Match Points
I love you but I hate your politics: The role of political dissimilarity in romantic relationships
Amie Gordon, Maria Luciani & Annika From
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, forthcoming
Abstract:
Amid heightened political polarization in the United States, have politics worked their way into the bedroom? An increase in political similarity between romantic partners has consequences not just for romantic relationships but for society as a whole; political homophily increases our political echo chambers and affects future generations. We drew upon 11 data sets with over 4,000 individuals (including more than 500 couples) to test four preregistered research questions about the prevalence, correlates, consequences, and potential buffers of political dissimilarity in modern-day relationships. Across measures of similarity (overall perceptions, partisanship matching, shared political ideology), couples in our sample showed high levels of political similarity (e.g., 23% were cross-partisan, with fewer than 8% composed of one Democrat and one Republican). Examining 18 potential correlates of political dissimilarity, we found little evidence that certain factors predispose people to end up in a politically dissimilar relationship. When considering the potential consequences of political dissimilarity, we found a small association between political dissimilarity and relationship quality in general and in daily life. The effect was evident when examining perceived political dissimilarity (over and above perceptions of overall similarity) and, to a lesser extent, dissimilarity in terms of partisanship and political ideology. Prosocial processes such as appreciation and perspective-taking may moderate these effects. Taken together, these findings speak to the need to further consider the ways in which the sociopolitical context is shaping the formation and maintenance of close relationships.
Criminal Conversation Trials
Jordan Hillman
Texas Tech Working Paper, April 2024
Abstract:
In England between 1660-1857 a husband (or a wife) could sue anyone their partner had an affair with for monetary compensation. This type of suit was known as a criminal conversation. Using rational choice theory, I argue that criminal conversations were a rational institutional arrangement for individuals involved in the institution of marriage during this period. Criminal conversations helped mitigate duels and vigilante justice stemming from adultery by providing financial rewards, and facilitated Coasian bargains between parties seeking mutual divorce. When criminal conversations became common media read by the public and began to threaten elite rule of the populus, criminal conversations were banned as a tort and the state took over divorce proceedings.
Beauty is in the iris: Constricted pupils (enlarged irises) enhance attractiveness
Martina Cossu, Maria Giulia Trupia & Zachary Estes
Cognition, September 2024
Abstract:
Physical attractiveness profoundly affects a broad array of life experiences and outcomes, and the eyes are an important determinant of physical attractiveness. We investigated whether a particular feature of the eyes -- pupil size -- affects perceived attractiveness. We present competing theoretical predictions of whether dilated (larger) or constricted (smaller) pupils should appear more physically attractiveness. Youthful features tend to be attractive (i.e., neoteny), and pupil size decreases across the lifespan, so dilated (enlarged) pupils may be more attractive as a signal of youth. Alternatively, constricted (small) pupils may be more attractive because, by revealing more of the iris, they increase both color and brightness of the eyes. The present experiments demonstrate that people appear more attractive when their pupils are constricted (Experiments 1–3). This effect is equally large with black-and-white images, indicating that color per se is not necessary for the effect (Experiment 4). Rather, constricted pupils make eyes appear brighter, which in turn renders the face more attractive (Experiment 5), even when controlling for how colorful the eyes appear (Experiment 6). These results identify constricted pupils as a novel facial feature that enhances attractiveness.
Masculine voice is associated with better mucosal immune defense in adolescent and adult males
Carolyn Hodges-Simeon et al.
Evolution and Human Behavior, July 2024
Abstract:
The immunocompetence handicap hypothesis (ICHH) contends that testosterone-dependent, masculine traits are honest signals of the bearer's ability to withstand immunosuppression, yet empirical studies testing the ICHH have produced mixed results. The present research addressed the relationship between masculine vocal parameters and immunity in two samples: young adult men from the US and Canada (N = 267) and adolescent males from Bolivia (N = 44). All participants provided saliva samples, assayed for a biomarker of mucosal immunity associated with respiratory disease resistance: secretory immunoglobulin-A (sIgA). Participants also contributed speech samples, analyzed for two sexually dimorphic aspects of the human voice: 1) fundamental frequency (fo; perceived as pitch) and vocal tract length (VTL; estimated using formant frequencies). Multiple regression models were used to assess the association between masculine vocal parameters and sIgA. Results indicated that lower fo and longer VTL were associated with higher sIgA levels. That is, both adult and adolescent males with more masculine voices showed better mucosal immunity (and therefore disease resistance) than those with less masculine voices. Although this accords with several previous studies on voice and sIgA, it contrasts with standard ICHH-derived predictions. We suggest that life-history theory provides a better conceptual framework for understanding the association between testosterone-dependent secondary sexual characteristics and immunity as it shifts the focus from immunosuppression to efficient immunoredistribution.