Preliminary Evidence For Existence of Oral Sex in a Rural Igbo Community in Southeast Nigeria. Pavol Prokop, Ike E. Onyishi, Chiedozie O. Okafor & Michael N. Pham. Human Ethology Bulletin, Volume 32, No 3, 129-140, https://doi.org/10.22330/heb/323/129-140
ABSTRACT: There is debate regarding whether oral sex recurred over human evolution. We investigated the occurrence of oral sex (cunnilingus and fellatio) and other sexual activities among a rural Igbo community in south-east Nigeria. We found that giving and receiving oral sex was less common relative to other sexual activities in both men and women. Both sexes reported more frequent vaginal sexual intercourse (particularly ventro-ventral posture compared with dorso-ventral posture) in the past 10 days compared to oral sex. Taken together, our data suggests that vaginal sexual activities follow similar patterns that are documented in other parts of world and that oral sex occurred less frequently in this traditional society.
Keywords: Evolution, human, Igbo people, oral sex.
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Oral sex is a common sexual behavior in humans and non-human animals (primates; short-nosed fruit bat; wolves)
Tuesday, October 3, 2017
Monday, October 2, 2017
Women's Attraction to Benevolent Sexism: Needing Relationship Security Predicts Greater Attraction to Men who Endorse Benevolent Sexism
Women's Attraction to Benevolent Sexism: Needing Relationship Security Predicts Greater Attraction to Men who Endorse Benevolent Sexism. Emily Cross and Nickola Overall. European Journal of Social Psychology, doi: 10.1002/ejsp.2334.
Abstract: Benevolent sexism prescribes that men should cherish and protect women in intimate relationships. Despite the romantic tone of these attitudes, prior research indicates that benevolent sexism undermines women's competence, ambition and independence. Ambivalent sexism theory proposes that benevolent sexism is able to incur these costs because the promise of a chivalrous protective partner offers women security in their intimate relationships. We tested this key proposition by examining whether women who intensely need relationship security — women higher in attachment anxiety — are more attracted to men who endorse benevolent sexism. Highly anxious women (N = 632) rated men described as endorsing benevolent sexism as relatively more attractive, and reported greater preferences for partners to hold benevolently sexist attitudes. These results advance understanding regarding the underlying reasons women find benevolent sexism appealing and identify who will be most vulnerable to the potential costs of benevolent sexism.
Abstract: Benevolent sexism prescribes that men should cherish and protect women in intimate relationships. Despite the romantic tone of these attitudes, prior research indicates that benevolent sexism undermines women's competence, ambition and independence. Ambivalent sexism theory proposes that benevolent sexism is able to incur these costs because the promise of a chivalrous protective partner offers women security in their intimate relationships. We tested this key proposition by examining whether women who intensely need relationship security — women higher in attachment anxiety — are more attracted to men who endorse benevolent sexism. Highly anxious women (N = 632) rated men described as endorsing benevolent sexism as relatively more attractive, and reported greater preferences for partners to hold benevolently sexist attitudes. These results advance understanding regarding the underlying reasons women find benevolent sexism appealing and identify who will be most vulnerable to the potential costs of benevolent sexism.
Is Romantic Desire Predictable? Machine Learning Applied to Initial Romantic Attraction
Is Romantic Desire Predictable? Machine Learning Applied to Initial Romantic Attraction. Samantha Joel, Paul Eastwick and Eli Finkel. Psychological Science, http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0956797617714580
Abstract: Matchmaking companies and theoretical perspectives on close relationships suggest that initial attraction is, to some extent, a product of two people’s self-reported traits and preferences. We used machine learning to test how well such measures predict people’s overall tendencies to romantically desire other people (actor variance) and to be desired by other people (partner variance), as well as people’s desire for specific partners above and beyond actor and partner variance (relationship variance). In two speed-dating studies, romantically unattached individuals completed more than 100 self-report measures about traits and preferences that past researchers have identified as being relevant to mate selection. Each participant met each opposite-sex participant attending a speed-dating event for a 4-min speed date. Random forests models predicted 4% to 18% of actor variance and 7% to 27% of partner variance; crucially, however, they were unable to predict relationship variance using any combination of traits and preferences reported before the dates. These results suggest that compatibility elements of human mating are challenging to predict before two people meet.
KEYWORDS: attraction; dating; ensemble methods; machine learning; open data; open materials; random forests; romantic desire; romantic relationships; speed dating; statistical learning
Abstract: Matchmaking companies and theoretical perspectives on close relationships suggest that initial attraction is, to some extent, a product of two people’s self-reported traits and preferences. We used machine learning to test how well such measures predict people’s overall tendencies to romantically desire other people (actor variance) and to be desired by other people (partner variance), as well as people’s desire for specific partners above and beyond actor and partner variance (relationship variance). In two speed-dating studies, romantically unattached individuals completed more than 100 self-report measures about traits and preferences that past researchers have identified as being relevant to mate selection. Each participant met each opposite-sex participant attending a speed-dating event for a 4-min speed date. Random forests models predicted 4% to 18% of actor variance and 7% to 27% of partner variance; crucially, however, they were unable to predict relationship variance using any combination of traits and preferences reported before the dates. These results suggest that compatibility elements of human mating are challenging to predict before two people meet.
KEYWORDS: attraction; dating; ensemble methods; machine learning; open data; open materials; random forests; romantic desire; romantic relationships; speed dating; statistical learning
Chief science adviser attacks academic ‘arrogance’ on policy
Chief science adviser attacks academic ‘arrogance’ on policy. By David Matthews. Times Higher Education. September 29, 2017
Sir Peter Gluckman, who advises New Zealand’s prime minister, cautions scientists against overreach
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/chief-science-adviser-attacks-academic-arrogance-policy
The chief science adviser to the prime minister of New Zealand has accused scientists of displaying “hubris” and “arrogance” when they comment on government policy.
Sir Peter Gluckman, who also chairs the International Network for Science Advice to Governments, levelled a series of sharp criticisms at researchers and science organisations during an event in Brussels that debated the role of policy and evidence in a “post-fact” world.
He argued that scientists needed to appreciate that politicians made their decisions based on values as well as scientific evidence.
“Individual scientists, professional and scientific organisations too often exhibit hubris in reflecting on policy implications of science,” Sir Peter told delegates at “EU for facts: evidence for policy in a post-fact world”, held on 26 September.
“This arrogance can become the biggest enemy of science effectively engaging with policy – the policy decisions inevitably involve dimensions beyond science.”
Scientists needed to appreciate that political ideology, financial and diplomatic constraints, and “electoral contracts” also had to be taken into account by politicians, Sir Peter said. “It is important that [scientific] knowledge is provided [to policymakers] in a way that does not usurp the ability of policy process to consider these broader dimensions: otherwise trust in advice can be lost as it becomes perceived as advocacy,” he argued.
He also said that he avoided using the “somewhat arrogant” term “evidence-based policy”, preferring “evidence-informed” instead. Meanwhile, “too often academy reports are focused on academic demonstration rather than meeting policy needs or answering an unasked question”, he added.
Similar warnings have come from other figures in science. Last year, Jeremy Berg, the editor-in-chief of Science, said that academics have too often ventured into giving policy prescriptions rather than just explaining the evidence, for example in the area of climate change.
Although he named no names, Sir Peter also warned that “individual scientists” were now using their “scientific standing” to make claims “well beyond the evidence and their expertise”. Universities may also “over-hype” their science, he added.
In addition, the pressures of “performance measurement, bibliometrics, and the quest for societal and industrial impact” also have the potential to undermine public trust in science, he said, “due to perceived or actual conflicts of interest and the potential to affect the behaviour of individual scientists”.
[More at the link above.]
Sir Peter Gluckman, who advises New Zealand’s prime minister, cautions scientists against overreach
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/chief-science-adviser-attacks-academic-arrogance-policy
The chief science adviser to the prime minister of New Zealand has accused scientists of displaying “hubris” and “arrogance” when they comment on government policy.
Sir Peter Gluckman, who also chairs the International Network for Science Advice to Governments, levelled a series of sharp criticisms at researchers and science organisations during an event in Brussels that debated the role of policy and evidence in a “post-fact” world.
He argued that scientists needed to appreciate that politicians made their decisions based on values as well as scientific evidence.
“Individual scientists, professional and scientific organisations too often exhibit hubris in reflecting on policy implications of science,” Sir Peter told delegates at “EU for facts: evidence for policy in a post-fact world”, held on 26 September.
“This arrogance can become the biggest enemy of science effectively engaging with policy – the policy decisions inevitably involve dimensions beyond science.”
Scientists needed to appreciate that political ideology, financial and diplomatic constraints, and “electoral contracts” also had to be taken into account by politicians, Sir Peter said. “It is important that [scientific] knowledge is provided [to policymakers] in a way that does not usurp the ability of policy process to consider these broader dimensions: otherwise trust in advice can be lost as it becomes perceived as advocacy,” he argued.
He also said that he avoided using the “somewhat arrogant” term “evidence-based policy”, preferring “evidence-informed” instead. Meanwhile, “too often academy reports are focused on academic demonstration rather than meeting policy needs or answering an unasked question”, he added.
Similar warnings have come from other figures in science. Last year, Jeremy Berg, the editor-in-chief of Science, said that academics have too often ventured into giving policy prescriptions rather than just explaining the evidence, for example in the area of climate change.
Although he named no names, Sir Peter also warned that “individual scientists” were now using their “scientific standing” to make claims “well beyond the evidence and their expertise”. Universities may also “over-hype” their science, he added.
In addition, the pressures of “performance measurement, bibliometrics, and the quest for societal and industrial impact” also have the potential to undermine public trust in science, he said, “due to perceived or actual conflicts of interest and the potential to affect the behaviour of individual scientists”.
[More at the link above.]
Physicists find we’re not living in a computer simulation
Physicists find we’re not living in a computer simulation
Summary:
https://cosmosmagazine.com/physics/physicists-find-we-re-not-living-in-a-computer-simulationRingel and Kovrizhi showed that attempts to use quantum Monte Carlo to model systems exhibiting anomalies, such as the quantum Hall effect, will always become unworkable.
They discovered that the complexity of the simulation increased exponentially with the number of particles being simulated.
If the complexity grew linearly with the number of particles being simulated, then doubling the number of partices would mean doubling the computing power required. If, however, the complexity grows on an exponential scale – where the amount of computing power has to double every time a single particle is added – then the task quickly becomes impossible.
The researchers calculated that just storing information about a couple of hundred electrons would require a computer memory that would physically require more atoms than exist in the universe.
Paper:
Quantized gravitational responses, the sign problem, and quantum complexity. Zohar Ringel and Dmitry L. Kovrizhin. Science Advances, Sep 27 2017, Vol. 3, no. 9, e1701758, DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1701758
Abstract: It is believed that not all quantum systems can be simulated efficiently using classical computational resources. This notion is supported by the fact that it is not known how to express the partition function in a sign-free manner in quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) simulations for a large number of important problems. The answer to the question—whether there is a fundamental obstruction to such a sign-free representation in generic quantum systems—remains unclear. Focusing on systems with bosonic degrees of freedom, we show that quantized gravitational responses appear as obstructions to local sign-free QMC. In condensed matter physics settings, these responses, such as thermal Hall conductance, are associated with fractional quantum Hall effects. We show that similar arguments also hold in the case of spontaneously broken time-reversal (TR) symmetry such as in the chiral phase of a perturbed quantum Kagome antiferromagnet. The connection between quantized gravitational responses and the sign problem is also manifested in certain vertex models, where TR symmetry is preserved.
Individuals reared together are no more similar to one another in their personalities than if chosen at random in the population
Theoretical Concepts in the Genetics of Personality Development. Elliot M. Tucker-Drob & Daniel A. Briley. To appear in Handbook of Personality Development, by Dan P. McAdams, Rebecca L. Shiner, and Jennifer L. Tackett (Eds.). June 2017. http://labs.la.utexas.edu/tucker-drob/files/2015/02/Tucker-Drob-Briley-Genetics-of-Personality-Development-Chapter.pdf
Conventional work in the behavioral genetics of personality largely focused on single point estimates of heritability of personality. For instance, point estimates for the heritability of all of the Big Five personality traits have been reported to be approximately .40-.60 (for a review see Bouchard & McGue, 2003), with no consistent differences reported across different Big Five traits (Turkheimer, Pettersson, & Horn, 2014). Evidence for genetic influences on personality are derived from the observation that genetically more related individuals (e.g. identical twins) are more similar in their personality traits than genetically less related individuals (e.g. fraternal twins), even when holding shared rearing environment constant across relationship types. Also of note is that, after accounting for genetic relatedness, individuals reared together are no more similar to one another in their personalities than would be expected for individuals chosen at random out of the population. Nongenetic factors that differentiate individuals regardless of whether their rearing environment was shared with one another are termed the nonshared environment. These two important and interesting observations, that the heritability of personality is approximately 40%-60% at the population level and that nongenetic variation in personality is attributable to nonshared environmental factors, are the primary findings from behavioral genetics used to inform conventional personality theories. Yet, they do not do justice to the important developmental patterns in the genetics of personality.
The relative influence of genetic and environmental effects may shift across the lifespan, rather than remain static. Age trends in the heritability of personality have been reported in quantitative syntheses by Kandler (2012) for Neuroticism and Extraversion, and Briley and Tucker-Drob (2014) for all of the Big Five. In both syntheses, age trends have been very similar across each of the Big Five traits. [...] Heritability of personality is estimated at approximately 70% in early childhood, declines to approximately 50% by late adolescence, and subsequently declines to approximately 35% by late adulthood. Nonshared environmentality increases from approximately 30% to 50% to 65% from infancy to late adolescence, to late adulthood. However, at least some of this trend may reflect method bias, as nearly all of the effect sizes for very young children come from parent-reports. These ratings may exaggerate differences between siblings and thus inflate heritability.
Conventional work in the behavioral genetics of personality largely focused on single point estimates of heritability of personality. For instance, point estimates for the heritability of all of the Big Five personality traits have been reported to be approximately .40-.60 (for a review see Bouchard & McGue, 2003), with no consistent differences reported across different Big Five traits (Turkheimer, Pettersson, & Horn, 2014). Evidence for genetic influences on personality are derived from the observation that genetically more related individuals (e.g. identical twins) are more similar in their personality traits than genetically less related individuals (e.g. fraternal twins), even when holding shared rearing environment constant across relationship types. Also of note is that, after accounting for genetic relatedness, individuals reared together are no more similar to one another in their personalities than would be expected for individuals chosen at random out of the population. Nongenetic factors that differentiate individuals regardless of whether their rearing environment was shared with one another are termed the nonshared environment. These two important and interesting observations, that the heritability of personality is approximately 40%-60% at the population level and that nongenetic variation in personality is attributable to nonshared environmental factors, are the primary findings from behavioral genetics used to inform conventional personality theories. Yet, they do not do justice to the important developmental patterns in the genetics of personality.
The relative influence of genetic and environmental effects may shift across the lifespan, rather than remain static. Age trends in the heritability of personality have been reported in quantitative syntheses by Kandler (2012) for Neuroticism and Extraversion, and Briley and Tucker-Drob (2014) for all of the Big Five. In both syntheses, age trends have been very similar across each of the Big Five traits. [...] Heritability of personality is estimated at approximately 70% in early childhood, declines to approximately 50% by late adolescence, and subsequently declines to approximately 35% by late adulthood. Nonshared environmentality increases from approximately 30% to 50% to 65% from infancy to late adolescence, to late adulthood. However, at least some of this trend may reflect method bias, as nearly all of the effect sizes for very young children come from parent-reports. These ratings may exaggerate differences between siblings and thus inflate heritability.
Access to other options during drug access can divert the vast majority of rats from continued drug use
Trying to make sense of rodents' drug choice behavior. Serge H. Ahmed. Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pnpbp.2017.09.027
Highlights
• Rodents are the most frequently used animal models in experimental addiction research.
• Rodents discount future delayed reward at a relatively high rate.
• This behavioral trait seems to be protective against harmful drug use in certain choice settings.
• In other settings, however, the same trait seems to confer a high vulnerability to harmful drug use.
• More research effort should be expended to study the interactions between the set, the drug, and the setting.
Abstract: Since the first experimental hint for the existence of “an actual desire or striving for the drug” in nonhuman animals by Sidney Spragg in the late 1930s, much effort has been expended by lab researchers to try to model in a valid manner the key behavioral aspects and signs of addiction in animals, typically in rodents (i.e., mainly rats and, to a lesser extent, mice). Despite much advances, there still remains a lingering doubt about the disordered status of drug use in rodents. This is mainly because drug use occurs in a particular setting where animals have access to a drug for self-administration but without access to other valuable behavioral options that could compete with and divert from drug use. Here I review evidence showing that enriching the drug setting with other behavioral options can dramatically influence the pattern of drug choices in rodents. Overall, access to other options during drug access can divert the vast majority of rats from continued drug use. Only few individuals continue to engage in drug use despite access to and at the expense of other options. However, there exist certain high-risk settings in which virtually all animals are vulnerable to develop a harmful pattern of exclusive drug use that can even become fatal in the long run if not discontinued by an outside intervention. Paradoxically, it appears that the behavioral trait that is hypothesized to uniquely render rodents vulnerable to the latter settings (i.e., a narrow focus on the local, current choice, with no consideration of the global pattern of choice) would also protect most of them from using drugs in other choice settings. I conclude with an attempt to make sense of this peculiar setting-specific behavior and with some general propositions for future research.
Highlights
• Rodents are the most frequently used animal models in experimental addiction research.
• Rodents discount future delayed reward at a relatively high rate.
• This behavioral trait seems to be protective against harmful drug use in certain choice settings.
• In other settings, however, the same trait seems to confer a high vulnerability to harmful drug use.
• More research effort should be expended to study the interactions between the set, the drug, and the setting.
Abstract: Since the first experimental hint for the existence of “an actual desire or striving for the drug” in nonhuman animals by Sidney Spragg in the late 1930s, much effort has been expended by lab researchers to try to model in a valid manner the key behavioral aspects and signs of addiction in animals, typically in rodents (i.e., mainly rats and, to a lesser extent, mice). Despite much advances, there still remains a lingering doubt about the disordered status of drug use in rodents. This is mainly because drug use occurs in a particular setting where animals have access to a drug for self-administration but without access to other valuable behavioral options that could compete with and divert from drug use. Here I review evidence showing that enriching the drug setting with other behavioral options can dramatically influence the pattern of drug choices in rodents. Overall, access to other options during drug access can divert the vast majority of rats from continued drug use. Only few individuals continue to engage in drug use despite access to and at the expense of other options. However, there exist certain high-risk settings in which virtually all animals are vulnerable to develop a harmful pattern of exclusive drug use that can even become fatal in the long run if not discontinued by an outside intervention. Paradoxically, it appears that the behavioral trait that is hypothesized to uniquely render rodents vulnerable to the latter settings (i.e., a narrow focus on the local, current choice, with no consideration of the global pattern of choice) would also protect most of them from using drugs in other choice settings. I conclude with an attempt to make sense of this peculiar setting-specific behavior and with some general propositions for future research.
Sunday, October 1, 2017
If we spend a longer time waiting in a line, we buy more -- a form of mental accounting to offset the cost of the wait
Ulku, Sezer and Hydock, Christopher and Cui, Shiliang, Making the Wait Worthwhile: Experiments on the Effect of Queueing on Consumption (July 24, 2017). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3007786
Abstract: The queueing literature to date has implicitly assumed that customers’ consumption decisions are independent from the time they spent waiting in a line prior to making the decisions. Through a series of studies, we investigate this relationship, and find that when people spend a longer time waiting in a line, they tend to increase their consumption. Next, we identify mental accounting as the underlying mechanism that drives this behavior; a larger purchase allows people to offset the fixed cost of the long wait. Finally, we explore the effect of managerial practices commonly employed by firms to improve customers’ waiting experience. We find that while these practices result in improved customer experience, they actually lead to lower consumption
Keywords: Mental Accounting, Sunk Cost Fallacy, Consumer Behavior in Queues, Behavioral Operations
Abstract: The queueing literature to date has implicitly assumed that customers’ consumption decisions are independent from the time they spent waiting in a line prior to making the decisions. Through a series of studies, we investigate this relationship, and find that when people spend a longer time waiting in a line, they tend to increase their consumption. Next, we identify mental accounting as the underlying mechanism that drives this behavior; a larger purchase allows people to offset the fixed cost of the long wait. Finally, we explore the effect of managerial practices commonly employed by firms to improve customers’ waiting experience. We find that while these practices result in improved customer experience, they actually lead to lower consumption
Keywords: Mental Accounting, Sunk Cost Fallacy, Consumer Behavior in Queues, Behavioral Operations
Saturday, September 30, 2017
Officials who aspire to higher office signal decisiveness by accelerating decisions, since voters prefer leaders with low costs of delay and little uncertainty
A Theory of Decisive Leadership. Douglas Bernheim and Aaron Bodoh-Creed. Stanford Working Paper, July 2017. http://faculty.haas.berkeley.edu/acreed/Indecision.htm
Abstract: We present a theory that rationalizes voters' preferences for decisive leaders. Greater decisiveness entails an inclination to reach decisions more quickly conditional on fixed information. Although speed can be good or bad, agency problems between voters and politicians create preferences among voters for leaders who perceive low costs of delay and have little uncertainty about idiosyncratic concerns, and hence who make decisions more rapidly than typical voters. Officials who aspire to higher office therefore signal decisiveness by accelerating decisions. In elections, candidates with reputations for greater decisiveness prevail despite making smaller compromises, and therefore earn larger rents from office holding.
Abstract: We present a theory that rationalizes voters' preferences for decisive leaders. Greater decisiveness entails an inclination to reach decisions more quickly conditional on fixed information. Although speed can be good or bad, agency problems between voters and politicians create preferences among voters for leaders who perceive low costs of delay and have little uncertainty about idiosyncratic concerns, and hence who make decisions more rapidly than typical voters. Officials who aspire to higher office therefore signal decisiveness by accelerating decisions. In elections, candidates with reputations for greater decisiveness prevail despite making smaller compromises, and therefore earn larger rents from office holding.
We have much fewer cross-cultural nonverbal emotional vocalizations than primates
Human Non-linguistic Vocal Repertoire: Call Types and Their Meaning. Andrey Anikin, Rasmus Bååth, and Tomas Persson. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10919-017-0267-y
Abstract: Recent research on human nonverbal vocalizations has led to considerable progress in our understanding of vocal communication of emotion. However, in contrast to studies of animal vocalizations, this research has focused mainly on the emotional interpretation of such signals. The repertoire of human nonverbal vocalizations as acoustic types, and the mapping between acoustic and emotional categories, thus remain underexplored. In a cross-linguistic naming task (Experiment 1), verbal categorization of 132 authentic (non-acted) human vocalizations by English-, Swedish- and Russian-speaking participants revealed the same major acoustic types: laugh, cry, scream, moan, and possibly roar and sigh. The association between call type and perceived emotion was systematic but non-redundant: listeners associated every call type with a limited, but in some cases relatively wide, range of emotions. The speed and consistency of naming the call type predicted the speed and consistency of inferring the caller’s emotion, suggesting that acoustic and emotional categorizations are closely related. However, participants preferred to name the call type before naming the emotion. Furthermore, nonverbal categorization of the same stimuli in a triad classification task (Experiment 2) was more compatible with classification by call type than by emotion, indicating the former’s greater perceptual salience. These results suggest that acoustic categorization may precede attribution of emotion, highlighting the need to distinguish between the overt form of nonverbal signals and their interpretation by the perceiver. Both within- and between-call acoustic variation can then be modeled explicitly, bringing research on human nonverbal vocalizations more in line with the work on animal communication.
Abstract: Recent research on human nonverbal vocalizations has led to considerable progress in our understanding of vocal communication of emotion. However, in contrast to studies of animal vocalizations, this research has focused mainly on the emotional interpretation of such signals. The repertoire of human nonverbal vocalizations as acoustic types, and the mapping between acoustic and emotional categories, thus remain underexplored. In a cross-linguistic naming task (Experiment 1), verbal categorization of 132 authentic (non-acted) human vocalizations by English-, Swedish- and Russian-speaking participants revealed the same major acoustic types: laugh, cry, scream, moan, and possibly roar and sigh. The association between call type and perceived emotion was systematic but non-redundant: listeners associated every call type with a limited, but in some cases relatively wide, range of emotions. The speed and consistency of naming the call type predicted the speed and consistency of inferring the caller’s emotion, suggesting that acoustic and emotional categorizations are closely related. However, participants preferred to name the call type before naming the emotion. Furthermore, nonverbal categorization of the same stimuli in a triad classification task (Experiment 2) was more compatible with classification by call type than by emotion, indicating the former’s greater perceptual salience. These results suggest that acoustic categorization may precede attribution of emotion, highlighting the need to distinguish between the overt form of nonverbal signals and their interpretation by the perceiver. Both within- and between-call acoustic variation can then be modeled explicitly, bringing research on human nonverbal vocalizations more in line with the work on animal communication.
Black elected officials had a punitive impact on imprisonment and policing
The Racial Politics of Mass Incarceration. John Clegg and Adaner Usmani. NYU Working Paper, February 2017. https://ssrn.com/abstract=3025670
Abstract: Dominant accounts of America's punitive turn assume that black elected officials and their constituents resisted higher levels of imprisonment and policing. We gather new data and find little support for this view. Panel regressions and an analysis of federally-mandated redistricting suggest that black elected officials had a punitive impact on imprisonment and policing. We corroborate this with public opinion and legislative data. Pooling 300,000 respondents to polls between 1955 and 2014, we find that blacks became substantially more punitive over this period, and were consistently more fearful of crime than whites. The punitive impact of black elected officials at the state and federal level was concentrated at the height of public punitiveness. In short, the racial politics of punishment are more complex than the conventional view allows. We find evidence that black elected officials and the black public were more likely than whites to support non-punitive policies, but conclude that they were constrained by the context in which they sought remedies from crime.
Keywords: crime, criminal justice, public opinion, race, mass incarceration
My commentary: Typical of the professoriat is to be surprised of this... Those who live in the middle of the daily bloodletting are retrograde because they support state repression against those who kill. They cannot see the motivation to support Duterte.
Abstract: Dominant accounts of America's punitive turn assume that black elected officials and their constituents resisted higher levels of imprisonment and policing. We gather new data and find little support for this view. Panel regressions and an analysis of federally-mandated redistricting suggest that black elected officials had a punitive impact on imprisonment and policing. We corroborate this with public opinion and legislative data. Pooling 300,000 respondents to polls between 1955 and 2014, we find that blacks became substantially more punitive over this period, and were consistently more fearful of crime than whites. The punitive impact of black elected officials at the state and federal level was concentrated at the height of public punitiveness. In short, the racial politics of punishment are more complex than the conventional view allows. We find evidence that black elected officials and the black public were more likely than whites to support non-punitive policies, but conclude that they were constrained by the context in which they sought remedies from crime.
Keywords: crime, criminal justice, public opinion, race, mass incarceration
My commentary: Typical of the professoriat is to be surprised of this... Those who live in the middle of the daily bloodletting are retrograde because they support state repression against those who kill. They cannot see the motivation to support Duterte.
Addicted to Hate: Identity Residual among Former White Supremacists
Addicted to Hate: Identity Residual among Former White Supremacists. Pete Simi et al. American Sociological Review, https://doi.org/10.1177/0003122417728719
Abstract: The process of leaving deeply meaningful and embodied identities can be experienced as a struggle against addiction, with continuing cognitive, emotional, and physiological responses that are involuntary, unwanted, and triggered by environmental factors. Using data derived from a unique set of in-depth life history interviews with 89 former U.S. white supremacists, as well as theories derived from recent advances in cognitive sociology, we examine how a rejected identity can persist despite a desire to change. Disengagement from white supremacy is characterized by substantial lingering effects that subjects describe as addiction. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of identity residual for understanding how people leave and for theories of the self.
Abstract: The process of leaving deeply meaningful and embodied identities can be experienced as a struggle against addiction, with continuing cognitive, emotional, and physiological responses that are involuntary, unwanted, and triggered by environmental factors. Using data derived from a unique set of in-depth life history interviews with 89 former U.S. white supremacists, as well as theories derived from recent advances in cognitive sociology, we examine how a rejected identity can persist despite a desire to change. Disengagement from white supremacy is characterized by substantial lingering effects that subjects describe as addiction. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of identity residual for understanding how people leave and for theories of the self.
Fear vs. disgust as affective predictors of absolutist opposition to genetically modified food and other new technologies
What lies beneath? Fear vs. disgust as affective predictors of absolutist opposition to genetically modified food and other new technologies. Edward Royzman, Corey Cusimano, and Robert F. Leeman. Judgment and Decision Making, Vol. 12, No. 5, September 2017, pp. 466-480. http://journal.sjdm.org/17/17625/jdm17625.html
Abstract: In line with earlier research, a multi-phase study found a significant positive association between a widely used measure of trait disgust and people’s tendency to favor absolutist (non-consequentialist) restrictions on genetically modified food (GMF). However, a more nuanced high-granularity approach showed that it was individual sensitivity to fear (specifically, a tendency to feel creeped out by strange and subtly deviant events) rather than a tendency to be disgusted (orally inhibited) by these events that was a unique predictor of absolutist opposition to GMF and other types of new technology. This finding is consistent with prior theorizing and research demonstrating fear to be “the major determiner of public perception and acceptance of risk for a wide range of hazards” related to new technology (e.g., nuclear power) (Slovic & Peters, 2006, p. 322). The present study calls attention to the importance of conducting future assessments of disgust (and other affective constructs) in a manner that, among other things, recognizes the substantial disconnect between theoretical and lay meanings of the term and illustrates how a policy-guiding result may arise from a sheer miscommunication between a researcher and a subject.
Abstract: In line with earlier research, a multi-phase study found a significant positive association between a widely used measure of trait disgust and people’s tendency to favor absolutist (non-consequentialist) restrictions on genetically modified food (GMF). However, a more nuanced high-granularity approach showed that it was individual sensitivity to fear (specifically, a tendency to feel creeped out by strange and subtly deviant events) rather than a tendency to be disgusted (orally inhibited) by these events that was a unique predictor of absolutist opposition to GMF and other types of new technology. This finding is consistent with prior theorizing and research demonstrating fear to be “the major determiner of public perception and acceptance of risk for a wide range of hazards” related to new technology (e.g., nuclear power) (Slovic & Peters, 2006, p. 322). The present study calls attention to the importance of conducting future assessments of disgust (and other affective constructs) in a manner that, among other things, recognizes the substantial disconnect between theoretical and lay meanings of the term and illustrates how a policy-guiding result may arise from a sheer miscommunication between a researcher and a subject.
Need, Compassion, and Support for Social Welfare -- We are more impressed by sudden reversals of fortune
Delton, A. W., Petersen, M. B., DeScioli, P. and Robertson, T. E. (2017), Need, Compassion, and Support for Social Welfare. Political Psychology. doi:10.1111/pops.12450
Abstract: Funding for social welfare depends on citizen support. Drawing on evolutionary psychological approaches to politics, we study two types of need that might shape citizens' welfare support by regulating their feelings of compassion. One type of need is a recipient's absolute need. The other type is acute need created by sudden misfortune, such as sudden job loss. Across four studies, we find that absolute and acute needs independently affect compassion and welfare attitudes. This leads to potential inefficiencies in judgments: People who have fallen far are judged more deserving of compassion and access to welfare even when they are not in an absolute sense the most impoverished.
My comment: We judge those who experience a sudden reversal of fortune more deserving of assistance, regardless of absolute need.
Abstract: Funding for social welfare depends on citizen support. Drawing on evolutionary psychological approaches to politics, we study two types of need that might shape citizens' welfare support by regulating their feelings of compassion. One type of need is a recipient's absolute need. The other type is acute need created by sudden misfortune, such as sudden job loss. Across four studies, we find that absolute and acute needs independently affect compassion and welfare attitudes. This leads to potential inefficiencies in judgments: People who have fallen far are judged more deserving of compassion and access to welfare even when they are not in an absolute sense the most impoverished.
My comment: We judge those who experience a sudden reversal of fortune more deserving of assistance, regardless of absolute need.
Accusing Others of Ethical Violations Increase Trust in Accuser, Promotes Relationship Conflict in the Group
Holding People Responsible of Ethical Violations: The Surprising Benefits of Accusing Others.
Jessica A. Kennedy and Maurice E. Schweitzer. https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/5d7b/1cc30d2337cd00dd45055da305aea2c44149.pdf
Abstract: Individuals who accuse others of unethical behavior can derive significant benefits. Compared to individuals who do not make accusations, accusers engender greater trust and are perceived to have higher ethical standards. In Study 1, accusations increased trust in the accuser and lowered trust in the target. In Study 2, we find that accusations elevate trust in the accuser by boosting perceptions of the accuser’s ethical standards. In Study 3, we find that accusations boosted both attitudinal and behavioral trust in the accuser, decreased trust in the target, and promoted relationship conflict within the group. In Study 4, we examine the moderating role of moral hypocrisy. Compared to individuals who did not make an accusation, individuals who made an accusation were trusted more if they had acted ethically but not if they had acted unethically. Taken together, we find that accusations have significant interpersonal consequences. In addition to harming accused targets, accusations can substantially benefit accusers.
Keywords: Ethics; Ethical Violations; Accusations
Jessica A. Kennedy and Maurice E. Schweitzer. https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/5d7b/1cc30d2337cd00dd45055da305aea2c44149.pdf
Abstract: Individuals who accuse others of unethical behavior can derive significant benefits. Compared to individuals who do not make accusations, accusers engender greater trust and are perceived to have higher ethical standards. In Study 1, accusations increased trust in the accuser and lowered trust in the target. In Study 2, we find that accusations elevate trust in the accuser by boosting perceptions of the accuser’s ethical standards. In Study 3, we find that accusations boosted both attitudinal and behavioral trust in the accuser, decreased trust in the target, and promoted relationship conflict within the group. In Study 4, we examine the moderating role of moral hypocrisy. Compared to individuals who did not make an accusation, individuals who made an accusation were trusted more if they had acted ethically but not if they had acted unethically. Taken together, we find that accusations have significant interpersonal consequences. In addition to harming accused targets, accusations can substantially benefit accusers.
Keywords: Ethics; Ethical Violations; Accusations
Encountering ideological conflict reduces well-being and humanity-esteem. Agreement doesn't add positive emotions
Brandt, Mark J, Jarret Crawford, and Daryl Van Tongeren. 2017. “Worldview Conflict in Daily Life”. PsyArXiv. September 29. doi:10.1177/1948550617733517.
Abstract: Building on laboratory and survey-based research probing the psychology of ideology and the experience of worldview-conflict, we examined the association between worldview-conflict and emotional reactions, psychological well-being, humanity-esteem, and political ideology in everyday life using experience sampling. In three combined samples (Total N= 328), experiencing disagreement compared to agreement was associated with experiencing more other-condemning emotions, less well-being, and less humanity-esteem. There were no clear associations between experiencing disagreement and experiencing self-conscious emotions, positive emotions, and mental stress. None of the relationships were moderated by political ideology. These results both replicate and challenge findings from laboratory and survey-based research, and we discuss possible reasons for the discrepancies. Experience sampling methods can help researchers get a glimpse into everyday worldview-conflict.
Check also: Frimer, J. A., Skitka, L. J., & Motyl, M. (2017). Liberals and conservatives are similarly motivated to avoid exposure to one another’s opinions. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 72, 1–12. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00221031/72
Abstract: Building on laboratory and survey-based research probing the psychology of ideology and the experience of worldview-conflict, we examined the association between worldview-conflict and emotional reactions, psychological well-being, humanity-esteem, and political ideology in everyday life using experience sampling. In three combined samples (Total N= 328), experiencing disagreement compared to agreement was associated with experiencing more other-condemning emotions, less well-being, and less humanity-esteem. There were no clear associations between experiencing disagreement and experiencing self-conscious emotions, positive emotions, and mental stress. None of the relationships were moderated by political ideology. These results both replicate and challenge findings from laboratory and survey-based research, and we discuss possible reasons for the discrepancies. Experience sampling methods can help researchers get a glimpse into everyday worldview-conflict.
Check also: Frimer, J. A., Skitka, L. J., & Motyl, M. (2017). Liberals and conservatives are similarly motivated to avoid exposure to one another’s opinions. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 72, 1–12. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00221031/72
Abstract : Ideologically committed people are similarly motivated to avoid ideologically crosscutting information. Although some previous research has found that political conservatives may be more prone to selective exposure than liberals are, we find similar selective exposure motives on the political left and right across a variety of issues. The majority of people on both sides of the same-sex marriage debate willingly gave up a chance to win money to avoid hearing from the other side (Study 1). When thinking back to the 2012 U.S. Presidential election (Study 2), ahead to upcoming elections in the U.S. and Canada (Study 3), and about a range of other Culture War issues (Study 4), liberals and conservatives reported similar aversion toward learning about the views of their ideological opponents. Their lack of interest was not due to already being informed about the other side or attributable election fatigue. Rather, people on both sides indicated that they anticipated that hearing from the other side would induce cognitive dissonance (e.g., require effort, cause frustration) and undermine a sense of shared reality with the person expressing disparate views (e.g., damage the relationship; Study 5). A high-powered meta-analysis of our data sets (N = 2417) did not detect a difference in the intensity of liberals’ (d = 0.63) and conservatives’ (d = 0.58) desires to remain in their respective ideological bubbles.
Keywords: selective exposure; confirmation bias; motivation; liberals and conservatives; ideological symmetry
Friday, September 29, 2017
There Will Be Killing: Collectivization and Death of Draft Animals
There Will Be Killing: Collectivization and Death of Draft Animals. Shuo Chen and Xiaohuan Lan. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics. Oct 2017, Vol. 9, No. 4: Pages 58-77, http://pubs.aeaweb.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1257/app.20160247
Abstract: The elimination of private property rights can lead to ineffcient use of productive assets. In China's collectivization movement from 1955 to 1957, instead of transferring draft animals to the ownership of the collectives, peasants slaughtered them to keep the meat and hide. By comparing 1,600 counties that launched the movement in different years, the difference-in-differences estimates suggest that the animal loss during the movement was 12 to 15 percent, or 7.4–9.5 million head. Grain output dropped by 7 percent due to lower animal inputs and lower productivity.
JEL N45, N55, O13, P26, P32, Q11
Abstract: The elimination of private property rights can lead to ineffcient use of productive assets. In China's collectivization movement from 1955 to 1957, instead of transferring draft animals to the ownership of the collectives, peasants slaughtered them to keep the meat and hide. By comparing 1,600 counties that launched the movement in different years, the difference-in-differences estimates suggest that the animal loss during the movement was 12 to 15 percent, or 7.4–9.5 million head. Grain output dropped by 7 percent due to lower animal inputs and lower productivity.
JEL N45, N55, O13, P26, P32, Q11
The Myth of Partisan Selective Exposure: A Portrait of the Online Political News Audience
The Myth of Partisan Selective Exposure: A Portrait of the Online Political News Audience. Jacob L. Nelson, and James G. Webster. Social Media + Society, https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305117729314
Abstract: Many assume that in a digital environment with a wide range of ideologically tinged news outlets, partisan selective exposure to like-minded speech is pervasive and a primary cause of political polarization. Yet, partisan selective exposure research tends to stem from experimental or self-reported data, which limits the applicability of their findings in a high-choice media environment. We explore observed online audience behavior data to present a portrait of the actual online political news audience. We find that this audience frequently navigates to news sites from Facebook, and that it congregates among a few popular, well-known political news sites. We also find that political news sites comprise ideologically diverse audiences, and that they share audiences with nearly all smaller, more ideologically extreme outlets. Our results call into question the strength of the so-called red/blue divide in actual web use.
Keywords: partisan selective exposure, social network sites, audience behavior, media choice, network analysis
Check also: Polarized Mass or Polarized Few? Assessing the Parallel Rise of Survey Nonresponse and Measures of Polarization. Amnon Cavari and Guy Freedman. The Journal of Politics, https://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2018/03/polarized-mass-or-polarized-few.html
Abstract: Many assume that in a digital environment with a wide range of ideologically tinged news outlets, partisan selective exposure to like-minded speech is pervasive and a primary cause of political polarization. Yet, partisan selective exposure research tends to stem from experimental or self-reported data, which limits the applicability of their findings in a high-choice media environment. We explore observed online audience behavior data to present a portrait of the actual online political news audience. We find that this audience frequently navigates to news sites from Facebook, and that it congregates among a few popular, well-known political news sites. We also find that political news sites comprise ideologically diverse audiences, and that they share audiences with nearly all smaller, more ideologically extreme outlets. Our results call into question the strength of the so-called red/blue divide in actual web use.
Keywords: partisan selective exposure, social network sites, audience behavior, media choice, network analysis
Check also: Polarized Mass or Polarized Few? Assessing the Parallel Rise of Survey Nonresponse and Measures of Polarization. Amnon Cavari and Guy Freedman. The Journal of Politics, https://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2018/03/polarized-mass-or-polarized-few.html
The role of personality in individual differences in yearly earnings
The role of personality in individual differences in yearly earnings. Peter K. Jonason et al. Personality and Individual Differences, Volume 121, January 15 2018, Pages 170–172, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2017.09.038
Highlights
• Women made less money than men did.
• The Dark Triad and Big Five traits are correlated with income.
• Sex differences in income were partially mediated by neuroticism.
• Sex differences in income were partially mediated by narcissism.
Abstract: We examined the role of personality in accounting for sex differences in yearly earnings among Australians (N = 533). Men reported they earned modestly more money than women did, as did married and fully employed people, but these three factors did not interact. Narcissism, psychopathy, extraversion, conscientiousness, and limited neuroticism predicted self-reported higher earnings; associations that differed little by participant's sex, although a slight pattern suggests women may pay a higher pay penalty for neuroticism but benefit more from conscientiousness than men do. Narcissism and neuroticism mediated sex differences in self-reported income suggesting men who were more narcissistic and women who were less neurotic reported more yearly earnings. The results are discussed in terms of how individual differences may play a role in apparent sex differences in earnings.
Keywords: Income; Sex differences; Personality; Big five; Dark triad
Highlights
• Women made less money than men did.
• The Dark Triad and Big Five traits are correlated with income.
• Sex differences in income were partially mediated by neuroticism.
• Sex differences in income were partially mediated by narcissism.
Abstract: We examined the role of personality in accounting for sex differences in yearly earnings among Australians (N = 533). Men reported they earned modestly more money than women did, as did married and fully employed people, but these three factors did not interact. Narcissism, psychopathy, extraversion, conscientiousness, and limited neuroticism predicted self-reported higher earnings; associations that differed little by participant's sex, although a slight pattern suggests women may pay a higher pay penalty for neuroticism but benefit more from conscientiousness than men do. Narcissism and neuroticism mediated sex differences in self-reported income suggesting men who were more narcissistic and women who were less neurotic reported more yearly earnings. The results are discussed in terms of how individual differences may play a role in apparent sex differences in earnings.
Keywords: Income; Sex differences; Personality; Big five; Dark triad
Cotard and Capgras delusions in a patient with bipolar disorder: “I’ll prove, I’m dead!”
Cotard and Capgras delusions in a patient with bipolar disorder: “I’ll prove, I’m dead!” Mehmet Hamdi Örüm ORCID Icon & Aysun Kalenderoğlu. Psychiatry and Clinical Psychopharmacology, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/24750573.2017.1371661
Abstract: Cotard is a syndrome that is characterized by ideas of damnation or rejection, anxious melancholia, insensitivity to pain, and nihilistic delusions concerning one’s own body or existence. It is most often encountered in middle age or older women who are severely depressed. Capgras syndrome is a rare psychiatric disorder with colourful symptoms. The patient believes that the identities of close relatives or friends are not real but are replaced by others. Co-existences of psychiatric and organic diseases with Cotard’s syndrome and Capgras syndrome are reported in different studies. There is still requirement of more research to establish a position in diagnostic classification systems for these syndromes which are thought to have a multifactorial etiology. In this report, we described a patient with bipolar disorder type-2 who displayed comorbid Cotard and Capgras delusions which were most evident at the onset of menstrual periods.
KEYWORDS: Cotard syndrome, Capgras syndrome, bipolar disorder type-2, menstrual cycle
Abstract: Cotard is a syndrome that is characterized by ideas of damnation or rejection, anxious melancholia, insensitivity to pain, and nihilistic delusions concerning one’s own body or existence. It is most often encountered in middle age or older women who are severely depressed. Capgras syndrome is a rare psychiatric disorder with colourful symptoms. The patient believes that the identities of close relatives or friends are not real but are replaced by others. Co-existences of psychiatric and organic diseases with Cotard’s syndrome and Capgras syndrome are reported in different studies. There is still requirement of more research to establish a position in diagnostic classification systems for these syndromes which are thought to have a multifactorial etiology. In this report, we described a patient with bipolar disorder type-2 who displayed comorbid Cotard and Capgras delusions which were most evident at the onset of menstrual periods.
KEYWORDS: Cotard syndrome, Capgras syndrome, bipolar disorder type-2, menstrual cycle
Thursday, September 28, 2017
Method of homicide and severe mental illness: A systematic review
Method of homicide and severe mental illness: A systematic review. Valeria Abreu Minero, Edward Barker, and Rachael Bedford. Aggression and Violent Behavior, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2017.09.007
Highlights
• Two consistent associations between homicide method and mental illness were identified.
• An association between schizophrenia/delusional disorder and sharp instruments
• An association between mood disorders and strangulation/asphyxiation/suffocation/drowning
• Duration of the illness, victim type, and planning of the homicide are also influential to weapon choice.
• Up to 96% of offenders experienced psychiatric symptoms at the time of the homicide. <<< this seems wrong, see below in the abstract
Abstract: There is limited research that has examined offense characteristics in homicides committed by individuals with mental illness and with differing psychiatric diagnoses. The aim of this systematic review is to synthesize previous findings of studies analyzing homicide behavior by mentally ill individuals, and reporting any associations between mental illness and method of homicide. We searched four databases (MedLine, PsychINFO, Web of Science and Embase), and identified 52 relevant articles for analysis. Of these 52 articles, nine reported specific information on mental illness and method of homicide. Five out of nine articles revealed an association between schizophrenia/delusional disorder and the use of sharp instruments as a method of homicide. Four out of nine studies revealed an association between mood disorders (bipolar disorder/major depression) and strangulation/asphyxiation/suffocation/drowning. Our review confirms consistency across studies reporting a significant association between close contact methods and schizophrenia/mood disorders. Also identified as possible influential factors concerning weapon choice are illness duration, victim characteristics and planning/lack of planning of the homicide. Additionally, studies revealed up to 96% of severely mentally ill offenders experienced psychiatric symptoms at the time of the homicide. Future research may examine the presence of specific psychiatric symptoms when a mentally ill offender commits a homicide and whether these may be more influential in the method of homicide used than the psychiatric diagnosis of the offender.
Keywords: Homicide method; Homicide; Severe mental illness; Schizophrenia; Mood disorders; Symptoms
Highlights
• Two consistent associations between homicide method and mental illness were identified.
• An association between schizophrenia/delusional disorder and sharp instruments
• An association between mood disorders and strangulation/asphyxiation/suffocation/drowning
• Duration of the illness, victim type, and planning of the homicide are also influential to weapon choice.
• Up to 96% of offenders experienced psychiatric symptoms at the time of the homicide. <<< this seems wrong, see below in the abstract
Abstract: There is limited research that has examined offense characteristics in homicides committed by individuals with mental illness and with differing psychiatric diagnoses. The aim of this systematic review is to synthesize previous findings of studies analyzing homicide behavior by mentally ill individuals, and reporting any associations between mental illness and method of homicide. We searched four databases (MedLine, PsychINFO, Web of Science and Embase), and identified 52 relevant articles for analysis. Of these 52 articles, nine reported specific information on mental illness and method of homicide. Five out of nine articles revealed an association between schizophrenia/delusional disorder and the use of sharp instruments as a method of homicide. Four out of nine studies revealed an association between mood disorders (bipolar disorder/major depression) and strangulation/asphyxiation/suffocation/drowning. Our review confirms consistency across studies reporting a significant association between close contact methods and schizophrenia/mood disorders. Also identified as possible influential factors concerning weapon choice are illness duration, victim characteristics and planning/lack of planning of the homicide. Additionally, studies revealed up to 96% of severely mentally ill offenders experienced psychiatric symptoms at the time of the homicide. Future research may examine the presence of specific psychiatric symptoms when a mentally ill offender commits a homicide and whether these may be more influential in the method of homicide used than the psychiatric diagnosis of the offender.
Keywords: Homicide method; Homicide; Severe mental illness; Schizophrenia; Mood disorders; Symptoms
Is utilitarian sacrifice becoming more morally permissible?
Is utilitarian sacrifice becoming more morally permissible? Ivar R. Hannikainen, Edouard Machery, and Fiery A. Cushman. Cognition., Volume 170, January 2018, Pages 95–101. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2017.09.013
Abstract: A central tenet of contemporary moral psychology is that people typically reject active forms of utilitarian sacrifice. Yet, evidence for secularization and declining empathic concern in recent decades suggests the possibility of systematic change in this attitude. In the present study, we employ hypothetical dilemmas to investigate whether judgments of utilitarian sacrifice are becoming more permissive over time. In a cross-sectional design, age negatively predicted utilitarian moral judgment (Study 1). To examine whether this pattern reflected processes of maturation, we asked a panel to re-evaluate several moral dilemmas after an eight-year interval but observed no overall change (Study 2). In contrast, a more recent age-matched sample revealed greater endorsement of utilitarian sacrifice in a time-lag design (Study 3). Taken together, these results suggest that today’s younger cohorts increasingly endorse a utilitarian resolution of sacrificial moral dilemmas.
Keywords: Moral dilemmas; Cohort effect; Aging; Utilitarianism
Abstract: A central tenet of contemporary moral psychology is that people typically reject active forms of utilitarian sacrifice. Yet, evidence for secularization and declining empathic concern in recent decades suggests the possibility of systematic change in this attitude. In the present study, we employ hypothetical dilemmas to investigate whether judgments of utilitarian sacrifice are becoming more permissive over time. In a cross-sectional design, age negatively predicted utilitarian moral judgment (Study 1). To examine whether this pattern reflected processes of maturation, we asked a panel to re-evaluate several moral dilemmas after an eight-year interval but observed no overall change (Study 2). In contrast, a more recent age-matched sample revealed greater endorsement of utilitarian sacrifice in a time-lag design (Study 3). Taken together, these results suggest that today’s younger cohorts increasingly endorse a utilitarian resolution of sacrificial moral dilemmas.
Keywords: Moral dilemmas; Cohort effect; Aging; Utilitarianism
Expecting the Unexpected: Using Team Charters to Handle Disruptions and Facilitate Team Performance
Expecting the Unexpected: Using Team Charters to Handle Disruptions and Facilitate Team Performance. Therese E. Sverdrup, Vidar Schei, and Øystein A. Tjølsen. Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice 2017, Vol. 21, No. 1, 53–59. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/gdn0000059
Abstract: Teams are increasingly relied on to manage and adapt to a changing world. Previous studies have found adaptive teams to be less susceptible to disruptive events. In this study, we test whether or not the development of a team charter 2 weeks prior to a given task increases a team’s ability to adapt to disruptions and overall performance. We find that teams that develop team charters are better able to handle disruptive events, which in turn increases their performance.
Keywords: team charter, team adaptation, disruption, team performance, planning
---
In this study, we examine the effects of establishing a team charter on a team’s ability to adapt to unforeseen triggers or disruptions. More specifically, we test whether there are any differences between teams that have established team charters and teams that have not in terms of their ability to adapt to disruptions and related performance. The study’s predictions are based on the literature on team charters and adaptation. We argue that for teams to be adaptive and resilient in facing the unexpected, the establishment of a team charter is advantageous.
The team charter literature, wherein various teams have been examined extensively over time, has found events occurring early in a team’s life span to have long-lasting effects (Gersick, 1988, 1989; Gersick & Hackman, 1990). Thus, it can be assumed that a team will benefit from developing specific guidelines upon its establishment for better team performance. A small number of studies have examined the relationship between the establishment of team charters and team performance. These studies have shown student teams to perceive both increased satisfaction and performance upon developing team charters (Aaron, McDowell, & Herdman, 2014; Byrd & Luthy, 2010; Cox & Bobrowski, 2000, 2004; Hunsaker, Pavett, & Hunsaker, 2011). In a longitudinal study, Mathieu and Rapp (2009) found that teams that had developed high quality team charters and performance strategies during their establishment phases performed better during their life spans. Such studies show that the development of team charters may result in better performance. However, to our knowledge, no study has tested the effects of a team charter by comparing teams that have established team charters and teams that have not in an experimental setting.
Abstract: Teams are increasingly relied on to manage and adapt to a changing world. Previous studies have found adaptive teams to be less susceptible to disruptive events. In this study, we test whether or not the development of a team charter 2 weeks prior to a given task increases a team’s ability to adapt to disruptions and overall performance. We find that teams that develop team charters are better able to handle disruptive events, which in turn increases their performance.
Keywords: team charter, team adaptation, disruption, team performance, planning
---
In this study, we examine the effects of establishing a team charter on a team’s ability to adapt to unforeseen triggers or disruptions. More specifically, we test whether there are any differences between teams that have established team charters and teams that have not in terms of their ability to adapt to disruptions and related performance. The study’s predictions are based on the literature on team charters and adaptation. We argue that for teams to be adaptive and resilient in facing the unexpected, the establishment of a team charter is advantageous.
The team charter literature, wherein various teams have been examined extensively over time, has found events occurring early in a team’s life span to have long-lasting effects (Gersick, 1988, 1989; Gersick & Hackman, 1990). Thus, it can be assumed that a team will benefit from developing specific guidelines upon its establishment for better team performance. A small number of studies have examined the relationship between the establishment of team charters and team performance. These studies have shown student teams to perceive both increased satisfaction and performance upon developing team charters (Aaron, McDowell, & Herdman, 2014; Byrd & Luthy, 2010; Cox & Bobrowski, 2000, 2004; Hunsaker, Pavett, & Hunsaker, 2011). In a longitudinal study, Mathieu and Rapp (2009) found that teams that had developed high quality team charters and performance strategies during their establishment phases performed better during their life spans. Such studies show that the development of team charters may result in better performance. However, to our knowledge, no study has tested the effects of a team charter by comparing teams that have established team charters and teams that have not in an experimental setting.
Origin of smile in animals could be trying to appear as of smaller, less threating body
Smiles as Multipurpose Social Signals. Jared Martin et al. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2017.08.007
Abstract: The human smile is highly variable in both its form and the social contexts in which it is displayed. A social-functional account identifies three distinct smile expressions defined in terms of their effects on the perceiver: reward smiles reinforce desired behavior; affiliation smiles invite and maintain social bonds; and dominance smiles manage hierarchical relationships. Mathematical modeling uncovers the appearance of the smiles, and both human and Bayesian classifiers validate these distinctions. New findings link laughter to reward, affiliation, and dominance, and research suggests that these functions of smiles are recognized across cultures. Taken together, this evidence suggests that the smile can be productively investigated according to how it assists the smiler in meeting the challenges and opportunities inherent in human social living.
Trends
Smiles are highly variable across a number of dimensions. Predominant approaches to smile categorization do not sufficiently explain this variability. Their ubiquity and social impact make smiles a critical topic for affective and cognitive science.
A social-functional analysis, categorizing smiles by how they resolve the challenges and opportunities required by social living, suggests three types of smiles: reward smiles that reinforce desired behavior; affiliation smiles that form and maintain social bonds; and dominance smiles that manage social hierarchies.
Recent evidence supports this typology: distinct morphological features communicate each functional intent and motivations to smile are predictably variable across culture based on factors related to the salient social tasks in a given culture.
Keywords: facial expression; social functionalism; social hierarchies; social bonding; behavioral reinforcement
Check also: Tennis grunts communicate acoustic cues to sex and contest outcome. Jordan Raine, Katarzyna Pisanski & David Reby. Animal Behaviour, Volume 130, August 2017, Pages 47-55, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2017.06.022
And: Volitional exaggeration of body size through fundamental and formant frequency modulation in humans. Katarzyna Pisanski et al. Scientific Reports, 2016; 6: 34389. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5043380/
Abstract: The human smile is highly variable in both its form and the social contexts in which it is displayed. A social-functional account identifies three distinct smile expressions defined in terms of their effects on the perceiver: reward smiles reinforce desired behavior; affiliation smiles invite and maintain social bonds; and dominance smiles manage hierarchical relationships. Mathematical modeling uncovers the appearance of the smiles, and both human and Bayesian classifiers validate these distinctions. New findings link laughter to reward, affiliation, and dominance, and research suggests that these functions of smiles are recognized across cultures. Taken together, this evidence suggests that the smile can be productively investigated according to how it assists the smiler in meeting the challenges and opportunities inherent in human social living.
Trends
Smiles are highly variable across a number of dimensions. Predominant approaches to smile categorization do not sufficiently explain this variability. Their ubiquity and social impact make smiles a critical topic for affective and cognitive science.
A social-functional analysis, categorizing smiles by how they resolve the challenges and opportunities required by social living, suggests three types of smiles: reward smiles that reinforce desired behavior; affiliation smiles that form and maintain social bonds; and dominance smiles that manage social hierarchies.
Recent evidence supports this typology: distinct morphological features communicate each functional intent and motivations to smile are predictably variable across culture based on factors related to the salient social tasks in a given culture.
Keywords: facial expression; social functionalism; social hierarchies; social bonding; behavioral reinforcement
Check also: Tennis grunts communicate acoustic cues to sex and contest outcome. Jordan Raine, Katarzyna Pisanski & David Reby. Animal Behaviour, Volume 130, August 2017, Pages 47-55, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2017.06.022
And: Volitional exaggeration of body size through fundamental and formant frequency modulation in humans. Katarzyna Pisanski et al. Scientific Reports, 2016; 6: 34389. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5043380/
Abstract: Several mammalian species scale their voice fundamental frequency (F0) and formant frequencies in competitive and mating contexts, reducing vocal tract and laryngeal allometry thereby exaggerating apparent body size. Although humans’ rare capacity to volitionally modulate these same frequencies is thought to subserve articulated speech, the potential function of voice frequency modulation in human nonverbal communication remains largely unexplored. Here, the voices of 167 men and women from Canada, Cuba, and Poland were recorded in a baseline condition and while volitionally imitating a physically small and large body size. Modulation of F0, formant spacing (∆F), and apparent vocal tract length (VTL) were measured using Praat. Our results indicate that men and women spontaneously and systemically increased VTL and decreased F0 to imitate a large body size, and reduced VTL and increased F0 to imitate small size. These voice modulations did not differ substantially across cultures, indicating potentially universal sound-size correspondences or anatomical and biomechanical constraints on voice modulation. In each culture, men generally modulated their voices (particularly formants) more than did women. This latter finding could help to explain sexual dimorphism in F0 and formants that is currently unaccounted for by sexual dimorphism in human vocal anatomy and body size.
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