What Do We Measure When We Measure Affective Partisanship?

What Do We Measure When We Measure Affective Partisanship? James Druckman and Matthew Levendusky. Norwestern University WP-18-12, https://www.ipr.northwestern.edu/publications/papers/2018/wp-18-12.html

Abstract: Affective polarization—the tendency of Democrats and Republicans to dislike and distrust one another—has become an important phenomenon in American politics. Yet despite scholarly attention to this topic, two important measurement lacunae remain. First, what items—of the many previously employed—should be used to measure this concept? Second, these items all ask respondents about the parties. When individuals answer them, do they think of voters, elites, or both? The researchers demonstrate that most of the previously used items tap affective polarization, with the exception being the popular social distance measures. Second, they show that when answering questions about the other party, individuals think about elites more than voters, and express more animus when the questions focus on elites. This suggests that increased affective polarization reflects, to some extent, growing animus towards politicians more than ordinary voters. They conclude by discussing the consequences for both measuring this concept and understanding its ramifications.

Intelligence and openness contribute to creative achievement in the arts & sciences; creativity in the arts & sciences is influenced by genes & unique environment; artistic but not scientific creativity is also influenced by shared environment; there is a genetic overlap between openness and creativity in the arts & sciences

Genetic and environmental influences on the phenotypic associations between intelligence, personality, and creative achievement in the arts and sciences. Örjan de Manzano, Fredrik Ullén. Intelligence, Volume 69, July–August 2018, Pages 123–133. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2018.05.004

Highlights
•    Intelligence and openness contribute to creative achievement in the arts and sciences.
•    Creativity in the arts and sciences is influenced by genes and unique environment.
•    Artistic but not scientific creativity is also influenced by shared environment.
•    There is a genetic overlap between openness and creativity in the arts and sciences.
•    Most genetic influences on intelligence are also involved in scientific creativity.

Abstract: Several studies suggest a different effect of intelligence and personality on creative achievement in the arts and sciences. There is also research showing that all these variables are influenced by both genes and environmental factors. The aim of this study was to move further and investigate whether the relative influence of genes and environment on the associations between personality, intelligence, and creative achievement differs between the arts and sciences. Measures of intelligence (Wiener Matrizen Test), personality traits (BFI-44), and creative achievement (Creative Achievement Questionnaire) were obtained from a twin cohort. The sample size differed between measures, ranging between 6606 and 9537 individuals (1349 and 2250 complete twin pairs). Firstly, we performed several phenotypic analyses. These analyses collectively showed that intelligence and the personality trait ‘openness to experience’ were the only traits which contributed significantly to achievement, in either creative domain. Intelligence showed a stronger association with science than with art (non-linear and linear form, respectively), while relations between openness and achievement showed the opposite pattern. Secondly, we performed genetic modeling. Univariate analyses showed artistic creative achievement to be the only variable significantly influenced by shared environment. Individual differences in the remaining traits could be accounted for by additive genetic effects and non-shared environment. Results from two trivariate analyses, which included intelligence, openness, and creative achievement in either the arts or sciences, indicated a substantial and fairly equal genetic overlap between openness and achievement in the two creative domains. Genes associated with intelligence however, played a significantly greater role in scientific achievement than in artistic achievement. In fact, the majority of genetic influences on intelligence were also involved in scientific creative achievement. There was also an overlap of unique environmental influences between intelligence and scientific creative achievement that was not present between intelligence and artistic creative achievement.

In order to cope with fear of death, different age groups differentiate themselves from the old age group by adopting diverse strategies including younger age identities, a distinction between the third and the fourth age, as well as theories like successful and active ageing

Lev S., Wurm S., Ayalon L. (2018) Origins of Ageism at the Individual Level. In: Ayalon L., Tesch-Römer C. (eds) Contemporary Perspectives on Ageism. International Perspectives on Aging, vol 19, pp 51-72. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73820-8_4

Abstract: This chapter presents a model that explains the origins of ageism at the individual level among different age groups. The model is based on three theories. Terror management theory provides an explanation for the roots and motives of ageism towards old age groups among young and middle-aged groups as well as among the young-old age group. Stereotype embodiment theory provides a complementary explanation for self-ageism among the young-old and old-old age groups. Finally, social identity theory focuses on the diverse expressions of ageism among different age groups. The model highlights a unique feature of ageism, which, in contrast with other types of prejudice and discrimination, is not directed towards distinct out-groups, but rather towards our future selves by symbolizing a fear of death and its accompanying deterioration. In order to cope with this fear, different age groups differentiate themselves from the old age group by adopting diverse strategies including younger age identities, a distinction between the third and the fourth age, as well as theories like successful and active ageing. Because of the gradual reduction of personal and social resources people often encounter in the later stages of life, we suggest some long-term strategies that recognize decline as a valid dimension of ageing and personhood and emphasize alternative resources.

“Fake news” is a politicized term where conversations overshadowed logical & important discussions of the term; social media users from opposing political parties communicate in homophilous environments & use “fake news” to disparage the opposition & condemn real information

Read All About It: The Politicization of “Fake News” on Twitter. John Brummette et al. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, Volume: 95 issue: 2, page(s): 497-517. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077699018769906

Abstract: Due to the importance of word choice in political discourse, this study explored the use of the term “fake news.” Using a social network analysis, content analysis, and cluster analysis, political characteristics of online networks that formed around discussions of “fake news” were examined. This study found that “fake news” is a politicized term where conversations overshadowed logical and important discussions of the term. Findings also revealed that social media users from opposing political parties communicate in homophilous environments and use “fake news” to disparage the opposition and condemn real information disseminated by the opposition party members.

Keywords: social network analysis, fake news, homophily, political communication

People selectively exhibit the bias, especially in those situations where it favors their current worldview as revealed by their political orientation: The same information was presented to all participants, but people developed the causal illusion bias selectively

Causal illusions in the service of political attitudes in Spain and the UK. Fernando Blanco, Braulio Gómez-Fortes and Helena Matute- Front. Psychol. | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01033

Abstract: The causal illusion is a cognitive bias that results in the perception of causality where there is no supporting evidence. We show that people selectively exhibit the bias, especially in those situations where it favors their current worldview as revealed by their political orientation. In our two experiments (one conducted in Spain and one conducted in the UK), participants who self-positioned themselves on the ideological left formed the illusion that a left-wing ruling party was more successful in improving city indicators than a right-wing party, while participants on the ideological right showed the opposite pattern. In sum, despite the fact that the same information was presented to all participants, people developed the causal illusion bias selectively, providing very different interpretations that aligned with their previous attitudes. This result occurs in situations where participants inspect the relationship between the government’s actions and positive outcomes (improving city indicators), but not when the outcomes are negative (worsening city indicators).

Keywords: cognitive bias, causal illusion, Ideology, Motivated reasoning, causality

Shame is an evolved adaptation that is designed to limit the likelihood and costs of others forming negative beliefs about the self, and increases with the publicity of an act perceived unfavorably by others, even if it was unimpeachable

The true trigger of shame: social devaluation is sufficient, wrongdoing is unnecessary. Theresa E. Robertson et al. Evolution and Human Behavior, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2018.05.010

Abstract: What is the trigger of shame? The information threat theory holds that shame is an evolved adaptation that is designed to limit the likelihood and costs of others forming negative beliefs about the self. By contrast, attributional theories posit that concerns over others' evaluations are irrelevant to shame. Instead, shame is triggered when a person attributes a negative outcome to their self, rather than to a particular act or circumstance. We conduct a strong test of the information threat hypothesis. In Study 1, participants imagined taking an action that, though morally unimpeachable, could be interpreted unfavorably by others. As predicted by the information threat theory, shame increased with the publicity of this act. In Study 2, participants played a public good game and then learned that the other participants either chose to keep interacting with them (inclusion) or not (exclusion)—ostensibly because of their contributions, but in fact randomly determined by the experimenter. Exclusion increased shame. Under-contribution did not. In fact, even the highest contributors tended to feel shame when excluded. These findings strongly suggest that the true trigger of shame is the prospect or actuality of being devalued by others.

Keywords: Shame; Emotion; Social exclusion

Why Humans Fail in Solving the Monty Hall Dilemma: There is less regret in losing by staying than in losing by switching

Saenen, L. et al. , (2018). Why Humans Fail in Solving the Monty Hall Dilemma: A Systematic Review. Psychologica Bélgica, 58 (1), pp . 128–158. http://doi.org/10.5334/pb.274

Abstract: The Monty Hall dilemma (MHD) is a difficult brain teaser. We present a systematic review of literature published between January 2000 and February 2018 addressing why humans systematically fail to react optimally to the MHD or fail to understand it.

Based on a sequential analysis of the phases in the MHD, we first review causes in each of these phases that may prohibit humans to react optimally and to fully understand the problem. Next, we address the question whether humans’ performance, in terms of choice behaviour and (probability) understanding, can be improved. Finally, we discuss individual differences related to people’s suboptimal performance.

This review provides novel insights by means of its holistic approach of the MHD: At each phase, there are reasons to expect that people respond suboptimally. Given that the occurrence of only one cause is sufficient, it is not surprising that suboptimal responses are so widespread and people rarely understand the MHD.

Keywords: Systematic review,  Monty Hall dilemma,  probability,  choice,  decision

A new plan for African cities: The Ethiopia Urban Expansion Initiative

A new plan for African cities: The Ethiopia Urban Expansion Initiative. Patrick Lamson-Hall et al. Urban Studies, https://doi.org/10.1177/0042098018757601

Abstract: Recent research indicates that a simplified approach to urban planning in Sub-Saharan African cities can address the challenges of rapid urban growth. Current plans focus too heavily on the existing area of the city and offer unrealistic agendas for future urban growth, such as densification, containment and high-rise development; plans that are often too complicated and too costly to be deployed in a developing-world context. In response, New York University and the Government of Ethiopia have created a programme to deploy a simple methodology called Making Room for Urban Expansion in 18 Ethiopian cities that are experiencing rapid growth. The programme is called the Ethiopia Urban Expansion Initiative. The Initiative set aside a number of standard planning objectives and instead focused only on expanding city boundaries to include adequate land for expansion, designing and protecting a network of arterial roads spaced approximately 1 km apart, and identifying and protecting environmentally sensitive open spaces. These efforts focused on areas that had not yet been occupied by development. This article reports on the preliminary results from the four Ethiopian cities participating in the Initiative that began in 2013. The results from the first four participating cities show that simple plans can lead to the creation of new arterial roads, increasing access to peripheral land and potentially bringing the available land supply in line with projected growth. These activities can be done at the local level and implemented with limited support from consultants and from the regional and national government, and it requires minimal public investment.

Keywords: agglomeration/urbanisation, Ethiopia, housing, informality, method, urban expansion

Political correspondence between married couples and parent- offspring agreement have both increased substantially in the polarized era; the principal reason for increased spousal correspondence is mate selection based on politics

The Home as a Political Fortress; Family Agreement in an Era of Polarization. Shanto Iyengar, Tobias Konitzer, Kent Tedin. https://zapdoc.tips/the-home-as-a-political-fortress-family-agreement-in-an-era.html

Abstract: The manifestations of party polarization in America are well known: legislative gridlock, harsh elite rhetoric, and at the level of the electorate, increasing hostility across the partisan divide. We investigate the ramifications of polarization for processes of family socialization. Using the classic 1965 Youth-Parent Political Socialization Panel data as a baseline, we employ original national surveys of spouses and offspring conducted in 2015 supplemented by the 2014 and 2016 TargetSmart national voter files to demonstrate that political correspondence between married couples and parent- offspring agreement have both increased substantially in the polarized era. We further demonstrate that the principal reason for increased spousal correspondence is mate selection based on politics. Spousal agreement, in turn, creates an ”echo chamber” that facilitates intergenerational continuity. Overall, our results suggest a vicious cycle by which socialization exacerbates party polarization.

KEYWORDS: polarization, homophily; assortative mating; generations, partisanship

Analytic atheism: A cross-culturally weak and fickle phenomenon?

Analytic atheism: A cross-culturally weak and fickle phenomenon? Will M. Gervais et al. Judgment and Decision Making, Vol. 13, No. 3, May 2018, pp. 268-274. http://journal.sjdm.org/18/18228/jdm18228.html

Abstract: Religious belief is a topic of longstanding interest to psychological science, but the psychology of religious disbelief is a relative newcomer. One prominently discussed model is analytic atheism, wherein cognitive reflection, as measured with the Cognitive Reflection Test, overrides religious intuitions and instruction. Consistent with this model, performance-based measures of cognitive reflection predict religious disbelief in WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, & Democratic) samples. However, the generality of analytic atheism remains unknown. Drawing on a large global sample (N = 3461) from 13 religiously, demographically, and culturally diverse societies, we find that analytic atheism as usually assessed is in fact quite fickle cross-culturally, appearing robustly only in aggregate analyses and in three individual countries. The results provide additional evidence for culture’s effects on core beliefs.

Keywords: atheism; cultural learning; dual process cognition; religious cognition; replicability; WEIRD people; culture

The non-effects of repeated exposure to the Cognitive Reflection Test: We do not improve scores

The non-effects of repeated exposure to the Cognitive Reflection Test. Andrew Meyer, Elizabeth Zhou, Shane Frederick. Judgment and Decision Making, Vol. 13, No. 3, May 2018, pp. 246-259. http://journal.sjdm.org/18/18228a/jdm18228a.html

Abstract: We estimate the effects of repeated exposure to the Cognitive Reflection Test (CRT) by examining 14,053 MTurk subjects who took the test up to 25 times. In contrast with inferences drawn from self-reported prior exposure to the CRT, we find that prior exposure usually fails to improve scores. On average, respondents get only 0.024 additional items correct per exposure, and this small increase is driven entirely by the minority of subjects who continue to spend time reflecting on the items. Moreover, later scores retain the predictive validity of earlier scores, even when they differ, because initial success and later improvement appear to measure the same thing.

Keywords: Cognitive Reflection Test, repeated testing

Reports of Recovered Memories of Abuse in Therapy in a Large Age-Representative U.S. National Sample: Therapy Type and Decade Comparisons

Reports of Recovered Memories of Abuse in Therapy in a Large Age-Representative U.S. National Sample: Therapy Type and Decade Comparisons. Lawrence Patihis, Mark H. Pendergrast. Clinical Psychological Science, https://doi.org/10.1177/2167702618773315

Abstract: The potential hazards of endeavoring to recover ostensibly repressed memories of abuse in therapy have previously been documented. Yet no large survey of the general public about memory recovery in therapy has been conducted. In an age-representative sample of 2,326 adults in the United States, we found that 9% (8% weighted to be representative) of the total sample reported seeing therapists who discussed the possibility of repressed abuse, and 5% (4% weighted) reported recovering memories of abuse in therapy for which they had no previous memory. Participants who reported therapists discussing the possibility of repressed memories of abuse were 20 times more likely to report recovered abuse memories than those who did not. Recovered memories of abuse were associated with most therapy types, and most associated with those who reported starting therapy in the 1990s. We discuss possible problems with such purported memory recovery and make recommendations for clinical training.

Keywords: repressed memory, trauma, abuse, psychotherapy, memory war, recovered memory therapy, open data, open materials

Event-related, contextual, demographic, and dispositional predictors of the desire to punish perpetrators of immoral deeds in daily life, as well as connections among the desire to punish, moral emotions, and momentary well-being

Moral Punishment in Everyday Life. Wilhelm Hofmann et al. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin,  https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167218775075

Abstract: The present research investigated event-related, contextual, demographic, and dispositional predictors of the desire to punish perpetrators of immoral deeds in daily life, as well as connections among the desire to punish, moral emotions, and momentary well-being. The desire to punish was reliably predicted by linear gradients of social closeness to both the perpetrator (negative relationship) and the victim (positive relationship). Older rather than younger adults, conservatives rather than people with other political orientations, and individuals high rather than low in moral identity desired to punish perpetrators more harshly. The desire to punish was related to state anger, disgust, and embarrassment, and these were linked to lower momentary well-being. However, the negative effect of these emotions on well-being was partially compensated by a positive indirect pathway via heightened feelings of moral self-worth. Implications of the present field data for moral punishment research and the connection between morality and well-being are discussed.

Keywords: morality, moral punishment, experience-sampling, social closeness

A Meta-Analytic Comparison of Partisan Bias in Liberals & Conservatives: Liberals and conservatives showed no difference in mean levels of bias across studies. Moderator analyses reveal this pattern to be consistent across a number of different methodological variations & political topics

At Least Bias Is Bipartisan: A Meta-Analytic Comparison of Partisan Bias in Liberals and Conservatives. Peter H. Ditto et al. Perspectives on Psychological Science, https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691617746796

Abstract: Both liberals and conservatives accuse their political opponents of partisan bias, but is there empirical evidence that one side of the political aisle is indeed more biased than the other? To address this question, we meta-analyzed the results of 51 experimental studies, involving over 18,000 participants, that examined one form of partisan bias—the tendency to evaluate otherwise identical information more favorably when it supports one’s political beliefs or allegiances than when it challenges those beliefs or allegiances. Two hypotheses based on previous literature were tested: an asymmetry hypothesis (predicting greater partisan bias in conservatives than in liberals) and a symmetry hypothesis (predicting equal levels of partisan bias in liberals and conservatives). Mean overall partisan bias was robust (r = .245), and there was strong support for the symmetry hypothesis: Liberals (r = .235) and conservatives (r = .255) showed no difference in mean levels of bias across studies. Moderator analyses reveal this pattern to be consistent across a number of different methodological variations and political topics. Implications of the current findings for the ongoing ideological symmetry debate and the role of partisan bias in scientific discourse and political conflict are discussed.

Keywords: bias, motivated reasoning, ideology, politics, meta-analysis

Do Attitudes Toward Societal Structure Predict Beliefs About Free Will and Achievement? Evidence from the Indian Caste Syste

Srinivasan, Mahesh, Yarrow Dunham, Catherine Hicks, and David Barner 2018. “Do Attitudes Toward Societal Structure Predict Beliefs About Free Will and Achievement? Evidence from the Indian Caste System”. PsyArXiv. May 31. doi:10.17605/OSF.IO/43VDN

Abstract: Intuitive theories about the malleability of intellectual ability affect our motivation and achievement in life. But how are such theories shaped by the culture in which an individual is raised? We addressed this question by exploring how Indian children’s and adults’ attitudes toward the Hindu caste system – and its deterministic worldview – are related to differences in their intuitive theories. Strikingly, we found that, beginning at least in middle school and continuing into adulthood, individuals who placed more importance on caste were more likely to adopt deterministic intuitive theories. We also found a developmental change in the scope of this relationship, such that in children, caste attitudes were linked only to abstract beliefs about personal freedom, but that by adulthood, caste attitudes were also linked to beliefs about the potential achievement of members of different castes, personal intellectual ability, and personality attributes. These results are the first to directly relate the societal structure in which a person is raised to the specific intuitive theories they adopt.

Wealth, Slave Ownership, and Fighting for the Confederacy: Modest increases of wealth among the poorest individuals affects their propensity to fight

Wealth, Slave Ownership, and Fighting for the Confederacy: An Empirical Study of the American Civil War. Andrew B. Hall, Connor Hu, Shiro Kuriwaki. February 10, 2018.

Abstract: How did personal wealth affect the likelihood southerners fought for the Confederate Army inthe American Civil War? We offer competing accounts for how we should expect individual wealth, in the form of land, and atrociously, in slaves, to a ect white men's decisions to join the Confederate Army. We assemble a dataset on roughly 3.9 million white citizens in Confederate states, and we show that slaveowners were more likely to  ght in the Confederate Army than non-slaveowners. To see if these links are causal, we exploit a randomized land lottery in 19th-century Georgia. Households of lottery winners owned more slaves in 1850 and were more likely to have sons who fought in the Confederate Army than were households who did not win the lottery. Our results suggest that for wealthy southerners, the stakes associated with the conflict's threat to end the institution of slavery overrode the incentives to free-ride and to avoid paying the costs of war.

Arabian babblers (a bird) concealed 100% of copulations; did not prefer to copulate under shelters; concealed mating solicitations from adult conspecifics; and subordinates did not attack dominants who courted the female

Why conceal? Evidence for concealed sex by dominant Arabian babblers (Turdoides squamiceps). Yitzchak Ben Mocha, Roger Mundry, Simone Pika. Evolution and Human Behavior, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2018.05.009

Abstract: Striking uniformity exists in humans' preference to conceal sexual activity from conspecifics' view. Yet, little is known about the selective pressures acting upon its evolution. To investigate this question, we studied the cooperatively breeding Arabian babbler (Turdoides squamiceps), which has been suggested being the only other species where dominant individuals conceal sex regularly. We examined whether birds indeed conceal sex and tested different hypotheses, postulating that sex concealment functions to avoid predators, signal dominance status, or to avoid social interference. The results showed that birds concealed 100% of copulations; did not prefer to copulate under shelters; concealed mating solicitations from adult conspecifics; and that subordinates did not attack dominants who courted the female. We argue that none of the hypotheses tested explains our findings satisfactorily and postulate that dominants conceal sex to maintain cooperation with those helpers they prevent from mating. Empirical desiderata for testing this ‘Cooperation-Maintenance’ hypothesis are discussed.

Keywords: Arabian babbler; Concealed sex; Cooperatively breeding species; Human sexual behaviour; Tactical deception; Cooperation maintenance hypothesis

Sexual assault interventions may be doing more harm than good with high-risk males

Sexual assault interventions may be doing more harm than good with high-risk males. Neil Malamuth, Mark Huppin, Daniel Linz. Aggression and Violent Behavior, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2018.05.010

Highlights
•    With high-risk men, currently used sexual assault interventions are problematic.
•    These interventions appear to be having opposite than intended effects.
•    Such boomerang effects are likely due to these men's hostile reactance.
•    Reactance may underlie both their sexual violence and responses to interventions.
•    Failure to acknowledge this danger may be due to a lack of suitable strategy.

Abstract: Based on legal requirements and other considerations, there have been many well-meaning interventions intended to reduce sexual assault on university campuses throughout the US. There is no legal requirement, however, to evaluate the effectiveness of these programs, and few evaluations have been conducted. Those that have suggest that at best only a small number of these interventions have been effective and those involve bystander interventions. More importantly, there has been very little research examining the effects of such interventions on men at high risk for sexual aggression, who presumably are a key target of such interventions. Research on similar campaigns in other domains should have alerted investigators to the possibility of boomerang reactance effects wherein interventions can actually have the opposite of the intended effects for high-risk college males. The few studies that directly have examined this possibility indeed are supportive of the substantial likelihood of such negative effects. Commonly used interventions may fail with high-risk men because they are likely to generate “hostility reactance” — one of the key causes of both sexual violence itself and the unintended adverse effects of the interventions. We raise the question of why universities have failed to address this possible effect of interventions and why previous reviews have not highlighted this possible danger.

Keywords: Interventions to reduce sexual assault; Men at high risk for sexual assault; College students; Sexual aggression

Subjective life expectancy and actual mortality: People is quite accurate, but those with more education shrink their expectation

Subjective life expectancy and actual mortality: results of a 10-year panel study among older workers. Hanna van Solinge, Kène Henkens. European Journal of Ageing, June 2018, Volume 15, Issue 2, pp 155–164. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10433-017-0442-3

Abstract: This research examined the judgemental process underlying subjective life expectancy (SLE) and the predictive value of SLE on actual mortality in older adults in the Netherlands. We integrated theoretical insights from life satisfaction research with existing models of SLE. Our model differentiates between bottom-up (objective data of any type) and top-down factors (psychological variables). The study used data from the first wave of the Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute Work and Retirement Panel. This is a prospective cohort study among Dutch older workers. The analytical sample included 2278 individuals, assessed at age 50–64 in 2001, with vital statistics tracked through 2011. We used a linear regression model to estimate the impact of bottom-up and top-down factors on SLE. Cox proportional hazard regression was used to determine the impact of SLE on the timing of mortality, crude and adjusted for actuarial correlates of general life expectancy, family history, health and trait-like dispositions. Results reveal that psychological variables play a role in the formation of SLE. Further, the results indicate that SLE predicts actual mortality, crude and adjusted for socio-demographic, biomedical and psychological confounders. Education has an additional effect on mortality. Those with higher educational attainment were less likely to die within the follow-up period. This SES gradient in mortality was not captured in SLE. The findings indicate that SLE is an independent predictor of mortality in a pre-retirement cohort in the Netherlands. SLE does not fully capture educational differences in mortality. Particularly, higher-educated individuals underestimate their life expectancy.

Trends in flood losses in Europe over the past 150 years: There is large underreporting of smaller floods beyond most recent years

Trends in flood losses in Europe over the past 150 years. Dominik Paprotny, Antonia Sebastian, Oswaldo Morales-Nápoles & Sebastiaan N. Jonkman. Nature Communications, volume 9, Article number: 1985 (2018). DOI:10.1038/s41467-018-04253-1, https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-04253-1

Abstract: Adverse consequences of floods change in time and are influenced by both natural and socio-economic trends and interactions. In Europe, previous studies of historical flood losses corrected for demographic and economic growth (‘normalized’) have been limited in temporal and spatial extent, leading to an incomplete representation of trends in losses over time. Here we utilize a gridded reconstruction of flood exposure in 37 European countries and a new database of damaging floods since 1870. Our results indicate that, after correcting for changes in flood exposure, there has been an increase in annually inundated area and number of persons affected since 1870, contrasted by a substantial decrease in flood fatalities. For more recent decades we also found a considerable decline in financial losses per year. We estimate, however, that there is large underreporting of smaller floods beyond most recent years, and show that underreporting has a substantial impact on observed trends.

Are Men’s Religious Ties Hormonally Regulated? It seems that too much androgen load reduces those ties. Author think it is causal, not just correlation.

Are Men’s Religious Ties Hormonally Regulated? Aniruddha Das. Adaptive Human Behavior and Physiology, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40750-018-0094-3

Abstract

Objectives: Studies based on the “challenge hypothesis” have linked men’s androgens—testosterone and DHEA—to short term mating and antisocial behaviors. Causal direction at a given stage of the life cycle remains ambiguous. Religion is a major social institution through which actions violating social norms are controlled. Thus, ties to this institution may be lower among men with higher androgen levels. The present study queried these linkages.

Procedures: Data were from the 2005–2006 and 2010–2011 waves of the National Social Life, Health and Aging Project (NSHAP), a national probability sample of older U.S. adults. Analysis was through autoregressive cross-lagged panel models (minimum N = 1071).

Results: Higher baseline levels of both testosterone and DHEA prospectively predicted religious ties, whether measured through attendance at services or network connections to clergy. Moreover, contrary to arguments of sociocultural modulation of androgens, the pattern of associations was most consistent with hormonal causation of religious connections. Results were robust to a range of time invariant and time varying confounders, including demographics, hormone supplements, and physical health.

Conclusions: Findings add to the growing evidence that religiosity may have physiological and not simply psychosocial roots. Implications for hormonal confounding of previously published religion-deviance linkages, and for neuroendocrine underpinnings of population-level social and cultural patterns, are discussed.

Mate copying has been documented in female Drosophila melanogaster; we report on experimental evidence for mate copying in males of this species in which females can actively reject males and prevent copulation

Mate copying in Drosophila melanogaster males. Sabine Nöbel, Mélanie Allain, Guillaume Isabel, Etienne Danchin. Animal Behaviour, Volume 141, July 2018, Pages 9–15. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2018.04.019

Highlights
•    Reported evidence of male mate copying is rare, but common in females of many taxa.
•    We provide first evidence for male mate copying in D.melanogaster.
•    Measuring courtship behaviour is a good indicator to evaluate male mate choice.

Abstract: To assess potential mates' quality individuals can observe sexually interacting conspecifics. Such social information use is called mate copying and occurs when observer individuals witnessing sexual interactions of conspecifics later show a mating preference for mates that were seen mating. Most studies have focused on female mate copying, as females are usually the choosy sex. However, much less is known about the existence of male mate copying, probably because of the usual strong asymmetry in sex roles. Mate copying has been documented in female Drosophila melanogaster, and here we report on experimental evidence for mate copying in males of this species in which females can actively reject males and prevent copulation. As mate choice implies high costs for males we assumed that they perform mate copying as well. We created two artificial female phenotypes by randomly dusting females with green or pink powders, and virgin naïve observer males were given the opportunity to see a demonstrator male choosing between a pink and a green demonstrator female. Immediately afterwards, observer males were given the choice between two new females, one of each colour. To circumvent the difficulty of determining actual male mate preference, we used two complementary indices of male mate choice, both of which provided evidence for male mate copying. Informed observer males showed a bias towards females of the colour they saw being chosen during demonstrations, while uninformed males chose randomly between pink and green females. This suggests that male fruit flies can also perform mate copying. Although significant, our results in males were less clear-cut than in females in previous studies. However, like females, D. melanogaster males can mate copy based on a single observation. The importance and generality of such mate copying abilities in nature, and their potential impact on the evolution of Drosophila and probably other invertebrates, need further exploration.

Keywords: fruit fly; male mate copying; public information; social learning

Laughter Is (Powerful) Medicine: the Effects of Humor Exposure on the Well-being of Victims of Aggression

Laughter Is (Powerful) Medicine: the Effects of Humor Exposure on the Well-being of Victims of Aggression. David Cheng, Rajiv Amarnani, Tiffany Le, Simon Restubog. Journal of Business and Psychology, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10869-018-9548-7

Abstract: Aggression at work is an expensive and widespread problem. While a large body of research has studied its antecedents and consequences, few studies have examined what victims can do to help mitigate the damage once it has occurred. Many practitioners and scholars have suggested that workers seek out humor to help them deal with the impact of stressors such as aggression, but little is known about whether humor can actually help victims deal with the psychological damage caused by aggression in the workplace. This paper presents a programmatic series of four experimental studies that examine whether and how exposure to humorous stimuli improves well-being among victims of interpersonal aggression by integrating the superiority theory of humor with Lazarus and Folkman’s transactional model of stress and coping. Study 1 (N = 84 students) showed that exposure to humor had a positive effect on well-being in a sample based in the Philippines. Consistent with theoretical prescriptions from the superiority theory of humor, this effect was mediated by increased momentary sense of power. Study 2 (N = 205 students) found the same positive effects of humor exposure on well-being in a sample based in Australia even when manipulating perpetrator power. These findings were replicated in studies 3 (N = 175 MTurk workers) and 4 (N = 235 MTurk workers) among a diverse sample of workers based in the USA.

Dark Personality Voters Find Dark Politicians More Relatable and Fit for Office

Dark Personality Voters Find Dark Politicians More Relatable and Fit for Office. William Hart, Kyle Richardson, , Gregory K. Tortoriello. Journal of Research in Personality, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2018.05.007

Highlights
•    Dark personalities evaluate dark characteristics in politicians less negatively.
•    Dark personalities perceive nice (vs. dark) politicians as less relatable.
•    Dark personalities show a reduced preference for nice (vs. dark) politicians.
•    Findings supported and extended political congruency theory.

Abstract: We tested the scope of the congruency model of political preference by examining how people high in various dark personalities evaluate political candidates with dark characteristics. In Study 1, participants high in dark personalities reported enhanced self-possession of dark characteristics and, in general, more tolerance of those characteristics in politicians. In Study 2, although participants viewed a wholesome (vs. dark) politician as more similar to the self and likeable, this effect diminished as participants indicated greater possession of dark personalities. Exploratory analyses involving other perceiver traits (self-esteem, political conservatism/liberalism) yielded additional insights about tolerance for dark politicians. Findings contribute to understanding how people high in dark personalities evaluate others and offer a novel perspective on similarity-liking effects in candidate evaluation.

Keywords: Dark Triad; Narcissistic tolerance; Political congruency theory; Similarity-liking principle; Social perception