Wyckoff, J. P., Buss, D. M., & Markman, A. B. (2018). Sex differences in victimization and consequences of cyber aggression: An evolutionary perspective. Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences, http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/ebs0000150
Abstract: Cyber aggression is a pervasive problem, yet evolutionary psychologists have been slow to address this area of research. We utilize an evolutionary perspective to provide a theoretical framework to address research that has found that women are more vulnerable to negative effects of cyber aggression. Studies of intrasexual competition suggest that men and women adopt different strategies to derogate competitors that target fitness-relevant characteristics. We explore the possibility that cyber aggression follows the same principles and propose that sex differences in cyber aggression are more nuanced than previous research suggests. Study 1 replicates the finding of previous research that women are more upset by cyber aggression than men. Study 2 provides qualitative insight into sex differences in content of cyber aggression, demonstrating that women experience online posts derogating their physical appearance more often than men, while men experience online posts derogating their status more often than women. The discussion focuses on future directions for the application of evolutionary psychology to cyber aggression.
Friday, October 5, 2018
Thursday, October 4, 2018
Privileged students shouldn’t be allowed to speak in class at all and should just listen and learn in silence; they would benefit from experiential reparations (sitting on the floor, wearing chains, or intentionally being spoken over
The Grievance Studies Scandal: Five Academics Respond. Quillete, October 1, 2018.https://quillette.com/2018/10/01/the-grievance-studies-scandal-five-academics-respond/
Excerpts:
The flagship feminist philosophy journal, Hypatia, accepted a paper (not yet published online) arguing that social justice advocates should be allowed to make fun of others, but no one should be permitted to make fun of them. The same journal invited resubmission of a paper arguing that “privileged students shouldn’t be allowed to speak in class at all and should just listen and learn in silence,” and that they would benefit from “experiential reparations” that include “sitting on the floor, wearing chains, or intentionally being spoken over.” The reviewers complained that this hoax paper took an overly compassionate stance toward the “privileged” students who would be subjected to this humiliation, and recommended that they be subjected to harsher treatment. Is asking people of a certain race to sit on the floor in chains better than asking them to wear a yellow star? What exactly is this leading to?
Now, three academics have submitted twenty spoof manuscripts to journals chosen for respectability in their various disciplines. Seven papers were accepted before the experiment stopped; more are surviving peer review. This new raid on screamingly barmy pseudo-scholarship is the Alan Sokal Opening, weaponised. Like dedicated traceurs in a Parkour-fest, the trio scrambled over the terrain of what they call Grievance Studies. And they dropped fire-crackers. One published paper proposed that dog parks are “rape-condoning spaces.” Another, entitled “Our Struggle is My Struggle: Solidarity Feminism as an Intersectional Reply to Neoliberal and Choice Feminism” reworked, and substantially altered, part of Mein Kampf. The most shocking, (not published, its status is “revise and resubmit”) is a “Feminist Approach to Pedagogy.” It proposes “experiential reparations” as a corrective for privileged students. These include sitting on the floor, wearing chains, or being purposely spoken over. Reviewers have commented that the authors risk exploiting underprivileged students by burdening them with an expectation to teach about privilege.
When I grew up something like the following order of badness prevailed: murder (the worst), followed by serious physical violence, cheating and lying, nasty shouting, nasty speaking and at the milder end, nasty thinking. This has changed. There is evidence that many scholars favour punitive thought-reform.
The dog-park hoax paper, honoured by the journal as exemplary scholarship, contains gems like this: “Dog parks are microcosms where hegemonic masculinist norms governing queering behavior and compulsory heterosexuality can be observed in a cross-species environment.” It looks like a case of reviewers asleep at the wheel.
Occasionally, however, unintentional absurdities of feminist thinking have crept into much better philosophical journals than Hypatia. A good example is an article from the Australasian Journal of Philosophy in which a feminist describes a “phallic drama” involving two statements, p and ~p (the negation of p):
There is really only one actor, p, and ~p is merely its receptacle. In the representation of the Venn diagram, p penetrates a passive, undifferentiated universal other which is specified as a lack, which offers no resistance, and whose behavior it controls completely.
Rolf Degen summarizing: A high sex ratio (scarcity of women compared to men) leads to higher marriage rates, fewer divorces, greater fertility, women choosing higher quality mates & being happier in their marriages
Does Mate Scarcity Affect Marital Choice and Family Formation? The Evidence for New and Classic Formulations of Sex Ratio Theory. Emily A. Stone. Marriage and Family Review, https://doi.org/10.1080/01494929.2018.1501789
Abstract: Guttentag and Secord pioneered research on the social consequences of imbalances in the numbers of men and women—the sex ratio. Since then, sociologists, psychologists, anthropologists, and even biologists have investigated its effects on marriage and reproduction. I review the three prevailing theories to explain why sex ratio should affect marriage and reproduction, along with the evidence that it does. I also review the growing evidence that sex ratio imbalances are associated with mate choice. Sex ratio reveals contradictory relationships with mate preferences and actual partner choice, however, raising a conundrum for future research. Overall, there is strong experimental and correlational support for the patterns of marriage and reproduction associated with sex ratio. What emerges is the necessity for future research to distinguish among the perspectives to explain why.
Keywords: fertility, marriage, mate choice, sex ratio
Abstract: Guttentag and Secord pioneered research on the social consequences of imbalances in the numbers of men and women—the sex ratio. Since then, sociologists, psychologists, anthropologists, and even biologists have investigated its effects on marriage and reproduction. I review the three prevailing theories to explain why sex ratio should affect marriage and reproduction, along with the evidence that it does. I also review the growing evidence that sex ratio imbalances are associated with mate choice. Sex ratio reveals contradictory relationships with mate preferences and actual partner choice, however, raising a conundrum for future research. Overall, there is strong experimental and correlational support for the patterns of marriage and reproduction associated with sex ratio. What emerges is the necessity for future research to distinguish among the perspectives to explain why.
Keywords: fertility, marriage, mate choice, sex ratio
Optimized technologies emerge through the selective retention of small improvements across generations without requiring explicit understanding of how these technologies work; we don't spontaneously create multidimensional causal theories but instead mainly produce simplistic models
Derex, Maxime, Jean-François Bonnefon, Robert Boyd, and Alex Mesoudi. 2018. “Causal Understanding Is Not Necessary for the Improvement of Culturally Evolving Technology.” PsyArXiv. September 3. doi:10.31234/osf.io/nm5sh
Abstract: Highly-optimized tools are common in traditional populations. Bows and arrows, dogsleds, clothing, houses, and kayaks are just a few examples of the complex, exquisitely designed tools that humans produced and used to colonize new, demanding environments. Because there is much evidence that humans’ cognitive abilities are unparalleled, many believe that such technologies resulted from our superior causal reasoning abilities. However, others have stressed that the high dimensionality of human technologies make them very hard to understand causally. Instead, they argue that optimized technologies emerge through the selective retention of small improvements across generations without requiring explicit understanding of how these technologies work. Here, we find experimental support for the latter view by showing that a physical artifact becomes progressively optimized across generations of social learners in the absence of explicit causal understanding. We find that participants do not spontaneously create multidimensional causal theories but instead mainly produce simplistic models related to a specifically salient dimension. Finally, we show that the transmission of these simplistic theories constrain exploration in subsequent generations of learners and has negative downstream effects on their understanding. These results indicate that highly optimized technologies do not necessarily result from evolved reasoning abilities but instead can emerge from the blind accumulation of many small improvements made across generations linked by cultural transmission, and demand a focus on the cultural dynamics underlying technological change as well as individual cognition.
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Of the 56 participants who received a theory... 15 received an inertia-related theory, 17 received an energy-related theory, 6 received a full theory and 18 received diverse, irrelevant theories
...inherited theories strongly affected participant's understanding of the wheel system. Participants who did not inherit any theory (“Configurations” treatment) scored similarly (and better than chance) on questions about inertia and questions about energy (Fig. 3I). In comparison, participants who inherited an inertia- or energy- related theory showed skewed understanding patterns. Inheriting an inertia-related theory increased their understanding of inertia, but decreased their understanding of energy; symmetrically, inheriting an energy-related theory increased their understanding of energy, but decreased their understanding about inertia. One explanation for this pattern is that inheriting a unidimensional theory makes individuals focus on the effect of one parameter while blinding them to the effects of others. However, participants’ understanding may also result from different exploration patterns. For instance, participants who received an inertia-related theory mainly produced balanced wheels (Fig. 3F), which could have prevented them from observing the effect of varying the position of the wheel’s center of mass.
...These results suggest that the understanding patterns observed in participants who received unidimensional theories is likely the result of the canalizing effect of theory transmission on exploration. Note that in the present case, this canalizing effect is performance-neutral: with our 2-dimensional problem, better understanding of one dimension and worse understanding of one dimension simply compensate each other. For a many-dimensional problem, though, better understanding of one dimension is unlikely to compensate for worse understanding of all the others.
Abstract: Highly-optimized tools are common in traditional populations. Bows and arrows, dogsleds, clothing, houses, and kayaks are just a few examples of the complex, exquisitely designed tools that humans produced and used to colonize new, demanding environments. Because there is much evidence that humans’ cognitive abilities are unparalleled, many believe that such technologies resulted from our superior causal reasoning abilities. However, others have stressed that the high dimensionality of human technologies make them very hard to understand causally. Instead, they argue that optimized technologies emerge through the selective retention of small improvements across generations without requiring explicit understanding of how these technologies work. Here, we find experimental support for the latter view by showing that a physical artifact becomes progressively optimized across generations of social learners in the absence of explicit causal understanding. We find that participants do not spontaneously create multidimensional causal theories but instead mainly produce simplistic models related to a specifically salient dimension. Finally, we show that the transmission of these simplistic theories constrain exploration in subsequent generations of learners and has negative downstream effects on their understanding. These results indicate that highly optimized technologies do not necessarily result from evolved reasoning abilities but instead can emerge from the blind accumulation of many small improvements made across generations linked by cultural transmission, and demand a focus on the cultural dynamics underlying technological change as well as individual cognition.
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Of the 56 participants who received a theory... 15 received an inertia-related theory, 17 received an energy-related theory, 6 received a full theory and 18 received diverse, irrelevant theories
...inherited theories strongly affected participant's understanding of the wheel system. Participants who did not inherit any theory (“Configurations” treatment) scored similarly (and better than chance) on questions about inertia and questions about energy (Fig. 3I). In comparison, participants who inherited an inertia- or energy- related theory showed skewed understanding patterns. Inheriting an inertia-related theory increased their understanding of inertia, but decreased their understanding of energy; symmetrically, inheriting an energy-related theory increased their understanding of energy, but decreased their understanding about inertia. One explanation for this pattern is that inheriting a unidimensional theory makes individuals focus on the effect of one parameter while blinding them to the effects of others. However, participants’ understanding may also result from different exploration patterns. For instance, participants who received an inertia-related theory mainly produced balanced wheels (Fig. 3F), which could have prevented them from observing the effect of varying the position of the wheel’s center of mass.
...These results suggest that the understanding patterns observed in participants who received unidimensional theories is likely the result of the canalizing effect of theory transmission on exploration. Note that in the present case, this canalizing effect is performance-neutral: with our 2-dimensional problem, better understanding of one dimension and worse understanding of one dimension simply compensate each other. For a many-dimensional problem, though, better understanding of one dimension is unlikely to compensate for worse understanding of all the others.
Experimental research suggests that high power and leadership result in the experience of more positive and less negative emotions; we don't find relation with power and subjective well-being or job satisfaction
Small and negligible? Evidence on the Relation Between Individuals’ Power in the Job Situation and their Satisfaction with Life and Job. Herbert Bless & Nadia Granato. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, https://doi.org/10.1080/01973533.2018.1510779
Abstract: Experimental research suggests that high power and leadership result in the experience of more positive and less negative emotions. Extending these findings of experimental manipulations, we investigated relations between power and subjective well-being in a representative national survey. Defining power as the capability to administer resources or punishments, we inferred power from the number of people whom respondents supervise in their job. The results reflect a very small relation between this operationalization and individuals’ life and job satisfaction. The results suggest that prior experimental findings on the relation between power and satisfaction judgments cannot be applied directly to job situations.
Abstract: Experimental research suggests that high power and leadership result in the experience of more positive and less negative emotions. Extending these findings of experimental manipulations, we investigated relations between power and subjective well-being in a representative national survey. Defining power as the capability to administer resources or punishments, we inferred power from the number of people whom respondents supervise in their job. The results reflect a very small relation between this operationalization and individuals’ life and job satisfaction. The results suggest that prior experimental findings on the relation between power and satisfaction judgments cannot be applied directly to job situations.
Working in occupations with higher percentages of male workers is associated with higher levels of unpleasantness and lower levels of meaningfulness at work for women
Men and Women at Work: Occupational Gender Composition and Affective Well-Being in the United States. Yue Qian, Wen Fan. Journal of Happiness Studies, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10902-018-0039-3
Abstract: Most adults spend almost half their waking hours at work. How people feel during work can have far-reaching consequences for their quality of life. This study traces male and female workers’ affective experiences at work to the gender composition of their occupations. To do this, we draw on nationally representative time diary data on affective experiences at work from the 2010, 2012, and 2013 well-being modules of the American Time Use Surveys, as well as data on occupational gender composition from the Current Population Surveys. Our analytic sample contains 5216 activity records of working at main jobs from 4486 non-self-employed workers. We find significant gender differences in the relationship between occupational gender composition and affective well-being: Working in occupations with higher percentages of male workers is associated with higher levels of unpleasantness and lower levels of meaningfulness at work for women but these associations are not significant for men. We discuss the implications of our findings for gender inequality in work-related well-being and for the stalled progress towards gender integration in occupations.
Keywords: Affective well-being Gender Occupational gender segregation Time use Quality of life United States
Abstract: Most adults spend almost half their waking hours at work. How people feel during work can have far-reaching consequences for their quality of life. This study traces male and female workers’ affective experiences at work to the gender composition of their occupations. To do this, we draw on nationally representative time diary data on affective experiences at work from the 2010, 2012, and 2013 well-being modules of the American Time Use Surveys, as well as data on occupational gender composition from the Current Population Surveys. Our analytic sample contains 5216 activity records of working at main jobs from 4486 non-self-employed workers. We find significant gender differences in the relationship between occupational gender composition and affective well-being: Working in occupations with higher percentages of male workers is associated with higher levels of unpleasantness and lower levels of meaningfulness at work for women but these associations are not significant for men. We discuss the implications of our findings for gender inequality in work-related well-being and for the stalled progress towards gender integration in occupations.
Keywords: Affective well-being Gender Occupational gender segregation Time use Quality of life United States
Before recovering traumatic memories, 10% had attempted/thought about suicide; after, 67%; before, 7% had been hospitalized; after, 37%; before, 3% had engaged in self-mutilation, after, 27%; many remembered being abused in satanic rituals
Invasion of the Mind Snatchers: A Nation Full of Traumatic Memories. Elizabeth F. Loftus, Jennifer Teitcher. Clinical Psychological Science, https://doi.org/10.1177/2167702618797107
Abstract: The new national survey by Patihis and Pendergrast (this issue) suggests that millions of people may have recovered traumatic memories that they spent large parts of their lives not thinking about. We wondered whether they are better off and suggest that more than a few may be worse off rather than better. Given this risk of therapy, should therapists be warning patients of the potential risks before conducting therapy? The answer is not clear as warning about risks can be risky itself. Overall, we propose that with so many people living with “recovered” memories, future research now needs to address whether they are indeed better off and which methods would help achieve that goal.
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Before recovering traumatic memories, 10% had attempted/thought about suicide; after, 67%; before, 7% had been hospitalized; after, 37%; before, 3% had engaged in self-mutilation, after, 27%; many remembered being abused in satanic rituals, although corroboration was lacking; sizable numbers lost their jobs, lost children custody & were estranged from their extended families
Abstract: The new national survey by Patihis and Pendergrast (this issue) suggests that millions of people may have recovered traumatic memories that they spent large parts of their lives not thinking about. We wondered whether they are better off and suggest that more than a few may be worse off rather than better. Given this risk of therapy, should therapists be warning patients of the potential risks before conducting therapy? The answer is not clear as warning about risks can be risky itself. Overall, we propose that with so many people living with “recovered” memories, future research now needs to address whether they are indeed better off and which methods would help achieve that goal.
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Before recovering traumatic memories, 10% had attempted/thought about suicide; after, 67%; before, 7% had been hospitalized; after, 37%; before, 3% had engaged in self-mutilation, after, 27%; many remembered being abused in satanic rituals, although corroboration was lacking; sizable numbers lost their jobs, lost children custody & were estranged from their extended families
Strugglers who gave advice, compared with those who received it, were more motivated to save money, control their tempers, lose weight, and seek employment; people erroneously predicted the opposite, expecting themselves & others to be less motivated
Dear Abby: Should I Give Advice or Receive It? Lauren Eskreis-Winkler, Ayelet Fishbach, Angela L. Duckworth. Psychological Science, https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797618795472
Abstract: Typically, individuals struggling with goal achievement seek advice. However, in the present investigation (N = 2,274), struggling individuals were more motivated by giving advice than receiving it. In a randomized, controlled, double-blind field experiment, middle-school students who gave motivational advice to younger students spent more time on homework over the following month than students who received motivational advice from expert teachers (Experiment 1). This phenomenon was replicated across self-regulatory domains: Strugglers who gave advice, compared with those who received expert advice, were more motivated to save money, control their tempers, lose weight, and seek employment (Experiments 2 and 3). Nevertheless, across domains, people erroneously predicted the opposite, expecting themselves and others to be less motivated by giving advice than receiving it (Experiments 2 and 3). Why are people blind to the motivational power of giving? Giving advice motivated givers by raising their confidence—a reality that predictors fail to anticipate (Experiment 4).
Keywords: giving, advice, motivation, goal achievement, misprediction, open data, open materials, preregistered
Abstract: Typically, individuals struggling with goal achievement seek advice. However, in the present investigation (N = 2,274), struggling individuals were more motivated by giving advice than receiving it. In a randomized, controlled, double-blind field experiment, middle-school students who gave motivational advice to younger students spent more time on homework over the following month than students who received motivational advice from expert teachers (Experiment 1). This phenomenon was replicated across self-regulatory domains: Strugglers who gave advice, compared with those who received expert advice, were more motivated to save money, control their tempers, lose weight, and seek employment (Experiments 2 and 3). Nevertheless, across domains, people erroneously predicted the opposite, expecting themselves and others to be less motivated by giving advice than receiving it (Experiments 2 and 3). Why are people blind to the motivational power of giving? Giving advice motivated givers by raising their confidence—a reality that predictors fail to anticipate (Experiment 4).
Keywords: giving, advice, motivation, goal achievement, misprediction, open data, open materials, preregistered
The language of liberal & conservative extremists was more negative & angry in its emotional tone than that of moderates; contrary to previous research, liberal extremists’ language was more negative than that of conservative ones
Frimer, Jeremy A., Mark J. Brandt, Zachary J. Melton, and Matt Motyl. 2018. “Extremists on the Left and Right Use Angry, Negative Language.” OSF Preprints. October 3. doi:10.31219/osf.io/ufd2s
Abstract: We propose that political extremists use more negative language than moderates. Previous research found that conservatives report feeling happier than liberals and yet liberals “display greater happiness” in their language than do conservatives. However, some of the previous studies relied on questionable measures of political orientation and affective language; and no studies have examined whether political orientation and affective language are non-linearly related. Revisiting the same contexts (Twitter, U.S. Congress), and adding three new ones (political organizations, news media, crowdsourced Americans), we found that the language of liberal and conservative extremists’ was more negative and angry in its emotional tone than that of moderates. Contrary to previous research, we found that liberal extremists’ language was more negative than that of conservative extremists. Additional analyses supported the explanation that extremists feel threatened by the activities of political rivals, and their angry, negative language represents efforts to communicate as much to others.
Extremists on the Left and Right Use Angry, Negative Language
Abstract: We propose that political extremists use more negative language than moderates. Previous research found that conservatives report feeling happier than liberals and yet liberals “display greater happiness” in their language than do conservatives. However, some of the previous studies relied on questionable measures of political orientation and affective language; and no studies have examined whether political orientation and affective language are non-linearly related. Revisiting the same contexts (Twitter, U.S. Congress), and adding three new ones (political organizations, news media, crowdsourced Americans), we found that the language of liberal and conservative extremists’ was more negative and angry in its emotional tone than that of moderates. Contrary to previous research, we found that liberal extremists’ language was more negative than that of conservative extremists. Additional analyses supported the explanation that extremists feel threatened by the activities of political rivals, and their angry, negative language represents efforts to communicate as much to others.
Extremists on the Left and Right Use Angry, Negative Language
Scholarly culture: How books in adolescence enhance adult literacy, numeracy and technology skills in 31 societies
Scholarly culture: How books in adolescence enhance adult literacy, numeracy and technology skills in 31 societies. Joanna Sikora, M. D. R. Evans, Jonathan Kelley. Social Science Research, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2018.10.003
Abstract: A growing body of evidence supports the contention of scholarly culture theory that immersing children in book-oriented environments benefits their later educational achievement, attainment and occupational standing. These findings have been interpreted as suggesting that book-oriented socialization, indicated by home library size, equips youth with life-long tastes, skills and knowledge. However, to date, this has not been directly assessed. Here, we document advantageous effects of scholarly culture for adult literacy, adult numeracy, and adult technological problem solving. Growing up with home libraries boosts adult skills in these areas beyond the benefits accrued from parental education or own educational or occupational attainment. The effects are loglinear, with greatest returns to the growth in smaller libraries. Our evidence comes from regressions with balanced repeated replicate weights estimated on data from 31 societies which participated in the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) between 2011 and 2015.
Abstract: A growing body of evidence supports the contention of scholarly culture theory that immersing children in book-oriented environments benefits their later educational achievement, attainment and occupational standing. These findings have been interpreted as suggesting that book-oriented socialization, indicated by home library size, equips youth with life-long tastes, skills and knowledge. However, to date, this has not been directly assessed. Here, we document advantageous effects of scholarly culture for adult literacy, adult numeracy, and adult technological problem solving. Growing up with home libraries boosts adult skills in these areas beyond the benefits accrued from parental education or own educational or occupational attainment. The effects are loglinear, with greatest returns to the growth in smaller libraries. Our evidence comes from regressions with balanced repeated replicate weights estimated on data from 31 societies which participated in the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) between 2011 and 2015.
Women: Falling in love is associated with immune system gene regulation; the changes are independent of changes in physical illness or sexual contact, & are consistent with facilitation of sexual reproduction
Falling in Love is Associated with Immune System Gene Regulation. Damian R. Murray et al. Psychoneuroendocrinology, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2018.09.043
Highlights
• Falling in love is associated with up-regulation of Type I interferon response genes.
• Falling in love is associated with a reciprocal down-regulation of α-defensin-related transcripts.
• These changes are independent of changes in physical illness or sexual contact.
• Changes are consistent with selective up-regulation of innate immune responses to viral infections.
• Changes also consistent with dendritic cell facilitation of sexual reproduction.
Abstract: Although falling in love is one of the most important and psychologically potent events in human life, the somatic implications of new romantic love remain poorly understood. Psychological, immunological, and reproductive perspectives offer competing predictions of the specific transcriptional regulatory shifts that might accompany the experience of falling in love. To characterize the impact of romantic love on human genome function, we conducted genome-wide transcriptome profiling of 115 circulating immune cell samples collected from 47 young women over the course of a 2-year longitudinal study. Analyses revealed a selective alteration in immune cell gene regulation characterized by up-regulation of Type I interferon response genes associated with CD1C+/BDCA-1+ dendritic cells (DCs) and CLEC4C+/BDCA-2+ DCs, and a reciprocal down-regulation of α-defensin-related transcripts associated with neutrophil granulocytes. These effects emerged above and beyond the effects of changes in illness, perceived social isolation, and sexual contact. These findings are consistent with a selective up-regulation of innate immune responses to viral infections (e.g., Type I interferons and DC) and with DC facilitation of sexual reproduction, and provide insight into the immunoregulatory correlates of one of the keystone experiences in human life.
Highlights
• Falling in love is associated with up-regulation of Type I interferon response genes.
• Falling in love is associated with a reciprocal down-regulation of α-defensin-related transcripts.
• These changes are independent of changes in physical illness or sexual contact.
• Changes are consistent with selective up-regulation of innate immune responses to viral infections.
• Changes also consistent with dendritic cell facilitation of sexual reproduction.
Abstract: Although falling in love is one of the most important and psychologically potent events in human life, the somatic implications of new romantic love remain poorly understood. Psychological, immunological, and reproductive perspectives offer competing predictions of the specific transcriptional regulatory shifts that might accompany the experience of falling in love. To characterize the impact of romantic love on human genome function, we conducted genome-wide transcriptome profiling of 115 circulating immune cell samples collected from 47 young women over the course of a 2-year longitudinal study. Analyses revealed a selective alteration in immune cell gene regulation characterized by up-regulation of Type I interferon response genes associated with CD1C+/BDCA-1+ dendritic cells (DCs) and CLEC4C+/BDCA-2+ DCs, and a reciprocal down-regulation of α-defensin-related transcripts associated with neutrophil granulocytes. These effects emerged above and beyond the effects of changes in illness, perceived social isolation, and sexual contact. These findings are consistent with a selective up-regulation of innate immune responses to viral infections (e.g., Type I interferons and DC) and with DC facilitation of sexual reproduction, and provide insight into the immunoregulatory correlates of one of the keystone experiences in human life.
Wednesday, October 3, 2018
Repeated experiences of rejection result in decreases in ideal standards & self-perceived mate value & increases in ideal flexibility, but there is no increased acceptance
Charlot, Nicolyn, Rhonda N. Balzarini, and Lorne Campbell. 2018. “The Influence of Romantic Rejection on Change in Ideal Standards, Ideal Flexibility, and Self-perceived Mate Value.” PsyArXiv. October 3. doi:10.31234/osf.io/yhvdu
Abstract: Research has shown that ideal romantic standards predict future partner characteristics and influence existing relationships, but how standards develop and change among single individuals has yet to be explored. Using the Ideal Standards Model, the present study sought to determine whether repeated experiences of romantic rejection and acceptance over time influence ideal standards, ideal flexibility, and self-perceived mate value (N = 208). Per expectations, results suggest repeated experiences of rejection result in decreases in ideal standards and self-perceived mate value and increases in ideal flexibility, though no effects emerged for acceptance. Given the predictive nature of ideal standards and the influence rejection has on such, findings from this study contribute to a greater understanding of relationship formation processes.
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Consistent with hypotheses, increased experiences of rejection predicted decreases in self-perceived mate value and ideal standards, and increases in ideal flexibility over time (H5, H7, H8). This is the first study to empirically support Simpson and colleagues’ (2001) idea that repeated experiences of rejection cause a decline in ideal standards and increases in ideal flexibility. Further, the finding that rejection is associated with lower self-perceived mate value over time is consistent with prior literature showing that rejection decreases self-esteem and self-perceived mate value (Kavanagh et al., 2010; Pass et al., 2010; Ruan & Zhang, 2012; Zhang et al., 2015), but the present study is the first to demonstrate this effect longitudinally. Combined, these findings suggest that repeated experiences of rejection predict changes not only in individuals’ perceptions of themselves, but also what they desire in a romantic partner. This may occur because multiple experiences of rejection repeatedly signal the disinterest of individuals advanced upon, which could cause participants to reevaluate their own worth as potential mates, as well as their standards for the types of people with whom they are likely to enter a relationship. Decreasing standards and increasing flexibility is likely advantageous, as doing so widens the dating pool and leads to an increased chance of experiencing acceptance.
Experiences of acceptance did not predict changes in ideal standards (H6), ideal flexibility, or self-perceived mate value. Although Simpson and colleagues (2001) suggested repeated experiences of acceptance would increase standards, prior literature has demonstrated that acceptance has mixed effects on mate expectations (e.g., Kavanagh et al., 2014; Zhang et al., 2014). Sociometer theory suggests that people should be more attuned to rejection than acceptance (Leary & Baumeister, 2000; Leary & Downs, 1995), as ignoring rejection is costlier than ignoring acceptance, which may further account for these findings. Acceptance may primarily function as a reaffirmation of the status quo, rather than a reason to increase standards. However, the type of person accepting the advance may be influential – repeated experiences of acceptance from potential partners of relatively high mate value may cause an increase in ideal standards and self-perceived mate value, and a decrease in ideal flexibility, while acceptances from similar or lower mate value individuals may not cause changes in these constructs.
Contrary to hypotheses, self-perceived mate value did not moderate rejection’s impact on change in ideal standards, ideal flexibility, or self-perceived mate value (H9, H10, H11). One explanation for the null findings is that high self-perceived mate value is an effective buffer against singular experiences of rejection, but not repeated experiences, as documented in this study. Indeed, sociometer theory suggests that people with high self-esteem should be less attuned to experiences of rejection than those with low self-esteem, but repeated instances of rejection should increasingly trigger the sociometer, thus decreasing self-esteem. Given the close association between self-esteem and self-perceived mate value (Brase & Guy, 2004; Kirkpatrick & Ellis, 2001), this is likely true for self-perceived mate value as well. As the present study examined multiple instances of rejection, any buffering effects initially high self-perceived mate value had may not have been evident after six months of acceptance and rejection experiences. Future research should examine self-perceived mate value as a moderator of both singular and multiple experiences of rejection to explore this notion further.
Gender did not influence many outcomes when included in the primary analyses, although results did indicate that men reported higher numbers of overall, accepted, and rejected advances than women, which is consistent with prior research which shows men tend to initiate more dates and exhibit more direct dating behaviors than women (Eaton & Rose, 2011). Interestingly, gender was a significant moderator in a three-way interaction with initial self-perceived mate value and rejection, such that the ideal standards of women with initially low self-perceived mate value were more impacted by high levels of rejection than women with initially high levels of self-perceived mate value, and men with initially low self-perceived mate value. This finding suggests that the ideal standards of women with low self-perceived mate value are particularly sensitive to experiences of rejection. However, this result should be interpreted cautiously, given that the sample size of this study is lower than ideal for properly detecting a three-way interaction (Heo & Leon, 2010).
Implications
The current study has several theoretical implications. First, the results provide support for certain aspects of the ISM, as ideal standards positively correlated with self-perceived mate value, and ideal flexibility negatively correlated with ideal standards and self-perceived mate value. Additionally, this is the first study to empirically support the notion that repeated experiences of rejection over time decrease ideal standards and self-perceived mate value and increase ideal flexibility. However, the ISM posits that repeated experiences of acceptance will cause the opposite effect from rejection, but the present study did not demonstrate any effects of romantic acceptance. Future researchers using the ISM should take into consideration the relative importance of rejection over acceptance and examine the mechanisms behind this effect. Further, the ISM predicts that ideal flexibility should change more than ideal standards, but support for this prediction was not found in the current study. Furthermore, this study has implications for literature on the mating sociometer, as self-perceived mate value does not appear to moderate the influence of rejection on the aforementioned constructs. However, as mentioned previously, this may be due the present study’s focus on repeated versus singular rejection experiences, so self-perceived mate value’s role as a moderator should be explored further.
The present findings also have implications for relationship initiation and relationship satisfaction. Two longitudinal studies (Campbell et al., 2016; Gerlach et al., 2017) have demonstrated that ideal partner preferences of single individuals are predictive of characteristics of future partners. These findings, combined with the present study’s findings that experiences of rejection impact ideal standards, as well as ideal flexibility and self-perceived mate value, suggests that experiences of rejection while single may influence partner selection. Although future research is needed, these findings suggest that individuals who experience high levels of rejection may lower their ideal standards and enter relationships with partners of lower mate quality than initially desired. Therefore, individuals who change their ideal standards in response to rejection may end up with lower-quality mates than those who do not experience high levels of rejection. Reducing one’s standards and preferences may impact relationship quality, as people who enter relationships with partners who match their new, lower standards may experience less relationship satisfaction than those who enter relationships with partners who match their initial, unadjusted standards.
Limitations and Future Directions
While the present study contributes many novel findings to relationship literature, it does have several notable limitations. First, due to the longitudinal nature of the study, high attrition impacted the quality of data. Specifically, many participants did not complete every monthly survey, so the true number of accepted and rejected advances is unknown. It is possible that some people who were categorized as never having made an advance did make advances but did not fill out surveys for those months. Additionally, while the initial sample included 208 participants, only 95 were used in analyses involving the impact of rejection on change in ideal standards, flexibility, and self-perceived mate value, which is lower than desired. The remaining 113 participants either did not respond to the monthly surveys or did not report making any advances during the monthly surveys. The generalizability of the study is also limited, as the sample is predominantly white, and the sexual orientation of participants is unknown.
Second, the present study’s focus was on experiences of accepted and rejected advances, but it did not account for advances made towards the participants, which may also predict change in standards, flexibility, and self-perceived mate value. Participants who are routinely approached likely have higher ideals and self-perceived mate value, and lower flexibility than those who are never or less frequently approached. The present study also did not account for who participants were approaching. Rejection from a long-time crush may be much more impactful than rejection from a stranger at a bar, or, rejection from an extremely high-quality potential mate may have less of an effect on an individual than rejection from someone of similar or lower mate quality. Additionally, the present research did not inquire about the type of relationship being sought by participants; it is possible that those seeking casual relationships would be less impacted by rejection than those desiring more serious commitments. Further, explicit definitions of accepted and rejected advances were not included in the study, so participants may have had different interpretations of what counted as an accepted or rejected advance, which may have influenced their reports. Ultimately, the present study provides a broad perspective on how acceptance and rejection impact change in ideal standards, ideal flexibility, and self-perceived mate value, but it does not explore the nuances of the context in which each experience of rejection or acceptance occurs, which would be useful and informative in increasing the understanding of the associations between these constructs.
Abstract: Research has shown that ideal romantic standards predict future partner characteristics and influence existing relationships, but how standards develop and change among single individuals has yet to be explored. Using the Ideal Standards Model, the present study sought to determine whether repeated experiences of romantic rejection and acceptance over time influence ideal standards, ideal flexibility, and self-perceived mate value (N = 208). Per expectations, results suggest repeated experiences of rejection result in decreases in ideal standards and self-perceived mate value and increases in ideal flexibility, though no effects emerged for acceptance. Given the predictive nature of ideal standards and the influence rejection has on such, findings from this study contribute to a greater understanding of relationship formation processes.
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Consistent with hypotheses, increased experiences of rejection predicted decreases in self-perceived mate value and ideal standards, and increases in ideal flexibility over time (H5, H7, H8). This is the first study to empirically support Simpson and colleagues’ (2001) idea that repeated experiences of rejection cause a decline in ideal standards and increases in ideal flexibility. Further, the finding that rejection is associated with lower self-perceived mate value over time is consistent with prior literature showing that rejection decreases self-esteem and self-perceived mate value (Kavanagh et al., 2010; Pass et al., 2010; Ruan & Zhang, 2012; Zhang et al., 2015), but the present study is the first to demonstrate this effect longitudinally. Combined, these findings suggest that repeated experiences of rejection predict changes not only in individuals’ perceptions of themselves, but also what they desire in a romantic partner. This may occur because multiple experiences of rejection repeatedly signal the disinterest of individuals advanced upon, which could cause participants to reevaluate their own worth as potential mates, as well as their standards for the types of people with whom they are likely to enter a relationship. Decreasing standards and increasing flexibility is likely advantageous, as doing so widens the dating pool and leads to an increased chance of experiencing acceptance.
Experiences of acceptance did not predict changes in ideal standards (H6), ideal flexibility, or self-perceived mate value. Although Simpson and colleagues (2001) suggested repeated experiences of acceptance would increase standards, prior literature has demonstrated that acceptance has mixed effects on mate expectations (e.g., Kavanagh et al., 2014; Zhang et al., 2014). Sociometer theory suggests that people should be more attuned to rejection than acceptance (Leary & Baumeister, 2000; Leary & Downs, 1995), as ignoring rejection is costlier than ignoring acceptance, which may further account for these findings. Acceptance may primarily function as a reaffirmation of the status quo, rather than a reason to increase standards. However, the type of person accepting the advance may be influential – repeated experiences of acceptance from potential partners of relatively high mate value may cause an increase in ideal standards and self-perceived mate value, and a decrease in ideal flexibility, while acceptances from similar or lower mate value individuals may not cause changes in these constructs.
Contrary to hypotheses, self-perceived mate value did not moderate rejection’s impact on change in ideal standards, ideal flexibility, or self-perceived mate value (H9, H10, H11). One explanation for the null findings is that high self-perceived mate value is an effective buffer against singular experiences of rejection, but not repeated experiences, as documented in this study. Indeed, sociometer theory suggests that people with high self-esteem should be less attuned to experiences of rejection than those with low self-esteem, but repeated instances of rejection should increasingly trigger the sociometer, thus decreasing self-esteem. Given the close association between self-esteem and self-perceived mate value (Brase & Guy, 2004; Kirkpatrick & Ellis, 2001), this is likely true for self-perceived mate value as well. As the present study examined multiple instances of rejection, any buffering effects initially high self-perceived mate value had may not have been evident after six months of acceptance and rejection experiences. Future research should examine self-perceived mate value as a moderator of both singular and multiple experiences of rejection to explore this notion further.
Gender did not influence many outcomes when included in the primary analyses, although results did indicate that men reported higher numbers of overall, accepted, and rejected advances than women, which is consistent with prior research which shows men tend to initiate more dates and exhibit more direct dating behaviors than women (Eaton & Rose, 2011). Interestingly, gender was a significant moderator in a three-way interaction with initial self-perceived mate value and rejection, such that the ideal standards of women with initially low self-perceived mate value were more impacted by high levels of rejection than women with initially high levels of self-perceived mate value, and men with initially low self-perceived mate value. This finding suggests that the ideal standards of women with low self-perceived mate value are particularly sensitive to experiences of rejection. However, this result should be interpreted cautiously, given that the sample size of this study is lower than ideal for properly detecting a three-way interaction (Heo & Leon, 2010).
Implications
The current study has several theoretical implications. First, the results provide support for certain aspects of the ISM, as ideal standards positively correlated with self-perceived mate value, and ideal flexibility negatively correlated with ideal standards and self-perceived mate value. Additionally, this is the first study to empirically support the notion that repeated experiences of rejection over time decrease ideal standards and self-perceived mate value and increase ideal flexibility. However, the ISM posits that repeated experiences of acceptance will cause the opposite effect from rejection, but the present study did not demonstrate any effects of romantic acceptance. Future researchers using the ISM should take into consideration the relative importance of rejection over acceptance and examine the mechanisms behind this effect. Further, the ISM predicts that ideal flexibility should change more than ideal standards, but support for this prediction was not found in the current study. Furthermore, this study has implications for literature on the mating sociometer, as self-perceived mate value does not appear to moderate the influence of rejection on the aforementioned constructs. However, as mentioned previously, this may be due the present study’s focus on repeated versus singular rejection experiences, so self-perceived mate value’s role as a moderator should be explored further.
The present findings also have implications for relationship initiation and relationship satisfaction. Two longitudinal studies (Campbell et al., 2016; Gerlach et al., 2017) have demonstrated that ideal partner preferences of single individuals are predictive of characteristics of future partners. These findings, combined with the present study’s findings that experiences of rejection impact ideal standards, as well as ideal flexibility and self-perceived mate value, suggests that experiences of rejection while single may influence partner selection. Although future research is needed, these findings suggest that individuals who experience high levels of rejection may lower their ideal standards and enter relationships with partners of lower mate quality than initially desired. Therefore, individuals who change their ideal standards in response to rejection may end up with lower-quality mates than those who do not experience high levels of rejection. Reducing one’s standards and preferences may impact relationship quality, as people who enter relationships with partners who match their new, lower standards may experience less relationship satisfaction than those who enter relationships with partners who match their initial, unadjusted standards.
Limitations and Future Directions
While the present study contributes many novel findings to relationship literature, it does have several notable limitations. First, due to the longitudinal nature of the study, high attrition impacted the quality of data. Specifically, many participants did not complete every monthly survey, so the true number of accepted and rejected advances is unknown. It is possible that some people who were categorized as never having made an advance did make advances but did not fill out surveys for those months. Additionally, while the initial sample included 208 participants, only 95 were used in analyses involving the impact of rejection on change in ideal standards, flexibility, and self-perceived mate value, which is lower than desired. The remaining 113 participants either did not respond to the monthly surveys or did not report making any advances during the monthly surveys. The generalizability of the study is also limited, as the sample is predominantly white, and the sexual orientation of participants is unknown.
Second, the present study’s focus was on experiences of accepted and rejected advances, but it did not account for advances made towards the participants, which may also predict change in standards, flexibility, and self-perceived mate value. Participants who are routinely approached likely have higher ideals and self-perceived mate value, and lower flexibility than those who are never or less frequently approached. The present study also did not account for who participants were approaching. Rejection from a long-time crush may be much more impactful than rejection from a stranger at a bar, or, rejection from an extremely high-quality potential mate may have less of an effect on an individual than rejection from someone of similar or lower mate quality. Additionally, the present research did not inquire about the type of relationship being sought by participants; it is possible that those seeking casual relationships would be less impacted by rejection than those desiring more serious commitments. Further, explicit definitions of accepted and rejected advances were not included in the study, so participants may have had different interpretations of what counted as an accepted or rejected advance, which may have influenced their reports. Ultimately, the present study provides a broad perspective on how acceptance and rejection impact change in ideal standards, ideal flexibility, and self-perceived mate value, but it does not explore the nuances of the context in which each experience of rejection or acceptance occurs, which would be useful and informative in increasing the understanding of the associations between these constructs.
The price levels of goods and services consumed by households are 25 to 28 percent higher in Sub-Saharan Africa than in other low- and middle-income countries, relative to their income levels
Is living in African cities expensive? Shohei Nakamura et al. Applied Economics Letters, https://doi.org/10.1080/13504851.2018.1527441
ABSTRACT: Although several studies have examined why overall price levels are higher in richer countries, little is known about whether there is a similar relationship at the urban and city level across countries. This paper compares the price levels of cities in Sub-Saharan Africa with those of other regions by analyzing price information collected for the purpose of calculating official purchasing power parities. The approach of the paper is to readjust the calculated price levels from national to urban levels, using known price-level ratios between those areas. The results indicate that African cities are relatively more expensive, despite having lower income levels. The price levels of goods and services consumed by households are 25 to 28 percent higher in Sub-Saharan Africa than in other low- and middle-income countries, relative to their income levels. Such high costs of living could constrain livelihood of low-income urban residents, as well as the development of Africa’s urban economies.
KEYWORDS: Purchasing power parity, price level, urbanization, International Comparison Program, Sub-Saharan Africa
JEL: E31, O47, R32
ABSTRACT: Although several studies have examined why overall price levels are higher in richer countries, little is known about whether there is a similar relationship at the urban and city level across countries. This paper compares the price levels of cities in Sub-Saharan Africa with those of other regions by analyzing price information collected for the purpose of calculating official purchasing power parities. The approach of the paper is to readjust the calculated price levels from national to urban levels, using known price-level ratios between those areas. The results indicate that African cities are relatively more expensive, despite having lower income levels. The price levels of goods and services consumed by households are 25 to 28 percent higher in Sub-Saharan Africa than in other low- and middle-income countries, relative to their income levels. Such high costs of living could constrain livelihood of low-income urban residents, as well as the development of Africa’s urban economies.
KEYWORDS: Purchasing power parity, price level, urbanization, International Comparison Program, Sub-Saharan Africa
JEL: E31, O47, R32
Robust evidence that public firms invest more overall, particularly in R&D, & dedicate more of their investment to R&D following IPO, & reduce upon going private
Feldman, Naomi, Laura Kawano, Elena Patel, Nirupama Rao, Michael Stevens, and Jesse Edgerton (2018). “The Long and Short of It: Do Public and Private Firms Invest Differently?,” Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2018-068. Washington: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, https://doi.org/10.17016/FEDS.2018.068
Abstract: Using data from U.S. corporate tax returns, which provide a sample representative of the universe of U.S. corporations, we investigate the differential investment propensities of public and private firms. Re-weighting the data to generate observationally comparable sets of public and private firms, we find robust evidence that public firms invest more overall, particularly in R&D. Exploiting within-firm variation in public status, we find that firms dedicate more of their investment to R&D following IPO, and reduce these investments upon going private. Our findings suggest that public stock markets facilitate greater investment, on average, particularly in risky, uncollateralized investments.
JEL Codes: G31, G34.
Keywords: Investment, public firms, corporate governance
Abstract: Using data from U.S. corporate tax returns, which provide a sample representative of the universe of U.S. corporations, we investigate the differential investment propensities of public and private firms. Re-weighting the data to generate observationally comparable sets of public and private firms, we find robust evidence that public firms invest more overall, particularly in R&D. Exploiting within-firm variation in public status, we find that firms dedicate more of their investment to R&D following IPO, and reduce these investments upon going private. Our findings suggest that public stock markets facilitate greater investment, on average, particularly in risky, uncollateralized investments.
JEL Codes: G31, G34.
Keywords: Investment, public firms, corporate governance
2016 Presidential Election: Self-ratings of personality showed weak associations with political preferences, appraisal of candidates’ personality robustly associated; appraisals stronger predictor than demographics, political party, racial attitudes
Personality and political preferences: The 2016 U.S. Presidential Election. Jo Ann A. Abe. Journal of Research in Personality, Volume 77, December 2018, Pages 70-82. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2018.09.001
Highlights
• Self-ratings of personality showed weak associations with political preferences.
• Appraisal of candidates’ personality robustly associated with political preferences.
• Appraisals stronger predictor than demographics, political party, racial attitudes.
• Appraisals related to linguistic markers of liberal, conservative, populist values.
Abstract: This study examined whether personality variables would account for political preferences during the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election using a demographically diverse sample of participants (N = 897). Study A revealed participants’ ratings of their own personality and emotions were weakly associated with political preferences, but their ratings of candidates’ personality showed robust associations, and were far more predictive of voting intention than all of the demographic variables, political affiliation, and racial attitudes combined. In Study B, linguistic analysis of narratives revealed words reflective of liberal values were correlated with positive evaluations of Clinton’s personality, whereas words reflective of conservative values and “populist” sentiment were correlated with positive evaluations of Trump’s personality, suggesting appraisals of candidates may be associated with values.
Highlights
• Self-ratings of personality showed weak associations with political preferences.
• Appraisal of candidates’ personality robustly associated with political preferences.
• Appraisals stronger predictor than demographics, political party, racial attitudes.
• Appraisals related to linguistic markers of liberal, conservative, populist values.
Abstract: This study examined whether personality variables would account for political preferences during the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election using a demographically diverse sample of participants (N = 897). Study A revealed participants’ ratings of their own personality and emotions were weakly associated with political preferences, but their ratings of candidates’ personality showed robust associations, and were far more predictive of voting intention than all of the demographic variables, political affiliation, and racial attitudes combined. In Study B, linguistic analysis of narratives revealed words reflective of liberal values were correlated with positive evaluations of Clinton’s personality, whereas words reflective of conservative values and “populist” sentiment were correlated with positive evaluations of Trump’s personality, suggesting appraisals of candidates may be associated with values.
In steady heterosexual relationships men masturbate more than women because of gender differences in sex drive
In steady heterosexual relationships men masturbate more than women because of gender differences in sex drive. Wim Waterink. Submitted to New Voices in Psychology, http://www.gerontoseksuoloog.nl/Artikelen/Sex%20drive,%20masturbation%20and%20partnered%20sex.pdf
Abstract: In general, men and women differ with regard to the frequency of masturbation. Masturbation is more common among men than women. Masturbation is also more common among men than women in relationships. In a relationship this not always an appreciated fact. Relationship dissatisfaction can arise when a woman considers masturbation of her partner a substitute for partnered sex. This study investigated the suggestion that gender differences in the frequency of masturbation exists due to a gender difference in sex drive and that therefore masturbation of men engaged in a relationship is not a substitute for partnered sex. The research sample consisted of 554 Dutch participants of which were 355 women (mean age 42.02 years with a range of 20 to 72 years) and 199 men (mean age 44.62 years with a range of 22 to 76 years). All participants were engaged in a steady heterosexual relationship. In general it was found that a higher sex drive was associated with more masturbation and more partnered sex. More specific, women reported a masturbation frequency of about once per two weeks, that significantly differed from men. Men reported a masturbation frequency of about twice per week. Regarding reported frequency of partnered sex, no significant gender difference was found. Both, women and men, reported a frequency of about three times per two weeks. With regard to masturbation, a mediation analysis controlled for age with sex drive as a mediator, showed that sex drive significantly mediated, although not completely, the relationship between gender and the reported frequency of masturbation. The same mediation analysis was performed regarding the reported frequency of partnered sex. For partnered sex, sex drive also had significant mediation effect, but as a suppressor. It is concluded that in steady heterosexual relationships, the gender difference in sex drive is responsible for the fact that men masturbate more than wo men. Men masturbate more, because it is an easier outlet of sex drive than initiating partnered sex. Most important, for women in steady heterosexual relationships, as compared to men in steady heterosexual relationships, sex drive seems to be a less essential factor for partnered sex .
Keywords: gender differences; heterosexual relationship; masturbation; mediation analysis; partnered sex; sex drive
Abstract: In general, men and women differ with regard to the frequency of masturbation. Masturbation is more common among men than women. Masturbation is also more common among men than women in relationships. In a relationship this not always an appreciated fact. Relationship dissatisfaction can arise when a woman considers masturbation of her partner a substitute for partnered sex. This study investigated the suggestion that gender differences in the frequency of masturbation exists due to a gender difference in sex drive and that therefore masturbation of men engaged in a relationship is not a substitute for partnered sex. The research sample consisted of 554 Dutch participants of which were 355 women (mean age 42.02 years with a range of 20 to 72 years) and 199 men (mean age 44.62 years with a range of 22 to 76 years). All participants were engaged in a steady heterosexual relationship. In general it was found that a higher sex drive was associated with more masturbation and more partnered sex. More specific, women reported a masturbation frequency of about once per two weeks, that significantly differed from men. Men reported a masturbation frequency of about twice per week. Regarding reported frequency of partnered sex, no significant gender difference was found. Both, women and men, reported a frequency of about three times per two weeks. With regard to masturbation, a mediation analysis controlled for age with sex drive as a mediator, showed that sex drive significantly mediated, although not completely, the relationship between gender and the reported frequency of masturbation. The same mediation analysis was performed regarding the reported frequency of partnered sex. For partnered sex, sex drive also had significant mediation effect, but as a suppressor. It is concluded that in steady heterosexual relationships, the gender difference in sex drive is responsible for the fact that men masturbate more than wo men. Men masturbate more, because it is an easier outlet of sex drive than initiating partnered sex. Most important, for women in steady heterosexual relationships, as compared to men in steady heterosexual relationships, sex drive seems to be a less essential factor for partnered sex .
Keywords: gender differences; heterosexual relationship; masturbation; mediation analysis; partnered sex; sex drive
Current evolutionary adaptiveness of anxiety: Extreme phenotypes of anxiety predict increased fertility across multiple generations
Current evolutionary adaptiveness of anxiety: Extreme phenotypes of anxiety predict increased fertility across multiple generations. Nicholas C. Jacobson, Michael J. Roche. Journal of Psychiatric Research, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2018.10.002
Abstract
Objective: Although recent research has begun to examine the impact of elevated anxiety on evolutionary fitness, no prior research has examined anxiety across a continuum. Such research is important as the effect of traits across a continuum on fertility hold important implications for the levels and distribution of the traits in later generations.
Method: In a three-generational sample (N = 2657) the linear and quadratic relationship between anxiety and the number of children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren 15 years later was examined.
Results: The findings suggested that anxiety had a positive quadratic relationship with the number of children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren 15 years later. These relationships were not significantly moderated by sex. Moreover, most of the variance between anxiety and the number of great-grandchildren was explained by anxiety's influence on the number of children and grandchildren, as opposed to anxiety having an independent direct impact on the number of great-grandchildren.
Conclusion: These findings suggest that extreme values from the mean anxiety are associated with increased evolutionary fitness within the modern environment.
Abstract
Objective: Although recent research has begun to examine the impact of elevated anxiety on evolutionary fitness, no prior research has examined anxiety across a continuum. Such research is important as the effect of traits across a continuum on fertility hold important implications for the levels and distribution of the traits in later generations.
Method: In a three-generational sample (N = 2657) the linear and quadratic relationship between anxiety and the number of children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren 15 years later was examined.
Results: The findings suggested that anxiety had a positive quadratic relationship with the number of children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren 15 years later. These relationships were not significantly moderated by sex. Moreover, most of the variance between anxiety and the number of great-grandchildren was explained by anxiety's influence on the number of children and grandchildren, as opposed to anxiety having an independent direct impact on the number of great-grandchildren.
Conclusion: These findings suggest that extreme values from the mean anxiety are associated with increased evolutionary fitness within the modern environment.
Influence of small gifts on the outcome of business negotiations: small gifts matter, but tend to be counterproductive when purchasing and sales agents meet for the first time
Hidden Persuaders: Do Small Gifts Lubricate Business Negotiations? Michel André Maréchal, Christian Thöni. Management Science, https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2018.3113
Abstract: Gift-giving customs are ubiquitous in social, political, and business life. Legal regulation and industry guidelines for gifts are often based on the assumption that large gifts potentially influence behavior and create conflicts of interest, but small gifts do not. However, scientific evidence on the impact of small gifts on business relationships is scarce. We conducted a natural field experiment in collaboration with sales agents of a multinational consumer products company to study the influence of small gifts on the outcome of business negotiations. We find that small gifts matter. On average, sales representatives generate more than twice as much revenue when they distribute a small gift at the onset of their negotiations. However, we also find that small gifts tend to be counterproductive when purchasing and sales agents meet for the first time, suggesting that the nature of the business relationship crucially affects the profitability of gifts.
Abstract: Gift-giving customs are ubiquitous in social, political, and business life. Legal regulation and industry guidelines for gifts are often based on the assumption that large gifts potentially influence behavior and create conflicts of interest, but small gifts do not. However, scientific evidence on the impact of small gifts on business relationships is scarce. We conducted a natural field experiment in collaboration with sales agents of a multinational consumer products company to study the influence of small gifts on the outcome of business negotiations. We find that small gifts matter. On average, sales representatives generate more than twice as much revenue when they distribute a small gift at the onset of their negotiations. However, we also find that small gifts tend to be counterproductive when purchasing and sales agents meet for the first time, suggesting that the nature of the business relationship crucially affects the profitability of gifts.
Correlational but Not Causal Relationship Between Music Skill and Cognitive Ability
Sala, Giovanni, and Fernand Gobet. 2018. “Elvis Has Left the Building: Correlational but Not Causal Relationship Between Music Skill and Cognitive Ability.” PsyArXiv. September 8. doi:10.31234/osf.io/auzr
Abstract: Music training is commonly thought to have a positive impact on overall cognitive skills and academic achievement. This belief relies on the idea that engaging in an intellectually demanding activity helps to foster overall cognitive function. In this brief review, we show that, while music skill positively correlates with cognitive ability, music training does not enhance non-music cognitive skills or academic achievement. Interestingly, no significant effect on cognitive outcomes is observed even when music training leads to changes in the participants’ functional neural patterns. Crucially, the conclusion that music skills acquired by training do not generalize to non-music skills has been reached by several independent research groups via different methodologies. Such converging evidence suggests that the outcomes are highly reliable. The results have major implications. First, implementing music-training programs with the purpose of boosting individuals’ academic achievement or domain-general cognitive skills is not recommendable. Second, neural patterns induced by music training probably denote improvements in music-specific skills rather than overall cognitive function. Third, Thorndike and Woodworth’s (1901) common elements theory and theories based on chunking find further support. To date, far transfer remains a chimera.
Abstract: Music training is commonly thought to have a positive impact on overall cognitive skills and academic achievement. This belief relies on the idea that engaging in an intellectually demanding activity helps to foster overall cognitive function. In this brief review, we show that, while music skill positively correlates with cognitive ability, music training does not enhance non-music cognitive skills or academic achievement. Interestingly, no significant effect on cognitive outcomes is observed even when music training leads to changes in the participants’ functional neural patterns. Crucially, the conclusion that music skills acquired by training do not generalize to non-music skills has been reached by several independent research groups via different methodologies. Such converging evidence suggests that the outcomes are highly reliable. The results have major implications. First, implementing music-training programs with the purpose of boosting individuals’ academic achievement or domain-general cognitive skills is not recommendable. Second, neural patterns induced by music training probably denote improvements in music-specific skills rather than overall cognitive function. Third, Thorndike and Woodworth’s (1901) common elements theory and theories based on chunking find further support. To date, far transfer remains a chimera.
Tuesday, October 2, 2018
Narcissism appears to be positively correlated with short-term mating (e.g., promiscuity), suggesting that narcissism gets pushed into subsequent generations via promiscuous activity, but narcissists are not physically attractive at the unadorned level
Did Narcissism Evolve? Nicholas S. Holtzman. Handbook of Trait Narcissism pp 173-181, https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-92171-6_19
Abstract: This chapter, like each chapter in the edited book, focuses on narcissism (arrogance, exploitativeness, self-admiration, etc.). My goal is to entertain and evaluate the possibility that narcissism evolved. It is important to point out that, by way of background, just because something is morally suspect does not mean that it didn’t evolve; indeed, bad things can evolve. But despite narcissism being heritable, there is no direct evidence that narcissism is caused by specific genes, indicating that the evolutionary mechanisms are unknown. Through which pathways—such as mating pathways—does narcissism get passed onto the next generation? Narcissism appears to be positively correlated with short-term mating (e.g., promiscuity), suggesting that narcissism gets pushed into subsequent generations via promiscuous activity. The idea that narcissism evolved via short-term mating, however, is currently questionable, mainly because narcissists are not physically attractive at the unadorned level; in theory, narcissists should be attractive at the unadorned level because short-term mating situations select for raw attractiveness. All told, the prospect of narcissism having evolved is in a precarious position as of this writing. Several gaps in the literature lead to a call for more molecular genetic research and collaborative, large-scale behavioral research.
Keywords: Evolution Evolutionary psychology Genes Mating Narcissism Short-term mating
Abstract: This chapter, like each chapter in the edited book, focuses on narcissism (arrogance, exploitativeness, self-admiration, etc.). My goal is to entertain and evaluate the possibility that narcissism evolved. It is important to point out that, by way of background, just because something is morally suspect does not mean that it didn’t evolve; indeed, bad things can evolve. But despite narcissism being heritable, there is no direct evidence that narcissism is caused by specific genes, indicating that the evolutionary mechanisms are unknown. Through which pathways—such as mating pathways—does narcissism get passed onto the next generation? Narcissism appears to be positively correlated with short-term mating (e.g., promiscuity), suggesting that narcissism gets pushed into subsequent generations via promiscuous activity. The idea that narcissism evolved via short-term mating, however, is currently questionable, mainly because narcissists are not physically attractive at the unadorned level; in theory, narcissists should be attractive at the unadorned level because short-term mating situations select for raw attractiveness. All told, the prospect of narcissism having evolved is in a precarious position as of this writing. Several gaps in the literature lead to a call for more molecular genetic research and collaborative, large-scale behavioral research.
Keywords: Evolution Evolutionary psychology Genes Mating Narcissism Short-term mating
While risky sexual behavior & negative psychological correlates are associated with sexting & younger populations, the same might not be true for a nonuniversity-based, older adult sample
Sexting Leads to “Risky” Sex? An Analysis of Sexting Behaviors in a Nonuniversity-Based, Older Adult Population. Joseph M. Currin, Randolph D. Hubach, Carissa Sanders & Tonya R. Hammer. Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy, Volume 43, 2017 - Issue 7, Pages 689-702. https://doi.org/10.1080/0092623X.2016.1246390
Abstract: Since few researchers have analyzed sexting behaviors in nonuniversity-based adult samples, we sought to determine if sexting is associated with negative psychological correlates and risky sexual behaviors in this population. Analysis of individuals who indicated having vaginal or anal sex in the past 12 months and who identified as single (n = 377) showed that condomless sex is independent of sexting behaviors. Results for those in committed relationships (n = 374) and having had vaginal or anal sex in the past 12 months also demonstrated condomless sex and sexting behaviors were not related. Furthermore, alcohol consumption and relational health were predictive of sexting behaviors in adults in committed relationships. These findings demonstrate that while risky sexual behavior and negative psychological correlates are associated with sexting and younger populations, the same might not be true for a nonuniversity-based, older adult sample.
Abstract: Since few researchers have analyzed sexting behaviors in nonuniversity-based adult samples, we sought to determine if sexting is associated with negative psychological correlates and risky sexual behaviors in this population. Analysis of individuals who indicated having vaginal or anal sex in the past 12 months and who identified as single (n = 377) showed that condomless sex is independent of sexting behaviors. Results for those in committed relationships (n = 374) and having had vaginal or anal sex in the past 12 months also demonstrated condomless sex and sexting behaviors were not related. Furthermore, alcohol consumption and relational health were predictive of sexting behaviors in adults in committed relationships. These findings demonstrate that while risky sexual behavior and negative psychological correlates are associated with sexting and younger populations, the same might not be true for a nonuniversity-based, older adult sample.
A reduction in the corporate income tax burden encourages adoption of the C corporation legal form; improved capital reallocation increases the overall productive efficiency in the economy and therefore reduce unemployment by up to 7pct
Corporate Income Tax, Legal Form of Organization, and Employment. Daphne Chen, Shi Qi, and Don Schlagenhauf. American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics. Oct 2018, Vol. 10, No. 4: Pages 270-304. https://pubs.aeaweb.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1257/mac.20140103
Abstract: A dynamic stochastic occupational choice model with heterogeneous agents is developed to evaluate the impact of a corporate income tax reduction on employment. In this framework, the key margin is the endogenous entrepreneurial choice of the legal form of organization. A reduction in the corporate income tax burden encourages adoption of the C corporation legal form, which reduces capital constraints on firms. Improved capital reallocation increases the overall productive efficiency in the economy and therefore expands the labor market. Relative to the benchmark economy, a corporate income tax cut can reduce the nonemployment rate by up to 7 percent. (JEL E24, H25, H32, J23, J24)
Abstract: A dynamic stochastic occupational choice model with heterogeneous agents is developed to evaluate the impact of a corporate income tax reduction on employment. In this framework, the key margin is the endogenous entrepreneurial choice of the legal form of organization. A reduction in the corporate income tax burden encourages adoption of the C corporation legal form, which reduces capital constraints on firms. Improved capital reallocation increases the overall productive efficiency in the economy and therefore expands the labor market. Relative to the benchmark economy, a corporate income tax cut can reduce the nonemployment rate by up to 7 percent. (JEL E24, H25, H32, J23, J24)
Sharing political rumors: Associated with "chaotic" motivations to "burn down" the entire established democratic "cosmos," not because those are viewed to be true but because they are believed to mobilize the audience against disliked elites
A "Need for Chaos" and the Sharing of Hostile Political Rumors in Advanced Democracies. Michael Bang Petersen, Mathias Osmundsen, Kevin Arceneaux. 114 th Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, Boston, MA, August 30 - September 2, 2018. https://osf.io/zsdce
Abstract: The circulation of hostile political rumors (including but not limited to false news and conspiracy theories) has gained prominence in public debates across advanced democracies. Here, we provide the first comprehensive assessment of the psychological syndrome that elicits motivations to share hostile political rumors among citizens of democratic societies. Against the notion that sharing occurs to help one mainstream political actor in the increasingly polarized electoral competition against other mainstream actors, we demonstrate that sharing motivations are associated with "chaotic" motivations to "burn down" the entire established democratic "cosmos". We show that this extreme discontent is associated with motivations to share hostile political rumors, not because such rumors are viewed to be true but because they are believed to mobilize the audience against disliked elites. We introduce an individual difference measure, the "Need for Chaos", to measure these motivations and illuminate their social causes, linked to frustrated status-seeking. Finally, we show that chaotic motivations are surprisingly widespread within advanced democracies, having some hold in up to 40 percent of the American national population.
Abstract: The circulation of hostile political rumors (including but not limited to false news and conspiracy theories) has gained prominence in public debates across advanced democracies. Here, we provide the first comprehensive assessment of the psychological syndrome that elicits motivations to share hostile political rumors among citizens of democratic societies. Against the notion that sharing occurs to help one mainstream political actor in the increasingly polarized electoral competition against other mainstream actors, we demonstrate that sharing motivations are associated with "chaotic" motivations to "burn down" the entire established democratic "cosmos". We show that this extreme discontent is associated with motivations to share hostile political rumors, not because such rumors are viewed to be true but because they are believed to mobilize the audience against disliked elites. We introduce an individual difference measure, the "Need for Chaos", to measure these motivations and illuminate their social causes, linked to frustrated status-seeking. Finally, we show that chaotic motivations are surprisingly widespread within advanced democracies, having some hold in up to 40 percent of the American national population.
German middle-aged homosexual men: 5.5% only had sexual experiences with women, and 10.3% recently had vaginal intercourse; of this, only 1/4 ever had sexual experience with a man, and 3/4 had only engaged in sexual activity with a woman
Goethe VE, Angerer H, Dinkel A, et al. Concordance and Discordance of Sexual Identity, Sexual Experience, and Current Sexual Behavior in 45-Year-Old-Men: Results From the German Male Sex-Study. Sex Med 201;X:XXX-XXX. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esxm.2018.08.001
Abstract
Introduction: Discordance of various aspects of sexual orientation has been mostly studied in young adults or in small samples of heterosexual men. Studies focusing on concordance and discordance of aspects of sexual orientation in representative samples of middle-aged men including homosexual men are scarce.
Aim: To investigate concordant and discordant sexual behavior in 45-year-old German men with a special focus on homosexual identified men.
Methods: Data for this cross-sectional study were collected within the German Male Sex-Study. Participants were 45-year-old Caucasian males from the general population. Men self-reported on sexual identity, sexual experience, and current sexual behavior. Associations between sexual identity, experience, and behavior were analyzed using the chi-square test.
Main Outcome Measure: Associations of sexual identity with sexual experience and behavior in a community-based sample of men, and discordance of sexual identity and behavior especially in the subgroup of homosexual men.
Results: 12,354 men were included in the study. 95.1% (n = 11.749) self-identified as heterosexual, 3.8% (n = 471) as homosexual, and 1.1% (n = 134) as bisexual. Sexual identity was significantly associated with sexual experience and behavior. 85.5% of all men had recently been sexually active, but prevalence of sexual practices varied. In hetero- and bisexuals, vaginal intercourse was the most common sexual practice, whereas oral sex was the most common in homosexuals. A discordance of sexual identity was especially found in homosexual men: 5.5% of homosexuals only had sexual experiences with women, and 10.3% of homosexuals recently had vaginal intercourse. In this latter subgroup, only one-quarter ever had sexual experience with a man, and three-quarters had only engaged in sexual activity with a woman.
Conclusion: Sexual identity is associated with differences in sexual experience and behavior in German middle-aged men. A considerable proportion of homosexual identified men live a heterosexual life.
Abstract
Introduction: Discordance of various aspects of sexual orientation has been mostly studied in young adults or in small samples of heterosexual men. Studies focusing on concordance and discordance of aspects of sexual orientation in representative samples of middle-aged men including homosexual men are scarce.
Aim: To investigate concordant and discordant sexual behavior in 45-year-old German men with a special focus on homosexual identified men.
Methods: Data for this cross-sectional study were collected within the German Male Sex-Study. Participants were 45-year-old Caucasian males from the general population. Men self-reported on sexual identity, sexual experience, and current sexual behavior. Associations between sexual identity, experience, and behavior were analyzed using the chi-square test.
Main Outcome Measure: Associations of sexual identity with sexual experience and behavior in a community-based sample of men, and discordance of sexual identity and behavior especially in the subgroup of homosexual men.
Results: 12,354 men were included in the study. 95.1% (n = 11.749) self-identified as heterosexual, 3.8% (n = 471) as homosexual, and 1.1% (n = 134) as bisexual. Sexual identity was significantly associated with sexual experience and behavior. 85.5% of all men had recently been sexually active, but prevalence of sexual practices varied. In hetero- and bisexuals, vaginal intercourse was the most common sexual practice, whereas oral sex was the most common in homosexuals. A discordance of sexual identity was especially found in homosexual men: 5.5% of homosexuals only had sexual experiences with women, and 10.3% of homosexuals recently had vaginal intercourse. In this latter subgroup, only one-quarter ever had sexual experience with a man, and three-quarters had only engaged in sexual activity with a woman.
Conclusion: Sexual identity is associated with differences in sexual experience and behavior in German middle-aged men. A considerable proportion of homosexual identified men live a heterosexual life.
Having a political discussion with an out-group member led to more positive moral and affective evaluations of out-group members than having a discussion with an in-group member
Does Having a Political Discussion Help or Hurt Intergroup Perceptions? Drawing Guidance From Social Identity Theory and the Contact Hypothesis. Robert M. Bond, Hillary C. Shulman, Michael Gilbert. Bond Vol 12 (2018), http://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/9033
Abstract: This experiment (N = 238) tested propositions from social identity theory alongside the intergroup contact hypothesis to examine whether having a political discussion with an in-group (politically similar) or out-group (politically different) member affects subsequent evaluations of these social groups. Although several experimental results provide strong support for the antisocial predictions proposed by social identity theory, ultimately it was found that having a political discussion with an out-group member led to more positive moral and affective evaluations of out-group members than having a discussion with an in-group member. This result is consistent with the contact hypothesis and supports the notion that political discussions across party lines can produce positive social outcomes.
Keywords: contact hypothesis, intergroup relations, political discussions, political polarization, social identity theory
Abstract: This experiment (N = 238) tested propositions from social identity theory alongside the intergroup contact hypothesis to examine whether having a political discussion with an in-group (politically similar) or out-group (politically different) member affects subsequent evaluations of these social groups. Although several experimental results provide strong support for the antisocial predictions proposed by social identity theory, ultimately it was found that having a political discussion with an out-group member led to more positive moral and affective evaluations of out-group members than having a discussion with an in-group member. This result is consistent with the contact hypothesis and supports the notion that political discussions across party lines can produce positive social outcomes.
Keywords: contact hypothesis, intergroup relations, political discussions, political polarization, social identity theory
Selection for low male voice pitch is generally assumed to occur because it is a valid cue of formidability, but data suggest this is wrong
Sensory Exploitation, Sexual Dimorphism, and Human Voice Pitch. David R. Feinberg, Benedict C. Jones, Marie M. Armstrong. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2018.09.007
Abstract: Selection for low male voice pitch is generally assumed to occur because it is a valid cue of formidability. Here we summarize recent empirical challenges to this hypothesis. We also outline an alternative account in which selection for low male voice pitch is a byproduct of sensory exploitation.
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Contrary to previous suggestions, deep male voices are no reliable indicators of "manly" attributes such as formidability, immunocompetence, or semen quality.
Abstract: Selection for low male voice pitch is generally assumed to occur because it is a valid cue of formidability. Here we summarize recent empirical challenges to this hypothesis. We also outline an alternative account in which selection for low male voice pitch is a byproduct of sensory exploitation.
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Contrary to previous suggestions, deep male voices are no reliable indicators of "manly" attributes such as formidability, immunocompetence, or semen quality.
High physical attractiveness is related to low public self-consciousness, whereas low physical attractiveness is related to high public self-consciousness
Does beauty matter?: Exploring the relationship between self-consciousness and physical attractiveness. Wei-Lun Chang. Kybernetes, https://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/K-12-2017-0494
Abstract
Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between self-consciousness and physical attractiveness from a psychological perspective, examining the relationship of physical attractiveness with the three dimensions of self-consciousness.
Design/methodology/approach: The research involved investigating the relationship between self-consciousness and physical attractiveness, focusing on how the three self-consciousness dimensions (i.e., private self-consciousness, public self-consciousness and social anxiety) affected physical attractiveness. Clustering techniques using self-organizing maps of data mining and decision trees were used in this study. The primal concept of clustering entails grouping unsorted and disorganized raw data and arranging data with similar properties into clusters. Classification primarily involves establishing classification models according to the category attributes of existing data. These models can be used to predict the classes of new data and determine interdata relationships and data characteristics.
Findings: Public self-consciousness was most strongly related to physical attractiveness, whereas the other two dimensions exhibited no obvious relationship to physical attractiveness. It may be concluded that people with higher physical attractiveness draw attention from others more easily and are more likely to be evaluated positively, and that they thus tend to be more confident in front of others and less likely to care about the opinions of others. Alternatively, perhaps people with lower public self-consciousness care less about how others view them and have the courage to express themselves, which signifies confidence and increases their physical attractiveness.
Practical implications: This research investigated the importance of self-consciousness that may apply to recruitment in practice. People with low public self-consciousness may have high confidence and efficiency. People have low social anxiety may not be nervous or anxious in public and easy to speak to strangers. This kind of employees are appropriate for the jobs involving team work and interaction such as public relations. Hence, companies can apply our findings to search appropriate employees except the first impression of appearance.
Originality/value: The results revealed that high physical attractiveness is related to low public self-consciousness, whereas low physical attractiveness is related to high public self-consciousness. Good-looking people tend to attract attention from others. The relationship between private self-consciousness and physical attractiveness is non-significant. The relationship between social anxiety and physical attractiveness is non-significant.
Keywords: Decision trees, Self-Organizing maps, Physical attractiveness, Self-consciousness
Abstract
Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between self-consciousness and physical attractiveness from a psychological perspective, examining the relationship of physical attractiveness with the three dimensions of self-consciousness.
Design/methodology/approach: The research involved investigating the relationship between self-consciousness and physical attractiveness, focusing on how the three self-consciousness dimensions (i.e., private self-consciousness, public self-consciousness and social anxiety) affected physical attractiveness. Clustering techniques using self-organizing maps of data mining and decision trees were used in this study. The primal concept of clustering entails grouping unsorted and disorganized raw data and arranging data with similar properties into clusters. Classification primarily involves establishing classification models according to the category attributes of existing data. These models can be used to predict the classes of new data and determine interdata relationships and data characteristics.
Findings: Public self-consciousness was most strongly related to physical attractiveness, whereas the other two dimensions exhibited no obvious relationship to physical attractiveness. It may be concluded that people with higher physical attractiveness draw attention from others more easily and are more likely to be evaluated positively, and that they thus tend to be more confident in front of others and less likely to care about the opinions of others. Alternatively, perhaps people with lower public self-consciousness care less about how others view them and have the courage to express themselves, which signifies confidence and increases their physical attractiveness.
Practical implications: This research investigated the importance of self-consciousness that may apply to recruitment in practice. People with low public self-consciousness may have high confidence and efficiency. People have low social anxiety may not be nervous or anxious in public and easy to speak to strangers. This kind of employees are appropriate for the jobs involving team work and interaction such as public relations. Hence, companies can apply our findings to search appropriate employees except the first impression of appearance.
Originality/value: The results revealed that high physical attractiveness is related to low public self-consciousness, whereas low physical attractiveness is related to high public self-consciousness. Good-looking people tend to attract attention from others. The relationship between private self-consciousness and physical attractiveness is non-significant. The relationship between social anxiety and physical attractiveness is non-significant.
Keywords: Decision trees, Self-Organizing maps, Physical attractiveness, Self-consciousness
Why Suburban Districts Need Public Charter Schools Too. Emily Langhorne. Progressive Policy Institute
Why Suburban Districts Need Public Charter Schools Too. Emily Langhorne. Progressive Policy Institute, Oct 2 2018, https://www.progressivepolicy.org/publications/why-suburban-districts-need-public-charter-schools-too/
On November 8, 2016, while the rest of the world anxiously awaited the outcome of the U.S. presidential election, a subset of voters with a keen interest in education had their eyes on Massachusetts. This was the day Bay Staters would vote on Ballot Question 2, a proposal to raise the state’s cap on public charter schools by up to 12 new schools per year.
Massachusetts is home to some of the highest performing charter schools in the country, with especially impressive gains at schools serving urban, low-income and minority students. In Boston, one of the eight districts in the state to have reached its cap on charter schools, students at charters learn the equivalent of an extra year of math and reading each year, when compared to their peers with similar demographics and past test scores at the city’s traditional public schools.1The local school district, Boston Public Schools (BPS), enrolls about 53,000 students in a city of about 77,000 students. Currently, public charters enroll only about 10,000 students, but there are more than 32,000 children on waitlists for these schools.
On November 8, 2016, while the rest of the world anxiously awaited the outcome of the U.S. presidential election, a subset of voters with a keen interest in education had their eyes on Massachusetts. This was the day Bay Staters would vote on Ballot Question 2, a proposal to raise the state’s cap on public charter schools by up to 12 new schools per year.
Massachusetts is home to some of the highest performing charter schools in the country, with especially impressive gains at schools serving urban, low-income and minority students. In Boston, one of the eight districts in the state to have reached its cap on charter schools, students at charters learn the equivalent of an extra year of math and reading each year, when compared to their peers with similar demographics and past test scores at the city’s traditional public schools.1The local school district, Boston Public Schools (BPS), enrolls about 53,000 students in a city of about 77,000 students. Currently, public charters enroll only about 10,000 students, but there are more than 32,000 children on waitlists for these schools.
Greedy individuals find a variety of transgressions more acceptable and justifiable as well as indicate that they have more often engaged in a variety of transgressions; were more likely to take a bribe and also preferred higher bribes
Greedy bastards: Testing the relationship between wanting more and unethical behavior. Terri G.Seuntjens, Marcel Zeelenberg, Nielsvan de Ven, Seger M.Breugelmans. Personality and Individual Differences, Volume 138, 1 February 2019, Pages 147-156. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2018.09.027
Abstract: Greed is often seen as immoral. Although the assumption that greed elicits unethical behavior is widespread, there is surprisingly little empirical research testing this relationship. We present a series of three studies investigating the association between greed and unethical behavior, using different methodologies and samples from the USA, The Netherlands, and Belgium. Study 1 (3 samples, total N = 3413) reveals that more greedy individuals find a variety of transgressions more acceptable and justifiable as well as indicate that they have more often engaged in a variety of transgressions compared to less greedy individuals. Study 2 (N = 172) replicated these findings in an incentivized behavioral laboratory study where participants decided to accept a bribe or not. Greedy people were more likely to take a bribe and also preferred higher bribes. Study 3 (N = 302) examined a potential process relating greed to unethical behavior. Greedy people were more likely to transgress because they found the positive outcomes associated with the transgression more desirable, and therefore displayed lower self-control. Implications for general theories of greed and morality are discussed.
Abstract: Greed is often seen as immoral. Although the assumption that greed elicits unethical behavior is widespread, there is surprisingly little empirical research testing this relationship. We present a series of three studies investigating the association between greed and unethical behavior, using different methodologies and samples from the USA, The Netherlands, and Belgium. Study 1 (3 samples, total N = 3413) reveals that more greedy individuals find a variety of transgressions more acceptable and justifiable as well as indicate that they have more often engaged in a variety of transgressions compared to less greedy individuals. Study 2 (N = 172) replicated these findings in an incentivized behavioral laboratory study where participants decided to accept a bribe or not. Greedy people were more likely to take a bribe and also preferred higher bribes. Study 3 (N = 302) examined a potential process relating greed to unethical behavior. Greedy people were more likely to transgress because they found the positive outcomes associated with the transgression more desirable, and therefore displayed lower self-control. Implications for general theories of greed and morality are discussed.
Recycle more, waste more? When recycling efforts increase resource consumption
Recycle more, waste more? When recycling efforts increase resource consumption. Baolong Ma, Xiaofei Li, Zhongjun Jiang, Jiefan Jiang. Journal of Cleaner Production, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.09.063
Abstract: Governments spend significant amounts of money to promote recycling lifestyles to the public; however, they cannot maximize the beneficial effects of recycling without avoiding its potential negative consequences. In this research, we empirically examine the effects of recycling efforts on subsequent resource usage by analyzing the online survey data of 356 participants in China. Based on partial least squares-structural equation modeling, the results show that (1) recycling efforts have a positive effect on resource consumption, which suggests that engaging in recycling leads individuals to use significantly more resources in the future; (2) the positive effect of recycling efforts on resource consumption is mediated by environmental self-identity and feelings of pride; and (3) consideration of future consequences negatively moderates the effects of recycling efforts on environmental self-identity and on feelings of pride. That is, consideration of future consequences mitigates the positive effects of recycling efforts on resource consumption. The paper concludes with a discussion of the theoretical and managerial implications of our findings.
Abstract: Governments spend significant amounts of money to promote recycling lifestyles to the public; however, they cannot maximize the beneficial effects of recycling without avoiding its potential negative consequences. In this research, we empirically examine the effects of recycling efforts on subsequent resource usage by analyzing the online survey data of 356 participants in China. Based on partial least squares-structural equation modeling, the results show that (1) recycling efforts have a positive effect on resource consumption, which suggests that engaging in recycling leads individuals to use significantly more resources in the future; (2) the positive effect of recycling efforts on resource consumption is mediated by environmental self-identity and feelings of pride; and (3) consideration of future consequences negatively moderates the effects of recycling efforts on environmental self-identity and on feelings of pride. That is, consideration of future consequences mitigates the positive effects of recycling efforts on resource consumption. The paper concludes with a discussion of the theoretical and managerial implications of our findings.
Genetic factors contribute substantially to the variations of various types of narcissism, stability of narcissism as well as its associations with other personalities, & the distinctions between different types of narcissism; environments (mostly non-shared by family members) also play important roles
The Etiology of Narcissism: A Review of Behavioral Genetic Studies. Yu L. L. Luo. Huajian Cai. In Handbook of Trait Narcissism pp 149-156, https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-92171-6_16
Abstract: A great deal of research has delved into the etiology of narcissism via behavioral genetic methodologies in recent years. These studies have established that genetic factors contribute substantially to (1) the variations of various types of narcissism, (2) the stability of narcissism as well as its associations with other personalities, and (3) the distinctions between different types of narcissism. In the meantime, environments (mostly non-shared by family members) also play important roles in these situations. Together, these findings shed light on the origins of narcissism. Future studies may further examine how genetic and environmental factors interplay with each other in influencing narcissism and even what gene(s) is associated with narcissism.
Abstract: A great deal of research has delved into the etiology of narcissism via behavioral genetic methodologies in recent years. These studies have established that genetic factors contribute substantially to (1) the variations of various types of narcissism, (2) the stability of narcissism as well as its associations with other personalities, and (3) the distinctions between different types of narcissism. In the meantime, environments (mostly non-shared by family members) also play important roles in these situations. Together, these findings shed light on the origins of narcissism. Future studies may further examine how genetic and environmental factors interplay with each other in influencing narcissism and even what gene(s) is associated with narcissism.
Cognitive reflection was positively correlated with rational (selfish) behavior in dictator games; reflective dictators)kept more money for themselves than those who achieved lower scores on the CRT (altruistic, impulsive dictators)
Cognitive Reflection Test in Predicting Rational Behavior in the Dictator Game. Monika Czerwonka, Aleksandra Staniszewska, Krzysztof Kompa. In International Conference on Computational Methods in Experimental Economics CMEE 2017: Problems, Methods and Tools in Experimental and Behavioral Economics pp 301-312, https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-99187-0_22
Abstract: Altruism and behavioral impact on economic decisions became the center of the interest for experimental and behavioral economy. The literature widely reports the results of variety types of dictator games (DG) and cognitive reflection tests (CRT). There is a broad research on donated sum, anonymity of the receiver and dictators’ position (giving vs. taking) in dictator games. Separately research on the CRT evolves from 3 questions to 7 questions variant. However, there is an evident gap in the literature for data that combines these two tools (DG and CRT) in one setup. In this study, we extend existing research on the relationship between cognitive performance on the CRT and dictator decisions taking into account such factors as donated sum, anonymity of the receiver and dictators’ position (giving vs. taking). The main goal is to find out if the cognitive reflection test (CRT) helps to predict rational (or selfish) behavior in a DG. In our investigation, we asked 511 participants to respond to 6 types of dictator games and CRT test. For statistical analysis of the received results, we applied correlation, descriptive statistics, the t-student test and the Mann–Whitney test. Our results show that cognitive reflection was positively correlated with rational (selfish) behavior in DGs. Those dictators who scored high on the CRT (reflective dictators) kept more money for themselves than those who achieved lower scores on the CRT (altruistic, impulsive dictators). Our results confirm an inequity aversion attitude among altruistic, impulsive dictators and selfish, reflective dictators.
Abstract: Altruism and behavioral impact on economic decisions became the center of the interest for experimental and behavioral economy. The literature widely reports the results of variety types of dictator games (DG) and cognitive reflection tests (CRT). There is a broad research on donated sum, anonymity of the receiver and dictators’ position (giving vs. taking) in dictator games. Separately research on the CRT evolves from 3 questions to 7 questions variant. However, there is an evident gap in the literature for data that combines these two tools (DG and CRT) in one setup. In this study, we extend existing research on the relationship between cognitive performance on the CRT and dictator decisions taking into account such factors as donated sum, anonymity of the receiver and dictators’ position (giving vs. taking). The main goal is to find out if the cognitive reflection test (CRT) helps to predict rational (or selfish) behavior in a DG. In our investigation, we asked 511 participants to respond to 6 types of dictator games and CRT test. For statistical analysis of the received results, we applied correlation, descriptive statistics, the t-student test and the Mann–Whitney test. Our results show that cognitive reflection was positively correlated with rational (selfish) behavior in DGs. Those dictators who scored high on the CRT (reflective dictators) kept more money for themselves than those who achieved lower scores on the CRT (altruistic, impulsive dictators). Our results confirm an inequity aversion attitude among altruistic, impulsive dictators and selfish, reflective dictators.
Children Use Probability to Infer Other People’s Happiness; & they understand that our happiness with an outcome depends on whether a better or worse outcome was initially more likely
Children Use Probability to Infer Other People’s Happiness. Tiffany Doan, Ori Friedman, Stephanie Denison. CogSci 2018 Proceedings, https://mindmodeling.org/cogsci2018/papers/0314/0314.pdf
Abstract: The ability to infer other people’s emotions is an important aspect of children’s social cognition. Here, we examined whether 4- to 6-year-olds use probability to infer other people’s happiness. Children saw a scenario where a girl receives two desired and two undesired gumballs from a gumball machine and were asked to rate how the girl feel s about this outcome. Children either saw the gumballs come from a machine that had mostly desired gumballs or a machine that had mostly undesired gumballs. Five- and 6-year-olds rated the girl as being happier when the gumballs came from a machine that had mostly undesired gumballs. Four-year-olds, on the other hand, rated the girl’s happiness similarly regardless of whether the machine held mostly desired or undesired gumballs. These findings show that by the age of 5, children use probability to infer happiness. Further, they demonstrate that children understand that our happiness with an outcome depends on whether a better or worse outcome was initially more likely.
Keywords: emotion attribution; happiness; probability; social cognition; cognitive development
Abstract: The ability to infer other people’s emotions is an important aspect of children’s social cognition. Here, we examined whether 4- to 6-year-olds use probability to infer other people’s happiness. Children saw a scenario where a girl receives two desired and two undesired gumballs from a gumball machine and were asked to rate how the girl feel s about this outcome. Children either saw the gumballs come from a machine that had mostly desired gumballs or a machine that had mostly undesired gumballs. Five- and 6-year-olds rated the girl as being happier when the gumballs came from a machine that had mostly undesired gumballs. Four-year-olds, on the other hand, rated the girl’s happiness similarly regardless of whether the machine held mostly desired or undesired gumballs. These findings show that by the age of 5, children use probability to infer happiness. Further, they demonstrate that children understand that our happiness with an outcome depends on whether a better or worse outcome was initially more likely.
Keywords: emotion attribution; happiness; probability; social cognition; cognitive development
Followership evolved as a strategy to solve a range of cooperation and coordination problems in groups (e.g., collective movement, peacekeeping); individuals who lack the physical, psychological, or social capital to be leaders themselves are more likely to emerge as followers
The nature of followership: Evolutionary analysis and review. Nicolas astardoz, Mark Vugt. The Leadership Quarterly, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2018.09.004
Abstract: From an evolutionary perspective, followership is puzzling because it is not clear why individuals would relinquish their autonomy and set aside their personal goals to follow those of another individual, the leader. This paper analyzes followership from an evolutionary perspective and advances three main conclusions that are not yet part of the leadership literature. First, followership evolved as a strategy to solve a range of cooperation and coordination problems in groups (e.g., collective movement, peacekeeping). Second, individuals who lack the physical, psychological, or social capital to be leaders themselves are more likely to emerge as followers. Third, followership styles, behaviors, and engagement result from (a) variations in the relative pay-offs that accrue to followers vis-à-vis their leader, (b) the adaptive goals pursued by followers, (c) the adaptive challenges that select for different followership styles, and (d) the prevailing leadership style. Together, these conclusions have several implications for followership theory, research, and practice.
Abstract: From an evolutionary perspective, followership is puzzling because it is not clear why individuals would relinquish their autonomy and set aside their personal goals to follow those of another individual, the leader. This paper analyzes followership from an evolutionary perspective and advances three main conclusions that are not yet part of the leadership literature. First, followership evolved as a strategy to solve a range of cooperation and coordination problems in groups (e.g., collective movement, peacekeeping). Second, individuals who lack the physical, psychological, or social capital to be leaders themselves are more likely to emerge as followers. Third, followership styles, behaviors, and engagement result from (a) variations in the relative pay-offs that accrue to followers vis-à-vis their leader, (b) the adaptive goals pursued by followers, (c) the adaptive challenges that select for different followership styles, and (d) the prevailing leadership style. Together, these conclusions have several implications for followership theory, research, and practice.
Those who believe in heaven and those who believe in hell tend to have negative attitudes toward physician-assisted suicide; the fear of hell, more so than the reward of heaven, may lead people to have negative attitudes toward physician-assisted suicide
Heaven, hell, and attitudes toward physician-assisted suicide. Shane Sharp. Journal of Health Psychology, https://doi.org/10.1177/1359105318800831
Abstract: Using data from the 2007 Baylor Religion Survey, I evaluate whether beliefs in heaven and hell are associated with attitudes toward physician-assisted suicide. I find that those who believe in heaven and those who believe in hell tend to have negative attitudes toward physician-assisted suicide, even when controlling for other religiosity and sociodemographic variables. I also find that the belief in hell mediates the effect of the belief in heaven on attitudes toward physician-assisted suicide, suggesting that the fear of hell, more so than the reward of heaven, may lead people to have negative attitudes toward physician-assisted suicide.
Keywords: afterlife, heaven, hell, physician-assisted suicide
Abstract: Using data from the 2007 Baylor Religion Survey, I evaluate whether beliefs in heaven and hell are associated with attitudes toward physician-assisted suicide. I find that those who believe in heaven and those who believe in hell tend to have negative attitudes toward physician-assisted suicide, even when controlling for other religiosity and sociodemographic variables. I also find that the belief in hell mediates the effect of the belief in heaven on attitudes toward physician-assisted suicide, suggesting that the fear of hell, more so than the reward of heaven, may lead people to have negative attitudes toward physician-assisted suicide.
Keywords: afterlife, heaven, hell, physician-assisted suicide
The dark triad of personality `predicts how eudaimonic narratives (stories dealing with purpose in life, the human condition, and human virtue) are perceived: inauthentic & corny
Repelled by Virtue? The Dark Triad and Eudaimonic Narratives. Markus Appel, Michael D Slater, Mary Beth Oliver. Media Psychology, accepted September 2018. DOI: 10.1080/15213269.2018.1523014
Abstract: We propose that the dark triad of personality predicts how recipients respond to eudaimonic narratives (stories dealing with purpose in life, the human condition, and human virtue). Matched eudaimonic or non-eudaimonic videos were presented via random assignment. The more individuals lack empathy and organize their world around self-promotion – reflected in the so-called dark triad of narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy – the more they perceived the eudaimonic stories (vs. control) to be inauthentic and corny (perceived corniness). This effect translated to a more negative overall evaluation of the eudaimonic videos (moderated mediation). Self-reported feelings of being touched, moved, and inspired (meaningful affect) were largely unaffected by the dark triad, suggesting that these personality factors do not disable emotional responses to eudaimonic narratives.
Abstract: We propose that the dark triad of personality predicts how recipients respond to eudaimonic narratives (stories dealing with purpose in life, the human condition, and human virtue). Matched eudaimonic or non-eudaimonic videos were presented via random assignment. The more individuals lack empathy and organize their world around self-promotion – reflected in the so-called dark triad of narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy – the more they perceived the eudaimonic stories (vs. control) to be inauthentic and corny (perceived corniness). This effect translated to a more negative overall evaluation of the eudaimonic videos (moderated mediation). Self-reported feelings of being touched, moved, and inspired (meaningful affect) were largely unaffected by the dark triad, suggesting that these personality factors do not disable emotional responses to eudaimonic narratives.
Over 4 years, substantial numbers of Americans change how they identify along the lines of national origin, sexual orientation, religion, & class
Identity as Dependent Variable: How Americans Shift Their Identities to Better Align With Their Politics. Patrick J. Egan, Wilf Family Department of Politics, New York University, September 10, 2018, https://rubenson.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/egan-tpbw18.pdf
Political science generally treats demographic identities as “unmoved movers” in the chain of causality because these identities are conceptualized as being rooted in either ascriptive individual characteristics or hard-to-change aspects of individual experience. Here I hypothesize that the increasingly salient nature of partisanship and ideology as social identities leads liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans to shift their demo- graphic identities to better align with the prototypes of their political groups, and thus the identity groups that make up the left and right coalitions in U.S. politics. I explore the hypothesis with a panel dataset that tracks Americans’ identities and political affiliations over four years. The data show that substantial numbers of Americans change how they identify over this span along the lines of national origin, sexual orientation, religion, and class. Furthermore, identity switching with regard to Latino origin, religion, class, and sexual orientation is significantly predicted by Americans’ partisanship and ideology in their pasts. All of these shifts are in directions that bring Americans’ identities into better alignment with their politics. Politics plays a particularly important role in identification with two identity groups—lesbians, gays and bisexuals, and those identifying as having no religious affiliation—in that the impact of politics on identity is large for these groups relative to their prevalence in the population. In showing how the process of identification can be imbued with politics, these findings both enrich and complicate our efforts to un- derstand the relationship between identity and political behavior and indicate that caution must be taken in treating identities as firm, immovable political phenomena.
Political science generally treats demographic identities as “unmoved movers” in the chain of causality because these identities are conceptualized as being rooted in either ascriptive individual characteristics or hard-to-change aspects of individual experience. Here I hypothesize that the increasingly salient nature of partisanship and ideology as social identities leads liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans to shift their demo- graphic identities to better align with the prototypes of their political groups, and thus the identity groups that make up the left and right coalitions in U.S. politics. I explore the hypothesis with a panel dataset that tracks Americans’ identities and political affiliations over four years. The data show that substantial numbers of Americans change how they identify over this span along the lines of national origin, sexual orientation, religion, and class. Furthermore, identity switching with regard to Latino origin, religion, class, and sexual orientation is significantly predicted by Americans’ partisanship and ideology in their pasts. All of these shifts are in directions that bring Americans’ identities into better alignment with their politics. Politics plays a particularly important role in identification with two identity groups—lesbians, gays and bisexuals, and those identifying as having no religious affiliation—in that the impact of politics on identity is large for these groups relative to their prevalence in the population. In showing how the process of identification can be imbued with politics, these findings both enrich and complicate our efforts to un- derstand the relationship between identity and political behavior and indicate that caution must be taken in treating identities as firm, immovable political phenomena.
Acting on their fantasies was as good or better than expected & it improved relationships, especially those already in good relationships, people with a higher sex drive & thrill-seeking tendencies, & people who adapt to stress & uncertainty
Seven Fascinating Facts About Sexual Fantasies. Justin J Lehmiller. Psychology Today, Oct 01, 2018. https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/the-myths-sex/201810/seven-fascinating-facts-about-sexual-fantasies
3.) While threesomes were the most popular fantasy, they were also the fantasy that was least likely to turn out well when people acted on it. This is probably due, in part, to the fact that different people prefer different threesome scenarios, which may make it challenging for everyone to get what they want. However, it’s probably also due to the fact that most people don’t have a script for how a threesome should go, which means that many people end up in a multi-partner situation with a lot of uncertainty about who should be doing what with whom and when.
7.) For the most part, people who acted on their favorite sex fantasies reported that things turned out well. The numbers varied a bit depending on what it is that they did—and, as mentioned above, group sex was the least likely fantasy to turn out well. Overall, though, most people said that acting on their fantasies was at least as good or better than expected and that it improved their relationship. However, some people were more likely to have positive experiences than others, and that included people who were already in good relationships to start with, people with a higher sex drive and thrill-seeking tendencies, and people who are good at adapting to stress and uncertainty, meaning people who are low in the personality trait of neuroticism.
3.) While threesomes were the most popular fantasy, they were also the fantasy that was least likely to turn out well when people acted on it. This is probably due, in part, to the fact that different people prefer different threesome scenarios, which may make it challenging for everyone to get what they want. However, it’s probably also due to the fact that most people don’t have a script for how a threesome should go, which means that many people end up in a multi-partner situation with a lot of uncertainty about who should be doing what with whom and when.
7.) For the most part, people who acted on their favorite sex fantasies reported that things turned out well. The numbers varied a bit depending on what it is that they did—and, as mentioned above, group sex was the least likely fantasy to turn out well. Overall, though, most people said that acting on their fantasies was at least as good or better than expected and that it improved their relationship. However, some people were more likely to have positive experiences than others, and that included people who were already in good relationships to start with, people with a higher sex drive and thrill-seeking tendencies, and people who are good at adapting to stress and uncertainty, meaning people who are low in the personality trait of neuroticism.
Monday, October 1, 2018
Thoughts about the present and future are frequent, whereas thoughts about the past rare; about the present are common during social interaction, felt pleasant, but lacked to meaningfulness; about the past are relatively unpleasant & involuntary
Roy Baumeister et al. 2018. “Everyday Thoughts in Time: Experience Sampling Studies of Mental Time Travel.” PsyArXiv. October 2. doi:10.31234/osf.io/3cwre
Abstract: Time is an important yet mysterious aspects of human conscious experience. We investigated time in everyday thoughts. Two community samples, contacted at random points for three (Study 1; 6,686 reports) and 14 days (Study 2; 2,361 reports), reported on their most recent thought. Both studies found that thoughts about the present and future were frequent, whereas thoughts about the past were rare. Thoughts about the present were common during social interaction, felt pleasant, but lacked to meaningfulness. Thoughts about the future included desires to satisfy goals and usually involved planning. Thoughts about the past were relatively unpleasant and involuntary. Subjective experiences of past and future thoughts often were similar and differed from present focus, consistent with views that memory and prospection use similar mental structures. Taken together, the present work provides unique insights into the conscious experience of time highlights the pragmatic utility of future thought.
Abstract: Time is an important yet mysterious aspects of human conscious experience. We investigated time in everyday thoughts. Two community samples, contacted at random points for three (Study 1; 6,686 reports) and 14 days (Study 2; 2,361 reports), reported on their most recent thought. Both studies found that thoughts about the present and future were frequent, whereas thoughts about the past were rare. Thoughts about the present were common during social interaction, felt pleasant, but lacked to meaningfulness. Thoughts about the future included desires to satisfy goals and usually involved planning. Thoughts about the past were relatively unpleasant and involuntary. Subjective experiences of past and future thoughts often were similar and differed from present focus, consistent with views that memory and prospection use similar mental structures. Taken together, the present work provides unique insights into the conscious experience of time highlights the pragmatic utility of future thought.
The number of undocumented immigrants in the US, 1990-2016: Conservative estimate is 16.7 million, current estimate is 11.3 million, & mean estimate is 22.1 million, essentially double the current widely accepted estimate
The number of undocumented immigrants in the United States: Estimates based on demographic modeling with data from 1990 to 2016. Mohammad M. Fazel-Zarandi, Jonathan S. Feinstein, Edward H. Kaplan. PLOS One, September 21, 2018, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0201193
Abstract: We apply standard demographic principles of inflows and outflows to estimate the number of undocumented immigrants in the United States, using the best available data, including some that have only recently become available. Our analysis covers the years 1990 to 2016. We develop an estimate of the number of undocumented immigrants based on parameter values that tend to underestimate undocumented immigrant inflows and overstate outflows; we also show the probability distribution for the number of undocumented immigrants based on simulating our model over parameter value ranges. Our conservative estimate is 16.7 million for 2016, nearly fifty percent higher than the most prominent current estimate of 11.3 million, which is based on survey data and thus different sources and methods. The mean estimate based on our simulation analysis is 22.1 million, essentially double the current widely accepted estimate. Our model predicts a similar trajectory of growth in the number of undocumented immigrants over the years of our analysis, but at a higher level. While our analysis delivers different results, we note that it is based on many assumptions. The most critical of these concern border apprehension rates and voluntary emigration rates of undocumented immigrants in the U.S. These rates are uncertain, especially in the 1990’s and early 2000’s, which is when—both based on our modeling and the very different survey data approach—the number of undocumented immigrants increases most significantly. Our results, while based on a number of assumptions and uncertainties, could help frame debates about policies whose consequences depend on the number of undocumented immigrants in the United States.
Abstract: We apply standard demographic principles of inflows and outflows to estimate the number of undocumented immigrants in the United States, using the best available data, including some that have only recently become available. Our analysis covers the years 1990 to 2016. We develop an estimate of the number of undocumented immigrants based on parameter values that tend to underestimate undocumented immigrant inflows and overstate outflows; we also show the probability distribution for the number of undocumented immigrants based on simulating our model over parameter value ranges. Our conservative estimate is 16.7 million for 2016, nearly fifty percent higher than the most prominent current estimate of 11.3 million, which is based on survey data and thus different sources and methods. The mean estimate based on our simulation analysis is 22.1 million, essentially double the current widely accepted estimate. Our model predicts a similar trajectory of growth in the number of undocumented immigrants over the years of our analysis, but at a higher level. While our analysis delivers different results, we note that it is based on many assumptions. The most critical of these concern border apprehension rates and voluntary emigration rates of undocumented immigrants in the U.S. These rates are uncertain, especially in the 1990’s and early 2000’s, which is when—both based on our modeling and the very different survey data approach—the number of undocumented immigrants increases most significantly. Our results, while based on a number of assumptions and uncertainties, could help frame debates about policies whose consequences depend on the number of undocumented immigrants in the United States.
Introverts overwhelmingly indicated that they lived in a society where extraversion was more socially desirable than introversion, & most participants held extraversion-deficit beliefs; introverts might be more authentic, & boost their overall well-being, if they could accept their introversion
Quiet Flourishing: The Authenticity and Well-Being of Trait Introverts Living in the West Depends on Extraversion-Deficit Beliefs. Rodney B. Lawn, Gavin R. Slemp, Dianne A. Vella-Brodrick. Journal of Happiness Studies, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10902-018-0037-5
Abstract: Introversion–extraversion is a particularly salient personality trait, whereby “extraverts” are known to be more outgoing, bold, assertive, active, and cheerful than “introverts”. These extraverted attributes are socially desirable in individualistic Western cultures, and some evidence suggests that extraverts experience better person-environment fit and greater well-being than introverts in these cultures. However, what remains unclear is how living in a context that values and emphasises extraversion may impact upon the well-being of introverts, and how introverts might improve their well-being. This study aimed to explore this question via a moderated mediation model. Adult participants in Australia (N = 349) completed scales of trait introversion–extraversion, dispositional authenticity, and well-being. The extent to which participants wanted to be more extraverted than they were currently—labelled an extraversion-deficit belief—was also measured. Participants overwhelmingly indicated that they lived in a society where extraversion was more socially desirable than introversion, and most participants held extraversion-deficit beliefs. Moderated mediation analysis showed that higher trait introversion–extraversion predicted well-being directly as well as indirectly via dispositional authenticity, but this indirect pathway depended on extraversion-deficit beliefs. Extraversion-deficit beliefs were more important for the authenticity and well-being of introverts than for extraverts. Overall, we interpret our findings to mean that introverts in the West might be more authentic, and hence boost their overall well-being, if they can change their beliefs to become more accepting of their introversion.
Keywords: Introversion Extraversion Well-being Authenticity Beliefs Self-discrepancy
Abstract: Introversion–extraversion is a particularly salient personality trait, whereby “extraverts” are known to be more outgoing, bold, assertive, active, and cheerful than “introverts”. These extraverted attributes are socially desirable in individualistic Western cultures, and some evidence suggests that extraverts experience better person-environment fit and greater well-being than introverts in these cultures. However, what remains unclear is how living in a context that values and emphasises extraversion may impact upon the well-being of introverts, and how introverts might improve their well-being. This study aimed to explore this question via a moderated mediation model. Adult participants in Australia (N = 349) completed scales of trait introversion–extraversion, dispositional authenticity, and well-being. The extent to which participants wanted to be more extraverted than they were currently—labelled an extraversion-deficit belief—was also measured. Participants overwhelmingly indicated that they lived in a society where extraversion was more socially desirable than introversion, and most participants held extraversion-deficit beliefs. Moderated mediation analysis showed that higher trait introversion–extraversion predicted well-being directly as well as indirectly via dispositional authenticity, but this indirect pathway depended on extraversion-deficit beliefs. Extraversion-deficit beliefs were more important for the authenticity and well-being of introverts than for extraverts. Overall, we interpret our findings to mean that introverts in the West might be more authentic, and hence boost their overall well-being, if they can change their beliefs to become more accepting of their introversion.
Keywords: Introversion Extraversion Well-being Authenticity Beliefs Self-discrepancy
High degree of symmetry between the political left & right in their attitudes toward groups with dissimilar beliefs; people on the cultural & economic right seem to be more sensitive to value violations than people on the left
Right‐ and Left‐wing Prejudice Toward Dissimilar Groups in Cultural and Economic Domains. Gabriela Czarnek, Paulina Szwed, Małgorzata Kossowska. European Journal of Social Psychology, https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2548
Abstract: According to recent studies, people on both the political right and left show prejudice toward groups whose beliefs are in conflict with their own. This prediction applies both to cultural and economic dimensions of political beliefs. In three studies (N = 499) we demonstrate that people on both the cultural and economic right and left show negative attitudes toward groups on the other side of the given spectrum and that underlying this effect is the perception of value violation. In two out of three studies, we manipulated the extremity of target worldviews to further explore the causal chain between political beliefs, the perception of value violation and prejudice. Our results showed high degree of symmetry between the political left and right in their attitudes toward groups with dissimilar beliefs. However, although people on both sides of the political spectrum show prejudice toward each other, people on the cultural and economic right seem to be more sensitive to value violations than people on the left.
Abstract: According to recent studies, people on both the political right and left show prejudice toward groups whose beliefs are in conflict with their own. This prediction applies both to cultural and economic dimensions of political beliefs. In three studies (N = 499) we demonstrate that people on both the cultural and economic right and left show negative attitudes toward groups on the other side of the given spectrum and that underlying this effect is the perception of value violation. In two out of three studies, we manipulated the extremity of target worldviews to further explore the causal chain between political beliefs, the perception of value violation and prejudice. Our results showed high degree of symmetry between the political left and right in their attitudes toward groups with dissimilar beliefs. However, although people on both sides of the political spectrum show prejudice toward each other, people on the cultural and economic right seem to be more sensitive to value violations than people on the left.
On the genetic & environmental sources of social and political participation in adolescence & early adulthood: Individual environments not shared by family members were the major source of variance for all variables; genetic influences were also pronounced
On the genetic and environmental sources of social and political participation in adolescence and early adulthood. Anna E. Kornadt, Anke Hufer, Christian Kandler, Rainer Riemann. PLOS One, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0202518
Abstract: Political participation (POP), social participation (SOP), and political interest (PI) are important indicators of social status and social inequality. Previous studies on related trait differences yielded genetic and environmental contributions. However, focusing on adult samples, classical twin designs, and convenience samples often restricts parameter estimation and generalizability, and limits the understanding of age differences. We investigated sources of variance in POP, SOP, and PI in late adolescence and early adulthood with an extended twin family design (ETFD). We analyzed data from over 2,000 representative German twin families. Individual environments not shared by family members reflected the major source of variance for all variables, but genetic influences were also pronounced. Genetic effects were mostly higher for young adults, whereas effects of twins’ shared environment were significant in adolescence. Our study deepens the understanding of the interplay between genetic and environmental factors in shaping differences in young persons’ integration in society.
Abstract: Political participation (POP), social participation (SOP), and political interest (PI) are important indicators of social status and social inequality. Previous studies on related trait differences yielded genetic and environmental contributions. However, focusing on adult samples, classical twin designs, and convenience samples often restricts parameter estimation and generalizability, and limits the understanding of age differences. We investigated sources of variance in POP, SOP, and PI in late adolescence and early adulthood with an extended twin family design (ETFD). We analyzed data from over 2,000 representative German twin families. Individual environments not shared by family members reflected the major source of variance for all variables, but genetic influences were also pronounced. Genetic effects were mostly higher for young adults, whereas effects of twins’ shared environment were significant in adolescence. Our study deepens the understanding of the interplay between genetic and environmental factors in shaping differences in young persons’ integration in society.
In medieval Europe, pets, farm animals, vermin, and insects could be held accountable for damage to persons and property; entitled to due process, they were represented, tried, and punished – sometimes in public executions
Assignment of culpability to animals as a form of abuse: Historical and cultural perspectives. Kenneth J. Weiss, Laurentine Fromm, Joel Glazer. Behavioral Sciences and the Law, https://doi.org/10.1002/bsl.2372
Abstract: How the law regards animals reflects cultural trends that have varied widely from antiquity to the present. This article argues that cultural views of animals have shaped laws, attitudes, and practices worldwide. Whereas ancient (biblical and Mesopotamian) practices turned on economics, medieval concepts of animal culpability aligned with Christian beliefs of the primacy of humans. In medieval Europe, pets, farm animals, vermin, and insects could be held accountable for damage to persons and property. Considered entitled to due process, they were represented, tried, and punished – sometimes in public executions. Centuries of regarding animals as property subordinated to humans gave way to animal cruelty laws. It was not until the 19th century that respect for animal welfare, apart from economics, assumed legal significance. Presently, animals are not considered capable of criminal intent but can be “executed” for dangerousness. However, they may possess legal standing as civil complainants in animal rights cases. Contemporary trends include animal rights activism and courts conferring legal personhood to animals. The discussion concludes that there will be disparate approaches worldwide, based on prevailing views of animal sentience, spiritually based concepts and values, litigation arguing property and environmental law, and economics.
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Excerpts:
1 | INTRODUCTION
Unlawful treatment of animals is not acceptable under contemporary standards, whether in the form of gross
maltreatment, neglect, or inhumane food production. Even so, perpetrators are rarely brought before forensic mental
health professionals, as the acts in question typically do not require an analysis of intent (mens rea; Kukor, Davis, &
DOI: 10.1002/bsl.2372
Behav Sci Law. 2018;1–14. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/bsl © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. 1
Weiss, 2016). But, turning the kaleidoscope, what do we do when animals damage property or the health and safety
of humans? The obvious, but not too thoughtful, answer is to hold their human owners responsible or summarily –
and lawfully – to terminate the life of the offending animal, without reflecting on its degree of responsibility or
conferring on it due process.
There is a substantial literature documenting how humans have regarded animal rights (Stone, 1972), which has
largely escaped the notice of mental health specialists. This article is an attempt to repair that gap, describing past
cultural beliefs that considered misbehaving animals (and their owners) worthy of adjudication or even criminal
defense, and to note emerging cultural and legal trends in conferring legal status (personhood) on animals. The review
begins with a summary of biblical and polytheistic guidance on human–animal relations before turning to medieval
animal trials. The trials, persisting for centuries, mainly in Europe, raise questions about perceptions of animals' capacity
for “intent” as well as for suffering (sentience). The article recounts the evolution of anti‐cruelty laws and finally
turns to contemporary views of cultural differences in perceptions of humans' relationships with animals and the
nonhuman environment generally.
2 | ANCIENT ORIGINS
There has been intermittent scholarly attention to the adjudication of human–animal conflict in the ancient world, for
example, in the work of Jacob Finkelstein (1973, 1981) on Mesopotamian (ancient Near East) and Judeo‐Christian
cultures. The Western “cosmology” defining relationships between humans and the entirety of the nonhuman environment,
he argues, is established in the biblical Book of Genesis: “The visible universe is for man alone to conquer and
dominate. Man is to rule wisely and justly; he is God's steward, to be sure, but he is to rule and dominate all the same”
(Finkelstein, 1981, p. 8). The Mesopotamian polytheistic culture is not congruent with the Bible's hierarchical concept:
“Far from seeing man as its nucleus or focus, normative Mesopotamian thought perceived the universe as an
ordered entity, a cosmos, entirely apart from the presence of man” (Finkelstein, 1981, p. 12). How did ancient laws
define justice in so‐called goring‐ox cases, in which an animal killed a person?
Both biblical and Mesopotamian texts contain prescriptions for adjudicating wrongs: in Exodus, Chapters 21–23,
and in Mesopotamian laws (the Eshnunna rules and the Code of Hammurapi [Hammurabi]), respectively. Finkelstein
(1981) cautioned that only the biblical phrasing can be construed as “laws” in the modern sense. Both frameworks
describe adjudication of goring‐ox cases, considering the animal's prior behavior and its owner's knowledge of it,
the nature of the victim, and the calculus designed not to unduly burden any party. One difference appears to reside
in the biblical allowance for the death penalty for both ox and owner: “If an ox gores a man or woman to death, the ox
shall be stoned to death, its flesh may not be eaten, but the owner of the ox is innocent, [but if the owner knew of the
ox's violent propensity], [he] shall be put to death as well” (Finkelstein, 1981, p. 20). The Mesopotamian solutions,
emphasizing monetary fines, are closer to tort laws of “economic trespass” (Finkelstein, 1981, p. 24), whereby the animal's
owner would pay restitution to the victim. In neither case does the law impute actual criminal intent to animals
or imply a principle of general deterrence.
Biblical accounts of wrongful death by animal (e.g., in Exodus 21:28) reflect the laws of negligent homicide. Culpability
eliminates the animal and deprives the owner of its value (a deodand, something “given to God,” since the
flesh cannot be consumed) (Finkelstein, 1973). Finkelstein's (1981) analysis of biblical law included a lengthy discussion
of the textual differences between the fate of the ox and that of the owner: whereas the ox is to be “stoned” to
death, the owner is “put to death,” suggesting “that the guilt or ‘crime’ of the ox is of a different order than the crime
of its owner” (p. 26). The ox is not executed for murder. The textual proof resides in that, in biblical murder cases, the
mode of execution was never specified. Yet death of the ox by stoning is carried out by the community, for punishment
of an offense against “the corporate community … [that] compromise[s] its most cherished values to the degree
that … [it] places the community in jeopardy” (p. 27). Stoning, a public spectacle reflecting outrage, served a social
function beyond mere pecuniary restitution: restoration of social order, not general deterrence.
Talmudic passages regard animals as capitally culpable for causing human death, except when the act was
inadvertent (Finkelstein, 1981). Finkelstein explained: “In addition to bespeaking the humane concerns of the
talmudical [sic] authorities, this view attests, perhaps even more eloquently than do those instances in which the
ox was to be condemned to stoning, the anthropocentric perspective upon all manner of experience” (p. 32).
Finkelstein (1981) viewed the Talmudic interpretation as “the earliest unambiguous indication that the actions of
an animal may be judged by human criteria to determine guilt or innocence” (p. 32). This is not a unique example
of attributing conscious agency to animals, but it is puzzling how thoughtful scholars reconciled “humane concerns”
with punishments analogous to human adjudications.
Given what, to the contemporary mind, seems a baffling practice, Berman (1994) recalled that, in ancient Greece,
inanimate objects (e.g., statues and pillars) were put on trial as were animals. Both object and animal transgressors
were treated as felons in Greece, as noted in Plato's Laws (Frazer, 1918, p. 422). In ancient Roman and European
times, when inanimate objects caused death, they were confiscated by the Crown (Finkelstein, 1973, p. 186). As
Finkelstein (1973) explained:
The sovereign was the beneficiary of such forefeitures [sic] because he was the incarnate personification of
the transcendent quality of the community, and by his receipt of the forfeiture, the divine wrath which
might have been provoked by the unrequited death of the human victim was thought presumably to
have been averted (pp. 249–250).
Forfeiture was of economic benefit to the crown, which acquired the value of the forfeited animal. Medieval
European law, by contrast, held the animal responsible, not just using its behavior as a pretext for confiscating
property from citizens: “The ox that gored a person to death was treated as a real felon … and was duly executed”
(Finkelstein, 1973, p. 252). Thus, we see a transition between the biblical negligent homicide and the medieval
felonious homicide analyses. This transition brings into focus, as Evans (1906) discussed, that animals came to be
viewed in early modern Europe as bearing “penal” if not “moral” responsibility for homicidal behavior. Forensic professionals
will recognize how this dichotomy is at odds with modern criminal law, which requires that a culpable act
(actus reus) be coupled with a culpable mind (mens rea). The next section recounts a long historical interlude in which
animals were treated as criminally responsible for acts against humans and property. Farm animals, and even insects,
were regarded as proper subjects for jurisprudence, including execution, apparently without the practice itself constituting
cruelty. The historical background is followed by interpretations of the underlying medieval worldview.
Despite the popular belief that primitive cultures were animistic and assessed no differences between humans and othercreatures, ancient cultures that based beliefs on the hierarchical scheme of the Bible tried and executed animals
(Finkelstein, 1981, p. 48). The idea of placing animals in court, as criminal defendants, may today seemfantastical, or even
comic to a degree (Grayshott, 2013). Yet the practice took place,mainly in Europe, over hundreds of years. Evans (1906),
in his now‐classic work on the subject, cataloged such prosecutions from the years 824 until 1906 (pp. 265–286),
predominantly in the 15th to 17th centuries. A partial list of defendants includes rodents, snakes, insects, pigs, cattle,
oxen, chickens, goats, horses, dogs, and snails. Since Evans's book, the fact of animal trials has been substantiated
(Finkelstein, 1981). Evans' findings were first published in a pair of articles in the Atlantic Monthly in 1884 (Evans,
1884a, 1884b). Domestic farm animals, for example, a pig that ate a human infant, were typically tried in secular court,
whereas pests,e.g., mice that ate grain, were often tried in ecclesiastical tribunals (Berman, 1994). It seemed of no concern
to medieval authorities that animals could be subjected to excommunication without first subscribing to Christian
fellowship. The practice was likely a show of power and an anodyne for the citizenry, that someone was taking action.
Animal trials decreased after the 17th century, but little interpretive scholarship existed until the 19th century,
appearing first in Paris and then in Boston (Berriat‐Saint‐Prix, 1829). Perhaps this was due to incredulity that the
phenomenon existed (Beirne, 2011). Both the French articles and the American re‐publication reflect doubt and confusion;
Berriat‐Saint‐Prix (1829, p. 223) began:
We doubted for a long time whether, in the middle ages, those prosecutions against animals, which have
been mentioned by some ancient chroniclers, were ever in fact instituted. Even the ignorance and
superstition of the times did not seem to us a sufficient reason to render their relations credible. How is
it possible to conceive, especially if it be admitted that brutes are mere machines, that any one should
ever have thought of bringing actions against them, since an action requires two parties, one that
attacks and the other that defends, at least by the intervention of attorneys and proctors, and assuredly
animals cannot have such representatives.
Both Berriat‐Saint‐Prix (1829) and Evans (1906) cited medieval attorney Bartholomew Chassenée (Evans's spelling)
as the principal chronicler or animal trials. Chassenée, the “defender of rats,” made his mark in the eastern French
town of Autun in about 1530. Evans (1906) provided the context:
[Chassenée] made his reputation at the bar as counsel for some rats, which had been put on trial before
the ecclesiastical court of Autun on the charge of having feloniously eaten up and wantonly destroyed
the barley‐crop of that province. On complaint formally presented by the magistracy, the official or
bishop's vicar, who exercised jurisdiction in such cases, cited the culprits to appear on a certain day and
appointed Chassenée to defend them (p. 18).
Evans (1906) lamented that Chassenée's case records have not been preserved, but reassured the reader that the
attorney compiled case summaries in a book published in Latin (Consilium Primum) between 1531 and 1588 (Evans,
1906, p. 21). In Evans's account, full of colorful language and unforgiving about the guilt of the “culprits,” there is
ambiguity as to whether jurisdiction was in civil or ecclesiastical court. Berriat‐Saint‐Prix (1829) recounted that grain
crops had been ravaged between 1522 and 1530 causing famine. When ordinary extermination was ineffective, the
religious court was asked to excommunicate the rodents, but this, too, failed. The matter reverted to civil authorities,
whereby the prosecutor drew up a bill summoning the rats. When the rats failed to appear, a judgment was brought
against them, but, before final judgment could be brought, “[t]he official, thinking that the accused ought at least to
be defended, appointed Chassenée as their advocate” (Berriat‐Saint‐Prix, 1829, p. 224). One could cite this as an
early iteration of animal advocacy, though the irony seems to have been lost amid the colorful accounts, mostly
ending in ritual slaughter.
Chassenée employed a series of stall tactics (“dilatory exceptions”): first, that a single summons was inadequate
to inform rats dispersed over many villages. Accordingly, Chassenée had a second summons distributed in a public
location in each parish. When this failed to produce the vermin, he argued that the journey was long and dangerous
(the rats could be preyed upon by cats). When that delay was exhausted, he used an emotional appeal: “What can be
more unjust than these general proscriptions, which overwhelm whole families in one common ruin, which visit the
crime of parents on the children, which destroy indiscriminately those whom tender years or infirmity render equally
incapable of offending?” (Berriat‐Saint‐Prix, 1829, p. 224).
Ecclesiastical proceedings used threats of excommunication against pests. In 1585, great rainfall produced a
plague of caterpillars in Valence, France: “The walls, the windows, and the chimneys of the houses were covered
with them, even in the cities: it was a lively and hideous representation of the plague of Egypt by locusts”
(Berriat‐Saint‐Prix, 1829, p. 225). The grand vicar accused the caterpillars of this affront and appointed a
defender. The prosecution won and the pests were sentenced to quit the diocese. When the caterpillars did
not obey, jurists and theologians consulted, agreeing that excommunication and exile were not indicated; only
strong words, prayer, and holy water. Berriat‐Saint‐Prix's (1829) source noted: “The life of these animals is short,
and these ceremonies having continued several months, received the credit of having miraculously exterminated
them” (p. 225).
A sow was accused of blasphemy in 1394, in Mortaign, France (Bondeson, 1999). It had roamed into a churchand eaten a wafer from the floor. This action led to a legal‐theological crisis. Bondeson (1999) explained:
The priests debated whether this act had transubstantiated the sow's flesh into that of Christ: should it be
slaughtered or revered, and should the wafer be honored even inside the pig's stomach? Finally, they
decided to execute the pig: there was general relief among the curés that when no trace of the wafer
was found within the swine's intestinal canal; in that case, they would have had to eat it to show the
Savior due respect (pp. 140–141).
The early medieval trials took place in or near Switzerland, and later in other European countries, Canada, and
Brazil (Cohen, 1986); they were uncommon in Britain (Beirne, 2011). For wild animals, “the penalty they suffered
was banishment or death by exorcism and excommunication. Nor was that penalty by any means a light one, if it
be true that St Patrick exorcized the reptiles of Ireland into the sea or turned them into stones, and that St Bernard,
by excommunicating the flies that buzzed about him, laid them all out dead on the floor of the church” (Frazer, 1918,
p. 424). One reason ecclesiastical courts handled vermin cases was convenience. Frazer (1918) explained:
It was physically impossible for a common executioner, however zealous, active and robust, to hang,
decapitate, or otherwise execute all the rats, mice, ants, flies, mosquitoes, caterpillars, and other vermin of
a whole district; but what is impossible with man is possible and indeed easy with God … In [tame animal]
cases … justice took its usual course; there was no difficulty at all in arresting the criminals and in
bringing them, after a fair trial, to the gallows, the block, or the stake. That is why in those days vermin
enjoyed the benefit of clergy, while tame animals had to submit to all the rigour of the secular arm (p. 438).
Cohen (1986) disagreed with a sharp distinction between civil and ecclesiastical jurisdictions, suggesting that
church‐based remedies were employed when civil remedies failed.
In a Burgundian town near Switzerland, in 1457, a sow, along with her six piglets, were charged with murdering
and partially consuming a 5‐year‐old child (Chambers, 1883; Cohen, 1986). All seven were imprisoned and, a month
later, tried before a judge. In court were a lawyer, two prosecutors, and many witnesses. The owner (and nominal
defendant) was charged only with negligence (Cohen, 1986). Chambers (1883) included a drawing (Figure 1) with
the following account:
The sow was found guilty and condemned to death; but the pigs were acquitted on account of their youth,
the bad example of their mother, and the absence of direct proof as to their having been concerned in the
eating of the child (pp. 128–129).
The owner did not dispute the execution of the sow, for which a professional hangman was engaged. However, he
would not vouch for the piglets' future behavior, and they were forfeited to “the local lord's justice” (Cohen, 1986, p.
11). What is striking about these proceedings is their “painstaking insistence upon the observance of legal custom
and proper judicial procedure” (Cohen, 1986, p. 11), including paying lawyers and executioners.
Whereas it is straightforward to regard the execution of a sow, for tearing the face off a child, as standard
retributive justice, other transgressions involved beliefs in witchcraft and Satan. An example of this theme is the
oft‐repeated story of the cock that laid an egg, in Bâle (Basel), Switzerland, in 1474 (Chambers, 1883). Chambers
(1883) laid out the case:
The counsel for the prosecution proved that cock's eggs were of priceless value for mixing in certain
magical preparations; that a sorcerer would rather possess a cock's egg than be master of the
philosopher's stone; and that in heathen lands Satan employs witches to hatch such eggs, from which
proceed animals most injurious to Christians (p. 129).
Defense counsel, admitting the act in question, argued that the cock harmed no one and that, since the act was
involuntary, it was not culpable. When counsel challenged the prosecutor to find a precedent for Satan making a deal
with an animal, the prosecutor cited the tale of Jesus and the Gadarene swine, proving that the devil could enteranimals (Chambers, 1883, p. 129). Impressed, the court sentenced the cock to death. The bird was executed as a
sorcerer: burned at the stake along with the egg “with all the solemnity of a regular execution” (Frazer, 1918,
pp. 441–442).
Animals could also serve as witnesses in criminal cases, as Chambers (1883) reported on another Swiss case, possibly
from the 19th century. If a homeowner killed an intruder, there could be a lingering question as to whether the
homeowner enticed the victim and later claimed a burglary attempt. Chambers (1883) explained the solution:
So when a person was killed under such circumstances, the solitary householder was not held innocent,
unless he produced a dog, a cat, or a cock that had been an inmate of the house, and witnessed the
death of the person killed. The owner of the house was compelled to make his declaration of innocence
on oath before one of those animals, and if it did not contradict him, he was considered guiltless; the
law taking for granted, that the Deity would cause a miraculous manifestation, by a dumb animal,
rather than allow a murderer to escape from justice (p. 129).
These permutations of “justice” call for explanations: Did medieval citizens perceive animal trials purely to preserve
the dignity of nonhumans, and was any consideration given to the possibility that the events themselves were
cruel? Humphrey (2013), puzzled by medieval animal trials, listed several possibilities for the human mentality behind
them: mere cruelty (he claimed no evidence for it); primitive mistakes (lack moral development); elimination of social
danger (harm prevention); deterrence; and education (pp. 30–40). There was also a social element involved in the
public events. The execution of a sow in Falaise, in 1386, has been recorded as an example of a public spectacle
(Evans, 1906; Friedland, 2003). The animal had been found guilty of killing a child; the victim was wounded in the
face and arms. Friedland (2003) regarded the execution as a symbolic re‐enactment of a crime:
As punishment it was sentenced to be maimed in the head and forelegs prior to hanging. We might assume
this a simple case of an eye for an eye, rather than an attempt to re‐enact the crime, but several details
FIGURE 1 Trial of a sow and pigs at Lavegny (Chambers, 1883, p 128)
suggest something else: The executioner cut off the sow's snout and affixed in its place the mask of ahuman face; moreover, the sow was dressed in human clothing‐a jacket, breeches, haut‐de‐chausses
(trunk hose worn by boys and men) and gloves (p. 313).
Friedland (2003) suggested that such a ritual not only eliminated the offender but re‐enacted the offense
symbolically to remove the crime. Evans (1906), on the other hand, saw the execution as retaliation (lex talionis).
Having said that, he described the executioner, who was paid and supplied with a new pair of gloves, as “no common
pig‐killer, but a public functionary, a ‘master of high works’” (p. 140). Metaphorically, Evans concluded, the
gloves indicated the executioner's ability to leave the situation with clean hands, guilt‐free, having duly fulfilled his
public role.
Cohen (1986) offered a straightforward explanation for the meaning of medieval animal trials, used in 16th‐century
arguments: that, following Christian teachings, God created humans to have jurisdiction over animals:
[P]laintiffs argued that animals existed solely for the utility of man and should be punished if they acted
contrary to his interests, while the defence countered that God had granted animals the enjoyment of
nature even before the very creation of man … A court that saw itself as possessing the God‐given right
to try all creatures, human and otherwise, had to grant all of them justice (p. 14).
Thus, it can be seen that in the medieval animal trial, citizens debated the question of the relationship of the human
and animal worlds. With humans regarding themselves to be atop the power pyramid, Judeo‐Christian concepts provided
a rationale for ritualized subordination of the rest of the tangible universe. In Cohen's (1986) analysis, it is not
possible to reconcile the civil and ecclesiastical courts existing under a single anthropomorphic view of the world. She
also faulted Finkelstein (1981) for locating medieval animal trials exclusively within the Judeo‐Christian tradition,
citing Western thought, e.g., in Plato's writings: “Finkelstein's explanation fits the context of antiquity, not of the
middle ages” (Cohen, 1986, p. 18).
If animals can be murderers, criminal defendants, and witnesses, what can be inferred about the medieval view of
their mental capacities? It may seem ironic, for example, that the owner of a murderous sow was charged only with
negligence while the porcine defendant was ascribed intent and faced capital sentencing. Srivastava (2007) reflected
on the possible meaning:
I view the animal trials as remarkable not so much because they rendered justiciable a limited range of
delinquent animal conduct (for example, domestic animals were not put on trial for killing each other;
nor were wild animals put on trial for killing humans), but because they did so by attributing partial
legal personhood to those animals (p. 136).
Indeed, as Srivastava (2007) suggested, review of medieval animal trials and their cultural context reveals attitudes
and beliefs which in some ways presaged current trends toward recognition of animal “personhood” in the
law, as well as current controversies in physiologic determinism and assignment of criminal responsibility for humans
(Morse, 2011). As Evans (1906) noted,
A point of practical importance … is relation of moral to penal responsibility. If there is not freedom
of the will and the commission of crime is the necessary result of physiologic idiosyncrasies … over
which the individual has no control … then he is certainly not morally responsible for his conduct.
But is he on this account to be exempted from punishment? [Or is it the case that] punishment
is proper and imperative so far as it is essential to the protection and preservation of society[?]
(p. 210).
These considerations have continued to vex philosophers and jurists. The next section reviews cross‐cultural
variations in regarding the human–animal relations through a system of laws. The significance of the variability is that
culture and spiritual beliefs have an impact on legal practices, resulting in diverse outcomes.
4 | WORLD CULTURESStudying legal customs across time and cultures presents serious methodological issues (Cohen, 1986). Law and custom
exist side by side, but, as Cohen (1986) noted, “Society may create custom, but legislation was the ruler's province”
(p. 7). The culpability of animals has been regarded seriously worldwide, despite differences in approach. In Folk‐Lore in
the Old Testament, Frazer (1918) surveyed approaches to adjudicating offending objects and animals. Citing the goringox
passages in Exodus and the admonition to Noah in Genesis (“Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be
shed”), Frazier noted that blood‐revenge is common among “savage tribes” (p. 415). In Chittagong, India, if a tiger kills a
villager, the entire tribe pursues it, kills it, and eats it. In Indonesia, Frazer (1918) reported, animals and humans differ
only externally but “the inmost nature of the animal is the same as that of a man” (p. 418). Accordingly, killing can take
place on a one‐for‐one basis. Retributive justice can also be found in ancient Persia: “[If] the mad dog, or the dog that
bites without barking, smite a sheep or wound a man, the dog shall pay for it as for wilful murder” (Frazer, 1918, p. 419).
Frazer (1918) inferred, from his research, that primitive cultures, through personification, lost sight of the distinctions
between humans and animals and between humans and objects. He concluded:
In that hazy state of the human mind it was easy and almost inevitable to confound the motives which
actuate a rational man with the impulses which direct a beast, and even with the forces which propel a
stone or a tree in falling. It was in some such mental confusion that savages took deliberate vengeance
on animals and things that had hurt or offended them; and the intellectual fog in which such actions
were possible still obscured the eyes of the primitive legislators who, in various ages and countries, have
consecrated the same barbarous system of retaliation under the solemn forms of law and justice (p. 445).
Western European life was dominated by the Roman Catholic Church in the Medieval Era: “Above all, the Church
had unique access to God and so to eternal life” (Bragg, 2003, p. 100). The rule of law was also a potent cultural influence.
These two institutions were not completely separate, although each had its own bureaucracy and enforcement
system. It is understandable that both proceedings reflected the belief that animals were God's creatures, as much as
humans. Since, as the Bible renders it, animals were created before humans, they were just as deserving of justice.
Both types of proceedings fulfilled social as well as “punitive” purposes. The public spectacle of hanging the pig that
killed demonstrated that the perpetratorwas destroyed, and that the arm of the lawwas long. Ecclesiastical trials were scrupulously
fair, illuminating God'smercy and justice. The excommunication and exile of pests demonstrated that the power of
the Church was great, especially in that it implemented the will of God. If the sentence of the Church was not effective, it
demonstrated that the people were sinful, and therefore that God's plague of pests would continue to afflict them.
The prominent roles of each of these institutions in the trials demonstrate the power of each of them in medieval
society, in accord with the observation of Alexis de Tocqueville (1904): “He who punishes infractions of the law is
therefore the real master of society” (p. 303). In both secular and ecclesiastical trials, the ritual and seriousness of
the proceedings represented the majesty and power of the law and the Church. As the power of faith‐based enforcement
receded, civil legislation brought human–animal relations to a new level: anti‐cruelty laws.
5 | ANIMAL CRUELTY LAWS
Generally, as a population's ethics and values change, the legislation governing the population changes accordingly.
The development of animal welfare and animal rights laws reflects the changing attitude toward animals since the
19th century. Merz‐Perez and Heide (2004) pointed out that, in 18th‐century Britain, Reverend Humphrey Primatt
called for compassion for animals; his plea went unheeded. The first serious attempts to enact animal welfare laws
began in England in 1809. On 15 May 1809, Lord Erskine introduced before Parliament a bill for the protection of
animals. In support of his bill, Lord Erskine stated, “They [animals] are created, indeed, for our use, but not for our
abuse” (Favre & Tsang, 1993, p. 4). Accordingly, the bill was based on a theory of ownership over animals and
protection of personal property, rather than on an animal's ability to feel pain. Ultimately the bill failed, but the anticruelty
movement gained momentum.
Richard Martin introduced a bill before Parliament on 10 June 1822, known as “Dick Martin's Act … An Act to
Prevent the Cruel and Improper Treatment of Cattle” (Favre & Tsang, 1993, p. 4).
[...]
Abstract: How the law regards animals reflects cultural trends that have varied widely from antiquity to the present. This article argues that cultural views of animals have shaped laws, attitudes, and practices worldwide. Whereas ancient (biblical and Mesopotamian) practices turned on economics, medieval concepts of animal culpability aligned with Christian beliefs of the primacy of humans. In medieval Europe, pets, farm animals, vermin, and insects could be held accountable for damage to persons and property. Considered entitled to due process, they were represented, tried, and punished – sometimes in public executions. Centuries of regarding animals as property subordinated to humans gave way to animal cruelty laws. It was not until the 19th century that respect for animal welfare, apart from economics, assumed legal significance. Presently, animals are not considered capable of criminal intent but can be “executed” for dangerousness. However, they may possess legal standing as civil complainants in animal rights cases. Contemporary trends include animal rights activism and courts conferring legal personhood to animals. The discussion concludes that there will be disparate approaches worldwide, based on prevailing views of animal sentience, spiritually based concepts and values, litigation arguing property and environmental law, and economics.
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Excerpts:
1 | INTRODUCTION
Unlawful treatment of animals is not acceptable under contemporary standards, whether in the form of gross
maltreatment, neglect, or inhumane food production. Even so, perpetrators are rarely brought before forensic mental
health professionals, as the acts in question typically do not require an analysis of intent (mens rea; Kukor, Davis, &
DOI: 10.1002/bsl.2372
Behav Sci Law. 2018;1–14. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/bsl © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. 1
Weiss, 2016). But, turning the kaleidoscope, what do we do when animals damage property or the health and safety
of humans? The obvious, but not too thoughtful, answer is to hold their human owners responsible or summarily –
and lawfully – to terminate the life of the offending animal, without reflecting on its degree of responsibility or
conferring on it due process.
There is a substantial literature documenting how humans have regarded animal rights (Stone, 1972), which has
largely escaped the notice of mental health specialists. This article is an attempt to repair that gap, describing past
cultural beliefs that considered misbehaving animals (and their owners) worthy of adjudication or even criminal
defense, and to note emerging cultural and legal trends in conferring legal status (personhood) on animals. The review
begins with a summary of biblical and polytheistic guidance on human–animal relations before turning to medieval
animal trials. The trials, persisting for centuries, mainly in Europe, raise questions about perceptions of animals' capacity
for “intent” as well as for suffering (sentience). The article recounts the evolution of anti‐cruelty laws and finally
turns to contemporary views of cultural differences in perceptions of humans' relationships with animals and the
nonhuman environment generally.
2 | ANCIENT ORIGINS
There has been intermittent scholarly attention to the adjudication of human–animal conflict in the ancient world, for
example, in the work of Jacob Finkelstein (1973, 1981) on Mesopotamian (ancient Near East) and Judeo‐Christian
cultures. The Western “cosmology” defining relationships between humans and the entirety of the nonhuman environment,
he argues, is established in the biblical Book of Genesis: “The visible universe is for man alone to conquer and
dominate. Man is to rule wisely and justly; he is God's steward, to be sure, but he is to rule and dominate all the same”
(Finkelstein, 1981, p. 8). The Mesopotamian polytheistic culture is not congruent with the Bible's hierarchical concept:
“Far from seeing man as its nucleus or focus, normative Mesopotamian thought perceived the universe as an
ordered entity, a cosmos, entirely apart from the presence of man” (Finkelstein, 1981, p. 12). How did ancient laws
define justice in so‐called goring‐ox cases, in which an animal killed a person?
Both biblical and Mesopotamian texts contain prescriptions for adjudicating wrongs: in Exodus, Chapters 21–23,
and in Mesopotamian laws (the Eshnunna rules and the Code of Hammurapi [Hammurabi]), respectively. Finkelstein
(1981) cautioned that only the biblical phrasing can be construed as “laws” in the modern sense. Both frameworks
describe adjudication of goring‐ox cases, considering the animal's prior behavior and its owner's knowledge of it,
the nature of the victim, and the calculus designed not to unduly burden any party. One difference appears to reside
in the biblical allowance for the death penalty for both ox and owner: “If an ox gores a man or woman to death, the ox
shall be stoned to death, its flesh may not be eaten, but the owner of the ox is innocent, [but if the owner knew of the
ox's violent propensity], [he] shall be put to death as well” (Finkelstein, 1981, p. 20). The Mesopotamian solutions,
emphasizing monetary fines, are closer to tort laws of “economic trespass” (Finkelstein, 1981, p. 24), whereby the animal's
owner would pay restitution to the victim. In neither case does the law impute actual criminal intent to animals
or imply a principle of general deterrence.
Biblical accounts of wrongful death by animal (e.g., in Exodus 21:28) reflect the laws of negligent homicide. Culpability
eliminates the animal and deprives the owner of its value (a deodand, something “given to God,” since the
flesh cannot be consumed) (Finkelstein, 1973). Finkelstein's (1981) analysis of biblical law included a lengthy discussion
of the textual differences between the fate of the ox and that of the owner: whereas the ox is to be “stoned” to
death, the owner is “put to death,” suggesting “that the guilt or ‘crime’ of the ox is of a different order than the crime
of its owner” (p. 26). The ox is not executed for murder. The textual proof resides in that, in biblical murder cases, the
mode of execution was never specified. Yet death of the ox by stoning is carried out by the community, for punishment
of an offense against “the corporate community … [that] compromise[s] its most cherished values to the degree
that … [it] places the community in jeopardy” (p. 27). Stoning, a public spectacle reflecting outrage, served a social
function beyond mere pecuniary restitution: restoration of social order, not general deterrence.
Talmudic passages regard animals as capitally culpable for causing human death, except when the act was
inadvertent (Finkelstein, 1981). Finkelstein explained: “In addition to bespeaking the humane concerns of the
talmudical [sic] authorities, this view attests, perhaps even more eloquently than do those instances in which the
ox was to be condemned to stoning, the anthropocentric perspective upon all manner of experience” (p. 32).
Finkelstein (1981) viewed the Talmudic interpretation as “the earliest unambiguous indication that the actions of
an animal may be judged by human criteria to determine guilt or innocence” (p. 32). This is not a unique example
of attributing conscious agency to animals, but it is puzzling how thoughtful scholars reconciled “humane concerns”
with punishments analogous to human adjudications.
Given what, to the contemporary mind, seems a baffling practice, Berman (1994) recalled that, in ancient Greece,
inanimate objects (e.g., statues and pillars) were put on trial as were animals. Both object and animal transgressors
were treated as felons in Greece, as noted in Plato's Laws (Frazer, 1918, p. 422). In ancient Roman and European
times, when inanimate objects caused death, they were confiscated by the Crown (Finkelstein, 1973, p. 186). As
Finkelstein (1973) explained:
The sovereign was the beneficiary of such forefeitures [sic] because he was the incarnate personification of
the transcendent quality of the community, and by his receipt of the forfeiture, the divine wrath which
might have been provoked by the unrequited death of the human victim was thought presumably to
have been averted (pp. 249–250).
Forfeiture was of economic benefit to the crown, which acquired the value of the forfeited animal. Medieval
European law, by contrast, held the animal responsible, not just using its behavior as a pretext for confiscating
property from citizens: “The ox that gored a person to death was treated as a real felon … and was duly executed”
(Finkelstein, 1973, p. 252). Thus, we see a transition between the biblical negligent homicide and the medieval
felonious homicide analyses. This transition brings into focus, as Evans (1906) discussed, that animals came to be
viewed in early modern Europe as bearing “penal” if not “moral” responsibility for homicidal behavior. Forensic professionals
will recognize how this dichotomy is at odds with modern criminal law, which requires that a culpable act
(actus reus) be coupled with a culpable mind (mens rea). The next section recounts a long historical interlude in which
animals were treated as criminally responsible for acts against humans and property. Farm animals, and even insects,
were regarded as proper subjects for jurisprudence, including execution, apparently without the practice itself constituting
cruelty. The historical background is followed by interpretations of the underlying medieval worldview.
Despite the popular belief that primitive cultures were animistic and assessed no differences between humans and othercreatures, ancient cultures that based beliefs on the hierarchical scheme of the Bible tried and executed animals
(Finkelstein, 1981, p. 48). The idea of placing animals in court, as criminal defendants, may today seemfantastical, or even
comic to a degree (Grayshott, 2013). Yet the practice took place,mainly in Europe, over hundreds of years. Evans (1906),
in his now‐classic work on the subject, cataloged such prosecutions from the years 824 until 1906 (pp. 265–286),
predominantly in the 15th to 17th centuries. A partial list of defendants includes rodents, snakes, insects, pigs, cattle,
oxen, chickens, goats, horses, dogs, and snails. Since Evans's book, the fact of animal trials has been substantiated
(Finkelstein, 1981). Evans' findings were first published in a pair of articles in the Atlantic Monthly in 1884 (Evans,
1884a, 1884b). Domestic farm animals, for example, a pig that ate a human infant, were typically tried in secular court,
whereas pests,e.g., mice that ate grain, were often tried in ecclesiastical tribunals (Berman, 1994). It seemed of no concern
to medieval authorities that animals could be subjected to excommunication without first subscribing to Christian
fellowship. The practice was likely a show of power and an anodyne for the citizenry, that someone was taking action.
Animal trials decreased after the 17th century, but little interpretive scholarship existed until the 19th century,
appearing first in Paris and then in Boston (Berriat‐Saint‐Prix, 1829). Perhaps this was due to incredulity that the
phenomenon existed (Beirne, 2011). Both the French articles and the American re‐publication reflect doubt and confusion;
Berriat‐Saint‐Prix (1829, p. 223) began:
We doubted for a long time whether, in the middle ages, those prosecutions against animals, which have
been mentioned by some ancient chroniclers, were ever in fact instituted. Even the ignorance and
superstition of the times did not seem to us a sufficient reason to render their relations credible. How is
it possible to conceive, especially if it be admitted that brutes are mere machines, that any one should
ever have thought of bringing actions against them, since an action requires two parties, one that
attacks and the other that defends, at least by the intervention of attorneys and proctors, and assuredly
animals cannot have such representatives.
Both Berriat‐Saint‐Prix (1829) and Evans (1906) cited medieval attorney Bartholomew Chassenée (Evans's spelling)
as the principal chronicler or animal trials. Chassenée, the “defender of rats,” made his mark in the eastern French
town of Autun in about 1530. Evans (1906) provided the context:
[Chassenée] made his reputation at the bar as counsel for some rats, which had been put on trial before
the ecclesiastical court of Autun on the charge of having feloniously eaten up and wantonly destroyed
the barley‐crop of that province. On complaint formally presented by the magistracy, the official or
bishop's vicar, who exercised jurisdiction in such cases, cited the culprits to appear on a certain day and
appointed Chassenée to defend them (p. 18).
Evans (1906) lamented that Chassenée's case records have not been preserved, but reassured the reader that the
attorney compiled case summaries in a book published in Latin (Consilium Primum) between 1531 and 1588 (Evans,
1906, p. 21). In Evans's account, full of colorful language and unforgiving about the guilt of the “culprits,” there is
ambiguity as to whether jurisdiction was in civil or ecclesiastical court. Berriat‐Saint‐Prix (1829) recounted that grain
crops had been ravaged between 1522 and 1530 causing famine. When ordinary extermination was ineffective, the
religious court was asked to excommunicate the rodents, but this, too, failed. The matter reverted to civil authorities,
whereby the prosecutor drew up a bill summoning the rats. When the rats failed to appear, a judgment was brought
against them, but, before final judgment could be brought, “[t]he official, thinking that the accused ought at least to
be defended, appointed Chassenée as their advocate” (Berriat‐Saint‐Prix, 1829, p. 224). One could cite this as an
early iteration of animal advocacy, though the irony seems to have been lost amid the colorful accounts, mostly
ending in ritual slaughter.
Chassenée employed a series of stall tactics (“dilatory exceptions”): first, that a single summons was inadequate
to inform rats dispersed over many villages. Accordingly, Chassenée had a second summons distributed in a public
location in each parish. When this failed to produce the vermin, he argued that the journey was long and dangerous
(the rats could be preyed upon by cats). When that delay was exhausted, he used an emotional appeal: “What can be
more unjust than these general proscriptions, which overwhelm whole families in one common ruin, which visit the
crime of parents on the children, which destroy indiscriminately those whom tender years or infirmity render equally
incapable of offending?” (Berriat‐Saint‐Prix, 1829, p. 224).
Ecclesiastical proceedings used threats of excommunication against pests. In 1585, great rainfall produced a
plague of caterpillars in Valence, France: “The walls, the windows, and the chimneys of the houses were covered
with them, even in the cities: it was a lively and hideous representation of the plague of Egypt by locusts”
(Berriat‐Saint‐Prix, 1829, p. 225). The grand vicar accused the caterpillars of this affront and appointed a
defender. The prosecution won and the pests were sentenced to quit the diocese. When the caterpillars did
not obey, jurists and theologians consulted, agreeing that excommunication and exile were not indicated; only
strong words, prayer, and holy water. Berriat‐Saint‐Prix's (1829) source noted: “The life of these animals is short,
and these ceremonies having continued several months, received the credit of having miraculously exterminated
them” (p. 225).
A sow was accused of blasphemy in 1394, in Mortaign, France (Bondeson, 1999). It had roamed into a churchand eaten a wafer from the floor. This action led to a legal‐theological crisis. Bondeson (1999) explained:
The priests debated whether this act had transubstantiated the sow's flesh into that of Christ: should it be
slaughtered or revered, and should the wafer be honored even inside the pig's stomach? Finally, they
decided to execute the pig: there was general relief among the curés that when no trace of the wafer
was found within the swine's intestinal canal; in that case, they would have had to eat it to show the
Savior due respect (pp. 140–141).
The early medieval trials took place in or near Switzerland, and later in other European countries, Canada, and
Brazil (Cohen, 1986); they were uncommon in Britain (Beirne, 2011). For wild animals, “the penalty they suffered
was banishment or death by exorcism and excommunication. Nor was that penalty by any means a light one, if it
be true that St Patrick exorcized the reptiles of Ireland into the sea or turned them into stones, and that St Bernard,
by excommunicating the flies that buzzed about him, laid them all out dead on the floor of the church” (Frazer, 1918,
p. 424). One reason ecclesiastical courts handled vermin cases was convenience. Frazer (1918) explained:
It was physically impossible for a common executioner, however zealous, active and robust, to hang,
decapitate, or otherwise execute all the rats, mice, ants, flies, mosquitoes, caterpillars, and other vermin of
a whole district; but what is impossible with man is possible and indeed easy with God … In [tame animal]
cases … justice took its usual course; there was no difficulty at all in arresting the criminals and in
bringing them, after a fair trial, to the gallows, the block, or the stake. That is why in those days vermin
enjoyed the benefit of clergy, while tame animals had to submit to all the rigour of the secular arm (p. 438).
Cohen (1986) disagreed with a sharp distinction between civil and ecclesiastical jurisdictions, suggesting that
church‐based remedies were employed when civil remedies failed.
In a Burgundian town near Switzerland, in 1457, a sow, along with her six piglets, were charged with murdering
and partially consuming a 5‐year‐old child (Chambers, 1883; Cohen, 1986). All seven were imprisoned and, a month
later, tried before a judge. In court were a lawyer, two prosecutors, and many witnesses. The owner (and nominal
defendant) was charged only with negligence (Cohen, 1986). Chambers (1883) included a drawing (Figure 1) with
the following account:
The sow was found guilty and condemned to death; but the pigs were acquitted on account of their youth,
the bad example of their mother, and the absence of direct proof as to their having been concerned in the
eating of the child (pp. 128–129).
The owner did not dispute the execution of the sow, for which a professional hangman was engaged. However, he
would not vouch for the piglets' future behavior, and they were forfeited to “the local lord's justice” (Cohen, 1986, p.
11). What is striking about these proceedings is their “painstaking insistence upon the observance of legal custom
and proper judicial procedure” (Cohen, 1986, p. 11), including paying lawyers and executioners.
Whereas it is straightforward to regard the execution of a sow, for tearing the face off a child, as standard
retributive justice, other transgressions involved beliefs in witchcraft and Satan. An example of this theme is the
oft‐repeated story of the cock that laid an egg, in Bâle (Basel), Switzerland, in 1474 (Chambers, 1883). Chambers
(1883) laid out the case:
The counsel for the prosecution proved that cock's eggs were of priceless value for mixing in certain
magical preparations; that a sorcerer would rather possess a cock's egg than be master of the
philosopher's stone; and that in heathen lands Satan employs witches to hatch such eggs, from which
proceed animals most injurious to Christians (p. 129).
Defense counsel, admitting the act in question, argued that the cock harmed no one and that, since the act was
involuntary, it was not culpable. When counsel challenged the prosecutor to find a precedent for Satan making a deal
with an animal, the prosecutor cited the tale of Jesus and the Gadarene swine, proving that the devil could enteranimals (Chambers, 1883, p. 129). Impressed, the court sentenced the cock to death. The bird was executed as a
sorcerer: burned at the stake along with the egg “with all the solemnity of a regular execution” (Frazer, 1918,
pp. 441–442).
Animals could also serve as witnesses in criminal cases, as Chambers (1883) reported on another Swiss case, possibly
from the 19th century. If a homeowner killed an intruder, there could be a lingering question as to whether the
homeowner enticed the victim and later claimed a burglary attempt. Chambers (1883) explained the solution:
So when a person was killed under such circumstances, the solitary householder was not held innocent,
unless he produced a dog, a cat, or a cock that had been an inmate of the house, and witnessed the
death of the person killed. The owner of the house was compelled to make his declaration of innocence
on oath before one of those animals, and if it did not contradict him, he was considered guiltless; the
law taking for granted, that the Deity would cause a miraculous manifestation, by a dumb animal,
rather than allow a murderer to escape from justice (p. 129).
These permutations of “justice” call for explanations: Did medieval citizens perceive animal trials purely to preserve
the dignity of nonhumans, and was any consideration given to the possibility that the events themselves were
cruel? Humphrey (2013), puzzled by medieval animal trials, listed several possibilities for the human mentality behind
them: mere cruelty (he claimed no evidence for it); primitive mistakes (lack moral development); elimination of social
danger (harm prevention); deterrence; and education (pp. 30–40). There was also a social element involved in the
public events. The execution of a sow in Falaise, in 1386, has been recorded as an example of a public spectacle
(Evans, 1906; Friedland, 2003). The animal had been found guilty of killing a child; the victim was wounded in the
face and arms. Friedland (2003) regarded the execution as a symbolic re‐enactment of a crime:
As punishment it was sentenced to be maimed in the head and forelegs prior to hanging. We might assume
this a simple case of an eye for an eye, rather than an attempt to re‐enact the crime, but several details
FIGURE 1 Trial of a sow and pigs at Lavegny (Chambers, 1883, p 128)
suggest something else: The executioner cut off the sow's snout and affixed in its place the mask of ahuman face; moreover, the sow was dressed in human clothing‐a jacket, breeches, haut‐de‐chausses
(trunk hose worn by boys and men) and gloves (p. 313).
Friedland (2003) suggested that such a ritual not only eliminated the offender but re‐enacted the offense
symbolically to remove the crime. Evans (1906), on the other hand, saw the execution as retaliation (lex talionis).
Having said that, he described the executioner, who was paid and supplied with a new pair of gloves, as “no common
pig‐killer, but a public functionary, a ‘master of high works’” (p. 140). Metaphorically, Evans concluded, the
gloves indicated the executioner's ability to leave the situation with clean hands, guilt‐free, having duly fulfilled his
public role.
Cohen (1986) offered a straightforward explanation for the meaning of medieval animal trials, used in 16th‐century
arguments: that, following Christian teachings, God created humans to have jurisdiction over animals:
[P]laintiffs argued that animals existed solely for the utility of man and should be punished if they acted
contrary to his interests, while the defence countered that God had granted animals the enjoyment of
nature even before the very creation of man … A court that saw itself as possessing the God‐given right
to try all creatures, human and otherwise, had to grant all of them justice (p. 14).
Thus, it can be seen that in the medieval animal trial, citizens debated the question of the relationship of the human
and animal worlds. With humans regarding themselves to be atop the power pyramid, Judeo‐Christian concepts provided
a rationale for ritualized subordination of the rest of the tangible universe. In Cohen's (1986) analysis, it is not
possible to reconcile the civil and ecclesiastical courts existing under a single anthropomorphic view of the world. She
also faulted Finkelstein (1981) for locating medieval animal trials exclusively within the Judeo‐Christian tradition,
citing Western thought, e.g., in Plato's writings: “Finkelstein's explanation fits the context of antiquity, not of the
middle ages” (Cohen, 1986, p. 18).
If animals can be murderers, criminal defendants, and witnesses, what can be inferred about the medieval view of
their mental capacities? It may seem ironic, for example, that the owner of a murderous sow was charged only with
negligence while the porcine defendant was ascribed intent and faced capital sentencing. Srivastava (2007) reflected
on the possible meaning:
I view the animal trials as remarkable not so much because they rendered justiciable a limited range of
delinquent animal conduct (for example, domestic animals were not put on trial for killing each other;
nor were wild animals put on trial for killing humans), but because they did so by attributing partial
legal personhood to those animals (p. 136).
Indeed, as Srivastava (2007) suggested, review of medieval animal trials and their cultural context reveals attitudes
and beliefs which in some ways presaged current trends toward recognition of animal “personhood” in the
law, as well as current controversies in physiologic determinism and assignment of criminal responsibility for humans
(Morse, 2011). As Evans (1906) noted,
A point of practical importance … is relation of moral to penal responsibility. If there is not freedom
of the will and the commission of crime is the necessary result of physiologic idiosyncrasies … over
which the individual has no control … then he is certainly not morally responsible for his conduct.
But is he on this account to be exempted from punishment? [Or is it the case that] punishment
is proper and imperative so far as it is essential to the protection and preservation of society[?]
(p. 210).
These considerations have continued to vex philosophers and jurists. The next section reviews cross‐cultural
variations in regarding the human–animal relations through a system of laws. The significance of the variability is that
culture and spiritual beliefs have an impact on legal practices, resulting in diverse outcomes.
4 | WORLD CULTURESStudying legal customs across time and cultures presents serious methodological issues (Cohen, 1986). Law and custom
exist side by side, but, as Cohen (1986) noted, “Society may create custom, but legislation was the ruler's province”
(p. 7). The culpability of animals has been regarded seriously worldwide, despite differences in approach. In Folk‐Lore in
the Old Testament, Frazer (1918) surveyed approaches to adjudicating offending objects and animals. Citing the goringox
passages in Exodus and the admonition to Noah in Genesis (“Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be
shed”), Frazier noted that blood‐revenge is common among “savage tribes” (p. 415). In Chittagong, India, if a tiger kills a
villager, the entire tribe pursues it, kills it, and eats it. In Indonesia, Frazer (1918) reported, animals and humans differ
only externally but “the inmost nature of the animal is the same as that of a man” (p. 418). Accordingly, killing can take
place on a one‐for‐one basis. Retributive justice can also be found in ancient Persia: “[If] the mad dog, or the dog that
bites without barking, smite a sheep or wound a man, the dog shall pay for it as for wilful murder” (Frazer, 1918, p. 419).
Frazer (1918) inferred, from his research, that primitive cultures, through personification, lost sight of the distinctions
between humans and animals and between humans and objects. He concluded:
In that hazy state of the human mind it was easy and almost inevitable to confound the motives which
actuate a rational man with the impulses which direct a beast, and even with the forces which propel a
stone or a tree in falling. It was in some such mental confusion that savages took deliberate vengeance
on animals and things that had hurt or offended them; and the intellectual fog in which such actions
were possible still obscured the eyes of the primitive legislators who, in various ages and countries, have
consecrated the same barbarous system of retaliation under the solemn forms of law and justice (p. 445).
Western European life was dominated by the Roman Catholic Church in the Medieval Era: “Above all, the Church
had unique access to God and so to eternal life” (Bragg, 2003, p. 100). The rule of law was also a potent cultural influence.
These two institutions were not completely separate, although each had its own bureaucracy and enforcement
system. It is understandable that both proceedings reflected the belief that animals were God's creatures, as much as
humans. Since, as the Bible renders it, animals were created before humans, they were just as deserving of justice.
Both types of proceedings fulfilled social as well as “punitive” purposes. The public spectacle of hanging the pig that
killed demonstrated that the perpetratorwas destroyed, and that the arm of the lawwas long. Ecclesiastical trials were scrupulously
fair, illuminating God'smercy and justice. The excommunication and exile of pests demonstrated that the power of
the Church was great, especially in that it implemented the will of God. If the sentence of the Church was not effective, it
demonstrated that the people were sinful, and therefore that God's plague of pests would continue to afflict them.
The prominent roles of each of these institutions in the trials demonstrate the power of each of them in medieval
society, in accord with the observation of Alexis de Tocqueville (1904): “He who punishes infractions of the law is
therefore the real master of society” (p. 303). In both secular and ecclesiastical trials, the ritual and seriousness of
the proceedings represented the majesty and power of the law and the Church. As the power of faith‐based enforcement
receded, civil legislation brought human–animal relations to a new level: anti‐cruelty laws.
5 | ANIMAL CRUELTY LAWS
Generally, as a population's ethics and values change, the legislation governing the population changes accordingly.
The development of animal welfare and animal rights laws reflects the changing attitude toward animals since the
19th century. Merz‐Perez and Heide (2004) pointed out that, in 18th‐century Britain, Reverend Humphrey Primatt
called for compassion for animals; his plea went unheeded. The first serious attempts to enact animal welfare laws
began in England in 1809. On 15 May 1809, Lord Erskine introduced before Parliament a bill for the protection of
animals. In support of his bill, Lord Erskine stated, “They [animals] are created, indeed, for our use, but not for our
abuse” (Favre & Tsang, 1993, p. 4). Accordingly, the bill was based on a theory of ownership over animals and
protection of personal property, rather than on an animal's ability to feel pain. Ultimately the bill failed, but the anticruelty
movement gained momentum.
Richard Martin introduced a bill before Parliament on 10 June 1822, known as “Dick Martin's Act … An Act to
Prevent the Cruel and Improper Treatment of Cattle” (Favre & Tsang, 1993, p. 4).
[...]
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