 47 mm3 smaller hypothalamus per side than people without committed CSO. This effect was driven by both the group of non-offending people with pedophilia and the control group. By contrast, the exploratory comparison of pedophilic persons without CSO with the control group showed no significant difference. The present study demonstrates a deviant hypothalamic structure as a neurobiological correlate of CSO in pedophiles, but not in people with pedophilia who have not committed CSO. Thus, it strengthens the argument to distinguish between sexual offending and paraphilic sexual preferences.

Discussion

Child sexual offenders show hypothalamic volume reduction

In agreement with our first hypothesis of a reduction of hypothalamus volume in CSO, we observed a hypothalamic reduction in persons with pedophilia who committed CSO. The effect was evident in both hypothalamic hemispheres in absolute volumes and after correction for the two confounders ICV and age separately and simultaneously after outlier exclusion. Following contrasts confirmed our hypotheses that the effect was driven by the control as well as the P-CSO group. In our study CSO is related to hypothalamic volume reduction in pedophilic men and this effect is driven by the control group as well as the pedophilic non-offender group.

Significance was initially lost after simultaneous correction for ICV and age in the global univariate group comparisons of hypothalamus volumes and reemerged after excluding the statistical outliers. This suggests suppression effects due to multicollinearity and a sensitivity of the parametric models to non-normal outliers. The statistical outliers could not be explained by variations in clinical characteristics, measurement, or sampling. To account for the known sensitivity of parametric tests to outliers, we reported results before and after excluding statistical outliers for the purpose of transparency and reliability.

Since one contrast of volume reduction was not significant in the right hypothalamus, we may expect that the effect is more prominent on the left side. This would be consistent with the findings of a volume reduction of the right amygdala [24] and a functional connectivity between the right amygdala and the left hypothalamus in pedophilic offenders [65]. Blinding the rates to the hemispheres minimized the likelihood that the algorithm was applied differently.

Pedophilic participants both with and without histories of committed CSO consumed material depicting child sexual abuse, indicating the alteration in hypothalamic structure appears to be associated with implementation of CSO at the behavioral level. Our findings corroborate studies highlighting the hypothalamus and its subsequent cascades and regulatory mechanisms in violence [13,14,15,16,17]. Furthermore, our results are consistent with previous studies that focused on sexual violence against children and showed an activity reduction in the hypothalamus in pedophilic offenders [27] and acquired pedophilia and CSO after hypothalamic damages [18,19,20]. More precisely our findings possibly confirm our initial assumption that a reduced hypothalamic volume may indicate a reduced HPA axis activity. The deficit of glucocorticoids, induced by the hypofunction of this axis, may be related to aggression and CSO through epigenetic changes in the prefrontal cortex [31, 32]. In our sample Kruger et al. [37] found no cortisol reduction in CSO, but it is not unlikely that this may be due to methodological limitations, such as measuring at different times, despite cortisol levels fluctuating throughout the day.

Voxel-based morphometry studies are less sensitive for small structures, such as the hypothalamus [66]. For this reason, this analyses of this area [23,24,25,26] may not have yielded results. Additionally, except for Schiffer et al. [25], the field strengths of the MRIs were lower in the mentioned studies and the sample sizes were smaller.

No significant differences in non-offending people with pedophilia

In contrast to the results regarding CSO, we found no significant difference in exploratory comparisons of left or right hypothalamic volumes between non-offending pedophilic men and the control group. This was in line with our expectations. Differences remained non-significant even with correction for ICV and/or age. This suggests an unchanged hypothalamic macrostructure in non-offending people with pedophilia. Interestingly, there was no gradually progressive increase in hypothalamic volume between the groups (e.g. P + CSO < P-CSO < controls), not even descriptively. Thus, the P-CSO group does not appear to be an intermediate stage between pedophilic offenders and the control group. Contrary to our conclusions previous studies attributed structural changes of the hypothalamus or other brain regions to pedophilia [22, 23, 26]. It can be speculated that their results were influenced by sexual offenders.

General assessments of the observed hypothalamus volumes

The bilateral hypothalamus volumes measured in vivo with a total mean of 1543 mm³ (SD = 146.6 mm³) are slightly higher than the volumes previously measured with the same method (1427 mm³ to 1478 mm³) [52]. However, this was to be expected, as our sample consisted exclusively of men and a sexual dimorphism of the hypothalamus, postulated to be larger in men, has been shown before [67,68,69,70,71]. Furthermore, the correlations of hypothalamic volume with age and ICV are consistent with previous reports [66, 67, 72, 73]. The P + CSO group also had the lowest ICV. This finding has to be questioned in future studies by exploring several distinct brain regions involved in control of behaviour and sexual functioning.

Strengths and limitations

Probably one of the greatest strengths of this study is the distinction between offenders and non-offenders and thus also the fundamental distinction between offenders and people with pedophilia. A disadvantage is that the classification regarding the offender status was necessarily dependent on the self-reporting of the participants, which risks a probability of false statements in, theoretically, both directions. Attempts have been made to mitigate this by ensuring anonymity. Balancing too many or too few exclusion criteria is difficult as excluding individuals with specific diagnoses or medications increases homogeneity at the cost of generalizability. The distribution of lifetime mental and personality disorder diagnoses was significantly different between all groups and the hypothalamic volume may be affected by these. Violent crimes other than CSO, which were not exclusion criteria, may have influenced the results. Even though the sample size is large compared to previous studies in the subject area, it is not sufficient to calculate an equivalence test [64] between the hypothalamus volumes of pedophilic non-offenders and the control group. Since the study is designed cross-sectionally, no conclusions about cause and effect can be drawn. Unbalanced sample distribution among different locations and thus scanner models may have an effect on the GM-TPMs. The evaluated 3-Tesla MR images provided a strong basis for measurements of the brain structures, but a higher field strength would reduce the partial volume effect. Manual segmentation at submillimeter resolution is the most accurate method for this, which is unfortunately hardly feasible for higher case numbers such as in our study due to high time expenditure.

Our large-scale multicenter sample consisted of only men; therefore we can only draw conclusions about males. However, men are most relevant for the research on sexual violence against children, as they are the major group of offenders [74]. To answer whether the results are not only valid for people with pedophilia who committed CSO, but also for CSO in general, exploring non-pedophilic CSO subjects is needed. The structural analysis was based on group comparisons and cannot serve as a basis for a diagnostic criterion or to draw reliable conclusions about individuals.

To our knowledge, no other study has accurately investigated the structure of the hypothalamus in pedophilia with or without CSO. In addition to theoretical considerations about understanding of the neurobiological underpinnings of CSO in pedophilia, the study may add to additional impact in the future, as trait markers of risk factors for committing CSO are needed to stimulate early in the clinical course specific sexual therapeutic treatment which covers more than general psychotherapeutic intervention. The present results need to be replicated in further studies and assessed in relation to, for example, endocrinological and behavioral functions before practical implication can be raised. Implementing an equivalence test would be an important challenge for future studies to discuss the hypothesis of similar brain structures in pedophilic non-offenders and subjects of a control group. However, the required sample sizes for the populations of interest are difficult to realize. Further studies are warranted using functional brain imaging to investigate emotional processing according to the development of pedophilia or CSO over the lifespan. Another interesting question to examine is whether the hypothalamic volume reduction can also be found in a (large) non-pedophilic CSO group to clarify whether our results apply explicitly to the P + CSO group or are valid for CSO exclusively.

The topics of pedophilia and CSO are undeniably emotionally charged. Research such as ours not only provides a better understanding of neural mechanisms underlying pedophilia and CSO, but also contributes to education and public discussion about these matters, rather than reinforcing threats to child welfare with silence and stigmatization.

We like to imagine that those from the opposite political camp are more susceptible to misleading media content than those from our own side

Perceived Influence of Partisan News and Online News Participation: Third-person Effect, Hostile Media Phenomenon, and Cognitive Elaboration. Seungsu Lee and Kyungmo Kim. Communication Research, November 13, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1177/00936502221127494

Abstract: This study suggests a unified framework to examine the third-person perception (TPP) in the context of partisan news use. By amalgamating social identity theories with the elaboration likelihood model or the heuristic-systematic model, Study 1 investigates the role of message features (source cues and content slant), targets (in-group vs. out-group), and audience characteristics (political identity and elaboration) on TPP. Two online experiments conducted in the US and South Korea show that differences between pro- and counter-attitudinal content are larger when the target is an out-group member. TPP is also amplified when audiences have high elaboration. Study 2 explores the interplay between TPP and the hostile media phenomenon (HMP) on news sharing and commenting online. The result reveals that TPP reduces news sharing/commenting intention by decreasing perceptions of news quality. In addition, HMP strengthens the indirect effect of TPP on news sharing/commenting for out-group members, but mitigates it for in-group members.

Rolf Degen summarizing... A vast majority of all people experience persuasion fatigue, the frustrating realization that others are too dumb to bow to the wisdom of their arguments

‘Persuasion Fatigue’ Is a Unique Form of Social Frustration: When people argue, a kind of frustration called persuasion fatigue can cloud their judgment and harm relationships. Nathan Ballantyne, Jared Celniker, Peter Ditto. Scientific American, November 14, 2022 https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/persuasion-fatigue-is-a-unique-form-of-social-frustration

Excerpts, full text in the link above:

[...]
 

One common scene plays out as follows. You want to convince a friend or a family member of something you know they disagree with you about, so you share information and walk through your reasoning with them. They reject your case. Undaunted, you brush up on the issue and try again, optimistic that more facts will shift the other person’s thinking. You repeat yourself—maybe more loudly and slowly. But your audience remains unmoved.

How do you react when your powers of persuasion fail? You might dismiss the person who doesn’t heed your arguments as biased, dimwitted or otherwise out of touch with reality. You naturally feel your own logic is irresistible. You might decide to stop talking about that particular issue. You might even cut ties. Indeed, these unresolved debates can contribute to social estrangement and parent-child breakups.

The whole experience may feel like trying to guide someone on a journey when they refuse to follow. They drag their heels, wander off in the wrong direction and throw away the map you made for them. We have coined a term, persuasion fatigue, to describe this unique form of frustration.

In ongoing research, we are investigating the consequences of this experience. Our initial findings—still unpublished—suggest that persuasion fatigue is widespread. Of 600 people in the U.S. who participated in recent studies, 98 percent reported having experienced this fatigue, sparked by discussions of topics such as politics, religion and health. Our work also suggests that most people believe debates hit dead ends because the other person in the conversation was at fault.

There’s a lot to unpack here, and we’re hoping our data will begin to answer important questions about this phenomenon. But in the meantime, there’s a notable pattern emerging. Persuasion fatigue may make it harder to successfully navigate challenging conversations.

Past research demonstrates that feeling frustrated can make you more resistant to changing your mind. We think it may also diminish your ability to recognize why your arguments don’t succeed. Feeling burned-out could obscure whether your audience is open to persuasion and, if so, how to get your point across better. Persuasion fatigue may also explain why, when debates break down, people tend to blame their conversational opponent. As Mark Twain once wrote, “In all matters of opinion our adversaries are insane.” In our findings thus far, for example, people generally reported three times as many reasons why others’ failings led to failed debates rather than their own shortcomings.

When we imagine how things could be, we imagine how things could be better, even though it's easier to come up with ways things could be worse

Mastroianni, Adam, and Ethan Ludwin-Peery. 2022. “Things Could Be Better.” PsyArXiv. November 14. doi:10.31234/osf.io/2uxwk

Abstract: Eight studies document what may be a fundamental and universal bias in human imagination: people think things could be better. When we ask people how things could be different, they imagine how things could be better (Study 1). The bias doesn't depend on the wording of the question (Studies 2 and 3). It arises in people's everyday thoughts (Study 4). It is unrelated to people's anxiety, depression, and neuroticism (Study 5). A sample of Polish people responding in English show the same bias (Study 6), as do a sample of Chinese people responding in Mandarin (Study 7). People imagine how things could be better even though it's easier to come up with ways things could be worse (Study 8). Overall, it seems, human imagination has a bias: when people imagine how things could be, they imagine how things could be better.

The bewildering, complex picture presented by human evolution in the Middle to Late Pleistocene should be seen as a feature, not a bug, reflecting evolutionary processes in all their messy glory

Evolution of Homo in the Middle and Late Pleistocene. Katerina Harvati, HugoReyes-Centeno. Journal of Human Evolution, Volume 173, December 2022, 103279. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2022.103279

Abstract: The Middle and Late Pleistocene is arguably the most interesting period in human evolution. This broad period witnessed the evolution of our own lineage, as well as that of our sister taxon, the Neanderthals, and related Denisovans. It is exceptionally rich in both fossil and archaeological remains, and uniquely benefits from insights gained through molecular approaches, such as paleogenetics and paleoproteomics, that are currently not widely applicable in earlier contexts. This wealth of information paints a highly complex picture, often described as ‘the Muddle in the Middle,’ defying the common adage that ‘more evidence is needed’ to resolve it. Here we review competing phylogenetic scenarios and the historical and theoretical developments that shaped our approaches to the fossil record, as well as some of the many remaining open questions associated with this period. We propose that advancing our understanding of this critical time requires more than the addition of data and will necessitate a major shift in our conceptual and theoretical framework.

Keywords: Homo heidelbergensisNeanderthalsModern human originsSpeciationHybridization

5. Conclusions

While the issues presented and discussed here do not represent the full extent of questions related to human evolution in the Middle to Late Pleistocene, this brief review has shown that, although the human fossil record of Middle Pleistocene Homo is significantly more abundant than it was half a century ago and innovative methodologies have greatly expanded our ability to study it, the greatest gains in our understanding are likely to result from a theoretical and conceptual shift toward more complex and nuanced evolutionary concepts for both species and speciation. Additional challenges include a better understanding of the chronological and paleoenvironmental framework of the Middle to Late Pleistocene, as well as the lack of integrative, synthetic study of the fossil record in its entirety. We expect new fieldwork and fossil discoveries to continue to bring novel insights, and for genomic and paleoproteomic approaches to play a central role in deciphering the record, especially if they can be developed to be applicable in lower latitude and earlier contexts. Gene annotation methods that link genotypes and phenotypes and their modularity in diverse environmental contexts (Gokhman et al., 2017; Brand et al., 2022), as well as evolutionary modeling approaches, will be particularly useful in the absence of a more complete fossil record. However, the envisioned integrative approach will only be possible through broad sharing of fossil data, something which is still rare in paleoanthropology, even after the development and widespread use of scan data, which can be shared digitally much more efficiently among researchers, more than two decades ago (Weber, 2001; Gibbons, 2002; Tattersall and Schwartz, 2002).

In closing, we emphasize that the bewildering, complex picture presented by human evolution in the Middle to Late Pleistocene should be seen as a feature, not a bug, reflecting evolutionary processes in all their messy glory. We look forward to the next unexpected discovery!

Present-day countries composed of citizens whose ancestors experienced a degree of “state-ness” in previous centuries should experience fewer homicides today; found less support for alternative channels (economic development or current state capacity)

Homicide and State History. John Gerring and Carl Henrik Knutsen. American Sociological Review, Nov 9 2022. https://doi.org/10.1177/00031224221131758

Abstract: We argue that cross-national variability in homicide rates is strongly influenced by state history. Populations living within a state are habituated, over time, to settling conflicts through regularized, institutional channels rather than personal violence. Because these are gradual and long-term processes, present-day countries composed of citizens whose ancestors experienced a degree of “state-ness” in previous centuries should experience fewer homicides today. To test this proposition, we adopt an ancestry-adjusted measure of state history that extends back to 0 CE. Cross-country analyses show a sizeable and robust relationship between this index and lower homicide rates. The result holds when using various measures of state history and homicide rates, sets of controls, samples, and estimators. We also find indicative evidence that state history relates to present levels of other forms of personal violence. Tests of plausible mechanisms suggest state history is linked to homicide rates via the law-abidingness of citizens. We find less support for alternative channels such as economic development or current state capacity.

Cephalopod retinal development shows vertebrate-like mechanisms of neurogenesis

Cephalopod retinal development shows vertebrate-like mechanisms of neurogenesis. Francesca R. Napoli et al. Current Biology, November 09, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2022.10.027

Highlights

• Retinal progenitor cells in the squid undergo interkinetic nuclear migration

• Progenitor, post-mitotic, and differentiated cells are transcriptionally defined

• Notch signaling may regulate both retinal cell cycle and cell fate in the squid

Summary: Coleoid cephalopods, including squid, cuttlefish, and octopus, have large and complex nervous systems and high-acuity, camera-type eyes. These traits are comparable only to features that are independently evolved in the vertebrate lineage. The size of animal nervous systems and the diversity of their constituent cell types is a result of the tight regulation of cellular proliferation and differentiation in development. Changes in the process of development during evolution that result in a diversity of neural cell types and variable nervous system size are not well understood. Here, we have pioneered live-imaging techniques and performed functional interrogation to show that the squid Doryteuthis pealeii utilizes mechanisms during retinal neurogenesis that are hallmarks of vertebrate processes. We find that retinal progenitor cells in the squid undergo nuclear migration until they exit the cell cycle. We identify retinal organization corresponding to progenitor, post-mitotic, and differentiated cells. Finally, we find that Notch signaling may regulate both retinal cell cycle and cell fate. Given the convergent evolution of elaborate visual systems in cephalopods and vertebrates, these results reveal common mechanisms that underlie the growth of highly proliferative neurogenic primordia. This work highlights mechanisms that may alter ontogenetic allometry and contribute to the evolution of complexity and growth in animal nervous systems.

Popular version: How squid and octopus get their big brains https://phys.org/news/2022-11-squid-octopus-big-brains.html

Study finds differences in brain structure between boys and girls with binge eating disorders

Sex differences in regional gray matter density in pre-adolescent binge eating disorder: a voxel-based morphometry study. Stuart B. Murray et al. Psychological Medicine, October 28 2022. DOI: 10.1017/S0033291722003269

Abstract

Background: Binge eating disorder (BED) is a pernicious psychiatric disorder which is linked with broad medical and psychiatric morbidity, and obesity. While BED may be characterized by altered cortical morphometry, no evidence to date examined possible sex-differences in regional gray matter characteristics among those with BED. This is especially important to consider in children, where BED symptoms often emerge coincident with rapid gray matter maturation.

Methods: Pre-adolescent, 9–10-year old boys (N = 38) and girls (N = 33) with BED were extracted from the 3.0 baseline (Year 0) release of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study. We investigated sex differences in gray matter density (GMD) via voxel-based morphometry. Control sex differences were also assessed in age and body mass index and developmentally matched control children (boys N = 36; girls N = 38). Among children with BED, we additionally assessed the association between dorsolateral prefrontal (dlPFC) GMD and parent-reported behavioral approach and inhibition tendencies.

Results: Girls with BED uniquely demonstrate diffuse clusters of greater GMD (p < 0.05, Threshold Free Cluster Enhancement corrected) in the (i) left dlPFC (p = 0.003), (ii) bilateral dmPFC (p = 0.004), (iii) bilateral primary motor and somatosensory cortex (p = 0.0003) and (iv) bilateral precuneus (p = 0.007). Brain-behavioral associations suggest a unique negative correlation between GMD in the left dlPFC and behavioral approach tendencies among girls with BED.

Conclusions: Early-onset BED may be characterized by regional sex differences in terms of its underlying gray matter morphometry.

Popular version: Study finds differences in brain structure between boys and girls with binge eating disorders. Nov 10 2022. https://www.news-medical.net/news/20221110/Study-finds-differences-in-brain-structure-between-boys-and-girls-with-binge-eating-disorders.aspx

Adherence to emotion norms is greater in individualist cultures than in collectivist cultures; in the more individualist countries, deviation from the mean emotional experience was linked to lower life satisfaction

Adherence to emotion norms is greater in individualist cultures than in collectivist cultures. Vishkin, A., Kitayama, S., Berg, M. K., Diener, E., Gross-Manos, D., Ben-Arieh, A., & Tamir, M. (2022). Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Nov 2022. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspi0000409

Abstract: It is generally assumed that there is greater pressure to conform to social norms in collectivist cultures than in individualist cultures. However, most research on cultural differences in social norms has examined norms for behaviors. Here, we examine cultural differences in norms for emotions. Relative to members of collectivist cultures, members of individualist cultures are more attuned to internal states and value them more. Therefore, we predicted that adherence to emotion norms would be greater in individualist than in collectivist cultures. In four studies with 119 samples from 69 distinct countries and over 200,000 participants, we estimated adherence to emotion norms in different cultures, and how deviation from emotion norms is associated with life satisfaction. As predicted, in countries higher in individualism, emotional experiences of individuals were more homogenous and more concordant with the emotions of others in their culture. Furthermore, in more individualist countries, deviation from the mean emotional experience was linked to lower life satisfaction. We discuss two complementary mechanisms that may underlie such differences.

Overall, research indicates that the risk of getting stuck in a filter bubble on intermediaries such as Google News, Apple News, Facebook, or Twitter is low and often exaggerated

News recommender systems: a programmatic research review. Eliza Mitova et al. Annals of the International Communication Association, Nov 11 2022. https://doi.org/10.1080/23808985.2022.2142149

Abstract: News recommender systems (NRS) are becoming a ubiquitous part of the digital media landscape. Particularly in the realm of political news, the adoption of NRS can significantly impact journalistic distribution, in turn affecting journalistic work practices and news consumption. Thus, NRS touch both the supply and demand of political news. In recent years, there has been a strong increase in research on NRS. Yet, the field remains dispersed across supply and demand research perspectives. Therefore, the contribution of this programmatic research review is threefold. First, we conduct a scoping study to review scholarly work on the journalistic supply and user demand sides. Second, we identify underexplored areas. Finally, we advance five recommendations for future research from a political communication perspective.

Keywords: News recommender systemsalgorithmsdigital journalismnews personalisation

Overall, research indicates that the risk of getting stuck in such a bubble on intermediaries such as Google News (e.g. Evans et al., 2022; Haim et al., 2018; Nechushtai & Lewis, 2019), Apple News (e.g. Bandy & Diakopoulos, 2020), Facebook (e.g. Bakshy et al., 2015; Beam et al., 2018; Bechmann & Nielbo, 2018; Moeller et al., 2016; Papa & Photiadis, 2021; but see Levy, 2021 for divergent findings), or Twitter (e.g. Bandy & Diakopoulos, 2021; Chen et al., 2021; but see Jürgens & Stark, 2022 for divergent findings) is low and often exaggerated

Similarity in physical attractiveness did not play a role in spousal relationship satisfaction & maintenance

Pávez, P., Polo, P., Valenzuela, N., Figueroa, O., Rodríguez-Sickert, C., & Muñoz-Reyes, J. A. (2022). Similarity in Indicators of Attractiveness in Heterosexual Couples, and their Relationship with Satisfaction and Trust. Psykhe. https://doi.org/10.7764/psykhe.2021.38903

Abstract: In our species, the formation and maintenance of romantic partners is a nonrandom process. In this sense, similarity between members of the couple can be relevant for the beginning of the relationship (i.e., assortative mating) and maintenance, being similarity in attractiveness one of the most interesting aspects of this phenomenon. Despite that similarity in attractive traits has been documented, there is a lack of studies including modern morphological measures like fluctuating facial asymmetry or body fat percentage when assessing the effect that similarity in attractiveness could provoke on behaviors and feelings necessary to maintain a long-term relationship (e.g., satisfaction and trust). We assessed the presence of similarity in attractiveness for self-perceived measures (attractiveness and mate value) and physical traits (body fat percentage, body mass index, and fluctuating facial asymmetry) in a population of 196 heterosexual young couples from Chile (n = 392). Then, using actor-partner interdependence models (APIM), we assessed whether satisfaction and trust within the couples were influenced by attractiveness. Our results indicated the presence of similarity for all studied traits with the exception of fluctuating facial asymmetry. In addition, we only found that self-assessment of attractiveness is important for satisfaction in women, and partner's physical attractiveness is important for satisfaction and trust in men. Our results suggest that similarity in attractiveness is not playing a major role in affecting relationship. It is probably that similarity could be better explained from the initial stages of relationship, where the mating market forces conduce to the conformation of similar couples.

Citizens express higher trust in less politicized scientific fields (mathematics, astronomy, etc.) than politicized ones (economics & climate science), & these trust gaps stem from different ideological biases against the politicized fields

Don't Tell Me What I Don't Want to Hear! Politicization and Ideological Conflict Explain Why Citizens Have Lower Trust in Climate Scientists and Economists Than in Other Natural Scientists. Thor Bech Schrøder. Political Psychology, November 11 2022. https://doi.org/10.1111/pops.12866

Abstract: Studies suggest that citizens have higher trust in some groups of scientists than in others. However, we still know little about the causes of these trust gaps. The current study fills this knowledge gap by examining Norwegian citizens' trust in climate scientists, economists, and so-called “less politicized natural scientists.” I argue that trust in climate scientists and economists is lower than trust in less politicized natural scientists because the former fields are politicized, while the latter are not. Politicization strengthens ideological conflicts between citizens' ideology and research produced by climate scientists and economists, which leads to lower trust in these groups of scientists. I test this argument by running regression analyses on data from a representative survey of the Norwegian population. The results support the argument: Citizens have significantly higher trust in less politicized natural scientists than in both climate scientists and economists, and these differences can be explained by ideological biases in trust. Citizens with a proeconomic growth ideology have significantly lower trust in climate scientists than in less politicized natural scientists, and citizens with a left-wing economic ideology have significantly lower trust in economists than in less politicized natural scientists.

Discussion

The study provides evidence for the argument that citizens express lower trust in scientific areas which are politicized and ideologically dissonant. However, the study also has certain limitations that should be discussed. First, while the study only investigates ideological explanations of trust gaps in one country, Norway has several characteristics that makes it a good empirical case for investigating ideological biases in trust in scientists. Because science is only partly politicized in Norway (some scientific fields are politicized and others are not), the country provides a good case for investigating how politicization affects trust in scientists. By showing that citizens do in fact express higher trust in less politicized scientific fields (mathematics, astronomy etc.) than politicized ones (economics and climate science), and that these trust gaps stem from different ideological biases against the politicized fields, the study provides strong support for the politicization hypothesis. Further, given that we generally observe lower trust in scientists across the board in the United States, where most scientific fields are politicized (Blank & Shaw, 2015), the findings are likely generalizable beyond the Norwegian case. However, future research should test whether these findings can be replicated in other Western countries. The study also underlines the importance of science politicization beyond the Norwegian setting because Norway provides a strong test of the politicization hypothesis due to its' low levels of political polarization (Knudsen, 2021; Lindqvist & Östling, 2010). Citizens with more extreme attitudes are more likely to engage in motivated reasoning, and motivated reasoning has been shown to increase attitude polarization (Taber & Lodge, 2006). Therefore, we should be less likely to observe ideological biases in trust in scientists in countries with low political polarization, like Norway. Since we still find ideological biases in trust in different scientists in Norway under these conditions, we should also expect to find ideological biases in citizens' trust in scientists in countries with higher political polarization. Second, my measure of environmentalist ideology has some weaknesses because it forces citizens to make a trade-off between environmental protection and economic growth and a high standard of living. However, this trade-off is a theoretical construction that not all citizens necessarily agree with, as many mainstream European parties argue that technology and “green” economic growth is the solution to the climate crisis (Nisbet, 2009). Thus, citizens with a moderate environmentalist ideology might not feel that either ends of the scale accurately reflect their attitudes. This could force them to give an answer that does not accurately reflect their attitudes or to answer “do not know.” Third, the environmentalist (growth-protection) and economic ideology dimensions used in the study are conceptually related. Having a right-wing economic ideology (supporting the free market) is associated with prioritizing economic growth with other environmental protection (Crawley, 2021), and this association is theoretically attributed to ideological conflicts between economic growth-oriented right-wing economic ideology and environmentalist policies of market regulation (Crawley, 2021). Therefore, the association between right-wing economic ideology and progrowth environmentalist ideology and trust in climate scientists is likely related to the same mechanism (conflict between climate science and free market/economic growth ideologies). This study cannot directly assess whether this is case, but future research should try to solve this conundrum. Fourth, it might affect the results that the data were collected during the COVID-19 pandemic. Political crises are known to lead to high levels of political and government trust through so-called “rally ‘round the flag” effects (Mueller, 1970; Oneal & Bryan, 1995). Citizens feel that the crisis calls for national unity, and therefore they express trust in the government even if they would not do so in a no-crisis situation. Because the COVID-19 pandemic was a global health crisis, where scientists played an important role in the crisis management (Christensen & Lægreid, 2020a), citizens might have reacted with similar rally effects and expressed higher-than-normal levels of trust in scientists out of a sense of public duty. Since public health scientists were the most visible experts in the COVID-19 crisis management in Norway (Christensen & Lægreid, 2020a), they are more likely to have experienced a rally ‘round-the-flag trust boost than climate scientists or economists. This could lead to an overestimation of the size of the trust gaps between economists and climate scientists and less politicized natural scientists if citizens expressed abnormally high levels of trust in health scientists but maintained their prepandemic trust in economists and climate scientists. Fifth, because the study relies on cross-sectional survey data, I cannot directly test the motivated-reasoning mechanisms that I argue to be the causal mechanisms through which politicization and ideology leads to trust gaps between more politicized and less politicized groups of scientists. The study can only show that environmentalist and economic ideology statistically explain variations in the trust gaps between less politicized natural science and economists and climate scientists respectively, which still is an important contribution to the literature. Future studies should use experimental methods to better test the argument that trust gaps between different groups of scientists stem from motivated processing of scientific information.

Moderate alcohol consumption over the adult life-course was associated with the most favorable social, psychological, lifestyle and health characteristics, while stable abstaining trajectory or decreasing consumption) didn't.

Social, psychological and health characteristics associated with stability and change in adult alcohol consumption. Martin Ekholm Michelsen,Marie Grønkjær,Erik Lykke Mortensen,Cathrine Lawaetz Wimmelmann. PLoS One, November 11, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0277511

Abstract

Background: Many studies analyzing health effects of alcohol consumption have operationalized alcohol intake from a single baseline measure without further follow-up. Consequently, there is a lack of knowledge about stability and change in alcohol consumption over the life course and the social, psychological, lifestyle, and health characteristics associated with different alcohol consumption trajectories.

Objectives: The aims of the study were to describe the prevalence of different adult-life alcohol consumption trajectories among Danish men and to analyze social, psychological, lifestyle and health characteristics associated with these trajectories.

Methods: For 2510 Danish men, retrospective decade-based information on alcohol consumption during life period 26–60 years was obtained in late midlife and information on individual characteristics was obtained in young adulthood, late midlife and from national hospital registries. The men were allocated to one of six a priori defined alcohol consumption trajectories.

Results: About 65% of Danish men had a stable moderate consumption, drinking 1–21 units weekly while the five other consumption trajectories were comparatively rare: 3% stable abstainers, 4.7% stable high-risk drinkers, 10.9% with increasing and 12.7% with decreasing consumption. Moderate consumption over the adult life-course was associated with the most favorable social, psychological, lifestyle and health characteristics while the other trajectories were generally associated with less favorable characteristics to varying degrees–e. g. this was the case for the stable abstaining trajectory and in particular the trajectory with decreasing consumption.

Conclusion: The findings suggest that the majority of Danish men drink moderately in the life period from young adulthood to late midlife, and deviance from this ‘normal’ moderate consumption trajectory is associated with less favorable social, psychological, lifestyle and health characteristics. Some of these characteristics may influence alcohol consumption patterns, but for some of the trajectories, alcohol consumption may influence health as well as social and psychological functioning.

Discussion

Most of the study sample belonged to the moderate consumption trajectory while the five other consumption trajectories were comparatively rare. The abstaining trajectory included the smallest number of men (n = 76), but this trajectory is important in relation to the large literature on abstaining, alcohol, and health. The analyses of sociodemographic factors, psychological characteristics, lifestyle, and health revealed several significant differences among men in the different consumption trajectories.

Moderate consumption trajectory

About two out of three men showed a stable trajectory of moderate drinking within 1–21 units per week. This “normal” consumption trajectory was associated with favorable characteristics on most of the investigated variables. Thus, stable moderate alcohol consumption was associated with better social adjustment, desirable mental characteristics, healthy lifestyle, and good health. Even though the range of weekly units was quite broad for the moderate trajectory, the large number of men with this trajectory indicates considerable stability in alcohol habits for the majority of the study sample, and this is in line with similar British findings [4]. The average consumption levels in Table 1 also suggest substantial stability.

Abstaining trajectory

The relatively few stable abstainers during adulthood deviate negatively on several social, psychological, lifestyle and mental health characteristics. Among the 76 abstainers, 31 individuals reported weekly moderate consumption before age 26. However, none of them reported high-risk drinking, and consequently, alcohol consumption in adolescence is unlikely to explain the associations with health. These findings are important since it has been suggested that negative deviation for abstainers primarily reflects the inclusion of former drinkers in the abstainer category [6, 24, 25]. In line with our findings, a previous study of young adult Danes observed low education, low intelligence, and personality deviance in abstainers [15] while a broad range of cardiovascular risk factors have shown to be more prevalent among nondrinkers than among drinkers after adjustment for age and sex [26].

High-risk consumption trajectory

This trajectory was observed in 119 men, indicating stable consumption of more than 21 units per week over the adult life span. An increasing and very high average level of consumption in late midlife was observed. However, only 72 (60.5%) men had higher consumption in late midlife (about 58 units) than in young adulthood (about 36 units per week) while the remaining 47 men showed a decrease in average consumption of about 4 units from young adulthood to late midlife. For the high-risk trajectory, it may be particularly informative to compare draft board data and late midlife follow-up data because the high consumption level may have influenced functioning and health over the life course. Compared with the moderate drinkers, the high-risk drinkers did not differ significantly with respect to young adult intelligence (in contrast to a previous Danish study [15]) and BMI, but in late midlife they showed the largest decrease in intelligence score and the largest increase in BMI of all consumption trajectories. The decrease in intelligence did not differ significantly from moderate drinkers, but a previous study using a different methodology observed significantly more decline in intelligence for adult-life consumption of more than 28 units per week [17]. The high-risk consumption trajectory was associated with the highest prevalence of several health problems, which may not only reflect the consistently high level of alcohol consumption, but also the high levels of extreme binge drinking and smoking (in line with [27]) as well as a generally unhealthy lifestyle [28]. The social functioning of high-risk drinking men has perhaps also been influenced by the high level of alcohol consumption as a significantly smaller percentage had a job, a partner, and children. A previous study of young adult Danes observed that high-risk drinking was associated with higher scores on neuroticism and a number of other personality traits [15], and a recent Danish study found that neuroticism prospectively predicts alcohol and substance abuse [29]. In line with these results, we observed significantly higher prevalence of adjustment and personality disorders among men with high-risk consumption trajectory.

Increasing consumption trajectory

The increasing consumption trajectory was characterized by moderate drinking in young adulthood, but on average increasing about five weekly units for each age decade and reaching a high-risk average in the life-period 51–60 years. Participants with this trajectory were comparable on many characteristics to participants with a moderate consumption trajectory. Increased statistical power due to the relatively large group of men with this trajectory may partly explain some of the statistically significant differences. This seems to be the case for the significantly lower intelligence score and higher BMI at the late midlife follow-up, while the higher levels of smoking, extreme binge drinking, treatment for alcohol problems and alcohol-related diagnoses may reflect the drinking trajectory. The increasing trajectory also differed significantly from the moderate trajectory regarding self-reported health, self-reported depression and personality disorders. However, on several health variables, the men in the increasing consumption trajectory showed the second most favorable health status, only surpassed by participants with the moderate consumption trajectory, suggesting that the ability to increase alcohol consumption over the life span may require relatively good physical health.

Decreasing consumption trajectory

The decreasing consumption trajectory was associated with low intelligence and educational level both in young adulthood and in late midlife. Moreover, suboptimal social functioning, personality deviance and a less healthy lifestyle were observed in late midlife. Generally, the decreasing consumption trajectory was associated with remarkably poor physical and mental health characteristics, and this was confirmed by higher prevalence of all categories of mental disorder diagnoses. Particularly important was the high prevalence of alcohol-related diagnoses comparable to the prevalence for the high-risk trajectory as this suggests that the decreasing consumption trajectory includes a substantial number of men with previous high-risk consumption. This was also supported by the high mean consumption levels in the age period 26–40 years and the remarkably low consumption level in the age period 51–60. In fact, among the men with decreasing consumption trajectory, 70% reported abstaining from alcohol in the latter age period. Thus, a study defining abstainers by self-report in late midlife will tend to mix the relatively few life-long abstainers with a larger number of former high-risk drinkers, confounding social, psychological, lifestyle and health characteristics associated with abstaining [5, 6, 25]. A related issue is why previous high-risk drinkers are motivated and able to limit or abstain from alcohol intake in late midlife. Compared with the high-risk trajectory, the men with the decreasing trajectory seemed to have more health problems, and the substantial health problems may be a crucial factor both directly and indirectly influencing the experience and health consequences of alcohol consumption [9, 30]. Finally, low intelligence and educational level in young adulthood have been observed to predict both physical and mental health problems [15, 31, 32], and thus, the health problems associated with the decreasing consumption trajectory are not necessarily a consequence of excessive alcohol consumption in early life periods.

Fluctuating consumption trajectory

This trajectory (comprising the second smallest part of the sample) is characterized by fluctuations in level of consumption over the adult life span even though men with this trajectory had the same level of consumption in young adulthood (26–30 years) and in late midlife (51–60 years). Among the 86 men, only six were abstainers in the two defining age periods, while eight men were high-risk drinkers in both periods, and closer analysis of consumption trajectories showed that most of the men had been high-risk drinkers at some point during the age period 31–50 years. Thus, the fluctuating trajectory includes a very heterogeneous group of men, and it may be difficult to interpret the observed associations. However, the trajectory was associated with the second highest smoking level, with several years of extreme binge drinking, and high levels of alcohol-related diagnoses and self-reported treatment for alcohol problems. The trajectory was also associated with significantly poorer physical and mental health. Most of the men had a decrease in consumption from age period 31–50 years to age period 51–60 years, and some of the findings are comparable to the results for the decreasing consumption trajectory.

Strengths and limitations

There are several strengths in the present study, including the large study sample of men with detailed information on alcohol consumption trajectories and many different social, psychological, lifestyle and health characteristics, which both include self-reported information and information from national registries. The adult-life alcohol consumption information made it possible to describe different categories of abstainers and to analyze six groups with different consumption trajectories.

A major limitation is the fact that alcohol consumption during adult life was self-reported and therefore potentially inaccurate due to recall errors and bias. However, the associations between alcohol consumption trajectories and alcohol-related hospital diagnosis corroborate the validity of the self-reported assessments. Moreover, the self-reported information was reliable enough to identify distinct social, psychological, lifestyle and health characteristics for six a priori defined consumption trajectories. Furthermore, the self-report method is supported by a previous British study using the retest method to evaluate the reliability of decade-based life-course self-report questions on alcohol consumption [33]. The study demonstrated not only reasonable reliability, but also correlations with prospective data on alcohol consumption.

Another limitation is the selection of the study sample. First, the LiKO-15 study only invited individuals living in a specific area in Copenhagen who had completed the BPP at draft board examinations, thus excluding men with disqualifying diseases and all women. Second, only 13% of the invited men participated in the study and these participants comprised a selected group with relatively high education and high intelligence in young adulthood [17]. Third, the invited population included a relatively large proportion of men with previous psychiatric admission and diagnosis, including alcohol-related hospital diagnoses [34]. This has obviously influenced the prevalence of mental disorders in the full sample and the prevalence of the six consumption trajectories as well as the social, psychological and health characteristics associated with the trajectories. Thus, it is likely that a more representative Danish sample would have a larger prevalence of both the abstaining and the moderate consumption trajectories as well as a lower prevalence of high-risk consumption. However, irrespective of the selected sample, the prevalence of the different consumption categories obviously reflects the Danish alcohol culture and may not be generalizable to other countries and cultures. In fact, some findings are dramatically different even when differences in sample and methodology are considered. Thus, a study of American military veterans observed about 65% to be abstinent or rare alcohol drinkers, while about 30% were moderate drinkers [14].

While our sample included a large number of men with a moderate consumption trajectory, the number of men with the other trajectories was relatively small, resulting in large standard errors and low statistical power. In particular, this was the case for the abstaining, the high-risk and the fluctuating trajectories, but in spite of potential power problems, we observed a number of significant differences between these trajectories and the moderate consumption trajectory.

Finally, we did not analyze the whole adult life span, but only the age period 26–60 years. Adolescence and young adulthood were excluded on purpose while the age of the participants prohibited analysis of consumption in old adulthood. However, average consumption seems to decline after age 60 [8], and changes in consumption in this life period may reflect both health status and social factors [9].

Parasocial breakup: Grief, distress, & loneliness are experienced by viewers following the departure of a favorite character or the cancellation or completion of a television series

The Contrasting Roles of Enjoyment and Appreciation in Predicting Viewer Distress Following the Dissolution of a Series. K. Maja Krakowiak. Journal of Media PsychologyAdvance Articles, November 04, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1027/1864-1105/a000361

Abstract: In recent years, entertainment scholars have investigated the extent to which negative emotions such as grief, distress, and loneliness are experienced by viewers following the departure of a favorite character or the cancellation or completion of a television series – also referred to as parasocial breakup (PSB). An online questionnaire (N = 814) was administered to understand predictors of PSB following the end of a series as they relate to character involvement and holistic enjoyment and appreciation experiences. Findings revealed that a parasocial relationship (PSR) with a favorite character and liking of and identification with the character positively enhanced enjoyment of the series. PSR and identification also facilitated appreciation of the series. Moreover, while PSR and appreciation increased PSB, character liking and enjoyment of the series decreased it. Theoretical implications for the contrasting roles of hedonic and eudaimonic media experiences in predicting PSB are discussed.

Our findings suggest that doing nothing can be just as costly—if not more costly—than exerting effort

Wu, R., Ferguson, A. M., & Inzlicht, M. (2022). Do humans prefer cognitive effort over doing nothing? Journal of Experimental Psychology: General. Nov 2022. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0001320

Abstract: Humans and other animals find mental (and physical) effort aversive and have the fundamental drive to avoid it. However, doing nothing is also aversive. Here, we ask whether people choose to avoid effort when the alternative is to do nothing at all. Across 12 studies, participants completed variants of the demand selection task, in which they repeatedly selected between a cognitively effortful task (e.g., simple addition, Stroop task, and symbol-counting task) and a task that required no effort (e.g., doing nothing, watching the computer complete the Stroop, and symbol-viewing). We then tabulated people’s choices. Across our studies and an internal meta-analysis, we found little evidence that people choose to avoid effort (and hints that people sometimes prefer effort) when the alternative was doing nothing. Our findings suggest that doing nothing can be just as costly—if not more costly—than exerting effort.

Selection in utero (spontaneuous abortion) against male twins in the United States early in the COVID-19 pandemic confirms reproductive suppression (natural selection aborts fetuses unlikely to thrive)

Selection in utero against male twins in the United States early in the COVID-19 pandemic. Tim A. Bruckner, Brenda Bustos, Claire Margerison, Alison Gemmill, Joan Casey, Ralph Catalano. American Journal of Human Biology, November 5 2022. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajhb.23830

Abstract
Objectives: We aim to contribute to the literature reporting tests of selection in utero. The theory of reproductive suppression predicts that natural selection would conserve mechanisms, referred to collectively as selection in utero, that spontaneously abort fetuses unlikely to thrive as infants in the prevailing environment. Tests of this prediction include reports that women give birth to fewer than expected male twins, historically among the frailest of infants, during stressful times. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States in Spring 2020 demonstrably stressed the population. We test the hypothesis that conception cohorts in gestation at the onset of the pandemic in the United States yielded fewer than expected live male twin births.

Methods: We retrieved deidentified data on the universe of live births in the United States from the National Center for Health Statistics birth certificate records. We applied Box-Jenkins time-series methods to the twin secondary sex ratio computed for 77 monthly conception cohorts spanning August 2013 to December 2019 to detect outlying cohorts in gestation at the onset of the pandemic.

Results: The twin secondary sex ratio fell below expected values in three conception cohorts (i.e., July, September, and October 2019, all p < .05) exposed in utero to the onset of the pandemic.

Conclusions: Our results add to prior findings consistent with selection in utero. The role of selection in utero in shaping the characteristics of live births cohorts, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, warrants further scrutiny.

4 DISCUSSION

Whereas much literature finds changes in live birth outcomes following the initial phase of COVID-19, less work examines the possibility that the stressful nature of the early pandemic induced selection in utero. We used conception cohorts and focused on male twin gestations, a subgroup which much theory and empirical work identifies as a sensitive gauge of selection in utero. Results using the universe of births in the United States indicate fewer than expected male twin births among three monthly conception cohorts in utero at the time of COVID-19 “shelter-in-place” policies in March 2020. We hope these findings will encourage further research into the extent to which selection in utero accounts for unexpected patterns of perinatal outcomes in months immediately after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The magnitude of our results (in terms of percentage reduction of male twins during COVID-19 shelter-in-place policies) appears smaller than that reported for Norway, where odds of male twin births decreased by 27% (Catalano et al., 2021). We, however, caution against direct comparisons for two reasons. First, our US study examined conception, rather than birth, cohorts. Second, we focused on cohorts conceived before January 2020 because earlier research reports these exhibited characteristics (e.g., fewer than expected preterm births) consistent with selection in utero. By contrast, the largest declines in male twinning in Norway occurred among birth cohorts likely conceived after December 2019. We expect that the large observed reductions in fertility, as well as reduced availability of assisted reproductive technology in March 2020 (Vermeulen et al., 2020), could similarly reduce male twinning in the United States among cohorts conceived in 2020.

Strengths of the study involve the conception cohort approach, use of the universe of twin births in the United States, and application of rigorous time-series methods to rule out confounding by factors that affect male and female twin births equally. Well-developed theory of selection in utero, combined with a narrow time window specified a priori in which the onset of the pandemic likely affected male twin gestations, further enhances internal validity. In addition, although twin births appear more frequent among pregnancies conceived using assisted reproductive technologies (ART) (Maalouf et al., 2014; Supramaniam et al., 2019), our findings cannot arise from COVID-induced disruptions in ART service provision that occurred in March and April of 2020, since the affected cohorts we identified were conceived in July, September, and October of 2019. Likewise, changes in fertility behaviors caused by the pandemic cannot drive our findings because the affected cohorts were conceived prior to the pandemic.

Limitations include the lack of direct measures of selection in utero such as fetal loss and/or spontaneous pregnancy losses before the second trimester. Our study relies solely on the live birth data and the gestational age of delivery of live births. Very few countries (e.g., Denmark), however, routinely collect data describing early pregnancy loss at the population level and these data were not available to us. We also do not have information on the zygosity of twins, which precludes examination of whether selection against male twins occurred more for monozygotic than dizygotic twin gestations. We are currently pursuing the feasibility of both analyses using Scandinavian data.

The U.S. data include only month and year of birth thereby requiring us to randomly assign parturition to days of the birth month. Although this strategy may lead to error in estimation of conception date, we know of no reason to infer that such errors biased counts of twin male births toward pre-pandemic conception cohorts. Finally, our analyses assess the United States in aggregate. Different regions of the United States may have responded differently to COVID-19 pandemic exposure or experienced stressors at different time points (e.g., New York City faced the brunt of the pandemic early on) (Van Dorn, Dorn et al., 2020). Future studies may wish to assess regional impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on male twin births.

Our results add to the empirical research consistent with the argument that reproductive suppression in humans includes selection in utero. They also suggest that selection in utero may account for some as yet unknown, but worth estimating, fraction of the unusual characteristics (e.g., low frequency of preterm births) of infants born during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Further attempts to quantify selection in utero during the pandemic would benefit from arraying putatively frail sets of gestations by conception, rather than by birth, cohorts.

The Emotional Rewards of Prosocial Spending Are Robust and Replicable in Large Samples

The Emotional Rewards of Prosocial Spending Are Robust and Replicable in Large Samples. Lara B. Aknin et al. Current Directions in Psychological Science, November 9, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1177/09637214221121100

Abstract: Past studies show that spending money on other people—prosocial spending—increases a person’s happiness. However, foundational research on this topic was conducted prior to psychology’s credibility revolution (or “replication crisis”), so it is essential to ask whether the evidence supporting this claim is robust and replicable. Here, we consider all 15 published preregistered experiments on prosocial spending to evaluate whether there is causal evidence for the idea that spending money on other people promotes happiness. Although the evidence appears somewhat mixed, we argue that the emotional benefits of prosocial spending are robust and replicable in large samples. These benefits are particularly likely when people have some choice about whether or how to give and when they understand how their generosity makes a difference. This review provides renewed support for the idea that prosocial spending promotes happiness and offers a template for revisiting phenomena that were established prior to the credibility revolution.

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In 2021, during the second year of the pandemic, responses to a global survey revealed that more than one third (36.7%) of people had donated to charity in the past month, a figure nearly 6% higher than global estimates from before the pandemic (Helliwell et al., 2022). What accounts for such high levels of generosity, even during a global crisis? One possibility is that using financial resources to help other people—called prosocial spending—feels good. Indeed, in the first experiment on this topic, people randomly assigned to spend $5 or $20 on others were significantly happier than people randomly assigned to spend on themselves (Dunn et al., 2008). Since then, the emotional benefits of generosity have been observed in diverse areas of the world, from South Africa to Vanuatu (Aknin et al., 2013, 2015), as well as among toddlers (Aknin et al., 2012; see Dunn et al., 2014, for a review). These findings have been cited widely in the literature, discussed in popular culture (e.g., Grant, 2014), and used to inform government policy (e.g., the 2013 report on charitable giving by the United Kingdom Cabinet Office Behavioural Insight Team). But how robust and replicable is the evidence that spending money on other people improves happiness?

Here, we review all relevant experiments implementing the current best practice of preregistration to answer the question of whether spending money on other people causally increases well-being. We conclude that the causal impact of prosocial spending on well-being is robust and replicable in large samples (n ≥ 200 per condition). We also extract key lessons on when it appears that these emotional benefits are most likely to be detected: when paradigms involve actual behavior, when participants have a choice in deciding who or how to help, and when participants receive information on how their actions help other people. These lessons underscore the hedonic benefits of actual generous behaviors that provide a sense of choice and the feeling that one has created positive change.