Sun AJ, Eisenberg ML. Association Between Marijuana Use and Sexual Frequency in the United States: A Population-Based Study. J Sex Med 2017;14:1342–1347. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jsxm.2017.09.005
Abstract
Background: Marijuana use is increasingly prevalent in the United States. Effects of marijuana use on sexual function are unclear, with contradictory reports of enhancement and detriment existing.
Aim: To elucidate whether a relation between marijuana use and sexual frequency exists using a nationally representative sample of reproductive-age men and women.
Methods: We analyzed data from cycle 6 (2002), cycle 7 (2006–2010), and continuous survey (2011–2015) administrations of the National Survey of Family Growth, a nationally representative cross-sectional survey. We used a multivariable model, controlling for demographic, socioeconomic, and anthropographic characteristics, to evaluate whether a relationship between marijuana use and sexual frequency exists.
Outcomes: Sexual frequency within the 4 weeks preceding survey administration related to marijuana use and frequency in the year preceding survey administration.
Results: The results of 28,176 women (average age = 29.9 years) and 22,943 men (average age = 29.5) were analyzed. More than 60% of men and women were Caucasian, and 76.1% of men and 80.4% of women reported at least a high school education. After adjustment, female monthly (incidence rate ratio [IRR] = 1.34, 95% CI = 1.07–1.68, P = .012), weekly (IRR = 1.36, 95% CI = 1.15–1.60, P < .001), and daily (IRR = 1.16, 95% CI = 1.01–1.32, P = .035) marijuana users had significantly higher sexual frequency compared with never users. Male weekly (IRR = 1.22, 95% CI = 1.06–1.41, P = .006) and daily (IRR = 1.36, 95% CI = 1.21–1.53, P < .001) users had significantly higher sexual frequency compared with never users. An overall trend for men (IRR = 1.08, 95% CI = 1.05–1.11, P < .001) and women (IRR = 1.07, 95% CI = 1.04–1.10, P < .001) was identified showing that higher marijuana use was associated with increased coital frequency.
Clinical Implications: Marijuana use is independently associated with increased sexual frequency and does not appear to impair sexual function.
Strengths and Limitations: Our study used a large well-controlled cohort and clearly defined end points to describe a novel association between marijuana use and sexual frequency. However, survey responses were self-reported and represent participants only at a specific point in time. Participants who did not answer questions related to marijuana use and sexual frequency were excluded.
Conclusion: A positive association between marijuana use and sexual frequency is seen in men and women across all demographic groups. Although reassuring, the effects of marijuana use on sexual function warrant further study.
Check also Sex Drugs and Rock and Roll: Evidence Supporting the Storied Trilogy. Marissa A. Harrison & Susan M. Hughes. Human Ethology Bulletin, Volume 32, No 3, 63-84. http://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2017/10/some-support-for-sex-drugs-rock.html
Friday, October 27, 2017
Clustering of 770,000 genomes reveals post-colonial population structure of North America
Clustering of 770,000 genomes reveals post-colonial population structure of North America. Eunjung Han et al. Nature Communications 8, Article number: 14238 (2017), doi:10.1038/ncomms14238
Abstract: Despite strides in characterizing human history from genetic polymorphism data, progress in identifying genetic signatures of recent demography has been limited. Here we identify very recent fine-scale population structure in North America from a network of over 500 million genetic (identity-by-descent, IBD) connections among 770,000 genotyped individuals of US origin. We detect densely connected clusters within the network and annotate these clusters using a database of over 20 million genealogical records. Recent population patterns captured by IBD clustering include immigrants such as Scandinavians and French Canadians; groups with continental admixture such as Puerto Ricans; settlers such as the Amish and Appalachians who experienced geographic or cultural isolation; and broad historical trends, including reduced north-south gene flow. Our results yield a detailed historical portrait of North America after European settlement and support substantial genetic heterogeneity in the United States beyond that uncovered by previous studies.
Abstract: Despite strides in characterizing human history from genetic polymorphism data, progress in identifying genetic signatures of recent demography has been limited. Here we identify very recent fine-scale population structure in North America from a network of over 500 million genetic (identity-by-descent, IBD) connections among 770,000 genotyped individuals of US origin. We detect densely connected clusters within the network and annotate these clusters using a database of over 20 million genealogical records. Recent population patterns captured by IBD clustering include immigrants such as Scandinavians and French Canadians; groups with continental admixture such as Puerto Ricans; settlers such as the Amish and Appalachians who experienced geographic or cultural isolation; and broad historical trends, including reduced north-south gene flow. Our results yield a detailed historical portrait of North America after European settlement and support substantial genetic heterogeneity in the United States beyond that uncovered by previous studies.
Assessment of sexual behavior in rats: the potentials and pitfalls
Assessment of sexual behavior in rats: the potentials and pitfalls. Roy Heijkoop, Patty T. Huijgens , Eelke M.S Snoeren. Behavioural Brain Research, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbr.2017.10.029
Highlights
• Review of potentials and pitfalls of animal models in rat sexual behavior.
• Sexual incentive motivation is studied in a different test than sexual behavior.
• Essential to use the appropriate model for the topic of investigation.
• Important to be critical of the interpretation of results
Abstract: In the field of behavioral neuroscience, it is essential to use the appropriate animal models for the topic of investigation. The danger of using the wrong model can result in false interpretation of the results. In this review we will discuss the animal models used to study sexual behavior, with a focus on rats. We will discuss the potentials and pitfalls of the different paradigms and try to make recommendations on how research in this field could be optimized. Both male and female sexual behavior are discussed, in addition to sexual motivation.
Keywords: sexual behavior; incentive motivation; behavioral paradigm; rat; female; male
Highlights
• Review of potentials and pitfalls of animal models in rat sexual behavior.
• Sexual incentive motivation is studied in a different test than sexual behavior.
• Essential to use the appropriate model for the topic of investigation.
• Important to be critical of the interpretation of results
Abstract: In the field of behavioral neuroscience, it is essential to use the appropriate animal models for the topic of investigation. The danger of using the wrong model can result in false interpretation of the results. In this review we will discuss the animal models used to study sexual behavior, with a focus on rats. We will discuss the potentials and pitfalls of the different paradigms and try to make recommendations on how research in this field could be optimized. Both male and female sexual behavior are discussed, in addition to sexual motivation.
Keywords: sexual behavior; incentive motivation; behavioral paradigm; rat; female; male
What is consciousness, and could machines have it?
What is consciousness, and could machines have it? Stanislas Dehaene, Hakwan Lau, and Sid Kouider. Science Oct 27 2017: Vol. 358, Issue 6362, pp. 486-492. DOI: 10.1126/science.aan8871
Abstract: The controversial question of whether machines may ever be conscious must be based on a careful consideration of how consciousness arises in the only physical system that undoubtedly possesses it: the human brain. We suggest that the word “consciousness” conflates two different types of information-processing computations in the brain: the selection of information for global broadcasting, thus making it flexibly available for computation and report (C1, consciousness in the first sense), and the self-monitoring of those computations, leading to a subjective sense of certainty or error (C2, consciousness in the second sense). We argue that despite their recent successes, current machines are still mostly implementing computations that reflect unconscious processing (C0) in the human brain. We review the psychological and neural science of unconscious (C0) and conscious computations (C1 and C2) and outline how they may inspire novel machine architectures.
Abstract: The controversial question of whether machines may ever be conscious must be based on a careful consideration of how consciousness arises in the only physical system that undoubtedly possesses it: the human brain. We suggest that the word “consciousness” conflates two different types of information-processing computations in the brain: the selection of information for global broadcasting, thus making it flexibly available for computation and report (C1, consciousness in the first sense), and the self-monitoring of those computations, leading to a subjective sense of certainty or error (C2, consciousness in the second sense). We argue that despite their recent successes, current machines are still mostly implementing computations that reflect unconscious processing (C0) in the human brain. We review the psychological and neural science of unconscious (C0) and conscious computations (C1 and C2) and outline how they may inspire novel machine architectures.
Who Can Deviate from the Party Line? Political Ideology Moderates Evaluation of Incongruent Policy Position
Who Can Deviate from the Party Line? Political Ideology Moderates Evaluation of Incongruent Policy Positions in Insula and Anterior Cingulate Cortex. Ingrid Johnsen Haas, Melissa N. Baker, and Frank J. Gonzalez. Social Justice Research, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11211-017-0295-0
Abstract: Political polarization at the elite level is a major concern in many contemporary democracies, which is argued to alienate large swaths of the electorate and prevent meaningful social change from occurring, yet little is known about how individuals respond to political candidates who deviate from the party line and express policy positions incongruent with their party affiliations. This experiment examines the neural underpinnings of such evaluations using functional MRI (fMRI). During fMRI, participants completed an experimental task where they evaluated policy positions attributed to hypothetical political candidates. Each block of trials focused on one candidate (Democrat or Republican), but all participants saw two candidates from each party in a randomized order. On each trial, participants received information about whether the candidate supported or opposed a specific policy issue. These issue positions varied in terms of congruence between issue position and candidate party affiliation. We modeled neural activity as a function of incongruence and whether participants were viewing ingroup or outgroup party candidates. Results suggest that neural activity in brain regions previously implicated in both evaluative processing and work on ideological differences (insula and anterior cingulate cortex) differed as a function of the interaction between incongruence, candidate type (ingroup versus outgroup), and political ideology. More liberal participants showed greater activation to incongruent versus congruent trials in insula and ACC, primarily when viewing ingroup candidates. Implications for the study of democratic representation and linkages between citizens’ calls for social change and policy implementation are discussed.
Abstract: Political polarization at the elite level is a major concern in many contemporary democracies, which is argued to alienate large swaths of the electorate and prevent meaningful social change from occurring, yet little is known about how individuals respond to political candidates who deviate from the party line and express policy positions incongruent with their party affiliations. This experiment examines the neural underpinnings of such evaluations using functional MRI (fMRI). During fMRI, participants completed an experimental task where they evaluated policy positions attributed to hypothetical political candidates. Each block of trials focused on one candidate (Democrat or Republican), but all participants saw two candidates from each party in a randomized order. On each trial, participants received information about whether the candidate supported or opposed a specific policy issue. These issue positions varied in terms of congruence between issue position and candidate party affiliation. We modeled neural activity as a function of incongruence and whether participants were viewing ingroup or outgroup party candidates. Results suggest that neural activity in brain regions previously implicated in both evaluative processing and work on ideological differences (insula and anterior cingulate cortex) differed as a function of the interaction between incongruence, candidate type (ingroup versus outgroup), and political ideology. More liberal participants showed greater activation to incongruent versus congruent trials in insula and ACC, primarily when viewing ingroup candidates. Implications for the study of democratic representation and linkages between citizens’ calls for social change and policy implementation are discussed.
TV Canned Emotions. Effects of Genre and Audience Reaction on Emotions
Canned Emotions. Effects of Genre and Audience Reaction on Emotions. Andreas M. Baranowski, Rebecca Teichmann and Heiko Hecht. Art & Perception, Volume 5, Issue 3, pages 312 – 336.
DOI: 10.1163/22134913-00002068
Abstract: Laughter is said to be contagious. Maybe this is why TV stations often choose to add so-called canned laughter to their shows. Questionable as this practice may be, observers seem to like it. If such a simple manipulation, assumingly by inducing positive emotion, can change our attitudes toward the film, does the opposite manipulation work as well? Does a negative sound-track, such as screaming voices, have comparable effects in the opposite direction? We designed three experiments with a total of 110 participants to test whether scream-tracks have comparable effects on the evaluation of film sequences as do laugh-tracks. Experiment 1 showed segments of comedies, scary, and neutral films and crossed them with three sound tracks of canned laughter, canned screams, and no audience sound. Observers had to rate the degree of their subjective amusement and fear as well as general liking and immersion. The sound-tracks had independent effects on amusement and fear, and increased immersion when the sound was appropriate. Experiment 2 was identical, but instead of canned sounds, confederates of the experimenter enacted the sound-track. Here, the effects were even stronger. Experiment 3 manipulated social pressure by explicit evaluations of the film clips, which were particularly influential in comedies. Scream tracks worked as well as laugh tracks, in particular when the film was only mildly funny or scary. The information conveyed by a sound track is able to change the evaluation of films regardless of their emotional nature.
Keywords: laugh track; Humor; canned laughter; immersion; scream track; emotions
DOI: 10.1163/22134913-00002068
Abstract: Laughter is said to be contagious. Maybe this is why TV stations often choose to add so-called canned laughter to their shows. Questionable as this practice may be, observers seem to like it. If such a simple manipulation, assumingly by inducing positive emotion, can change our attitudes toward the film, does the opposite manipulation work as well? Does a negative sound-track, such as screaming voices, have comparable effects in the opposite direction? We designed three experiments with a total of 110 participants to test whether scream-tracks have comparable effects on the evaluation of film sequences as do laugh-tracks. Experiment 1 showed segments of comedies, scary, and neutral films and crossed them with three sound tracks of canned laughter, canned screams, and no audience sound. Observers had to rate the degree of their subjective amusement and fear as well as general liking and immersion. The sound-tracks had independent effects on amusement and fear, and increased immersion when the sound was appropriate. Experiment 2 was identical, but instead of canned sounds, confederates of the experimenter enacted the sound-track. Here, the effects were even stronger. Experiment 3 manipulated social pressure by explicit evaluations of the film clips, which were particularly influential in comedies. Scream tracks worked as well as laugh tracks, in particular when the film was only mildly funny or scary. The information conveyed by a sound track is able to change the evaluation of films regardless of their emotional nature.
Keywords: laugh track; Humor; canned laughter; immersion; scream track; emotions
Offender Decision-Making in Criminology: Contributions from Behavioral Economics
Offender Decision-Making in Criminology: Contributions from Behavioral Economics. Greg Pogarsky, Sean Patrick Roche, and Justin T. Pickett. Annual Review of Criminology, Vol. 1:- (Volume publication date January 2018). https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-criminol-032317-092036
Abstract: If there is agency and some decision-making process entailed in criminal behavior, then what are the incentives for crime and for conformity, and what is their role in offending decisions? Incentives have long been the province of economics, which has wide influence in criminology (e.g., Becker 1968, Cook et al. 2014). However, economics has evolved considerably since Becker’s influential model. An important development has been the advent of behavioral economics, which some consider a branch of economics on par with macroeconomics or econometrics (Dhami 2016). Behavioral economics integrates empirical departures from traditional microeconomic theories into a rigorous and more descriptively accurate economic model of choice. This review explains how behavioral economic applications on offender decision-making can help refine criminological theories of choice and identify innovative possibilities for improving crime-control policies.
Abstract: If there is agency and some decision-making process entailed in criminal behavior, then what are the incentives for crime and for conformity, and what is their role in offending decisions? Incentives have long been the province of economics, which has wide influence in criminology (e.g., Becker 1968, Cook et al. 2014). However, economics has evolved considerably since Becker’s influential model. An important development has been the advent of behavioral economics, which some consider a branch of economics on par with macroeconomics or econometrics (Dhami 2016). Behavioral economics integrates empirical departures from traditional microeconomic theories into a rigorous and more descriptively accurate economic model of choice. This review explains how behavioral economic applications on offender decision-making can help refine criminological theories of choice and identify innovative possibilities for improving crime-control policies.
Thursday, October 26, 2017
Linguistic Distance Diminishes Economic Growth
Consequences of Linguistic Distance for Economic Growth. Erkan Gören. Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, doi:10.1111/obes.12205
Abstract: This paper advances a new country-level measure of ethno-linguistic diversity, making use of Greenberg's definition of diversity by synthesizing information on the share of different ethno-linguistic groups in a country's population and, more importantly, information on intergroup linguistic distances derived from a recently developed lexicostatistical approach. I show that this measure captures ethno-linguistic diversity at lower levels of linguistic aggregation. However, unlike the commonly used phylogenetic language tree approach, I found that these distance-weighted diversity measures continue to have a strong negative statistical association with economic growth that is not sensitive to the underlying resemblance function between ethno-linguistic groups.
Check also Ethnic Diversity and Poverty. By Sefa Awawory Churchill, Russell Smyth
http://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2017/06/ethnic-and-linguistic-fractionalization.html
World Development, Volume 95, July 2017, Pages 285–302
Abstract: This paper advances a new country-level measure of ethno-linguistic diversity, making use of Greenberg's definition of diversity by synthesizing information on the share of different ethno-linguistic groups in a country's population and, more importantly, information on intergroup linguistic distances derived from a recently developed lexicostatistical approach. I show that this measure captures ethno-linguistic diversity at lower levels of linguistic aggregation. However, unlike the commonly used phylogenetic language tree approach, I found that these distance-weighted diversity measures continue to have a strong negative statistical association with economic growth that is not sensitive to the underlying resemblance function between ethno-linguistic groups.
Check also Ethnic Diversity and Poverty. By Sefa Awawory Churchill, Russell Smyth
http://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2017/06/ethnic-and-linguistic-fractionalization.html
World Development, Volume 95, July 2017, Pages 285–302
Musical improvisation skill makes men more attractive as mates. Implications for the origin of music
Musical improvisation skill in a prospective partner is associated with mate value and preferences, consistent with sexual selection and parental investment theory: Implications for the origin of music. Guy Madison, Jakob Holmquist, Mattias Vestin. Evolution and Human Behavior. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2017.10.005
Abstract: Music is a human universal, which suggests a biological adaptation. Several evolutionary explanations have been proposed, covering the entire spectrum of natural, sexual, and group selection. Here we consider the hypothesis that musical behaviour constitutes a reliable or even costly signal of fitness, and thus may have evolved as a human trait through sexual selection. We experimentally tested how musical performance quality (MPQ), in improvisations on the drums, saxophone, and violin, affects mate values and mate preferences perceived by a prospective partner. Swedish student participants (27 of each sex) saw a face of a person of the opposite sex and heard a piece of improvised music being played. The music occurred in three levels of MPQ and the faces in three levels of facial attractiveness (FA). For each parametric combination of MPG and FA, the participants rated four mate value scales (intelligence, health, social status, and parenting skill) and four mate preference scales (date, intercourse, and short- and long term relationship). Consistent with sexual selection theory, mate value ratings were generally increased by MPQ for raters of both sexes. Consistent with more specific hypotheses that follow from combining sexual selection and parental investment theory, women’s but not men’s preference for a long-term, but not short-term, relationship was significantly increased by MPQ, MPQ generally affected women’s ratings more than men’s, FA generally affected men’s ratings more than women’s, and women’s ratings of intelligence were even more influenced by MPQ than by FA.
Keywords: music; evolution; sexual selection; costly signalling; parental investment theory; fitness display; mate value; mate preference; music performance; skill; mating; adaptation; selection pressure
---Posted to a Facebook forum, a comment to this abstract was (https://www.facebook.com/groups/52551573343/permalink/10154984070543344/?comment_id=10154985709673344¬if_id=1509140218997086¬if_t=group_comment):
Z S: did I ever mention evolutionary psychology is dominated by male researchers? :D just saying
I wrote to one of the authors asking for a reply. Stay tuned.
Abstract: Music is a human universal, which suggests a biological adaptation. Several evolutionary explanations have been proposed, covering the entire spectrum of natural, sexual, and group selection. Here we consider the hypothesis that musical behaviour constitutes a reliable or even costly signal of fitness, and thus may have evolved as a human trait through sexual selection. We experimentally tested how musical performance quality (MPQ), in improvisations on the drums, saxophone, and violin, affects mate values and mate preferences perceived by a prospective partner. Swedish student participants (27 of each sex) saw a face of a person of the opposite sex and heard a piece of improvised music being played. The music occurred in three levels of MPQ and the faces in three levels of facial attractiveness (FA). For each parametric combination of MPG and FA, the participants rated four mate value scales (intelligence, health, social status, and parenting skill) and four mate preference scales (date, intercourse, and short- and long term relationship). Consistent with sexual selection theory, mate value ratings were generally increased by MPQ for raters of both sexes. Consistent with more specific hypotheses that follow from combining sexual selection and parental investment theory, women’s but not men’s preference for a long-term, but not short-term, relationship was significantly increased by MPQ, MPQ generally affected women’s ratings more than men’s, FA generally affected men’s ratings more than women’s, and women’s ratings of intelligence were even more influenced by MPQ than by FA.
Keywords: music; evolution; sexual selection; costly signalling; parental investment theory; fitness display; mate value; mate preference; music performance; skill; mating; adaptation; selection pressure
---Posted to a Facebook forum, a comment to this abstract was (https://www.facebook.com/groups/52551573343/permalink/10154984070543344/?comment_id=10154985709673344¬if_id=1509140218997086¬if_t=group_comment):
Z S: did I ever mention evolutionary psychology is dominated by male researchers? :D just saying
I wrote to one of the authors asking for a reply. Stay tuned.
Robust Sex Differences in Jigsaw Puzzle Solving—Are Boys Really Better in Most Visuospatial Tasks?
Robust Sex Differences in Jigsaw Puzzle Solving—Are Boys Really Better in Most Visuospatial Tasks? Vid Kocijan, Marina Horvat and Gregor Majdic. Front. Behav. Neurosci., October 23 2017. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2017.00194
Abstract: Sex differences are consistently reported in different visuospatial tasks with men usually performing better in mental rotation tests while women are better on tests for memory of object locations. In the present study, we investigated sex differences in solving jigsaw puzzles in children. In total 22 boys and 24 girls were tested using custom build tablet application representing a jigsaw puzzle consisting of 25 pieces and featuring three different pictures. Girls outperformed boys in solving jigsaw puzzles regardless of the picture. Girls were faster than boys in solving the puzzle, made less incorrect moves with the pieces of the puzzle, and spent less time moving the pieces around the tablet. It appears that the strategy of solving the jigsaw puzzle was the main factor affecting differences in success, as girls tend to solve the puzzle more systematically while boys performed more trial and error attempts, thus having more incorrect moves with the puzzle pieces. Results of this study suggest a very robust sex difference in solving the jigsaw puzzle with girls outperforming boys by a large margin.
Abstract: Sex differences are consistently reported in different visuospatial tasks with men usually performing better in mental rotation tests while women are better on tests for memory of object locations. In the present study, we investigated sex differences in solving jigsaw puzzles in children. In total 22 boys and 24 girls were tested using custom build tablet application representing a jigsaw puzzle consisting of 25 pieces and featuring three different pictures. Girls outperformed boys in solving jigsaw puzzles regardless of the picture. Girls were faster than boys in solving the puzzle, made less incorrect moves with the pieces of the puzzle, and spent less time moving the pieces around the tablet. It appears that the strategy of solving the jigsaw puzzle was the main factor affecting differences in success, as girls tend to solve the puzzle more systematically while boys performed more trial and error attempts, thus having more incorrect moves with the puzzle pieces. Results of this study suggest a very robust sex difference in solving the jigsaw puzzle with girls outperforming boys by a large margin.
‘Big push’ policies can fail, it is important the reliability and gradual increases in technological complexity
Contagious disruptions and complexity traps in economic development. Charles Brummitt et al. Nature Human Behaviour 1, 665–672 (2017), September 2017. DOI:10.1038/s41562-017-0190-6
Abstract: Poor economies not only produce less; they typically produce things that involve fewer inputs and fewer intermediate steps. Yet the supply chains of poor countries face more frequent disruptions — delivery failures, faulty parts, delays, power outages, theft and government failures — that systematically thwart the production process. To understand how these disruptions affect economic development, we modelled an evolving input–output network in which disruptions spread contagiously among optimizing agents. The key finding was that a poverty trap can emerge: agents adapt to frequent disruptions by producing simpler, less valuable goods, yet disruptions persist. Growing out of poverty requires that agents invest in buffers to disruptions. These buffers rise and then fall as the economy produces more complex goods, a prediction consistent with global patterns of input inventories. Large jumps in economic complexity can backfire. This result suggests why ‘big push’ policies can fail and it underscores the importance of reliability and gradual increases in technological complexity.
Abstract: Poor economies not only produce less; they typically produce things that involve fewer inputs and fewer intermediate steps. Yet the supply chains of poor countries face more frequent disruptions — delivery failures, faulty parts, delays, power outages, theft and government failures — that systematically thwart the production process. To understand how these disruptions affect economic development, we modelled an evolving input–output network in which disruptions spread contagiously among optimizing agents. The key finding was that a poverty trap can emerge: agents adapt to frequent disruptions by producing simpler, less valuable goods, yet disruptions persist. Growing out of poverty requires that agents invest in buffers to disruptions. These buffers rise and then fall as the economy produces more complex goods, a prediction consistent with global patterns of input inventories. Large jumps in economic complexity can backfire. This result suggests why ‘big push’ policies can fail and it underscores the importance of reliability and gradual increases in technological complexity.
Solitude has a deactivation effect on people’s affective experiences, decreasing positive & negative high-arousal affects
Solitude as an Approach to Affective Self-Regulation. Thuy-vy T. Nguyen, Richard M. Ryan, Edward L. Deci. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167217733073
Abstract: In this research, we showed that solitude generally has a deactivation effect on people’s affective experiences, decreasing both positive and negative high-arousal affects. In Study 1, we found that the deactivation effect occurred when people were alone, but not when they were with another person. Study 2 showed that this deactivation effect did not depend on whether or not the person was engaged in an activity such as reading when alone. In Study 3, high-arousal positive affect did not drop in a solitude condition in which participants specifically engaged in positive thinking or when they actively chose what to think about. Finally, in Study 4, we found that solitude could lead to relaxation and reduced stress when individuals actively chose to be alone. This research thus shed light on solitude effects in the past literature, and on people’s experiences when alone and the different factors that moderate these effects.
My commentary: What about other species, like primates?
Abstract: In this research, we showed that solitude generally has a deactivation effect on people’s affective experiences, decreasing both positive and negative high-arousal affects. In Study 1, we found that the deactivation effect occurred when people were alone, but not when they were with another person. Study 2 showed that this deactivation effect did not depend on whether or not the person was engaged in an activity such as reading when alone. In Study 3, high-arousal positive affect did not drop in a solitude condition in which participants specifically engaged in positive thinking or when they actively chose what to think about. Finally, in Study 4, we found that solitude could lead to relaxation and reduced stress when individuals actively chose to be alone. This research thus shed light on solitude effects in the past literature, and on people’s experiences when alone and the different factors that moderate these effects.
My commentary: What about other species, like primates?
Significant hump-shaped relation between genetic variation and financial market size
Financial Markets and Genetic Variation. Eric Cardella, Ivalina Kalcheva & Danjue Shang. Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1042443117300392
Highlights
• We examine the relation between genetic variation and financial market activity.
• We use country-level data on predicted genetic variation and financial market size.
• Significant hump-shaped relation between genetic variation and financial market size.
• Results are restricted specifically to equity market size (vs. debt market size).
• Better country-level governance moderates the effect of genetic variation.
Abstract: We investigate the extent to which a country’s degree of genetic variation contributes to the observed variation in financial market activity across countries. We postulate that genetic variation can affect financial markets through its impact on aggregate investment behavior, innovation in the financial sector, and productivity. Our country-level, cross-sectional analysis reveals a significant hump-shaped relation between a country’s predicted genetic variation and the size of its financial markets. This result is consistent with the conjecture that at relatively intermediate degrees of genetic variation, the associated intermediate levels of trust and risk-taking within the country result in the largest investment flows into public financial markets. Our results are robust to different measres of financial market size, several regression specifications, and the inclusion of a broad range of controls such as legal origin, institutional characteristics, culture, natural endowment, and trade openness. Our main findings appear to be restricted specifically to equity markets (vs. debt markets) where there is relatively more uncertainty and, thus, trust and risk-taking are relatively more important. Additional analysis suggests that better overall country-level governance can moderate the role that genetic variation plays in shaping equity market size.
Highlights
• We examine the relation between genetic variation and financial market activity.
• We use country-level data on predicted genetic variation and financial market size.
• Significant hump-shaped relation between genetic variation and financial market size.
• Results are restricted specifically to equity market size (vs. debt market size).
• Better country-level governance moderates the effect of genetic variation.
Abstract: We investigate the extent to which a country’s degree of genetic variation contributes to the observed variation in financial market activity across countries. We postulate that genetic variation can affect financial markets through its impact on aggregate investment behavior, innovation in the financial sector, and productivity. Our country-level, cross-sectional analysis reveals a significant hump-shaped relation between a country’s predicted genetic variation and the size of its financial markets. This result is consistent with the conjecture that at relatively intermediate degrees of genetic variation, the associated intermediate levels of trust and risk-taking within the country result in the largest investment flows into public financial markets. Our results are robust to different measres of financial market size, several regression specifications, and the inclusion of a broad range of controls such as legal origin, institutional characteristics, culture, natural endowment, and trade openness. Our main findings appear to be restricted specifically to equity markets (vs. debt markets) where there is relatively more uncertainty and, thus, trust and risk-taking are relatively more important. Additional analysis suggests that better overall country-level governance can moderate the role that genetic variation plays in shaping equity market size.
Biased decision-making in international financial institutions -- mechanical rules overridden to assign a different official rating
Room for discretion? Biased decision-making in international financial institutions. Valentin Lang & Andrea Presbitero. Journal of Development Economics, Volume 130, January 2018, Pages 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdeveco.2017.09.001
Abstract: We exploit the degree of discretion embedded in the World Bank-IMF Debt Sustainability Framework (DSF) to understand the decision-making process of international financial institutions. The unique, internal dataset we use covers the universe of debt sustainability analyses conducted between December 2006 and January 2015 for low-income countries. These data allow us to identify cases where the risk rating implied by the application of the DSF's mechanical rules was overridden to assign a different official rating. Our results show that both political interests and bureaucratic incentives influence the decision to intervene in the mechanical decision-making process. Countries that are politically aligned with the institutions' major shareholders are more likely to receive an improved rating; especially in election years and when the mechanical assessment is not clear-cut. These results suggest that the room for discretion international financial institutions have can be a channel for informal governance and a source of biased decision-making.
Keywords: International organizations; Political economy; IMF; World Bank; Debt sustainability
Abstract: We exploit the degree of discretion embedded in the World Bank-IMF Debt Sustainability Framework (DSF) to understand the decision-making process of international financial institutions. The unique, internal dataset we use covers the universe of debt sustainability analyses conducted between December 2006 and January 2015 for low-income countries. These data allow us to identify cases where the risk rating implied by the application of the DSF's mechanical rules was overridden to assign a different official rating. Our results show that both political interests and bureaucratic incentives influence the decision to intervene in the mechanical decision-making process. Countries that are politically aligned with the institutions' major shareholders are more likely to receive an improved rating; especially in election years and when the mechanical assessment is not clear-cut. These results suggest that the room for discretion international financial institutions have can be a channel for informal governance and a source of biased decision-making.
Keywords: International organizations; Political economy; IMF; World Bank; Debt sustainability
Teaching personal initiative beats traditional training in boosting small business
Teaching personal initiative beats traditional training in boosting small business in West Africa. Francisco Campos et al. Science, Sep 22 2017, Vol. 357, Issue 6357, pp. 1287-1290. DOI: 10.1126/science.aan5329
Abstract: Standard business training programs aim to boost the incomes of the millions of self-employed business owners in developing countries by teaching basic financial and marketing practices, yet the impacts of such programs are mixed. We tested whether a psychology-based personal initiative training approach, which teaches a proactive mindset and focuses on entrepreneurial behaviors, could have more success. A randomized controlled trial in Togo assigned microenterprise owners to a control group (n = 500), a leading business training program (n = 500), or a personal initiative training program (n = 500). Four follow-up surveys tracked outcomes for firms over 2 years and showed that personal initiative training increased firm profits by 30%, compared with a statistically insignificant 11% for traditional training. The training is cost-effective, paying for itself within 1 year.
Abstract: Standard business training programs aim to boost the incomes of the millions of self-employed business owners in developing countries by teaching basic financial and marketing practices, yet the impacts of such programs are mixed. We tested whether a psychology-based personal initiative training approach, which teaches a proactive mindset and focuses on entrepreneurial behaviors, could have more success. A randomized controlled trial in Togo assigned microenterprise owners to a control group (n = 500), a leading business training program (n = 500), or a personal initiative training program (n = 500). Four follow-up surveys tracked outcomes for firms over 2 years and showed that personal initiative training increased firm profits by 30%, compared with a statistically insignificant 11% for traditional training. The training is cost-effective, paying for itself within 1 year.
Beyond questionable research methods: The role of omitted relevant research in the credibility of research
Schmidt, Frank L. (2017). Beyond questionable research methods: The role of omitted relevant research in the credibility of research. Archives of Scientific Psychology, 5(1), 32-41. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/arc0000033
ABSTRACT: Governments often base social intervention programs on studies done by psychologists and other social scientists. Often these studies fail to mention other research suggesting that such interventions may have a limited chance of actually working. The omitted research that is not mentioned often shows that the behaviors and performances targeted for improvement by the environmental intervention programs are mostly caused by genetic differences between people and for that reason may be more difficult to change than implied in these studies. This is particularly true when the goal is to greatly reduce or eliminate differences between people in such domains as school achievement, impulsive behaviors, or intelligence. This problem of omitted research creates two problems. It tends to call into question the credibility of all social science research, even the studies that do not omit relevant research. And from an applied point of view, it leads to the expenditure of taxpayer dollars on programs that are unlikely to produce the desired outcomes.
SCIENTIFIC ABSTRACT: This article explores an important credibility problem in the research literature beyond the issue of questionable data analysis methods: the problem of omission of relevant previous research in published research articles. This article focuses on this problem in 2 areas: (a) studies purporting to demonstrate the effects of people’s experiences on their later life outcomes while failing to discuss or mention the probable causal role of genetic inheritance in producing these effects, despite the strong evidence for this connection from behavior genetics research; and (b) studies of specific aptitudes (specific abilities) such as verbal, spatial, or reasoning that fail to acknowledge or mention that such aptitudes are indicator variables for general mental ability (GMA; or intelligence) and that after proper control for GMA the residuals in these aptitudes make essentially no contribution to prediction of real world academic, occupational, or job performance. It is only the GMA component in such aptitudes that produces the ability to predict. As is well known today, the issue of the credibility of research conclusions is prominent (Ioannidis, 2005). In both the areas examined in this article, these deficiencies create serious and unnecessary credibility problems, and the doubts they inspire about credibility could unfortunately be generalized to other research areas in which these problems do not exist.
KEYWORDS: research credibility, behavior genetics, general mental ability, intelligence, specific abilities
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The purpose of this article is to draw attention to an important problem in the research literature beyond the issue of questionable statistical data analysis methods in research. That is the problem of the omission of relevant research findings in published research articles. This article has focused on this problem in two areas. The first area consists of studies purporting to demonstrate the effects of people’s experiences on their life outcomes. Many studies drawing causal conclusions about these experiences fail to mention the probable causal role of genetic inheritance in producing these effects, despite the overwhelming evidence for this connection from behavior genetics research. The second area consists of studies of specific aptitudes (specific abilities) such as verbal, quantitative, and spatial, or reasoning. Many such studies fail to acknowledge or even mention that such aptitudes are indicator variables for GMA and that after proper control for GMA the residuals in these aptitudes make essentially no contribution to prediction of real world academic, occupational, or job performance. It is only the GMA component in such aptitudes that produces the ability to predict.
A reviewer suggested that research areas beyond the two examined in this article should be addressed. However, the first area examined here is very broad and includes research in many areas and specialties of psychology and the social sciences. These include the research areas of academic achievement, aggressive behavior, abusive behavior within families, failure in intimate relationships, authoritative versus authoritarian parenting, effects of parental reading on children, later effects of self-control displayed in childhood, and effects of personality traits on behaviors and perceptions. These multiple areas of research are all observational or correlational. Areas of experimental research are not included because (in theory) randomization of subject assignment controls for hidden or unrecognized causal variables (lurking variables; Joiner, 1981). However, experimental psychology research as typically found in the literature, although not subject to the problems examined in this article, has other serious problems; for example, see Schmidt and Oh (2016). In addition, Jussim, Crawford, Anglin, Stevens, and Duarte (2016) discussed the tendency in experimental social psychology for researchers to fail to consider alternative and plausible interpretations of their findings and pointed out that this omission reduces the credibility of their research conclusions.
The issue of the credibility of research conclusions is prominent today (Ioannidis, 2005). In both the areas examined in this article, these deficiencies create serious and unnecessary credibility problems, and the doubts they inspire about research credibility could unfortunately be generalized inappropriately to other research areas in which these problems do not exist. So it is important that this problem be addressed and corrected.
However, it is also important not to leave the impression that all studies have these problems. Studies can be found that are exemplary. One example is the study by Dinescu et al. (2016). This study examined the hypothesis that when people marry, their level of alcohol consumption decreases. They acknowledged that marriage per se might not be the causal variable and that people who marry might be genetically different from those who do not. So they controlled for genetic effects using a sample of 1,703 monozygotic and 722 dizygotic twins. Their results showed the even after controlling for genetic effects, people drank less after marriage than they had before marriage. Another exemplary study is Gotlib et al. (2015). This study found that apparently healthy women whose mothers suffered from depression had shorter telomeres and greater cortisol reactivity to stress than did women whose mothers had never been depressed. They acknowledged that this effect could be genetic or environmental or both, and they called for research to determine the relative contributions of genetic and environmental causes. There is another particularly important example. For over 25 years, Terrie Moffitt and Avshalom Caspi have conducted longitudinal research studies that have taken into account both genetic and environmental contributions to human behaviors. And in 2016 they received the Distinguished Scientific Contributions Award for this work from the American Psychological Association (Award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions, 2016). These and other examples in the literature show that it is possible to conduct research of the type called for in this article.
The hope is that the information presented in this article will lead to recognition in the literature of the role of behavior genetics findings in studies interpreting relationships between experiences and later life outcomes; and to recognition of the central role of GMA in studies examining specific aptitudes and abilities. At present the literatures in these two areas contain many studies that are scientifically incomplete. These changes are important for establishment of the credibility of research conclusions in these areas and may help to deter credibility losses across other areas of research.
ABSTRACT: Governments often base social intervention programs on studies done by psychologists and other social scientists. Often these studies fail to mention other research suggesting that such interventions may have a limited chance of actually working. The omitted research that is not mentioned often shows that the behaviors and performances targeted for improvement by the environmental intervention programs are mostly caused by genetic differences between people and for that reason may be more difficult to change than implied in these studies. This is particularly true when the goal is to greatly reduce or eliminate differences between people in such domains as school achievement, impulsive behaviors, or intelligence. This problem of omitted research creates two problems. It tends to call into question the credibility of all social science research, even the studies that do not omit relevant research. And from an applied point of view, it leads to the expenditure of taxpayer dollars on programs that are unlikely to produce the desired outcomes.
SCIENTIFIC ABSTRACT: This article explores an important credibility problem in the research literature beyond the issue of questionable data analysis methods: the problem of omission of relevant previous research in published research articles. This article focuses on this problem in 2 areas: (a) studies purporting to demonstrate the effects of people’s experiences on their later life outcomes while failing to discuss or mention the probable causal role of genetic inheritance in producing these effects, despite the strong evidence for this connection from behavior genetics research; and (b) studies of specific aptitudes (specific abilities) such as verbal, spatial, or reasoning that fail to acknowledge or mention that such aptitudes are indicator variables for general mental ability (GMA; or intelligence) and that after proper control for GMA the residuals in these aptitudes make essentially no contribution to prediction of real world academic, occupational, or job performance. It is only the GMA component in such aptitudes that produces the ability to predict. As is well known today, the issue of the credibility of research conclusions is prominent (Ioannidis, 2005). In both the areas examined in this article, these deficiencies create serious and unnecessary credibility problems, and the doubts they inspire about credibility could unfortunately be generalized to other research areas in which these problems do not exist.
KEYWORDS: research credibility, behavior genetics, general mental ability, intelligence, specific abilities
---
The purpose of this article is to draw attention to an important problem in the research literature beyond the issue of questionable statistical data analysis methods in research. That is the problem of the omission of relevant research findings in published research articles. This article has focused on this problem in two areas. The first area consists of studies purporting to demonstrate the effects of people’s experiences on their life outcomes. Many studies drawing causal conclusions about these experiences fail to mention the probable causal role of genetic inheritance in producing these effects, despite the overwhelming evidence for this connection from behavior genetics research. The second area consists of studies of specific aptitudes (specific abilities) such as verbal, quantitative, and spatial, or reasoning. Many such studies fail to acknowledge or even mention that such aptitudes are indicator variables for GMA and that after proper control for GMA the residuals in these aptitudes make essentially no contribution to prediction of real world academic, occupational, or job performance. It is only the GMA component in such aptitudes that produces the ability to predict.
A reviewer suggested that research areas beyond the two examined in this article should be addressed. However, the first area examined here is very broad and includes research in many areas and specialties of psychology and the social sciences. These include the research areas of academic achievement, aggressive behavior, abusive behavior within families, failure in intimate relationships, authoritative versus authoritarian parenting, effects of parental reading on children, later effects of self-control displayed in childhood, and effects of personality traits on behaviors and perceptions. These multiple areas of research are all observational or correlational. Areas of experimental research are not included because (in theory) randomization of subject assignment controls for hidden or unrecognized causal variables (lurking variables; Joiner, 1981). However, experimental psychology research as typically found in the literature, although not subject to the problems examined in this article, has other serious problems; for example, see Schmidt and Oh (2016). In addition, Jussim, Crawford, Anglin, Stevens, and Duarte (2016) discussed the tendency in experimental social psychology for researchers to fail to consider alternative and plausible interpretations of their findings and pointed out that this omission reduces the credibility of their research conclusions.
The issue of the credibility of research conclusions is prominent today (Ioannidis, 2005). In both the areas examined in this article, these deficiencies create serious and unnecessary credibility problems, and the doubts they inspire about research credibility could unfortunately be generalized inappropriately to other research areas in which these problems do not exist. So it is important that this problem be addressed and corrected.
However, it is also important not to leave the impression that all studies have these problems. Studies can be found that are exemplary. One example is the study by Dinescu et al. (2016). This study examined the hypothesis that when people marry, their level of alcohol consumption decreases. They acknowledged that marriage per se might not be the causal variable and that people who marry might be genetically different from those who do not. So they controlled for genetic effects using a sample of 1,703 monozygotic and 722 dizygotic twins. Their results showed the even after controlling for genetic effects, people drank less after marriage than they had before marriage. Another exemplary study is Gotlib et al. (2015). This study found that apparently healthy women whose mothers suffered from depression had shorter telomeres and greater cortisol reactivity to stress than did women whose mothers had never been depressed. They acknowledged that this effect could be genetic or environmental or both, and they called for research to determine the relative contributions of genetic and environmental causes. There is another particularly important example. For over 25 years, Terrie Moffitt and Avshalom Caspi have conducted longitudinal research studies that have taken into account both genetic and environmental contributions to human behaviors. And in 2016 they received the Distinguished Scientific Contributions Award for this work from the American Psychological Association (Award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions, 2016). These and other examples in the literature show that it is possible to conduct research of the type called for in this article.
The hope is that the information presented in this article will lead to recognition in the literature of the role of behavior genetics findings in studies interpreting relationships between experiences and later life outcomes; and to recognition of the central role of GMA in studies examining specific aptitudes and abilities. At present the literatures in these two areas contain many studies that are scientifically incomplete. These changes are important for establishment of the credibility of research conclusions in these areas and may help to deter credibility losses across other areas of research.
Wednesday, October 25, 2017
Twin-killing in some traditional societies: An economic perspective
Twin-killing in some traditional societies: An economic perspective. Andrés Marroquín & Colleen Haight. Journal of Bioeconomics, October 2017, October 2017, Volume 19, Issue 3, pp 261–279. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10818-017-9249-8
Abstract: Historically, some societies around the world killed newborn twins, though the practice was forsaken in the early twentieth century. Anthropologists have proposed different theses: (1) the delivery of twins occurred when the mother cheated on her husband, or committed a great sin, and killing the twins was the penalty, (2) twin-killing was done to assert that human beings were different from animals among which multiple births in the same delivery were seen, (3) twins brought a dilemma to the kinship structure of societies and to cope with it different rules were adopted, twin-killing being the extreme one, (4) twin-killing was a means to face resource stress. We argue that although those interpretations are useful, we can improve the understanding of that phenomenon by adding an identity economics model, where twins are a taboo. Identity economics helps us explain the persistence of the practice and its eventual decline. We make our case with examples from the Igbo of Nigeria.
Abstract: Historically, some societies around the world killed newborn twins, though the practice was forsaken in the early twentieth century. Anthropologists have proposed different theses: (1) the delivery of twins occurred when the mother cheated on her husband, or committed a great sin, and killing the twins was the penalty, (2) twin-killing was done to assert that human beings were different from animals among which multiple births in the same delivery were seen, (3) twins brought a dilemma to the kinship structure of societies and to cope with it different rules were adopted, twin-killing being the extreme one, (4) twin-killing was a means to face resource stress. We argue that although those interpretations are useful, we can improve the understanding of that phenomenon by adding an identity economics model, where twins are a taboo. Identity economics helps us explain the persistence of the practice and its eventual decline. We make our case with examples from the Igbo of Nigeria.
No evidence that preferences for facial masculinity track changes in women's hormonal status
No evidence that preferences for facial masculinity track changes in women's hormonal status. Benedict C. Jones, Amanda C. Hahn, Claire I. Fisher, Hongyi Wang, Michal Kandrik, Chengyang Han, Vanessa Fasolt, Danielle Morrison, Iris J. Holzleitner, Kieran J. O'Shea, Craig Roberts, Anthony C. Little, Lisa M. DeBruine. Available at bioRxiv 136549; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/136549
Abstract: Although widely cited as strong evidence that sexual selection has shaped human facial attractiveness judgments, evidence that preferences for masculine characteristics in men's faces are related to women's hormonal status is equivocal and controversial. Consequently, we conducted the largest ever longitudinal study of the hormonal correlates of women's preferences for facial masculinity (N=584). Analyses showed no evidence that preferences for facial masculinity were related to changes in women's salivary steroid hormone levels. Furthermore, both within-subject and between-subject comparisons showed no evidence that oral contraceptive use decreased masculinity preferences. However, women generally preferred masculinized over feminized versions of men's faces, particularly when assessing men's attractiveness for short-term, rather than long-term, relationships. Our results do not support the hypothesized link between women's preferences for facial masculinity and their hormonal status.
Abstract: Although widely cited as strong evidence that sexual selection has shaped human facial attractiveness judgments, evidence that preferences for masculine characteristics in men's faces are related to women's hormonal status is equivocal and controversial. Consequently, we conducted the largest ever longitudinal study of the hormonal correlates of women's preferences for facial masculinity (N=584). Analyses showed no evidence that preferences for facial masculinity were related to changes in women's salivary steroid hormone levels. Furthermore, both within-subject and between-subject comparisons showed no evidence that oral contraceptive use decreased masculinity preferences. However, women generally preferred masculinized over feminized versions of men's faces, particularly when assessing men's attractiveness for short-term, rather than long-term, relationships. Our results do not support the hypothesized link between women's preferences for facial masculinity and their hormonal status.
More lumbar curvature increased perception of attractiveness of girls, men looked longer & fixated more on the hip region
Pazhoohi, F., Doyle, J.F., Macedo, A.F. et al. Evolutionary Psychological Science (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40806-017-0123-7
Abstract: It is common in studies of human mate preference to have participants judge the attractiveness of photographs in which models adopt a neutral facial expression or a neutral body posture. However, it is unlikely that humans adopt neutral expressions and postures in normal social circumstances. One way in which posture can vary is in the curvature of the lower spine. In some non-human animals, a “lordotic” posture (in which the lower spine is curved towards the belly) is associated in females with readiness to mate. In humans, this posture may serve a similar function, attracting heterosexual men. In this study, participants were presented with computer-generated images of female bodies in which the back curvature was systematically manipulated. The result showed that small changes in lumbar curvature are associated with changes in the perception of attractiveness. Specifically, the result showed that there is a relationship between the range of the back curvatures used in this study and attractiveness, such that increasing the curvature increased the perception of attractiveness. Additionally, as the curvature increased, participants looked longer and fixated more on the hip region of the female bodies. This paper argues that the attractiveness of women in lordotic posture is due to a conserved mechanism across the taxa which signals proceptivity to men.
Check also: Behavioral display of lumbar curvature in response to the opposite sex. Zeynep Şenveli Bilkent University, Graduate Program in Neuroscience - Master's degree thesis. http://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2017/08/behavioral-display-of-lumbar-curvature.html
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Carl J. Armstrong Jr.'s comment on this >>> Counter-explanation: Lumbar curvature may be a critical factor in mobility during late pregnancy. Lordotic posture--demonstrating lumbar mobility--may signal healthy mobility during reproduction.
Likewise, given that spinal asymmetry drives breast asymmetry, breast fullness and symmetry may also indicate part of the same mobility-during-pregnancy by telegraphing spinal health and motility....
Abstract: It is common in studies of human mate preference to have participants judge the attractiveness of photographs in which models adopt a neutral facial expression or a neutral body posture. However, it is unlikely that humans adopt neutral expressions and postures in normal social circumstances. One way in which posture can vary is in the curvature of the lower spine. In some non-human animals, a “lordotic” posture (in which the lower spine is curved towards the belly) is associated in females with readiness to mate. In humans, this posture may serve a similar function, attracting heterosexual men. In this study, participants were presented with computer-generated images of female bodies in which the back curvature was systematically manipulated. The result showed that small changes in lumbar curvature are associated with changes in the perception of attractiveness. Specifically, the result showed that there is a relationship between the range of the back curvatures used in this study and attractiveness, such that increasing the curvature increased the perception of attractiveness. Additionally, as the curvature increased, participants looked longer and fixated more on the hip region of the female bodies. This paper argues that the attractiveness of women in lordotic posture is due to a conserved mechanism across the taxa which signals proceptivity to men.
Check also: Behavioral display of lumbar curvature in response to the opposite sex. Zeynep Şenveli Bilkent University, Graduate Program in Neuroscience - Master's degree thesis. http://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2017/08/behavioral-display-of-lumbar-curvature.html
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Carl J. Armstrong Jr.'s comment on this >>> Counter-explanation: Lumbar curvature may be a critical factor in mobility during late pregnancy. Lordotic posture--demonstrating lumbar mobility--may signal healthy mobility during reproduction.
Likewise, given that spinal asymmetry drives breast asymmetry, breast fullness and symmetry may also indicate part of the same mobility-during-pregnancy by telegraphing spinal health and motility....
New evidence that ageing societies become more risk-averse
Global Evidence on Economic Preferences. Armin Falk, Anke Becker, Thomas Dohmen, Benjamin Enke, David B. Huffman, Uwe Sunde. NBER Working Paper No. 23943. http://www.nber.org/papers/w23943
Abstract: This paper studies the global variation in economic preferences. For this purpose, we present the Global Preference Survey (GPS), an experimentally validated survey dataset of time preference, risk preference, positive and negative reciprocity, altruism, and trust from 80,000 individuals in 76 countries. The data reveal substantial heterogeneity in preferences across countries, but even larger within-country heterogeneity. Across individuals, preferences vary with age, gender, and cognitive ability, yet these relationships appear partly country specific. At the country level, the data reveal correlations between preferences and bio-geographic and cultural variables such as agricultural suitability, language structure, and religion. Variation in preferences is also correlated with economic outcomes and behaviors. Within countries and subnational regions, preferences are linked to individual savings decisions, labor market choices, and prosocial behaviors. Across countries, preferences vary with aggregate outcomes ranging from per capita income, to entrepreneurial activities, to the frequency of armed conflicts.
Abstract: This paper studies the global variation in economic preferences. For this purpose, we present the Global Preference Survey (GPS), an experimentally validated survey dataset of time preference, risk preference, positive and negative reciprocity, altruism, and trust from 80,000 individuals in 76 countries. The data reveal substantial heterogeneity in preferences across countries, but even larger within-country heterogeneity. Across individuals, preferences vary with age, gender, and cognitive ability, yet these relationships appear partly country specific. At the country level, the data reveal correlations between preferences and bio-geographic and cultural variables such as agricultural suitability, language structure, and religion. Variation in preferences is also correlated with economic outcomes and behaviors. Within countries and subnational regions, preferences are linked to individual savings decisions, labor market choices, and prosocial behaviors. Across countries, preferences vary with aggregate outcomes ranging from per capita income, to entrepreneurial activities, to the frequency of armed conflicts.
More than 50% or Less than 70% Chance: Pragmatic Implications of Single-Bound Probability Estimates
Hohle, S. M., and Teigen, K. H. (2017) More than 50% or Less than 70% Chance: Pragmatic Implications of Single-Bound Probability Estimates. J. Behav. Dec. Making, doi: 10.1002/bdm.2052
Abstract: Probability estimates can be given as ranges or uncertainty intervals, where often only one of the interval bounds (lower or upper) is specified. For instance, a climate forecast can describe La Niña as having “more than 70% chance” or “less than 90% chance” of occurring. In three experiments, we studied how research participants perceived climate-related forecasts expressed with lower-bound (“over X% chance”) or upper-bound (“under Y% chance”) probability statements. Results indicate that such single-bound statements give pragmatic information in addition to the numeric probabilities they convey. First, the studies show that these statements are directional, leading the listeners' attention in opposite directions. “Over” statements guide attention towards the possible occurrence of the event and are explained by reasons for why it might happen, while “under” statements direct attention to its possible non-occurrence and are more often explained by reasons for why the target event might not appear, corresponding to positive (it is possible) versus negative (it is uncertain) verbal probabilities. Second, boundaries were found to reveal the forecaster's beliefs and could be perceived as indicative of an increasing or a decreasing trend. Single-bound probability estimates are therefore not neutral communications of probability level but might “leak” information about the speaker's expectations and about past and future developments of the forecast.
Abstract: Probability estimates can be given as ranges or uncertainty intervals, where often only one of the interval bounds (lower or upper) is specified. For instance, a climate forecast can describe La Niña as having “more than 70% chance” or “less than 90% chance” of occurring. In three experiments, we studied how research participants perceived climate-related forecasts expressed with lower-bound (“over X% chance”) or upper-bound (“under Y% chance”) probability statements. Results indicate that such single-bound statements give pragmatic information in addition to the numeric probabilities they convey. First, the studies show that these statements are directional, leading the listeners' attention in opposite directions. “Over” statements guide attention towards the possible occurrence of the event and are explained by reasons for why it might happen, while “under” statements direct attention to its possible non-occurrence and are more often explained by reasons for why the target event might not appear, corresponding to positive (it is possible) versus negative (it is uncertain) verbal probabilities. Second, boundaries were found to reveal the forecaster's beliefs and could be perceived as indicative of an increasing or a decreasing trend. Single-bound probability estimates are therefore not neutral communications of probability level but might “leak” information about the speaker's expectations and about past and future developments of the forecast.
In economics, 42% of papers that were published as replication studies successfully replicated another experiment
Maniadis, Z., Tufano, F. and List, J. A. (2017), To Replicate or Not To Replicate? Exploring Reproducibility in Economics through the Lens of a Model and a Pilot Study. Econ J, 127: F209–F235. doi:10.1111/ecoj.12527
Abstract: The sciences are in an era of an alleged ‘credibility crisis’. In this study, we discuss the reproducibility of empirical results, focusing on economics research. By combining theory and empirical evidence, we discuss the import of replication studies and whether they improve our confidence in novel findings. The theory sheds light on the importance of replications, even when replications are subject to bias. We then present a pilot meta-study of replication in experimental economics, a subfield serving as a positive benchmark for investigating the credibility of economics. Our meta-study highlights certain difficulties when applying meta-research to systematise the economics literature.
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Concerning the replication results themselves, an interesting insight is that we found a ‘success rate’, based on 85 replications, of 42.3%. This means that roughly 40% of papers that were published as replication studies successfully replicated another experiment. This is somewhat higher than the outcome of the recent large-scale replication initiative from psychology (Open Science Collaboration, 2015) and Duvendack et al. (2015), which both found a success rate of about a third, while, also in psychology, Makel et al. (2012) found a very high success rate of 73%.
Abstract: The sciences are in an era of an alleged ‘credibility crisis’. In this study, we discuss the reproducibility of empirical results, focusing on economics research. By combining theory and empirical evidence, we discuss the import of replication studies and whether they improve our confidence in novel findings. The theory sheds light on the importance of replications, even when replications are subject to bias. We then present a pilot meta-study of replication in experimental economics, a subfield serving as a positive benchmark for investigating the credibility of economics. Our meta-study highlights certain difficulties when applying meta-research to systematise the economics literature.
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Concerning the replication results themselves, an interesting insight is that we found a ‘success rate’, based on 85 replications, of 42.3%. This means that roughly 40% of papers that were published as replication studies successfully replicated another experiment. This is somewhat higher than the outcome of the recent large-scale replication initiative from psychology (Open Science Collaboration, 2015) and Duvendack et al. (2015), which both found a success rate of about a third, while, also in psychology, Makel et al. (2012) found a very high success rate of 73%.
Small decline in overall narcissism, leadership, vanity & entitlement levels in college students from the 1990s to the 2010s
The Narcissism Epidemic Is Dead; Long Live the Narcissism Epidemic. Eunike Wetzel et al.
Psychological Science, https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797617724208
Abstract: Are recent cohorts of college students more narcissistic than their predecessors? To address debates about the so-called “narcissism epidemic,” we used data from three cohorts of students (1990s: N = 1,166; 2000s: N = 33,647; 2010s: N = 25,412) to test whether narcissism levels (overall and specific facets) have increased across generations. We also tested whether our measure, the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI), showed measurement equivalence across the three cohorts, a critical analysis that had been overlooked in prior research. We found that several NPI items were not equivalent across cohorts. Models accounting for nonequivalence of these items indicated a small decline in overall narcissism levels from the 1990s to the 2010s (d = −0.27). At the facet level, leadership (d = −0.20), vanity (d = −0.16), and entitlement (d = −0.28) all showed decreases. Our results contradict the claim that recent cohorts of college students are more narcissistic than earlier generations of college students.
Psychological Science, https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797617724208
Abstract: Are recent cohorts of college students more narcissistic than their predecessors? To address debates about the so-called “narcissism epidemic,” we used data from three cohorts of students (1990s: N = 1,166; 2000s: N = 33,647; 2010s: N = 25,412) to test whether narcissism levels (overall and specific facets) have increased across generations. We also tested whether our measure, the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI), showed measurement equivalence across the three cohorts, a critical analysis that had been overlooked in prior research. We found that several NPI items were not equivalent across cohorts. Models accounting for nonequivalence of these items indicated a small decline in overall narcissism levels from the 1990s to the 2010s (d = −0.27). At the facet level, leadership (d = −0.20), vanity (d = −0.16), and entitlement (d = −0.28) all showed decreases. Our results contradict the claim that recent cohorts of college students are more narcissistic than earlier generations of college students.
A glass of wine is spoilt by a single D. melanogaster fly falling into it
The scent of the fly. Paul G. Becher, Sebastien Lebreton, Erika A. Wallin, Erik Hedenstrom, Felipe Borrero-Echeverry, Marie Bengtsson, Volker Jorger, View ORCID ProfilePeter Witzgall. bioRxiv, https://doi.org/10.1101/206375
Abstract: (Z)-4-undecenal (Z4-11Al) is the volatile pheromone produced by females of the vinegar fly Drosophila melanogaster. Female flies emit Z4-11Al at few nanograms per hour, for species-specific communication and mate-finding. Tests with synthetic Z4-11Al show that it has a characteristic off-flavour, which we perceive even at the small amounts produced by one female fly. Since only females produce Z4-11Al, and not males, we can reliably distinguish between single D. melanogaster males and females, according to their scent. A wine-tasting panel finds that we sense as little as 1 ng synthetic Z4-11Al in a glass of wine, and 10 ng Z4-11Al is perceived as a loud off-flavour. This corroborates the observation that a glass of wine is spoilt by a single D. melanogaster fly falling into it, which we here show is caused by Z4-11Al. The biological role of Z4-11Al or structurally related aldehydes in humans and the basis for this semiochemical convergence remains yet unclear.
Abstract: (Z)-4-undecenal (Z4-11Al) is the volatile pheromone produced by females of the vinegar fly Drosophila melanogaster. Female flies emit Z4-11Al at few nanograms per hour, for species-specific communication and mate-finding. Tests with synthetic Z4-11Al show that it has a characteristic off-flavour, which we perceive even at the small amounts produced by one female fly. Since only females produce Z4-11Al, and not males, we can reliably distinguish between single D. melanogaster males and females, according to their scent. A wine-tasting panel finds that we sense as little as 1 ng synthetic Z4-11Al in a glass of wine, and 10 ng Z4-11Al is perceived as a loud off-flavour. This corroborates the observation that a glass of wine is spoilt by a single D. melanogaster fly falling into it, which we here show is caused by Z4-11Al. The biological role of Z4-11Al or structurally related aldehydes in humans and the basis for this semiochemical convergence remains yet unclear.
Tuesday, October 24, 2017
Can we change our biased minds?
Can we change our biased minds? Michael Gross. Current Biology, Volume 27, Issue 20, 23 October 2017, Pages R1089–R1091. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2017.10.013
Summary: A simple test taken by millions of people reveals that virtually everybody has implicit biases that they are unaware of and that may clash with their explicit beliefs. From policing to scientific publishing, all activities that deal with people are at risk of making wrong decisions due to bias. Raising awareness is the first step towards improving the outcomes.
Check this: Dispelling the Myth: Training in Education or Neuroscience Decreases but Does Not Eliminate Beliefs in Neuromyths. Kelly Macdonald et al. Frontiers in Psychology, Aug 10 2017. http://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2017/08/training-in-education-or-neuroscience.html
And: Wisdom and how to cultivate it: Review of emerging evidence for a constructivist model of wise thinking. Igor Grossmann. European Psychologist, in press. Pre-print: http://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2017/08/wisdom-and-how-to-cultivate-it-review.html
Summary: A simple test taken by millions of people reveals that virtually everybody has implicit biases that they are unaware of and that may clash with their explicit beliefs. From policing to scientific publishing, all activities that deal with people are at risk of making wrong decisions due to bias. Raising awareness is the first step towards improving the outcomes.
Check this: Dispelling the Myth: Training in Education or Neuroscience Decreases but Does Not Eliminate Beliefs in Neuromyths. Kelly Macdonald et al. Frontiers in Psychology, Aug 10 2017. http://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2017/08/training-in-education-or-neuroscience.html
And: Wisdom and how to cultivate it: Review of emerging evidence for a constructivist model of wise thinking. Igor Grossmann. European Psychologist, in press. Pre-print: http://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2017/08/wisdom-and-how-to-cultivate-it-review.html
Nearly 80% of the reported effects in empirical economics literatures are exaggerated, typically by a factor of two
Ioannidis, J. P. A., Stanley, T. D. and Doucouliagos, H. (2017), The Power of Bias in Economics Research. Econ J, 127: F236–F265. doi:10.1111/ecoj.12461
Abstract: We investigate two critical dimensions of the credibility of empirical economics research: statistical power and bias. We survey 159 empirical economics literatures that draw upon 64,076 estimates of economic parameters reported in more than 6,700 empirical studies. Half of the research areas have nearly 90% of their results under-powered. The median statistical power is 18%, or less. A simple weighted average of those reported results that are adequately powered (power ≥ 80%) reveals that nearly 80% of the reported effects in these empirical economics literatures are exaggerated; typically, by a factor of two and with one-third inflated by a factor of four or more.
Abstract: We investigate two critical dimensions of the credibility of empirical economics research: statistical power and bias. We survey 159 empirical economics literatures that draw upon 64,076 estimates of economic parameters reported in more than 6,700 empirical studies. Half of the research areas have nearly 90% of their results under-powered. The median statistical power is 18%, or less. A simple weighted average of those reported results that are adequately powered (power ≥ 80%) reveals that nearly 80% of the reported effects in these empirical economics literatures are exaggerated; typically, by a factor of two and with one-third inflated by a factor of four or more.
Pairs in which the partners do not share a social bond with each other behave less ethically than individuals do
Stranger Danger: When and Why Consumer Dyads Behave Less Ethically Than Individuals. Hristina Nikolova Cait Lamberton Nicole Verrochi Coleman. Journal of Consumer Research, ucx108, https://doi.org/10.1093/jcr/ucx108
Abstract: While joint ethical violations are fairly common in the marketplace, workplace, sports teams, and academic settings, little research has studied such collaborative wrongdoings. This work compares the joint ethical decisions of pairs of people (i.e., dyads) to those of individual decision-makers. Four experiments demonstrate that dyads in which the partners do not share a social bond with each other behave less ethically than individuals do. The authors propose that this effect occurs because joint ethical violations offer a means to socially bond with others. Consistent with this theory, they demonstrate that the dyads’ sub-ethicality relative to individuals is attenuated (1) if the dyad partners establish rapport prior to the joint decision-making, and (2) in decision-making contexts in which social bonding goals are less active, that making a decision with an out-group versus in-group member. Taken together, this research provides novel theoretical insights into the social aspects of unethical behavior, offers suggestions to improve ethicality in joint decisions, and raises important questions for future research.
Keywords: unethical decisions, cheating, ethical, dyads, joint decision-making, social bonding
Abstract: While joint ethical violations are fairly common in the marketplace, workplace, sports teams, and academic settings, little research has studied such collaborative wrongdoings. This work compares the joint ethical decisions of pairs of people (i.e., dyads) to those of individual decision-makers. Four experiments demonstrate that dyads in which the partners do not share a social bond with each other behave less ethically than individuals do. The authors propose that this effect occurs because joint ethical violations offer a means to socially bond with others. Consistent with this theory, they demonstrate that the dyads’ sub-ethicality relative to individuals is attenuated (1) if the dyad partners establish rapport prior to the joint decision-making, and (2) in decision-making contexts in which social bonding goals are less active, that making a decision with an out-group versus in-group member. Taken together, this research provides novel theoretical insights into the social aspects of unethical behavior, offers suggestions to improve ethicality in joint decisions, and raises important questions for future research.
Keywords: unethical decisions, cheating, ethical, dyads, joint decision-making, social bonding
Smaller & less centralized schools, & schools with fewer poor students, foster social capital that builds labor market networks, as does a larger Republican vote share
Social Capital and Labor Market Networks. Brian J. Asquith, Judith K. Hellerstein, Mark J. Kutzbach, David Neumark. NBER Working Paper No. 23959, www.nber.org/papers/w23959
Abstract: We explore the links between social capital and labor market networks at the neighborhood level. We harness rich data taken from multiple sources, including matched employer-employee data with which we measure the strength of labor market networks, data on behavior such as voting patterns that have previously been tied to social capital, and new data – not previously used in the study of social capital – on the number and location of non-profits at the neighborhood level. We use a machine learning algorithm to identify potential social capital measures that best predict neighborhood-level variation in labor market networks. We find evidence suggesting that smaller and less centralized schools, and schools with fewer poor students, foster social capital that builds labor market networks, as does a larger Republican vote share. The presence of establishments in a number of non-profit oriented industries are identified as predictive of strong labor market networks, likely because they either provide public goods or facilitate social contacts. These industries include, for example, churches and other religious institutions, schools, country clubs, and amateur or recreational sports teams or clubs.
Abstract: We explore the links between social capital and labor market networks at the neighborhood level. We harness rich data taken from multiple sources, including matched employer-employee data with which we measure the strength of labor market networks, data on behavior such as voting patterns that have previously been tied to social capital, and new data – not previously used in the study of social capital – on the number and location of non-profits at the neighborhood level. We use a machine learning algorithm to identify potential social capital measures that best predict neighborhood-level variation in labor market networks. We find evidence suggesting that smaller and less centralized schools, and schools with fewer poor students, foster social capital that builds labor market networks, as does a larger Republican vote share. The presence of establishments in a number of non-profit oriented industries are identified as predictive of strong labor market networks, likely because they either provide public goods or facilitate social contacts. These industries include, for example, churches and other religious institutions, schools, country clubs, and amateur or recreational sports teams or clubs.
How Ethically Would Americans and Chinese Negotiate? The Effect of Intra-Cultural Versus Inter-Cultural Negotiations
Yang, Yu and De Cremer, David and Wang, Chao, How Ethically Would Americans and Chinese Negotiate? The Effect of Intra-Cultural Versus Inter-Cultural Negotiations (November 22, 2016). Journal of Business Ethics, Forthcoming. https://ssrn.com/abstract=2874335
Abstract: A growing body of research has started to examine how individuals from different countries may differ in their use of ethically questionable tactics during business negotiations. Whereas prior research focused on the main effect of the national culture or nationality of the negotiator, we add a new factor, which is the nationality of the counterpart. Looking at both these variables allows us to examine whether and how people may change their likelihood of using ethically questionable tactics in inter-cultural negotiations as opposed to intra-cultural ones. Results of an experiment (N = 810) show that overall, American participants were less likely than Chinese participants to use ethically questionable tactics in negotiations. However, American participants were more likely to use ethically questionable tactics, particularly those related to false promises and inappropriate information gathering, in inter-cultural negotiations with Chinese counterparts, than in intra-cultural negotiations with American counterparts. By contrast, Chinese participants were less likely to use ethically questionable tactics, particularly those related to false promises and attacking opponent’s network, in inter-cultural negotiations with American counterparts, than in intra-cultural negotiations with Chinese counterparts. Implications and future directions are discussed.
Abstract: A growing body of research has started to examine how individuals from different countries may differ in their use of ethically questionable tactics during business negotiations. Whereas prior research focused on the main effect of the national culture or nationality of the negotiator, we add a new factor, which is the nationality of the counterpart. Looking at both these variables allows us to examine whether and how people may change their likelihood of using ethically questionable tactics in inter-cultural negotiations as opposed to intra-cultural ones. Results of an experiment (N = 810) show that overall, American participants were less likely than Chinese participants to use ethically questionable tactics in negotiations. However, American participants were more likely to use ethically questionable tactics, particularly those related to false promises and inappropriate information gathering, in inter-cultural negotiations with Chinese counterparts, than in intra-cultural negotiations with American counterparts. By contrast, Chinese participants were less likely to use ethically questionable tactics, particularly those related to false promises and attacking opponent’s network, in inter-cultural negotiations with American counterparts, than in intra-cultural negotiations with Chinese counterparts. Implications and future directions are discussed.
Are People More Disturbed by Dog or Human Suffering?
Are People More Disturbed by Dog or Human Suffering? Levin, Jack and Arluke, Arnold and Irvine, Leslie. Society & Animals, Vol 25, issue 1, pages 1-16, year 2017, https://doi.org/10.1163/15685306-12341440
Abstract: This research examines whether people are more emotionally disturbed by reports of non-human animal than human suffering or abuse. Two hundred and fifty-six undergraduates at a major northeastern university were asked to indicate their degree of empathy for a brutally beaten human adult or child versus an adult dog or puppy, as described in a fictitious news report. We hypothesized that the vulnerability of victims—determined by their age and not species—would determine participants’ levels of distress and concern for them. The main effect for age but not for species was significant. We also found more empathy for victims who are human children, puppies, and fully-grown dogs than for victims who are adult humans. Age makes a difference for empathy toward human victims, but not for dog victims. In addition, female participants were significantly more empathic toward all victims than were their male counterparts.
Keywords: dogs; victims; empathy; age; vulnerability; emotional distress; suffering
Abstract: This research examines whether people are more emotionally disturbed by reports of non-human animal than human suffering or abuse. Two hundred and fifty-six undergraduates at a major northeastern university were asked to indicate their degree of empathy for a brutally beaten human adult or child versus an adult dog or puppy, as described in a fictitious news report. We hypothesized that the vulnerability of victims—determined by their age and not species—would determine participants’ levels of distress and concern for them. The main effect for age but not for species was significant. We also found more empathy for victims who are human children, puppies, and fully-grown dogs than for victims who are adult humans. Age makes a difference for empathy toward human victims, but not for dog victims. In addition, female participants were significantly more empathic toward all victims than were their male counterparts.
Keywords: dogs; victims; empathy; age; vulnerability; emotional distress; suffering
The High Cost of Being Cool: How Adolescent Pseudomature Behavior Maps onto Adult Adjustment
The Cost of Being Cool: How Adolescent Pseudomature Behavior Maps onto Adult Adjustment. Leslie Gordon Simons et al. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10964-017-0743-z
Abstract: During adolescence, one's status among peers is a major concern. Such status is often largely a function of popularity and establishing oneself as “cool.” While there are conventional avenues to achieving status among adolescents, engaging in adult-like, or pseudomature, behaviors such as substance use or sexual activity is a frequent occurrence. Although past research has examined the consequences of adolescent delinquency, what remains unclear is the long-term fate of adolescents who are both popular and antisocial. Using data from a sample of African American males (N = 339) we employ latent class analysis to examine the adult consequences of achieving popularity during adolescence by engaging in pseudomature behavior. Our results identified four classes of adolescents: the conventionals, the pseudomatures, the delinquents, and the detached. The conventionals were low on popularity, pseudomature behavior, and affiliation with deviant peers but high on academic commitment. The pseudomatures were high on popularity, adult-like behavior, and academic commitment but low on affiliation with delinquent peers. The delinquents were low on popularity and school achievement but high on pseudomature behavior and affiliations with delinquent peers. Finally, the detached were low on school commitment, popularity and pseudomature behavior but they report high involvement with a delinquent peer group. By early adulthood, the costs of adolescent adult-like behavior were evident. Early popularity and academic commitment did not portend later social competence or college completion for the pseudomatures. Instead, they frequently experienced an early transition to parenthood, a likely consequence of precocious sexual activity. These findings suggest that interventions should not focus only on the most delinquent adolescents but also need to attend to the pseudomature students who are brimming with promise but are flirting with behaviors that may subvert realization of this potential.
Abstract: During adolescence, one's status among peers is a major concern. Such status is often largely a function of popularity and establishing oneself as “cool.” While there are conventional avenues to achieving status among adolescents, engaging in adult-like, or pseudomature, behaviors such as substance use or sexual activity is a frequent occurrence. Although past research has examined the consequences of adolescent delinquency, what remains unclear is the long-term fate of adolescents who are both popular and antisocial. Using data from a sample of African American males (N = 339) we employ latent class analysis to examine the adult consequences of achieving popularity during adolescence by engaging in pseudomature behavior. Our results identified four classes of adolescents: the conventionals, the pseudomatures, the delinquents, and the detached. The conventionals were low on popularity, pseudomature behavior, and affiliation with deviant peers but high on academic commitment. The pseudomatures were high on popularity, adult-like behavior, and academic commitment but low on affiliation with delinquent peers. The delinquents were low on popularity and school achievement but high on pseudomature behavior and affiliations with delinquent peers. Finally, the detached were low on school commitment, popularity and pseudomature behavior but they report high involvement with a delinquent peer group. By early adulthood, the costs of adolescent adult-like behavior were evident. Early popularity and academic commitment did not portend later social competence or college completion for the pseudomatures. Instead, they frequently experienced an early transition to parenthood, a likely consequence of precocious sexual activity. These findings suggest that interventions should not focus only on the most delinquent adolescents but also need to attend to the pseudomature students who are brimming with promise but are flirting with behaviors that may subvert realization of this potential.
The Relationship between Status and Happiness: Evidence from the Caste System in Rural India
The Relationship between Status and Happiness: Evidence from the Caste System in Rural India. By Bert van Landeghem, Anneleen Vandeplas. Institute of Labor Economics (IZA). IZA Discussion Papers #11099, October 2017. http://legacy.iza.org/en/webcontent/publications/papers/viewAbstract?dp_id=11099
Abstract: A large number of empirical studies have investigated the link between social status and happiness, yet in observational data identification challenges remain severe. This study exploits the fact that in India people are assigned a caste from birth. Two identical surveys of household heads (each with N=1000) in rural Punjab and Andhra Pradesh show an increasing pattern in economic welfare across the hierarchy of castes. This illustrates that at least in rural regions, one's caste is still an important determinant for opportunities in life. Subsequently, we find that the castes at the top are clearly more satisfied than the lower and middle castes. This result, which is in line with predictions of all major social comparison theories, is robust across the two case studies. The pattern across low and middle castes, however, is less clear, reflecting the complex theoretical relationship between being of middle rank on the one hand, and behaviour, aspirations and well-being on the other hand. In the Punjab sample, we even find a significant U-shape, the middle castes being the least happy. Interestingly, these patterns resemble those found for Olympic Medalists (first documented by Medvec et al. 1995).
Abstract: A large number of empirical studies have investigated the link between social status and happiness, yet in observational data identification challenges remain severe. This study exploits the fact that in India people are assigned a caste from birth. Two identical surveys of household heads (each with N=1000) in rural Punjab and Andhra Pradesh show an increasing pattern in economic welfare across the hierarchy of castes. This illustrates that at least in rural regions, one's caste is still an important determinant for opportunities in life. Subsequently, we find that the castes at the top are clearly more satisfied than the lower and middle castes. This result, which is in line with predictions of all major social comparison theories, is robust across the two case studies. The pattern across low and middle castes, however, is less clear, reflecting the complex theoretical relationship between being of middle rank on the one hand, and behaviour, aspirations and well-being on the other hand. In the Punjab sample, we even find a significant U-shape, the middle castes being the least happy. Interestingly, these patterns resemble those found for Olympic Medalists (first documented by Medvec et al. 1995).
Resting heart rate and psychopathy seem not related: Findings from the Add Health Survey
Resting heart rate and psychopathy: Findings from the Add Health Survey. Nicholas Kavish et al. Available at bioRxiv, http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/205005
Abstract : Despite the large body of research linking low resting heart rate to antisocial behavior broadly, significantly less work has been done linking heart rate to psychopathic traits. The small body of research on the topic that has been conducted, has found an overall inverse relationship between the two constructs. A significant minority of studies have found the opposite results, however, and many prior studies have been limited by small sample sizes and unrepresentative samples. The current study attempts to help clarify the relationship between resting heart rate and psychopathic traits in a large, nationally representative sample using an alternative measure of psychopathic traits that is less focused on antisocial processes. No significant relationship between heart rate and psychopathic traits, or heart rate and a measure of cold heartedness, was found after controlling for age, sex, and race. Implications of the findings, study limitations, and directions for future research are discussed.
Abstract : Despite the large body of research linking low resting heart rate to antisocial behavior broadly, significantly less work has been done linking heart rate to psychopathic traits. The small body of research on the topic that has been conducted, has found an overall inverse relationship between the two constructs. A significant minority of studies have found the opposite results, however, and many prior studies have been limited by small sample sizes and unrepresentative samples. The current study attempts to help clarify the relationship between resting heart rate and psychopathic traits in a large, nationally representative sample using an alternative measure of psychopathic traits that is less focused on antisocial processes. No significant relationship between heart rate and psychopathic traits, or heart rate and a measure of cold heartedness, was found after controlling for age, sex, and race. Implications of the findings, study limitations, and directions for future research are discussed.
Despite being in vegetative state, some patients retain some aspects of emotional experience, react to jokes
Using facial electromyography to detect preserved emotional processing in disorders of consciousness: A proof-of-principle study. Chris M.Fiacconi, Adrian M.Owen. Clinical Neurophysiology, Volume 127, Issue 9, September 2016, Pages 3000-3006. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clinph.2016.06.006
Highlights
• A vegetative state patient can show intact emotional responses as measured by facial muscle activity.
• Responses in a VS patient mirrored the pattern of muscle activity observed in healthy controls.
• This methodology may serve as a feasible bedside tool to probe emotion in VS patients.
Abstract
Objective: To examine whether emotional functioning can be observed in patients who are behaviourally non-responsive using peripheral markers of emotional functioning.
Method: We tested two patients, both diagnosed as being in a vegetative state (VS) following hypoxia secondary to cardiac arrest. Thirty-seven healthy participants with no history of neurological illness served as a control group. The activity of two facial muscles (zygomaticus major, corrugator supercilii) was measured using facial electromyography (EMG) to probe for patterned responses that differentiate between auditorily presented joke and non-joke stimuli in VS patients.
Results: One of the two VS patients we tested demonstrated greater zygomatic and reduced corrugator activity in response to jokes compared with non-jokes. Critically, these responses followed the pattern and temporal profile of muscle activity observed in our healthy control sample.
Conclusions: Despite their behaviorally non-responsive profile, some patients diagnosed as VS appear to retain some aspects of emotional experience.
Significance: Our findings represent, to our knowledge, the first demonstration that a patient diagnosed as VS can exhibit intact emotional responses to humor as assessed by facial EMG. Therefore, our approach may constitute a feasible bedside tool capable of providing novel insight into the mental and emotional lives of patients who are behaviourally non-responsive.
Keywords: Disorders of consciousness; Vegetative state; Emotion; Facial electromyography
Highlights
• A vegetative state patient can show intact emotional responses as measured by facial muscle activity.
• Responses in a VS patient mirrored the pattern of muscle activity observed in healthy controls.
• This methodology may serve as a feasible bedside tool to probe emotion in VS patients.
Abstract
Objective: To examine whether emotional functioning can be observed in patients who are behaviourally non-responsive using peripheral markers of emotional functioning.
Method: We tested two patients, both diagnosed as being in a vegetative state (VS) following hypoxia secondary to cardiac arrest. Thirty-seven healthy participants with no history of neurological illness served as a control group. The activity of two facial muscles (zygomaticus major, corrugator supercilii) was measured using facial electromyography (EMG) to probe for patterned responses that differentiate between auditorily presented joke and non-joke stimuli in VS patients.
Results: One of the two VS patients we tested demonstrated greater zygomatic and reduced corrugator activity in response to jokes compared with non-jokes. Critically, these responses followed the pattern and temporal profile of muscle activity observed in our healthy control sample.
Conclusions: Despite their behaviorally non-responsive profile, some patients diagnosed as VS appear to retain some aspects of emotional experience.
Significance: Our findings represent, to our knowledge, the first demonstration that a patient diagnosed as VS can exhibit intact emotional responses to humor as assessed by facial EMG. Therefore, our approach may constitute a feasible bedside tool capable of providing novel insight into the mental and emotional lives of patients who are behaviourally non-responsive.
Keywords: Disorders of consciousness; Vegetative state; Emotion; Facial electromyography
Monday, October 23, 2017
Deep down my enemy is good: Thinking about the true self reduces intergroup bias
Deep down my enemy is good: Thinking about the true self reduces intergroup bias. Julian De Freitas, & Mina Cikara. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2017.10.006
Abstract: Intergroup bias — preference for one's in-group relative to out-groups — is one of the most robust phenomena in all of psychology. Here we investigate whether a positive bias that operates at the individual-level, belief in a good true self, may be leveraged to reduce intergroup bias. We find that even stereotypically threatening out-group agents are believed to have a good true self (Experiment 1). More importantly, consideration of an in-group and out-group members' true self reduces intergroup bias, both in the form of explicit evaluative judgments (Experiment 2) and actual donation behavior (Experiment 3). Across studies, the palliative effects of thinking of an individual's true self generalize to that individual's entire group. In sum, a simple intervention — thinking about another's true self — reduces the gap in how people evaluate and treat out-group relative to in-group members. We discuss implications of these findings for conflict reduction strategies.
Keywords: Intergroup bias; True self; Essentialism; Lay theories
Abstract: Intergroup bias — preference for one's in-group relative to out-groups — is one of the most robust phenomena in all of psychology. Here we investigate whether a positive bias that operates at the individual-level, belief in a good true self, may be leveraged to reduce intergroup bias. We find that even stereotypically threatening out-group agents are believed to have a good true self (Experiment 1). More importantly, consideration of an in-group and out-group members' true self reduces intergroup bias, both in the form of explicit evaluative judgments (Experiment 2) and actual donation behavior (Experiment 3). Across studies, the palliative effects of thinking of an individual's true self generalize to that individual's entire group. In sum, a simple intervention — thinking about another's true self — reduces the gap in how people evaluate and treat out-group relative to in-group members. We discuss implications of these findings for conflict reduction strategies.
Keywords: Intergroup bias; True self; Essentialism; Lay theories
Performance Trends in AI. By S R Constantin
Performance Trends in AI. S R Constantin. Updated Oct 2017. https://srconstantin.wordpress.com/2017/01/28/performance-trends-in-ai/
Deep learning has revolutionized the world of artificial intelligence. But how much does it improve performance? How have computers gotten better at different tasks over time, since the rise of deep learning?
In games, what the data seems to show is that exponential growth in data and computation power yields exponential improvements in raw performance. In other words, you get out what you put in. Deep learning matters, but only because it provides a way to turn Moore’s Law into corresponding performance improvements, for a wide class of problems. It’s not even clear it’s a discontinuous advance in performance over non-deep-learning systems.
In image recognition, deep learning clearly is a discontinuous advance over other algorithms. But the returns to scale and the improvements over time seem to be flattening out as we approach or surpass human accuracy.
In speech recognition, deep learning is again a discontinuous advance. We are still far away from human accuracy, and in this regime, accuracy seems to be improving linearly over time.
In machine translation, neural nets seem to have made progress over conventional techniques, but it’s not yet clear if that’s a real phenomenon, or what the trends are.
In natural language processing, trends are positive, but deep learning doesn’t generally seem to do better than trendline.
Chess AI compared to humans: https://srconstantin.files.wordpress.com/2017/01/chesselo2.png?w=1008
Arcade games AI compared to humans: https://srconstantin.files.wordpress.com/2017/01/ataribygame.png
Much more at the link above.
Deep learning has revolutionized the world of artificial intelligence. But how much does it improve performance? How have computers gotten better at different tasks over time, since the rise of deep learning?
In games, what the data seems to show is that exponential growth in data and computation power yields exponential improvements in raw performance. In other words, you get out what you put in. Deep learning matters, but only because it provides a way to turn Moore’s Law into corresponding performance improvements, for a wide class of problems. It’s not even clear it’s a discontinuous advance in performance over non-deep-learning systems.
In image recognition, deep learning clearly is a discontinuous advance over other algorithms. But the returns to scale and the improvements over time seem to be flattening out as we approach or surpass human accuracy.
In speech recognition, deep learning is again a discontinuous advance. We are still far away from human accuracy, and in this regime, accuracy seems to be improving linearly over time.
In machine translation, neural nets seem to have made progress over conventional techniques, but it’s not yet clear if that’s a real phenomenon, or what the trends are.
In natural language processing, trends are positive, but deep learning doesn’t generally seem to do better than trendline.
Chess AI compared to humans: https://srconstantin.files.wordpress.com/2017/01/chesselo2.png?w=1008
Much more at the link above.
Projection of attraction to alternative partners predicts anger and negative behavior in romantic relationships
The wandering eye perceives more threats: Projection of attraction to alternative partners predicts anger and negative behavior in romantic relationships. Angela Neal & Edward Lemay. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407517734398
Abstract: The current study tested the predictions that (a) people project their own attraction to alternative romantic or sexual partners onto their romantic partners and (b) this projection shapes anger and negative behavior toward romantic partners. These predictions were supported in a dyadic daily experiences study of 96 heterosexual romantic couples. Participants’ self-reported attraction to alternative partners predicted perceptions of the partner’s interest independently of, and more strongly than, the partner’s own self-reported attraction, suggesting that participants projected their own extradyadic attraction onto their partners. Furthermore, this projection predicted perceivers’ own anger and negative behaviors directed at their partners more strongly than did the partner’s self-reported attraction. Results suggest that participants were angry and antagonistic when they thought their partners were interested in alternative partners, but that this suspicion was a projection of their own attraction to alternatives more than it was an accurate reflection of their partner’s attraction. Results suggest that projection of extradyadic attraction has an important influence on relationship quality and may exacerbate the negative relationship consequences of attraction to alternative partners.
---
Why would people project their own extradyadic attraction? This projection may occur as a result of people’s own extradyadic attraction being readily able to come to mind when they are trying to discern partner’s attraction, which then may bias subsequent judgments (Tversky & Kahneman, 1973). Or, as research has also suggested (for discussion, see Lemay & Clark, 2015), this projection may be a result of motivated cognition, in that people particularly interested in alternatives may exaggerate their partner’s interests in order to alleviate their own guilt, justify their own extradyadic attraction, or, in the case of projecting lack of extradyadic attraction, create a desired sense of security in a mutually monogamous relationship. Future research should examine these possible motivations for projecting one’s level of extradyadic attraction.
The current research suggests that detecting infidelity may be more complex than previously thought. Prior research suggests that people tend to believe that certain cues are diagnostic of a partner’s interest in alternative partners or engagement in infidelity, such as the partner’s anger, critical or argumentative behavior, emotional disengagement, change in sexual behavior or appearance, sexual disinterest, reluctance to spend time with the partner, and increased time spent with another person (Shackelford & Buss, 1997). Perhaps the current participants relied on these sorts of cues to accurately detect fluctuations in their partner’s extradyadic attraction, a possibility that should be directly examined in future research. However, in the current research, perception of partners’ extradyadic attraction depended more on the perceiver’s own attraction, suggesting that projection typically overpowers the use of valid cues in discerning partners’ attraction. This may be the case, because people generally believe their partners are similar to them (Kenny & Acitelli, 2001), the cues to infidelity may often be ambiguous, and because of the motivations to see partners as similarly described above. Future research should examine whether particular cues are so diagnostic of the partner’s level of attraction that they can override projection biases. Furthermore, the very interpretation of cues to infidelity may vary as a function of desires to see partners’ extradyadic attraction as similar to one’s own. For example, a person who is, himself, not attracted to extradyadic partners may be motivated to interpret his partner’s lack of sexual interest as a result of his partner’s stressful career. His partner, in contrast, may falsely perceive his anxiety as an indicator that his own extradyadic attraction is just as high as her own. Indeed, effects of gender, threat, and anxiety about relationships on interpretation of infidelity cues (Kruger, Fisher, Edelstein, Chopik, Fitzgerald, & Strout, 2013; Schutzwohl & Koch, 2004) suggest that use of these cues interacts with perceivers’ beliefs and motivations. The current results suggest that projection is an additional important source of these interpretations. As suggested by interdependence theory (e.g., Agnew et al., 1998; Aron & Aron, 1997), as people become more and more dependent on their partners, they tend to view themselves and their partners as intertwined and the partner as part of oneself. This growing sense of connection and similarity may increase people’s tendencies to rely on projection as heuristic in discerning their partner’s qualities, resulting in increasing tendencies to project extradyadic attraction. These considerations underscore that a complete understanding of perceptions of infidelity and related perceptions of extradyadic attraction must go beyond identifying cues to infidelity to also account for the forces that lead people to assume that their partner is just as (un)trustworthy as themselves.
Abstract: The current study tested the predictions that (a) people project their own attraction to alternative romantic or sexual partners onto their romantic partners and (b) this projection shapes anger and negative behavior toward romantic partners. These predictions were supported in a dyadic daily experiences study of 96 heterosexual romantic couples. Participants’ self-reported attraction to alternative partners predicted perceptions of the partner’s interest independently of, and more strongly than, the partner’s own self-reported attraction, suggesting that participants projected their own extradyadic attraction onto their partners. Furthermore, this projection predicted perceivers’ own anger and negative behaviors directed at their partners more strongly than did the partner’s self-reported attraction. Results suggest that participants were angry and antagonistic when they thought their partners were interested in alternative partners, but that this suspicion was a projection of their own attraction to alternatives more than it was an accurate reflection of their partner’s attraction. Results suggest that projection of extradyadic attraction has an important influence on relationship quality and may exacerbate the negative relationship consequences of attraction to alternative partners.
---
Why would people project their own extradyadic attraction? This projection may occur as a result of people’s own extradyadic attraction being readily able to come to mind when they are trying to discern partner’s attraction, which then may bias subsequent judgments (Tversky & Kahneman, 1973). Or, as research has also suggested (for discussion, see Lemay & Clark, 2015), this projection may be a result of motivated cognition, in that people particularly interested in alternatives may exaggerate their partner’s interests in order to alleviate their own guilt, justify their own extradyadic attraction, or, in the case of projecting lack of extradyadic attraction, create a desired sense of security in a mutually monogamous relationship. Future research should examine these possible motivations for projecting one’s level of extradyadic attraction.
The current research suggests that detecting infidelity may be more complex than previously thought. Prior research suggests that people tend to believe that certain cues are diagnostic of a partner’s interest in alternative partners or engagement in infidelity, such as the partner’s anger, critical or argumentative behavior, emotional disengagement, change in sexual behavior or appearance, sexual disinterest, reluctance to spend time with the partner, and increased time spent with another person (Shackelford & Buss, 1997). Perhaps the current participants relied on these sorts of cues to accurately detect fluctuations in their partner’s extradyadic attraction, a possibility that should be directly examined in future research. However, in the current research, perception of partners’ extradyadic attraction depended more on the perceiver’s own attraction, suggesting that projection typically overpowers the use of valid cues in discerning partners’ attraction. This may be the case, because people generally believe their partners are similar to them (Kenny & Acitelli, 2001), the cues to infidelity may often be ambiguous, and because of the motivations to see partners as similarly described above. Future research should examine whether particular cues are so diagnostic of the partner’s level of attraction that they can override projection biases. Furthermore, the very interpretation of cues to infidelity may vary as a function of desires to see partners’ extradyadic attraction as similar to one’s own. For example, a person who is, himself, not attracted to extradyadic partners may be motivated to interpret his partner’s lack of sexual interest as a result of his partner’s stressful career. His partner, in contrast, may falsely perceive his anxiety as an indicator that his own extradyadic attraction is just as high as her own. Indeed, effects of gender, threat, and anxiety about relationships on interpretation of infidelity cues (Kruger, Fisher, Edelstein, Chopik, Fitzgerald, & Strout, 2013; Schutzwohl & Koch, 2004) suggest that use of these cues interacts with perceivers’ beliefs and motivations. The current results suggest that projection is an additional important source of these interpretations. As suggested by interdependence theory (e.g., Agnew et al., 1998; Aron & Aron, 1997), as people become more and more dependent on their partners, they tend to view themselves and their partners as intertwined and the partner as part of oneself. This growing sense of connection and similarity may increase people’s tendencies to rely on projection as heuristic in discerning their partner’s qualities, resulting in increasing tendencies to project extradyadic attraction. These considerations underscore that a complete understanding of perceptions of infidelity and related perceptions of extradyadic attraction must go beyond identifying cues to infidelity to also account for the forces that lead people to assume that their partner is just as (un)trustworthy as themselves.
Presentation letter to date girls
Presentation letter to date girls
hi, this is Jordi!
1 I'm 55 yo, married, working as IT Consultant in xxx. I'd love to meet a girly girl that, like me, doesn't believe in eternal love/marriage, has much interest in knowledge (science, engineering, politics), music, architecture, opera, museums, exhibitions, poetry, & ocultism/divination/the irrational (i.e., economy :-) ), with almost zero interest in cooking, sports, small talk.
I do not like much going to the countryside, I prefer cities. To walk the streets, to talk about the subjects above (including talking about the job), to share some time frequently.
2 Politics: Libertarian, I welcome leftists and rightists alike. I do not criminalize others & can talk to (non-violent) D Trump/Hillary R Clinton voters, the alt-right/the alt-left, feminists, etc. But only minimum, polite contact with nazis/communists.
3 Religion: I am an Atheist (educated as a Calvinist/Puritan), but respect religions & religious people & most customs.
4 Dislikes: Too many! Some of them:
---
her:
Please read the 'About me' section. Afterwards:
You are a young girl that loves to talk to a real man (tender, polite, who loves kittens and videos about them) and have time with him. Also, with time, some affection and physical tenderness would be expected... But you decide how far we go. If I fall in love with you, you may have the Platonic version if not ready for the real one.
You are considerate with all others regardless of their perceived flaws. Always courteous with everyone, a classy woman.
You are over-cultivated, a real nerd, and like as little small talk as possible (some may be needed :-) ). No soccer, basketball, tennis, food, wine/alcohol or cooking talk. Maybe table tennis... :-)
Of course, I am not demanding exclusivity or faithfulness. I expect you to have a boyfriend or girlfriend, or several of them, or a lot of them. No problem with that. But I will adore you and won't even flirt with others. But only for the time we are interested in each other, of course, because some day, we will part. It will be a drama-free relationship.
No problem with your having pets, or your drinking/smoking, either. But, since you are a nerd, you don't take too much alcohol and nothing that can affect your cognitive skills.
You are respectful of the old --- that means that you talk lovingly about your parents/ guardians/ teachers/etc. If they hurt you, we will overcome that anger and end the process being, both of us, better persons than before meeting each other.
If you are religious/spiritual, you are not a zealot, but respectful of other ideas. Same with extreme politization.
You may not expect of me leaving my wife. She is a good person and needs help. Our relationship will be temporary.
And last but not least, you spend some time helping a charity, or the neighbors that cannot fend for themselves, or some other do-good stuff; return trays to the disposal areas in the junk food restaurant; do not leave chairs in the wrong place, preventing others from easy movement and access; do not litter; do not park illegally; do not jump the queue; ***you (and me) err in the side of caution to avoid offending others*** (but you may and should be more direct with me, obviously :-) ).
My expections about sex with you: I want you to teach me how to give you pleasure. Please let me be your pupil and lab assistant! :-)
---
dating site
hi, this is Jordi!
1 I'm 55 yo, married, working as IT Consultant in xxx. I'd love to meet a girly girl that, like me, doesn't believe in eternal love/marriage, has much interest in knowledge (science, engineering, politics), music, architecture, opera, museums, exhibitions, poetry, & ocultism/divination/the irrational (i.e., economy :-) ), with almost zero interest in cooking, sports, small talk.
I do not like much going to the countryside, I prefer cities. To walk the streets, to talk about the subjects above (including talking about the job), to share some time frequently.
2 Politics: Libertarian, I welcome leftists and rightists alike. I do not criminalize others & can talk to (non-violent) D Trump/Hillary R Clinton voters, the alt-right/the alt-left, feminists, etc. But only minimum, polite contact with nazis/communists.
3 Religion: I am an Atheist (educated as a Calvinist/Puritan), but respect religions & religious people & most customs.
4 Dislikes: Too many! Some of them:
4.1 I cannot imagine myself causing physical or mental pain to a girl. So do not ask me to hit you... not interested in BDSM.
4.2 I expect of a person in whom I am taking interest to behave well with everyone, irrespective of their skin color, religion, ethnicity, economic status, national origin, political party, how well they do their job when they work for us, ... I dislike very much people who is not polite with the others.
4.3 I do not like to be instructed or talked to in a patronizing way about ethics & morals... That includes trying to make a vegetarian of me, or a member of your religion, or to make me drink alcohol/smoke drugs, or believe how wrong is not defending the equal rights of animals, etc. We have our opinions and we can talk about them but there is no need to try to convert anyone. Not me, at least.
4.4 I deeply dislike extremisms. Minimum, but always polite contact with reflexive anti-American, anti-Arab, anti-Israeli, anti-Palestinian, anti-Christian, anti-Muslim, anti-Chinese, etc., guys.
---
her:
Please read the 'About me' section. Afterwards:
You are a young girl that loves to talk to a real man (tender, polite, who loves kittens and videos about them) and have time with him. Also, with time, some affection and physical tenderness would be expected... But you decide how far we go. If I fall in love with you, you may have the Platonic version if not ready for the real one.
You are considerate with all others regardless of their perceived flaws. Always courteous with everyone, a classy woman.
You are over-cultivated, a real nerd, and like as little small talk as possible (some may be needed :-) ). No soccer, basketball, tennis, food, wine/alcohol or cooking talk. Maybe table tennis... :-)
Of course, I am not demanding exclusivity or faithfulness. I expect you to have a boyfriend or girlfriend, or several of them, or a lot of them. No problem with that. But I will adore you and won't even flirt with others. But only for the time we are interested in each other, of course, because some day, we will part. It will be a drama-free relationship.
No problem with your having pets, or your drinking/smoking, either. But, since you are a nerd, you don't take too much alcohol and nothing that can affect your cognitive skills.
You are respectful of the old --- that means that you talk lovingly about your parents/ guardians/ teachers/etc. If they hurt you, we will overcome that anger and end the process being, both of us, better persons than before meeting each other.
If you are religious/spiritual, you are not a zealot, but respectful of other ideas. Same with extreme politization.
You may not expect of me leaving my wife. She is a good person and needs help. Our relationship will be temporary.
And last but not least, you spend some time helping a charity, or the neighbors that cannot fend for themselves, or some other do-good stuff; return trays to the disposal areas in the junk food restaurant; do not leave chairs in the wrong place, preventing others from easy movement and access; do not litter; do not park illegally; do not jump the queue; ***you (and me) err in the side of caution to avoid offending others*** (but you may and should be more direct with me, obviously :-) ).
My expections about sex with you: I want you to teach me how to give you pleasure. Please let me be your pupil and lab assistant! :-)
---
dating site
Death and failure: A cautionary tale of death anxiety and alternate causality
Death and failure: A cautionary tale of death anxiety and alternate causality. Christopher Michael Jackson. A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. September, 2017. https://otago.ourarchive.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10523/7590/JacksonChristopherM2017PhD.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
Abstract
Many believe that the fear of death is central to the human experience. Theoretically, this fear stems from the human cognitive capacity to project ourselves into the future and contemplate the world without us in it. Awareness —either conscious or unconscious— of our mortality is the central cause of what researchers call death anxiety, which we manage on a day-to-day basis by protecting our cultural worldviews. These views (which range in diversity from a belief in God to the belief that America is the grea test country on earth) act as a crutch to lean on when confronted with terrifying reminders of our mortality.
The data on the fear of death and death anxiety are inconsistent. Some data suggests that we are afraid of death, but the majority of data suggest that death anxiety is low. The leading thanatocentric theory, Terror Management Theory (TMT), makes the claim that we do not show death anxiety because we are well practised at suppressing the terrifying thoughts of death; however, this claim is non-falsifiable.
The present research does its best to test these claims against the competing theory, the Meaning Maintenance Model (MMM), which stipulates that thoughts of our mortality threaten our meaning framework. We know how the world works and reminders of death make us question that certainty, although death is only one example of a thing that makes us question ourselves. This thesis uses the inconsistent data as a starting point and asks, "Are we actually afraid of death?" in two parts. Part one (which includes Studies 1, 2, and 3) proposes the question philosophically and empirically. Study 1 directly asked participants what they were afraid of. 'Death' was listed by approximately 27% of the respondents ('One's own death' was listed by approximately 21%) and death anxiety scores were moderate. 'Failure' was the most prevalent fear. It was listed by approximately 61% of the participants. Study 2 , more indirectly, analysed written reflections on the ir mortality. When asked about how their own death made them feel, participants wrote more negative emotional words than positive emotional words. Both positive and negative emotional words were more prevalent when writing about death than writing about neutral controls. Study 3 had participants speak about their own deaths —or a neutral television condition— in front of a camera. Facial recognition software was unable to detect any meaningful emotional differences between those two conditions. These studies look ed for (and fail ed to find) direct signs o f death anxiety. Some indirect signs of death anxiety were found (e.g., increased negative emotional word usage), but nothing that suggests a ubiquitous and universal fear of death.
Part two, which includes Studies 4 and 5, explores an alternate cause of death anxiety from Study 1 : failure. The final two studies explore the mediated relationship between personal failure, the need for closure, and death anxiety. Closure is a construct that links TMT and the MMM. Study 4 asked participants to think about personal life successes or personal life failures and then complete need for closure and death anxiety scales. Need for Closure (NFC) mediated the relationship. Participants that thought about life failures showed an increased need for closure, which subs equently led to an increase in death anxiety. Study 5 tested the relationship between death and failure by ad ding a mortality salience condition to the previous study. This final study failed to replicate the find ings of Study 4. It did, however, find a link between NFC and death anxiety.
Taken together, these studies reiterate that the terror from TMT seems to be missing. Failure was the most commonly cited fear , though it is unclear whether death and failure are related. The relationship between NFC and death anxiety is the most promising finding. The implications of these relationships as they relate to existing theories on death and dying are discussed.
Abstract
Many believe that the fear of death is central to the human experience. Theoretically, this fear stems from the human cognitive capacity to project ourselves into the future and contemplate the world without us in it. Awareness —either conscious or unconscious— of our mortality is the central cause of what researchers call death anxiety, which we manage on a day-to-day basis by protecting our cultural worldviews. These views (which range in diversity from a belief in God to the belief that America is the grea test country on earth) act as a crutch to lean on when confronted with terrifying reminders of our mortality.
The data on the fear of death and death anxiety are inconsistent. Some data suggests that we are afraid of death, but the majority of data suggest that death anxiety is low. The leading thanatocentric theory, Terror Management Theory (TMT), makes the claim that we do not show death anxiety because we are well practised at suppressing the terrifying thoughts of death; however, this claim is non-falsifiable.
The present research does its best to test these claims against the competing theory, the Meaning Maintenance Model (MMM), which stipulates that thoughts of our mortality threaten our meaning framework. We know how the world works and reminders of death make us question that certainty, although death is only one example of a thing that makes us question ourselves. This thesis uses the inconsistent data as a starting point and asks, "Are we actually afraid of death?" in two parts. Part one (which includes Studies 1, 2, and 3) proposes the question philosophically and empirically. Study 1 directly asked participants what they were afraid of. 'Death' was listed by approximately 27% of the respondents ('One's own death' was listed by approximately 21%) and death anxiety scores were moderate. 'Failure' was the most prevalent fear. It was listed by approximately 61% of the participants. Study 2 , more indirectly, analysed written reflections on the ir mortality. When asked about how their own death made them feel, participants wrote more negative emotional words than positive emotional words. Both positive and negative emotional words were more prevalent when writing about death than writing about neutral controls. Study 3 had participants speak about their own deaths —or a neutral television condition— in front of a camera. Facial recognition software was unable to detect any meaningful emotional differences between those two conditions. These studies look ed for (and fail ed to find) direct signs o f death anxiety. Some indirect signs of death anxiety were found (e.g., increased negative emotional word usage), but nothing that suggests a ubiquitous and universal fear of death.
Part two, which includes Studies 4 and 5, explores an alternate cause of death anxiety from Study 1 : failure. The final two studies explore the mediated relationship between personal failure, the need for closure, and death anxiety. Closure is a construct that links TMT and the MMM. Study 4 asked participants to think about personal life successes or personal life failures and then complete need for closure and death anxiety scales. Need for Closure (NFC) mediated the relationship. Participants that thought about life failures showed an increased need for closure, which subs equently led to an increase in death anxiety. Study 5 tested the relationship between death and failure by ad ding a mortality salience condition to the previous study. This final study failed to replicate the find ings of Study 4. It did, however, find a link between NFC and death anxiety.
Taken together, these studies reiterate that the terror from TMT seems to be missing. Failure was the most commonly cited fear , though it is unclear whether death and failure are related. The relationship between NFC and death anxiety is the most promising finding. The implications of these relationships as they relate to existing theories on death and dying are discussed.
Perceived Shared Condemnation Intensifies Punitive Moral Emotions
Perceived Shared Condemnation Intensifies Punitive Moral Emotions. Naoki Konishi et al. Sci Rep. 2017; 7: 7289. Published online 2017 Aug 4. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-07916-z
Abstract: Punishment facilitates large-scale cooperation among humans, but how punishers, who incur an extra cost of punishment, can successfully compete with non-punishers, who free-ride on the punisher’s policing, poses an evolutionary puzzle. One answer is by coordinating punishment to minimise its cost. Notice, however, that in order to effectively coordinate their punishment, potential punishers must know in advance whether others would also be willing to punish a particular norm violator. Such knowledge might hinder coordination by tempting potential punishers to free-ride on other punishers. Previous research suggests that moral emotions, such as moral outrage and moral disgust, serve as a commitment device and drive people to carry out the costly act of punishment. Accordingly, we tested whether the perception of socially shared condemnation (i.e., knowledge that others also condemn a particular violator) would amplify moral outrage and moral disgust, and diminish empathy for the violator. Study 1 (scenario-based study) revealed that perceived shared condemnation was correlated positively with moral outrage and moral disgust, and negatively with empathy. Study 2 experimentally demonstrated that information indicating that others also condemn a particular norm violation amplified moral outrage. Lastly, Study 3 (autobiographical recall study) confirmed the external validity of the finding.
Abstract: Punishment facilitates large-scale cooperation among humans, but how punishers, who incur an extra cost of punishment, can successfully compete with non-punishers, who free-ride on the punisher’s policing, poses an evolutionary puzzle. One answer is by coordinating punishment to minimise its cost. Notice, however, that in order to effectively coordinate their punishment, potential punishers must know in advance whether others would also be willing to punish a particular norm violator. Such knowledge might hinder coordination by tempting potential punishers to free-ride on other punishers. Previous research suggests that moral emotions, such as moral outrage and moral disgust, serve as a commitment device and drive people to carry out the costly act of punishment. Accordingly, we tested whether the perception of socially shared condemnation (i.e., knowledge that others also condemn a particular violator) would amplify moral outrage and moral disgust, and diminish empathy for the violator. Study 1 (scenario-based study) revealed that perceived shared condemnation was correlated positively with moral outrage and moral disgust, and negatively with empathy. Study 2 experimentally demonstrated that information indicating that others also condemn a particular norm violation amplified moral outrage. Lastly, Study 3 (autobiographical recall study) confirmed the external validity of the finding.
Limiting Consumer Choice, Expanding Costly Litigation: An Analysis of the CFPB Arbitration Rule
US Treasury Dept
Limiting Consumer Choice, Expanding Costly Litigation: An Analysis of the CFPB Arbitration Rule
Oct 23 2017
https://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/sm0186.aspx
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Treasury Department today released a report that examines the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) arbitration rule. The Treasury report delves into the analysis CFPB used to prohibit mandatory arbitration clauses. It outlines important limitations to the data behind CFPB’s rule and explains that CFPB did not appropriately consider whether prohibiting arbitration clauses would advance consumer protection or serve the public interest.
The Treasury report found that:
Limiting Consumer Choice, Expanding Costly Litigation: An Analysis of the CFPB Arbitration Rule
Oct 23 2017
https://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/sm0186.aspx
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Treasury Department today released a report that examines the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) arbitration rule. The Treasury report delves into the analysis CFPB used to prohibit mandatory arbitration clauses. It outlines important limitations to the data behind CFPB’s rule and explains that CFPB did not appropriately consider whether prohibiting arbitration clauses would advance consumer protection or serve the public interest.
The Treasury report found that:
- The CFPB’s rule will impose extraordinary costs—generating more than 3,000 additional class action lawsuits over the next five years, imposing more than $500 million in additional legal defense fees, and transferring $330 million to plaintiffs’ lawyers;
- The CFPB’s data show that the vast majority of class action lawsuits deliver no relief to the class—and that consumers very rarely claim relief available to them;
- The CFPB did not show that its rule will achieve a necessary increase compliance with the federal consumer financial laws, despite the rule’s high costs; and
The CFPB failed to consider less onerous alternatives to its ban on mandatory arbitration clauses across market sectors.
---
Nearly a century ago, Congress made private agreements to resolve disputes through arbitration “valid,irrevocable, and enforceable” underthe Federal Arbitration Act.
This longstanding federal policy in favor of private dispute resolution serves
the twin purposes of economic efficiency and freedom of contract. In the Dodd-
Frank Act, Congress authorized the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to limit or ban the use of arbitration agreements in consumer financial contracts only if the Bureau concludes that its restrictions are “in the public interest and for the protection of consumers.”
Against this background, in July 2017, the Bureau issued its final rule (the “Rule”) prohibiting consumers and providers of financial products and services from agreeing to resolve future disputes through arbitration rather than class-action litigation.
The Rule follows the Bureau’s study of arbitration,
summarized in a 2015 report to
Congress. The Arbitration Study attempted
an empirical analysis of
both the arbitral awards and
class action settlements that consumers obtained for a variety of claims.
But the data the Bureau
considered
were
limited in ways that raise
serious questions about its conclusions
and undermine
the foundation of the Rule its
elf
. More fundamentally, the Bureau failed to
meaningfully
evaluate
whether
prohibiting mandatory
arbitration clauses in consumer financial contracts would serve
either consumer protection
or
the public interest
—its two statutory mandates. Neither the St
udy
nor
the Rule
makes
that
requisite
showing. Instead,
on closer inspection,
the Study and the Rule
demonstrate that:
•
The Rule will impose extraordinary costs—based on the Bureau’s own incomplete
estimates
.
The
Bureau
projects that
the
Rule
will
generate more than 3
,000
additional
class action lawsuits
over the next five years
. Meanwhile,
affected businesses
will spend more than $500
million
in additional legal defense fees, $330 million in payments to plaintiffs’ lawyers,
and $1.7
billion in additional settlements
.
Remarkably,
the Bureau’s
estimates do not account for
expected
increases in state court litigation.
Affected businesses are unlikely to simply absorb
these new financial burdens.
T
he Office of the Comptroller of the Currency recently reported
that
the
Bureau’s own data show that the Rule’s costs will
very
likely be passed
through
to
consumers in the form of higher borrowing costs
for credit card users, among other burdens
.
•
The vast m
ajority of consumer class actions deliver zero relief to the putative members of
the class.
According to the Bureau’s own data, only 13% of consumer class action lawsuits
filed
result in class
-wide recovery—
meaning tha
t in 87% of cases, either no plaintiffs or only
named plaint
iffs receive relief of any kind.
The Bureau projects that, out
of the 3,000
additional class actions the Rule will generate, four
in five
cases
will
yield
no
recovery for the
putative class of con
sumers.
•
In the fraction of class actions that generate class
-wide
relief, few affected consumers
demonstrate interest in recovery.
On average, only
4% of plaintiffs entitled
to claim
class
settlement funds actually do so. This suggests that consumers value class action litigation far
less than the Bureau believes they should.
This is not surprising given that plaintiffs who do
claim funds from class action settlements receive, on average, $32.35 per person.
2
•
The
Rule will effect a large wealth trans
fer to plaintiffs’ attorneys
.
O
n average, plaintiff
-
side
attorneys’ fees account for approximately 31% of the
payments
that
plaintiffs receive from
class action settlements
—and in many types of cases, much more. In an average case,
plaintiffs’ attorneys
collect
more than $1 million; actual plaintiffs receive $32 each.
The
Bureau’s data indicate that the Rule will transfer an additional $330 million over five years
from affected businesses to the plaintiffs’ bar.
•
The Bureau failed reasonably to consider whether improved disclosures regarding
arbitration would serve consumer interests
better
than its regulatory ban.
The Bureau’s own
data show that the
financial
marketplace offers choices to consumers
regarding arbitration
; the
vast majority of contracts in the major
market segments
do not contain
mandatory arbitration
clauses.
If the Bureau is concerned that consumers are unaware of arbitration clauses, more
prominent disclosure of such clauses would be a lower cost, choice
-preserving
means to
advance consumer protection
.
•
The Bureau did not adequately
assess the share of class actions that are without merit.
Courts and commentators have long recognized that defendants settle even
meritless lawsuits.
As Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has explained, the class mechanism
“places pressure on the
defendant to settle even unmeritorious claims.”
1
The Bureau
overlooked
the force of this
argument
and failed to assess the costs of meritless litigation that the Rul
e will generate
.
•
The Bureau offered
no foundation for its assumption that the Rule will
improve
compliance
with federal consumer financial laws.
The Bureau “
assumes
that the current level of
compliance in consumer finance markets is generally sub
-optimal”
2
and insists that
the
Rule
will protect consumers by remedying that assumed compliance gap.
But
after years of study,
the Bureau has identified no evidence indicat
ing that firms that do not use arbitration clauses
treat their customers better or have higher levels of compliance with the law. As a result, the
Bureau cannot credibly claim that the
Rule would yield
more efficient levels of
compliance.
In view of these defects, it is clear that
the Rule does not satisfy
the statutor
y prerequisites
for banning
the use of arbitration agreements
under the Dodd-
Frank Act
. The Bureau has not made
a reasoned showing that increased consumer class action litigation will
result in a net
benefit
to
consumers or to
the public as a whole. B
ased on the Bureau’s own data, it is far more likely that
the Rule will generate massive economic costs
—borne by businesses and consumers alike
—that
dwarf the
speculative benefits of
the Bu
reau’s theorized increase in
compliance
.
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