Connecting with others makes people happier, but strangers in close proximity often ignore each other; we may avoid pleasant conversations with strangers because of miscalibrated concerns about starting them

Hello, stranger? Pleasant conversations are preceded by concerns about starting one. Juliana Schroeder, Donald Lyons, & Nicholas Epley. Accepted Journal of Experimental Psychology: General. Jun 2021. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5c171ac1710699e060ed3d94/t/60c43987d485fc055656c1ca/1623472521485/Hello+Stranger+-+June+2021.pdf

Abstract: Connecting with others makes people happier, but strangers in close proximity often ignore each other. Prior research (Epley & Schroeder, 2014) suggested this social disconnection stems from people misunderstanding how pleasant it would be to talk with strangers. Extending these prior results, in a field experiment with London-area train commuters, those assigned to talk with a stranger reported having a significantly more positive experience, and learning significantly more, than those assigned to a solitude or control condition. Commuters also expected a more positive experience if they talked to a stranger than in the solitude or control conditions. A second experiment explored why commuters nevertheless avoid conversation even  when it is generally pleasant. Commuters predicted that trying to have a conversation would be less pleasant than actually having one because they anticipated that others would be uninterested in talking. These experiments clarify the precise aspects of social interaction that may be  misunderstood. People may avoid pleasant conversations with strangers because of miscalibrated  concerns about starting them.

Keywords: conversation; communication; social cognition; social motivation; wellbeing

Individuals rated their past relationship quality more negatively in retrospect than they had actually reported at the time

Peetz, Johanna, Aidan Smyth, and Adreinne Capaldi. 2021. “Ex-appraisal Bias: Negative Illusions in Appraising Relationship Quality Retrospectively.” PsyArXiv. June 18. doi:10.1177/0265407520907150

Abstract: Cognitive biases are prevalent within the context of romantic relationships. The present research investigated biases about relationships after they have ended. In a longitudinal design (N = 184), individuals reported relationship quality at two time points, as well as rated relationship quality retrospectively. Results supported an ex-appraisal bias: individuals rated their past relationship quality more negatively in retrospect than they had actually reported at the time. This bias was present across participants who stayed together and those who broke up but was three times larger for those whose relationships had ended. This bias may be a motivated cognition that helps individuals let go of their ex-partners after a breakup.

Those who believe crime is caused by a single gene believe that punishment should be weakened, are less supportive of rehabilitation efforts, and believe that offenders are less capable of redemption

Beyond a Crime Gene: Genetic Literacy and Correctional Orientation. Amanda Graham, J.C. Barnes, Hexuan Liu & Francis T. Cullen. American Journal of Criminal Justice, Jan 9 2021. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12103-020-09595-5

Abstract: Is there a “crime gene”? This question has been answered by the scientific community, and the response is a definitive “no.” Yet, it is unclear whether this information has been communicated to the general public. Furthermore, it is unclear whether people’s views about the genetics of crime influence their perceptions of the way offenders should be treated. This study uses attribution theory to understand how perceptions of the role of genetic factors in criminal behavior influence beliefs about the punishment, redeemability, and rehabilitation of offenders. Drawing on a national sample of White respondents (N = 392), this study finds that only a small proportion believe there is a single crime gene. Compared to other respondents, those who believe crime is caused by a single gene believe that punishment should be weakened, are less supportive of rehabilitation efforts, and believe that offenders are less capable of redemption. Implications of these findings are discussed.

Studies of females with congenital adrenal hyperplasia show how prenatal androgens affect behavior across the life span; large effects on interest and engagement in gendered activities, moderate effects on spatial abilities

Evidence and Implications From a Natural Experiment of Prenatal Androgen Effects on Gendered Behavior. Sheri A. Berenbaum, Adriene M. Beltz. Current Directions in Psychological Science, June 18, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721421998341

Abstract: Sex and gender are key to people’s lives, and are the focus of scientific and popular interest and controversy. Sex-related psychological characteristics reflect more than socialization; they are influenced by sex hormones present during sensitive periods of development, particularly androgens that are present prenatally. Studies of females with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) show how prenatal androgens affect behavior across the life span; these hormones have large effects on interest and engagement in gendered activities, moderate effects on spatial abilities, and relatively small (or no) effects on gender identity, gender cognitions, and gendered peer involvement. In addition to showing the complexity of androgens’ effects on gendered behavior, studies of females with CAH provide an opportunity to test theories of gender development, gain insight into how nature and nurture work together, and examine mechanisms of development. The implications of this work have often been misunderstood, so we consider what it means—and does not mean—for biology to influence gender-related behavior.

Keywords: congenital adrenal hyperplasia, differences of sex development, gender development, gender identity, interests, natural experiments, peers, prenatal androgens, spatial abilities

New Research Claims Darwin Made an Error About Sexual Selection: Evolution of large males is associated with female-skewed adult sex ratios in amniotes

Evolution of large males is associated with female-skewed adult sex ratios in amniotes. András Liker, Veronika Bókony, Ivett Pipoly, Jean-Francois Lemaître, Jean-Michel Gaillard, Tamás Székely, Robert P. Freckleton. Evolution, May 22 2021. https://doi.org/10.1111/evo.14273

Abstract: Body size often differs between the sexes (leading to sexual size dimorphism, SSD), as a consequence of differential responses by males and females to selection pressures. Adult sex ratio (ASR, the proportion of males in the adult population) should influence SSD because ASR relates to both the number of competitors and available mates, which shape the intensity of mating competition and thereby promotes SSD evolution. However, whether ASR correlates with SSD variation among species has not been yet tested across a broad range of taxa. Using phylogenetic comparative analyses of 462 amniotes (i.e., reptiles, birds, and mammals), we fill this knowledge gap by showing that male bias in SSD increases with increasingly female-skewed ASRs in both mammals and birds. This relationship is not explained by the higher mortality of the larger sex because SSD is not associated with sex differences in either juvenile or adult mortality. Phylogenetic path analysis indicates that higher mortality in one sex leads to skewed ASR, which in turn may generate selection for SSD biased toward the rare sex. Taken together, our findings provide evidence that skewed ASRs in amniote populations can result in the rarer sex evolving large size to capitalize on enhanced mating opportunities.

Popular version Darwin Made an Error About Sexual Selection, New Research Reveals (sciencealert.com):

In a new study, my colleagues and I have confirmed a link between sexual selection and sex ratios, as Darwin suspected. But surprisingly, our findings suggest Darwin got things the wrong way round. We found that sexual selection is most pronounced not when potential mates are scarce, but when they're abundant – and this means looking again at the selection pressures at play in animal populations that feature uneven sex ratios."

[...]

This in no way invalidates Darwin's theories of natural selection and sexual selection. Our finding simply shows that a different mechanism to the one Darwin proposed is driving mating competition for animals living in sex-skewed populations.

Darwin's assumption was based on the idea that the most intense competition for mates should occur when there's a shortage of mating partners. But more recent theories suggest this logic may not be correct, and that sexual selection is actually a system in which the winner takes all.

That means that when there are many potential partners in the population, a top male – in our study, the largest and heaviest – enjoys a disproportionately high payout, fertilizing a large number of females at the expense of smaller males, who may not reproduce at all.

Autism diagnosis and symptoms were associated with greater brain maleness, but the effects appeared to be driven by differences in brain size; brain maleness may be due to he same factors that influence brain size

Testing the extreme male brain hypothesis: Is autism spectrum disorder associated with a more male-typical brain? Liza van Eijk, Brendan P. Zietsch. Autism Research, May 19 2021. https://doi.org/10.1002/aur.2537

Abstract: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is more common in males than females and has been linked to male-typical behavior. Accordingly, the “Extreme Male Brain” hypothesis suggests that ASD is associated with an exaggeratedly male-typical brain. To test this hypothesis, we derived a data-driven measure of individual differences along a male–female dimension based on sex differences in subcortical brain shape (i.e., brain maleness) by training our algorithm on two population samples (Queensland Twin IMaging study and Human Connectome Project; combined N = 2153). We then applied this algorithm to two clinical datasets (Autism Brain Imaging Data Exchange I and II; ASD N = 1060; neurotypical controls N = 1166) to obtain a brain maleness score for each individual, representing maleness of their brain on a male–female continuum. Consistent with the Extreme Male Brain hypothesis, we found a higher mean brain maleness score in the ASD group than in controls (d = 0.20 [0.12–0.29]), parallel to higher scores for control males than control females (d = 1.17 [1.05–1.29]). Further, brain maleness was positively associated with autistic symptoms. We tested the possibility this finding was driven by the ASD group's larger brains than controls (d = 0.17 [0.08–0.25]), given that males had larger brains than females (d = 0.96 [0.84–1.07]). Indeed, after adjusting for differences in brain size, the brain maleness difference between the ASD group and controls disappeared, and no association with autistic symptoms remained (after controlling for multiple comparisons), suggesting greater maleness of the autistic brain is driven by brain size. Brain maleness may be influenced by the same factors that influence brain size.

Lay Summary: A popular theory proposes that individuals with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) have an “extreme male brain”, but this has not been subject to rigorous, direct tests. We developed a measure of individual differences along a male–female dimension and then derived this measure for 1060 individuals with ASD and 1166 neurotypical controls. Individuals with ASD had slightly more male-type brains. However, this difference is accounted for by males and individuals with ASD having relatively larger brains than females and controls, respectively.

People who recognize that they possess inconsistent personal qualities may nonetheless attain a coherent understanding of themselves by spontaneously developing a contextually-embedded sense of self

Personality coherence in acts and texts: Searching for coherence within and beyond trait categories. Mairéad McKenna et al. European Journal of Personality, June 12, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1177/08902070211022131

Abstract: This paper reports two studies that explore complementary aspects of personality coherence. Study 1 addressed cross-situational coherence in contextualized psychological response. Idiographically-tailored methods assessed individuals’ (i) beliefs about their personal attributes, (ii) subjective “mappings” of these attributes to everyday circumstances, and (iii) self-reported contextualized action tendencies. A novel index of idiographic–nomothetic relations gauged the degree to which the idiographic methods yield unique information. Participants’ mappings commonly deviated from the structure of nomothetic trait categories; people often grouped together contextualized action tendencies traditionally associated with different trait categories. The idiographic mappings predicted cross-situational coherence in action tendencies. Study 2 asked whether the contextualization of personal qualities would be evident when people merely are asked to describe their personal attributes in natural language. Participants wrote narratives describing positive and negative qualities. Narratives were coded for the presence of three linguistic features: conditional statements, probabilistic statements, and personality trait inconsistencies. All three occurred frequently. Furthermore, they co-occurred; among participants who described trait-inconsistent attributes, the large majority spontaneously cited conditions in which these attributes are manifested. People who recognize that they possess inconsistent personal qualities may nonetheless attain a coherent understanding of themselves by spontaneously developing a contextually-embedded sense of self.

Keywords: personality coherence, contextualized action tendencies, cross-situational coherence

While political polarization in the US is real, intense & increasing, partisans consistently overestimate its magnitude; this “false polarization” is insidious because it reinforces actual polarization and inhibits compromise

False Polarization: Cognitive Mechanisms and Potential Solutions. Philip M. Fernbach, Leaf Van Boven. Current Opinion in Psychology, June 17 2021. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2021.06.005

Abstract: While political polarization in the United States is real, intense and increasing, partisans consistently overestimate its magnitude. This “false polarization” is insidious because it reinforces actual polarization and inhibits compromise. We review empirical research on false polarization and the related phenomenon of negative meta-perceptions, and we propose three cognitive and affective processes that likely contribute to these phenomena: categorical thinking, oversimplification and emotional amplification. Finally, we review several interventions that have shown promise in mitigating these biases.

 

Recognition of Masked Faces in the Era of the Pandemic: No Improvement, Despite Extensive, Natural Exposure

Freud, Erez, Andreja Stajduhar, R. Shayna Rosenbaum, Galia Avidan, and Tzvi Ganel. 2021. “Recognition of Masked Faces in the Era of the Pandemic: No Improvement, Despite Extensive, Natural Exposure.” PsyArXiv. June 18. doi:10.31234/osf.io/x3gzq

Abstract: Face masks became prevalent across the globe to minimize the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Previous research highlighted their negative qualitative and quantitative impact on face recognition. An outstanding question is whether these effects would attenuate following persistent natural exposure to masked faces in the era of the pandemic. This question also pertains, more generally, to potential effects of training on face recognition in natural settings. 1,236 participants were tested on masked, non-masked, upright and inverted versions of the Cambridge Face Memory Test (CFMT) at different time points over one year. The results showed persistent deficits in recognizing masked faces across time points. This was followed by persistent qualitative change, a reduced inversion effect for masked compared to non-masked faces. Together, these findings provide compelling support for the idea that the mature face processing system in humans is rigid in nature, even following prolonged, real-life exposure to altered faces.

Norway: Genetic Influences on Lifetime Income Increases with Gender Equality

Isungset, Martin Arstad, Tina Baier, and Torkild H. Lyngstad. 2021. “Genetic Influences on Lifetime Income Increases with Gender Equality.” SocArXiv. May 27. doi:10.31235/osf.io/e5wjk

Abstract: Over the twentieth century, the gender gap in income has decreased dramatically. We study whether the relative importance of genetic and environmental influences for lifetime income changed as gender equalization took place. We use data on 11,677 twin pairs from Norway born 1915-1991, linked with individual-level administrative data on the full population's incomes in the period 1967-2016. Our results based on genetically sensitive variance decompositions shows that as social constraints inhibiting women from earning income waned over the century, the heritability of lifetime income increased over birth cohorts. Genetic influences matter more for men than for women, and non-shared environmental influences matter more for women than for men. This indicates that women still face structural constraints to a larger degree than men. Even in a welfare state like Norway where gender equality has been a political goal since the 1950s, equalization, as measured by the heritability of lifetime income, did not manifest itself to a high degree until the latest cohorts were established in the workforce (1981-1991). Our study shows the importance of considering historical developments of ascribed statuses such as gender when investigating genetic influences, and that genetics can serve as a prism through which to study social change.

Cultural Change Reduces Gender Differences in Mobility and Spatial Ability among Seminomadic Pastoralist-Forager Children in Northern Namibia

Cultural Change Reduces Gender Differences in Mobility and Spatial Ability among Seminomadic Pastoralist-Forager Children in Northern Namibia. Helen E. Davis, Jonathan Stack & Elizabeth Cashdan. Human Nature volume 32, pages178–206. Apr 22 2021. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12110-021-09388-7

Abstract: A fundamental cognitive function found across a wide range of species and necessary for survival is the ability to navigate complex environments. It has been suggested that mobility may play an important role in the development of spatial skills. Despite evolutionary arguments offering logical explanations for why sex/gender differences in spatial abilities and mobility might exist, thus far there has been limited sampling from nonindustrialized and subsistence-based societies. This lack of sampling diversity has left many unanswered questions regarding the effects that environmental variation and cultural norms may have in shaping mobility patterns during childhood and the development of spatial competencies that may be associated with it. Here we examine variation in mobility (through GPS tracking and interviews), performance on large-scale spatial skills (i.e., navigational ability), and performance on small-scale spatial skills (e.g., mental rotation task, Corsi blocks task, and water-level task) among Twa forager/pastoralist children whose daily lives have been dramatically altered since settlement and the introduction of government-funded boarding schools. Unlike in previous findings among Twa adults, boys and girls (N = 88; aged 6–18) show similar patterns of travel on all measures of mobility. We also find no significant differences in spatial task performance by gender for large- or small-scale spatial skills. Further, children performed as well as adults did on mental rotation, and they outperformed adults on the water-level task. We discuss how children’s early learning environments may influence the development of both large- and small-scale spatial skills.

Puritanical moralizations condemn & praise behaviors which are perceived as affecting people’s propensity to cooperate, by modifying their ability to resist short-term impulses conflicting with cooperative motivations

Fitouchi, Léo, Jean-Baptiste André, and Nicolas Baumard. 2021. “Moral Disciplining: The Cognitive and Evolutionary Foundations of Puritanical Morality.” PsyArXiv. June 16. doi:10.31234/osf.io/2stcv

Abstract: Why do many human societies condemn apparently harmless and pleasurable behaviors, such as lust, gluttony, drinking, drugs, gambling, or even music and dance? Why do they erect temperance, hedonic restraint, sobriety, decency and piety as cardinal moral virtues? While existing accounts consider this puritanical morality as an exception to the cooperative function of moral intuitions, we propose that it stems, like other moral concerns, from moral intuitions targeting cooperative challenges. Specifically, we argue that it emerges in response to a key feature of cooperation, namely that the latter is (ultimately) a long-term strategy, requiring (proximately) the self-control of appetites for immediate gratification. Puritanical moralizations condemn and praise behaviors which, although not intrinsically cooperative or uncooperative, are perceived as affecting people’s propensity to cooperate, by modifying their ability to resist short-term impulses conflicting with cooperative motivations. Drinking, drugs, unruly feasts, dances, and immodest clothing are condemned as stimulating people’s short-term impulses, thus facilitating uncooperative behaviors (e.g. adultery, violence, economic free-riding). Immoderate indulgence in harmless bodily pleasures (e.g. lust, masturbation, gluttony) is perceived as addictively reinforcing short-term impulses, thus making harder the self-control of future temptations to cheat. Moralizations of ascetic temperance, daily self-discipline, and pious ritual observance are perceived as nurturing the self-restraint consubstantial to a cooperative character, able to resist selfish temptations when the latter arise. We review psychological, historical, and ethnographic evidence supporting this account, and discuss its implications regarding the cross-cultural variations and cultural evolution of puritanical norms.

Animal identity: The most common situations participants recalled feeling like an animal were survival, sexual, physiological, and being outdoors

I am Homo Sapien: Perceptions of Evolutionary Theory, Animal Identity, and Human–Animal Relationships among US Law and Policy Students. Leah J. Widdicombe & Seana Dowling-Guyer. Anthrozoös, Jun 16 2021. https://doi.org/10.1080/08927936.2021.1926706

Abstract: People’s perception of the human–animal relationship is complex, as is our regard for animal welfare within law and policy decisions. Little attention has been paid to how political stakeholders utilize culture to identify themselves within the kingdom Animalia or how their identity relates to their political concern for animals. This research provides an overview of the beliefs, identities, and political agendas of law and policy students in the United States through an exploratory, mixed-methods study composed of two concurrent parts: (1) a cross-sectional online survey (n = 231) and (2) in-person, in-depth interviews (n = 21). Part 1 examined (a) cultural beliefs about human origins and political concern for nonhuman animals; (b) when and to what extent participants identify as an animal; and (c) how animal identity relates to their beliefs and political concern for nonhuman animals. Part 2 elaborated on underlying themes, identifying nuances in the perspectives identified in Part 1. Most participants classified humans as animals and their understanding of human origins was predominantly science-based but occasionally referenced religion. Those who stated a belief in human evolution scored significantly higher on the animal identity scale compared with those with purely Creationist beliefs. In turn, identifying more strongly as an animal was significantly associated with placing greater importance on animal issues in law and policy. A structural equation model was fitted and revealed that animal identity mediated the relationship between beliefs about human origins and the ranked importance of animal issues. The most common situations participants recalled feeling like an animal were survival, sexual, physiological, and being outdoors. As the first study to provide a mixed-methods descriptive experience of animal identity, with a focus on cultural understanding of evolutionary theory, these findings describe how the formation of an animal identity might relate to public policy decisions and are particularly relevant to animal activists and identity researchers.

KEYWORDS: Animal identityanimal law and policyhuman–animal interactionhuman origin beliefsmixed methods researchsocial identity theory

Forms and functions of the social emotions: Shame functions to minimize the spread of discrediting information about yourself and the threat of being devalued by others

Forms and Functions of the Social Emotions. Daniel Sznycer, Aaron Sell, Debra Lieberman. Current Directions in Psychological Science, June 15, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1177/09637214211007451

Abstract: In engineering, form follows function. It is therefore difficult to understand an engineered object if one does not examine it in light of its function. Just as understanding the structure of a lock requires understanding the desire to secure valuables, understanding structures engineered by natural selection, including emotion systems, requires hypotheses about adaptive function. Social emotions reliably solved adaptive problems of human sociality. A central function of these emotions appears to be the recalibration of social evaluations in the minds of self and others. For example, the anger system functions to incentivize another individual to value your welfare more highly when you deem the current valuation insufficient; gratitude functions to consolidate a cooperative relationship with another individual when there are indications that the other values your welfare; shame functions to minimize the spread of discrediting information about yourself and the threat of being devalued by others; and pride functions to capitalize on opportunities to become more highly valued by others. Using the lens of social valuation, researchers are now mapping these and other social emotions at a rapid pace, finding striking regularities across industrial and small-scale societies and throughout history.

Keywords: emotion, anger, gratitude, shame, pride, social valuation

Check also Forms and Functions of the Self-Conscious Emotions. Daniel Sznycer. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, Volume 23, Issue 2, February 2019, Pages 143-157. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2018.11.007

Highlights

.  Self-conscious emotions such as pride, shame, and guilt are often studied through the lens of attributional theories. Under attributional theories, the activation and operation of self-conscious emotions depend on how the individual construes and evaluates her own successes and failures.

.  Although attributional theories highlight the intrapersonal nature of self-conscious emotions, recent theories and data suggest that the self-conscious emotions serve interpersonal adaptive functions.

.  From an adaptationist perspective, the characteristic self-reflexive and self-evaluative processes of self-conscious emotions are proximate means to solve adaptive problems related to social valuation.

.  Many known facts about the self-conscious emotions can be interpreted as outputs delivered by well-engineered emotion adaptations.

.  Attributional theories view shame as an immoral, pathological version of guilt. However, shame and guilt simply appear to be distinct adaptations serving different adaptive functions.

.  This interpersonal adaptationist framework can generate novel, testable hypotheses.

Abstract: Pride, shame, and guilt color our highest and lowest personal moments. Recent evidence suggests that these self-conscious emotions are neurocognitive adaptations crafted by natural selection. Specifically, self-conscious emotions solve adaptive problems of social valuation by promoting the achievement of valued actions and characteristics to increase others’ valuations of the individual (pride); limiting information-triggered devaluation (shame); and remedying events where one put insufficient weight on the welfare of a valuable other (guilt). This adaptationist perspective predicts a form–function fit: a correspondence between the adaptive function of a self-conscious emotion and its information-processing structure. This framework can parsimoniously explain known facts about self-conscious emotions, make sense of puzzling findings, generate novel hypotheses, and explain why self-conscious emotions have their characteristic self-reflexive phenomenology.

Keywords: shameprideguiltcooperationreputationstatus

Violent offenders show reduced attention orienting to the eyes while viewing faces; although offenders & controls show comparable emotion recognition performance, reduced eye gaze is lined to lower recognition for fearful faces

Attention orienting to the eyes in violent female and male offenders: An eye-tracking study. Nina A. Gehrer et al. Biological Psychology, June 12 2021, 108136. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2021.108136

Highlights

• Violent offenders show reduced attention orienting to the eyes while viewing faces.

• Impairments occur for female as well as male incarcerated offenders.

• Particularly early attention shifts are affected.

• Offenders and controls show comparable emotion recognition performance.

• Reduced eye gaze is related to lower recognition accuracy for fearful faces.

Abstract: Attention to the eyes and eye contact form an important basis for the development of empathy and social competences including prosocial behavior. Thus, impairments in attention to the eyes of an interaction partner might play a role in the etiology of antisocial behavior and violence. For the first time, the present study extends investigations of eye gaze to a large sample (N = 173) including not only male but also female violent offenders and a control group. We assessed viewing patterns during the categorization of emotional faces via eye tracking. Our results indicate a reduced frequency of initial attention shifts to the eyes in female and male offenders compared to controls, while there were no general group differences in overall attention to the eye region (i.e., relative dwell time). Thus, we conclude that violent offenders might be able to compensate for deficits in spontaneous attention orienting during later stages of information processing.

Keywords: female offendersviolent offenderseye gazeattention to the eyeseye tracking

From the first author's PhD thesis:

Discussion 

This study is the first to investigate the association between psychopathic personality traits 

and eye contact during live social interaction. For this purpose, we assessed a group of 

incarcerated offenders who had been convicted of serious crimes (e.g., first-degree murder, 

child molestation, rape, etc.) and had validated psychopathy scores. Eye movements were 

recorded during a semi-structured face-to-face interaction with a mobile eye-tracking headset 

and analyzed using a newly developed automated method for the definition of AOIs (i.e., 

face, eyes and philtrum). Consistent with our hypotheses, higher scores of affective 

psychopathy in particular (but not interpersonal, lifestyle, or antisocial facets of psychopathy) 

were found to significantly predict reduced eye contact in combination with increased 

attention to the lower parts of the face, i.e. the philtrum. Therefore, affective psychopathic 

traits were associated with a different focus within the face, while general attention to the face 

was unrelated to these traits.

Our findings are in line with previous studies that linked reduced eye gaze to high CU (callous unemotional) traits, a precursor of affective psychopathy, in children (Billeci et al., 2019; Dadds et al.,  2008; Dadds et al., 2006; but see also Martin-Key et al., 2018). A few studies replicated this  association between CU traits and eye contact assessed by observer ratings during live parentchild interactions (Dadds et al., 2014; Dadds et al., 2011). In offender samples, however,  reduced attention to the eyes of facial stimuli was only documented in laboratory settings with  existing evidence pointing to an association with interpersonal features of psychopathy  (Dargis et al., 2018). Our study extends previous research in several important ways. For one,  our study is the first to document an association between reduced eye contact and the affective  facet of psychopathy (i.e., impaired empathy, an incapacity of feeling guilt or remorse, and  shallow affect) in incarcerated offenders. Second, we show for the first time that these deficits  generalize to naturalistic settings such as live social interaction and therefore exhibit  behavioral relevance. Taken together, this suggests that impairments in attention to socially  salient features previously documented in children and adolescents with high CU traits  (Dadds et al., 2008; Dadds et al., 2011) presumably persist through life. Therefore, assumed  detrimental effects on the development of social cognition and social competence may play a role in the development and the maintenance of psychopathic personality traits (Bedford et al., 2015; Dadds et al., 2014; Dadds et al., 2011; Vaughan Van Hecke et al., 2007). Similar mechanisms have been posited for social deficits in other psychological or neurological disorders, e.g., autism spectrum disorder or amygdala lesion (Auyeung et al., 2015; Freeth & Bugembe, 2019; Hanley et al., 2015; Hanley et al., 2014; Moriuchi, Klin, & Jones, 2017; Spezio, Huang, Castelli, & Adolphs, 2007; Yoder, Stone, Walden, & Malesa, 2009). Future research is needed in order to understand the mechanisms behind impaired attention processes and their association with these psychopathologies in order to further the understanding of etiology, to improve diagnostic specificity, and to develop new intervention and prevention  strategies. 

This study contains notable strengths as well as a number of limitations. Besides its 

ecological validity, our approach is bolstered by the use of a newly developed method to 

automate AOI labelling in video frames (Duchowski et al., 2019). This is a significant 

improvement of the eye-tracking state-of-the-art (e.g., during social interaction) which, to 

date, has relied on manual frame-by-frame labeling of facial AOIs (Hessels, Benjamins, 

Cornelissen, & Hooge, 2018). The approach presented in this paper offers greater objectivity 

and efficiency of the analysis. Furthermore, psychopathic traits were measured via PCL-R 

scores as assessed by independent experts and we took into account effects of possible 

confounding variables identified by recent research, i.e., age and activity as well as eye 

contact expressed by the experimenter (Gillespie et al., 2017; Hessels et al., 2019; Murphy & 

Isaacowitz, 2010; Rogers et al., 2018). The effects of these variables documented in our study 

fit well with previous findings, e.g., reduced attention to the face when talking compared to 

listening during live interaction (Hessels et al., 2019) or reduced attention to the eyes with 

greater age (Gillespie et al., 2017; Murphy & Isaacowitz, 2010). A clear limitation of our 

study is that we are not able to draw conclusions regarding female psychopaths since gender 

has been linked to scan patterns of faces (Hall, Hutton, & Morgan, 2010; Sullivan, Campbell, 

Hutton, & Ruffman, 2017). Furthermore, future studies need to investigate whether our results 

extend to less structured interaction settings and across different interaction partners. 

However, based on previous findings showing the stability of viewing patterns across 

different interaction partners, the present findings can be expected to generalize despite 

variation of interactional situations (Rogers et al., 2018). 

 In sum, we conclude that early impairments in attention to the eyes of an interaction 

partner are presumably stable over one’s lifespan and affect socialization processes including 

the development of empathy during childhood. Recently, not only psychopathic traits but also

other mental disorders such as autism have been associated with similar attentional deficits. 

Therefore, these impairments may represent a general risk factor for the development of 

psychological disorders characterized by social problems. The underlying mechanisms might 

involve deficient amygdala or ventromedial prefrontal cortex functioning (Spezio et al., 2007; 

Wolf, Philippi, Motzkin, Baskaya, & Koenigs, 2014) but need to be further clarified. It will be 

important to develop effective intervention and prevention strategies that improve visual 

attention and eye contact of children at risk. To date, evidence for lasting changes in eye gaze 

through social attention bias modification training (Alvares et al., 2019; Schönenberg et al., 

2014) or parent training programs (Dadds, English, Wimalaweera, Schollar-Root, & Hawes, 

2019) is still elusive. Thus, these promising approaches and further opportunities that target 

impaired eye contact need to be further investigated and enhanced.

Are conservatives more charitable than liberals in the U.S.? A meta-analysis of political ideology and charitable giving

Are conservatives more charitable than liberals in the U.S.? A meta-analysis of political ideology and charitable giving. Yongzheng Yang, Peixu Liu. Social Science Research, June 16 2021, 102598. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2021.102598

Abstract: Political ideology not only influences political activities, but also apolitical fields such as charitable giving. However, empirical studies regarding political ideology and charitable giving have yielded mixed results. To find out the effect size and explain the variation in effect sizes, we deploy a meta-analysis to estimate the average effect size and examine the potential moderators from four perspectives. Following scientific data collection and coding procedures, we identify 421 effect sizes from 31 empirical studies. Our meta-analysis results suggest that political conservatives are significantly more charitable than liberals at an overall level, but the relationship between political ideology and charitable giving varies under different scenarios. Furthermore, meta-regression results indicate that the measure of charitable giving, the type of charitable giving, and controlling for religiosity can account for the variation in effect sizes.

Keywords: Charitable givingPolitical ideologyUnited StatesMeta-analysis

Check also Cai, Meina and Caskey, Greg and Cowen, Nick and Murtazashvili, Ilia and Murtazashvili, Jennifer Brick and Salahodjaev, Raufhon, Individualism, Economic Freedom, and Charitable Giving (May 28, 2021). SSRN: https://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2021/06/individualism-in-market-societies-is.html

The secret life of predictive brains: what’s spontaneous activity for?

The secret life of predictive brains: what’s spontaneous activity for? Giovanni Pezzulo, Marco Zorzi, Maurizio Corbetta. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, June 16 2021. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2021.05.007

Highlights

. Spontaneous brain dynamics are manifestations of top-down dynamics of generative models detached from action–perception cycles.

. Generative models constantly produce top-down dynamics, but we call them expectations and attention during task engagement and spontaneous activity at rest.

. Spontaneous brain dynamics during resting periods optimize generative models for future interactions by maximizing the entropy of explanations in the absence of specific data and reducing model complexity.

. Low-frequency brain fluctuations during spontaneous activity reflect transitions between generic priors consisting of low-dimensional representations and connectivity patterns of the most frequent behavioral states.

. High-frequency fluctuations during spontaneous activity in the hippocampus and other regions may support generative replay and model learning.

Abstract: Brains at rest generate dynamical activity that is highly structured in space and time. We suggest that spontaneous activity, as in rest or dreaming, underlies top-down dynamics of generative models. During active tasks, generative models provide top-down predictive signals for perception, cognition, and action. When the brain is at rest and stimuli are weak or absent, top-down dynamics optimize the generative models for future interactions by maximizing the entropy of explanations and minimizing model complexity. Spontaneous fluctuations of correlated activity within and across brain regions may reflect transitions between ‘generic priors’ of the generative model: low dimensional latent variables and connectivity patterns of the most common perceptual, motor, cognitive, and interoceptive states. Even at rest, brains are proactive and predictive.

Keywords: spontaneous activitygenerative modelsresting statepredictive brains

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During offline periods, there are fewer stimuli to 'explain away' and this may favor the formation of generic priors. Generic priors may correspond to information-compressed, low-dimensional states that summarize a large amount of information, abstracting away from specific stimuli.

Sexual activity while driving: 40.5% of media reports shows serious incidents that involved a crash and 21.7% had fatalities

Sexual activity while driving: A content analysis of media reports. Oscar Oviedo-Trespalacios, James G. Phillips. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, Volume 80, July 2021, Pages 141-149. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trf.2021.03.020

Highlights

• Sexual activity while driving is distracted driving.

• Content analysis was applied to 106 cases of sexual activity while driving.

• Sexual activities reported include masturbating, oral sex, and intercourse.

• Sexual activity while driving was associated with speeding and lane departures.

Abstract: Sexual activity while driving fits the definition of distracted driving because it involves the diversion of attention away from the driving task. However, this risky driving behaviour has received little attention compared to other distracted driving activities. To address the lack of research on sexual activity while driving, the internet was searched from April to June 2020 for media reports in which sexual activities occurred within the cabin of a moving vehicle, taking specific note of: gender, the presence of others, time of day, use of substances, the nature of the circumstances surrounding the incident, and whether crashes had occurred. A total of 106 unique and verified cases were identified from 2004 to 2020. The reports involved 76 male (71.7%) and 30 female drivers (28.3%), and there were 43 (40.5%) serious incidents that involved a crash and 23 fatalities (21.7%). In 17 (16.0%) incidents their vehicle hit another car, and a pedestrian or cyclist was hit in 3 (2.8%) incidents. The risk of a serious incident was higher during oral sex or intercourse than solitary activities (i.e. masturbation). A total of 63 (59.5%) mild incidents (without crashes or fatalities) were identified, in which reports included accounts by witnesses or police regarding sexual activity while driving. Given the potential seriousness of incidents, this topic deserves further research to better understand the prevalence and safety implications of sexual activity while driving.

Keywords: Sexual healthRisky driving behavioursExhibitionismDistracted drivingRoad safetyRisky sexual behavioursRoad TraumaDriver behaviour

Negative content was both better transmitted in transmission chain experiments and shared more than its neutral counterpart; threat-related information was successful in transmission chain experiments but not when sharing

Acerbi, Alberto. 2021. “From Storytelling to Facebook. Content Biases When Retelling or Sharing a Story.” OSF Preprints. June 11. doi:10.31219/osf.io/br56y

Abstract: Cultural evolution researchers use transmission chain experiments to investigate which content is more likely to survive when transmitted from one individual to another. These experiments resemble oral storytelling, where individuals need to understand, memorise, and reproduce the content. However, prominent contemporary forms of cultural transmission—think an online sharing— only involve the willingness to transmit the content. Here I present two fully preregistered online experiments that explicitly investigated the differences between these two modalities of transmission. The first experiment (N=1080) examined whether negative content, information eliciting disgust, and threat-related information were better transmitted than their neutral counterpart in a traditional transmission chain set-up. The second experiment (N=1200), used the same material, but participants were asked whether they would share or not the content in two conditions: in a large anonymous social network, or with their friends, in their favourite social network. Negative content was both better transmitted in transmission chain experiments and shared more than its neutral counterpart. Threat-related information was successful in transmission chain experiments but not when sharing, and, finally, information eliciting disgust was not advantaged in either. Overall, the results present a composite picture, suggesting that the interactions between the specific content and the medium of transmission are important and, possibly, that content biases are stronger when memorisation and reproduction are involved in the transmission—like in oral transmission—than when they are not—like in online sharing.

The influence of prior knowledge on the formation of detailed and durable memories

The influence of prior knowledge on the formation of detailed and durable memories. B. Bellana et al. Journal of Memory and Language, Volume 121, December 2021, 104264. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2021.104264

Highlights

• Prior knowledge is an important determinant of memory detail.

• Prior knowledge benefits memory for extrinsic context (extra-item details).

• Prior knowledge subtly impairs memory for intrinsic context (intra-item details).

• Prior knowledge benefits memory formation even when encoding is incidental.

Abstract: Prior knowledge often improves recognition, but its relationship to the retrieval of memory detail is unclear. Resource-based accounts of recognition suggest that familiar stimuli are more efficiently encoded into memory, thus freeing attentional resources to encode additional details from a study episode. However, schema-based theories would predict that activating prior knowledge can lead to the formation of more generalized representations in memory. Across a series of four experiments, we examined the relationship between prior knowledge and memory for extrinsic context (i.e., extra-item details from the surrounding study episode) and intrinsic context (i.e., memory for the precise intra-item features of the studied target itself). Familiar stimuli (famous faces and popular foods/beverages) were associated with better memory for extrinsic context, operationalized as Remember responses and objective source memory accuracy. Self-reported degree of prior knowledge associated with a given image was also predictive of this effect. Prior knowledge improved recognition memory during a surprise delayed recognition test, even under conditions in which study was unintentional, supporting the idea of efficient encoding. Critically, in a paradigm in which recognition required the correct rejection of highly perceptually similar lures, prior knowledge was associated with more false alarms. Our results suggest that stimuli associated with prior knowledge are indeed efficiently encoded into memory, freeing more attentional resources to encode extrinsic context. This benefit, however, may come at the cost of memory precision for the item itself. By examining extrinsic and intrinsic context separately, we demonstrate that resource and schema-based theories provide complementary accounts of how prior knowledge influences memory detail.

Keywords: KnowledgeLearningMemoryEpisodicSemanticsSchema

Psychological research: Guidance for systematically evaluating whether an observed effect size is practically relevant is needed to justify claims about practical relevance; that is, there is no such mechanism as of now

Anvari, Farid, Rogier Kievit, Daniel Lakens, Andrew K. Przybylski, Leonid Tiokhin, Brenton M. Wiernik, and Amy Orben. 2021. “Evaluating the Practical Relevance of Observed Effect Sizes in Psychological Research.” PsyArXiv. June 15. doi:10.31234/osf.io/g3vtr

Abstract: Psychological researchers currently lack guidance for how to evaluate the practical relevance of observed effect sizes, i.e. whether a finding will have impact when translated to a different context of application. Although psychologists have recently highlighted theoretical justifications for why small effect sizes might be practically relevant, such justifications are simplistic and fail to provide the information necessary for evaluation and falsification. Claims about whether an observed effect size is practically relevant need to consider both the mechanisms amplifying and counteracting practical relevance, as well as the assumptions underlying each mechanism at play. To provide guidance for systematically evaluating whether an observed effect size is practically relevant, we present examples of widely applicable mechanisms and the key assumptions needed for justifying whether an observed effect size can be expected to generalize to different contexts. Routine use of these mechanisms to justify claims about practical relevance has the potential to make researchers’ claims about generalizability substantially more transparent. This transparency can help move psychological science towards a more rigorous assessment of when psychological findings can be applied in the world.

Update Jul 5 2021: Collins, Elizabeth, and Roger Watt. 2021. “Use, Knowledge and Misconceptions of Effect Sizes in Psychology.” PsyArXiv. July 1. doi:10.31234/osf.io/r7vmf

Abstract: In this study, 247 psychologists were surveyed to examine effect size use, barriers to use, and effect size knowledge measured using quantitative and qualitative questions. This pre-print reports our findings.

Pay transparency leads to lower average wages when pay is not fixed in pay classes: Employers credibly refuse to pay high wages to any one worker to avoid costly renegotiations with others under transparency

Equilibrium Effects of Pay Transparency. Zoe B. Cullen & Bobak Pakzad-Hurson. NBER Working Paper 28903, Jun 2021. DOI 10.3386/w28903

Abstract: The public discourse around pay transparency has focused on the direct effect: how workers seek to rectify newly-disclosed pay inequities through renegotiations. The question of how wage-setting and hiring practices of the firm respond in equilibrium has received less attention. To study these outcomes, we build a model of bargaining under incomplete information and test our predictions in the context of the U.S. private sector. Our model predicts that transparency reduces the individual bargaining power of workers, leading to lower average wages. A key insight is that employers credibly refuse to pay high wages to any one worker to avoid costly renegotiations with others under transparency. In situations where workers do not have individual bargaining power, such as under a collective bargaining agreement or in markets with posted wages, greater transparency has a muted impact on average wages. We test these predictions by evaluating the roll-out of U.S. state legislation protecting the right of workers to inquire about the salaries of their coworkers. Consistent with our prediction, the laws lead wages to decline by approximately 2% overall, but declines are progressively smaller in occupations with higher unionization rates. Our model provides a unified framework to analyze a wide range of transparency policies, and reconciles effects of transparency mandates documented in a variety of countries and contexts.

Free women at work in the USA since 1860: Rather than a steep rise from a very low level in the female labor force participation rate, it has in fact always been high & fairly stable over time (too many unreported family workers)

Women at Work in the United States Since 1860: An Analysis of Unreported Family Workers. Barry R.Chiswick, RaeAnn Halenda Robinson. Explorations in Economic History, June 8 2021, 101406. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eeh.2021.101406

Abstract: Estimated labor force participation rates among free women in the pre-Civil War period were exceedingly low. This is due, in part, to cultural or societal expectations of the role of women and the lack of thorough enumeration by Census takers. This paper develops an augmented labor force participation rate for free women in 1860 and compares it with the augmented rate for 1920 and today. Our methodology identifies women who are likely providing informal and unenumerated labor for market production in support of a family business, that is, unreported family workers. These individuals are not coded in the original data as formally working, but are likely to be engaged in the labor force on the basis of the self-employment of other relatives in their household. Unreported family workers are classified into four categories: farm, merchant, craft, and boardinghouse keepers. Using microdata, the inclusion of these workers more than triples the free female labor force participation rate in the 1860 Census from 16 percent to 57 percent, more than doubles the participation rate in the 1920 Census from 24 percent to 50 percent, and has a trivial effect on the currently measured rate of 56 percent (2015-2019 American Community Survey). This suggests that rather than a steep rise from a very low level in the female labor force participation rate since 1860, it has in fact always been high and fairly stable over time. In contrast, the effect of including unreported family workers in the male augmented labor force participation rate is relatively small.

Keywords: WomenLabor Force ParticipationUnreported Family WorkersOccupational StatusUnpaid WorkersSelf-Employment1860 Census1920 CensusAmerican Community Survey

JEL N31 J16 J21 J82

In the workplace: A snitcher is seen as more moral, more hirable, and as having higher leadership potential; snitching on friends makes one appear disloyal and a bad potential friend

Berry, Zachariah, Ike Silver, and Alex Shaw. 2021. “Moral Paragons, but Crummy Friends: The Case of Snitching.” PsyArXiv. June 15. doi:10.31234/osf.io/r9kag

Abstract: Loyalty to one’s co-workers and friends is an important moral value that benefits and strengthens employee relationships. Yet, an employee’s loyalty-based obligations may be tested when they witness a friend engage in wrongdoing that could negatively impact their organization. Across five pre-registered studies (N = 1,089), we examine how relationship-based loyalty obligations impact how people evaluate an employee who decides to snitch or not snitch after witnessing another employee’s transgressions. We consistently find that a witness who snitches (vs. doesn’t snitch) is seen as more moral, more hirable, and as having higher leadership potential (Studies 1-4b) and that this effect is insensitive to relationship-based loyalty obligations (i.e., whether the transgressor and witness are friends; Studies 2 and 3). We also demonstrate that snitches are not seen as more moral when snitching on non-moral transgressions (Study 3) and that the benefits of snitching for perceived moral character are moderated if the witness somehow benefits from turning in the wrongdoer, suggesting that their behavior is selfishly motivated (Study 4a–4b). Of course, snitching is not costless: in all of our studies, snitching on friends makes one appear disloyal and a bad potential friend. These results highlight important instances where fulfilling loyalty-obligations is not a part of what it means to be a moral person. We discuss implications for loyalty, moral psychology, and whistleblowing, as well as the practical implications for organizations.

From 2018... Neutral, impartial, dispassionate researchers ask: How did IQ become an important means of naturalizing economic and racial inequality and supporting neoliberal visions of a fully privatized, free market society?

From 2018... Neoliberalism and IQ: Naturalizing economic and racial inequality. Andrew S. Winston. Theory & Psychology, October 9, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959354318798160

Abstract: How did IQ become an important means of naturalizing economic and racial inequality and supporting neoliberal visions of a fully privatized, free market society? I show how post-WWII neoliberals and libertarians could employ ideas of “innate intelligence” to promote the reduction of government funding of social programs. For extreme libertarian economist Murray Rothbard, inequality among individuals and ethnicities was self-evident from human history and the a priori examination of the “natural order,” but IQ data could also be employed in the fight against “egalitarianism.” Any attempt to interfere in this “natural order,” such as civil rights legislation, was viewed as inherently evil. For libertarian Charles Murray and more mainstream neoliberals such as Milton Friedman, empirical research on intelligence was an effective means of influencing public perception and policy on welfare, affirmative action, and immigration. I discuss recent work on “national intelligence” in relation to neoliberal projects and enduring fears regarding reproduction and family.

Keywords: inequality, IQ, libertarian, neoliberalism, racism

Positive Outcomes of Wellbeing

Positive Outcomes of Wellbeing. M. Joseph Sirgy. The Psychology of Quality of Life pp 59-78, June 10 2021. https://rd.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-71888-6_3

Abstract: This chapter discusses outcomes related to hedonic wellbeing, life satisfaction, and Eudaimonia. These outcomes include good health, high levels of achievement and work, good social relationships, prosocial engagement, trust, optimism, future happiness. The chapter also highlights research on how much happiness is optimal, how happiness is adaptive in life, and how it serves to buffer illbeing.

Keywords: Hedonic wellbeing Life satisfaction Eudaimonia Subjective wellbeing Happiness Positive mental health Health Achievement and work Social relationships Prosocial behavior Trust Optimism Future happiness Optimal happiness Adaptive Illbeing 

From the 2012 edition:

4 How Much Happiness Is Optimal?

Friedman, Schwartz, and Haaga (2002) investigated the effects of being too happy. They compared those who are very happy and those who are moderately happy in relation to dysfunction across a variety of measures of subjective, physiological, and behavioral adjustment. The results showed no significant differences between those who are too happy and the moderately happy in terms of hypomanic symptoms, defensive self-deception, or aggressive behavior when challenged. Suldo and Huebner (2006) posed the question: Is extremely high life satisfaction during adolescence advantageous? They conducted a study to capture the relationship between life satisfaction and adaptive/maladaptive functioning of adolescents. Life satisfaction was captured using several measures of subjective well-being. They then divided the sample in three groups: very high (top 10%), average (middle 25%), and very low (lowest 10%). The high satisfaction group scored higher on all indicators of adaptive psychological functioning and lowest scores on emotional and behavioral problems Oishi, Diener, and Lucas (2009) predicted that a moderate level of happiness is best for life outcomes that require self-improvement motivation and analytical skills (e.g., academic achievement, job performance, and wealth accumulation). Some degree of dissatisfaction of their current state of affairs would motivate people to do better, thereby achieve more positive life outcomes. A certain amount of dissatisfaction is needed to motivate people to do better on academic tasks and their jobs. Otherwise, the motivation may be absent if they are too happy. A high level of happiness may lead to complacency. Using the same logic, they also predicted that moderate levels of happiness should lead to higher levels of political participation than high levels of happiness. People have to be somewhat dissatis fi ed with the current political situation to be motivated to take corrective action. Similarly, mod-erate happiness leads to a high degree of volunteer work, more so than high levels of happiness. In contrast, they predicted that very happy people are more likely to stay married than the moderately happy. The moderately happy people may be motivated to try other partners (i.e., engage in extramarital affairs during marriage or divorce for the purpose of coupling with others). Similarly, they predicted that situations less than ideal may call for moderate happiness. In other words, the moderately happy is more likely to change circumstances than are less than ideal. The very happy are likely to be complacent. To test these predictions, the authors used data from the World Values Survey (administered in 1981, 1990, 1995, and 2000) involving a sample of 118,519 respondents from 96 countries and regions around the globe. The predictions concerning income, education, and political participation were supported. The highest levels of income, education, and political participa-tions were most evident in people reporting moderate-to-high than very high levels of life satisfaction. Similarly, the hypothesis concerning marriage and close relationships was also supported. The highest proportion of respondents in a stable intimate relationship was observed among respondents with very high life satisfaction scores. However, contrary to their prediction, the highest levels of volunteerism were observed among the very satisfied respondents. The same set of hypotheses was retested using a sample of college students in which happiness was captured through a positive/negative affect measure. The same pattern of results was evident. That is, the happiest students tended to score high on social domain measures (gregarious, close friends, self-confidence, energy, and time dating) but did not always score high on achievement/conscientiousness measures (grade point average, missed class, event balance, and conscientiousness). The moderately happy scored high on achievement/conscientiousness measures but less so on the social domain measures. The authors then turned their attention to testing their hypothesis regarding achievement and income using two longitudinal surveys (Diener et al., 2002 and the Australian Youth Data). With respect to the Diener et al.’s data, respondents’ cheer-fulness was measured in 1976 and their reported income in 1995. Those who expressed moderate-to-high levels of cheerfulness reported the highest levels of income. This pattern provides additional support that when it comes to achievement-related tasks, those who are moderately happy do better than those who are very happy. With respect to the Australian Youth Data, respondents that reported life satisfaction scores in 1979 were matched with their income, educational level, and length of marital relationship scores in 1994. Again, the same pattern was evident. Those who expressed moderate level of happiness in 1979 reported the highest income and educational level in 1994. In contrast, those who expressed high levels of happiness in 1979 reported the highest degree of marriage tenure. The income/happiness relationship was also replicated using two large-scale longitudinal survey studies: the German Socio-Economic Panel Study and the British Household Panel Study. The authors conclude:

Thus, the optimal mindset for an intimate relationship might be to see the most positive aspects of the partner and relationship, whereas the optimal mindset for income, education, and political participation might be to consider the empty part of the glass as well as the fullness of it (Oishi, et al., 2009 , p. 19).

5  Happiness Is Adaptive

[...]

Diener and Oishi ( 2011 ) also provided much evidence that indicates two key points: (1) the majority of people are moderately happy, and (2) happier people tend to have an evolutionary advantage in terms of longevity, fecundity, more resources, and better health and healthier children (which translates into an advantage to sur-vival and reproductive fitness). For supportive evidence, the reader should consult the following broad reviews and meta-analyses studies: Diener and Chan (2011) , Howell, Kern, and Lyubomirsky (2007), Lyubomirsky et al. (2005), and Pressman and Cohen (2005). If so, the same authors (Diener and Oishi) pose the question “why happiness is not more widespread?” One would expect that because of its evolutionary advan-tage that happiest people should be in the majority, but this is not the case. The authors answer this question by arguing that moderate levels of happiness seem to be more adaptive than either very high or low levels of happiness. Very high and very low levels of happiness are detrimental to health. There is sufficient evidence to suggest that it is harmful (healthwise and in relation to daily functioning) to feel intensely happy much of the time (e.g., Gruber, Mauss, & Tamir, 2011 ; McCarron, Gunnell, Harrison, Okasha, & Davey Smith, 2003; Ritz & Steptoe, 2000). Furthermore, negative emotions have an adaptive function. Schwarz ( 2002 ) reviews evidence that shows how negative affect can be adaptive. Negative affect motivates people to focus more narrowly and critically analyze information, which in turn leads to effective problem solution. Negative affect motivates people to make changes to better their lives. Grinde (2002) argues that people are genetically disposed to be in a positive mood. That is, the default evolutionary option is to be in a good mood. Evolution dictates that the individual who is happy is more likely to engage in more procreation acts and life-supporting functions, compared to those who are less happy (perhaps depressed). Happiness also plays a role in good health. Those who are happy live longer lives because they experience lower stress, and stress is associated with morbidity. Feelings of happiness are directly related to need satisfaction, and of course, gratification of personal needs is positively associated with survival, prosperity, and procreation. Happy people are optimistic, and optimism has a strong survival value.

We view sustainability as a requirement that welfare should not be expected to decline over time; it depends on the production technology available to society

Sustainability in a Risky World. John Y. Campbell & Ian Martin. NBER Working Paper 28899, June 2021. DOI 10.3386/w28899

Abstract: We view sustainability as a requirement that welfare should not be expected to decline over time. We impose this requirement as a prior constraint on the consumption-savings-investment problem, and study its implications for saving, risky investment, and the social discount rate. The constraint does not distort portfolio choice, but it imposes an upper bound on the sustainable time preference rate and on the sustainable consumption-wealth ratio, which we show must lie between the riskless rate and the expected return on optimally invested wealth.

6 Conclusion

In this paper we have argued, in the spirit of Koopmans (1960, 1967), that the implication of an

ethical criterion—sustainability—for social discounting and consumption decisions depends on the

production technology available to society. Specifically, in a risky world with a binding sustainability

20constraint, the sustainable social rate of time preference and consumption-wealth ratio, which equal

one another, are not equal to either the riskless interest rate or the risky return on invested wealth,

but lie in between these two. In the special case where invested wealth has only Brownian risk and

no jump risk, the sustainable social rate of time preference is the equal-weighted average of the

riskless interest rate and the risky return.

We have made this point in the context of an extremely simple model with iid returns in which the

parameters governing the distribution of returns are known. We have therefore ignored parameter

uncertainty, a phenomenon emphasized by Weitzman (2001). We have also ignored the possibility

that returns may not be iid, because expected returns or risks change over time. Models with non-iid

returns in general imply time-varying consumption growth and a term structure of discount rates.

When consumption growth is persistent, this term structure is generally downward-sloping for safe

investments and upward-sloping for risky ones as in the long-run risk model of Bansal and Yaron

(2004). Gollier (2002) emphasizes the potential importance of a downward-sloping term structure

of discount rates for social discounting. Our iid model has discount rates that are invariant to the

horizon of an investment.

Although we have emphasized the sustainable social rate of time preference in this paper, we

conclude by noting that this is not the same as the appropriate social discount rate that should

be applied to an investment project. That discount rate depends on the project’s risk. For a

riskless project, the appropriate discount rate is the riskless interest rate, which is lower than the

sustainable social rate of time preference in a risky world; and for a project that has the same

risk as society’s invested wealth, the appropriate discount rate is the expected risky return, which

is higher than the sustainable social rate of time preference. Some previous discussions of social

discounting have obscured these distinctions by ignoring the risk that society faces. Our analysis is

deliberately simple in order to achieve clarity about these issues.

A 10% increase in robots per 1000 workers is associated with an approximately 10% reduction in the share of low-skilled individuals reporting poor health due in part by a reallocation of physical tasks

Does the rise of robotic technology make people healthier? Christian Gunadi, Hanbyul Ryu. Health Economics, May 27 2021. https://doi.org/10.1002/hec.4361

Abstract: Technological advancements bring changes to our life, altering our behaviors as well as our role in the economy. In this paper, we examine the potential effect of the rise of robotic technology on health. Using the variation in the initial distribution of industrial employment in US cities and the difference in robot adoption across industries over time to predict robot exposure at the local labor market, we find evidence that higher penetration of industrial robots in the local economy is positively related to the health of the low-skilled population. A 10% increase in robots per 1000 workers is associated with an approximately 10% reduction in the share of low-skilled individuals reporting poor health. Further analysis suggests that the reallocation of tasks partly explains this finding. A 10% increase in robots per 1000 workers is associated with an approximately 1.5% reduction in physical tasks supplied by low-skilled workers.

Maintaining Multi-partner Relationships: Evolution, Sexual Ethics, and Consensual Non-monogamy

Mogilski, Justin, David L. Rodrigues, Justin J. Lehmiller, and Rhonda N. Balzarini. 2021. “Maintaining Multi-partner Relationships: Evolution, Sexual Ethics, and Consensual Non-monogamy.” PsyArXiv. June 8. doi:10.31234/osf.io/k4r9e

Abstract: Humans maintain romantic relationships for sexual gratification, childcare assistance, intimate friendship, and a host of other interpersonal benefits. In monogamous relationships (i.e., exclusive courtship between two people) individuals agree that certain benefits of the relationship (i.e., sexual contact, material resources, emotional support) may only be shared within the pair-bond. That is, each partner is expected to maintain the relationship by provisioning sufficient benefits to satisfy the needs and desires of their partner. By comparison, consensual non-monogamy (CNM) is a collection of relationship practices and structures whereby partners agree that it is permissible to have sexual contact or form intimate attachments with other people to satisfy these interpersonal needs and desires. In this chapter, we review literature examining who pursues CNM, how people who practice CNM derive and maintain satisfaction within their relationship(s), and when and how these relationships persist. We consider the role of CNM relationship maintenance practices, personality features that predispose people to CNM, and psychological and social barriers (e.g., jealousy, interpersonal conflict, sexual health anxiety, condemnation) that prevent people from pursuing or maintaining CNM. Throughout, we consider how CNM compares to infidelity as an alternative strategy for pursuing multiple, concurrent romantic or sexual relationships. We close by discussing current directions in the scientific study of CNM and highlight which gaps in the literature are most pressing to address.

Check also The Implications of Sociosexuality for Marital Satisfaction and Dissolution. Juliana E. French, Emma E. Altgelt, Andrea L. Meltzer. Psychological Science, September 4, 2019. https://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2019/09/relatively-unrestricted-sociosexuality.html

Cebu, Philippines: Fathers' childcare highly facultative, likely contingent on local socioecological predictors

Fathers' care in context: ‘facultative,’ flexible fathers respond to work demands and child age, but not to alloparental help, in Cebu, Philippines. Stacy Rosenbaum et al. Evolution and Human Behavior, June 12 2021. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2021.05.003

Abstract: Current evolutionary theory conceptualizes fathers' childcare as highly facultative and likely contingent on a variety of local socioecological predictors. Much of the evolutionarily-motivated work on the predictors of paternal care has focused on smaller-scale societies, while similar, potentially complementary research in larger-scale societies has focused on theoretical frameworks from (e.g.) economics and developmental psychology. Due to the different emphases, relatively few studies have incorporated information on variables known to predict paternal care in one context with those known to predict it in the other. Here, we assess whether paternal care conforms to predictions derived from the facultative fathering hypothesis and life history theory in Cebu, the Philippines. We evaluated which of 6 variables—hours worked outside the home, age and number of children, number of other caregivers, family residence pattern, and fathers' educational attainment—predicted the number of hours fathers reported spending on 12 common caregiving tasks. Consistent with the basic premise of facultative fathering, men who worked more spent less time on childcare. Additionally, the time fathers spent on different types of caregiving reflected changes in demand as children age. However, alloparental care appears to be a complement to, rather than a substitute for, paternal care in this context, in contrast to the predictions of the facultative fathering hypothesis. We also found that men with more education reported spending more time on childcare, consistent with a caregiving strategy that emphasizes heavy investment in embodied capital across generations. Our data illustrate the context-specific nature of ‘facultative’ caregiving in humans, and highlight the importance of considering locally-relevant predictors when testing predictions derived from evolutionary theory.

Keywords: Parental carePaternal careMaternal careAllocareAllomaternal careCooperative breeding

Psychopathy as extreme B5/FFM traits: Psycho-meanness = exploitation of others & poor attachment; psycho-disinhibition = greater negative affect & poor behavioral constraint; psycho-boldness = reduced negative affect & greater narcissism

A Comparison of Two Five-Factor Model Operationalizations of the Triarchic Model of Psychopathy in a Clinical Sample. Jared R. Ruchensky et al. Assessment, June 6, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1177/10731911211006186

Abstract: Structural models of personality traits, particularly the five-factor model (FFM), continue to inform ongoing debates regarding what personality attributes and trait domains are central to psychopathy. A growing body of literature has linked the constructs of the triarchic model of psychopathy (boldness, meanness, disinhibition) to the FFM. Recently, researchers developed both item and regression-based measures of the triarchic model of psychopathy using the NEO Personality Inventory–Revised—a popular measure of the FFM. The current study examines the correlates of these two FFM-derived operationalizations of the triarchic model using data from the Collaborative Longitudinal Personality Disorders Study. The two approaches had strong convergent validity coefficients and similar patterns of criterion-related validity coefficients. Meanness related to greater personality pathology characterized by exploitation of others and poor attachment, whereas disinhibition related to indicators of greater negative affect and poor behavioral constraint. Boldness related to reduced negative affect and greater narcissistic personality traits. Although the item and regression-based approaches showed similar patterns of associations with criterion-variables, the item-based approach has some practical and psychometric advantages over the regression-based approach given strong correlations between the meanness and disinhibition scores from the regression approach.

Keywords: psychopathy, five-factor model, personality, personality disorders, triarchic model

From 2019... Online dating markets: Sex ratio varies widely between submarkets, with younger submarkets having more men & fewer women than older ones; minority women are younger than the average in older submarkets

From 2019... Structure of Online Dating Markets in U.S. Cities. Elizabeth E. Bruch and M. E. J. Newman. Sociological Science, April 2, 2019. 10.15195/v6.a9

Abstract: We study the structure of heterosexual dating markets in the United States through an analysis of the interactions of several million users of a large online dating website, applying recently developed network analysis methods to the pattern of messages exchanged among users. Our analysis shows that the strongest driver of romantic interaction at the national level is simple geographic proximity, but at the local level, other demographic factors come into play. We find that dating markets in each city are partitioned into submarkets along lines of age and ethnicity. Sex ratio varies widely between submarkets, with younger submarkets having more men and fewer women than older ones. There is also a noticeable tendency for minorities, especially women, to be younger than the average in older submarkets, and our analysis reveals how this kind of racial stratification arises through the messaging decisions of both men and women. Our study illustrates how network techniques applied to online interactions can reveal the aggregate effects of individual behavior on social structure.

Check also Men's revealed preference for their mates' ages. Kitae Sohn. Evolution and Human Behavior, Volume 38, Issue 1, January 2017, Pages 58-62. https://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2021/05/we-analyzed-all-first-marriages.html

Discussion

The experience of mate selection is frequently described, both in popular discourse and the scientific literature, in the language of markets: An individual’s goal is to secure the best possible mate for themselves in the face of competition from others. However, we know little about the structure of these romantic markets in part for lack of appropriately detailed data. The advent and vigorous growth of the online dating industry in the last two decades provides a new source of data about courtship interactions on an unprecedented scale. In this study, we have provided a first look at how network analysis techniques can reveal the structure of U.S. dating markets as evidenced by interactions on a popular dating website. Across the United States as a whole, we find that geography is the defining feature of national dating markets. Within cities, submarkets are defined by age as well as other demographic factors—most notably, race. We find that submarket structure is shaped by both first-messaging patterns and replies. Threequarters of all reciprocated messages fall within submarkets, and only one-quarter fall between individuals in different submarkets. A larger fraction, about 43 percent, of all first messages are between different submarkets, which indicates that people do attempt to contact partners outside of their submarkets, but those attempts are often unsuccessful. Overall, our results reveal the aggregate implications of individuals’ mate choices and suggest that metropolitan areas are best characterized as a collection of geographically integrated but demographically distinct submarkets. More generally, our study illustrates how state-of-the-art network science techniques can be applied to rich data from online interactions or administrative records to reveal subtle features of social structure. In recent years, the growing availability of search data from online sources has led to interest in how individuals’ choices reveal submarkets in other social domains (Piazzesi, Schneider, and Stroebel 2015; Rae 2015). As we have shown in the dating context, market outcomes reflect the choices made by actors on both sides (e.g., men and women in heterosexual dating markets, workers and firms in job markets). Our approach could straightforwardly be extended to look at structural features of housing or job markets, and we view this as a fruitful direction for future work. 

Statements without discernible meaning that consists of modern, abstract words, created to impress & not to inform, were attributed to famous philosophers & physicists (Nietzsche, Plato, Hawking, Einstein) or uncredible authors (Johnny Depp, Bruce Willis, Mel Gibson, Brad Pitt)

The effect of source credibility on bullshit receptivity. Sandra Ilić, Kaja Damnjanović. Applied Cognitive Psychology, June 3 2021. https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.3852

Summary: Pseudo-profound bullshit pertains to grammatically and syntactically correct but meaningless sentences, that, due to syntactical correctness appear as made to communicate something and research shows that people deem them profound. However, the effect of differing source credibility on bullshit profoundness evaluations has, to our knowledge, not yet been tested. We presented participants with pseudo-profound bullshit alone and with authors of different credibility. In order to partly replicate and extend on the findings regarding mechanisms of receptivity and sensitivity to bullshit we collected profoundness evaluations for mundane statements and proverbs, and different measures of analytic thinking. Ascribing credible authors leads to an increase while ascribing uncredible authors leads to a decrease in profoundness evaluations. Cognitive reflection protects against the tendency to evaluate any type of statement as profound and drives better differentiation between pseudo- and conventionally truly profound, while positive views about actively open-minded thinking enable stronger effects of credible authorship.

Effects of Increased Weights of Alternative Fuel Trucks on Pavement and Bridges: Long-haul electric trucks with a range of 300 miles are expected to be 5,328 pounds heavier than fossil-fuel versions in 2030, in 2050 they will be 1000 pounds less

Effects of Increased Weights of Alternative Fuel Trucks on Pavement and Bridges. Harvey, John, Saboori, ArashMiller, Marshall, Kim, Changmo, Jaller, Miguel, Lea, JonKendall, Alissa, Saboori, Ashkan. Univ of California Institute of Transportation Studies, report no. 2020/19, Nov 2020. https://doi.org/10.7922/G27M066V

Abstract: California’s truck fleet composition is shifting to include more natural gas vehicles (NGVs), electric vehicles (EVs), and fuel cell vehicles (FCVs), and it will shift more quickly to meet state greenhouse gas (GHG) emission goals. These alternative fuel trucks (AFTs) may introduce heavier axle loads, which may increase pavement damage and GHG emissions from work to maintain pavements. This project aimed to provide conceptual-level estimates of the effects of vehicle fleet changes on road and bridge infrastructure. Three AFT implementation scenarios were analyzed using typical Calif. state and local pavement structures, and a federal study’s results were used to assess the effects on bridges. This study found that more NGV, EV, and FC trucks are expected among short-haul and medium-duty vehicles than among long-haul vehicles, for which range issues arise with EVs and FCs. But the estimates predicted that by 2050, alternative fuels would power 25–70% of long-haul and 40–95% of short-haul and medium-duty trucks. AFT implementation is expected to be focused in the 11 counties with the greatest freight traffic—primarily urban counties along major freight corridors. Results from the implementation scenarios suggest that introducing heavier AFTs will only result in minimal additional pavement damage, with its extent dependent on the pavement structure and AFT implementation scenario. Although allowing weight increases of up to 2,000 lbs. is unlikely to cause major issues on more modern bridges, the effects of truck concentrations at those new limits on inadequate bridges needs more careful evaluation. The study’s most aggressive market penetration scenario yielded an approximate net reduction in annual well-to-wheel truck propulsion emissions of 1,200–2,700 kT per year of CO2 -e by 2030, and 6,300–34,000 kT by 2050 versus current truck technologies. Negligible effects on GHG emissions from pavement maintenance and rehabilitation resulted from AFT implementation.

1 lb is almost .5 kg

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Long-haul electric trucks with a range of 300 miles are expected to be 5,328 pounds heavier than fossil-fuel versions in 2030. Short-haul and medium-duty box delivery electric trucks are expected to weigh 1,400 extra pounds. Batteries are heavy because the chemicals and materials in battery cells are densely packed and have a good amount of mass. Based on average market penetration, the batteries on electric trucks in 2030 could collectively equal 59.3 million pounds. Future technology is expected to reduce that weight by almost 1,000 pounds by 2050. Also, adding tires and axles to the largest trucks could spread the load more evenly to reduce stress on roads and bridges.

4.3 Cost to Strengthen and Replace Bridges Due to a 2,000-Pound Truck Weight Increase

The MAP-21 study provided an estimate of $0.4 billion for the one-time costs to strengthen and replace bridges due to a 5axle, 88,000 lb. truck (Scenario 1 of the CTSWLS) across all states. The following is a top-down first-order calculation that translates that national-level cost to California alone.

• The MAP-21 study assumed that bridges with a rating factor (either flexure or shear) less than 1.0 will require rehabilitation.

• For this current study, it was assumed that the bridges in the structurally deficient category are those that had rating factors less than 1.0.

• California has 6.2 percent of all the bridges in the US that are structurally deficient and 3.9 percent of all the structurally deficient NHS bridges. It was assumed for this study that 4.5 percent of the bridges are structurally deficient. Bridges on the NHS system are longer and more costly to rehabilitate than non-NHS bridges.

• It was also assumed for this study that the 82,000-lb. GVW limit produces half (allowing for some illegal trucks over the 82,000-lb. limit) as many ratings less than 1.0 than the 88,000-lb. truck scenario (a conservative estimate).

• The estimated cost is then: 4.5% × 0.5 × $400 million = $9 million in 2011 dollars.

• This cost estimate does not include any increases in annual maintenance costs due to the heavier trucks.

Pride, shame, envy, admiration, respect, contempt, anger, fear—and status hierarchies

Durkee, Patrick. 2021. “Emotions and Status Hierarchies.” OSF Preprints. May 23. doi:10.31219/osf.io/hukwr

Abstract: Emotions define and are defined by status hierarchies. This chapter examines human emotions in relation to hierarchy navigation. Because emotional adaptations evolve in response to selective pressures, I first present evidence supporting the ubiquity of hierarchies and the fitness-relevance of status in the ancestral past. Next, I provide a sketch of the recurrent adaptive challenges likely posed by life within hierarchically organized groups to circumscribe the hierarchy-navigation tasks emotional adaptations are expected to address. I then highlight several emotions—pride, shame, envy, admiration, respect, contempt, anger, and fear—that appear to facilitate hierarchy navigation, review the evidence for their functional design, and explore ways in which relative differences in status may modulate recurring emotional experiences. Finally, I discuss how understanding the interplay between emotions and hierarchy navigation can inform our understanding of broad individual differences.

Check also Psychological foundations of human status allocation. Patrick K. Durkee, Aaron W. Lukaszewski, and David M. Buss. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, August 18, 2020. https://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2020/08/social-status-is-universal-and.html

When cumulative culture functionally overlaps with genes, genetic effects become masked, unmasked, or even reversed, & the causal effects of an identified gene become confounded with features of the cultural environment

Cultural Evolution of Genetic Heritability. Ryutaro Uchiyama, Rachel Spicer and Michael Muthukrishna. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, May 21 2021. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X21000893. Pre-print heritability-165_final(1) (muthukrishna.com)

Abstract: Behavioral genetics and cultural evolution have both revolutionized our understanding of human behavior—largely independent of each other. Here we reconcile these two fields under a dual inheritance framework, offering a more nuanced understanding of the interaction between genes and culture. Going beyond typical analyses of gene–environment interactions, we describe the cultural dynamics that shape these interactions by shaping the environment and population structure. A cultural evolutionary approach can explain, for example, how factors such as rates of innovation and diffusion, density of cultural sub-groups, and tolerance for behavioral diversity impact heritability estimates, thus yielding predictions for different social contexts. Moreover, when cumulative culture functionally overlaps with genes, genetic effects become masked, unmasked, or even reversed, and the causal effects of an identified gene become confounded with features of the cultural environment. The manner of confounding is specific to a particular society at a particular time, but a WEIRD (Western, educated, industrialized, rich, democratic) sampling problem obscures this boundedness. Cultural evolutionary dynamics are typically missing from models of gene-to-phenotype causality, hindering generalizability of genetic effects across societies and across time. We lay out a reconciled framework and use it to predict the ways in which heritability should differ between societies, between socioeconomic levels and other groupings within some societies but not others, and over the life course. An integrated cultural evolutionary behavioral genetic approach cuts through the nature–nurture debate and helps resolve controversies in topics such as IQ.

Comments on this paper... Mitchell, Kevin J. 2021. “Developmental Noise Is an Overlooked Contributor to Innate Variation in Psychological Traits.” PsyArXiv. September 21. Developmental Noise Is an Overlooked Contributor to Innate Variation in Psychological Traits

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From the 2020 version:

The question, “Which SNPs  are associated with skin cancer?” is similarly culturally dependent. In societies where sunscreen use is common, we expect genes that govern skin pigmentation to be less predictive of skin cancer compared to societies where it is not.

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A gene can be beneficial in one environment but not in another. For example, we have known for a long time that increasing nutrition (Lynn 1990; Stoch et al. 1982), improving schooling (Ceci 1991; Davis 2014; Ritchie and Tucker-Drob 2018), and removing parasites (Wieringa et al. 2011) have positive effects on general intelligence. None of this is surprising, but it means that in a society where parasite infection is kept under control, we would not notice that parasite status correlates with intelligence, due to a lack of sufficient variation in parasite load. For the same reason, a correlation between lead exposure and IQ (Needleman and Gatsonis 1990; Wasserman et al. 1997) will not be revealed in a society where lead is not a problem. The same principle applies to genes: genes that provide protection against malnutrition, parasites, or pollution would only be positively associated with intelligence in environments where these insults occur. In environments where these challenges have been overcome, the same genes would not be associated with intelligence, and can even be deleterious. For example, being a carrier (heterozygous) for abnormal hemoglobin via sickle cell trait (Elguero et al. 2015) or thalassemia (Mockenhaupt et al. 2004) protects against malaria and is thus beneficial in an environment with the Plasmodium falciparum parasite. Because malaria is known to have a negative impact on cognitive development (Holding and Snow 2001), we would expect the gene for abnormal hemoglobin to be positively associated with intelligence in environments with a high risk of malaria. As the risk of malaria decreases heterozygosity will be neutral or deleterious, but this too depends on environmental factors such as diet. Similarly, alleles that protect against parasite infection (Carter 2013) or lead poisoning (Onalaja and Claudio 2000) will be predictive of IQ only if the environmental risk factors are present in sufficient quantities. In an environment with arsenic contamination, variants in AS3MT associated with more efficient arsenic metabolism (Schlebusch et al. 2015) may be predictive of intelligence (Wang et al. 2007).

Spontaneous face touching: Count and duration increase with arousal, emotional or cognitive load; active prevention of face touching to reduce infections requires mental effort

Stop touching your face! A systematic review of triggers, characteristics, regulatory functions and neuro-physiology of facial self touch. Jente L. Spille et al. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, June 11 2021. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.05.030

Highlights

• Spontaneous face touching is associated with cortical regulatory processes.

• Self touch count and duration increase with arousal, emotional or cognitive load.

• Active prevention of face touching to reduce infections requires mental effort.

• Association of face touch with trigeminal communicating rami is discussed.

• Fundamental mechanisms and functions of spontaneous face touches remain unknown.

Abstract: Spontaneous face touching (sFST) is an ubiquitous behavior that occurs in people of all ages and all sexes, up to 800 times a day. Despite their high frequency, they have rarely been considered as an independent phenomenon. Recently, sFST have sparked scientific interest since they contribute to self-infection with pathogens. This raises questions about trigger mechanisms and functions of sFST and whether they can be prevented. This systematic comprehensive review compiles relevant evidence on these issues. Facial self-touches seem to increase in frequency and duration in socially, emotionally as well as cognitively challenging situations. They have been associated with attention focus, working memory processes and emotion regulating functions as well as the development and maintenance of a sense of self and body. The dominance of face touch over other body parts is discussed in light of the proximity of hand-face cortical representations and the peculiarities of facial innervations. The results show that underlying psychological and neuro-physiological mechanisms of sFST are still poorly understood and that various basic questions remain unanswered.

Keywords: nonverbal communicationinfection transmissionemotion regulationworking memoryattention focustic disordertrigeminal nervesensory attenuation

Deterministic Attributions of Behavior: Biological explanations had more influence than social explanations on ratings of others’ responsibility, capacity for change, and sentencing considerations

Deterministic Attributions of Behavior: Brain versus Genes. Kevin R. Peters, Alena Kalinina, Nastassja M. Downer & Amy Van Elswyk. Neuroethics, Jun 11 2021. https://rd.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12152-021-09471-x

Abstract: This research examined the influence of social-, genetic-, and brain-based explanations on attributions of others’ behaviors. Participants were university students in Studies 1 (N = 140), 2 (N = 142), and 3 (N = 260). Participants read a vignette about an individual who possessed several undesirable behaviors and answered related questions. The first two studies had within-subjects designs. Participants in Study 1 were provided with social-, genetic-, and brain-based explanations for the individual’s behavior. The order of the genetic- and brain-based explanations was reversed in Study 2. Study 3 used the same materials, but had a between-subjects design where participants were assigned to one of three groups that differed in their explanation: social, genetic, or brain. Participants also completed measures of social desirability and free will beliefs in all three studies. Consistently, biological explanations had more influence than social explanations on ratings of others’ responsibility, capacity for change, and sentencing considerations. There was inconsistent evidence across the three studies, however, that brain-based explanations had more influence than genetic-based explanations. Interestingly, Free will scores were associated with aspects of the individual’s behavior in the social condition but not in the biological conditions. Additional social cognition research is needed to determine whether brain-based explanations are just one specific instantiation of biological explanations or whether they are unique in this regard when it comes to the attributions we make about others’ behaviors.