Too Hot to Handle
Peacocks, Porsches, and Thorstein Veblen: Conspicuous consumption as a sexual signaling system
Jill Sundie et al.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, forthcoming
Abstract:
Conspicuous consumption is a form of economic behavior in which self-presentational concerns override desires to obtain goods at bargain prices. Showy spending may be a social signal directed at potential mates. We investigated such signals by examining (a) which individuals send them, (b) which contexts trigger them, and (c) how observers interpret them. Three experiments demonstrated that conspicuous consumption is driven by men who are following a lower investment (vs. higher investment) mating strategy and is triggered specifically by short-term (vs. long-term) mating motives. A fourth experiment showed that observers interpret such signals accurately, with women perceiving men who conspicuously consume as being interested in short-term mating. Furthermore, conspicuous purchasing enhanced men's desirability as a short-term (but not as a long-term) mate. Overall, these findings suggest that flaunting status-linked goods to potential mates is not simply about displaying economic resources. Instead, conspicuous consumption appears to be part of a more precise signaling system focused on short-term mating. These findings contribute to an emerging literature on human life-history strategies.
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Body Height And Occupational Success For Actors And Actresses
Stefan Stieger & Christoph Burger
Psychological Reports, August 2010, Pages 25-38
Abstract:
The association of body height with occupational success has been frequently studied, with previous research mainly finding a positive effect among men and positive or null effects among women. Occupational success has almost exclusively been measured so far by short-term success variables (e.g., annual income). In the present study, the relationship of success and height was examined in a group of actors and actresses using a large online database about movies (Internet Movie Database) where heights of actors and actresses are stated. The number of roles played in movies and television series during each actor's lifetime was used as a measure of long-term occupational success. No height effect was found for male actors but a significant negative effect was found for actresses, even after controlling for possible confounding influences (age and birth year). Compared to the general population, actors and actresses were significantly taller; however, actresses who were shorter than average were more likely to achieve greater occupational success, in terms of being featured in more movies.
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Edward Morrison, Andrew Clark, Lisa Gralewski, Neill Campbell & Ian Penton-Voak
Archives of Sexual Behavior, December 2010, Pages 1297-1304
Abstract:
Women's preferences for facial structure vary over the menstrual cycle. Little is known, however, as to how preferences for behavior may be influenced by hormonal factors. Here, we demonstrate that social properties of facial motion influence attractiveness judgments in the absence of other cues, and that women's preferences for these displays vary over the menstrual cycle, as has been demonstrated for structural traits of men's faces in static stimuli. We produced shape-standardized facial models that were animated with male movement and assessed for flirtatiousness by 16 women and attractiveness by 47 women. In fertile phases of the menstrual cycle, women showed stronger preferences for flirtatious movement, but not for absolute movement. These data show that women (1) recognize specific mating-relevant social cues in male facial movement and (2) are differentially influenced by these cues at different phases of the menstrual cycle. This preference for flirtatiousness may promote the adaptive allocation of mating effort towards men who are, in turn, likely to respond positively.
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Carly Johnco, Ladd Wheeler & Alan Taylor
Social Influence, October 2010, Pages 261-271
Abstract:
A total of 87 patrons in an Australian pub rated the attractiveness of opposite-sex and same-sex participants at three times over the course of a night in a repeated measures design. As the night progressed, blood alcohol concentration (BAC) as measured with a breathalyzer increased, as did ratings of opposite-sex attractiveness. Same-sex attractiveness did not change. The increase in opposite-sex attractiveness ratings was only partially due to BAC. Because participants with partners showed the same closing time effect as single participants, reactance theory, the usual explanation for the closing time effect, is not an adequate explanation. Mere exposure and a scarcity effect are better explanations.
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Men's oxidative stress, fluctuating asymmetry and physical attractiveness
Steven Gangestad, Leslie Merriman & Melissa Emery Thompson
Animal Behaviour, forthcoming
Abstract:
Aerobic organisms naturally create reactive oxygen species (ROS) as by-products of energy production. These substances can damage DNA and tissue, and probably are major causes of mutation, ageing and a host of diseases. Oxidative stress occurs when an organism produces an overabundance of ROS relative to ROS-neutralizing antioxidants. In this study, we examined the hypotheses that individual differences in oxidative stress are associated with fluctuating asymmetry and with perceived mate quality. We measured urinary biomarkers of oxidative stress (8-hydroxy-2′ -deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) and malondialdehyde (MDA)) in a sample of healthy, young men and tested their association with fluctuating asymmetry and physical attractiveness. A composite measure of oxidative stress correlated positively with FA and negatively with physical attractiveness (with exposure to toxins, smoking, and their interaction statistically controlled for). Follow-up analyses yielded associations of oxidative stress with both healthy and masculine appearance. No association was mediated by cortisol or testosterone. These findings may yield insights into previously unidentified factors that affect the development of phenotypic features under sexual selection and contribute to the shape of human life histories, and have potential implications for other species as well.
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Who is the fairest of them all? Race, attractiveness and skin color sexual dimorphism
Michael Lewis
Personality and Individual Differences, forthcoming
Abstract:
Previous research has suggested that perceived attractiveness and personality are affected by race such that White faces are more attractive but less masculine than Black faces. Such studies, however, have been based on very small stimulus sets. The current study investigated perceived attractiveness and personality for 600 Black, White and mixed-race faces. Many of the investigated personality traits were correlated with race when rated by White participants. Attractiveness specifically was greater for Black male faces than White male faces and among mixed-race faces. Blackness correlated with increased attractiveness. A reverse pattern was found for female faces with Whiteness being associated with attractiveness. The results are discussed in terms of the sexual dimorphism demonstrated in skin color.
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Men's Sense Of Humor And Women's Responses To Courtship Solicitations: An Experimental Field Study
Nicolas Guéguen
Psychological Reports, August 2010, Pages 145-156
Abstract:
Producing humor might function as a fitness indicator associated with greater desirability during dating selection. A male confederate in a bar was instructed to tell (or not tell) funny jokes to two other male confederates. A few minutes later, when the second of two male confederates left, the first male confederate asked a female who was near his table and who had heard the funny jokes for her phone number. The previous expression of humor was associated with greater compliance with the male confederate's request and with a higher positive evaluation. The possible effects of humor are discussed from an evolutionary perspective.
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The impact of monetary incentives on general fertility rates in Western Australia
Amanda Langridge, Natasha Nassar, Jianghong Li, Peter Jacoby & Fiona Stanley
Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, forthcoming
Background: There has been widespread international concern about declining fertility rates and the long-term negative consequences particularly for industrialised countries with ageing populations. In an attempt to boost fertility rates, the Australian Government introduced a maternity payment known as the Baby Bonus. However, major concerns have been raised that such monetary incentives would attract teenagers and socially disadvantaged groups.
Methods: Population-level data and generalised linear models were used to examine general fertility rates between 1995 and 2006 by socioeconomic group, maternal age group, Aboriginality and location in Western Australia prior to and following the introduction of the Baby Bonus in July 2004.
Results: After a steady decline in general fertility rates between 1995 and 2004, rates increased significantly from 52.2 births per 1000 women, aged between 15 and 49 years, in 2004 to 58.6 births per 1000 women in 2006. While there was an overall increase in general fertility rates after adjusting for maternal socio-demographic characteristics, there were no significant differences among maternal age groups (p=0.98), between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal women(p=0.80), maternal residential locations (p=0.98) or socioeconomic groups (p=0.68). The greatest increase in births were among women residing in the highest socioeconomic areas who had the lowest general fertility rate in 2004 (21.5 births per 1000 women) but the highest in 2006 (38.1 births per 1000 women).
Conclusions: Findings suggest that for countries with similar social, economic and political climates to Australia, a monetary incentive may provide a satisfactory solution to declining general fertility rates.
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Sexual Activity in HIV-Positive African American Crack Cocaine Smokers
Sandra Timpson, Mark Williams, Anne Bowen, John Atkinson & Michael Ross
Archives of Sexual Behavior, December 2010, Pages 1353-1358
Abstract:
The AIDS epidemic in the United States continues to disproportionately affect minorities of color, especially African Americans. The purpose of this study was to explore the sexual behaviors of a sample of African American HIV positive crack smokers aware of their serostatus. Participants (100 men, 37 women) were included in this study based on the following criteria: a minimum age of 18 years, HIV positive serostatus, treatment with HIV antiretroviral medications for a minimum of 3 months prior to interview, crack cocaine use at least once in the 7 days prior to being interviewed, willingness to provide a urine sample to confirm recent drug use, and vaginal or anal sex at least once in the past 7 days. The questionnaire was a compilation of other reliable surveys and was designed to collect sociodemographic data, drug use, sexual behavior, condom use intentions and motivators, STD and HIV infection history, HIV medications, and adherence requirements. Participants reported having 1,266 different partners in the 30 days prior to the interview and had traded sex for money or drugs with 68%. A total of 79 participants had multiple partners and accounted for 1,247 partnerships. Rates of consistent condom use across partnerships were low, indicating that more interventions in this at-risk population are needed.
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Does Masculinity Matter? The Contribution of Masculine Face Shape to Male Attractiveness in Humans
Isabel Scott, Nicholas Pound, Ian Stephen, Andrew Clark & Ian Penton-Voak
PLoS ONE, October 2010, e13585
Background: In many animals, exaggerated sex-typical male traits are preferred by females, and may be a signal of both past and current disease resistance. The proposal that the same is true in humans - i.e., that masculine men are immunocompetent and attractive - underpins a large literature on facial masculinity preferences. Recently, theoretical models have suggested that current condition may be a better index of mate value than past immunocompetence. This is particularly likely in populations where pathogenic fluctuation is fast relative to host life history. As life history is slow in humans, there is reason to expect that, among humans, condition-dependent traits might contribute more to attractiveness than relatively stable traits such as masculinity. To date, however, there has been little rigorous assessment of whether, in the presence of variation in other cues, masculinity predicts attractiveness or not.
Methodology/Principal Findings: The relationship between masculinity and attractiveness was assessed in two samples of male faces. Most previous research has assessed masculinity either with subjective ratings or with simple anatomical measures. Here, we used geometric morphometric techniques to assess facial masculinity, generating a morphological masculinity measure based on a discriminant function that correctly classified >96% faces as male or female. When assessed using this measure, there was no relationship between morphological masculinity and rated attractiveness. In contrast, skin colour - a fluctuating, condition-dependent cue - was a significant predictor of attractiveness.
Conclusions/Significance: These findings suggest that facial morphological masculinity may contribute less to men's attractiveness than previously assumed. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that current condition is more relevant to male mate value than past disease resistance, and hence that temporally fluctuating traits (such as colour) contribute more to male attractiveness than stable cues of sexual dimorphism.
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Relation Of Success And Nontraditional Career Choice To Selection For Dating And Friendship
Usha Kapoor, Karen Pfost, Alvin House & Eric Pierson
Psychological Reports, August 2010, Pages 177-184
Abstract:
Women who succeed in traditionally male-dominated felds have previously been found to experience lower social acceptance, both from men in romantic contexts and from women in platonic contexts. The present study examined whether such preferences continue to exist. Participants were 256 university students (110 men, 146 women) with an average age of 21.4 yr. (SD = 3.6). They answered the Bem Sex Role Inventory and the Modern Sexism Scale and also responded to four descriptions of stimulus persons which represented the variables of traditional versus nontraditional feld and successful versus nondescribed academic performance. Results indicated that men preferred to date women in traditional careers (independent of their success). This finding was unrelated to men's scores on sex role orientation or egalitarianism and sexism. However, in platonic relationships, women favored women in nontraditional careers as friends.
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Sex-Dimorphic Face Shape Preference in Heterosexual and Homosexual Men and Women
Aaron Glassenberg, David Feinberg, Benedict Jones, Anthony Little & Lisa DeBruine
Archives of Sexual Behavior, December 2010, Pages 1289-1296
Abstract:
Studies have used manipulated faces to test the preferences of heterosexual individuals for sexually dimorphic facial cues. In contrast to previous studies, which have generally excluded homosexual participants, we directly compared homosexual and heterosexual male and female preferences for manipulated sexual dimorphism in faces (homosexual males: n = 311; heterosexual males: n = 215; homosexual females: n = 159; heterosexual females: n = 218). Prior studies on sexual orientation and preferences for faces that were paired with masculine and feminine behavioral descriptors suggest that homosexual men prefer more masculine men and that homosexual women demonstrate no preference for either masculinity or femininity in women. In our study, we tested for similarities and differences among heterosexual and homosexual males and females with regard to their preferences for a more specific aspect of faces: sexual dimorphism of face shape. Homosexual men demonstrated stronger preferences for masculinity in male faces than did all of the other groups. Homosexual women demonstrated stronger preferences for masculinity in female faces than did heterosexual women. These results suggest attractiveness judgments of same-sex faces made by homosexual individuals are not a mirror image of those made by heterosexual individuals of the opposite sex. Our data suggest that face preferences of homosexual individuals reflect a system of biologically and socially guided preferences at least as complex as those found among heterosexual individuals.
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From Preferred to Actual Mate Characteristics: The Case of Human Body Shape
Alexandre Courtiol, Sandrine Picq, Bernard Godelle, Michel Raymond & Jean-Baptiste Ferdy
PLoS ONE, September 2010, e13010
Abstract:
The way individuals pair to produce reproductive units is a major factor determining evolution. This process is complex because it is determined not only by individual mating preferences, but also by numerous other factors such as competition between mates. Consequently, preferred and actual characteristics of mates obtained should differ, but this has rarely been addressed. We simultaneously measured mating preferences for stature, body mass, and body mass index, and recorded corresponding actual partner's characteristics for 116 human couples from France. Results show that preferred and actual partner's characteristics differ for male judges, but not for females. In addition, while the correlation between all preferred and actual partner's characteristics appeared to be weak for female judges, it was strong for males: while men prefer women slimmer than their actual partner, those who prefer the slimmest women also have partners who are slimmer than average. This study therefore suggests that the influences of preferences on pair formation can be sex-specific. It also illustrates that this process can lead to unexpected results on the real influences of mating preferences: traits considered as highly influencing attractiveness do not necessarily have a strong influence on the actual pairing, the reverse being also possible.