How many parents regret having children and how it is linked to their personality and health: Two studies with national samples in Poland

Piotrowski K (2021) How many parents regret having children and how it is linked to their personality and health: Two studies with national samples in Poland. PLoS ONE 16(7): e0254163, Jul 21 2021. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0254163

Abstract: Surveys conducted over the last few years on representative samples in the US and Germany suggest that the percentage of parents who regret having children is approximately 17–8%. In none of these studies did the researchers attempt a detailed examination of this group of parents from the perspective of their psychological functioning. In the present article, two studies based on large, national samples (N = 1175 and N = 1280), one of which was a representative sample of young Poles, are presented. The results obtained show that the percentage of parents who regret parenthood is higher in Poland than in the US or Germany, and that parents who regret having children are characterized by a higher level of adverse childhood experiences, have poorer psychological and somatic health, are more vulnerable to social evaluation, and experience strong parental identity crisis and parental burnout. Regretting parenthood also turns out to be associated with the parent’s financial situation and marital status, and with having children with special needs. The results indicate that regretting becoming a parent is an important social and psychological issue that should become an object of interest for researchers from various disciplines and for social policy authorities.

Discussion

As a result of a decrease in fertility in developed countries, governments have started to take various actions to increase the number of children born. The situation is no different in Poland, where the fertility rate is one of the lowest among the EU countries [42]. However, when pursuing the aim of increasing the number of children born, we often forget that parenthood is a difficult and stressful task, and that young people, who are those who most frequently become parents, sometimes fail to cope with this new reality successfully. In order to plan support for young parents skillfully, both at the level of national policy and in relation to individual support provided by specialists, it is necessary to conduct an initial diagnosis of the number of parents for whom the realization of the parental role poses serious problems. Among the difficulties that can be experienced by a person who has decided to have a child, one of the most serious is to arrive at the conclusion that it was a bad decision. Because one cannot withdraw from parenthood at one’s own request, and because regretting parenthood can lead to mental problems and negative attitudes towards children [18], this should be an area of particular interest for social researchers, including psychologists. Unfortunately, our knowledge about the prevalence of regretting parenthood and about its causes has, so far, been very limited. The studies presented here, based upon the analysis of two large Polish samples, one of which was a representative sample, aimed to fill this gap.

Earlier survey studies, conducted on an American [1] and a German [12] sample, estimated that the percentage of parents who claimed that if they could make a choice again they would not decide to have children was between 7 and 8%. However, the results obtained in Study 1 and Study 2 indicate that this percentage may be higher in Poland, perhaps even 50% higher. As a result, the predictions formulated in Hypothesis 1 can be considered to be only partially confirmed. In Study 2, the percentage of parents who regretted having children was slightly lower than in Study 1 (10.7% and 13.6%, respectively), but it is the result of Study 1 that needs to be treated as more trustworthy, because the first research sample was more representative; in the second sample, there was a slight overrepresentation of well-educated individuals and of those with a healthy financial situation, which could result in a lower percentage of people who regretted parenthood. The results obtained point to two issues. First of all, it seems that, regardless of the country in which the study is conducted, one can expect to find parents who think that having a child was a bad decision. Additionally, it turned out once again that the number of such people is so large that neither the individuals who shape social policy in a given country nor researchers can fail to recognize this issue. Secondly, in the Polish population, the percentage of people who regret parenthood is higher than in the other populations examined so far. The research methodology applied was very similar to that used in the German study, so that it seems that the measurement method could not have been responsible for these differences. Unlike Germany, Poland has one of the strictest anti-abortion regimes in Europe. Abortion can only be performed when the mother’s health or life are endangered, when a serious defect/disease in the foetus threatens its life or the life or health of the mother, or when the pregnancy is the result of crime. Consequently, in Germany there are over 100,000 abortions performed each year, whereas in Poland the number is around 1000 [43]. This may mean that in Poland, the number of people who become parents and who are not convinced that this decision is the right one is higher because of the lack of any other option. Another factor that distinguishes Poland from the other two countries mentioned earlier is the level of economic development. Both the German study and the studies presented in this article indicate that one of the factors that increases the probability of regretting parenthood is the poor financial situation of the family. Poland, despite making a gigantic leap over the last thirty years since the Communist dictatorship was overthrown, is still a country in which incomes (even when purchasing power parity is taken into account) are considerably lower than in Germany or in the US, which can result in a higher percentage of parents for whom having a child is too great a financial burden; this may have had an effect on the results obtained. In Study 1 only 32% of the parents surveyed said that they had no financial problems at all; in Study 2 it was 39%, which may indicate the scale of the problem. The obtained results are also in accordance with the recent studies suggesting that Polish parents are among the most at risk of parental burnout in Europe [40] which lead to the conclusion that further intercultural studies on regretting parenthood, conducted on national samples, need to be conducted, so that the factors indicated here (i.e. abortion law and economy) can be fully verified.

In the study, there were two demographic factors that seemed to lead to the greatest increase in the risk of regretting parenthood. The first was the aforementioned poor financial situation of the parents, while the second one was being a single parent. In the case of single parents (which pertains to both women and men), their evaluation of parenthood as something that should not have happened can result from the fact that some of them, after splitting up with the other parent, cannot count on sufficient support. We should also remember that one of the most frequent sources of regret among adults are decisions associated with romantic relationships, which has been observed by Dijkstra and Barelds [7]. The results of the present study suggest that regretting decisions from the romantic domain may also translate into a negative evaluation of becoming a parent, and that sometimes a parent starts to regret not only that s/he entered into a relationship with a given person, but also that s/he had a child with this individual.

Interesting, and in places even surprising, results were obtained concerning gender. Among women and men, the percentage of parents regretting having children was similar, which is in line with research conducted in Germany [12]. On the other hand, many differences were observed between men and women in the samples studied. Women experienced more depressive symptoms, anxiety, vegetative symptoms, but were also characterized by a more stable sense of parental identity. On the other hand, men were characterized by more intense traumatic experiences in childhood and stronger parental burnout and parental identity crisis. Thus, although the situation of women-mothers and men-fathers differs, this does not translate into visible differences in terms of their greater or lesser propensity to regret parenthood. This observation may imply that regretting parenthood among mothers and fathers has different causes, which is a very promising area for future research.

In terms of gender, the finding of stronger parental burnout among fathers in Study 2 is surprising. Previous research on parental burnout suggests that women experience this syndrome to a greater extent [25, 44], which was also observed in research previously conducted in Poland [40]. What distinguishes the parents who took part in Study 2 from other studies on parental burnout is their young age (women M = 26.00, men M = 26.30). In earlier studies, the samples of parents were usually older by about ten years. Therefore, it is reasonable to consider the possibility that among the youngest parents, in the period of emerging adulthood (aged 18–30), they may be the fathers who experience stronger parental burnout. This is an issue worth further analysis in the future.

Regardless of the fact that these particular demographic factors turned out to be connected with regretting parenthood, which remains in accord with the predictions formulated in Hypothesis 2, we would not be justified in claiming that regretting parenthood is typical of individuals in a poor financial situation or of divorced people. Despite the fact that a slightly higher percentage of parents who regretted parenthood could also be observed among the parents who had children with special needs, this difference was only 5%, which it is difficult to consider as a strong effect. Conversely, the results obtained clearly indicate that parents who regret parenthood come from all layers of society: they are present among the wealthy and the well-educated as well among the poor and those with only primary education, some of them have children with special needs and some of them do not, and some of them are married or in informal relationships and some of them do not have a partner. In line with the predictions included in Hypothesis 3, it seems that, to be able to obtain a good understanding of a parent who regrets having a child, it is necessary to refer to factors at the psychological level [see also 45].

The results of Study 1 justify a search in childhood for the conditionings of regretting parenthood. It turns out that parents who regret having children were more often raised in an environment characterized by violence and rejection. Such conditions in childhood lead to changes in the functioning of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, increasing the frequency and intensity of stress experiences, and contributing to impairments in cognitive functions that underlie self-regulation and, in consequence, to psychopathology [46]. This accords with the results of Study 1, as we could observe that the parents who regretted having children also manifested more symptoms associated with anxiety or depression, or somatic symptoms. Transition to parenthood and raising children is a great burden for almost all parents, and successful adaptation to this role requires many resources [47]. In the case of individuals who have behind them a childhood marked by traumatic experiences and problems with mental and somatic health, the task of being a parent can be too burdensome, can offer few rewards, and can yield no satisfaction [48], and, as demonstrated by the results obtained, this can also lead to regretting the decision to become a parent.

In accord with the observations about adverse childhood experiences and mental health (Study 1) are the observations pertaining to differences between the compared groups in respect of perfectionistic concerns (Study 2), which makes it possible to bind the two studies together theoretically. Strong fear of external evaluation and of not meeting expectations, which turned out to be higher among the parents who regretted having a child, are usually also a consequence of a dysfunctional rearing environment [35, 49], and perfectionistic concerns themselves are an important predictor of psychopathology. The fact that parents who regret parenthood have greater sensibility to external evaluation accords with the observations made by Donath [14] that one of the factors that stands behind this phenomenon can be the social and cultural pressure to have children. Individuals who find it more difficult to resist this pressure can more often make the decision to become a parent under the influence of social norms and not personal needs, which can increase the risk of future regrets about making this decision.

The moment of becoming a parent marks the beginning of one of the most important processes in adulthood, namely forming a stable parental identity [29]. The development of parental identity is based on comparing one’s own experiences in the realization of the parental role with one’s expectations, needs, and values. A satisfactory course through this process leads to identification with the decisions one has made and to defining oneself through the prism of these decisions. In Study 2, it was observed, however, that the individuals who regretted having children experienced strong and marked parental identity diffusion. They identified with the role of a parent only to a low extent, and they also had a much weaker motivation to consider issues connected with parenthood and to search for deeper information about it. In this group of parents, we could observe doubts about how to realize the parental role and a conviction that parenthood does not fit them. Piotrowski [17] suggested that regretting parenthood can be the final effect of disturbances in the development of parental identity, although he did not provide conclusive proof of that. Nevertheless, the results of Study 2 seem to corroborate that this may be possible. In turn, Schrooyen, Beyers and Soenens [30] have suggested that disturbances in parental identity lead to parental burnout. This thesis has also been confirmed by the results we obtained. On the basis of the theoretical assumptions presented by Piotrowski [29] and Schrooyen, Beyers and Soenens [30], we can presume that difficulties in forming a stable parental identity after entering the parental role can be an introduction to parental burnout which, in turn, can lead to regrets about ever becoming a parent which makes it important to further study the relationships between these different forms of disturbances in parenting. There are many studies that have shown that chronic difficulties in forming a stable sense of identity are closely related to mental health issues [50], and that a sense of parental identity is no exception here [32]. Therefore, it seems that the situation of parents who regret having children is characterized by many difficulties of both a psychological and a social nature, and this needs to be taken into consideration in the process of developing preventive and supportive actions.

Limitations and recommendations for future studies.

Despite yielding a great deal of new information about the situation of parents who regret parenthood, the results obtained need to be looked at in the light of certain limitations of the research that was conducted. First of all, the method applied to measure regretting parenthood was relatively simple, and it did not provide an opportunity to capture differences in the level of this phenomenon. Using a more complete picture of parental regret is recommended in the future studies. The parents in the investigation had to take a stance on one of the two sides of the question, and could not specify to what extent they regretted parenthood, which, as demonstrated by the survey conducted in Germany [12], could be a source of interesting data. Secondly, the conclusions formulated in the present article are based on the cross-sectional approach and on a single measurement. Thus, they do not take into account changes that may appear in a parent’s perception of parenthood. In the future, it would be advisable to conduct a longitudinal study in order to evaluate the extent to which regretting parenthood is stable over time. The longitudinal design would also provide useful information about the direction of causality between mental health issues, parental identity, parental burnout and parental regrets. Thirdly, only self-description methods, pertaining solely to the parent her-/himself, were applied in the two studies. In future studies, it would be worth considering different sources of information about the parent (e.g. information provided by the person’s partner) to verify whether the person’s subjective sense of regretting parenthood is also connected with this person being perceived differently by other people. Fourthly, the study focused on the situation of the parent her-/himself, failing to include the relationship with the child. Since it has been demonstrated by East, Chien, and Barber [18] that regretting parenthood is associated with harsh parenting, in future studies a deeper analysis of how regretting parenthood influences the development of a child should be conducted. An analysis should also be undertaken into how the national regulations on abortion availability influence the percentage of parents who regret becoming parents, which requires broad, multicultural comparisons.

Among the limitations of the conducted research, the cause-and-effect relationships require particular commitment from the researchers. The relationships between perfectionism, identity, burnout, and parenting regret described above are based mainly on theoretical assumptions [17, 28, 30, 50]. As yet, there have been no longitudinal studies published of perfectionism and parental burnout and sense of parental identity, nor are there longitudinal data on parenting regret and the psychological characteristics examined in this study. Therefore, any assertions about potential causal relationships should be treated as hypotheses for future longitudinal studies. Increasing regret resulting from having children may affect parent functioning [18], and it is not precluded that it might also lead to an increase in parental burnout, identity crisis, and perfectionist concerns. Another area requiring in-depth longitudinal research is the relationship between childhood traumatic experiences and regretting parenthood. From the research presented here, we can only infer a correlation between these experiences, but the mechanism behind this link is still unknown. Given the limited research interest to date in the topic of regretting parenthood, it appears that this area of research may yet provide many breakthroughs.

Manufacturer–distributor relationships: Deceptive manifestations of infidelity; the possible passive, mild, or aggressive consequences of infidelity; the pre-emptive or post hoc measures that need to be taken to cure infidelity

Unveiling the infidelity problem in exclusive manufacturer–distributor relationships: A dyadic perspective, Leonidas C. Leonidou, Bilge Aykol, John Hadjimarcou, Dayananda Palihawadana. Psychology & Marketing, July 17 2021. https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.21545

Abstract: Infidelity has been a common dark-side phenomenon in manufacturer–distributor (M–D) relationships, which, despite its harmful effects on operating performance and long-term viability, has received scant theoretical and empirical attention in marketing research. Using data collected from 103 manufacturers and 101 distributors located in the USA, we investigate this phenomenon by conceptualizing it as a developmental process, comprising motives, symptoms, manifestations, consequences, and remedies. Our findings show that, with a few exceptions, there are no significant differences between manufacturers and distributors with regard to their perceptions of: (a) the structural, processual, and contextual factors contributing to the emergence of infidelity; (b) the behavioral and attitudinal factors helping to diagnose partner infidelity; (c) the ambiguous, explicit, and deceptive manifestations of infidelity; (d) the possible passive, mild, or aggressive consequences of infidelity; and (e) the pre-emptive or post hoc measures that need to be taken to cure infidelity.

Incarcerated individuals: Stronger associations for disinhibition with substance use problems, self-harm, and staff ratings of prison misbehavior among females compared to males

Testing for Sex Differences in the Nomological Network of the Triarchic Model of Psychopathy in Incarcerated Individuals. Claudio Sica, Emily R. Perkins, Keanan J. Joyner, Corrado Caudek, Gioia Bottesi, Maria Caruso, Paolo Giulini, Marta Ghisi & Christopher J. Patrick. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, Jul 16 2021. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10862-021-09897-w

Abstract: The triarchic model of psychopathy conceptualizes variants of this clinical condition as expressions of three distinct biobehavioral dispositions, termed boldness, meanness, and disinhibition. As a trait-oriented model, the triarchic model situates psychopathy within a broader nomological network of personality and psychopathology, and has proven useful for characterizing how psychopathy relates to variables in these domains as well as to biological and behavioral variables. The current study was the first to examine sex differences in the external correlates of psychopathic traits as described by the triarchic model in a prison sample. Results were generally consistent with hypotheses: The triarchic traits related to measures of personality and psychopathology in patterns that were largely consistent across sex, but with some notable differences between males and females, in the correlates of disinhibition in particular. These included stronger associations for disinhibition with substance use problems, self-harm, and staff ratings of prison misbehavior among females compared to males. Findings from this study support the value of the triarchic model for understanding similarities and differences in the nomological network of psychopathy in incarcerated males and females.

Discussion

This study sought to elucidate sex differences in the nomological network of the triarchic model of psychopathy among incarcerated individuals, adding to scientific understanding about the model’s external validity. Findings generally complement and extend prior work comparing males and females in non-incarcerated populations and overcome an important limitation of the existing literature: a reliance on the PCL-R and related measures, which emphasize crime-related aspects of psychopathy to the exclusion of adaptive features. The triarchic model of psychopathy is designed to capture dispositional characteristics that may be expressed in a variety of phenotypes, including engagement in crime. The current study examined other manifestations of the triarchic traits — i.e., patterns of relations to other relevant constructs, such as personality and psychopathology — within a sample characterized by elevated engagement in crime, as well as investigating sex differences in these patterns.

The Triarchic Model in a Prison Sample

The current results advance scientific understanding of the triarchic model in a prison sample. Broadly, findings were consistent with hypotheses based on previous studies. Consistent with the theoretical conceptualization of boldness and with prior research (e.g., Sica et al., 2015), we found in this mixed-sex prison sample that TriPM Boldness was negatively associated with certain maladaptive constructs such as neuroticism and hopelessness, suggesting it adequately represents some aspects of psychological resilience against distress in an incarcerated sample (see Gottfried et al., 2019). Interestingly, and contrary to hypotheses, boldness was unrelated to self-harm in this sample; it may that this trait is less closely tied to behavioral expressions of distress than to the psychological experience itself. Importantly, despite its generally negative relations with distress measures, boldness was predictive of greater substance use problems and lower staff ratings of prison behavior and reintegration prognosis following release. These results are in line with other findings suggesting that boldness does not merely index positive adjustment (Lilienfeld et al., 2012, 2018; cf. Miller & Lynam, 2012). Multiple studies have found positive associations between boldness and various forms of maladaptive behavior (e.g., Anestis et al., 2018; Baroncelli et al., in press; Coffey et al., 2018; Hicks et al., 2014), including in prison samples (Sellbom et al., 2018). Notably, however, a previous study of incarcerated males found boldness to be associated with lower structured clinical judgments of risk for future violence (Sellbom et al., 2018), in contrast to the present results regarding current prison behavior and reintegration prognosis. Further research is needed to understand boldness and behavior in correctional settings.

Relations between TriPM Meanness and FFM traits were generally consistent with expectations, particularly the strong negative association with agreeableness. In this prison sample, as in non-incarcerated samples, triarchic meanness is closely linked to the FFM construct of antagonism (i.e., low agreeableness; see Poy et al., 2014). Interestingly, and contrary to hypotheses, meanness was uniquely associated with low conscientiousness, even after accounting for its relationship with disinhibition. It may be that the uncaring, detached features of meanness are expressed as disregard for personal responsibilities in the prison context; however, this association did not appear to extend to overt disciplinary problems, given the null correlation between meanness and staff ratings of prison behavior. Finally, meanness was positively associated with all facets of hopelessness but was unrelated to substance problems or self-harm. Meanness includes a prominent element of cynicism that may result in elevated hopelessness scores (e.g., Berg et al., 2013; Sellbom et al., 2018) despite null relations with other distress-related problems.

Consistent with its nomological net, disinhibition was uniquely associated with high neuroticism, low conscientiousness, and low agreeableness. Further, as expected, disinhibition was positively related to substance use problems, hopelessness, and self-harm. This finding is consistent with prior evidence that disinhibition constitutes a liability factor for myriad forms of psychopathology that involve poor emotional or behavioral control (Buchman-Schmitt et al., 2017; Patrick et al., 2013a, b; Perkins et al., 2019). Finally, negative associations were noted for disinhibition with staff ratings of prison behavior and reintegration prognosis. These are consistent with a prior study using structured risk assessments (Sellbom et al., 2018) and may reflect the persistently unrestrained, irresponsible tendencies exhibited by those high in disinhibition both inside and outside the prison setting.

Sex Differences in External Correlates of the Triarchic Traits

Regarding the central theme of the current paper, the main result was that the similarities between sexes outnumbered the differences. First, males and females did not differ in mean scores on TriPM Boldness or Meanness. This finding accords with some prior prison studies utilizing the Psychopathic Personality Inventory (PPI; Lilienfeld & Andrews, 1996), another personality-based measure of psychopathy, which have found few mean-level differences between males and females on fearless dominance (akin to boldness; e.g., Sellbom et al., 2017). However, our result is in contrast to the literature for undergraduates and forensic mental health evaluees reviewed above, in which higher boldness and meanness scores have typically been reported for males as compared to females. One explanation may be that females in our unselected prison sample were less affected by normative gender socialization forces over development than community females, contributing to their engagement in crime as well as their relatively elevated boldness and meanness (see Letendre, 2007; Scott & Mikell, 2019). Relatively similar levels of boldness and meanness across sexes would plausibly be observed in an unselected prison sample such as ours, containing individuals with and without mental illness, but not in a forensic sample (Anestis et al., 2019; Sellbom et al., 2017), in which mental illness may have played a greater role than gender socialization in females’ engagement in crime (Blanchette & Brown, 2019; Fazel & Grann, 2006; Flynn et al., 2011).

As expected, participant sex did not moderate observed relations of boldness with most criterion variables. Boldness is theorized to involve reduced sensitivity of the brain’s defensive reactivity system to cues signaling threat or punishment (e.g., Patrick et al., 2019; Yancey et al., 2016). Operating from this perspective, it appears that dispositional fearlessness manifested similarly for males and females in the current study — except in terms of its impact on staff ratings of behavior within the prison and social connections outside, where in each case associations for boldness were more negative in females than in males. One potential interpretation of this unanticipated result is that some aspects of boldness may be viewed by others as adaptive in males but maladaptive in females; for example, social dominance may be seen by raters as either “leadership” or “pushiness,” depending on the sex of the evaluee. Another possibility is that boldness may be expressed more in terms of manipulativeness or erratic behaviors in incarcerated females than in males. For instance, the affective-interpersonal (Factor 1) features of psychopathy are closely linked to borderline personality disorder symptoms in females, but not males (Verona et al., 2012). Females high in boldness might rely on manipulation or relational aggression to achieve their goals to a greater extent than high-bold males (see also Crick & Grotpeter, 1995; Robbins et al., 2003). These behaviors could plausibly result in poorer social relationships and more disciplinary issues inside the prison. However, since this finding was not hypothesized, it requires replication and should be interpreted with caution until replicated.

Based on the literature, we anticipated that sex would moderate the expression of meanness in particular with regard to distress symptomatology and personality. As meanness involves dysfunction in affective and affiliative systems (Palumbo et al., 2020; Viding & McCrory, 2019), its expression was hypothesized to be influenced by gender norms and females’ socialization to be warm and cooperative (Eagly, 2009). Although no Sex x Meanness interaction effects were significant in this sample, some approached significance, with meanness tending to relate more strongly to increases in BHS Lack of Motivation and decreases in DSHI Versatility in females than males. Although the former effect would be consistent with hypotheses, further research is needed with larger samples to achieve adequate power.

The majority of points of divergence between sexes concerned the trait of disinhibition. First, mean levels of disinhibition were higher for females than males in this prison sample. This finding contrasts with prior research in a forensic mental health sample that demonstrated higher disinhibition among males (Anestis et al., 2019), and with undergraduate samples that showed similar levels across sex (e.g., Drislane & Patrick, 2017). Higher levels of disinhibition may need to be present, on average, for females to engage in crime, given that socialization processes may otherwise inhibit such behavior (Leve et al., 2005).

Sex differences were also observed in the associations of disinhibition with other variables. In particular, TriPM Disinhibition in females was more closely associated with self-harm than in males. Consistent with these findings, impulsivity, aggression, and hostility — constructs central to the nomological network of disinhibition — are more often manifested as self-directed violence and self-harm in females than in males (Sadeh et al., 2011). Related concepts of emotion dysregulation, affective instability, and ineffective emotion regulation strategies are also elevated among females high in psychopathy relative to their male counterparts (de Vogel & Lancel, 2016; Kreis & Cooke, 2011; Sica et al., 2015; Verona et al., 2012). Females may be socialized to express problems through emotional dysregulation (internalizing; Keenan & Shaw, 1997). Another possible explanation involves the fact that disinhibition is influenced by the early environment (Tuvblad et al., 2019) and is correlated with a history of abuse (Gottfried et al., 2019; Graham et al., 2012; Verona et al., 2005). Given that trauma is extremely common among incarcerated females (DeHart et al., 2014; Lynch et al., 2012), such experiences could play a role in the sex-differentiated expression of disinhibition as emotion dysregulation. This explanation could also account for our finding that disinhibition was associated with greater increases in substance use among females than males, as the association between post-traumatic stress and substance use depends on the presence of emotion dysregulation (Tull et al., 2015), especially among women (Bornovalova et al., 2009). Although our substance use results contrast with findings from a forensic mental health clinic sample (Anestis et al., 2019), it is possible that the lower rate of comorbid serious mental illness in our unselected prison sample resulted in clearer sex differences in the degree to which substance use is driven by distress. Nevertheless, as with other mechanistic possibilities offered throughout this paper, these inferences remain to be explicitly tested.

Disinhibition also predicted staff ratings of misbehavior in prison to a greater degree in females than in males. Such a result is particularly important given that among incarcerated females, PCL-R scores do not predict violent behavior, verbal aggression, or noncompliance within the prison setting (Salekin et al., 1997). In this respect, as a trait-based approach rooted in models of personality, the triarchic model may hold promise for improving risk assessment among incarcerated females. However, this result requires replication.

Strengths, Limitations, and Directions

A notable strength of the current study is its use of a mixed-sex prison sample and the examination of external correlates considered to be of particular importance to this population (e.g., substance problems, self-harm, institutional behavior problems). This design allowed us to undertake, for the first time in an unselected prison sample, direct comparisons of the external correlates of the triarchic model across males and females. In addition, our sample was composed of individuals charged with serious crimes and who had several prior convictions; thus, the crime-history profile of our participants was distinctly severe.

The current study also has certain limitations. First, our sample consisted of incarcerated individuals from the nation of Italy, and thus our results may not generalize to individuals from other cultures and ethnic backgrounds. In addition, although the inclusion of staff-rated criterion variables was a strength, the psychometric properties of these measures are unknown, and it is unclear to what degree gender bias may have played a role in ratings. However, the incorporation of multiple sources of data in these ratings (e.g., police reports) may mitigate these concerns somewhat. Finally, although the focus of this study was on external validation, there is also a need for research on the internal psychometric properties of the TriPM in prison samples. This work will require larger samples of incarcerated females in particular (here, n=83) and could include structural analysesFootnote3 and examinations of measurement invariance across sexes. A larger sample would also allow for an examination of the interactive and configural effects of triarchic dimensions (e.g., variants of psychopathy) in predicting important clinical criteria across sex.

Scholars of diversity training, when testing the efficacy of their approaches, too often use proxy measures for success that are far removed from the types of consequential outcomes that reflect the purported goals of such trainings

Diversity Training Goals, Limitations, and Promise: A Review of the Multidisciplinary Literature. Patricia G. Devine and Tory L. Ash. Annual Review of Psychology, Vol. 73:-, publication date January 2022, online on July 19, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-060221-122215

Abstract: In this review, we utilize a narrative approach to synthesize the multidisciplinary literature on diversity training. In examining hundreds of articles on the topic, we discovered that the literature is amorphous and complex and does not allow us to reach decisive conclusions regarding best practices in diversity training. We note that scholars of diversity training, when testing the efficacy of their approaches, too often use proxy measures for success that are far removed from the types of consequential outcomes that reflect the purported goals of such trainings. We suggest that the enthusiasm for, and monetary investment in, diversity training has outpaced the available evidence that such programs are effective in achieving their goals. We recommend that researchers and practitioners work together for future investigations to propel the science of diversity training forward. We conclude with a roadmap for how to create a more rigorous and relevant science of diversity training.

Those who gain a good reputation are often preferred as interaction partners, but excessively generous individuals risk losing their good reputation, and even being vilified, ostracised or antisocially punished

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: the social costs of prosocial behaviour. Nichola J Raihani & Eleanor A Power- Evolutionary Human Sciences, Jul 2021. DOI: 10.1017/ehs.2021.35

Abstract: Performing costly helpful behaviours can allow individuals to improve their reputation. Those who gain a good reputation are often preferred as interaction partners and are consequently better able to access support through cooperative relationships with others. But investing in prosocial displays can sometimes yield social costs: excessively generous individuals risk losing their good reputation, and even being vilified, ostracised or antisocially punished. As a consequence, people frequently try to downplay their prosocial actions or hide them from others. In this review, we explore when and why investments in prosocial behaviour are likely to yield social costs. We propose two key features of interactions that make it more likely that generous individuals will incur social costs when:  (i) observers infer that helpful behaviour is motivated by strategic or selfish motives; and (ii) observers infer that helpful behaviour is detrimental to them. We describe how the cognition required to consider ulterior motives emerges over development and how these tendencies vary across cultures – and discuss how the potential for helpful actions to result in social costs might place boundaries on prosocial behaviour as well as limiting the contexts in which it might occur. We end by outlining the key avenues and priorities for future research. 

Keywords: prosocial behaviour, reputation, modesty, cooperation, partner choice, morality

Preferences for attractiveness, resources, kindness, intelligence & health in a long-term mate, 45 countries: Each sex tended to report more demanding preferences for attractiveness & resources where the other sex was abundant

Sex differences in human mate preferences vary across sex ratios. Kathryn V. Walter et al. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, Jul 21 2021. https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2021.1115

Abstract: A wide range of literature connects sex ratio and mating behaviours in non-human animals. However, research examining sex ratio and human mating is limited in scope. Prior work has examined the relationship between sex ratio and desire for short-term, uncommitted mating as well as outcomes such as marriage and divorce rates. Less empirical attention has been directed towards the relationship between sex ratio and mate preferences, despite the importance of mate preferences in the human mating literature. To address this gap, we examined sex ratio's relationship to the variation in preferences for attractiveness, resources, kindness, intelligence and health in a long-term mate across 45 countries (n = 14 487). We predicted that mate preferences would vary according to relative power of choice on the mating market, with increased power derived from having relatively few competitors and numerous potential mates. We found that each sex tended to report more demanding preferences for attractiveness and resources where the opposite sex was abundant, compared to where the opposite sex was scarce. This pattern dovetails with those found for mating strategies in humans and mate preferences across species, highlighting the importance of sex ratio for understanding variation in human mate preferences.

4. Discussion

The consequences of sex ratio skew have long been of interest to scientists of evolution and behaviour, and particularly of interest to those who study mating [18,58]. Additionally, more recent work has examined the complex role of mate scarcity or abundance in patterns of sex differentiated reproductive behaviour, such as mate competition and parental care across species [59]. Despite these important advances, empirical work connecting human mate preferences to sex ratio remains scarce (for review, see [60]). Here, we attempted to address this literature gap with a large, cross-cultural investigation of human mate preferences. Overall, we found that sex differences in mate preferences vary across sex ratios. Where men are numerous, compared to where they are scarce, men tended to have lower absolute preferences for physical attractiveness, whereas women tended to have higher preferences. This inverse relationship also held for relative preferences for both physical attractiveness and good financial prospects. In sum, each sex tended to report more demanding preferences for attractiveness and resources where they had more power of choice on the mating market, compared to where they had less mating market power.

These findings are important for several reasons. First, the pattern whereby the scarcer sex sets more demanding preferences falls parsimoniously in line with patterns found for mating strategies in humans [15,17], and for mating systems, mate competition and mate preferences in non-humans [3,5,6]. While this study is correlational in nature and cannot speak to causality, the pattern of results is what would be expected if preferences for attractiveness and resources were calibrated to mate availability, and thus plastic in response to mating market demand.

Second, as we show that men's and women's preferences vary across sex ratios inversely, the magnitude of average sex differences in preferences also varies. Much research has examined the universality of sex differences in human mate preferences [21,61]. Less research has examined the variation in sex differences across cultures. The fact that sex ratio has the power to predict cross-cultural variation in mate preferences attains special importance as two previously reported sources of variation, pathogen prevalence and gender equality, have recently failed to replicate as predictors of cross-cultural variation in human mate preferences [22,44,62,63].

Third, that sex ratio more clearly predicts variation in relative preferences than in absolute preferences has implications for the measurement and analysis of mate preference variables. While absolute preferences reflect the trait values that people desire in potential mates, they do not as directly indicate how demanding that preference is within a particular environment. For instance, a strong preference for kindness (7 on a 7-point scale) may correspond to an extremely demanding preference in an environment where the average kindness is 4 on the same scale, or a somewhat demanding preference if the average kindness is 6 on the same scale. Given that scarcity on the mating market is hypothesized to afford power to express more stringent demands, measuring preferences in absolute terms might miss out on a critical dimension of variation relevant to sex ratio. Relative preferences, which incorporate information about the distribution of local trait values, may provide a more relevant measure of preferences because they more directly measure how demanding a given preference value is in a participant's local context.

Despite these important findings, the study does have some limitations and leaves open some important questions. First, the relationship between sex ratio and mate preferences was not as robust for some mate preference dimensions: kindness, health and intelligence. One possibility for why the same pattern did not emerge for these preferences is because they are so highly desired, and therefore more invariant. Indeed, the mean preference for kindness across all countries was, on a 7-point scale, M = 6.23, 95% CI [6.21, 6.26], Mdn = 6, for women, and M = 6.12, 95% CI [6.10, 6.15], Mdn = 6, for men. These universal near-ceiling effects leave limited room for variation. Furthermore, kindness, health and intelligence are also qualities considered very important for both men and women, and therefore these preferences may be less likely to shift downward, even when market power is low [21,64]. Future research could examine the relationship between sex ratio and a wider range of mate preferences—crucially, including those that exhibit more variation—to determine the extent of the relationship between mate preferences and sex ratio.

Second, our finding that mate preferences vary according to current sex ratio at birth could be considered somewhat surprising. Theoretically, sex ratio at birth, the number of males born for every 100 females born, does not appear to typify the conceptual variable of interest: the number of mates available to members of each sex. However, sex ratio at birth is moderately correlated with the other measures of sex ratio (r = 0.35, adult sex ratio; r = 0.39, sex ratio 15–49; r = 0.38, sex ratio 15–65; r = 0.16, city sex ratio), so it may be capturing sex ratio variation similar to adult sex ratio measures. Additionally, sex ratio at birth is an important variable to consider because it may be the origin of some skewed adult sex ratios, particularly in countries with an abundance of men. In particular, sex ratio at birth may reflect aspects of gender relations. Though skewed sex ratios can occur because of migration, violence and unbalanced death rates, sex ratio can also vary due to cultural practices such as sex selective abortions based on preferences for sons [65]. Some prior work has hypothesized that in places where women are scarce, women may have less structural power overall, and may be unable to fulfil their mate preferences even when they hold mating market power [18]. Although we did not find evidence consistent with this hypothesis—women's preferences tended to increase (not decrease) as they became scarcer—future work should continue to explore the source of sex ratio at birth's predictive power, including its potential relationship to gender equality.

Relatedly, our data do not speak to how the relationship between sex ratio and mate preferences emerges. One possibility is that the effects of sex ratio reflect evoked culture, and mating psychology reacts facultatively to local sex ratio to calibrate mate preferences. Alternatively, this relationship could reflect transmitted culture if, for example, people with less strict preferences tend to experience greater mating success when their own sex is abundant, and others mimic their preferences via prestige-based learning [66]. These possibilities are each equally consistent with the data we have here. Future research should explore further the particular ontogenetic mechanisms responsible for cross-cultural variation in preferences.

Furthermore, sex ratio measurement is made complicated by the fact that previous research has varied in the way sex ratio is defined. In particular, prior studies vary with respect to the age ranges used to estimate sex ratio, and whether operational sex ratio (only individuals able to reproduce) or adult sex ratio (all individuals considered adults, including elderly), is the key measure of sex ratio. Some of the inconsistent results in the prior literature may be due to researchers' use of only a single measure of sex ratio, which at times may fail to accurately capture the conceptual variable of interest: the availability of potential mates. Here we attempted to address this limitation by operationalizing country-level sex ratio measures in a variety of ways, and including city-level sex ratio and sex ratio at birth. By taking a broad approach to measuring sex ratio, we showed that results tended to remain robust across measures, though there were exceptions. However, a limitation of this broad approach is that it remains unclear what precisely is the best way to measure sex ratio for human mating research—a question future research must explore.

Part of the lack of clarity about how to operationalize sex ratio comes from the lack of clarity about how humans actually track mate availability. Country-level measures, or even city-level measures of sex ratio, may not accurately represent the sex ratios experienced and tracked by individual participants. More precise sex ratio measurements may produce different results than those found here.

Overall, the consequences of sex ratio have been well studied across mating behaviour in the non-human literature, from intrasexual competition, to preferences, to mating system [3,5,6]. The consequences of sex ratio have also been examined in the human literature in areas spanning from violence to financial behaviour or mating strategy [15,67,68]. However, the question of how sex ratio relates to human mate preferences has received limited attention and prior findings have lacked clarity. Here we provided evidence that sex ratio is related to mate preferences across cultures, such that where each sex is scarce, that sex tends to have higher preference demands for attractiveness and resources. These findings further elucidate the nature of human mating psychology, in particular its universal structure and systematic variation.