Extraversion development & sport participation effects: Children and adolescents who dropped out of sport showed greater decreases in extraversion than those who continued participation in sport

Extraversion development in childhood, adolescence and adulthood: Testing the role of sport participation in three nationally-representative samples. Mark S. Allen et al. Journal of Sports Sciences, May 20 2021. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2021.1930672

Abstract: This research sought to test whether sport participation relates to the development of trait extraversion across three life phases. Sport participation and extraversion were measured in children aged 10.5 ± 0.5 years (n = 3600), in adolescents aged 14.5 ± 0.5 years (n = 3463), and in adults with a mean age of 49.4 ± 18.0 years (n = 12,280), with corresponding data collected four years earlier. There were small mean-level decreases in extraversion during childhood and adulthood, and a large decrease in extraversion during adolescence. Four-year rank-order stability in extraversion was .58 in childhood, .61 in adolescence and .76 in adulthood. Sport participation was associated with higher extraversion in all three samples. After controlling for sociodemographic factors, children and adolescents who dropped out of sport showed greater decreases in extraversion than those who continued participation in sport. Sport participation was unrelated to mean-level change in extraversion during adulthood. Sport participation was also associated with greater intra-individual stability in extraversion for children, adolescents and adults. There were no significant sex moderation effects for mean-level change or individual-level stability. These findings provide evidence that sport participation might have an important role in trait extraversion stability and change across the lifespan.

KEYWORDS: Child developmentintroversionlongitudinalpersonalityyouth sport

Neuroanatomy of Transgender Identity: Transgender persons differed significantly from cisgender persons with respect to (sub)cortical brain volumes and surface area, but not cortical thickness

Mueller SC, Guillamon A, Zubiaurre-Elorza L, et al. The Neuroanatomy of Transgender Identity: Mega-Analytic Findings From the ENIGMA Transgender Persons Working Group. J Sex Med 2021;XXX:XXX–XXX. May 21 2021. https://www.jsm.jsexmed.org/article/S1743-6095(21)00425-2/fulltext

Abstract

Background: In contrast to cisgender persons, transgender persons identify with a different gender than the one assigned at birth. Although research on the underlying neurobiology of transgender persons has been accumulating over the years, neuroimaging studies in this relatively rare population are often based on very small samples resulting in discrepant findings.

Aim: To examine the neurobiology of transgender persons in a large sample.

Methods: Using a mega-analytic approach, structural MRI data of 803 non-hormonally treated transgender men (TM, n = 214, female assigned at birth with male gender identity), transgender women (TW, n = 172, male assigned at birth with female gender identity), cisgender men (CM, n = 221, male assigned at birth with male gender identity) and cisgender women (CW, n = 196, female assigned at birth with female gender identity) were analyzed.

Outcomes: Structural brain measures, including grey matter volume, cortical surface area, and cortical thickness.

Results: Transgender persons differed significantly from cisgender persons with respect to (sub)cortical brain volumes and surface area, but not cortical thickness. Contrasting the 4 groups (TM, TW, CM, and CW), we observed a variety of patterns that not only depended on the direction of gender identity (towards male or towards female) but also on the brain measure as well as the brain region examined.

Clinical Translation: The outcomes of this large-scale study may provide a normative framework that may become useful in clinical studies.

Strengths and Limitations: While this is the largest study of MRI data in transgender persons to date, the analyses conducted were governed (and restricted) by the type of data collected across all participating sites.

Conclusion: Rather than being merely shifted towards either end of the male-female spectrum, transgender persons seem to present with their own unique brain phenotype.

First impressions, lack of judgement: Betting decisions are affected by uninformative racehorse names; betting returns on fast-sounding horses are lower compared to bets on other horses

Sonic Thunder vs. Brian the Snail. Are people affected by uninformative racehorse names? Oliver Merz, Raphael Flepp, Egon Franck. Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics, May 25 2021, 101724. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socec.2021.101724

Highlights

• Betting decisions are affected by uninformative racehorse names.

• Winning probabilities of horses with fast-sounding names are overstated.

• Betting returns on fast-sounding horses are lower compared to bets on other horses.

• Affective betting decisions impair the betting market efficiency.

Abstract: This paper examines whether individuals’ decision making is affected by fast-sounding horse names in a betting exchange market environment. In horse racing, the name of a horse does not depend on the horse's performance and is thus uninformative. If positive affect towards fast-sounding horse names is present, we expect less accurate prices, i.e., winning probabilities and lower returns due to the increased demand for these bets. Using over 3 million horse bets, we find evidence that the winning probabilities of bets on horses with fast-sounding names are overstated, which impairs the prediction accuracy of such bets. This finding implies that prices in betting exchange markets are distorted by incorporating affective, misleading information from a horse's fast-sounding name. Consequently, this bias translates into significantly lower betting returns for horses with names classified as fast-sounding compared to the returns for all other horses.

Keywords: Affect heuristicDecision makingMarket efficiencyBetting marketHorse racing

JEL D40G40G41L83

5. Conclusion

Our paper contributes to the understanding of the role affect plays in human decision making. We extend the previous literature by testing the external validity of the findings in laboratory experiments using the real-life setting of betting markets in which decisions have a substantial financial impact. Moreover, this setting allows a clean investigation of biases in betting prices, avoiding the well-known problem of unknown fundamental values prevalent in traditional financial markets. Overall, our findings suggest that betting prices are biased due to people's positive affective feelings towards fast-sounding horses. Consequently, betting returns on horses with fast-sounding names are systematically lower than the returns on all other horses. This result suggests that bettors should avoid jumping on the bandwagon when many other bettors are tempted to base their investment decisions on irrelevant factors and instead be aware of the potential mispricing of such bets.

While the prohibition of certain horse names might seem to be a first approach to correct the suboptimal decisions caused by affective feelings in our setting, the implementation of this kind of regulation in practice would cause both significant transaction costs and severe limitations on freedom. Even if we abstracted from the second point, the definition, validation, permanent adaptation and implementation of a “list of affect-enhancing horse names” would be a giant task. Further, even if this regulatory strategy somehow worked, it would just contribute to a solution in horse-betting, which is a relatively small field of the entire economy. Therefore, this regulatory strategy cannot serve as a remedy for the general problem that affective feelings towards objectively irrelevant attributes presumably distort decisions in other areas of the economy.

Awareness-raising strategies seem to be a more promising avenue to deal with affect in decision-making, according to psychology and neuroscience research stating that managing affect requires constant awareness of it (Peterson, 2007). Our article increases this awareness by clearly showing that affect plays a role in a real-life setting. This raises the question of whether affective feelings towards certain objectively irrelevant attributes might be even more prevalent in society than anticipated so far. Affective reactions presumably are not limited to suboptimal decisions in laboratory experiments or people's decisions in private life, such as excessive shopping or smoking, but might also impact large-scale areas starting from inefficient betting market prices to bubbles in stock markets to outcomes of political elections. The more research shows that affect leads to suboptimal decisions in a variety of areas, the greater the awareness of this phenomenon will be.

Additional field-specific regulations aiming to raise awareness among relevant decision-makers must be built on further research. So far, it remains unclear which measures – e.g., warnings that bettors would have to read or declarations that bettors would have to sign before placing their bets – could lead to increased self-monitoring and reduce the impact of affect in the horse-betting context in our paper.

Video chats undermine the collective intelligence of groups, but in a surprising way: It turns out it is the video, & not the chat, that is the problem. Teams with video on during calls end up syncing up less, & have less even turn-taking during meetings. Turn off your video?

Tomprou M, Kim YJ, Chikersal P, Woolley AW, Dabbish LA (2021) Speaking out of turn: How video conferencing reduces vocal synchrony and collective intelligence. PLoS ONE 16(3): e0247655, Mar 18 2021. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0247655

Abstract: Collective intelligence (CI) is the ability of a group to solve a wide range of problems. Synchrony in nonverbal cues is critically important to the development of CI; however, extant findings are mostly based on studies conducted face-to-face. Given how much collaboration takes place via the internet, does nonverbal synchrony still matter and can it be achieved when collaborators are physically separated? Here, we hypothesize and test the effect of nonverbal synchrony on CI that develops through visual and audio cues in physically-separated teammates. We show that, contrary to popular belief, the presence of visual cues surprisingly has no effect on CI; furthermore, teams without visual cues are more successful in synchronizing their vocal cues and speaking turns, and when they do so, they have higher CI. Our findings show that nonverbal synchrony is important in distributed collaboration and call into question the necessity of video support.

Discussion

We explored what role, if any, video access to partners plays in facilitating collaboration when partners are not collocated. Though we found no direct effects of video access on collective intelligence or facial expression synchrony, we did find that in the video condition, facial expression synchrony predicts collective intelligence. This result suggests that when visual cues are available it is important that interaction partners attend to them. Furthermore, when video was available, social perceptiveness predicted facial synchrony, reinforcing the role this individual characteristic plays in heightening attention to available cues. We also found that prosodic synchrony improves collective intelligence in physically separated collaborators whether or not they had access to video. An important precursor to prosodic synchrony is the equality in speaking turns that emerges among collaborators, which enhances prosodic synchrony and, in turn, collective intelligence. Surprisingly, our findings suggest that video access may, in fact, impede the development of prosodic synchrony by creating greater speaking turn inequality, countering some prevailing assumptions about the importance of richer media to facilitate distributed collaboration.

Our findings build on existing research demonstrating that synchrony improves coordination [30, 33] by showing that it also improves cognitive aspects of a group, such as joint problem-solving and collective intelligence in distributed collaboration. Much of the previous research on synchrony has been conducted in face-to-face settings. We offer evidence that nonverbal synchrony can occur and is important to the level of collective intelligence in distributed collaboration. Furthermore, we demonstrate different pathways through which different types of cues can affect nonverbal synchrony and, in turn, collective intelligence. For example, prosodic synchrony and speaking turn equality seem to be important means for regulating collaboration. Speaking turns are a key communication mechanism operating in social interaction by regulating the pace at which communication proceeds, and is governed by a set of interaction rules such as yielding, requesting, or maintaining turns [18]. These rules are often subtly communicated through nonverbal cues such as eye contact and vocal cues (e.g., back channels), altering volume and rate [18]. However, our findings suggest that visual nonverbal cues may also enable some interacting partners to dominate the conversation. By contrast, we show that when interacting partners have audio cues only, the lack of video does not hinder them from communicating these rules but instead helps them to regulate their conversation more smoothly by engaging in more equal exchange of turns and by establishing improved prosodic synchrony. Previous research has focused largely on synchrony regulated by visual cues, such as studies showing that synchrony in facial expressions improves cohesion in collocated teams [30]. Our study underscores the importance of audio cues, which appear to be compromised by video access.

Our findings offer several avenues for future research on nonverbal synchrony and human collaboration. For instance, how can we enhance prosodic synchrony? Some research has examined the role of interventions to enhance speaking turn equality for decision making effectiveness [67]. Could regulating conversational behavior increase prosodic synchrony? Furthermore, does nonverbal synchrony affect collective intelligence similarly in larger groups? For example, as group size increases, a handful of team members tend to dominate the conversation [68] with implications for spoken communication, nonverbal synchrony, and ultimately collective intelligence. Our results also underscore the importance of using behavioral measures to index the quality of collaboration to augment the dominant focus on self-report measures of attitudes and processes in the social sciences, because collaborators may not always report better collaborations despite exhibiting increased synchrony and collective intelligence [2, 10]. Our study has limitations, which offer opportunities for future research. For example, our findings were observed in newly formed and non-recurring dyads in the laboratory. It remains to be seen whether our findings will generalize to teams that are ongoing or in which there is greater familiarity among members, as in the case of distributed teams in organizations. We encourage future research to test these findings in the field within organizational teams.

Overall, our findings enhance our understanding of the nonverbal cues that people rely on when collaborating with a distant partner via different communication media. As distributed collaboration increases as a form of work (e.g., virtual teams, crowdsourcing), this study suggests that collective intelligence will be a function of subtle cues and available modalities. Extrapolating from our results, one can argue that limited access to video may promote better communication and social interaction during collaborative problem solving, as there are fewer stimuli to distract collaborators. Consequently, we may achieve greater problem solving if new technologies offer fewer distractions and less visual stimuli.

We analyzed all first marriages reported in 2010–2014 in South Korea and compared men who married Korean brides (N = 1,088,457) with those who purchased their brides (N = 45,528)

Men's revealed preference for their mates' ages. Kitae Sohn. Evolution and Human Behavior, Volume 38, Issue 1, January 2017, Pages 58-62. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2016.06.007

Abstract: Both young and old men say that they are sexually attracted to young, fertile women, but older men tend to marry older women, including those who are peri- and post-menopausal. We assessed men's freely revealed preference for their mates' age using an unusual marriage phenomenon in South Korea: the practice in which men purchase their brides from developing countries. Presumably, the men's mate choice, at least regarding the brides' age, is unrestricted by women. We analyzed all first marriages reported in 2010–2014 in South Korea and compared men who married Korean brides (N = 1,088,457) with those who purchased their brides (N = 45,528); the age range of grooms and brides was 15–59. While the former exhibited the typical pattern where older men married older women, the latter, whether young or old, always married young, fertile women. This finding is consistent with men's stated preference for young, fertile women in mating and suggests that the typical pattern is generated by women's limiting role in mating.

Keywords: SexEvolutionMarriagePurchase of brideReproductionSouth Korea

We conclude that Shank's 1980 observation, that intelligence is all about generalization and that AI is not particularly good at this, has, so far, withstood the test of time

How much intelligence is there in artificial intelligence? A 2020 update. Han L.J. van der Maas, Lukas Snoek, Claire E. Stevenson. Intelligence, Volume 87, July–August 2021, 101548. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2021.101548

Highlights

• Recent AI breakthroughs, such as deep learning and reinforcement learning, have deep roots in psychology.

• Modern AI models are much more human and brain like at the implementational level.

• There is nothing wrong with AI's crystallized intelligence, but generalization is still a weakness of AI systems.

• The psychological relevance of AI extends to areas such as the study of individual differences and cognitive development.

• We expect fruitful interactions with regard to the measurement of natural and artificial intelligence.

Abstract: Schank (1980) wrote an editorial for Intelligence on “How much intelligence is there in artificial intelligence?”. In this paper, we revisit this question. We start with a short overview of modern AI and showcase some of the AI breakthroughs in the four decades since Schank’s paper. We follow with a description of the main techniques these AI breakthroughs were based upon, such as deep learning and reinforcement learning; two techniques that have deep roots in psychology. Next, we discuss how psychologically plausible AI is and could become given the modern breakthroughs in AI’s ability to learn. We then access the main question of how intelligent AI systems actually are. For example, are there AI systems that can solve human intelligence tests? We conclude that Shank's observation, that intelligence is all about generalization and that AI is not particularly good at this, has, so far, withstood the test of time. Finally, we consider what AI insights could mean for the study of individual differences in intelligence. We close with how AI can further Intelligence research and vice versa, and look forward to fruitful interactions in the future.

Keywords: Artificial IntelligenceDeep learningIndividual differencesIntelligence testsReinforcement

5. Discussion

AI has seen multiple cycles of enthusiasm and disappointment, but the current wave seems to be of a different order. As we stated in the introduction of this paper, one of the original goals of AI was to learn more about human intelligence. This endeavor could be misguided as AI may only produce “cognitive wheels”, techniques that have no equivalent in human cognition. In this paper we argued that this might have been true for some older approaches (e.g., brute force search techniques), but is less the case for much of current AI. The progress made in recent years is certainly technologically driven, but inspired by biological and psychological knowledge about human information processing and learning.

We expect that the recent progress in AI will change the way we think about intelligence. AI forces us to rethink the definition of intelligence. Definitions that center on just information processing and problem solving are perhaps insufficient. Shank's observation that intelligence is all about generalization has, so far, withstood the test of time. Many information processing problems, from processing speech to playing chess, appear to be less difficult than perhaps expected. The really hard problem is to deal with completely novel cases. One requirement for solving this hard problem is the ability to learn invariant and thus generalizable patterns. And especially with regard to learning, the progress in AI has been spectacular. The main difference between AI systems of the past, such as expert systems, and modern AI is the fact that they learn. That deep learning and reinforcement learning, the core techniques in current AI, have deep roots in psychology is remarkable and promising for studying how artificial and human intelligence are related.

AI is relevant to intelligence research because it enhances our understanding of the core mechanisms of human cognition. How the immense neural systems in our brain are able to process extremely complicated information such as speech and produce logical thinking is an extremely difficult question. Having an artificial system that performs such tasks using the same basic principles is extremely useful. Classic questions regarding the modularity of the mind, the origin of creativity, and the organization of long-term memory spring to mind. In addition, we argued that the psychological relevance of AI extends to unexpected areas such as the understanding of individual differences and the development of cognition. It is relatively easy to create a population of AI systems with minor differences in architecture and training regime. Modern AI provides us with a new playing field for individual differences research.

On a practical level we expect fruitful interactions regarding the measurement of natural and artificial intelligence. As modern AI systems are incredibly complex, our experience in examining such systems may be relevant for AI. Vice versa, insights from AI may lead to new developments in (adaptive) intelligence testing and educational interventions.

We attempted to shed light on the future of intelligence research from the point of view of AI. Our overview is necessarily limited and probably quickly outdated, but hopefully we have given intelligence researchers some insights in the rapid developments in AI and the possible consequences for our field.

Australia & UK: Gay & bisexual men, men who ‘prefer not to say,’ and gay women are less satisfied with their lives; in the UK is the same but for gay women, who do not have a lower level of satisfaction

Sexual orientation and life satisfaction. David Bartram. Journal of Sociology, May 19, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1177/14407833211017672

Abstract: Existing quantitative research on sexual orientation and life satisfaction uses models with control variables that do not have a clear rationale. With a correct understanding of what control variables do, no controls are necessary to estimate the consequences of sexual orientation on life satisfaction. An analysis constructed from this perspective reveals gay and bisexual men in the UK and Australia are less satisfied with their lives (relative to heterosexual men). Bisexual women in both countries are less satisfied as well. Lesbians in Australia are less satisfied (relative to straight women) – but lesbians in the UK do not have lower satisfaction. These conclusions hold also in an analysis that considers the possibility that some non-heterosexual people might be unwilling to disclose their sexual orientation on surveys.

Keywords: Australia, control variables, life satisfaction, sexual orientation, United Kingdom

Conclusion

Having a non-normative sexual orientation in the UK and Australia comes with consequences – including a lower level of life satisfaction. The only exception to that general pattern is lesbian women in the UK. The gap is especially large for bisexuals, of both sexes, and in both countries. There is also a striking negative coefficient for Australian men who ‘prefer not to say’. It is not hard to imagine that there must be a reason some Australian men prefer not to disclose their sexual orientation (especially if what they prefer not to disclose is: not being straight).

Researchers should be confident in perceiving that the right way to model the impact of sexual orientation on SWB is to exclude ‘other determinants’ as controls in this context – because the other determinants of SWB cannot also be determinants of sexual orientation. That assertion forms the key recommendation for future research on this topic. Building larger models with many control variables might appear desirable simply because a more parsimonious model (especially one containing no controls) might seem unpersuasive (e.g. to potential anonymous reviewers). But size on its own is hardly a coherent criterion for constructing an analytical model whose purpose is to gauge a causal impact (see e.g. Gangl, 2010).

The fact that lesbians in the UK report life satisfaction on a par with that of heterosexual women (in contrast with the life satisfaction deficit among gay men) is a striking finding, perhaps at odds with what one might expect, given the context of stigma and discrimination that commonly confronts people belonging to a sexual minority. Being gay in a heteronormative society sometimes goes with a perceived loss of masculinity and thus a reduction in status more generally (Connell, 1995); the lower life satisfaction among gay men is arguably understandable in these terms. A similar dynamic might not apply to the experience of lesbians to the same extent, perhaps in part because women in general already have lower social status in a patriarchal society such as the UK.

There is a genuine limitation of the analysis presented here: the findings describe average impacts pertaining to the categories available in the data and thus do not capture the diversity of experiences that go under the heading of being ‘gay’, ‘lesbian’, ‘bisexual’, etc. That point applies as well to the way people might choose from the available options on a survey question, at a single point in time. There are many ways to be non-heterosexual and indeed to be heterosexual, with imprecise and fluid boundaries for many (Cover, 2019). The fact that the available response categories inhibit a more fine-grained analysis does not mean this point is anything other than a limitation. The analysis in this article gives us average effects of belonging to an indicated category; for some individuals a negative impact will exceed that average, while for others the impact might be less negative or perhaps even null (cf. Feinstein et al., 2015). Even so, any attempt to gauge effects in a finer grain must ensure a correct use of control variables, along the lines developed in this article.

Although early sexual intercourse may be associated with increased depressive symptoms, first intercourse was, on average, associated with decreased psychological distress for both male & female late adolescents

Changes in psychological distress after first vaginal intercourse in late adolescence. Sara A. Vasilenko, Eva S. Lefkowitz, Jennifer L. Maggs. Journal of Adolescence, Volume 89, June 2021, Pages 213-216. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2021.05.003

Abstract

Introduction: Although early sexual intercourse may be associated with increased depressive symptoms, little research has examined whether first intercourse in late adolescence is associated with changes in mental health.

Methods: This paper uses 3 years of longitudinal data from previously sexually abstinent late adolescent students at a large state university in the northeastern United States (N = 144, 53.5% male, M age = 18.5 years old, 47.2% White, 26.4% Asian/Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, 20.1% Hispanic/Latino, 18.1% Black/African American) to examine whether levels of psychological distress changed after first intercourse.

Results: Students’ distress decreased after first intercourse, although this effect was only significant two or more semesters after first intercourse. There were no gender differences in these associations.

Conclusions: Findings suggest first intercourse was, on average, associated with decreased psychological distress for both male and female late adolescents.

Keywords: Sexual behaviorMental healthFirst intercourse

A substantial share of Americans express readiness to sell their votes for cash: 12% of respondents would do so for just $25, as would nearly 20% for $100

Would You Sell Your Vote? Jordan Gans-Morse, Simeon Nichter. American Politics Research, May 24, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1177/1532673X211013565

Abstract: Prominent scholars in recent years have expressed alarm about political polarization, weakened civil liberties, and growing support for authoritarianism in the United States. But discussions of democratic backsliding pay short shrift to the value citizens place on one of the most fundamental democratic institutions: the act of voting. Drawing on nationally representative survey data, we show that despite traditional portrayals of the U.S. as the embodiment of a democratic “civic culture,” a substantial share of Americans express readiness to sell their votes for cash: 12% of respondents would do so for just $25, as would nearly 20% for $100. Citizens who place low importance on living in a democracy are significantly more willing to sell their votes. We argue that heightened attention to US voters’ attitudes toward clientelism would provide an additional barometer of democratic skepticism, help to integrate the study of American and comparative politics, and stimulate novel research agendas about the historic decline of vote buying in the United States.

Keywords: elections, democracy, vote buying, clientelism, machine politics

Rats can have consecutive ejaculations, with a short inter-ejaculatory interval, and no mounts or intromissions before the second ejaculation

The Rare Phenomenon of Consecutive Ejaculations in Male Rats. Joanna M. Mainwaring, Angela C. B. Garcia, Elaine M. Hull and Erik Wibowo. Sexes 2021, 2(2), 183-188, May 20 2021. https://doi.org/10.3390/sexes2020016

Abstract: Mounting, intromission and ejaculation are commonly reported sexual behaviours in male rats. In a mating session, they can have several copulatory series with post-ejaculatory intervals in between ejaculations before they reach sexual satiety. Here, we describe a phenomenon where male rats displayed consecutive ejaculations (CE) with a short inter-ejaculatory interval (IEI). Male rats were daily mated with a sexually receptive female rat. Two out of 15 rats displayed CE in one of their mating tests. The first rat had CE at 9.9 and 10.1 min (IEI = 16.3 s) after the start of the test. The second rat showed CE at 28.1 and 28.5 min (IEI = 18.7 s) after the test onset. During the IEI, the rats did not show any mounting or intromission.

Keywords: multiple ejaculations; male rodents; male sexual behaviour; multiple orgasms; consummatory behaviour; refractory period

1. Introduction

Male sexual behaviours in rodents are characterised by three distinct behaviours: mounting, intromission, and ejaculation [1,2]. During an ejaculation, there is a vaginal penetration (the deep forward pelvic thrust), and the male rat freezes on the female for one to three seconds [1]. While the actual semen expulsion is not usually visible, a plug can occasionally be found in the vagina or surrounding area because rat semen coagulates quickly to form a plug. Typically, a male rat could reach an ejaculation after a series of mounts and intromissions. Following ejaculation, the rat enters a refractory period, during which he does not respond to sexual stimuli for several minutes [3] before he resumes another series of mounts and intromissions until the next ejaculation. Male rats can have multiple copulatory series for about 150 min [4], ranging from 5 to 12 copulatory series [5]. After this, the rats will reach sexual satiety or sexual exhaustion, and remain sexually inactive for a prolonged period of time.

Recently, we conducted a study on the impact of chronic sleep deprivation (CSD) on male sexual behaviours in rodents [6]. The study involved sexually experienced male rats, which were subjected to CSD, imposed by keeping them awake for the last four hours of the light phase. Control rats were left undisturbed in their home cage at the same time of day. In that study, two of the rats (one from each group) showed two consecutive ejaculations (CE), separated by <20 s. In reviewing the literature for such behaviour, some studies have reported that rats are capable of having multiple ejaculations in a single mating session, and each pair of ejaculations is separated by a post-ejaculatory interval (PEI), as well as a series of mounts and intromissions [5,7]. However, we did not find any report stating that rats can have CE, with a short inter-ejaculatory interval (IEI), and no mounts or intromissions before the second ejaculation.

As in rodents, humans can also display ejaculation, i.e., expulsion of semen following penile stimulation (be it during solo masturbation or penetrative sex). However, humans can also experience an orgasm, i.e., an intense, pleasurable response to genital or non-genital stimulation [8]. In humans, ejaculation and orgasm may be perceived as a single event, even though they are not the same biological process [9]. Furthermore, there is evidence that some men can have an ejaculation without having an orgasm [10,11], and some men can have an orgasm without an ejaculation [12,13,14,15]. There are also case reports on men who can have multiple ejaculations within a short period, but they required at least a few minutes of sexual stimulation between ejaculations [16,17]. However, to date, we are aware of no published report of men who can have ejaculations with no sexual stimulation (e.g., penile stimulation) before the second ejaculation. Despite this, one of us (EW) has received several anecdotal claims from men who reported having minimal or no refractory periods and are able to have multiple ejaculations with and without orgasms within a narrow time frame. This raises the question of whether the CE behaviour that we observed in our rats could be used as a model for multiple ejaculations and/or multiple orgasms in men.

The CE behaviour in rodents may bear a resemblance to men with minimal or short refractory periods, who can have multiple ejaculations. However, whether the CE behaviour can mimic multiple orgasms in men is difficult to answer, because we cannot assess orgasm in rats. Pfaus et al. [18] recently described how rats can have orgasm-like responses. For example, during ejaculation, male rats have pelvic floor contractions [19], as are also observed in humans [20]. Whether or not a rat experiences orgasm as a human does, in the presence of a receptive partner, a male rat will approach her in a way to maximise the ‘reward’ associated with ejaculation.

The purpose of this article is to describe a rare phenomenon where rats displayed two ejaculations consecutively with a short IEI, and no mounts or intromissions, between them. This behaviour was observed in one strain of inbred laboratory animals. To date, there is no documentation of whether other strains or non-laboratory rats can also show such behaviour.

4. Discussion

For the first time, we report CE in male rats. Currently, it remains unknown what the neurobiological basis is for them to show such behaviour, such as hormonal or neurotransmitter factors that can affect the ability to have CE. In addition, it remains unclear to what extent penile grooming post-ejaculation plays a role in stimulating the second ejaculation during CE. Sensory input from the genitals during genital grooming may be conveyed to the spinal ejaculation generator in the lumbar spinal cord [25]. However, one of the CE rats groomed his genitals in between ejaculations, but the other one did not.

We are aware of no published data on similar behaviour in humans either. As noted above, one of us (EW) received several anecdotal claims from men with no or minimal refractory periods, who reported CE. However, there are published data that some men reported multiple orgasms with ejaculations with intervals of several minutes between them [9]. Undoubtedly, the volume of the ejaculate decreases with subsequent ejaculations [16]. Another observation in a man with such an ability showed that the person did not have orgasm/ejaculation-induced prolactin release [17]. It remains to be determined whether the dampening of prolactin release after ejaculations may play a role in the CE in rats. Another potential mechanism for the CE we observed may involve a change in the serotonergic system. Past studies indicate that the administration of a 5-HT1A receptor agonist reduces the number of intromissions before ejaculation and shortens the ejaculation latency in male rats [26,27]. Considering that the animals in our study were not treated with any serotonergic agents, there is a possibility that they may have individual variation in their serotonergic system.

Future study in this area will be challenging, given the rarity of the phenomenon, and we cannot predict when they would show such a behaviour. One potential future study would be to explore hormonal (e.g., on prolactin) and neurobiological (e.g., on the serotonergic system) differences between rats who are and are not capable of having CE. It would be interesting to investigate whether prolactin receptor knock-out rodents display CE at an elevated frequency compared to wild-type rodents. Another possibility is to test whether some psychostimulants can increase the frequency of displaying CE, because some men have reported having multiple orgasms while having sex under the influence of psychostimulants, although it is unclear if they also had ejaculations [9].

Rural residents tend to report higher subjective well-being than urban residents in developed countries; higher bonding social capital in rural areas and higher access to nature amenities contribute

The rural happiness paradox in developed countries. Jens F.L. Sørensen. Social Science Research, May 25 2021, 102581. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2021.102581

Highlights

• Research points to higher well-being among rural dwellers in developed counties.

• This tendency in previous findings can be termed the rural happiness paradox (RHP).

• The RHP is robustly confirmed in Denmark using three rural-urban classifications.

• The paper tests three hypotheses regarding the possible causes of the RHP.

• Differences in social capital and access to nature are main factors behind the RHP.

Abstract: In this paper, a national Danish survey is used to explore the rural happiness paradox in developed countries. This paradox revolves around the observation that rural residents tend to report higher subjective well-being than urban residents in developed countries. Based on three different rural-urban classifications, the paper provides a solid confirmation of the rural happiness paradox in Denmark. The paper tests three hypotheses regarding the factors behind the rural happiness paradox and finds strong support for two of the hypotheses. Thus, higher bonding social capital in rural areas and higher access to nature amenities in rural areas were found to contribute to the rural happiness paradox in Denmark. As for the third hypothesis, the paper finds no significant evidence that rural-urban differences in spatial location satisfaction (measured by the correspondence between actual and preferred residential location on the rural-urban continuum) contribute to the rural happiness paradox in Denmark.

Keywords: Rural happiness paradoxSocial capitalNature amenitiesSpatial location satisfactionDenmark

7. Conclusion

In this paper, a unique Danish survey was used to explore the rural happiness paradox in developed countries. This paradox revolves around the observation that rural residents tend to report higher subjective well-being than urban residents in developed countries, whereas the opposite is the case generally for developing counties (Easterlin et al., 2011; Requena, 2016). By using three rural-urban classifications, the paper provides a solid confirmation of the rural happiness paradox in Denmark. The results show that regardless of rural-urban classification the rural happiness paradox in Denmark is still evident after adjusting for important socioeconomic variables such as gender, age, health, education, employment status, and income.

The paper tests three hypotheses regarding the factors behind the rural happiness paradox. The paper finds that higher bonding social capital in rural areas and higher access to nature amenities in rural areas substantially contribute to the rural happiness paradox in Denmark. However, the paper finds no significant evidence that rural-urban differences in spatial location satisfaction (measured by the correspondence between actual and preferred residential location on the rural-urban continuum) also contribute to the rural happiness paradox. It was hypothesized that urban residents are less satisfied with their choice of residential environment than rural dwellers, and that this would have a downward impact on the subjective well-being of urban residents. However, while the paper did find a significant positive relation between spatial location satisfaction and life satisfaction, spatial location satisfaction in the Danish case did not turn out to be highest per se in rural areas across the three rural-urban classifications.

In the Danish case, the level of education turned out to hardly matter to subjective well-being, and the level of income was not found to be among the most important predictors of subjective well-being. This may be owing to the high economic equality in the Danish society which has been achieved through state-driven wealth redistribution throughout many years. When a relatively generous basic income is secured by the state, soft factors take over and become more important parameters of subjective well-being. Thus, the soft parameters of bonding social capital and access to nature amenities were found to be strong predictors of individual well-being in Denmark. Overall, as rural residents score higher on these two soft parameters, this seems to provide the main explanation of the rural happiness paradox in Denmark. It would be very interesting to see future studies in other developed countries that differ from Denmark addressing the same issues as raised in this paper.

While certain professional categories such as political pundits and political figures are more polarized than others, the degree to which Twitter is political, has likely been overstated in the past

Mukerjee, Subhayan, Kokil Jaidka, and Yphtach Lelkes. 2020. “The Political Landscape of the U.S. Twitterverse.” OSF Preprints. June 23. doi:10.31219/osf.io/w98ms

Abstract: Prior research suggests that Twitter users in the United States are more politically engaged and more partisan compared to the American citizenry -- a public that is otherwise characterized by low levels of political knowledge and disinterest in political affairs. This study seeks to understand this disconnect by conducting an observational analysis of the most popular accounts on American Twitter. We identify opinion leaders by drawing a random sample of ordinary American Twitter users and observing whom they follow. We estimate the ideological leaning and political relevance of these opinion leaders as well as crowd-source how they are perceived by ordinary Americans. We find little evidence that American Twitter is as politicized as is made out to be, with politics and hard news outlets constituting a small subset of these opinion leaders. We find no evidence of polarization among these opinion leaders either. While certain professional categories such as political pundits and political figures are more polarized than others, the overall polarization dissipates further when we factor in the rate at which the opinion leaders tweet: a large number of vocal non-partisan opinion leaders drowns out the partisan voices on the platform. Our results suggest that the degree to which Twitter is political, has likely been overstated in the past. Our findings have implications about how we use Twitter to represent public opinion in the United States.

Frequent apologizers are seen as higher in communion and lower in competence

Schumann, Karina, Emily G. Ritchie, and Amanda L. Forest. 2021. “The Social Consequences of Frequent Versus Infrequent Apologizing.” PsyArXiv. May 25. doi:10.31234/osf.io/4ncdx

Abstract: The effectiveness of interpersonal apologies is well established, but most existing research has examined the benefits of isolated apologies. How do apologies function when considered in the context of a transgressor’s apology baseline—the frequency with which they tend to apologize for their behavior? In three studies using correlational and experimental methods, we examined whether people consider others’ apology baselines when evaluating both their character and specific apologies from them. In Study 1, participants with high (vs. low) apology baselines believed that others judge them as higher in communion and lower in agency, which was consistent with how people actually judged high (vs. low) baseline apologizers (Studies 2 and 3). Having a high apology baseline was also indirectly associated with more favorable reactions to a specific apology via communion judgments. These studies are the first to examine apology baselines, revealing their importance for shaping interpersonal evaluations and conflict resolution processes.

Individuals made to feel socially excluded rated their surroundings as quieter; following social exclusion, individuals showed a preference for louder volume; exposure to loud stimuli compensated detrimental psych effects of social exclusion

Loudness Perceptions Influence Feelings of Interpersonal Closeness and Protect Against Detrimental Psychological Effects of Social Exclusion. Deming Wang et al. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, May 24, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1177/01461672211015896

Abstract: We propose that perceptions of auditory loudness and interpersonal closeness are bidirectionally related. Across 12 experiments (total N = 2,219; 10 preregistered; with Singaporean, British, U.S. American, and Australian participants), we demonstrated that louder audio made people feel physically (Study 1a) and socially (Study 1b) closer to others, presumably because loudness activates interpersonal closeness-related concepts implicitly (Studies 1c and 1d). This loudness–interpersonal closeness effect was observed across diverse samples (Studies 2a, 3a, and S1), for longer listening intervals (Study 2b), and in natural settings (Studies 3a and 3b). Conversely, individuals made to feel socially excluded rated their surroundings as quieter (Study 4). Furthermore, following social exclusion, individuals showed a preference for louder volume (Study 5). Finally, exposure to loud stimuli mitigated detrimental psychological effects of social exclusion (Study 6). Theoretical implications for the social cognition of loudness, social exclusion and compensatory strategies, and practical implications for ameliorating loneliness are discussed.

Keywords: auditory loudness, interpersonal closeness, physical proximity, social proximity, social exclusion

Economic policy should focus on preventing recessions rather than trying to ameliorate their effects

Why Has the US Economy Recovered So Consistently from Every Recession in the Past 70 Years? Robert E. Hall & Marianna Kudlyak. NBER Working Paper 27234, May 2020. DOI 10.3386/w27234

Abstract: It is a remarkable fact about the historical US business cycle that, after unemployment reached its peak in a recession, and a recovery began, the annual reduction in the unemployment rate was stable at around 0.55 percentage points per year. The economy seems to have had an irresistible force toward restoring full employment. There was high variation in monetary and fiscal policy, and in productivity and labor-force growth, but little variation in the rate of decline of unemployment. We explore models of the labor market's self-recovery that imply gradual working off of unemployment following a recession shock. These models explain why the recovery of market-wide unemployment is so much slower than the rate at which individual unemployed workers find new jobs. The reasons include the fact that the path that individual job-losers follow back to stable employment often includes several brief interim jobs, sometimes separated by time out of the labor force. We show that the evolution of the labor market involves more than the direct effect of persistent unemployment of job-losers from the recession shock---unemployment during the recovery is elevated for people who did not lose jobs during the recession.

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[During a recovery, unemployment seems little responsive to demand disturbances. Economic policy should focus on preventing recessions rather than trying to ameliorate their effects.]

11 Concluding Remarks

Why has the US economy recovered so consistently from every recession in the past 70 years? Our answer is that the labor market operates according to the principles of Diamond, Mortensen, and Pissarides, with one major new element: unemployment itself inhibits the rebuilding process that follows a recession that has caused a spike in unemployment. Strong negative feedback results in slow removal of excess unemployment.

Our view of the recovery of the US economy from a recessionary shock differs from the standard view. In the standard view, unemployment is high following a recessionary shock because there is a shortfall of demand. As time passes, demand recovers and unemployment returns to normal. Under the standard view, the reliable persistence of unemployment during recoveries arises from persistence in demand.

In our view, unemployment remains high after a recession and declines only gradually, because of frictions in rebuilding employment. These frictions impede both the individuals who lost jobs from the recession and those who did not, but found it more difficult to navigate the labor market.

According to this view of the labor market, the average level of unemployment depends on the frequency and severity of recessionary shocks. The natural rate of unemployment is not immutable. Instability arising from monetary policy shocks prior to the 1990s and financial shocks since then tended to elevate average unemployment, while long stretches of stability in the 1990s and 2010s demonstrated that the economy could achieve unemployment around 3.5 percent.

Rolf Degen summarizing... Meta-analysis: The images we summon up in our mind's eye do nor tap into the visual perception apparatus at the back of the brain

Visual mental imagery engages the left fusiform gyrus, but not the early visual cortex: A meta-analysis of neuroimaging evidence. Alfredo Spagna et al. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, Volume 122, March 2021, Pages 201-217. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2020.12.029

Highlights

• Models of visual mental imagery highlight the importance of early visual areas.

• Temporal, not occipital lesions impair visual mental imagery in neurological patients.

• We performed an ALE meta-analysis of fMRI studies of visual mental imagery.

• Visual mental imagery engages fronto-parietal networks and the left fusiform gyrus.

• Our results reconcile neuroimaging evidence with cognitive neurology.

Abstract: The dominant neural model of visual mental imagery (VMI) stipulates that memories from the medial temporal lobe acquire sensory features in early visual areas. However, neurological patients with damage restricted to the occipital cortex typically show perfectly vivid VMI, while more anterior damages extending into the temporal lobe, especially in the left hemisphere, often cause VMI impairments. Here we present two major results reconciling neuroimaging findings in neurotypical subjects with the performance of brain-damaged patients: (1) A large-scale meta-analysis of 46 fMRI studies, of which 27 investigated specifically visual mental imagery, revealed that VMI engages fronto-parietal networks and a well-delimited region in the left fusiform gyrus. (2) A Bayesian analysis showed no evidence for imagery-related activity in early visual cortices. We propose a revised neural model of VMI that draws inspiration from recent cytoarchitectonic and lesion studies, whereby fronto-parietal networks initiate, modulate, and maintain activity in a core temporal network centered on the fusiform imagery node, a high-level visual region in the left fusiform gyrus.

Keywords: Fronto-parietal networksAttentionWorking memoryFusiform gyrusTemporal lobe

Maternal tendencies (self-reported ideal number of children) are related to physical feminization and that this effect may, at least in part, reflect the influence of the hormone estrogen

Maternal tendencies in women are associated with estrogen levels and facial femininity. Miriam J. Law  et al. Hormones and Behavior, Volume 61, Issue 1, January 2012, Pages 12-16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yhbeh.2011.09.005

Abstract: Previous studies have shown that women with higher maternal tendencies are shorter and have lower testosterone levels than those with lower maternal tendencies. Here we report two studies that investigated the relationships between maternal tendencies and two further measures of physical masculinization/feminization; urinary estrogen metabolite (estrone-3-glucuronide: E1-3G) levels (Study 1) and rated facial femininity (Study 2). In Study 1, nulliparous women reported both their ideal number of children and ideal own age at first child and also provided urine samples. There was a significant positive correlation between measured late-follicular estrogen levels and reported ideal number of children. In Study 2, analyses of facial cues in two independent samples of women showed that the average facial characteristics of women who reported desiring many children were rated as more feminine than those desiring fewer children. Collectively, these results support the proposal that maternal tendencies are related to physical feminization and that this effect may, at least in part, reflect the influence of the hormone estrogen.

Highlights

► How maternal tendencies in women relate to two measures of physical feminization. ► Two measures of physical feminization used are urinary estrogen metabolite (E1-3G) levels and rated facial femininity. ► Women desiring more children have higher estrogen metabolite (E1-3G) levels than women desiring fewer children. ► Faces of women desiring many children were rated more feminine than faces of women desiring fewer children. ► Maternal tendencies (psychological feminization) are linked to physical feminization.

Keywords: EstrogenMaternal behaviorReproductive strategyMaternal tendenciesFacial attractivenessSex role

From 2020... Regional Personality Differences Predict Variation in COVID-19 Infections, Deaths and Social Distancing Behavior

From 2020... Peters, Heinrich, Friedrich M. Götz, Tobias Ebert, Sandrine Müller, Jason Rentfrow, Samuel D. Gosling, Martin Obschonka, et al. 2020. “Regional Personality Differences Predict Variation in COVID-19 Infections, Deaths and Social Distancing Behavior.” PsyArXiv. August 6. doi:10.31234/osf.io/sqh98

Abstract: Social and compliance behaviors play a critical role in the transmission of COVID-19. Consequently, regional variation in personality traits that capture individual differences in these behaviors may offer new insight into the spread of COVID-19. We combine self-reported personality data (3.5M people), COVID-19 prevalence and death rates, and behavioral mobility observations (29M people) to show that regional personality differences in the US and Germany predict COVID-19-related outcomes and behaviors incremental to a conservative set of socio-demographic, economic, and pandemic-related control variables. Earlier onsets of COVID-19 and steeper initial growth rates were related to higher levels of Openness and lower levels of Neuroticism. We also show that (i) regional personality is associated with objective indicators of social distancing, (ii) the effects of regional personality can change over time (Openness), and that (iii) the effects of regional personality do not always converge with those observed at the individual level (Agreeableness and Conscientiousness).

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are highly heritable neurodevelopmental disorders with a considerable overlap in their genetic etiology

Identification of shared and differentiating genetic risk for autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and case subgroups. Manuel Mattheisen et al. medRxiv, May 21 2021, https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.05.20.21257484

Abstract: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are highly heritable neurodevelopmental disorders with a considerable overlap in their genetic etiology. We dissected their shared and distinct genetic architecture by cross-disorder analyses of large data sets, including samples with information on comorbid diagnoses. We identified seven loci shared by the disorders and the first five genome-wide significant loci differentiating the disorders. All five differentiating loci showed opposite allelic directions in the two disorders separately as well as significant associations with variation in other traits e.g. educational attainment, items of neuroticism and regional brain volume. Integration with brain transcriptome data identified and prioritized several significantly associated genes. Genetic correlation of the shared liability across ASD-ADHD was strong for other psychiatric phenotypes while the ASD-ADHD differentiating liability correlated most strongly with cognitive traits. Polygenic score analyses revealed that individuals diagnosed with both ASD and ADHD are double-burdened with genetic risk for both disorders and show distinctive patterns of genetic association with other traits when compared to the ASD- only and ADHD-only subgroups. The results provide novel insights into the biological foundation for developing just one or both of the disorders and for driving the psychopathology discriminatively towards either ADHD or ASD.

Motivations for Engaging in Consensually Non-Monogamous Relationships

Motivations for Engaging in Consensually Non-Monogamous Relationships. Jessica Wood, Carm De Santis, Serge Desmarais & Robin Milhausen. Archives of Sexual Behavior, May 14 2021. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-020-01873-x

Abstract: Sexual, romantic, and intimate relationships provide opportunities for individual and interpersonal fulfillment and the enhancement of well-being. Though research has identified that consensual non-monogamy (CNM) offers unique relational benefits, little work has examined why individuals pursue CNM relationships. Both self-determination theory and self-expansion theory provide frameworks for understanding the range of intra- and interpersonal motives for choosing or negotiating a multipartnered relationship. We explored the reasons for which people engage in CNM and discuss how motivations for CNM might be linked to well-being and need fulfillment. Our study used a qualitative approach to examine the motivations individuals report for engaging in CNM relationships. As part of a larger online survey, participants completed open-ended questions examining motivations for, and experiences of, CNM relationships. Data from participants who indicated that they were currently in a CNM partnership was selected for the analyses (n = 540). Data were analyzed using thematic analysis, within a critical realist framework. Motivations were organized into six interconnected themes: reasons related to autonomy, beliefs and value systems, relationality, sexuality, growth and expansion, and pragmatism. Individuals reported diverse reasons for engaging in CNM relationships; reasons addressed both individual and relational needs and well-being. Findings contrast with stereotypic views of CNM relationships as unstable/unfulfilling or that individuals engage in CNM because of relationship problems. The findings may facilitate therapeutic interventions for counselors working with individuals who are in the process of negotiating or re-negotiating relationship boundaries.

Check also Desire, Familiarity, and Engagement in Polyamory: Results From a National Sample of Single Adults in the United States. Amy C. Moors, Amanda N. Gesselman2 and Justin R. Garcia. Front. Psychol., March 23 2021. https://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2021/03/men-and-people-with-lower-education.html

Australia: Women who identify as “mainly heterosexual” report poorer health, greater health-risk behaviors, and higher rates of victimization than women identifying as “exclusively heterosexual"

Prevalence and Sociodemographic Correlates of Identifying as Mainly Heterosexual: Stability and Change across Three Cohorts of Australian Women. Francisco Perales, Alice K. Campbell, Bethany G. Everett, Ruth McNair & Tonda L. Hughes. Archives of Sexual Behavior, May 18 2021. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-021-02000-0

Abstract: In recent decades, the ways in which sexual minorities identify have changed dramatically. In response, social and health surveys have begun offering a greater range of response options within sexual orientation questions—for example, intermediate categories for “mainly heterosexual” and “mainly lesbian/gay” alongside the more common response options of “heterosexual,” “bisexual,” and “lesbian/gay.” Recent studies indicate that women who identify as “mainly heterosexual” report poorer health, greater health-risk behaviors, and higher rates of victimization than women identifying as “exclusively heterosexual.” However, we know very little about the demographic profile of women who choose the “mainly heterosexual” identity label compared to the adjacent “exclusively heterosexual” or “bisexual” labels or about changes over time in the prevalence and correlates of “mainly heterosexual” identification. This study addressed these knowledge gaps by modeling unique, high-quality survey data from three national cohorts of Australian women (Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health, 2000–2017, n = 76,930 observations). Consistent with the facilitative environments model, we document stark cross-cohort increases in the percentage of Australian women identifying as “mainly heterosexual”—from ∼1% of those born in 1946–1951 to ∼26% of those born in 1989–1995, coinciding with comparable declines in the percentage of women identifying as “exclusively heterosexual.” We also found evidence of cohort differences in the associations between key sociodemographic factors—such as age, education, and socioeconomic status—and the likelihood of women identifying as “mainly heterosexual.” Finally, our results indicate that same-sex sexual attractions were more strongly associated with “mainly heterosexual” identification than was same-sex sexual behavior.

Large scale human cooperation needs to be explained as an adaptation, likely rooted in the distinctive features of human biology, grammatical language, increased cognitive ability, and cumulative cultural adaptation

Boyd, Robert, and Peter J. Richerson. 2021. “Large-scale Cooperation in Small-scale Foraging Societies.” EcoEvoRxiv. May 17. doi:10.32942/osf.io/fxwbr

Abstract: We present evidence that people in small-scale, mobile hunter-gatherer societies cooperated in large numbers to produce collective goods. Foragers engaged in large-scale communal hunts, constructed shared capital facilities; they made shared investments in improving the local environment; and they participated in warfare, alliance, and trade. Large-scale collective action often played a crucial role in subsistence. The provision of public goods involved the cooperation of many individuals, so each person made only a small contribution. This evidence suggests that large-scale cooperation occurred in the Pleistocene societies that encompass most of human evolutionary history, and therefore it is unlikely that large-scale cooperation in Holocene food producing societies results from an evolved psychology shaped only in small group interactions. Instead, large scale human cooperation needs to be explained as an adaptation, likely rooted in the distinctive features of human biology, grammatical language, increased cognitive ability, and cumulative cultural adaptation.

Irrespective of COVID, improved mood, less perceived stress were significanlty associated with some personality traits like neuroticism (lower), extraversion (higher), agreeableness (higher), and conscientiousness (higher)

Rettew DC, McGinnis EW, Copeland W, Nardone HY, Bai Y, Rettew J, et al. (2021) Personality trait predictors of adjustment during the COVID pandemic among college students. PLoS ONE 16(3): e0248895. May 17 2021. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0248895.

Abstract: Personality traits have been found to be related to a variety of health outcomes. The aim of this study was to examine how personality traits were associated with adjustment to the COVID pandemic in college students. The sample included 484 first-year university students (76% female) attending a northeastern university who completed the Big Five Inventory (BFI) personality assessment at the beginning of a semester that was disrupted by the COVID pandemic. Using a phone-based app, students completed daily ratings of mood, perceived stress levels, and engagement in a number of health promotion activities (exercise, mindfulness, adequate sleep, etc.) throughout the semester both before and after the onset of the pandemic (e.g., a within-person longitudinal design). Results, as expected, showed that mood and wellness indices generally declined during the COVID period, although stress levels actually decreased. Further, irrespective of COVID, improved mood, less perceived stress and greater participation in health promotion activities were significantly associated with a number of personality traits including neuroticism (lower), extraversion (higher), agreeableness (higher), and conscientiousness (higher). Of primary interest, mixed-effects models were used to test how major personality traits interacted with any changes in daily ratings from the pre-COVID to COVID period. Significant interactions terms were found suggesting differential impacts of the COVID epidemic for students with low versus high levels of particular traits. Higher levels of extraversion, for example, were found to be related to decreases in mood as the pandemic progressed in contrast to those with lower extraversion, for whom there was a slight increase in mood over time. These data support the conclusion that personality traits are related to mental health and can play a role in a person’s ability to cope with major stressful events. Different traits may also be more adaptive to different types of stressors.

Discussion

This study aimed to examine the link between major personality dimensions and change in mental health functioning through the COVID pandemic in a group of college students. We utilized daily ratings of subjective mood, stress levels, and engagement in wellness activities such as mindfulness, healthy eating, and exercise obtained from a smartphone app that started before students were sent home due to COVID concerns and then continued as they completed the semester at home.

As has been reported in many studies examining the association between personality traits and various indices of well-being and functioning, we found robust associations with many of the higher-order personality traits. Lower levels of neuroticism and higher levels of extraversion were generally found to be related to improved mood, lower stress levels and more engagement in healthy activities. Higher levels of openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness were also significantly related to better mood and more wellness engagement but were not significantly related to stress levels. Some of these significant main effects need to be interpreted with caution given the interactions found for some of these traits as levels changed between the pre-COVID and COVID period. High levels of agreeableness and conscientiousness showed particularly strong associations with better mood across the study period while higher levels of neuroticism were prominently and expectedly related to higher levels of perceived stress. High conscientiousness was significantly related to more participation in wellness activities and healthy activities. Conscientiousness refers to the tendency to be both goal oriented and to abilities that help people obtain goals such as reliability and organization. As such, this trait has often been associated with better health and well-being [23] and has been called the “most valuable psychological asset” a person can have when it comes to major personality traits [10].

The COVID pandemic also appeared to have a negative impact on our mental health indicators, although not as uniformly as we had expected. Comparing ratings between the pre-COVID and COVID period, mood and engagement in wellness activities generally decreased. Stress levels, however, significantly fell across the study period, although the magnitude of this drop was quite modest. Such a drop was hypothesized for students high in the trait of neuroticism but was found more globally. These results underscore how stressful college life can feel for some students [24]. It also may suggest some independence between mood and stress, the latter of which may be described more closely as anxiety. While mood and anxiety levels typically are found to move together–so much so that the two areas in combination are considered the core of “internalizing” problems [25], the COVID pandemic may present an important example of conditions that can separate the two domains. The college experience for many students provides engagement and relationships but, as has been well documented of late, can also be quite challenging and anxiety provoking [26]. With many exceptions, it is possible that the college environment, for those who do not find the experience overwhelming, represents an example of “good stress” that might contribute to a higher mood [27]. The COVID pandemic brought more isolation and inactivity but also some relief from the regular stresses of this environment and this may have overall depressed both mood and perceived levels of stress. Of course, it is possible that a more prolonged duration of disruption in regular life from COVID, as is now occurring, will result in perceived stress levels to rise. Further investigations with this sample and others will help reveal the long-term impact of COVID on experienced stress levels.

For the most part, associations between personality traits and mental health/wellness were preserved across the time period from before the COVID pandemic in January 2020 through the end of the semester in May. As previously mentioned, however, some interactions effects were found, suggesting a differential response to the COVID epidemic based on levels of specific traits. The dimension of extraversion was especially involved, with significant interaction effects found for mood, stress, and wellness participation. For mood, we found that those with higher levels of extraversion experienced a decrease in their mood as the COVID period progressed while mood ratings among those with lower levels of extraversion rose slightly. When it came to stress levels, however, those in the high extraversion groups felt decreased stress during the COVID period while those with lower extraversion experienced slightly more. There isn’t a straightforward interpretation of this combination of findings, but we speculate that, as hypothesized, more extraverted people might find the stimulation and challenges of busy academic life to be more rewarding. Leaving this environment for home isolation thus could have resulted in feeling less stressed but more bored and lonely, resulting in a decrease in mood. This finding partially supported our hypothesis, although it is important to note that students with higher levels of extraversion, despite having a clear decrease in mood with COVID, still reported an overall more positive mood than their low extraversion peers.

A similar, though less pronounced, pattern was found with neuroticism in which those with lower levels experienced a larger drop in mood levels with COVID compared to students with high neuroticism (although the higher neuroticism group continued to report lower mood overall). It is possible that this finding comes from a “floor effect” as students with higher levels of neuroticism had a lower mood at baseline. Alternatively, it is possible that the disruption from COVID represented a relatively bigger “loss” for those with lower levels of neuroticism.

These findings need to be interpreted with appreciation for some of the limitations of this study. First, these data were obtained from college students at a single university. As such, the generalizability of this study to other populations may be limited. Secondly, it is also not possible to prove with these data that is was the COVID pandemic and not another unmeasured factor that was responsible for any changes in the mental health ratings. Small but meaningful changes in personality have been documented in college students under “normal” conditions, although this has generally been found to occur over longer periods of time [28]. Finally, we note that both the personality and mental health assessments were obtained from self-report.

This study, however, also has some noticeable strengths. The use of daily ratings of our mental health indices may have provided a more valid assessment of these parameters over time and minimized bias inherent in more retrospective reporting. Personality assessment was also performed using a well-validated instrument based on a widely accepted and researched personality model.