The effects of alpha male removal on the social behavior of a group of olive baboons: Females seem to respond to male removal showing a more affiliative and tolerant behavior

The effects of alpha male removal on the social behavior of a group of olive baboons (Papio anubis). Ester Orient & Federico Guillén-Salazar. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science, Aug 26 2021. https://doi.org/10.1080/10888705.2021.1968401

Abstract: In captivity, the managers of primate populations have removed individuals from their groups for medical and social reasons, but there has been little documentation regarding the consequences of this extraction on the sociality of the remaining individuals. This study provides information about the social effect of the alpha male removal in a group of olive baboons (Papio anubis) maintained at the Station of Primatology of CNRS (France). Data on social behavior was collected before and after male removal and then compared. Moreover, this social information was used to calculate the individual dominance index and the group dominance ranking. Overall, our results indicate that females seem to respond to male removal showing a more affiliative and tolerant behavior. However, the results also highlight the different coping mechanisms of females with this new social context. Therefore, this information could be useful for managers of primate populations, allowing them to anticipate the response of captive groups when facing certain sociodemographic changes. In this regard, we recommended creating a detailed procedure before the removal of the individuals that considers the characteristics of the individuals.

KEYWORDS: Male removalolive baboon (Papio anubis)small groupssocial behavior

Discussion

The results presented here show how after male removal half of the dyads increased their grooming. Moreover, the females displayed a less aggressive behavior in general terms, especially to one of the most subordinate females, and a more tolerant behavior toward the most dominant female (decreas^Bing their retreats). The social scenario after male removal therefore seems to be close to a peaceful scenario, in which females try to increase the strength of their social bonds.

The increase of the affiliative interactions observed in females are consistent with the results obtained by Chowdhury and Swedell (2017) after the male’s death in a group of chacma baboons.

However, while these authors observed that all females invested more time in grooming, we only observed the increase of the interactions in half of them. In this sense, Chism & Rogers (2002) suggest that the removal of individuals may be disruptive to the relationships of certain animals, but not in others, as observed in this study. They also claim that interactions are established between real individuals, with their own characteristics (e.g., personality, experience) and not between theoretical categories of individuals.  Our results partially agree with the description made by authors such as Keddy-Hector and Raleigh (1992) or Lemasson et al. (2005) after alpha removals, because they state that the remaining individuals increase both affiliative and aggressive interactions but, in this study, females only increased their grooming exchanges. Moreover, our results are totally opposite to those obtained by other authors who pointed out that animals become more aggressive after the removal of the alpha individual (Lowland gorilla: Hoff et al., 1982; Rhesus macaques: Judge et al., 1995; Common marmosets: Lazaro-Perea et al., 2000). As indicated previously, our females showed a more tolerant behavior after male removal, decreasing their mutual aggressions and their avoidance of the more dominant female.

Changes in the dominance hierarchy are a common outcome of the modification of the socio-demographic composition of a group [Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscatta): (Kawai, 1960; Nakamichi et al., 1995); Rhesus macaques: (Bernstein, 1964); Vervet monkeys: (Guy & Curnoe, 2011)]. After a social and demographic change, the remaining individuals try to cope with this period of social instability by re-organizing their previous relationships (Colmenares & Gomendio, 1988), which may result in a change dominance ranking. In this work, there has been a slight change in the female dominance ranking after the male removal, particularly in regard to the two females located in lower positions. This change in the agonistic behavior of these females leads to a partial modification in the dominance ranking. Therefore, our results agree partially with the idea of a social reorganization after a period of instability, stated by Colmenares and Gomendio (1988).

As pointed out by Lemasson et al. (2005), the social status of individuals and the species are determining factors in the effects of the removal of an individual. We suggest that the changes observed in female behavior could be mainly due to the absence of the male, the most dominant individual in the group. These female behavioral adjustments are in line with statements from Packer and Pusey (1979) and Dunbar (2013) regarding the lack of female control over males in the baboon genus. The big size of male olive baboons, compared to their female counterpart, seems to provide the male with some degree of influence over female behavior and, consequently, over their sociality. Nevertheless, it should be noted, that despite the possibility that males exercise a certain influence over females, the alpha male of the study seemed to have established a “friendly relationship” with the most dominant female. Strum (1974) defined this type of relationship between males and females as a typical trait of the natural behavior of male baboons. Therefore, the identification of the typical traits of baboons’ natural behavior could be used as an important indicator of animal welfare. In addition, the dominance ranking obtained before male removal and the changes observed in the females’ social behavior after male removal reinforce the idea of a male influence over females.

Unfortunately and, despite the fact that female social interactions varied after male removal, our comparisons are not statistically significative. The small size of the study group, the variability of female dyadic interactions, and the short post-removal period of observation could limit our results and its later interpretations. In this regard, it would have been interesting to increase the information about the sociality of the study group with data regarding the social behavior of young females.  However, the initial procedure designed to study the group sociality in depth, did not contemplate collecting data on the social behavior of young females. Moreover, we assume that dyads respond differently to the demographic changes and that a longer period of post-removal observation could allow us to observe an evolution of the female relationships different from that observed [e.g., the development of stronger and affiliative social relationships observed by Schel et al. (2013) in chimpanzees, one year after modifying the demographic composition of the study group].

This study may be interesting from an applied standpoint, because it shows how the description of the social behavior before and after the removal of an individual from a social group, and their later comparison, can be useful for primate managers to anticipate the behavioral response of animals when facing future modifications of the group sociodemographics. In this sense, some authors (Coe, 1993; Raleigh, McGuire, Brammer, & Yuwiler, 1984; Steklis, Raleigh, Kling, & Tachiki, 1986) have stated that those events that modify the social bonds and the dominance relationships of a group may lead to behavioral and physiological signs of distress for a long time afterward. Our results show how, after male removal, females seem to cope with this social instability by creating a more peaceful scenario. Their sociality does not seem to be negatively affected in the short term by this change. Moreover, our findings confirm that factors such as the social status, the species, and the individual’s characteristics, should be considered when planning the removal of an individual from a social group of primates. We recommend elaborating an accurate plan for the individual’s removal prior to carrying it out. This plan must collect both the knowledge acquired by animal care staff over the years and that obtained through scientific studies such as ours. As a whole, the information here presented ads to the scarce literature surrounding alpha male removal in small groups of primates.

Some have examined if disgust can be evoked by contacting an object, yet none have examined if reported disgust changes when the hand leaves the object; surprising, given that post-contact tactile disgust is a driver of hand hygiene

Tactile disgust: Post-contact can be more disgusting than contact. Supreet Saluja, Richard Stevenson. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, August 24, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1177/17470218211043688

Abstract: Several studies have examined if disgust can be evoked by contacting an object – yet none have examined if reported disgust changes when the hand leaves the object. This is surprising given that post-contact tactile disgust is probably a driver of hand hygiene. We examined contact and post-contact tactile disgust and its sensory origins. Participants were asked to touch several objects, making sensory, disgust, and desire-to-handwash evaluations. These ratings were made at three stages-of-contact – object-contact (just touch), post-contact (just touch), and visual post-contact (touch, vision). Disgust was typically highest at postcontact (when the hand left the object). Stickiness and wetness were uniquely predictive of object-contact disgust. Only stickiness drove post-contact disgust, and only wetness visual post-contact disgust. Hand-washing desire was primarily driven by quantity of residue perceived on the hand. These findings suggest that tactile disgust is a multisensory and iterative process relating to object- and residue-adhesiveness.

Keywords: tactile, disgust, post-contact, hand washing desire, visual texture

Mere awareness of future improvement led participants to experience present versions as less enjoyable—even bid more money to be able to end their participation early; knowledge led these participants to perceive more flaws in present versions

The “Next” Effect: When a Better Future Worsens the Present. Ed O’Brien. Social Psychological and Personality Science, August 25, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1177/19485506211034972

Abstract: Various domains of life are improving over time, meaning the future is filled with exciting advances that people can now look forward to (e.g., in technology). Three preregistered experiments (N = 1,602) suggest that mere awareness of better futures can risk spoiling otherwise enjoyable presents. Across experiments, participants interacted with novel technologies—but, via random assignment, some participants were informed beforehand that even better versions were in the works. Mere awareness of future improvement led participants to experience present versions as less enjoyable—despite being new to them, and despite being identical across conditions. They even bid more money to be able to end their participation early. Why? Such knowledge led these participants to perceive more flaws in present versions than they would have perceived without such knowledge—as if prompted to infer that there must have been something to improve upon (or else, why was a better one needed in the first place?)—thus creating a less enjoyable experience. Accordingly, these spoiling effects were specific to flaw-relevant stimuli and were attenuated by reminders of past progress already achieved. All told, the current research highlights important implications for how today’s ever better offerings may be undermining net happiness (despite marking absolute progress). As people continually await exciting things still to come, they may be continually dissatisfied by exciting things already here.

Keywords: change over time, well-being, enjoyment, technology, contrast effects

Participants were more willing to share news they found more interesting-if-true, as well as news they deemed more accurate; they deemed fake news less accurate but more interesting-if-true than true news, & were more likely to share true news than fake news

“If This account is True, It is Most Enormously Wonderful”: Interestingness-If-True and the Sharing of True and False News. Sacha Altay, Emma de Araujo & Hugo Mercier. Digital Journalism, Aug 24 2021. https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2021.1941163

Abstract: Why would people share news they think might not be accurate? We identify a factor that, alongside accuracy, drives the sharing of true and fake news: the ‘interestingness-if-true’ of a piece of news. In three pre-registered experiments (N = 904), participants were presented with a series of true and fake news, and asked to rate the accuracy of the news, how interesting the news would be if it were true, and how likely they would be to share it. Participants were more willing to share news they found more interesting-if-true, as well as news they deemed more accurate. They deemed fake news less accurate but more interesting-if-true than true news, and were more likely to share true news than fake news. As expected, interestingness-if-true differed from interestingness and accuracy, and had good face validity. Higher trust in mass media was associated with a greater ability to discern true from fake news, and participants rated as more accurate news that they had already been exposed to (especially for true news). We argue that people may not share news of questionable accuracy by mistake, but instead because the news has qualities that compensate for its potential inaccuracy, such as being interesting-if-true.

Keywords: News sharingfake newsaccuracyinterestingness-if-truemisinformationsocial media

Zoo-housed gorillas: General preference for unnatural over natural sounds

Silence is Golden: Auditory Preferences in Zoo-housed Gorillas. Jordyn Truax & Jennifer Vonk. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science, Aug 24 2021. https://doi.org/10.1080/10888705.2021.1968400

Abstract: Enrichment is presented to improve the welfare of captive animals but sound is frequently presented with the assumption that it is enriching without assessing individuals’ preferences. Typically, presented sounds are unnatural and animals are unable to choose which sounds they can listen to or escape them. We examined preferences of three zoo-housed gorillas for six categories of sound. The gorillas selected unique icons on a computer touchscreen that initiated brief samples of silence, white noise, nature, animal, percussion, and electronic instrumental sounds. Following training, gorillas selected each sound paired with silence (Phase 2), each sound paired with each other sound (Phase 3), and one sound among all other sound categories (Phase 4). Initially, a single sound was associated with each icon, but additional exemplars of the category were added in phases 5–8. Preferences were generally stable and one gorilla showed a strong preference for silence. Although there were individual differences, a surprising general preference for unnatural over natural sounds was revealed. These results indicate the importance of assessing preferences for individuals before introducing auditory stimulation in captive habitats.

KEYWORDS: Gorillaenrichmentchoicesound

Exercise-Induced Orgasm and Its Association with Sleep Orgasms and Orgasms During Partnered Sex: About 9pct of Americans reported having ever experienced exercise-induced orgasm

Exercise-Induced Orgasm and Its Association with Sleep Orgasms and Orgasms During Partnered Sex: Findings From a U.S. Probability Survey. Debby Herbenick, Tsung-chieh Fu, Callie Patterson & J. Dennis Fortenberry. Archives of Sexual Behavior, Aug 24 2021. https://rd.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10508-021-01996-9

Abstract: Prior research has described women’s experiences with exercise-induced orgasm (EIO). However, little is known about men’s experiences with EIO, the population prevalence of EIO, or the association of EIO with other kinds of orgasm. Using U.S. probability survey data, the objectives of the present research were to: (1) describe the lifetime prevalence of exercise-induced orgasm (EIO) and sleep orgasm; (2) assess respondents’ age at first experience of EIO as well as the type of exercise connected with their first EIO; (3) examine associations between lifetime EIO experience and orgasm at respondents’ most recent partnered sexual event; and (4) examine associations between lifetime EIO experience and sleep orgasms. Data were from the 2014 National Survey of Sexual Health and Behavior (1012 men and 1083 women, ages 14 years and older). About 9% of respondents reported having ever experienced exercise-induced orgasm. More men than women reported having experienced orgasm during sleep at least once in their lifetime (66.3% men, 41.8% women). The mean age for women’s first EIO was significantly older than men (22.8 years women, 16.8 years men). Respondents described a wide range of exercises as associated with their first EIO (i.e., climbing ropes, abdominal exercise, yoga). Lifetime EIO experience was associated with lifetime sleep orgasms but not with event-level orgasm during partnered sex. Implications related to understanding orgasm and recommendations for clinicians and sex educators are discussed.

Rolf Degen summarizing... Although many individuals in committed relationships had a crush on a third party, they did not want to play out their attraction, but just to keep him/her as a silent reserve in the sidelines

Loving you from afar: Attraction to others (“crushes”) among adults in exclusive relationships, communication, perceived outcomes, and expectations of future intimate involvement. Lucia F. O’Sullivan, Charlene F. Belu, Justin R. Garcia. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, August 24, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1177/02654075211038612

Abstract: Crushes are uncommunicated, often unilateral, attractions to an individual, generally viewed as a state of unfulfilled longing. They are typically attributed to young people, but recent research suggests that these experiences might be common among adults as well, including among those in committed relationships. Combining findings from three studies across four datasets, this mixed-methods research explores crushes experienced by individuals in committed intimate relationships. Study 1 explored types of crushes, preferences and nature of exchanges among adults in committed relationships and compares their reports to a sample of single individuals. Study 2 examined perceived outcomes of crushes as a way to assess needs or goals served by crushes. Study 3 investigated expectations about whether and how the crush relationship might evolve into a more intimate relationship. A total of 3,585 participants (22–45 years, 53.1% women) completed anonymous online surveys addressing crush experiences and related dynamics. Those in committed relationships typically did not intend to communicate their attraction to the target, unlike single individuals. Associated outcomes were primarily positive, including excitement, increased esteem, and fantasy/escape. The vast majority reported no expectations that these crushes would evolve into more intimate relationships, replacing their current relationship. This work adds to our understanding of attraction outside of traditional human courtship processes, with implications for the study of intimate relationship development and maintenance.

Keywords: Attraction, committed, crush, intimate, romantic, sexual, single

Check also Belu, C., & O'Sullivan, L. (2019). Roving Eyes: Predictors of Crushes in Ongoing Romantic Relationships and Implications for Relationship Quality. Journal of Relationships Research, 10, E2. doi:10.1017/jrr.2018.21. https://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2019/01/while-in-romantic-relationship-crushes.html

And Walk the Line: How Successful Are Efforts to Maintain Monogamy in Intimate Relationships? Brenda H. Lee, Lucia F. O’Sullivan. Archives of Sexual Behavior, June 18 2019. https://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2019/06/how-successful-are-efforts-to-maintain.html

And Why Find My Own When I Can Take Yours?: The Quality of Relationships That Arise From Successful Mate Poaching. Charlene F. Belu and Lucia F. O'Sullivan. Journal of Relationships Research, Volume 9, 2018, e6. https://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2018/05/the-quality-of-relationships-that-arise.html

General discussion

This series of exploratory studies on crushes was designed to provide some early insights into the nature of exchanges with attractive others for those in committed relationships, outcomes associated with having these attractions, and expectations of future involvement with the target of one’s attraction. Moving us beyond a focus on attraction to others as an indicator of poor relationship quality or a precursor to infidelity, the current series of studies established that these attractions most often seemed instrumental in gaining fairly positive psychosocial outcomes, such as diversion, fun, or excitement.

Overall, few individuals in ostensibly exclusive relationships reported plans to advance the crush relationship further. By comparison to singles, those in relationships were more inclined to keep their attraction covert and were more satisfied to simply flirt with someone for whom they experienced attraction rather than communicate their interest directly.

These findings raise the obvious question of why humans might exhibit and entertain feelings of crushes in the first place, if they are expected to go unfulfilled—that is, unlike in other models of attraction, an individual does not seek out the object of the crush. On the surface, this would seem to be a poor use of an individual’s time and effort, resources meant to be adaptively leveraged in mating contexts. It is possible that these crush attractions are simply inevitable, that we cannot turn off the psychological system that helps us orient toward potential partners when we enter an established relationship. The Instrumentality Principle would indicate that these behaviors meet a motivational priority, moving an individual toward a valuable goal. However, these attractions might reassure individuals that there are other options should the primary relationship falter (i.e., mate switching; Buss et al., 2017). Similarly, many young adults report maintaining “back burner” relationships, that is, a connection with someone who they might someday connect with romantically or sexually (Dibble & Drouin, 2014; Dibble et al., 2015). Crushes might comprise a means of gauging or testing one’s commitment and interest in preserving a primary relationship.

We did not assess relationship quality of one’s primary relationship. Although participants’ self-reports suggest that crushes are relatively benign experiences, further research is needed to examine under which conditions a crush might undermine relationship quality. Intensity of one’s attraction, especially if it increases over time, mutuality of the attraction and the response of the crush target should they want to pursue a relationship are likely important moderators, as is quality of the primary relationship in terms of satisfaction and commitment. Primary relationships of lower quality are likely more vulnerable to one or both partners becoming distracted by another. We also should examine more closely the impact of the secrecy involved with crushes and indeed how much is concealed from a primary partner. Secret attraction when linked with fear of its being exposed might amplify attraction through misattribution of arousal (“excitement transfer” Marin et al., 2017; Meston & Frohlich, 2003) or frustration attraction (Fisher, 2005).

Study limitations

There are other limitations that need to be acknowledged. Our use of cross-sectional data rather than longitudinal data renders any speculation about links to relationship outcomes unwarranted. A longer trajectory, ideally using prospective methods, would allow researchers to better capture outcomes associated with attractions to others. This is a limitation of the study designs, and short of tracking individuals from the onset of their relationship, one that cannot be easily overcome. In addition, it is important to bear in mind that self-reports about sensitive topics, such as attractions to others, are often subject to issues of presentation biases. However, in every case, we ensured that participants were fully informed of the anonymous nature of their reports, which we believe offset some of the biases these concerns might introduce.

Although we were able to study gender differences to some extent, we were only able to explore differences in terms of sexual identity in the first of our three studies. Those who identified as sexual minorities (gay, lesbian, or bisexual) reported more types of crushes than did those who identified as heterosexual. This finding might reflect pressure among sexual minority individuals to keep same-sex attractions hidden. Exploring these attractions in larger and/or more diverse populations will help us determine how a mechanism that evolved to guide individuals toward a viable romantic and sexual partner with whom we intend to bond and mate (Berscheid, & Reis, 1998; Fisher, 1998; Sprecher & Hatfield, 1985) operates in contexts in which an intimate relationship is ostensibly not the goal.

More intelligent individuals have a higher tendency to fish for good news

Si Chen & Carl Heese, 2021. "Fishing for Good News: Motivated Information Acquisition," CRC TR 224 Discussion Paper Series crctr224_2021_223v3, University of Bonn and University of Mannheim. https://ideas.repec.org/p/bon/boncrc/crctr224_2021_223v3.html

Abstract: The literature on motivated reasoning argues that people skew their beliefs to feel moral when acting selfishly. We study information acquisition of decision-makers with a motive to form positive moral self-views and a motive to act selfishly. Theoretically and experimentally, we find that a motive to act selfishly makes individuals 'fish for good news': they are more likely to continue (stop) acquiring information, having received mostly information suggesting that acting selfishly is harmful (harmless) to others. We find that fishing for good news may improve social welfare. Finally, more intelligent individuals have a higher tendency to fish for good news.

5 Concluding remarks

Theoretically and experimentally, this paper analyzes the effect of the trade-off between a motive to feel moral and a competing egoistic motive on individuals’ information acquisition strategies. Two features of our study stand out relative to the existing literature. First, we consider environments with rich information sources. This ensures that the predicted and the observed information choices are not confounded by exogenous limitations imposed by the study. Theoretically, it means that we characterize the globally optimal information acquisition strategy. Empirically, it allows us to observe uncensored data on the individuals’ information strategies and uncover novel phenomena. Second, we consider a baseline in which the egoistic motive is removed from the decision. Comparing this baseline with the scenario with an egoistic motive, we can study the causal effects of the trade-off between competing motives. Three main findings emerge: first, having competing motives makes individuals fish for good news. Specifically, individuals are more likely to continue acquiring information after receiving information suggesting negative externalities of a selfish decision (‘bad news’). Reversely, after receiving information indicating no harm (‘good news’), individuals are more likely to stop. Second, theoretically, fishing for good news may improve social welfare. This prediction is supported by our data. Finally, the tendency to fish for good news is stronger among individuals with above-median cognitive ability— evidence that fishing for good news is more likely a strategic behaviour than a result of cognitive limitations. The paper opens up directions of future research. The key feature of our setting is that the decision-maker has two competing motives—one urging the individual to choose a particular action, and the other urging her to act upon her belief about an unknown state. Such a trade-off is present in many economic contexts beyond moral decisions. Imagine a food lover presented with a delicious new dish. While she longs for the dish, she also wants to believe that the food that she consumes is healthy. How would she inquire about the 40 nutrition facts of the food? Similar trade-offs arise for example in smoking and workout decisions.32 Besides, it might be interesting to investigate information acquisition strategies in field settings where morality and egoism might clash. Last, the theoretical model can be used to study other questions about individuals’ information preferences—a recently active area of empirical research.33 For example, one may analyze preferences over information skewness in settings where individuals have two competing motives. 

Individuals with high digital literacy are less likely to fall for fake news, but no less willing to share those

Sirlin, Nathaniel, Ziv Epstein, Antonio A. Arechar, and David G. Rand. 2021. “Digital Literacy and Susceptibility to Misinformation.” PsyArXiv. August 21. doi:10.31234/osf.io/7rb2m

Abstract: It has been widely argued that social media users with low digital literacy – who lack fluency with basic technological concepts related to the internet – are more likely to fall for online misinformation, but surprisingly little research has examined this association empirically. In a large survey experiment involving true and false news posts about politics and COVID-19, we find that digital literacy is indeed an important predictor of the ability to tell truth from falsehood when judging headline accuracy. However, digital literacy is not a significant predictor of users’ intentions to share true versus false headlines. This observation reinforces the disconnect between accuracy judgments and sharing intentions, and suggests that interventions beyond merely improving digital literacy are likely needed to reduce the spread of misinformation online.

The androgynous brain is advantageous for mental health and well-being

Brain sex differences: the androgynous brain is advantageous for mental health and well-being. Qiang Luo & Barbara J. Sahakian. Neuropsychopharmacology, Aug 16 2021. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41386-021-01141-z

Abstract: Studies of personality and sex differences have reported that male’s and female’s basic personality traits appear to differ on average, in several respects [1]. From a psychological perspective, these sex differences are thought to result from perceived gender roles, gender socialisation and socio-structural power differentials, although the evolutionary theory has also been used to explain these differences [1]. However, psychological studies have already suggested that people can be androgynous, having mixed personality traits that are stereotypically considered to be male or female [2]. Furthermore, most of us are in fact probably somewhere on a spectrum between what we stereotypically consider a male or a female [2].

Check also Does gender role explain a high risk of depression? A meta-analytic review of 40 years of evidence. Jingyuan Lin et al. Journal of Affective Disorders, Volume 294, Nov 1 2021, Pages 261-278. Androgynous individuals are less likely to suffer depression while undifferentiated individuals are more susceptible to depression; masculinity traits seem to be a robust protective factor for depression regardless of gender

Nudges are behavioral interventions to subtly steer citizens’ choices toward “desirable” options: Mapping Conditions of Susceptibility to Nudge Influence

Nudgeability: Mapping Conditions of Susceptibility to Nudge Influence. Denise de Ridder, Floor Kroese, Laurens van Gestel. Perspectives on Psychological Science, August 23, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691621995183

Abstract: Nudges are behavioral interventions to subtly steer citizens’ choices toward “desirable” options. An important topic of debate concerns the legitimacy of nudging as a policy instrument, and there is a focus on issues relating to nudge transparency, the role of preexisting preferences people may have, and the premise that nudges primarily affect people when they are in “irrational” modes of thinking. Empirical insights into how these factors affect the extent to which people are susceptible to nudge influence (i.e., “nudgeable”) are lacking in the debate. This article introduces the new concept of nudgeability and makes a first attempt to synthesize the evidence on when people are responsive to nudges. We find that nudge effects do not hinge on transparency or modes of thinking but that personal preferences moderate effects such that people cannot be nudged into something they do not want. We conclude that, in view of these findings, concerns about nudging legitimacy should be softened and that future research should attend to these and other conditions of nudgeability.

Keywords: nudges, awareness, preferences, dual-process models

Discussion

In this article, we examined conditions that determine people’s susceptibility to nudge influence in an effort to probe common assumptions about when nudges are effective in guiding people’s choices. Although it has been repeatedly emphasized that nudges are “gentle directions” to promote decisions in people’s own best interest, there has been considerable debate about nudging legitimacy insofar as it may violate principles of good public policy that require transparency, acknowledgment of citizen preferences, and a reasonable degree of informed decision-making. We have highlighted these issues from the viewpoint of nudge effectiveness to determine nudgeability under conditions of disclosure of nudge presence and purpose, nudge-congruent and nudge-incongruent preferences, and either or not being able to deliberate on one’s choice (System 1 or System 2 processing).

Our review reveals that people are equally responsive to nudges regardless of whether their presence, purpose, or working mechanisms are disclosed—suggesting that transparency does not compromise nudge effects. Our analysis also shows that preexisting preferences matter insofar as nudges prove generally ineffective when not concordant with goals and intentions. Rather, nudges appear to have the greatest impact on choice when people have less developed preferences because they are ambivalent or in doubt about their choice. We further showed that nudges are not specifically effective when people are in a System 1 state of mind, which would, according to the prevailing assumption, make them more susceptible to nudge influence. It is uncertain, however, to what extent explicit encouragement to reflect on choices may attenuate nudge effects, although potentially weaker effects after a consideration of options may also be due to more articulated preferences.

Together, these findings call for greater scrutiny of the theoretical underpinnings of nudges. Nudges have been presented as typical System 1 devices targeting heuristics and biases that would require unawareness of their influence while, according to some (Bovens, 2009; Steffel et al., 2016), disregarding people’s preferences for a particular choice. More recent theoretical work displays growing attention for a new generation of nudges that explicitly target System 2 processes (Sunstein, 2016). “Overt” System 2 nudges that are easy to discern are generally better accepted by the target population (Bang et al., 2018; Felsen et al., 2013; Jung & Mellers, 2016; Sunstein, 2016), presumably because they do not rely on “unconscious processing.” Moreover, System 2 nudges are expected to boost people’s decision-making capacities (Hertwig, 2017; Hertwig & Grüne-Yanoff, 2017). Although these novel types of nudges may thus potentially be more (or at least equally) effective and more legitimate, our review shows that “traditional” nudges already do not depend on being hidden and operating in the dark.

In view of these findings, note that this initial review primarily serves the purpose of agenda setting. More systematic research on which conditions make people more (or less) responsive to nudges is warranted. This applies to all three dimensions of nudgeability that our central to our review. Once more evidence becomes available on these factors, a meta-analytic synthesis of the literature would give a deeper insight into how each of these factors determines nudgeability. Future research should also take into account what type of nudge is involved. As alluded to in the introduction, “nudge” is an umbrella term that relates to many types of interventions. A better categorization of nudges in general and a particular focus on the relevance of a distinction between so-called System 1 nudges (of which people are supposedly unaware) and System 2 nudges (that aim to support people in reflecting upon their choices) are needed to make a significant step forward in unraveling when and why people are susceptible to the influence of nudges.

Examining the role of the type of nudge is important because many studies on the conditions of nudge effectiveness have been conducted with defaults, which are considered to exert the strongest influence on choice and thus provide a critical test of nudgeability. However, even in view of the finding that default effects remain after disclosure and are weakened when they do not accord with preferences, concerns about the deceitful nature of defaults have persisted (Steffel et al., 2016). It is therefore urgent to systematically address softer categories of nudges such as repositioning, framing, and salience (Keller et al., 2011) and examine whether our observations on nudgeability apply to these milder classes of nudges.

In addition to a more systematic synthesis of research into nudgeability incorporating the type of nudge, a number of topics require more research to find out whether they affect susceptibility to nudge influence. This especially applies to the source of the nudge, the complexity of the issue of interest, as well as to the role of SES—topics we could touch on only briefly because of the lack of empirical evidence. In particular, nudgeability of disadvantaged groups is a topic that should be put high on the agenda for future research, as nudges are supposed to benefit the health, wealth, and happiness of all. Not much is yet known about the potential distributional consequences of nudges, as only a few studies have examined the extent to which nudges specifically would affect people from disadvantaged groups. Whereas some studies have suggested that people from low-SES groups are more responsive to default nudges (either or not to their own benefit), other studies have indicated that poor people benefit from nudges in a way that they would not have from conventional policy instruments, such as informational campaigns (Hotard et al., 2019).

Once again, we would like to emphasize that our review is a first attempt to document nudgeability with a specific focus on elements that have been generated in debates on nudging legitimacy. More research on other facets that are so far absent in studies on moderators of nudge effects is much needed for the systematic documentation of the conditions that make people responsive to nudges. An important candidate for further study is self-regulatory capacity, or the extent to which people can identify relevant goals and act on them. Theoretically, people with poor self-regulatory capacity might experience greater benefit from nudges, but as of yet it is unknown whether people with low competence to regulate their behavior are more or less susceptible to choice guidance. Initial research suggests that people with low trait self-control are somewhat less responsive to nudging than those who have high trait self-control (Thunström, 2019). However, whether people with poor self-regulatory skills are nudgeable may critically depend on self-insight; people who have less self-knowledge may be more opposed to nudges than those who have more self-knowledge. Social connectedness is another feature that may explain heterogeneous responses to nudges. Decision makers who have few social ties and only a few friends serve as potential role models for questions about important choices might be more susceptible to nudges that function as social cues when in doubt, as is also demonstrated in defaults serving as (implicit) recommendations for a certain choice.

Finally, returning to the debates on nudging legitimacy that we addressed at the beginning of this article, it seems that concerns should be softened insofar as nudges do impose choice without respecting basic ethical requirements for good public policy. More than a decade ago, philosopher Luc Bovens (2009) formulated the following four principles for nudging to be legitimate: A nudge should allow people to act in line with their overall preferences; a nudge should not induce a change in preferences that would not hold under nonnudge conditions; a nudge should not lead to “infantilization,” such that people are no longer capable of making autonomous decisions; and a nudge should be transparent so that people have control over being in a nudge situation. With the findings from our review in mind, it seems that these legitimacy requirements are fulfilled. Nudges do allow people to act in line with their overall preferences, nudges allow for making autonomous decisions insofar as nudge effects do not depend on being in a System 1 mode of thinking, and making the nudge transparent does not compromise nudge effects.

How are gene variants associated with same-sex sexual behaviour maintained in the gene pool? New study suggests that the same variants, when found in individuals who don't engage in SSSB behavior, are associated with having more sexual partners

Genomic evidence consistent with antagonistic pleiotropy may help explain the evolutionary maintenance of same-sex sexual behaviour in humans. Brendan P. Zietsch, Morgan J. Sidari, Abdel Abdellaoui, Robert Maier, Niklas Långström, Shengru Guo, Gary W. Beecham, Eden R. Martin, Alan R. Sanders & Karin J. H. Verweij. Nature Human Behaviour, August 23 2021. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-021-01168-8

Abstract: Human same-sex sexual behaviour (SSB) is heritable, confers no immediately obvious direct reproductive or survival benefit and can divert mating effort from reproductive opportunities. This presents a Darwinian paradox: why has SSB been maintained despite apparent selection against it? We show that genetic effects associated with SSB may, in individuals who only engage in opposite-sex sexual behaviour (OSB individuals), confer a mating advantage. Using results from a recent genome-wide association study of SSB and a new genome-wide association study on number of opposite-sex sexual partners in 358,426 individuals, we show that, among OSB individuals, genetic effects associated with SSB are associated with having more opposite-sex sexual partners. Computer simulations suggest that such a mating advantage for alleles associated with SSB could help explain how it has been evolutionarily maintained. Caveats include the cultural specificity of our UK and US samples, the societal regulation of sexual behaviour in these populations, the difficulty of measuring mating success and the fact that measured variants capture a minority of the total genetic variation in the traits.

Popular version: Genetic patterns offer clues to evolution of homosexuality. Sara Reardon. Nature News, Aug 23 2021. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-02312-0

Acute scarcity significantly increases the propensity to engage in unethical economic behavior; find no evidence that chronic experiences of scarcity in the form of low social class affect unethical economic behavior

Material Scarcity and Unethical Economic Behavior: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Christian Elbaek, Panagiotis Mitkidis, Lene Aarøe, Tobias Otterbring. Pre-print, Aug 2021. DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-800481/v1

Abstract: Individuals around the globe experience different forms of material resource scarcity in terms of aspects such as hunger, thirst, or financial strains. As experiences of material scarcity have been found to make individuals more risk-taking, impulsive, and focused on regaining resources in the short-term, a growing body of research has investigated how such scarcity affects moral economic behavior. Yet, findings remain mixed and at times contradictory, thus calling for a systematic meta-analytical review on this overarching topic. In this pre-registered systematic review and meta-analysis, we evaluate qualitatively and quantitatively how material resource scarcity affects moral economic behavior. We analyze a comprehensive dataset including 44 published and unpublished studies comprising a total of 6,921 respondents across four distinct types of material scarcity: financial scarcity, physiological scarcity, scarcity reminders, and lower social class. Our findings show that acute scarcity significantly increases the propensity to engage in unethical economic behavior (gfinancial = .24, gphysiological = .39, greminders = .32). Importantly, we find no evidence that chronic experiences of scarcity in the form of low social class affect unethical economic behavior (gsocial class = .02). These results appear robust to the influence of publication bias and contextual sensitivity. We discuss how these findings advance our understanding of the psychological and moral consequences of scarcity and elaborate on implications for public policy.

KEYWORDS: resource scarcity, socioeconomic status, morality, unethical economic behavior, meta-analysis

From 2010... Lesions and Behavior Associated with Forced Copulation of Juvenile Pacific Harbor Seals (Phoca vitulina richardsi) by Adult Southern Sea Otters (Enhydra lutris nereis)

Lesions and Behavior Associated with Forced Copulation of Juvenile Pacific Harbor Seals (Phoca vitulina richardsi) by Southern Sea Otters (Enhydra lutris nereis). Heather S. Harris et al. Aquatic Mammals Journal, 36(4), 331-341, November 29 2010. DOI: 10.1578/AM.36.4.2010.331

Abstract: Nineteen occurrences of interspecific sexual behavior between male southern sea otters (Enhydra lutris nereis) and juvenile Pacific harbor seals (Phoca vitulina richardsi) were reported in Monterey Bay, California, between 2000 and 2002. At least three different male sea otters were observed harassing, dragging, guarding, and copulating with harbor seals for up to 7 d postmortem. Carcasses of 15 juvenile harbor seals were recovered, and seven were necropsied in detail by a veterinary pathologist. Necropsy findings from two female sea otters that were recovered dead from male sea otters exhibiting similar behavior are also presented to facilitate a comparison of lesions. The most frequent lesions included superficial skin lacerations; hemorrhage around the nose, eyes, flippers, and perineum; and traumatic corneal erosions or ulcers. The harbor seals sustained severe genital trauma, ranging from vaginal perforation to vagino-cervical transection, and colorectal perforations as a result of penile penetration. One harbor seal developed severe pneumoperitoneum subsequent to vaginal perforation, which was also observed in both female sea otters and has been reported as a postcoital lesion in humans. This study represents the first description of lesions resulting from forced copulation of harbor seals by sea otters and is also the first report of pneumoperitoneum secondary to forced copulation in a nonhuman animal. Possible explanations for this behavior are discussed in the context of sea otter biology and population demographics.

Key Words: sea otter, Enhydra lutris nereis, harbor seal, Phoca vitulina richardsi, forced copulation, interspecific sexual behavior, mating trauma, pneumoperitoneum

Introduction

Sexual interactions between species have been well-documented among marine mammals (Wilson, 1975; Best et al., 1981; Harcourt, 1993; Hatfield et al., 1994; Miller et al., 1996; Mortenson & Follis, 1997; Cassini, 1998; Hayward, 2003). Such behavior has occasionally been observed among pinnipeds with overlapping breeding seasons that share the same rookeries, providing ample opportunities for interaction between adult or subadult males and heterospecific females (Miller et al., 1996). Documentation of hybrid offspring within mixed colonies of otariids (Miller et al., 1996) and phocids (Kovacs et al., 1997) further supports the occurrence of breeding events between pinniped species. 

Reports also exist of interspecific sexual interactions occurring outside of the normal breeding season in which a single aggressive male opportunistically copulated with females or pups during periods when conspecific males were not present (Wilson, 1975; Best et al., 1981; Miller et al., 1996; Mortenson & Follis, 1997; Hayward, 2003). Large-scale mortality has resulted when females and juveniles were physically overpowered and forcibly copulated by much larger heterospecific males (Best et al., 1981; Miller et al., 1996; Mortenson & Follis, 1997; Cassini, 1998). In some cases, male pinnipeds have approached their subjects on land or in the water, mounted and attempted copulation (Wilson, 1975; Best et al., 1981; Harcourt, 1993; Miller et al., 1996; Mortenson & Follis, 1997; Hayward, 2003), killed the subject (Best et al., 1981; Harcourt, 1993; Miller et al., 1996; Mortenson & Follis, 1997), and then continued to guard and copulate with the carcass (Best et al., 1981; Miller et al., 1996).

[...]

Discussion

The behavioral observations and lesions described in this study are extreme examples of the spectrum of mating-associated trauma observed in southern sea otters. Copulation normally occurs in the water where the male sea otter will approach the female from behind, grip her around the chest with his forepaws, and grasp her nose or the side of her face with his teeth (Kenyon, 1969; Staedler & Riedman, 1993). Females often initially resist copulatory attempts, but eventually will submit, and the pair may roll and spin in the water, with the male positioned dorsal to the female during copulation (Kenyon, 1969). Immature males sometimes mimic this pre-copulatory behavior while playing with each other, including facial biting, spinning nose to nose, and mounting each other from behind (M. Staedler, unpub. data, 2000-2010).

Facial biting by the male commonly results in the development of skin and soft tissue lacerations of the female’s nose and face that can occasionally be fatal (Foott, 1970; Staedler & Riedman, 1993). Trauma associated with mating was a primary or contributing cause of death for 11% of fresh dead southern sea otters examined between 2000 and 2003 (Kreuder et al., 2003). In one prior report on breeding-associated mortality, a tagged territorial male sea otter held a struggling female underwater until her body became limp and then copulated repeatedly with her carcass (Staedler & Riedman, 1993). Ten months later, this same male was observed with the carcass of another female sea otter. In both cases, the male was swimming, diving, guarding, and copulating with the carcass.  In other marine mammal species, females and juveniles of both sexes are sometimes injured or killed during mating attempts by male conspecifics (Campagna et al., 1988; Le Boeuf & Mesnick, 1991; Rose et al., 1991; Staedler & Riedman, 1993; Atkinson et al., 1994; Kiyota & Okamura, 2005).  A male-biased adult sex ratio might increase the probability of these aggressive and sometimes fatal interactions (Le Boeuf & Mesnick, 1991).  Mobbing, in which a group of males attempts to mount a single adult female or an immature seal of either sex, has been documented for Hawaiian monk seals (Monachus schauinslandi) (Johanos & Kam, 1986; Atkinson et al., 1994; Johanos et al., 1994). Associated with severe, sometimes fatal skin and soft tissue lacerations to the dorsal integument (Johanos et al., 1994), mobbing has most often been observed in monk seal populations that have a greater ratio of subadult and adult males compared to breeding-age females (Hiruki et al., 1993).

In the polygynous mating systems of sea otters and many pinnipeds, males typically establish a dominance hierarchy based on age, size, and relative fitness such that subdominant males will have limited access to receptive females of the same species (Le Boeuf, 1972, 1974). Where species overlap geographically, interspecific sexual interactions could be the result of a subdominant male seeking a female surrogate. Male southern sea otters become sexually mature at approximately 5 y of age, although often they are unable to successfully defend territories for several more years (Riedman & Estes, 1990). Sexually mature male sea otters may establish and defend aquatic territories in kelp-dominated regions with high female density from which they exclude all other males except dependent pups and recently weaned immature sea otters. Subadult and adult males that are unable to establish territories are usually segregated from reproductive females and territorial males, aggregating with other nonterritorial males in “male areas” that occur at several locations throughout the range, often in sand-bottom habitats like Monterey Bay (Jameson, 1989; Riedman & Estes, 1990). Many nonterritorial male sea otters frequently move long distances between male areas and travel in winter toward the range peripheries where food resources might be more abundant (Jameson, 1989; Tinker et al., 2008).  During the 5 to 10 y leading up to this study, increases in age-specific mortality have disproportionately affected females, with the result that the sex ratio has become skewed toward males (Tinker et al., 2006). An increasingly male-biased sex ratio might have elevated the likelihood of intragender conflicts, including aggressive, forced matings that could result in significant morbidity and mortality. This gender shift in the sea otter population may have triggered the increased aggregation of transient, nonterritorial males in the Monterey Bay region throughout the study period, particularly around Moss Landing. The majority of observed forced copulatory events occurred in Elkhorn Slough in Moss Landing, a region characterized by both a major harbor seal rookery and a large population of nonterritorial male sea otters.  Both tagged males that engaged in sexual behavior with harbor seals in the present study appeared to be nonterritorial transients based on direct observation of behavior over prolonged periods. These subdominant sea otters would have been denied access to female conspecifics by territorial males and may have simply redirected normal sexual responses toward sympatric phocids.  In the current study, strong links were established between observed interspecific copulatory behavior displayed by male sea otters toward harbor seals and specific lesions found during necropsy of the affected harbor seals. The distribution of superficial wounds in harbor seals preferentially over the nose, eyes, and sides of the face and neck is consistent with typical sea otter mating behavior and correlates with notes from direct observation of these interactions. Based on prior reports (Wilson, 1975; Best et al., 1981; Miller et al., 1996; Mortenson & Follis, 1997; Hayward, 2003), pinniped-initiated mating trauma typically has a more dorsal wound distribution because males grasp females from behind with their front flippers; bite them on the dorsal surface of the head, neck, and body to position them; and use the weight of their bodies on land to restrain females to facilitate copulation (Cline et al., 1971; Le Boeuf, 1972; Allen, 1985; Rose et al., 1991).

Limited postmortem examinations of victims of forced copulatory behavior between pinniped species revealed bleeding skin and soft tissue lacerations and hemorrhage on the dorsal aspect of the head and nape (Miller et al., 1996; Mortenson & Follis, 1997), skull fractures with subcutaneous hemorrhage and ocular proptosis (Miller et al., 1996), chest compression or collapse (Best et al., 1981; Miller et al., 1996), and bruising of the distal vagina (Miller et al., 1996), including one female whose intestines were forced out through the anus as a result of crush injury (Best et al., 1981). Ocular trauma, noted in six harbor seals, is an uncommon mating-associated lesion in female sea otters, presumably because sea otter eyes are much smaller and protrude less from the orbit than those of harbor seals. For affected harbor seals, vision loss due to ocular trauma might have restricted their ability to forage and to evade further attacks by male sea otters.  Nine animals examined in depth exhibited vaginal and/or colorectal perforation, which provides strong presumptive evidence for forced copulation.  Although spermatozoa were not observed in the rectum/colon or vaginal tract on cytology or histopathology, the ejaculate could have been forced into the abdominal cavity or diluted by seawater or body fluids; the males might not have ejaculated; or they might not have been producing spermatozoa. All of these factors could be an effect of immaturity, advanced age, or incomplete species-specific copulatory behavior. In both harbor seals and sea otters, vaginal perforations and avulsions were invariably located at the junction of the vagina with the cervix as would be predicted with traumatic perforation due to forced penetration, particularly for immature harbor seals with small reproductive tracts. In contrast, perforations of the more fragile, thinnerwalled gastrointestinal tract were often multiple and were spaced at variable sites along the distal colon and rectum. The average length for an adult male sea otter os penis is 15 cm (Kenyon, 1969), which correlates well with the depths of the perforations. As demonstrated by HS 14, penetration of the penis through the intestinal wall can result in severe bleeding and leakage of feces into the pelvic cavity and abdomen, leading to septic peritonitis.

One surprising lesion that was observed only in female harbor seals and sea otters was the development of acute, severe pneumoperitoneum in animals with vaginal and/or gastrointestinal perforations. Forced copulation resulted in the passage of air from the vaginal lumen or rectum into the abdomen. These perforations appear to have functioned as one-way valves in some cases, allowing air that was forced in during and after copulation to become trapped in the peritoneum under high pressure. This resulted in a severely distended, tympanic abdominal wall and marked cranial displacement of the diaphragm, leading to tension pneumoperitoneum and increased intraabdominal pressure. The end result was restricted diaphragmatic movement, compression of the thoracic cavity, and severe pulmonary atelectasis. In addition, secondary compression of the vena cava, as seen in SO 2, can also limit venous return, resulting in hypotension, hypoxia, and, in severe cases, acute respiratory distress and circulatory collapse (Kim et al., 2000). In all three cases, the diaphragm was displaced so far cranially and the thoracic cavity so tightly compressed by highpressure air in the abdomen, it was deemed to be acutely life threatening. As observed for SO 1 while alive, free peritoneal air can also significantly increase buoyancy and negatively impact an animal’s ability to dive and forage.

All three animals with pneumoperitoneum exhibited perforation or avulsion of the vaginal tract. One sea otter with pneumoperitoneum had perforations of both the vagina and distal colon, but none of the harbor seals with only colorectal perforations exhibited pneumoperitoneum, indicating that development of tension pneumoperitoneum was more closely associated with vaginal perforation in these animals. However, gastrointestinal perforation cannot be excluded as a potential cause of pneumoperitoneum. In humans, pneumoperitoneum has been reported secondary to colorectal perforation during colonoscopy (Marwan et al., 2007) and introduction of compressed air into the rectum (Kim et al., 2000) but has not been reported in association with anal intercourse.  Interestingly, postcoital pneumoperitoneum also has been reported in humans after vigorous sexual intercourse, both secondary to vaginal perforation (Lal et al., 2001; Manchanda & Refaie, 2005) and with an intact vaginal wall (Angel et al., 1988; Johnson et al., 2002). Patients have presented with abdominal distention, abdominal tenderness, vomiting, shoulder pain, dyspnea, and pain on inspiration. In all cases, radiographs revealed free intraperitoneal gas beneath the diaphragm. During sexual intercourse, the penis functioned like a piston, creating a closed system that forced air through a vaginal tear into the peritoneum (Lal et al., 2001; Manchanda & Refaie, 2005); or through the cervix, into the uterus, and out through the fallopian tubes (Angel et al., 1988; Johnson et al., 2002). In humans, this latter event might occur as a result of penile-vaginal disproportion (Manchanda & Refaie, 2005), or for patients in the recent postpartum period (4 to 9 wks postpartum), the cervix could be sufficiently dilated to facilitate passage of air into the uterus during coitus (Angel et al., 1988; Johnson et al., 2002). This could have been a contributing factor for both SO 1 (10 wks postpartum) and SO 2 (dilated cervical os and full-term fetus in the pelvic canal at the time of forced copulation).

[...]

Depression & complexity: Beyond the topics (low energy & sleep issues), people experience different symptoms, with different levels of severity, at different times in their lives, with episodes that last different lengths of time

Depression is complicated – this is how our understanding of the condition has evolved over time. Saloni Dattani. Our World In Data, August 19, 2021 https://ourworldindata.org/what-is-depression

Summary

Depression is the most common mental health condition in the world, so understanding it has major consequences for a large number of people. But our recognition of the condition was murky until recently. The intricacies of the condition are becoming clearer because of the development of wider surveys, granular scales and more rigorous analysis. We have a better idea of what people experience and how their condition progresses over time.

What we know now is that depression is surprisingly complicated. Low energy and sleeping problems are the most common symptoms. But people with depression experience different symptoms, with different levels of severity, at different times in their lives, with episodes that last different lengths of time. In this post, we’ll explore how researchers have surveyed depression in the general population and how they have developed tools to measure depression. Then we’ll look at what we know about depression today.

Let’s look at each of these factors in more detail before we explore how they have informed our understanding of depression.

→ Surveying depression in the general population

→ Measuring depression on levels

→ Analyzing depression with more rigour

→ Sleeping problems and low energy tend to be the most common symptoms of depression

→ People experience different combinations of symptoms

→ Depression is an umbrella condition which contains subtypes

→ The symptoms of depression tend to change over time

→ Episodes of depression can occur frequently

→ Episodes of depression can last a long time

→ Depression is complicated

Moral universalism (the extent to which people exhibit the same level of altruism and trust toward strangers as toward in-group members): Have fewer friends, spend less time with them, and feel more lonely

Moral Universalism: Measurement and Economic Relevance. Benjamin Enke, Ricardo Rodríguez-Padilla, Florian Zimmermann. Management Science, Aug 10 2021. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2021.4086

Abstract: Many applied economic settings involve trade-offs between in-group members and strangers. To better understand decision making in these contexts, this paper measures and investigates the economic relevance of heterogeneity in moral universalism: the extent to which people exhibit the same level of altruism and trust toward strangers as toward in-group members. We first introduce a new experimentally validated, survey-based measure of moral universalism that is simple and easily scalable. We then deploy this tool in a large, representative sample of the U.S. population to study heterogeneity and economic relevance. We find that universalism is a relatively stable trait at the individual level. In exploratory analyses, heterogeneity in universalism is significantly related to observables: Older people, men, the rich, the rural, and the religious exhibit less universalist preferences and beliefs. Linking variation in universalism to self-reports of economic and social behaviors, we document the following correlations. Universalists donate less money locally, but more globally, and are less likely to exhibit home bias in equity and educational investments. In terms of social networks, universalists have fewer friends, spend less time with them, and feel more lonely. These results provide a blueprint for measuring moral universalism in applied settings and suggest that variation in universalism is relevant for understanding a myriad of economic behaviors.

Why are heavily regulated European labor markets associated with a smaller share of women in top management positions compared with liberal market economies such as in the US?

The Dilemma of Gender Equality: How Labor Market Regulation Divides Women by Class. Torben Iversen, Frances McCall Rosenbluth, Øyvind Skorge. Daedalus (2020) 149 (1): 86–99. https://doi.org/10.1162/daed_a_01775

Abstract: Women shoulder a heavier burden of family work than men in modern society, preventing them from matching male success in the external labor market. Limiting working hours is a plausible way to level the playing field by creating the possibility of less gendered roles for both sexes. But why then are heavily regulated European labor markets associated with a smaller share of women in top management positions compared with liberal market economies such as in the United States? We explain this puzzle with reference to the difficulty of ambitious women to signal their commitment to high-powered careers in regulated markets.

Despite a large influx of women into mainly service sector jobs over the past four decades, women continue to be underrepresented in the labor market, and they earn less on average than men. These gender differences are almost certainly linked to greater de facto responsibilities of women in child-rearing and household work, but there are major and intriguing differences across rich democracies.

In low- and mid-level jobs, the differences are fairly well understood. In Europe, union bargaining and wage compression put a higher floor under the lowest paid jobs where women disproportionately find themselves in every country. The gender gap in wages is smaller in Europe as a result, although another reason could be that low-productivity jobs may be scarcer. Regulated working hours, compatible with work-family balance, complements family-friendly policies such as public subsidization of childcare. Yet if this broadly accepted story is accurate, we should also expect the number of female managers of large firms and university-educated professionals to be rising as we travel from the United States and the United Kingdom to continental Europe and further north to Scandinavia. In fact, the reverse is true. Although the number is small everywhere, the share of women in high-powered private sector careers in the United States significantly exceeds that in Germany or Denmark. The explanation cannot be the long hours and inflexible schedules of professional work, since this is equally true in the United States. Also of no help are theories of occupational performance that predict greater female success in jobs requiring relationship management and multitasking, since these criteria characterize managerial jobs across the United States and Europe.

Our explanation instead focuses on unintended consequences: regulations that curtail working hours at nonmanagerial levels discourage employers from promoting women to higher levels, given that they have incomplete information about candidates. To employers who can measure productivity only imperfectly, long working hours are a signal – though a noisy one – of expected productivity and therefore of suitability for many kinds of higher-level managerial jobs. Labor market regulations tend to equalize both wages and employment opportunities for men and women when productivity is linked to hours worked, but it has the perverse effect of intensifying statistical discrimination against women in highend jobs, even when these jobs are themselves unregulated. This logic explains the opposite effects of working-hours regulation at the low and high ends of the occupational hierarchy. Sadly, all good things do not go together, and labor market regulations produce good and bad results at the same time.

We begin by distinguishing jobs along three dimensions: 1) whether hours worked are positively associated with (hourly) productivity; 2) whether there are ample opportunities for promotions based on competition rather than seniority; and 3) whether working hours are regulated (restricted) below the management level.

As a general matter, low- and mid-level jobs may or may not be regulated in terms of working hours and wages, whereas top-end jobs are typically unregulated. While both women and men may have equal levels of ambition, family responsibilities are borne disproportionately by women in a way that reduces, on average, their availability to work around the clock (see Figure 1).

Rhesus monkeys also choke under pressure; this indicates that there may be shared neural mechanisms that underlie the behavior in both humans and monkeys

Monkeys exhibit a paradoxical decrease in performance in high-stakes scenarios. Adam L. Smoulder et al.  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, August 31, 2021 118 (35) e2109643118; https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2109643118

Significance: Choking under pressure is a frustrating phenomenon experienced sometimes by skilled performers as well as during everyday life. The phenomenon has been extensively studied in humans, but it has not been previously shown whether animals also choke under pressure. Here we report that rhesus monkeys also choke under pressure. This indicates that there may be shared neural mechanisms that underlie the behavior in both humans and monkeys. Introducing an animal model for choking under pressure allows for opportunities to study the neural causes of this paradoxical behavior.

Abstract: In high-stakes situations, people sometimes exhibit a frustrating phenomenon known as “choking under pressure.” Usually, we perform better when the potential payoff is larger. However, once potential rewards get too high, performance paradoxically decreases—we “choke.” Why do we choke under pressure? An animal model of choking would facilitate the investigation of its neural basis. However, it could be that choking is a uniquely human occurrence. To determine whether animals also choke, we trained three rhesus monkeys to perform a difficult reaching task in which they knew in advance the amount of reward to be given upon successful completion. Like humans, monkeys performed worse when potential rewards were exceptionally valuable. Failures that occurred at the highest level of reward were due to overly cautious reaching, in line with the psychological theory that explicit monitoring of behavior leads to choking. Our results demonstrate that choking under pressure is not unique to humans, and thus, its neural basis might be conserved across species.

Keywords: motor controlrewardanimal behaviorreachingmotivation

Despite commonly experiencing empathy in daily life, older adults are not more prosocial than other age cohorts

Pollerhoff, Lena, Julia Stietz, Gregory J. Depow, Michael Inzlicht, Philipp Kanske, Shu-Chen Li, and Andrea M. Reiter. 2021. “Investigating Adult Age Differences in Real-life Empathy, Prosociality, and Well-being Using Experience Sampling.” PsyArXiv. August 23. doi:10.31234/osf.io/983ey

Abstract: While the importance of social affect and cognition is indisputable throughout the adult lifespan, findings of how empathy and prosociality develop and interact across adulthood are mixed, and real-life data are scarce. Research using ecological momentary assessment recently demonstrated that adults commonly experience empathy in daily life. Furthermore, predictors of empathy were linked to higher prosocial behavior and subjective well-being. However, to date, it is not clear whether there are adult age differences in daily empathy and daily prosociality and whether age moderates the relationship between empathy and prosociality across adulthood. Here we analyzed experience-sampling data collected from participants across the adult lifespan to study age effects on empathy, prosocial behavior, and well-being under real-life circumstances. Linear and quadratic age effects were found for the experience of empathy, with increased empathy across the three younger age groups (18 to 45 years) and a slight decrease in the oldest group (55 years and older). Neither prosocial behavior nor well-being showed significant age-related differences. We discuss these findings with respect to (partially discrepant) results derived from lab-based or traditional survey studies. We conclude that studies linking in-lab experiments with real-life experience-sampling might be a promising venue for future lifespan studies.

Residues of glyphosate in food and dietary exposure

Residues of glyphosate in food and dietary exposure. John L. Vicini, Pamela K. Jensen, Bruce M. Young, John T. Swarthout. Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety, August 16 2021. https://doi.org/10.1111/1541-4337.12822

Abstract: Glyphosate is the active ingredient in Roundup® brand nonselective herbicides, and residue testing for food has been conducted as part of the normal regulatory processes. Additional testing has been conducted by university researchers and nongovernmental agencies. Presence of residues needs to be put into the context of safety standards. Furthermore, to appropriately interpret residue data, analytical assays must be validated for each food sample matrix. Regulatory agency surveys indicate that 99% of glyphosate residues in food are below the European maximum residue limits (MRLs) or U.S. Environmental Protection Agency tolerances. These data support the conclusion that overall residues are not elevated above MRLs/tolerances due to agricultural practices or usage on genetically modified (GM) crops. However, it is important to understand that MRLs and tolerances are limits for legal pesticide usage. MRLs only provide health information when the sum of MRLs of all foods is compared to limits established by toxicology studies, such as the acceptable daily intake (ADI). Conclusions from dietary modeling that use actual food residues, or MRLs themselves, combined with consumption data indicate that dietary exposures to glyphosate are within established safe limits. Measurements of glyphosate in urine can also be used to estimate ingested glyphosate exposure, and studies indicate that exposure is <3% of the current European ADI for glyphosate, which is 0.5 mg glyphosate/kg body weight. Conclusions of risk assessments, based on dietary modeling or urine data, are that exposures to glyphosate from food are well below the amount that can be ingested daily over a lifetime with a reasonable certainty of no harm.

7 DISCUSSION

Calculating dietary consumption of glyphosate can be done using two disparate methods. In the first method, residues are measured in individual food items and these are summed based on consumption data for the foods that people eat. This approach requires answering several questions to make reasonable assumptions used in the modeling such as: (1) what residue value for a food is used; (2) is the food processed or cooked; (3) what residue value is used when an analyte's concentration is < LOD; (4) are mean, median, or 90th percentile values used for consumption; and (5) what and how much do people eat? In the second approach, for a pesticide like glyphosate with the knowledge of absorption from the gut, lack of metabolism, and elimination from the body, sampling of urine is an accurate way to calculate ingestion and exposure within the body (Acquavella et al., 2004; Niemann et al., 2015). Regardless of which of the two methods is used, these values need to be compared to a safety standard, such as the ADI or RfD, which are regulatory-derived safety standards. Results of determining exposure to glyphosate by dietary modeling or urinary glyphosate are presented in Table 5, Table 6, and Figure 2. Modeling allows different scenarios using estimates of consumption and data derived from market surveys, whereas urine is a surrogate for estimating actual dietary exposure to glyphosate. The results from these two methods are in relatively close agreement. Dietary estimates range from 0.03% to 18% depending on assumptions. An especially critical assumption used is the residue levels that are used. Urinary glyphosate estimates of exposure are 0.02%–2.67% of the ADI, which do not require an assumption about residue on individual foods.

In spite of that, testing and publishing about glyphosate residues, whether in peer-reviewed journals, by internet postings or in the news media, has become somewhat common in the last decade. Unfortunately, many of the popular press reports are accompanied by value-judgment words like “high” or “contaminate,” or they make scientifically inappropriate comparisons to other standards (i.e., concentrations in urine vs. regulatory defined residue levels for drinking water). Furthermore, some of these reports imply that glyphosate residues were not known to exist previously in a given food or in urine, and, therefore the findings are regarded as novel. Recent publications, such as Winter and Jara (2015), Winter et al. (2019), and Reeves et al. (2019), have attempted to provide more information about the process for risk assessment of pesticides conducted by regulatory agencies. Moreover, timely communications from regulatory agencies, such as BfR responding to reports of residues in food, German beer, or urine (BfR, 2016, 2017), provide helpful information from what should be a trustworthy source in the face of widespread social media communications about food and agriculture (Ryan et al., 2020).

One statistic that is often encountered in publications that also might generate concern by consumers is reports of increased trends over time of usage of a pesticide, either by expanded adoption or as the result of new technology, such as herbicide-tolerant crops (Benbrook, 2016). These statistics intimate that pesticide use has exceeded safe levels established by the original regulatory assessments. In one residue study, the authors suggested that it appeared that MRL values were adjusted due to actual observed increases and not based on toxicity (Bøhn et al., 2014). This is precisely how MRLs are derived. It is important to highlight that alterations in the use of a previously approved pesticide, such as usage of glyphosate on newly approved GT crops, require new residue data to be submitted from the pesticide registrant(s) prior to regulatory approval. These new residue data are reviewed by regulators in order to ensure that the previous ADI or RfD is not exceeded. Additionally, MRLs or tolerances are derived from empirical data of real-world conditions and, once established, MRLs represent for any crop the agricultural practice that results in the highest residue. EPA (1996) stated in their guidance that pesticide use patterns, such as changes in the preharvest interval and/or postharvest treatment, are likely to require residue studies, and potentially another petition for a new tolerance. Expanded usage of a pesticide might change, but by conservatively assuming that 100% of a crop will use the agricultural practice with the highest residue, exposure remaining below the ADI is not subject to changes in commercial adoption. If a new exposure resulted in the sum of all exposures exceeding the ADI, there would need to be a restriction in some use. Moreover, since regulatory authorities use data collected prior to authorization of cultivation or import of the crop, combined with periodic testing to ensure that tolerances are not being exceeded, these media reports of residues do not necessarily provide unexpected data. When properly conducted, independent, peer-reviewed studies are published, they can be a corroboration of the accuracy of previously reported regulatory residue studies.

Putting pesticide residues into context by converting these values to percentages of the EFSA- or EPA-derived ADI or RfD helps one understand the margin of safety, but many consumers want food that is free of synthetic pesticides (Krystallis & Chryssohoidis, 2005). According to Currie (1999), many believe that with improved assays, a concentration of zero might be detected, but that is scientifically not feasible.

More than ever, as in other areas of science, transparency on residues of pesticides and their assessment by global regulatory authorities entrusted by the public to ensure food safety is needed to address complex scientific information (OECD, 2020). The scientific publication process that requires peer-review of the data and conclusions has largely provided the basis for science-based regulatory assessments for the past century (Codex, 2004) . Although peer-review is not a foolproof process, it is a process with the intent of ensuring that results and conclusions from published studies are based on well-conducted and documented scientific experiments. This is in sharp contrast to the essentially unreviewed environment of media and online publications. Adequacy of peer review is increasingly more confusing with predatory journals and electronic publishing (Kelly et al., 2014). Since the public lacks training to help them distinguish information from peer-reviewed journals and science-based regulatory authorities from information they see in media reports and predatory journals, this review has included results on glyphosate residues from both sources to provide them with a single-point reference for an informed discussion of this subject.

Less intelligent Americans & British voters were more likely to have nationalist attitudes; the tendency to be more nationalist & belligerent may, among other things, form the microfoundation of democratic peace in international relations

Possible Evolutionary Origins of Nationalism. Satoshi Kanazawa. Political Behavior, Aug 23 2021. https://rd.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11109-021-09741-7

Abstract: Why do some individuals support nationalist policies while others don’t? The Savanna-IQ Interaction Hypothesis in evolutionary psychology suggests that more intelligent individuals may be more likely to acquire and espouse evolutionarily novel values whereas less intelligent individuals may be more likely to hold evolutionarily familiar values. Nationalism is evolutionarily familiar, so the Savanna-IQ Interaction Hypothesis suggests that less intelligent individuals may be more likely to be nationalist. The analyses of the General Social Survey (GSS) data in the US and the National Child Development Study (NCDS) data in the UK confirmed the prediction. Less intelligent Americans were more likely to have nationalist attitudes, and less intelligent British voters were more likely to support nationalist parties in five general elections over three decades. The tendency of less intelligent individuals to be more nationalist and belligerent may, among other things, form the microfoundation of democratic peace in international relations.