Participants’ dishonesty seems to be independent to payoff uncertainty; they lie when lies generate certain payoffs, but do not lie more when lies can reduce payoff uncertainty; participants do not use lies as a strategy to secure their payoffs

Uncertain lies How payoff uncertainty affects dishonesty. Jeremy Celse et al. Journal of Economic Psychology, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joep.2018.09.003

Highlights
•    Participants’ dishonesty seems to be independent to payoff uncertainty.
•    Participants lie when lies generate certain payoffs.
•    Participants do not lie more when lies can reduce largely payoff uncertainty.
•    Participants do not lie more when lies can reduce marginally payoff uncertainty.
•    Participants do not use lies as a strategy to secure their payoffs.

Abstract: In this paper we experimentally explore how lying changes when its consequences are not certain. We argue that, when consequences are not certain, lying is morally less costly because the action of lying does not mechanically result in the obtainment of the benefit and this produces a lower feeling of responsibility in case the benefit is obtained. Moreover, we argue that the smaller the impact of lying on the probability to obtain the benefit the lower is the feeling of responsibility. We test our predictions using a modified die-under-the-cup task where misreporting, rather than delivering a higher payoff, increases the likelihood to get a prize. Overall we have four treatments where the reported outcome affects the probability to get a prize to a different extent. Contrary to our prediction, we do not observe any treatment difference suggesting that lying is independent to the extent to which it increases the probability to get a benefit. This result suggests that the willingness to lie to secure a benefit and the willingness to lie to marginally increase the probability to obtain a benefit are very similar.

Further declines in divorce rates: Marriage is become more selective, and more stable, even as attitudes toward divorce are becoming more permissive, & cohabitation has grown less stable

Cohen, Philip N. 2018. “The Coming Divorce Decline.” SocArXiv. September 15. doi:10.31235/osf.io/h2sk6

Abstract: This paper analyzes the odds of divorce from 2008 to 2016 (soon 2017), using multivariate models of marital events data from the American Community Survey. I find that the falling observed divorce rates over the last decade are apparent in the fully adjusted model as well. Further, age specific divorce rates show that the trend in the last decade has been driven by younger women (despite higher divorce rates among older women than in the past). Finally, I analyze the characteristics of newly-married couples over the last decade, and identify trends that portend further declines in divorce rates. Marriage is become more selective, and more stable, even as attitudes toward divorce are becoming more permissive, and cohabitation has grown less stable. The U.S. is progressing toward a system in which marriage is rarer, and more stable, than it was in the past, representing an increasingly central component of the structure of social inequality.

Of 1857 small mammal visits we recorded, only two occasions showed evidence of what could be considered as voluntary wheel running behavior; over hundred-fold fewer than previously reported

Does voluntary wheel running exist in Neotropical wild mammals? Peter van Lunteren et al. bioRxiv, https://doi.org/10.1101/409409

Abstract: Running wheels are frequently used to improve the welfare of captive animals, increase environmental enrichment, and, by doing so, reduce stereotypic behaviors. It is, however, still debated whether or not wheel running itself is a stereotypy. New evidence emerged when Meijer and Robbers (2014, Proc. Royal Soc. B) reported voluntary wheel running of wild animals in the Netherlands. Since stereotypic behaviors are exclusively attributed to captive animals, the occurrence of wheel running in the wild suggests that this behavior is non-stereotypic. Our study explores that same line of investigation, examining whether wild animals will voluntarily use running wheels in a natural area in Paraguay in comparison to the urban and semi-urban settings in the Netherlands. Of the 1857 small mammal visits we recorded, only two occasions showed evidence of what could be considered as wheel running behavior; over hundredfold fewer than previously reported. The potential reasons for the observed difference in wheel running activity, such as different species pool or seasonality, are discussed. The difference, however, is likely to be due to the much lower probability of Neotropical mammals in a remote natural site encountering man-made objects and experiencing urbanization-related behavioral patterns. Additionally, in the light of our findings, we review the definition of wheel running as a stereotypic behavior.

Paraphilic thoughts & behaviors are not really a deviation from normalcy, rather they are quite widespread in the young population: Men report a higher prevalence of voyeurism, exhibitionism, sadism, & frotteurism; women a higher prevalence of fetishism and masochism

Castellini G, Rellini AH, Appignanesi C, et al. Deviance or Normalcy? The Relationship Among Paraphilic Thoughts and Behaviors, Hypersexuality, and Psychopathology in a Sample of University Students. The Journal of Sexual Medicine. Volume 15, Issue 9, September 2018, Pages 1322-1335. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsxm.2018.07.015

Abstract

Introduction: The actual definitions of paraphilic thoughts or behaviors and hypersexuality are still a matter of debate in the scientific community, and few studies have evaluated their psychopathological correlates in non-clinical samples of both men and women.

Aim: This study aimed at shedding light on the gender differences in terms of frequency of paraphilic fantasies and behaviors, and the relationship among paraphilias, hypersexuality, and general psychopathology.

Methods: A sample of 775 university students (243 men, 532 women) was recruited from 6 Italian universities using questionnaires posted in social networks. Paraphilic behaviors, fantasies, and masturbation during these fantasies were evaluated, as well as hypersexuality, psychopathological correlates, self-perceived gender identity, and a history of adverse childhood conditions.

Main Outcome Measures: Participants were assessed on the presence of paraphilic fantasies, behaviors, and masturbation related to paraphilic thoughts, and evaluated by means of the Symptom Checklist 90-Revised, the Hypersexual Disorder Screening Inventory, the International Index of Erectile Function, the Female Sexual Function Index, the Gender Identity/Gender Dysphoria Questionnaire, and the Childhood Experience of Care and Abuse Questionnaire.

Results: In the present survey, 50.6% of the men and 41.5% of the women reported at least 1 behavior considered paraphilic. A gender difference in the prevalence of the main paraphilic interests and behaviors was observed, with men reporting a higher prevalence of voyeurism, exhibitionism, sadism, and frotteurism, and a higher prevalence of fetishism and masochism in women. Both general psychopathology and sexual dysfunctions were associated with hypersexuality, rather than with the content of sexual fantasies. Finally, an association between childhood adversities and hypersexuality was found in women but not in men.

Clinical Implications: Understanding the psychopathological correlates of paraphilic fantasies/behaviors and hypersexuality may allow clinicians to develop specific psychological and pharmacological interventions.

Strengths & Limitations: This is one of the few studies assessing paraphilic phenomenology and psychopathological correlates of hypersexuality in a non-clinical sample of both men and women.

Conclusion: The results seem to demonstrate that paraphilic thoughts and behaviors are not really a deviation from normalcy, rather they are quite widespread in the young population, and the distinction between healthy and pathological sexual interests may be better replaced by an all-encompassing approach considering ego-dystonic sexuality, hypersexuality, and their psychopathological correlates.

The First-Daughter Effect: The Impact of Fathering Daughters on Men’s Preferences for Gender-Equality Policies

The First-Daughter Effect: The Impact of Fathering Daughters on Men’s Preferences for Gender-Equality Policies. Elizabeth A Sharrow, Jesse H Rhodes, Tatishe M Nteta, Jill S Greenlee. Public Opinion Quarterly, https://doi.org/10.1093/poq/nfy037

Abstract: An extensive literature on the politics of the family suggests that familial relationships play a central role in individuals’ political socialization and can ultimately shape one’s policy preferences. A current debate within this literature deals with the impact of daughters on fathers’ political attitudes. In this article, we address this debate in relation to a specific set of policy preferences and ask: Does the experience of fathering daughters affect men’s opinions toward gender-equality policies? In addressing this question, this study examines three theoretically motivated propositions: first, that having a daughter leads men to see the benefits of and support public policies that aim to reduce gender inequality; second, that fathers with a larger proportion of daughters express stronger support for these policies; and finally, that having a daughter as a man’s first child is a critical event in the political socialization of men, such that this experience of “first-daughterhood” will lead to higher levels of support for gender-equality policies. We use original representative survey data from a module on the 2016 Cooperative Congressional Election Study (CCES) to test these three hypotheses. The results of our analyses suggest that the experience of having a daughter as a first child—but not the effect of having a daughter in general nor the experience of fathering a higher proportion of daughters—significantly increases fathers’ support for policies designed to increase gender equality.

Confirmation bias theory of salience: consumers tend to disregard information (like a tax) that does not align with their intention to purchase an item, and this lack of alignment increases in the size of the tax

Naomi Feldman, Jacob Goldin, and Tatiana Homonoff (2018), Raising the Stakes: Experimental Evidence on the Endogeneity of Taxpayer Mistakes, National Tax Journal, 71:2, pp. 201-230. DOI: doi.org/10.17310/ntj.2018.2.01

Abstract: Recent evidence suggests consumers fail to account for taxes that are excluded from a good's displayed price. What is less understood is whether and how such "salience effects" depend on the magnitude of the tax. We conduct a laboratory shopping experiment with real stakes to study the effect of tax size on salience. We find no evidence that salience effects decline as the tax rate increases; we document a statistically significant salience effect at a tax rate that is considerably larger than the tax rates at which such effects have been previously documented. In fact, our results are more consistent with the hypothesis that higher taxes make consumers less attentive (at least for the range of taxes we consider). This result can be explained by a confirmation bias theory of salience: consumers tend to disregard information (like a tax) that does not align with their intention to purchase an item, and this lack of alignment increases in the size of the tax

Gender-Based Occupational Segregation and Sex Differences in Sensory, Motor, and Spatial Aptitudes

Gender-Based Occupational Segregation and Sex Differences in Sensory, Motor, and Spatial Aptitudes. Michael Baker, Kirsten Cornelson. Demography, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13524-018-0706-3

Abstract: Research on sex differences in humans documents gender differences in sensory, motor, and spatial aptitudes. These aptitudes, as captured by Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT) codes, predict the occupational choices of men and women in the directions indicated by this research. We simulate that eliminating selection on these skills reduces the Duncan index of gender-based occupational segregation by 20 % to 23 % in 1970 and 2012, respectively. Eliminating selection on DOT variables capturing other accounts of this segregation has a smaller impact.

The psychology of vegetarianism: Recent advances and future directions

The psychology of vegetarianism: Recent advances and future directions. Daniel L. Rosenfeld. Appetite, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2018.09.011

Abstract: Whereas vegetarianism has long garnered attention from nutritional science and philosophy, psychological research exploring this eating behavior has emerged only in the past few decades. Six years ago, Ruby (2012) reviewed the extant literature on the psychology of vegetarianism, showcasing its promise as “a blossoming field of study.” In the time since, this line of research truly has blossomed, as subsequent work has addressed prior knowledge gaps and initiated new lines of inquiry. While evidence on previously studied topics of dietary motivation, moral values, gender, differences between vegetarians and vegans, barriers to dietary change, and disordered eating has continued to expand, new lines of research on identity, social experiences, flexitarianism, culture, and prospective vegetarianism have emerged. Recent psychometric advancements, moreover, have constructed useful measures to assess relevant constructs. The current review synthesizes this amalgam of research, identifying emergent themes and highlighting promising directions for future inquiry.

What people prefer and what they think they prefer in short- and long-term partners: The effects of the menstrual cycle phase, hormonal contraception, pregnancy, and the marital and the parenthood status on partner preferences

What people prefer and what they think they prefer in short- and long-term partners. The effects of the phase of the menstrual cycle, hormonal contraception, pregnancy, and the marital and the parenthood status on partner preferences. Jaroslav Flegr et al. Evolution and Human Behavior, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2018.09.003

Abstract: The issue with most studies concerned with mate selection preferences in humans is that they rely on declarations and rational actions of experimental subjects, which are affected by their pre-conceived opinions and prejudices. Moreover, current research suggests that subcortical structures and processes, rather than the neocortex, play the principal role in actual partner choice behaviour. Consequently, we have only limited information on how relevant our current knowledge is in relation to real-life human ethology. To address these issues, we surveyed 2718 women and 4073 men between the ages of 16–50 and compared their declared and observed preferences for various properties in short-term and long-term partners. We found differences between what the subjects declared to prefer and what they preferred in reality: for example, men declared that wealth was the second least desirable property out of eleven in short-term partners, but we observed that in reality, they considered wealth the third most important factor after charisma and sense of humour. Similarly, while women declared that dominance and masculinity were desirable properties in short-term partners, in the observational part of the study, they showed little preference for these traits. Furthermore, we investigated the effects of the phase of the menstrual cycle, hormonal contraception, pregnancy, and partnership and parenthood status on these preferences. We found some support for the good parents hypothesis and no support for the good genes and the immunocompetence handicap hypotheses when observed, rather than declared preferences were considered. We also detected that hormonal contraception, and parenthood and partnership status influenced declared preferences in considerable ways, but had only a small, if any, impact on observed preferences. We suggest interpreting the results of studies reliant on declarations and rational actions of experimental subjects with great caution.

First detect gender, then attractiveness: Attractiveness follows gender in terms of underlying neural processes; early face attractiveness assessment seems to rely on gender-stereotypes

First gender, then attractiveness: Indications of gender-specific attractiveness processing via ERP onsets. Claus-Christian Carbon e al. Neuroscience Letters
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neulet.2018.09.009


Highlights
•    Facial gender and attractiveness: Key features to study face processes.
•    Processing onsets estimated by LRP- and N200-effects.
•    Attractiveness follows gender in terms of underlying neural processes.
•    Early face attractiveness assessment seems to rely on gender-stereotypes.
•    Used paradigm is promising to further uncover the time course of face perception.

Abstract: We followed an ERP-based approach to gain knowledge on the dependence and temporal order of two essential processes of face perception: attractiveness and gender. By combining a dual-choice task with a go/nogo-paradigm focusing on the LRP and N200-effect, we could estimate the processing times and onsets of both types of face processing. The analyses of the LRP revealed that gender aspects were processed much earlier than attractiveness. Whereas gender was already analysed 243.9 ms post-stimulus onset, attractiveness came into play 58.6 ms later, i.e. after a post-stimulus onset delay of 302.5 ms. This resulting pattern was mirrored by the analyses of the N200-effect, an effect available mainly frontally which is supposed to correlate with the inhibition of inappropriate responses. Taking the onset of the N200 effect as an estimator for the moment at which information has been processed sufficiently for task decision, we could trace the N200 effect at 152.0 ms for go/nogo-decision on gender, while not as early as 206.7 ms on attractiveness. In sum, processing of facial attractiveness seems to be based on gender-specific aesthetic pre-processing, for instance via activating gender-specific attractiveness prototypes which show focused processing of certain facial aspects.

From 2017: Female Waist-to-Hip Ratio (WHR) is correlated to divorce frequency

Chiappa, P., & Singh, S. (2017). Sexual dimorphism in waist-to-hip ratio and divorce frequency in human populations. Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences, 11(3), 221-241. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/ebs0000100

Abstract: The current study tests a series of evolutionary predictions about the changing opportunities for human male mate choice and female Waist-to-Hip Ratio (WHR) across populations. We predicted that the divorce frequency (that we used as a reflection of the frequency of male mate choice) would be positively correlated with sexual dimorphism in WHRs across human populations. With published data, we built 2 samples, 1 at the international level and the other at the national level. The results showed that sexual dimorphism in WHR is positively correlated with the divorce-to-married ratio in 68 countries worldwide, as well as in the 32 Mexican states. Taken together, our results suggest that the opportunity for human male mate choice, based on female WHR, varies among human populations. We discuss the possibility of connecting this variation to human diversity in divorce practices. We conclude that human male mate choice is a circumstantially conditioned selective process responsible for such dimorphism and suggest that cultural and social aspects are potentially powerful in examining the factors capable of strengthening or weakening the selective process.

Claim: Conversion To Buddhism Has Brought Literacy, Gender Equality And Well-Being To Dalits (2017)

Conversion To Buddhism Has Brought Literacy, Gender Equality And Well-Being To Dalits. Manu Moudgil, IndiaSpend, July 1, 2017. www.indiaspend.com/cover-story/conversion-to-buddhism-has-brought-literacy-gender-equality-and-well-being-to-dalits-18224

There are more than 8.4 million Buddhists in India and 87% of them are converts from other religions, mostly Dalits who changed religion to escape Hindu caste oppression. The remaining 13% of Buddhists belong to traditional communities of the north-east and northern Himalayan regions.

Today, these converts to Buddhism–also called neo-Buddhists–enjoy better literacy rates, greater work participation and sex ratio than Scheduled Caste Hindus, the group from which most converts emerge, according to an IndiaSpend analysis of 2011 Census data.

Given that converts make for 87% of the Buddhist population in India and most of them are Dalits, our analysis goes with the assumption that the benefits of growth in the community accrue mostly to the Dalits.

Buddhists have a literacy rate of 81.29%, higher than the national average of 72.98%, according to Census data [http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011census/Religion_PCA.html]. The literacy rate among Hindus is 73.27% while Scheduled Castes have a lower literacy rate of 66.07%.

“Most Dalits at the senior levels of administration are Buddhists,” said Satpal Tanwar, a leader of Bhim Army, the activist organisation accused of the Saharanpur violence of May 5, 2017, and now mulling mass conversion of Dalits to Buddhism. “This is because Buddhism lends them self-confidence as compared to the caste system which tends to rationalise their low social status through vague concepts like bad karma.”


Better literacy rates

It is only in the traditional communities of the northeast, especially in Mizoram (48.11%) and Arunachal Pradesh (57.89%), that Buddhists have a lower literacy rate than the population average.

On the other hand, Chhattisgarh (87.34%), Maharashtra (83.17%) and Jharkhand (80.41%) have the most number of literate Buddhists. The conversion movement has been the strongest in Maharashtra, followed by Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, and Uttar Pradesh.

           [full article with maps and links in the URL above]


h/ t: anonymous contributor

The fallacy of role substitution (the fallacy of differential reasoning): Acceptability of two different lines of reasoning (e.g., one for friends and one for enemies)

The fallacy of role substitution (the fallacy of differential reasoning), in Smart Is asStupid Does: Exploring bases of erroneous reasoning of smart people regarding learning and other disabilities. Elena L. Grigorenko & Donna Lockery, chp 8 in Why smart people can be so stupid, Robert J. Sternberg (ed.). Cambridge, MA: Yale University, 2002.

The fallacy of role substitution (the fallacy of differential reasoning). Excerpt.

This fallacy refers to a type of reasoning, the structure and content of which changes depending on the position from which the arguing is done. The fallacy invokes the acceptability of two different lines of reasoning (e.g., one for friends and one for enemies). As an illustration of this fallacy, consider the following.

The City of Manchester Democratic Party Committee endorsed Peter Leonard, a fifty-three-year-old man with a specific reading disability who had an IQ of 80 and reading skills at a third-grade level (Good Morning America, Mar. 19, 1998). Mr. Leonard had won a seat on the Manchester school board. The city’s Republican leader, Marc Pappas, said that Leonard was a nice man who had the best intentions, but he questioned whether Leonard would be able to represent his constituents adequately. What is noteworthy, however, is that Pappas admitted that if Leonard had been a Republican with this same learning disability, the Republicans would have supported him (Union Leader, Nov. 12, 1999).

Here, while reasoning as a Republican opposing a Democratic Party candidate, Mr. Pappas questioned the quality of the candidate—the concern being not whether Mr. Leonard did or did not have a learning disability, but whether he could represent his constituents adequately. Mr. Pappas’s reasoning changed, however, when he was asked what he and his party colleagues would do were Mr. Leonard a Republican. Put in this conditional position, Mr. Pappas did not bring up the question of Mr. Leonard’s personal qualities but concentrated instead on his group membership. This kind of reasoning, which stresses the importance of being correctly a≈liated politically rather than of making justified and consistent inferences following common sense, is quite e√ective in creating the stereotype according to which people with learning disabilities will be given special considerations.

How Does the World Google the Internet, Anxiety, and Happiness?

How Does the World Google the Internet, Anxiety, and Happiness? Snehasish Banerjee. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, Vol. 21, No. 9, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2018.0206

Abstract: This article investigates how the world uses Google, the most popular search engine, to look for information about the “Internet” as well as two symptoms of emotional well-being, namely “anxiety” and “happiness.” Data corresponding to 202 countries were collected for a period of 5 years from 2013 to 2017 using Google Trends, a free surveillance tool that reports data from the search engine. The search volume of “Internet” was positively correlated with that of “anxiety” as well as “happiness.” Furthermore, the article analyzed if the search volumes correlated with actual emotional well-being measured using the World Happiness Index provided by the United Nations (UN) and the Life Satisfaction Index provided by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The search volume of “anxiety” showed positive correlations with both the indices. The results are discussed, and new directions for future research are identified.

Supernatural agents reliably appear in nightmares & unpleasant dreams in association with diminished agency in the dreamer; diminished agency in an individual may facilitate supernatural agent cognitions

Cognitions in Dreams. Patrick McNamara et al. Journal of Cognition and Culture, Volume 18, Issue 3-4, pages 428 – 450. DOI: 10.1163/15685373-12340038

Purpose: To test the hypothesis that supernatural agents (SAs) appear in nightmares and dreams in association with evidence of diminished agency within the dreamer/dream ego.

Methods: Content analyses of 120 nightmares and 71 unpleasant control dream narratives.

Results: We found that SAs overtly occur in about one quarter of unpleasant dreams and about half of nightmares. When SAs appear in a dream or nightmare they are reliably associated with diminished agency in the dreamer. Diminished agency within the dreamer occurs in over 90% of dreams (whether nightmares or unpleasant dreams) that have overt SAs. In about half of nightmare reports the SA appears suddenly with no clear emergence pattern. In some two thirds of unpleasant dreams, however, the SA emerged from a human character. The SA’s gender was indeterminate in most dreams with SAs but the SA communicated with the dreamer in 24% of nightmares and only 13% of unpleasant dreams. In most nightmares, the SA intended to harm the dreamer and in one third of nightmares the dreamer was the victim of physical agression by the SA. SA intentions in unpleasant dreams were more varied and actually benign in 13% of cases.

Conclusion: Supernatural agents reliably appear in nightmares and unpleasant dreams in association with diminished agency in the dreamer. Diminished agency in an individual may facilitate supernatural agent cognitions.

Keywords: dreams; religious cognition; nightmares; supernatural agents; agency