The Psychology of Sex Bombs
Fertility and race perception predict voter preference for Barack Obama
Carlos David Navarrete, Melissa McDonald, Michael Mott, Joseph Cesario & Robert Sapolsky
Evolution and Human Behavior, forthcoming
Abstract:
Research shows that women more positively evaluate targets evincing cues of high male genetic quality as a function of fertility across the menstrual cycle. Recently, a link between fertility and anti-black race bias has also been documented, an effect that is argued to serve a sexual coercion avoidance function. Here we demonstrate that both effects can be operative toward the same male target depending on inter-individual differences in race perception of the target. Across two studies, we found that the intention to vote for Barack Obama in the months preceding the 2008 election increased as a function of conception risk across the menstrual cycle. In the second study, we found that the effect is greatest among women who perceived him as more white than black, whereas the opposite was true among women who perceived him as mostly black. Our findings tie together separate conceptual research threads on positive and negative evaluations of men by women across the menstrual cycle - integrating them to shed light on women's voting preferences.
------------------------
Adolescents' exposure to sexy media does not hasten the initiation of sexual intercourse
Laurence Steinberg & Kathryn Monahan
Developmental Psychology, forthcoming
Abstract:
It is widely believed that exposure to sexy content in the mass media leads teenagers to become sexually active. Although most research linking sexy media exposure to adolescents' sexual behavior is cross-sectional, several recent, well-publicized longitudinal studies purport to find a causal connection, which has alarmed the public and prompted criticism of the entertainment industry for its corrupting influence on youth. One problem in research on media effects on sexual activity, however, is that outcomes that are presumed to result from media exposure may actually be due to factors that differentially predispose adolescents to have different degrees of media exposure and are themselves related to sexual activity. We reanalyzed data from one of these longitudinal studies (Brown et al., 2006) using propensity score matching to control for preexisting differences between adolescents with and without high exposure to sexy media. With such controls for differential selection in place, we found no evidence that the initiation of sexual intercourse is hastened by exposure to sexy media.
------------------------
Spee Kosloff, Jeff Greenberg, Daniel Sullivan & David Weise
Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, forthcoming
Abstract:
Prior terror management research shows that mortality salience (MS) motivates both self-esteem striving and worldview bolstering. The present research examined these processes in the context of dating preferences. It was hypothesized that in short-term romantic contexts, MS-induced self-esteem striving motivates interest in dating a physically attractive other, whereas in long-term romantic contexts, MS-induced motives for worldview validation heighten interest in dating a same-religion other. Study 1 showed that in a short-term dating context, MS increased preference for an attractive but religiously dissimilar person, whereas in a long-term dating context, MS increased preference for a religiously similar, less attractive person. Study 2 clarified that MS motivates preference for attractive short-term partners for their self-enhancing properties rather than their potential sexual availability. Study 3 supported the theorized processes, showing that under MS, self-esteem-relevant constructs became spontaneously accessible in short-term dating contexts, whereas worldview-relevant constructs became spontaneously accessible in long-term dating contexts.
------------------------
What do women want? An interactionist account of women's mate preferences
Christopher Wilbur & Lorne Campbell
Personality and Individual Differences, forthcoming
Abstract:
We investigated the moderating influence of individual differences in women's sociosexuality on romantic preferences within three specific relationship contexts. Female participants were presented with four prospective mates, varying in their ambition and attractiveness, and were asked to rate interest in these targets as short-term sexual partners, as casual dating partners, and as long-term romantic partners. Short-term sexual appeal largely rested on targets' attractiveness, particularly among women with an unrestricted sociosexual orientation. Dating appeal was dependent on attractiveness, particularly among unrestricted women, and on ambition. Ambition and attractiveness synergistically influenced targets' long-term desirability, and these preferences were not moderated by women's sociosexual orientation. These findings portray the textured manner in which sociosexual orientation shapes women's mate preferences and underscore the need to delineate different types of short-term relationships. We advance an interactionist framework that considers how women's dispositions and the traits of potential mates jointly operate to influence romantic preferences within distinct contexts.
------------------------
Female Body Image as a Function of Themes in Rap Music Videos: A Content Analysis
Yuanyuan Zhang, Travis Dixon & Kate Conrad
Sex Roles, June 2010, Pages 787-797
Abstract:
A content analysis of rap music videos taken from the end of year countdowns aired on U.S. cable outlets (i.e. BET, MTV, and VH1) was undertaken. The analysis examined the body images of 258 female characters (87.6% Black, 5.8% White, 6.6% other) as a function of the thematic content in the videos (e.g., violence, sex). It was found that, overall, "thin" females were overrepresented in the videos. More interestingly, the body sizes of the female characters varied by three of the four video themes. When the music videos were high in sex, or high in materialism, women were more likely to have smaller body sizes. In contrast, when the videos were high in political awareness, women were more likely to have larger body sizes.
------------------------
Saul Miller & Jon Maner
Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, forthcoming
Abstract:
An evolutionary perspective provides a conceptual framework with which to study adaptive processes that facilitate the maintenance of long-term relationships. One common relationship threat people face involves exposure to tempting relationship alternatives. Desirable relationship alternatives can threaten people's relationship commitment and, consequently, evoke relationship maintenance processes designed to protect people's relationship esteem. The current research examined whether cues of female ovulation - an important reproductive variable - evokes relationship maintenance processes in committed men. Men rated the attractiveness of a normally cycling relationship alternative at various points in her menstrual cycle. Unlike single men, who rated the woman as especially attractive when she was highly fertile, committed men exhibited the opposite pattern, rating her as less attractive during her period of peak fertility. This research illustrates the utility of integrating theories of relationship maintenance with evolutionary psychological theories of mating.
------------------------
Violent and Vindictive Women: A Re-Analysis of the Southern Subculture of Violence
Julia D'Antonio-Del Rio, Jessica Doucet & Chantel Chauvin
Sociological Spectrum, September 2010, Pages 484-503
Abstract:
In order to further develop an understanding of the Southern subculture of violence and its association with female-perpetrated homicide, new techniques must be developed that sufficiently operationalize Southern cultural influence. For this study, we created the Southern Subculture Index, a factor combining a county's population born in the South, Evangelical Christian, and of Scots-Irish ancestry. Specifically, we hypothesize that by using this index, the relationship between female-perpetrated homicide and Southern culture will be visible. Results from a negative binomial regression model confirm the veracity of a positive and significant effect of the Southern Subculture Index on female-perpetrated homicide.
------------------------
Violent Female Action Characters in Contemporary American Cinema
Katy Gilpatric
Sex Roles, June 2010, Pages 734-746
Abstract:
This research is a content analysis of violent female action characters ("VFAC") shown in American action films from 1991 through 2005. The analysis focused on three aspects of VFACs: (1) gender stereotypes, (2) demographics, and (3) quantity and type of violence. Findings showed that 58.6% of VFACs were portrayed in a submissive role to the male hero in the film, and 42% were romantically linked to him. The average VFAC was young, white, highly educated, and unmarried. VFACs engaged in masculine types of violence yet retained feminine stereotypes due to their submissive role and romantic involvement with a dominant male hero character. The findings suggest continued gender stereotypes set within a violent framework of contemporary American cinema.
------------------------
Hooking Up: Gender Differences, Evolution, and Pluralistic Ignorance
Chris Reiber & Justin Garcia
Evolutionary Psychology, July 2010, Pages 390-404
Abstract:
"Hooking-up" - engaging in no-strings-attached sexual behaviors with uncommitted partners - has become a norm on college campuses, and raises the potential for disease, unintended pregnancy, and physical and psychological trauma. The primacy of sex in the evolutionary process suggests that predictions derived from evolutionary theory may be a useful first step toward understanding these contemporary behaviors. This study assessed the hook-up behaviors and attitudes of 507 college students. As predicted by behavioral-evolutionary theory: men were more comfortable than women with all types of sexual behaviors; women correctly attributed higher comfort levels to men, but overestimated men's actual comfort levels; and men correctly attributed lower comfort levels to women, but still overestimated women's actual comfort levels. Both genders attributed higher comfort levels to same-gendered others, reinforcing a pluralistic ignorance effect that might contribute to the high frequency of hook-up behaviors in spite of the low comfort levels reported and suggesting that hooking up may be a modern form of intrasexual competition between females for potential mates.
------------------------
Correlates and Consequences of Parent-Teen Incongruence in Reports of Teens' Sexual Experience
Stefanie Mollborn & Bethany Everett
Journal of Sex Research, July 2010, Pages 314-329
Abstract:
Using the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, factors associated with incongruence between parents' and adolescents' reports of teens' sexual experience were investigated, and the consequences of inaccurate parental knowledge for adolescents' subsequent sexual behaviors were explored. Most parents of virgins accurately reported teens' lack of experience, but most parents of teens who had had sex provided inaccurate reports. Binary logistic regression analyses showed that many adolescent-, parent-, and family-level factors predicted the accuracy of parents' reports. Parents' accurate knowledge of their teens' sexual experience was not found to be consistently beneficial for teens' subsequent sexual outcomes. Rather, parents' expectations about teens' sexual experience created a self-fulfilling prophecy, with teens' subsequent sexual outcomes conforming to parents' expectations. These findings suggest that research on parent-teen communication about sex needs to consider the expectations being expressed, as well as the information being exchanged.
------------------------
David Edwards & Lauren Kurlander
Hormones and Behavior, forthcoming
Abstract:
In virtually all sports, participants "warm-up" prior to formal competition. Women athletes from a highly-ranked varsity college volleyball team and, in a second study, a highly-ranked varsity college tennis team gave saliva samples before warm-up, at mid-warm-up (volleyball) or after warm-up (tennis), and immediately after intercollegiate competition. For volleyball and tennis, warm-up was associated with a substantial elevation in saliva levels of testosterone which was carried over through the period of actual competition. Cortisol levels were relatively unchanged during warm-up, but typically rose during competition. Thus, as women prepare for athletic competition by warming up, testosterone levels rise in apparent anticipation of the coming contest and then remain high through the period of play. In volleyball and tennis, after-practice testosterone level was significantly higher than before-practice level, and practice session increases in testosterone (but not cortisol) were positively correlated with increases in testosterone during intercollegiate competition. When practice and competitive play share as yet undetermined key elements, individual differences in this endocrine response to "competition" appear stable across practice and intercollegiate competition.
------------------------
Rachel Kimerling, Amy Street, Joanne Pavao, Mark Smith, Ruth Cronkite, Tyson Holmes & Susan Frayne
American Journal of Public Health, August 2010, Pages 1409-1412
Abstract:
We examined military-related sexual trauma among deployed Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom veterans. Of 125729 veterans who received Veterans Health Administration primary care or mental health services, 15.1% of the women and 0.7% of the men reported military sexual trauma when screened. Military sexual trauma was associated with increased odds of a mental disorder diagnosis, including posttraumatic stress disorder, other anxiety disorders, depression, and substance use disorders. Sexual trauma is an important postdeployment mental health issue in this population.
------------------------
Exploring the utility of entitlement in understanding sexual aggression
Leana Allen Bouffard
Journal of Criminal Justice, forthcoming
Purpose: Sexual aggression on college campuses has received a great deal of research attention. Little criminological theory, however, has systematically linked individual-level risk factors for sexual aggression with broader societal factors like patriarchy. DeKeseredy and Schwartz (1993) proposed that societal patriarchy is translated into individual attitudes of male sexual proprietariness and entitlement, which provide motivation and justifications for sexual violence.
Methods: This study explored the concept of entitlement through various measures and demonstrated the utility of the concept by linking it with other theoretically-relevant variables, including self-control, sexual partners, use of pornography, adversarial sexual beliefs, and rape myth adherence.
Results: Entitlement was significantly correlated with theoretically-relevant variables in the expected directions. Additionally, entitlement was able to distinguish sexually aggressive and nonaggressive men. Multivariate models provided support for the theoretical assertion that entitlement fosters rape-supportive attitudes and behaviors, which in turn was related to sexual aggression.
Conclusions: Entitlement is an important concept in understanding sexual aggression, and the causal relationships implied by theory should be explored further in future research. Implications and directions for future research and theory are discussed.
------------------------
Shaken and Stirred: A Content Analysis of Women's Portrayals in James Bond Films
Kimberly Neuendorf, Thomas Gore, Amy Dalessandro, Patricie Janstova & Sharon Snyder-Suhy
Sex Roles, June 2010, Pages 747-761
Abstract:
A quantitative content analysis of 20 James Bond films assessed portrayals of 195 female characters. Key findings include a trend of more sexual activity and greater harm to females over time, but few significant across-time differences in demographic characteristics of Bond women. Sexual activity is predicted by race, attractiveness, size of role, and aggressive behaviors. Being a target of weapons is predicted by size of role, sexual activity, and weapon use, while being harmed is predicted principally by role. End-of-film mortality is predicted by sexual activity, ethical status (good vs. bad), and attempting to kill Bond. This identification of a link between sexuality and violent behavior is noted as a contribution to the media and sex roles literatures.
------------------------
Richard Lippa, Travis Patterson & William Marelich
Social Psychological and Personality Science, July 2010, Pages 238-245
Abstract:
Men's sexual attractions tend to be more category specific than women's - that is, men tend to be attracted to either women or men, whereas women are more likely to show some degree of attraction to both sexes. To explore this phenomenon further, the authors assessed 62 heterosexual men and 79 heterosexual women on their time spent viewing and self-reported sexual attraction to photographed male and female "swimsuit models" who varied in attractiveness. Consistent with theoretical predictions, men showed stronger category specificity than women. Specifically, men were more sexually attracted to female than male models and men spent more time viewing female than male models, particularly when models were highly attractive. In contrast, women were sexually attracted to both female and male models - with sexual attraction to both sexes increasing with models' attractiveness - and women's viewing time was better predicted by model attractiveness than by model sex.
------------------------
Benedetta Leuner, Erica Glasper & Elizabeth Gould
PLoS ONE, July 2010, e11597
Abstract:
Aversive stressful experiences are typically associated with increased anxiety and a predisposition to develop mood disorders. Negative stress also suppresses adult neurogenesis and restricts dendritic architecture in the hippocampus, a brain region associated with anxiety regulation. The effects of aversive stress on hippocampal structure and function have been linked to stress-induced elevations in glucocorticoids. Normalizing corticosterone levels prevents some of the deleterious consequences of stress, including increased anxiety and suppressed structural plasticity in the hippocampus. Here we examined whether a rewarding stressor, namely sexual experience, also adversely affects hippocampal structure and function in adult rats. Adult male rats were exposed to a sexually-receptive female once (acute) or once daily for 14 consecutive days (chronic) and levels of circulating glucocorticoids were measured. Separate cohorts of sexually experienced rats were injected with the thymidine analog bromodeoxyuridine in order to measure cell proliferation and neurogenesis in the hippocampus. In addition, brains were processed using Golgi impregnation to assess the effects of sexual experience on dendritic spines and dendritic complexity in the hippocampus. Finally, to evaluate whether sexual experience alters hippocampal function, rats were tested on two tests of anxiety-like behavior: novelty suppressed feeding and the elevated plus maze. We found that acute sexual experience increased circulating corticosterone levels and the number of new neurons in the hippocampus. Chronic sexual experience no longer produced an increase in corticosterone levels but continued to promote adult neurogenesis and stimulate the growth of dendritic spines and dendritic architecture. Chronic sexual experience also reduced anxiety-like behavior. These findings suggest that a rewarding experience not only buffers against the deleterious actions of early elevated glucocorticoids but actually promotes neuronal growth and reduces anxiety.