Match
Genevieve Lorenzo, Jeremy Biesanz & Lauren Human
Psychological Science, forthcoming
Abstract:
Beautiful people are seen more positively than others, but are they also seen more accurately? In a round-robin design in which previously unacquainted individuals met for 3 min, results were consistent with the "beautiful is good" stereotype: More physically attractive individuals were viewed with greater normative accuracy; that is, they were viewed more in line with the highly desirable normative profile. Notably, more physically attractive targets were viewed more in line with their unique self-reported personality traits, that is, with greater distinctive accuracy. Further analyses revealed that both positivity and accuracy were to some extent in the eye of the beholder: Perceivers' idiosyncratic impressions of a target's attractiveness were also positively related to the positivity and accuracy of impressions. Overall, people do judge a book by its cover, but a beautiful cover prompts a closer reading, leading more physically attractive people to be seen both more positively and more accurately.
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The Debate Over the Prohibition of Romance in the Workplace
C. Boyd
Journal of Business Ethics, December 2010, Pages 325-338
Abstract:
This article examines why an organization might wish to manage workplace romance, and describes a number of alternative approaches to managing dating. At first sight the ethics of dating bans balances the need to protect female employees from harassment against employee rights to privacy and freedom of association - a rights versus rights issue. However, dating bans seem not to be directed at protecting female employees from harm, but rather protect employers from sexual harassment liability claims - an employer self-interest versus employee rights issue. This article advocates a consequentialist approach to the problem, via the factoring in of other harms caused by prohibiting workplace romance. Given that most workplace romances end up in marriage or long-term partnerships, a ban on workplace romance is argued to be antisocial. The incidence of sexual harassment is very low in comparison to the number of long-term relationships initiated in the workplace. This article concludes by citing examples of firms that encourage romance, showing that is feasible to manage any resulting problems within these firms' existing conflict of interest and sexual harassment rules.
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Viren Swami et al.
Journal of Social Psychology, November-December 2010, Pages 628-647
Abstract:
This study examined the influence of personality information on perceptions of the physical attractiveness of a range of female body sizes. A sample of 2,157 male university students were randomly assigned to one of 10 groups in which they received personality information about women they were rating, or a control group in which they received no personality information. Controlling for participants' age and body mass index, results showed no significant between-group differences in the body size that participants found most attractive. However, participants provided with positive personality information perceived a wider range of body sizes as physically attractive compared with the control group, whereas participants provided with negative personality information perceived a narrower range of body sizes as attractive. Correlations showed that participants' own Extraversion was associated with their body size ratings. These results suggest that non-physical cues have an influence on the perception of physical beauty.
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Wen Zhou & Denise Chen
Social Neuroscience, forthcoming
Abstract:
Biologically significant, natural human body odors covey emotion and identity - two qualities shown to build on dissociated modules in face and voice perceptions. To what extent such segregation applies to chemosensory processing of body odors has hardly been studied. The current study probes this issue by recruiting heterosexual couples, who are genetically independent yet sexually and emotionally engaged to one another, as both odor donors and odor judges, and comparing their sensitivities to the chemosensory emotional cues from their partner vs. those from opposite-sex strangers. We demonstrate that familiarity subconsciously sharpens one's sensitivity to chemosensory emotional cues, which increases as a function of the time couples have spent together. Nevertheless, the specific chemosensory identity and emotional content remain undelineated and inaccessible to verbal awareness. Our findings reveal a different pattern from those of face and voice perceptions and provide insights into the mechanisms and interplays of chemosensory emotion and identity processings.
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Is stalking a learned phenomenon? An empirical test of social learning theory
Kathleen Fox, Matt Nobles & Ronald Akers
Journal of Criminal Justice, forthcoming
Purpose: We examine the extent to which components of social learning theory (i.e., definitions, differential reinforcement, and differential association/modeling) predict stalking victimization and perpetration using survey data from a large sample of college students.
Methods: Among a sample of 2,766 college students, logistic regression models were estimated to analyze the relationships between social learning theory and stalking perpetration and victimization.
Results: Results suggest that victimization and perpetration are functions of social learning. The findings also indicated that females were significantly more likely to be both stalking victims and perpetrators.
Conclusions: Regarding stalking perpetration and victimization, our results suggest that there may be responses, attitudes, and behaviors that are learned, modified, or reinforced primarily through interaction with peers. Overall, social learning theory concepts appear to be important predictors of stalking perpetration and victimization that help to develop theoretical explanations for stalking.
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Are Secret Relationships Hot, Then Not? Romantic Secrecy as a Function of Relationship Duration
Craig Foster, Joshua Foster & Keith Campbell
Journal of Social Psychology, November-December 2010, Pages 668-688
Abstract:
Are secret romances alluring or aversive? One theory suggests that romantic secrecy increases obsessive preoccupation with romantic partners and thereby enhances romantic relationships. Another theory suggests that romantic secrecy is burdensome and thereby undermines romantic relationships. We sought to rectify these conflicting perspectives by examining romantic secrecy and relationship duration using a large, Internet-based sample (N = 564). We predicted that romantic secrecy would have a positive influence in newer romantic relationships (obsessive preoccupation theory) and a negative influence in older romantic relationships (burden theory). In contrast, the obtained results indicate that romantic secrecy is a burden to both new and old romantic relationships.
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Terms of Endearment: An Equilibrium Model of Sex and Matching
Peter Arcidiacono, Andrew Beauchamp & Marjorie McElroy
NBER Working Paper, November 2010
Abstract:
We develop a directed search model of relationship formation which can disentangle male and female preferences for types of partners and for different relationship terms using only a cross-section of observed matches. Individuals direct their search to a particular type of match on the basis of (i) the terms of the relationship, (ii) the type of partner, and (iii) the endogenously determined probability of matching. If men outnumber women, they tend to trade a low probability of a preferred match for a high probability of a less-preferred match; the analogous statement holds for women. Using data from National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health we estimate the equilibrium matching model with high school relationships. Variation in gender ratios is used to uncover male and female preferences. Estimates from the structural model match subjective data on whether sex would occur in one's ideal relationship. The equilibrium result shows that some women would ideally not have sex, but do so out of matching concerns; the reverse is true for men.
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Marriage: For love, for money...and for time?
Victoria Vernon
Review of Economics of the Household, December 2010, Pages 433-457
Abstract:
Married couples enjoy meaningful economies in time, often choosing to specialize where one spouse focuses on market work and the other on household production and childcare. Using data from the American Time Use Survey 2003-2008, I estimate significant marriage effects upon time use. Most married women gain 33-34 min of leisure each weekday when compared to single women. While marriage does not lead to more leisure for husbands, it allows them to allocate time away from home and towards market work. Lower-income couples work more at home and for pay, and spend less time in leisure than their single counterparts. The temporal and financial gains from marriage for most people are inconsistent with its declining prevalence.
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An Evolutionary Perspective on Effective vs. Ineffective Pick-up Lines
Corwin Senko & Viviana Fyffe
Journal of Social Psychology, November-December 2010, Pages 648-667
Abstract:
This experiment examined women's impressions of men using various "pick-up" lines. Seventy women imagined being approached by a man using a flippant and flirtatious "pick-up" line, a direct complimentary line, or an innocuous line that masks his interest. His attractiveness varied too. They then considered him for long-term or short-term relationships. Matching a "good dad" hypothesis, they favored him for a long-term relationship if he used a direct or innocuous line instead of the flippant line, because the latter conveyed lower trustworthiness and intelligence. Matching a "good genes" hypothesis, they favored him for a short-term relationship if he was attractive instead of unattractive, regardless of his pick-up line, presumably because attractiveness signals heritable fitness. Limitations and theoretical implications are discussed.
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Have you thanked your spouse today?: Felt and expressed gratitude among married couples
Cameron Gordon, Robyn Arnette & Rachel Smith
Personality and Individual Differences, forthcoming
Abstract:
Recent research has underscored the importance of gratitude to psychological and physical well-being (Emmons & McCullough, 2003), and has shown that gratitude can help facilitate the development of close relationships (Algoe, Haidt, & Gable, 2008). To date, however, little is known about gratitude among long-term married couples. The present investigation aims to examine the association between gratitude and marital satisfaction at both the individual and dyadic level. Furthermore, this study was designed to clarify the unique contributions of both feeling and expressing gratitude in marriage. Fifty couples (both husbands and wives) with a mean relationship length of 20.7 years participated in this study. Daily diary methodology was used to collect each individual's self-reported ratings of felt and expressed gratitude as well as relationship satisfaction for 2 weeks. Consistent with hypotheses, results indicate that one's felt and expressed gratitude both significantly relate to one's own marital satisfaction. Cross-partner analyses indicate that the individual's felt gratitude also predicts the spouse's satisfaction, whereas surprisingly his or her expressed gratitude does not. Results are discussed in the context of relationship enhancement both at the individual and dyadic level.
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The Limits of Love: Predicting immediate versus sustained caring behaviors in close relationships
Lara K. Kammrath & Johanna Peetz
Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, forthcoming
Abstract:
Do the same kinds of processes predict spontaneous acts of kindness and long-term caring behavior in relationships? Three studies examined predictors of immediate behaviors versus delayed, sustained behaviors. Positive feelings toward the relationship partner predicted pro-relational behaviors when the behaviors could be completed in an immediate and fairly short timespan, but not when the behaviors required performance after several days delay (Study 1) or when the behavior required continued self-regulation over a period of a week (Studies 2 and 3). Sustained behavior regulation was better predicted by factors related to self-regulation strength, such as trait conscientiousness, than it was by positive relationship feelings. However, when feelings were primed daily, the feelings-behavior link remained strong for sustained behaviors (Study 3). Together, these studies suggest that immediate pro-relational behaviors are more likely to be acts of the heart, whereas delayed, sustained pro-relational behaviors are more likely to be acts of will.
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Sex, Gender, and Generation: Age of Consent and Moral Regulation in Canada
Carol Dauda
Politics & Policy, December 2010, Pages 1159-1185
Abstract:
The article considers the political process in raising the age of consent in Canada and its impact on gender and equality. The purpose of the legislation is the protection of children, but evidence reveals a gendered discourse that targets the sexuality of young women in particular within the context of a heterosexual family norm. The efficacy of this norm arises from a post-feminist policy climate in which neo-liberal refamilialization complements the remoralizing of the family by the Conservative Party of Canada and its supporters. This enables the characterization of the child as innocent and in need of protection and diverts attention from regulation of young people's sexuality. Conservatives manipulate this identity for political ends in what is termed the politics of generation. This precludes youth agency and reinforces inequalities of both gender and generation. Thus, moral regulation reaches beyond regulation of young people's sexuality to regulation of the broader society.
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Norman Li, Katherine Valentine & Lily Patel
Personality and Individual Differences, January 2011, Pages 291-294
Abstract:
Sex differences have been found in mate preferences across several decades. Especially for long-term partners, men tend to value physical attractiveness and women tend to value social status. However, the sexes both value various other traits even more highly. Such findings thus diminish the importance of the sex differences and challenge the theoretical importance that evolutionary psychologists place on physical attractiveness and social status. Using a budget allocation methodology to examine mate preferences in both the US and Singapore, we found not only the usual sex differences, but also evidence that men prioritize physical attractiveness and women prioritize social status as necessities in their long-term mates. We also found that both sexes tend to value physical attractiveness as a necessity in short-term mates. Results replicate previous budget allocation findings and provide cross-cultural validation for a mate preference priorities model.