Tuesday, December 11, 2018

A 10% increase in the income of relevant others is associated with 6-8 minutes decrease in a person's weekly amount of sleep on average; this effect is strong among the relatively deprived, i.e., upward comparers

Relative Concerns and Sleep Behavior. Alpaslan Akay, Peter Martinsson, Hilda Ralsmark. Economics & Human Biology, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ehb.2018.12.002

Highlights
•    There is a negative association between relative concerns and quantity and quality of sleep
•    The sleep loss associated to relative concerns is about 6-8 minutes/week on average
•    The loss is stronger among relatively deprived, i.e., upward comparers, with 10-12 minutes/week
•    The relationship is heterogenous among people with different working hours and leisure activities
•    The association is also stronger among unhealthy individuals with higher stress

Abstract: We investigate the relationship between relative concerns with respect to income and the quantity and quality of sleep using a 6-year panel dataset on the sleep behavior of people in Germany. We find a substantial negative association between relative income and number of hours of sleep and satisfaction with sleep, i.e., sleep quality, whereas there is no particular association between absolute level of income and sleep quantity and quality. A 10-percent increase in the income of relevant others is associated with 6-8 minutes decrease in a person's weekly amount of sleep on average, yet this effect is particularly strong among the relatively deprived, i.e., upward comparers, as this group shows a corresponding decrease in sleeping time of 10-12 minutes/week. These findings are highly robust to several specification checks, including measures of relative concerns, reference group, income inequality, and local price differences. The heterogeneity analysis reveals that the relationship is mainly driven by people with relatively fewer working hours, a higher demand for household production and leisure activities, and lower physical health and well-being.

Evaluations of Sexually Active Friends and Acquaintances: Women were evaluated more negatively as their number of sexual partners increased, whereas number of partners was not related to evaluations of men

The Sexual Double Standard in the Real World: Evaluations of Sexually Active Friends and Acquaintances. Michael J. Marks, Tara M. Young & Yuliana Zaikman. Social Psychology, https://doi.org/10.1027/1864-9335/a000362

Abstract. The sexual double standard (SDS) has traditionally been studied by examining evaluations of hypothetical targets. Although much knowledge has been gained regarding the SDS by using this methodology, the literature thus far has suffered from a lack of ecological validity. The goal of the present study was to determine whether the SDS emerged in evaluations of participants’ real-life friends and acquaintances. Participants (n = 4,455) evaluated a single, randomly assigned male or female friend or acquaintance whose sexual history they were familiar with. Women were evaluated more negatively as their number of sexual partners increased, whereas number of partners was not related to evaluations of men. The SDS was not moderated by the closeness of the relationship between the participant and the target person.

Keywords: sexual double standard, interpersonal relationship type, friends vs. acquaintances, gender roles, gender norms

The impact of immersion on the perception of pornography with virtual reality > Viewing pornographic videos via VR technology had a stronger effect on psychophysiological reactions as well as subjective experience than using the conventional display

The impact of immersion on the perception of pornography: A virtual reality study. Sofia Simon, Tobias Greitemeyer. Computers in Human Behavior, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2018.12.018

Highlights
•    Immersion influenced the perception of pornographic video material
•    Virtual Reality technology (VR) increased presence and arousal
•    Presence in part accounted for the impact of VR on arousal

Abstract: The present study investigated the effects of varying degrees of immersion on the perception of pornographic video material. Concretely, we compared conventional desktop with Virtual Reality (VR) technology, with the latter embedding the observer in a virtual environment. Differences in the participant’s reaction and evaluation between both display modes were explored. Sixty male participants were alternately shown sexually explicit video material on a two-dimensional desktop monitor and a three-dimensional, high-immersive VR head-mounted display (HMD). During the two video sequences, physical arousal was continuously measured as skin conductance response, whereas subjective sexual arousal was measured using a slider. Questionnaire measures of subjective sexual arousal, presence, and sexual presence were also employed. Results showed that viewing pornographic video material via VR technology had a stronger effect on psychophysiological reactions as well as subjective experience than using the conventional desktop display. It thus appears that experiencing pornographic video stimuli in high-immersive virtual environments increases the experience of presence as well as sexual-related perception.

James Bond outnumbers the British men at least fivefold when it comes to the number of sexual partners over a lifetime; nevertheless, over time casual sex is becoming less frequent for 007

(Un)safe sex in James Bond films: what chance for sex education? Lara DA Zegers, Richard HC Zegers. Scottish Medical Journal, https://doi.org/10.1177/0036933018809601

Abstract

Background and aims: Many women in Bond films make love to James Bond (alias 007). Our objective was to quantify the practice of (un)safe sex in Bond films.

Methods and results: All 24 Bond films were watched together by the authors and the following data were recorded: if the women had sex with 007, whether the women consumed any alcohol before they had sex, whether contraceptives were mentioned and/or used by 007 or the women and whether the women survived the film. Bond had sexual relations with a total of 58 different women. Twenty-two percent of the women had consumed alcohol. In none of the films was any type of contraception mentioned or used. A total of 28% women did not survive the film.

Conclusion: If he were real, Bond outnumbers the British men at least fivefold when it comes to the number of sexual partners over a lifetime. Nevertheless, over time casual sex is becoming less frequent for 007. Sexually transmitted diseases, safe sex and (unwanted) pregnancies seem not to exist in the films. Some suggestions were made to promote safe sex in future Bond films as movies can play an important role in sex education.

Keywords: 007, Bond (James), condom, safe sex, sexually transmitted disease

Women found the men with the low financial status more attractive, & were only more likely to consider him for a one-night stand (with no behavior showing a dating preference for wealthy men)

Hunter, Hannah & Reid, Geneva & Bourgeois, Catherine & Fisher, Maryanne & Benoit, Taylor. (2018). Hi, my name is wealthy: Women's dating behaviors in regards to perceived mate's wealth.

Abstract: It has been cross-culturally documented that women exhibit a preference for mates who possess resources or traits that signal resource accrual. The present experiment tests whether women’s willingness to date men is influenced by their perceived wealth.  Online dating profiles were created to present photographs of men and information about their current bank account status. Across two versions of the study, the male faces were presented with alternating high and low bank account balances. It was hypothesized that women who viewed men with high bank account values would evaluate them as more desirable than women who viewed men with low bank account values. That is, they would be more likely to engage with him in an online conversation, meet with him for a casual coffee, accept an invitation of a date, consider him for a one-night stand, consider him for a short-term relationship, or consider him for a long-term relationship as is the criteria of being more desirable. It was also hypothesized that women would rate the men with high bank account balances as more physically attractive than the men with the low bank account balances. The results do not support the hypotheses. Women found the men with the low financial status more attractive, and were only more likely to consider him for a one-night stand (with no behavior showing a dating preference for wealthy men).  They also showed more interest in having a one-night stand with men with low financial status, as compared to forming a long-term relationship.

Keywords: dating, wealth, physical attractiveness, mate preferences, men

Attractiveness of Primate Faces as Seen by Human Respondents: The least human-like prosimians were scored as the most attractive group; seems related to “uncanny valley” empirical rule

Judging Others by Your Own Standards: Attractiveness of Primate Faces as Seen by Human Respondents. Silvie Rádlová, Eva Landová and Daniel Frynta. Front Psychol Dec 11 2018, https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02439

Abstract: The aspects of facial attractiveness have been widely studied, especially within the context of evolutionary psychology, which proposes that aesthetic judgements of human faces are shaped by biologically based standards of beauty reflecting the mate quality. However, the faces of primates, who are very similar to us yet still considered non-human, remain neglected. In this paper, we aimed to study the facial attractiveness of non-human primates as judged by human respondents. We asked 286 Czech respondents to score photos of 107 primate species according to their perceived “beauty.” Then, we analyzed factors affecting the scores including morphology, colors, and human-likeness. We found that the three main primate groups were each scored using different cues. The proportions of inner facial features and distinctiveness are cues widely reported to affect human facial attractiveness. Interestingly, we found that these factors also affected the attractiveness scores of primate faces, but only within the Catarrhines, i.e., the primate group most similar to humans. Within this group, human-likeness positively affected the attractiveness scores, and facial extremities such as a prolonged nose or exaggerated cheeks were considered the least attractive. On the contrary, the least human-like prosimians were scored as the most attractive group. The results are discussed in the context of the “uncanny valley,” the widely discussed empirical rule.