Full Courtship Press
Pricing Anomalies in the Market for Diamonds: Evidence of Conformist Behavior
Frank Scott & Aaron Yelowitz
Economic Inquiry, forthcoming
Abstract:
Some goods are consumed not just for their intrinsic utility but also for the impression their consumption has on others. We analyze the market for such a commodity - diamonds. We collect data on price and other attributes from the inventories of three large online retailers of diamonds. We find that people are willing to pay premiums upward of 18% for a diamond that is one-half carat rather than slightly less than a half carat and between 5% and 10% for a one-carat rather than a slightly less than one-carat stone. Since a major portion of larger gem-quality diamonds are used for engagement rings, such an outcome is consistent with Bernheim's model of conformism, where individuals try to conform to a single standard of behavior that is often established at a focal point. In this case, prospective grooms signal their desirability as a mate by the size of the diamond engagement ring they give their fiancées.
-----------------------
The Texas billionaire's pregnant bride: An evolutionary interpretation of romance fiction titles
Anthony Cox & Maryanne Fisher
Journal of Social, Evolutionary, and Cultural Psychology, December 2009, Pages 386-401
Abstract:
In this paper, we focus on the titles of popular modern romance novels, published by Harlequin Enterprises, in order to ascertain whether these books pertain to women's sexspecific mating interests. Presumably, market demands have shaped the titles of Harlequins, such that books with titles that reflect topics of interest to women will sell the best. Two forms of analysis were undertaken to investigate whether the titles are in agreement with predictions informed by evolutionary psychology. First, we identified the most frequently occurring words to determine the most prevalent issues addressed by titles. Second, we performed a qualitative analysis to identify the most popular, recurring themes that appear in the titles. Our results indicate that Harlequin romance novel titles are congruent with women's sex-specific mating strategies, which is surmised to be the reason for their continued international success.
-----------------------
Effect of manipulated prestige-car ownership on both sex attractiveness ratings
Michael Dunn & Robert Searle
British Journal of Psychology, February 2010, Pages 69-80
Abstract:
Previous studies have shown that male attractiveness can be enhanced by manipulation of status through, for example, the medium of costume. The present study experimentally manipulated status by seating the same target model (male and female matched for attractiveness) expressing identical facial expressions and posture in either a `high status' (Silver Bentley Continental GT) or a `neutral status' (Red Ford Fiesta ST) motor-car. A between-subjects design was used whereby the above photographic images were presented to male and female participants for attractiveness rating. Results showed that the male target model was rated as significantly more attractive on a rating scale of 1-10 when presented to female participants in the high compared to the neutral status context. Males were not influenced by status manipulation, as there was no significant difference between attractiveness ratings for the female seated in the high compared to the neutral condition. It would appear that despite a noticeable increase in female ownership of prestige/luxury cars over recent years males, unlike females remain oblivious to such cues in matters pertaining to opposite-sex attraction. These findings support the results of previous status enhancement of attractiveness studies especially those espousing sex differences in mate preferences are due to sex-specific adaptations.
-----------------------
Sex-specific body configurations can be estimated from voice samples
Susan Hughes, Marissa Harrison & Gordon Gallup
Journal of Social, Evolutionary, and Cultural Psychology, December 2009, Pages 343-355
Abstract:
We investigated whether participants could infer a speaker's actual waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) and shoulder-to-hip ratio (SHR) based solely on hearing the target's voice. After listening to a voice sample, raters were asked to estimate the speaker's body configuration by choosing from an array of line-drawn figures depicting variations in WHR and SHR. The estimated WHR (but not SHR) of female speakers predicted the speakers' actual WHR measurements. In contrast, the estimated SHR (but not WHR) of male speakers predicted the speakers' actual SHR measurements. Even when choosing from figures depicting variation in both SHR and WHR, the same pattern of sex-specific accuracy in ratings emerged. These findings corroborate previous studies suggesting that the mere sound of a person's voice may reveal important biological information about their mate value.
-----------------------
Optimal Waist-to-Hip Ratios in Women Activate Neural Reward Centers in Men
Steven Platek & Devendra Singh
PLoS ONE, February 2010, e9042
Abstract:
Secondary sexual characteristics convey information about reproductive potential. In the same way that facial symmetry and masculinity, and shoulder-to-hip ratio convey information about reproductive/genetic quality in males, waist-to-hip-ratio (WHR) is a phenotypic cue to fertility, fecundity, neurodevelopmental resources in offspring, and overall health, and is indicative of "good genes" in women. Here, using fMRI, we found that males show activation in brain reward centers in response to naked female bodies when surgically altered to express an optimal (~0.7) WHR with redistributed body fat, but relatively unaffected body mass index (BMI). Relative to presurgical bodies, brain activation to postsurgical bodies was observed in bilateral orbital frontal cortex. While changes in BMI only revealed activation in visual brain substrates, changes in WHR revealed activation in the anterior cingulate cortex, an area associated with reward processing and decision-making. When regressing ratings of attractiveness on brain activation, we observed activation in forebrain substrates, notably the nucleus accumbens, a forebrain nucleus highly involved in reward processes. These findings suggest that an hourglass figure (i.e., an optimal WHR) activates brain centers that drive appetitive sociality/attention toward females that represent the highest-quality reproductive partners. This is the first description of a neural correlate implicating WHR as a putative honest biological signal of female reproductive viability and its effects on men's neurological processing.
-----------------------
Same-Sex Gaze Attraction Influences Mate-Choice Copying in Humans
Jessica Yorzinski & Michael Platt
PLoS ONE, February 2010, e9115
Abstract:
Mate-choice copying occurs when animals rely on the mating choices of others to inform their own mating decisions. The proximate mechanisms underlying mate-choice copying remain unknown. To address this question, we tracked the gaze of men and women as they viewed a series of photographs in which a potential mate was pictured beside an opposite-sex partner; the participants then indicated their willingness to engage in a long-term relationship with each potential mate. We found that both men and women expressed more interest in engaging in a relationship with a potential mate if that mate was paired with an attractive partner. Men and women's attention to partners varied with partner attractiveness and this gaze attraction influenced their subsequent mate choices. These results highlight the prevalence of non-independent mate choice in humans and implicate social attention and reward circuitry in these decisions.
-----------------------
Altruism as a courtship display: Some effects of third-party generosity on audience perceptions
Pat Barclay
British Journal of Psychology, February 2010, Pages 123-135
Abstract:
Public generosity may be a means to convincingly advertise one's good character. This hypothesis suggests that altruistic individuals will be desirable as romantic partners. Few studies have tested this prediction, and these showed mixed results. Some studies have found that altruism is not particularly attractive; other studies showed that altruism is attractive by contrasting descriptions of `nice guys' with `jerks'. The present study sought to resolve this debate by having participants read a series of experimentally manipulated vignettes of persons with corresponding photographs, such that altruistic vignettes were compared with control descriptions that differed only in the presence or absence of small hints of altruistic tendencies. Altruists were more desirable for long-term relationships than neutral individuals. Women also preferred altruists for single dates whereas men had no such preference. These results are discussed with regard to the idea that people (males in particular) signal their good character via generosity.
-----------------------
Androstenol - a Steroid Derived Odor Activates the Hypothalamus in Women
Ivanka Savic & Hans Berglund
PLoS ONE, February 2010, e8651
Background: Whether pheromone signaling exists in humans is still a matter of intense discussion. In the present study we tested if smelling of Androstenol, a steroid produced by the human body and reported to affect human behavior, may elicit cerebral activation. A further issue was to evaluate whether the pattern of activation resembles the pattern of common odors.
Methodology: PET measurements of regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) were conducted in 16 healthy heterosexual women during passive smelling of Androstenol, four ordinary odors (OO), and odorless air (the base line condition).
Principal findings: Smelling Androstenol caused activation of a portion of the hypothalamus, which according to animal data mediates the pheromone triggered mating behavior. Smelling of OO, on the other hand, engaged only the classical olfactory regions (the piriform cortex, lateral amygdala, anterior insular and anterior cingulate cortex).
Conclusions: The observed pattern of activation is very similar to the pattern previously detected with 4,16-androstadien-3-one in heterosexual females. It suggests that several compounds released by human body may activate cerebral networks involved in human reproduction.
-----------------------
All you need is love: Is the sociometer especially sensitive to one's mating capacity?
Jessica Pass, Siegwart Lindenberg & Justin Park
European Journal of Social Psychology, March 2010, Pages 221-234
Abstract:
Self-esteem has been proposed to serve as a sociometer, a gauge of one's value as a relationship partner. Based on evolutionary reasoning, we hypothesized that the sociometer is particularly sensitive to capacity rejection in the mating domain. Capacity rejection implies that one has low potential to be an acceptable mate now and in the future. In Study 1, participants received no feedback or negative feedback regarding their capacity for being an acceptable mate or friend. Although participants in both mate and friend conditions felt rejected, only those in the mate condition exhibited significantly lower state self-esteem. In Study 2, we examined sex differences in attributes relevant to mate capacity. Participants were given no feedback or negative feedback regarding their capacity as a mate: Some were told that their low mate capacity is due to their physical attractiveness whereas others were told it is due to their competence and status. Among men, state self-esteem was lower only after competence and status-based rejection; among women, state self-esteem was lower only after physical attractiveness-based rejection. In both studies, additional results revealed that even while self-esteem decreased, positive beliefs about the self were maintained, suggesting that feelings and beliefs about the self react differently to rejection.
-----------------------
Claire Conway, Benedict Jones, Lisa DeBruine & Anthony Little
British Journal of Psychology, February 2010, Pages 109-121
Abstract:
Most previous studies of face preferences have investigated the physical cues that influence face preferences. Far fewer studies have investigated the effects of cues to the direction of others' social interest (i.e. gaze direction) on face preferences. Here we found that unpartnered women demonstrated stronger preferences for direct gaze (indicating social interest) from feminine male faces than from masculine male faces when judging men's attractiveness for long-term relationships, but not when judging men's attractiveness for short-term relationships. Moreover, unpartnered women's preferences for direct gaze from feminine men were stronger for long-term than short-term relationships, but there was no comparable effect for judgements of masculine men. No such effects were evident among women with romantic partners, potentially reflecting different motivations underlying partnered and unpartnered women's judgements of men's attractiveness. Collectively these findings (1) complement previous findings whereby women demonstrated stronger preferences for feminine men as long-term than short-term partners, (2) demonstrate context-sensitivity in the integration of physical and social cues in face preferences, and (3) suggest that gaze preferences may function, at least in part, to facilitate efficient allocation of mating effort.
-----------------------
Women's Sexual Satisfaction as a Predictor of Well-Being in Same-Sex Versus Mixed-Sex Relationships
Diane Holmberg, Karen Blair & Maggie Phillips
Journal of Sex Research, January 2010, Pages 1-11
Abstract:
Structural equation modelling was used to assess the strengths of the links between sexual satisfaction and self-reported (a) relationship well-being, (b) mental health, and (c) physical health for women in same-sex (i.e., homosexual, n = 114) versus mixed-sex (i.e., heterosexual, n = 208) relationships. Participants came from a large-scale Internet study. Sexual satisfaction was found to be an extremely strong predictor of relational well-being, a strong predictor of mental health, and a weak to moderately strong predictor of physical health. A two-group comparison model indicated that the strength of these links was the same, regardless of whether the women were in a sexual relationship with a man or with another woman.
-----------------------
Sex Differences in Jealousy: A Contribution From Attachment Theory
Kenneth Levy & Kristen Kelly
Psychological Science, forthcoming
Abstract:
Studies have found that more men than women endorse sexual infidelity as more distressing than emotional infidelity, whereas more women than men endorse emotional infidelity as more distressing than sexual infidelity. Some evolutionary psychologists have proposed that this sex difference can be best conceptualized as reflecting evolution‐based differences in parental investment that produce a need for paternity certainty among men and a need for male investment in offspring among women. Nonetheless, a conspicuous subset of men report emotional infidelity as more distressing than sexual infidelity. Current theorizing explains between‐sex differences but not within‐sex differences. We hypothesized that attachment‐style differences may help to explain both between‐ and within‐sex differences in jealousy. As hypothesized, dismissing avoidant participants reported more jealousy regarding sexual than emotional infidelity (64.8%), and secure participants, including secure men, reported more jealousy regarding emotional than sexual infidelity (77.3%), χ2(3, N = 411) = 45.03, p < .001. A series of sequential logistic regression analyses indicated significant moderation of the sex‐jealousy relationship by attachment style. Implications of an attachment perspective are discussed.
-----------------------
Sex differences in jealousy: The case of Internet infidelity
Hinke Groothof, Pieternel Dijkstra & Dick Barelds
Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, December 2009, Pages 1119-1129
Abstract:
Studies investigating the events that elicit men's and women's jealousy consistently show that men's jealousy, more than women's jealousy, is triggered by a mate's sexual infidelity, and women's jealousy, more than men's jealousy, is triggered by a mate's emotional infidelity. Internet infidelity poses new challenges for modern couples. Therefore, the present study investigated men's and women's responses to emotional and sexual infidelity over the Internet. Results from both a student sample (n = 254), and a sample from the general population (n = 483) showed that sex differences in response to Internet infidelity parallels those for offline infidelity. Implications and explanations for this finding, as well as different results between both samples, are discussed.
-----------------------
The costs and benefits of the Dark Triad: Implications for mate poaching and mate retention tactics
Peter Jonason, Norman Li & David Buss
Personality and Individual Differences, March 2010, Pages 373-378
Abstract:
The Dark Triad - narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy - have traditionally been considered to be undesirable traits. However, emerging work suggest that not only may there be a positive side to possessing these traits but they may also serve important adaptive functions, even if the strategies associated with them are viewed as socially undesirable. In an online survey (N = 336), we investigated the costs and benefits of the Dark Triad within the domain of mating psychology. The social style and lower order personality traits of the Dark Triad traits facilitated increased mateships in the form of poaching mates from others and being poached oneself to form mateships, pointing to possible benefits of possessing the Dark Triad traits. However, the costside was evidenced with rates of mates abandoning their current relationship for a new one. Mate retention is a problem faced by those with these traits and the tactics used to retain mates were characteristic of the Dark Triad: aggressive and narcisstic. Results are discussed using an adaptionist paradigm.