Sex differences in 30 facets of the five factor model of personality in the large public (N = 320,128). Petri J.Kajonius, John Johnson. Personality and Individual Differences, Volume 129, 15 July 2018, Pages 126-130. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2018.03.026
Highlights
• We studied the sex gap in 30 facet traits (IPIP-NEO) in a large US sample (N = 320,128).
• Women scored higher (d > 0.50) in Anxiety, Vulnerability, Openness to Emotions, Altruism, and Sympathy.
• Men only scored higher (d > 0.20) in Excitement-seeking and Openness to Intellect.
Abstract: The present study reports on the scope and size of sex differences in 30 personality facet traits, using one of the largest US samples to date (N = 320,128). The study was one of the first to utilize the open access version of the Five-Factor Model of personality (IPIP-NEO-120) in the large public. Overall, across age-groups 19–69 years old, women scored notably higher than men in Agreeableness (d = 0.58) and Neuroticism (d = 0.40). Specifically, women scored d > 0.50 in facet traits Anxiety, Vulnerability, Openness to Emotions, Altruism, and Sympathy, while men only scored slightly higher (d > 0.20) than women in facet traits Excitement-seeking and Openness to Intellect. Sex gaps in the five trait domains were fairly constant across all age-groups, with the exception for age-group 19–29 years old. The discussion centers on how to interpret effects sizes in sex differences in personality traits, and tentative consequences.
h/t: https://twitter.com/DegenRolf
Check also Sex Differences in the Big Five Model Personality Traits: A Behavior Genetics Exploration. Susan C. South, Amber M. Jarnecke1, Colin E. Vize. Journal of Research in Personality, http://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2018/03/sex-differences-on-big-five-traints.html
Monday, March 26, 2018
The palliative function of system justification is more homogeneously distributed across individual &collective measures of social status than proposed by the theory, cause the function was unaffected either by society‐level inequality or by individual‐level social status
System justification enhances well‐being: A longitudinal analysis of the palliative function of system justification in 18 countries. Salvador Vargas‐Salfate et al. British Journal of Social Psychology, https://doi.org/10.1111/bjso.12254
Abstract: According to the palliative function of ideology hypothesis proposed by System Justification Theory, endorsing system‐justifying beliefs is positively related to general psychological well‐being, because this fulfils existential, epistemic, and relational needs. We discuss and address three main issues: (1) the role of societal inequality, (2) comparisons by social status, and (3) cross‐sectional versus longitudinal research. We used a longitudinal survey of representative online samples (N = 5,901) from 18 countries. The results supported the main argument proposed by the theory, in that system justification was positively and significantly related to life satisfaction and negatively related to anxiety and depression. The pattern of results suggested that the palliative function of system justification is more homogeneously distributed across individual and collective measures of social status than proposed by the theory, because the function was unaffected either by society‐level inequality or by individual‐level social status. These results allow us to infer that one of the reasons for the high stability of social arrangements is located in the psychological domain of palliative effects.
Abstract: According to the palliative function of ideology hypothesis proposed by System Justification Theory, endorsing system‐justifying beliefs is positively related to general psychological well‐being, because this fulfils existential, epistemic, and relational needs. We discuss and address three main issues: (1) the role of societal inequality, (2) comparisons by social status, and (3) cross‐sectional versus longitudinal research. We used a longitudinal survey of representative online samples (N = 5,901) from 18 countries. The results supported the main argument proposed by the theory, in that system justification was positively and significantly related to life satisfaction and negatively related to anxiety and depression. The pattern of results suggested that the palliative function of system justification is more homogeneously distributed across individual and collective measures of social status than proposed by the theory, because the function was unaffected either by society‐level inequality or by individual‐level social status. These results allow us to infer that one of the reasons for the high stability of social arrangements is located in the psychological domain of palliative effects.
Is belief superiority justified by superior knowledge?
Is belief superiority justified by superior knowledge? Michael P. Hall, Kaitlin T. Raimi. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, Volume 76, May 2018, Pages 290–306. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2018.03.001
Highlights
• People expressing belief superiority claim enhanced knowledge on that topic.
• Belief superiority is unassociated with true knowledge of many political issues.
• Belief superiority is associated with increased congenial selective exposure bias.
• Manipulations of belief superiority decreased subsequent selective exposure.
Abstract: Individuals expressing belief superiority—the belief that one's views are superior to other viewpoints—perceive themselves as better informed about that topic, but no research has verified whether this perception is justified. The present research examined whether people expressing belief superiority on four political issues demonstrated superior knowledge or superior knowledge-seeking behavior. Despite perceiving themselves as more knowledgeable, knowledge assessments revealed that the belief superior exhibited the greatest gaps between their perceived and actual knowledge. When given the opportunity to pursue additional information in that domain, belief-superior individuals frequently favored agreeable over disagreeable information, but also indicated awareness of this bias. Lastly, experimentally manipulated feedback about one's knowledge had some success in affecting belief superiority and resulting information-seeking behavior. Specifically, when belief superiority is lowered, people attend to information they may have previously regarded as inferior. Implications of unjustified belief superiority and biased information pursuit for political discourse are discussed.
Keywords: Belief superiority; Knowledge; Selective exposure; Metacognition
Highlights
• People expressing belief superiority claim enhanced knowledge on that topic.
• Belief superiority is unassociated with true knowledge of many political issues.
• Belief superiority is associated with increased congenial selective exposure bias.
• Manipulations of belief superiority decreased subsequent selective exposure.
Abstract: Individuals expressing belief superiority—the belief that one's views are superior to other viewpoints—perceive themselves as better informed about that topic, but no research has verified whether this perception is justified. The present research examined whether people expressing belief superiority on four political issues demonstrated superior knowledge or superior knowledge-seeking behavior. Despite perceiving themselves as more knowledgeable, knowledge assessments revealed that the belief superior exhibited the greatest gaps between their perceived and actual knowledge. When given the opportunity to pursue additional information in that domain, belief-superior individuals frequently favored agreeable over disagreeable information, but also indicated awareness of this bias. Lastly, experimentally manipulated feedback about one's knowledge had some success in affecting belief superiority and resulting information-seeking behavior. Specifically, when belief superiority is lowered, people attend to information they may have previously regarded as inferior. Implications of unjustified belief superiority and biased information pursuit for political discourse are discussed.
Keywords: Belief superiority; Knowledge; Selective exposure; Metacognition
Studying dream content using the archive and search engine on DreamBank.net: Sexual intercourse in dreams
Studying dream content using the archive and search engine on DreamBank.net. G. William Domhoff, Adam Schneider. Consciousness and Cognition, 17, 1238-1247. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2008.06.010
3.3. Sexual intercourse in dreams
Although dreams and sexuality are often closely related in popular culture, perhaps in part due to Freud’s well-known theory concerning the hidden sexual meanings said to be present in most dreams, systematic studies of dream content suggest that there is very little explicit sexual content in dreams. In the Hall and Van de Castle (1966, p. 181) normative sample, only 12% of male dreams and 4% of women’s dreams had as much as a sensual thought or a romantic kiss.
Since our past research suggests that a relative handful of terms are usually used by adults in reporting their sexual activities in dreams, it is possible to attempt generic searches for references to sexual activities in dreams. Such searches will miss some references to sexual activities, and will pick up some false positives, such as ‘‘we decided not to have sex,” but the baselines and samples that are obtained are nonetheless useful for studying sexuality in dreams. The most useful terms for this purpose include the past and present tenses of ‘‘making love,” ‘‘having sex,” and ‘‘kissing.” Exact terms and euphemisms referring to sexual organs also can lead to references to sexual interactions. In studies of long dream series from individuals, it is possible, and indeed essential, to tailor the sexual references word string to include pet terms and idiosyncratic phrases, thereby making the searches even more encompassing.
For purposes of this paper, the focus will be on the frequency of sexual intercourse because terms like ‘‘kissing” and terms for sexual parts lead to many false positives. (The word string used in his study to find references to sexual intercourse can be found in the Appendix A.) When the various tenses of ‘‘making love” and ‘‘having sex” are searched for in the same dream reports that Hall and Van de Castle used to create their normative findings, the results show an even lower frequency of references to sexual intercourse than that found with the Hall and Van de Castle’s coding categories: 2.0% for men (vs. 3.4% in the Hall and Van de Castle normative sample) and 0.4% for women (vs. 1.0% in the Hall and Van de Castle normative sample). However, this result does provide a cross-validation in that the frequency of sexual intercourse is very low and men have more mentions of sexual intercourse than women according to both methods.
As was the case with religious and spiritual elements, the search for sexual elements provides a sample of dreams that can be studied for themes or patterns in sex dreams, from which we learn that sometimes the sexual activity is interrupted by others or is rendered problematic in the dreamer’s mind because the partner is an unexpected one. The findings from this search also raise the same general question raised by the findings on religious elements. Why is thinking about sexuality more pervasive in waking thought than it appears to be in dreaming?
3.3. Sexual intercourse in dreams
Although dreams and sexuality are often closely related in popular culture, perhaps in part due to Freud’s well-known theory concerning the hidden sexual meanings said to be present in most dreams, systematic studies of dream content suggest that there is very little explicit sexual content in dreams. In the Hall and Van de Castle (1966, p. 181) normative sample, only 12% of male dreams and 4% of women’s dreams had as much as a sensual thought or a romantic kiss.
Since our past research suggests that a relative handful of terms are usually used by adults in reporting their sexual activities in dreams, it is possible to attempt generic searches for references to sexual activities in dreams. Such searches will miss some references to sexual activities, and will pick up some false positives, such as ‘‘we decided not to have sex,” but the baselines and samples that are obtained are nonetheless useful for studying sexuality in dreams. The most useful terms for this purpose include the past and present tenses of ‘‘making love,” ‘‘having sex,” and ‘‘kissing.” Exact terms and euphemisms referring to sexual organs also can lead to references to sexual interactions. In studies of long dream series from individuals, it is possible, and indeed essential, to tailor the sexual references word string to include pet terms and idiosyncratic phrases, thereby making the searches even more encompassing.
For purposes of this paper, the focus will be on the frequency of sexual intercourse because terms like ‘‘kissing” and terms for sexual parts lead to many false positives. (The word string used in his study to find references to sexual intercourse can be found in the Appendix A.) When the various tenses of ‘‘making love” and ‘‘having sex” are searched for in the same dream reports that Hall and Van de Castle used to create their normative findings, the results show an even lower frequency of references to sexual intercourse than that found with the Hall and Van de Castle’s coding categories: 2.0% for men (vs. 3.4% in the Hall and Van de Castle normative sample) and 0.4% for women (vs. 1.0% in the Hall and Van de Castle normative sample). However, this result does provide a cross-validation in that the frequency of sexual intercourse is very low and men have more mentions of sexual intercourse than women according to both methods.
As was the case with religious and spiritual elements, the search for sexual elements provides a sample of dreams that can be studied for themes or patterns in sex dreams, from which we learn that sometimes the sexual activity is interrupted by others or is rendered problematic in the dreamer’s mind because the partner is an unexpected one. The findings from this search also raise the same general question raised by the findings on religious elements. Why is thinking about sexuality more pervasive in waking thought than it appears to be in dreaming?
Pathological personality traits and immoral tendencies
Pathological personality traits and immoral tendencies. Jennifer K. Vrabela et al. Personality and Individual Differences, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2018.02.043
Highlights
• Antagonism and disinhibition were associated with most of the immoral tendencies.
• Negative affectivity had positive associations with greed and anger.
• Negative affectivity had positive associations with benign and malicious envy.
• Detachment was associated with malicious envy.
• Psychoticism was not associated with any of the immoral tendencies.
Abstract: The overarching goal of the present studies was to explore the connections between pathological personality traits and an array of immoral tendencies. Across three studies, we predicted that individuals with certain pathological personality traits (e.g., antagonism) would be more likely to exhibit immoral tendencies (e.g., greed, envy). The results of Study 1 (N = 714) revealed that antagonism, disinhibition, and negative affectivity had unique positive associations with greed. The results of Study 2 (N = 1134) showed that antagonism and negative affectivity had unique positive associations with benign and malicious envy, whereas detachment had a positive association with malicious envy. The results of Study 3 (N = 476) showed that antagonism and disinhibition had unique positive associations with most of the “seven deadly sins” (e.g., anger, lust, pride), whereas negative affectivity had less consistent associations with the seven deadly sins. Discussion focuses on the implications of these results for understanding the links between pathological personality traits and immoral tendencies.
Highlights
• Antagonism and disinhibition were associated with most of the immoral tendencies.
• Negative affectivity had positive associations with greed and anger.
• Negative affectivity had positive associations with benign and malicious envy.
• Detachment was associated with malicious envy.
• Psychoticism was not associated with any of the immoral tendencies.
Abstract: The overarching goal of the present studies was to explore the connections between pathological personality traits and an array of immoral tendencies. Across three studies, we predicted that individuals with certain pathological personality traits (e.g., antagonism) would be more likely to exhibit immoral tendencies (e.g., greed, envy). The results of Study 1 (N = 714) revealed that antagonism, disinhibition, and negative affectivity had unique positive associations with greed. The results of Study 2 (N = 1134) showed that antagonism and negative affectivity had unique positive associations with benign and malicious envy, whereas detachment had a positive association with malicious envy. The results of Study 3 (N = 476) showed that antagonism and disinhibition had unique positive associations with most of the “seven deadly sins” (e.g., anger, lust, pride), whereas negative affectivity had less consistent associations with the seven deadly sins. Discussion focuses on the implications of these results for understanding the links between pathological personality traits and immoral tendencies.
Sunday, March 25, 2018
Approximately 95% of the potential predictive accuracy attainable for an individual is available within the social ties of that individual only, without requiring the individual's data
Information flow reveals prediction limits in online social activity. James P. Bagrow, Xipei Liu, Lewis Mitchell. arXiv, https://arxiv.org/abs/1708.04575
Abstract: Modern society depends on the flow of information over online social networks, and popular social platforms now generate significant behavioral data. Yet it remains unclear what fundamental limits may exist when using these data to predict the activities and interests of individuals. Here we apply tools from information theory to estimate the predictive information content of the writings of Twitter users and to what extent that information flows between users. Distinct temporal and social effects are visible in the information flow, and these estimates provide a fundamental bound on the predictive accuracy achievable with these data. Due to the social flow of information, we estimate that approximately 95% of the potential predictive accuracy attainable for an individual is available within the social ties of that individual only, without requiring the individual's data.
Abstract: Modern society depends on the flow of information over online social networks, and popular social platforms now generate significant behavioral data. Yet it remains unclear what fundamental limits may exist when using these data to predict the activities and interests of individuals. Here we apply tools from information theory to estimate the predictive information content of the writings of Twitter users and to what extent that information flows between users. Distinct temporal and social effects are visible in the information flow, and these estimates provide a fundamental bound on the predictive accuracy achievable with these data. Due to the social flow of information, we estimate that approximately 95% of the potential predictive accuracy attainable for an individual is available within the social ties of that individual only, without requiring the individual's data.
Chimpanzee and gorilla humor: progressive emergence from origins in the wild to captivity to sign language learning
Chimpanzee and gorilla humor: progressive emergence from origins in the wild to captivity to sign language learning. Paul McGhee. International Journal of Humor Research, https://doi.org/10.1515/humor-2018-0017
Abstract: This article examines available (mainly anecdotal) evidence related to the experience of humor among chimpanzees and gorillas in the wild, in captivity and following systematic sign language training. Humor is defined as one form of symbolic play. Positive evidence of object permanence, cross-modal perception, deferred imitation and deception among chimpanzees and gorillas is used to document their cognitive capacity for humor. Playful teasing is proposed as the primordial form of humor among apes in the wild. This same form of humor is commonly found among signing apes, both in overt behavior and in signed communications. A second form of humor emerges in the context of captivity, consisting of throwing feces at human onlookers—who often respond to this with laughter. This early form of humor shows up in signing apes in the form of calling others “dirty,” a sign associated with feces. The diversity of forms of signing humor shown by apes is linked to McGhee, Paul E. Humor: Its origin and development. San Francisco, CA: W. H. Freeman & Co, McGhee, Paul E. Understanding and promoting the development of children’s humor. Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt. model of humor development.
Keywords: Chimpanzee; coping; gorilla; humor; mischief; play; pretend; scatological; sign language; slapstick; teasing
Abstract: This article examines available (mainly anecdotal) evidence related to the experience of humor among chimpanzees and gorillas in the wild, in captivity and following systematic sign language training. Humor is defined as one form of symbolic play. Positive evidence of object permanence, cross-modal perception, deferred imitation and deception among chimpanzees and gorillas is used to document their cognitive capacity for humor. Playful teasing is proposed as the primordial form of humor among apes in the wild. This same form of humor is commonly found among signing apes, both in overt behavior and in signed communications. A second form of humor emerges in the context of captivity, consisting of throwing feces at human onlookers—who often respond to this with laughter. This early form of humor shows up in signing apes in the form of calling others “dirty,” a sign associated with feces. The diversity of forms of signing humor shown by apes is linked to McGhee, Paul E. Humor: Its origin and development. San Francisco, CA: W. H. Freeman & Co, McGhee, Paul E. Understanding and promoting the development of children’s humor. Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt. model of humor development.
Keywords: Chimpanzee; coping; gorilla; humor; mischief; play; pretend; scatological; sign language; slapstick; teasing
Caruana, Fausto. "Laughter as a Neurochemical Mechanism Aimed at Reinforcing Social Bonds: Integrating Evidence from Opioidergic Activity and Brain Stimulation." Journal of Neuroscience 37, no. 36 (September 6, 2017): 8581-8582. DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1589-17.2017
Manninen, Sandra, Lauri Tuominen, Robin Dunbar, Tomi Karjalainen, Jussi Hirvonen, Eveliina Arponen, Riitta Hari, Iiro P. Jääskeläinen, Mikko Sams, and Lauri Nummenmaa. "Social Laughter Triggers Endogenous Opioid Release in Humans." Journal of Neuroscience (May 23, 2017): 0688-16. DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0688-16.2017
O’Nions, Elizabeth, César F. Lima, Sophie K. Scott, Ruth Roberts, Eamon J. McCrory, Essi Viding. "Reduced Laughter Contagion in Boys at Risk for Psychopathy." Current Biology (Published online September 28, 2017) DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2017.08.062
Davila-Ross, M., Allcock, B., Thomas, C., & Bard, K. A. (2011). Aping expressions? Chimpanzees produce distinct laugh types when responding to laughter of others. Emotion, 11(5), 1013-1020. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0022594
Brian Knutson et al., “Anticipation of play elicits high-frequency ultrasonic vocalizations in young rats”, Journal of Comparative Psychology, 1998
Uwe Jürgens, “Neural pathways underlying vocal control”, Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, March 2002
Matthew Gervais and David Sloan Wilson, “The evolution and functions of laughter and humor: A synthetic approach”, The Quarterly Review of Biology, December 2005
Carolyn McGettigan et al., “Individual differences in laughter perception reveal roles for mentalizing and sensorimotor systems in the evaluation of emotional authenticity”, Cerebral Cortex, 2013
Uta Frith and Christopher D. Frith, “Development and neurophysiology of mentalizing”, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, March 2003
Joyce W. Yuan et al., “Physiological down-regulation and positive emotion in marital interaction”, Emotion, August 2010
Sophie Scott et al., “The social life of laughter”, Trends in Cognitive Sciences, December 2014
Julia Vettin and Dietmar Todt, “Laughter in conversation: Features of occurrence and acoustic structure”, Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, June 2004
Saturday, March 24, 2018
Zoon Politikon: The Evolutionary Origins of Human Socio-political Systems
Zoon Politikon: The Evolutionary Origins of Human Socio-political Systems. Herbert Gintis, Carel van Schaik, Christopher Boehm. Behavioural Processes, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beproc.2018.01.007
Highlights
• Strong social interdependence plus availability of lethal weapons in early hominin society undermined the standard social dominance hierarchy.
• The successful political structure that replaced the ancestral social dominance hierarchy was an egalitarian political system in which the group controlled its leaders.
• The heightened social value of non-authoritarian leadership entailed enhanced biological fitness for such traits as linguistic facility, political ability, and human hypercognition.
• This equalitarian political system persisted until cultural changes in the Holocene fostered accumulation of material wealth, when a social hierarchy with authoritarian leaders could again be sustained.
Highlights
• Strong social interdependence plus availability of lethal weapons in early hominin society undermined the standard social dominance hierarchy.
• The successful political structure that replaced the ancestral social dominance hierarchy was an egalitarian political system in which the group controlled its leaders.
• The heightened social value of non-authoritarian leadership entailed enhanced biological fitness for such traits as linguistic facility, political ability, and human hypercognition.
• This equalitarian political system persisted until cultural changes in the Holocene fostered accumulation of material wealth, when a social hierarchy with authoritarian leaders could again be sustained.
Climate change believers were most likely to endorse federal climate policies; skeptics were most likely to report pro-environmental behavior
Believing in climate change, but not behaving sustainably: Evidence from a one-year longitudinal study. Michael P. Hall, Neil A. Lewis Jr, Phoebe C. Ellsworth. Journal of Environmental Psychology, Volume 56, April 2018, Pages 55–62. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2018.03.001
Highlights
• We conducted a one-year longitudinal study of 600 Americans' climate beliefs.
• Cluster analyses found three distinct groups based on climate belief trajectories.
• Climate change believers were most likely to endorse federal climate policies.
• Climate change skeptics were most likely to report pro-environmental behavior.
Abstract: We conducted a one-year longitudinal study in which 600 American adults regularly reported their climate change beliefs, pro-environmental behavior, and other climate-change related measures. Using latent class analyses, we uncovered three clusters of Americans with distinct climate belief trajectories: (1) the “Skeptical,” who believed least in climate change; (2) the “Cautiously Worried,” who had moderate beliefs in climate change; and (3) the “Highly Concerned,” who had the strongest beliefs and concern about climate change. Cluster membership predicted different outcomes: the “Highly Concerned” were most supportive of government climate policies, but least likely to report individual-level actions, whereas the “Skeptical” opposed policy solutions but were most likely to report engaging in individual-level pro-environmental behaviors. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.
Keywords: Climate change; Cluster analysis; Attitudes; Beliefs; Behavior
Highlights
• We conducted a one-year longitudinal study of 600 Americans' climate beliefs.
• Cluster analyses found three distinct groups based on climate belief trajectories.
• Climate change believers were most likely to endorse federal climate policies.
• Climate change skeptics were most likely to report pro-environmental behavior.
Abstract: We conducted a one-year longitudinal study in which 600 American adults regularly reported their climate change beliefs, pro-environmental behavior, and other climate-change related measures. Using latent class analyses, we uncovered three clusters of Americans with distinct climate belief trajectories: (1) the “Skeptical,” who believed least in climate change; (2) the “Cautiously Worried,” who had moderate beliefs in climate change; and (3) the “Highly Concerned,” who had the strongest beliefs and concern about climate change. Cluster membership predicted different outcomes: the “Highly Concerned” were most supportive of government climate policies, but least likely to report individual-level actions, whereas the “Skeptical” opposed policy solutions but were most likely to report engaging in individual-level pro-environmental behaviors. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.
Keywords: Climate change; Cluster analysis; Attitudes; Beliefs; Behavior
Schadenfreude towards initially successful persons was intensified when they displayed dominance (i.e., hubristic pride or general dominance) instead of prestige (i.e., authentic pride or general prestige) or other displays (i.e., embarrassment) following their achievement. This effect was mediated via inferiors’ malicious envy.
Lange, Jens,and Lea Boecker 2018. “Preprint - Schadenfreude as Social-functional Dominance Regulator”. Open Science Framework. March 22. osf.io/x72sk
Abstract: Schadenfreude follows from misfortunes happening to other individuals. It is therefore an essentially social emotion. However, previous research has mainly explored its intrapersonal functions. Complementing these findings, we propose a social-functional approach to schadenfreude. Seven studies (total N = 2,362) support that (a) schadenfreude is a reaction to a misfortune befalling an initially dominance-displaying individual and (b) the public expression of schadenfreude downregulates the dominance of the other person. Specifically, schadenfreude towards initially successful persons was intensified when they displayed dominance (i.e., hubristic pride or general dominance) instead of prestige (i.e., authentic pride or general prestige) or other displays (i.e., embarrassment) following their achievement (Studies 1 to 3). This effect was mediated via inferiors’ malicious envy (Study 4). The public expression of schadenfreude then reduced the perceived dominance of the initially successful person compared to private expressions of schadenfreude and awkward silence (Studies 5 and 6). This dominance reduction further had downstream consequences for the superior person (Study 7). The findings underline the social functioning of schadenfreude and provide avenues for research on schadenfreude at the intrapersonal, interpersonal, and intergroup level.
Abstract: Schadenfreude follows from misfortunes happening to other individuals. It is therefore an essentially social emotion. However, previous research has mainly explored its intrapersonal functions. Complementing these findings, we propose a social-functional approach to schadenfreude. Seven studies (total N = 2,362) support that (a) schadenfreude is a reaction to a misfortune befalling an initially dominance-displaying individual and (b) the public expression of schadenfreude downregulates the dominance of the other person. Specifically, schadenfreude towards initially successful persons was intensified when they displayed dominance (i.e., hubristic pride or general dominance) instead of prestige (i.e., authentic pride or general prestige) or other displays (i.e., embarrassment) following their achievement (Studies 1 to 3). This effect was mediated via inferiors’ malicious envy (Study 4). The public expression of schadenfreude then reduced the perceived dominance of the initially successful person compared to private expressions of schadenfreude and awkward silence (Studies 5 and 6). This dominance reduction further had downstream consequences for the superior person (Study 7). The findings underline the social functioning of schadenfreude and provide avenues for research on schadenfreude at the intrapersonal, interpersonal, and intergroup level.
Dogs (Canis familiaris) stick to what they have learned rather than conform to their conspecifics’ behavior
Dogs (Canis familiaris) stick to what they have learned rather than conform to their conspecifics’ behavior. Markus Germar et al. PLoS, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0194808
Abstract: In recent years, an increasing number of studies has investigated majority influence in nonhuman animals. However, due to both terminological and methodological issues, evidence for conformity in nonhuman animals is scarce and controversial. Preliminary evidence suggests that wild birds, wild monkeys, and fish show conformity, that is, forgoing personal information in order to copy the majority. By contrast, chimpanzees seem to lack this tendency. The present study is the first to examine whether dogs (Canis familiaris) show conformity. Specifically, we tested whether dogs conform to a majority of conspecifics rather than stick to what they have previously learned. After dogs had acquired a behavioral preference via training (i.e., shaping), they were confronted with counter-preferential behavior of either no, one or three conspecifics. Traditional frequentist analyses show that the dogs’ behavior did not differ significantly between the three conditions. Complementary Bayesian analyses suggest that our data provide moderate evidence for the null hypothesis. In conclusion, our results suggest that dogs stick to what they have learned rather than conform to the counter-preferential behavior of others. We discuss the possible statistical and methodological limitations of this finding. Furthermore, we take a functional perspective on conformity and discuss under which circumstances dogs might show conformity after all.
Abstract: In recent years, an increasing number of studies has investigated majority influence in nonhuman animals. However, due to both terminological and methodological issues, evidence for conformity in nonhuman animals is scarce and controversial. Preliminary evidence suggests that wild birds, wild monkeys, and fish show conformity, that is, forgoing personal information in order to copy the majority. By contrast, chimpanzees seem to lack this tendency. The present study is the first to examine whether dogs (Canis familiaris) show conformity. Specifically, we tested whether dogs conform to a majority of conspecifics rather than stick to what they have previously learned. After dogs had acquired a behavioral preference via training (i.e., shaping), they were confronted with counter-preferential behavior of either no, one or three conspecifics. Traditional frequentist analyses show that the dogs’ behavior did not differ significantly between the three conditions. Complementary Bayesian analyses suggest that our data provide moderate evidence for the null hypothesis. In conclusion, our results suggest that dogs stick to what they have learned rather than conform to the counter-preferential behavior of others. We discuss the possible statistical and methodological limitations of this finding. Furthermore, we take a functional perspective on conformity and discuss under which circumstances dogs might show conformity after all.
Friday, March 23, 2018
Independent Fiscal Councils: Tentatively associated with more accurate and less optimistic fiscal forecasts, as well as greater compliance with fiscal rules
Independent Fiscal Councils: Recent Trends and Performance. Roel M. W. J. Beetsma; Xavier Debrun; Xiangming Fang; Young Kim; Victor Duarte Lledo; Samba Mbaye ; Xiaoxiao Zhang. IMF Working Paper No. 18/68, www.imf.org/en/Publications/WP/Issues/2018/03/23/Independent-Fiscal-Councils-Recent-Trends-and-Performance-45726
Abstract: Countries increasingly rely on independent fiscal councils to constrain policymakers’ discretion and curb the bias towards excessive deficits and pro-cyclical policies. Since fiscal councils are often recent and heterogeneous across countries, assessing their impact is challenging. Using the latest (2016) vintage of the IMF Fiscal Council Dataset, we focus on two tasks expected to strengthen fiscal performance: the preparation or assessment of forecasts, and the monitoring of compliance with fiscal rules. Tentative econometric evidence suggests that the presence of a fiscal council is associated with more accurate and less optimistic fiscal forecasts, as well as greater compliance with fiscal rules.
Abstract: Countries increasingly rely on independent fiscal councils to constrain policymakers’ discretion and curb the bias towards excessive deficits and pro-cyclical policies. Since fiscal councils are often recent and heterogeneous across countries, assessing their impact is challenging. Using the latest (2016) vintage of the IMF Fiscal Council Dataset, we focus on two tasks expected to strengthen fiscal performance: the preparation or assessment of forecasts, and the monitoring of compliance with fiscal rules. Tentative econometric evidence suggests that the presence of a fiscal council is associated with more accurate and less optimistic fiscal forecasts, as well as greater compliance with fiscal rules.
Personal Pornography Viewing and Sexual Satisfaction: Reductions in satisfaction tend to initiate once viewing reaches once a month, and that additional increases in the frequency of viewing lead to disproportionately larger decrements in satisfaction
Personal Pornography Viewing and Sexual Satisfaction: A Quadratic Analysis. Paul J. Wright, Ana J. Bridges, Chyng Sun, Matthew B. Ezzell & Jennifer A. Johnson. Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy, Volume 44, 2018 - Issue 3, Pages 308-315. https://doi.org/10.1080/0092623X.2017.1377131
ABSTRACT: Personal pornography viewing has been associated with lower sexual satisfaction in both experimental and observational research. The language used to hypothesize this relationship typically suggests that it is frequent viewing, rather than infrequent or only occasional viewing, that is responsible for any adverse effects. When the nature of the relationship between a predictor and a criterion depends on the levels of the predictor, a curvilinear relationship is indicated. Nevertheless, studies have assumed linearity in their analytical approach. Curvilinear relationships will go undetected unless they are specifically tested. This article presents results from a survey of approximately 1,500 U.S. adults. Quadratic analyses indicated a curvilinear relationship between personal pornography viewing and sexual satisfaction in the form of a predominately negative, concave downward curve. The nature of the curvilinearity did not differ as a function of participants' gender, relationship status, or religiosity. But the negative acceleration was slightly more pronounced for men than for women, for people not in a relationship than for people in a relationship, and for religious people than for nonreligious people. For all groups, negative simple slopes were present when viewing reached once a month or more. These results are correlational only. However, if an effects perspective were adopted, it would suggest that consuming pornography less than once a month has little or no impact on satisfaction, that reductions in satisfaction tend to initiate once viewing reaches once a month, and that additional increases in the frequency of viewing lead to disproportionately larger decrements in satisfaction.
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My comments: I disagree with these conclusions. And the guys I know that are avid porn consumers, all of them bisexual or gay, do not experience those effects.
ABSTRACT: Personal pornography viewing has been associated with lower sexual satisfaction in both experimental and observational research. The language used to hypothesize this relationship typically suggests that it is frequent viewing, rather than infrequent or only occasional viewing, that is responsible for any adverse effects. When the nature of the relationship between a predictor and a criterion depends on the levels of the predictor, a curvilinear relationship is indicated. Nevertheless, studies have assumed linearity in their analytical approach. Curvilinear relationships will go undetected unless they are specifically tested. This article presents results from a survey of approximately 1,500 U.S. adults. Quadratic analyses indicated a curvilinear relationship between personal pornography viewing and sexual satisfaction in the form of a predominately negative, concave downward curve. The nature of the curvilinearity did not differ as a function of participants' gender, relationship status, or religiosity. But the negative acceleration was slightly more pronounced for men than for women, for people not in a relationship than for people in a relationship, and for religious people than for nonreligious people. For all groups, negative simple slopes were present when viewing reached once a month or more. These results are correlational only. However, if an effects perspective were adopted, it would suggest that consuming pornography less than once a month has little or no impact on satisfaction, that reductions in satisfaction tend to initiate once viewing reaches once a month, and that additional increases in the frequency of viewing lead to disproportionately larger decrements in satisfaction.
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My comments: I disagree with these conclusions. And the guys I know that are avid porn consumers, all of them bisexual or gay, do not experience those effects.
Sex differences in facial emotion perception ability across the lifespan: emotion perception abilities peak between the ages of 15 and 30, with poorer performance by younger adults and declining performance after that
Sex differences in facial emotion perception ability across the lifespan. Sally Olderbak, Oliver Wilhelm, Andrea Hildebrandt & Jordi Quoidbach. Cognition and Emotion, https://doi.org/10.1080/02699931.2018.1454403
ABSTRACT: Perception of emotion in the face is a key component of human social cognition and is considered vital for many domains of life; however, little is known about how this ability differs across the lifespan for men and women. We addressed this question with a large community sample (N = 100,257) of persons ranging from younger than 15 to older than 60 years of age. Participants were viewers of the television show “Tout le Monde Joue”, and the task was presented on television, with participants responding via their mobile devices. Applying latent variable modeling, and establishing measurement invariance between males and females and across age, we found that, for both males and females, emotion perception abilities peak between the ages of 15 and 30, with poorer performance by younger adults and declining performance after the age of 30. In addition, we show a consistent advantage by females across the lifespan, which decreases in magnitude with increasing age. This large scale study with a wide range of people and testing environments suggests these effects are largely robust. Implications are discussed.
KEYWORDS: Emotion perception, emotion recognition, sex differences, aging, latent variable modeling
ABSTRACT: Perception of emotion in the face is a key component of human social cognition and is considered vital for many domains of life; however, little is known about how this ability differs across the lifespan for men and women. We addressed this question with a large community sample (N = 100,257) of persons ranging from younger than 15 to older than 60 years of age. Participants were viewers of the television show “Tout le Monde Joue”, and the task was presented on television, with participants responding via their mobile devices. Applying latent variable modeling, and establishing measurement invariance between males and females and across age, we found that, for both males and females, emotion perception abilities peak between the ages of 15 and 30, with poorer performance by younger adults and declining performance after the age of 30. In addition, we show a consistent advantage by females across the lifespan, which decreases in magnitude with increasing age. This large scale study with a wide range of people and testing environments suggests these effects are largely robust. Implications are discussed.
KEYWORDS: Emotion perception, emotion recognition, sex differences, aging, latent variable modeling
Chimpanzees primarily eat plant source foods, but like vertebrate prey due to high fat content; 91pct of observed consumption of sub-adult prey was head-first due to soft skull. With adults, with robust skulls, chimps wanted viscera first, probably to harvest the liver.
Meat Eating by Wild Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii): Effects of Prey Age on Carcass Consumption Sequence. Ian C. Gilby, Daniel Wawrzyniak. International Journal of Primatology, February 2018, Volume 39, Issue 1, pp 127–140. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10764-018-0019-9
Abstract: Despite the fact that many primates consume vertebrate prey, surprisingly little is known about the nutritional benefits of eating meat for members of this diverse order. Although chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) primarily eat plant source foods, especially fruit, they consume vertebrate prey with excitement, attesting to its nutritional value. Meat is a concentrated source of macro- and micronutrients; however, a carcass is not a uniform package. For example, the mammalian brain has considerably higher fat content than lean muscle tissue. The brain both has great caloric value and contains high concentrations of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, which are critical for normal brain function. It thus represents a large, nutrient-dense source of energy and essential nutrients that should be highly valued. We filmed consumption of 29 arboreal monkeys by chimpanzees at Gombe National Park, Tanzania, and recorded the order in which general regions of the body were consumed. Overall, the head was significantly more likely to be targeted first than either the torso (including viscera) or appendages. This result was driven by subadult prey, 91% of which were eaten head-first, probably because their skulls were relatively easy for chimpanzees to break with a single bite. Possessors of adult prey (with robust skulls) often first selected the viscera, probably to harvest the fat-rich liver, thus maximizing immediate return in the face of the threat of harassment or theft. This has important implications for our understanding of the nutritional benefits of meat eating among primates, and highlights the need for future studies that measure the nutritional content of specific tissues and examine which are preferentially consumed or shared.
Abstract: Despite the fact that many primates consume vertebrate prey, surprisingly little is known about the nutritional benefits of eating meat for members of this diverse order. Although chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) primarily eat plant source foods, especially fruit, they consume vertebrate prey with excitement, attesting to its nutritional value. Meat is a concentrated source of macro- and micronutrients; however, a carcass is not a uniform package. For example, the mammalian brain has considerably higher fat content than lean muscle tissue. The brain both has great caloric value and contains high concentrations of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, which are critical for normal brain function. It thus represents a large, nutrient-dense source of energy and essential nutrients that should be highly valued. We filmed consumption of 29 arboreal monkeys by chimpanzees at Gombe National Park, Tanzania, and recorded the order in which general regions of the body were consumed. Overall, the head was significantly more likely to be targeted first than either the torso (including viscera) or appendages. This result was driven by subadult prey, 91% of which were eaten head-first, probably because their skulls were relatively easy for chimpanzees to break with a single bite. Possessors of adult prey (with robust skulls) often first selected the viscera, probably to harvest the fat-rich liver, thus maximizing immediate return in the face of the threat of harassment or theft. This has important implications for our understanding of the nutritional benefits of meat eating among primates, and highlights the need for future studies that measure the nutritional content of specific tissues and examine which are preferentially consumed or shared.
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