Friday, October 7, 2022

Excessive or deficient levels of neuronal inhibition relative to neuronal excitation may account for disorders of sexual desire, arousal and orgasm

Komisaruk BR, Rodriguez del Cerro MC. Orgasm and Related Disorders Depend on Neural Inhibition Combined With Neural Excitation. Sexual Medicine Reviews Volume 10, Issue 4, October 2022, Pages 481-492. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sxmr.2022.07.001

Abstract

Introduction: Prevalent models of sexual desire, arousal and orgasm postulate that they result from an excitatory process, whereas disorders of sexual desire, arousal and orgasm result from an inhibitory process based on psychosocial, pharmacological, medical, and other factors. But neuronal excitation and active neuronal inhibition normally interact at variable intensities, concurrently and continuously. We propose herein that in conjunction with neuronal excitation, neuronal inhibition enables the generation of the intense, non-aversive pleasure of orgasm. When this interaction breaks down, pathology can result, as in disorders of sexual desire, arousal, and orgasm, and in anhedonia and pain. For perspective, we review some fundamental behavioral and (neuro-) physiological functions of neuronal excitation and inhibition in normal and pathological processes.

Objectives: To review evidence that the variable balance between neuronal excitation and active neuronal inhibition at different intensities can account for orgasm and its disorders.

Methods: We selected studies from searches on PubMed, Google Scholar, Dialnet, and SciELO for terms including orgasm, neuronal development, Wallerian degeneration, prenatal stress, parental behavior, sensorimotor, neuronal excitation, neuronal inhibition, sensory deprivation, anhedonia, orgasmic disorder, hypoactive sexual desire disorder, persistent genital arousal disorder, sexual pain.

Results: We provide evidence that the intensity of neuronal inhibition dynamically covaries concurrently with the intensity of neuronal excitation. Differences in these relative intensities can facilitate the understanding of orgasm and disorders of orgasm.

Conclusion: Neuronal excitation and neuronal inhibition are normal, continuously active processes of the nervous system that are necessary for survival of neurons and the organism. The ability of genital sensory stimulation to induce concurrent neuronal inhibition enables the stimulation to attain the pleasurable, non-aversive, high intensity of excitation characteristic of orgasm. Excessive or deficient levels of neuronal inhibition relative to neuronal excitation may account for disorders of sexual desire, arousal and orgasm.


Key Words: OrgasmExcitationInhibitionHSDDFODPGADAnhedoniaPainPrenatal stressAnalgesia


Thursday, October 6, 2022

Signs of a Flynn effect in rodents in the last century? Secular differentiation of the manifold of general cognitive ability in laboratory mice (Mus musculus) and Norwegian rats (Rattus norvegicus)

Signs of a Flynn effect in rodents? Secular differentiation of the manifold of general cognitive ability in laboratory mice (Mus musculus) and Norwegian rats (Rattus norvegicus) over a century—Results from two cross-temporal meta-analyses. Michael A. Woodley of Menie, Mateo Peñaherrera-Aguirre, Matthew A. Sarraf. Intelligence, Volume 95, November–December 2022, 101700. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2022.101700

Highlights
•    Cross-temporal meta-analysis of GCA variance across 100 years in rat and mice populations.
•    Evidence of GCA variance decline (differentiation) found for both.
•    Suggestive of a Flynn effect, as this is associated with differentiation.
•    Laboratory studies can directly test for this in future research.

Abstract: Substantial improvements in factors such as microbiological quality have been noted in laboratory rodent (mouse [Mus musculus] and rat [Rattus norvegicus]) populations over the last 140 years, since domestication of laboratory strains started. These environmental improvements may have caused Flynn effect-like cognitive changes to occur in these populations, perhaps if these improvements enhanced cognitive plasticity and, consequently, learning potential. While lack of relevant data precludes cross-temporal comparison of cognitive performance means of laboratory rodent populations, it is possible to estimate changes in the proportion of cognitive performance variance attributable to general cognitive ability (GCA) over time. This “differentiation effect” has been found to occur along with the Flynn effect in human populations, suggesting that environmental factors, possibly mediated by their effects on life history speed, may weaken the manifold of GCA across time, allowing for greater cultivation of specialized abilities. Meta-analysis of the literature on mouse and rat cognition yielded 25 mouse studies from which 28 GCA effect sizes could be estimated, and 10 rat studies from which 11 effect sizes could be estimated. Cross-temporal meta-analysis yielded evidence of significant “differentiation effects” spanning approximately a century in both mice and rats, which were independent of age, sex, factor estimation technique, and task number in the case of the mice, and both factor estimation technique and task number in the case of the rats. These trends were also independent of the random effect of strain in both cases. While this is suggestive of the presence of the Flynn effect in captive populations of non-human animals, there are still factors that might be confounding these results. This meta-analysis should be followed up with experimental investigation.

Wednesday, October 5, 2022

The Dark Triad (psychopathy, Machiavellianism and narcissism) in adults: Only psychopathy and Machiavellianism were related to adult offending

How well do the Dark Triad characteristics explain individual differences in offending in a representative non-clinical adult sample? Wim Hardyns et al. Current Research in Behavioral Sciences, October 5 2022, 100084. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crbeha.2022.100084

Highlights
•    Psychopathy, Machiavellianism and narcissism make up the Dark Triad of personality
•    These Dark Triad traits were proven to be related to numerous antisocial behaviors
•    Such research on the Dark Triad has mainly focused on adolescent (online) samples
•    We tested the effect of these traits on offending in a representative adult sample
•    Of the three, only psychopathy and Machiavellianism were related to adult offending

Abstract: The present study investigates to what extent the three key concepts from the Dark Triad Theory can explain individual differences in adult offending. Data were collected through a cross-sectional survey amongst a representative sample of 1587 adults, living in Ghent, Belgium (Mage = 48.06, 51.4% female). Negative binomial regression analyses are run and show that Machiavellianism and psychopathy have strong independent effects on adult offending, independent of age, sex and immigrant background.

4. Discussion

The main objective of this study was to examine to what extent the key dimensions of the Dark Triad Theory are able to explain individual differences in self-reported adult offending. This study adds to existing and still scarce literature by examining this association in a representative non-clinical sample of adults, whereas previous research on the Dark Triad personality traits has primarily focused on adolescent (online) samples.

Psychopathy and Machiavellianism had substantial net effects on adult offending, which is consistent with our hypothesis and previous research with adolescent samples (e.g., Flexon et al., 2016; Lyons & Jonason, 2015; Wright et al., 2016). However, in contrast to our hypothesis and previous research (e.g., Blinkhorn et al., 2018), narcissism was not significantly related to self-reported adult offending. This lack of association could possibly be explained by Bushman and Baumeister's (1998) threatened egotism hypothesis, which posits that individuals who are high on narcissism are prone to react in a violent or aggressive manner as a defense mechanism when faced with challenges to their self-esteem. Several studies have found evidence for this hypothesis (e.g., Baumeister, Bushman, & Campbell, 2000; Lambe et al., 2016; Twenge & Campbell, 2003). Our data did not allow to distinguish proactive offending from reactive offending (such as an ego threat), thus we cannot fully explain this lack of association. Future research could examine this further by including measures of both proactive and reactive offending behaviors.

Next to discussing the net effects of the Dark Triad traits, it is also worth mentioning that the effects of age and immigrant background on offending behavior were in line with previous research (e.g., Junger-Tas et al., 2009; Rocque et al., 2015). However, our third control variable sex did not have the expected effect on offending. Research has repeatedly shown that males are more prone to offending than females (e.g., DeLisi & Vaughn, 2016), but in our study this effect of sex is not substantial. One possible explanation for this is that the effect of sociodemographic variables such as sex may weaken when other variables, such as personal attitudes, values or personality traits, are taken into account when analyzing offending behavior (Ivert et al., 2018). In our study, the effects of the Dark Triad personality traits could have weakened the effect of sex on adult offending, but further research is required to support this claim.

5. Limitations and future directions

Several limitations must be taken into account. First, the cross-sectional nature of the study makes it impossible to draw causal conclusions and therefore limits the ability to discuss clear causal relationships of our findings. From a developmental point of view, a panel study should be implemented to assess the temporal order of the concepts in our model and to examine whether changes in the presence of the Dark Triad personality traits are indeed associated with changes in offending behavior.

A second limitation concerns the self-report nature of the measures of each construct. This raises problems with memory recall in regard to the questions on offending, the willingness to report about sensitive topics like offending, and social desirability bias, especially considering the Dark Triad traits are characterized by tendencies towards self-promotion (Paulhus & Williams, 2002). However, previous research has demonstrated that self-report measurements of the Dark Triad can be quite accurate (Jonason & Webster, 2010), and a recent study by Kowalski et al. (2018) found that only narcissism is associated with social desirability, which can be an explanation for the non-effect of narcissism in this study. We tried to limit the confounding effects of the social desirability bias by shielding the questions relating to offending behavior and Dark Triad personality traits from the interviewers. Future research could also assess the validity of self-reporting occurrences of offending behavior through the use of factorial designs (randomized vignette studies).

Third, in our operationalization of the Dark Triad personality traits, we used a concise measure (Dirty Dozen; Jonason & Webster, 2010). While there is considerable support for the adequacy of the psychometric properties of this scale such as internal consistency, factor structure and test-retest validity (e.g., Chiorri, Garofalo, & Velotti, 2019; Jonason et al., 2013; Jonason & Luévano, 2013; Jonason & McCain, 2012; Jonason & Webster, 2010; Jones & Paulhus, 2014), there are some concerns regarding the brevity of the instrument in relation to full-length measures of the Dark Triad traits3. Some scholars have proposed that this short measure may fail to capture some aspects of psychopathy and narcissism (e.g., Maples, Lamkin, & Miller, 2014). However, the structure of the Dirty Dozen questionnaire appears to be stable across different cultural contexts and populations and seems to provide a reasonable tradeoff between efficiency and accuracy (Jonason & Luévano, 2013; Rogoza et al., 2020).

Lastly, the adults offending scale is based on four items referring to four types of offending behaviors. Our choice was guided by (1) general applicability towards a community sample and (2) high prevalence offences.4 Future research on the association between the Dark Triad traits and offending behavior could incorporate measures of more specific types of offending behaviors.

Despite these limitations, our findings show that the Dark Triad Theory can be applied to explain individual differences in adult offending and as such, the theory could be integrated in contemporary theories of antisocial behavior. Future research could examine which mechanisms lie underneath this relationship between the Dark Triad traits and self-reported offending, by integrating the findings of this study with for example theory on the role of self-control (Flexon et al., 2016; Gottfredson & Hirschi, 2019; Vazsonyi et al., 2017; Wright et al., 2017) and strains (Agnew et al., 2002; Lee & Kim, 2022) in criminal behavior, or the theory of cumulated disadvantage (Sampson & Laub, 1997). Furthermore, given the moderate to large heritability of the Dark Triad traits (Kavish & Boutwell, 2022; Vernon et al., 2008), future research could explore the role of genetic confounding in the association between these three dark personality traits and offending behavior. This strategy of theoretical elaboration could lead to a more thorough understanding of the individual factors that play a role in offending behaviors.

Lottery playing has an entertainment function, in that people can improve their mood by spending a small amount of money

What we bet on is not only tangible money, but also good mood. Hui-Fang Guo et al. Cognition and Emotion, Oct 3 2022. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699931.2022.2128064

A surprisingly large number of lottery prizes go unclaimed every year. This leads us to suspect that what people bet on is not only money, but also good mood. We conducted three studies to explain, from an emotional perspective, why people play lottery games. We first conducted two survey studies to assess mood state reported by online (Study 1a) and offline lottery buyers (Study 1b) at different stages of lottery play. The results revealed that participants’ highest mood appeared before knowing whether they had won. In Study 2, we manipulated the means of reward (lottery tickets vs. cash) and compared participants’ mood changes at different stages of a rewards game in the laboratory. We found the following: first, lottery group participants were generally in a better mood; second, 42% of lottery group participants did not come to the laboratory to collect scratch cards; and third, lottery group participants took more time to return to the laboratory to check their tickets than participants in the cash group. In Study 3, we examined whether priming good or bad mood could influence participants’ preferences for cash versus lottery tickets. The results revealed that participants who were primed for poor mood had a higher preference for lottery tickets compared with their good mood counterparts. These findings suggest that what our participants sought in lottery play was not only money, but improved mood.

Keywords: Lottery playmoodextremely low probabilityweighting function of prospect theory

Tuesday, October 4, 2022

In the 60s-80s, women were less likely to be selected as Academies members than men with similar records (in Psychology, Mathematics and Economics); by the 1990s, 50-50; since 2000, women are 3-15 times more likely to be selected as members

Gender Gaps at the Academies. David Card, Stefano DellaVigna, Patricia Funk & Nagore Iriberri. NBER Working Paper 30510, September 2022. DOI 10.3386/w30510

Historically, a large majority of the newly elected members of the National Academy of Science (NAS) and the American Academy of Arts and Science (AAAS) were men. Within the past two decades, however, that situation has changed, and in the last 3 years women made up about 40 percent of the new members in both academies. We build lists of active scholars from publications in the top journals in three fields – Psychology, Mathematics and Economics – and develop a series of models to compare changes in the probability of selection of women as members of the NAS and AAAS from the 1960s to today, controlling for publications and citations. In the early years of our sample, women were less likely to be selected as members than men with similar records. By the 1990s, the selection process at both academies was approximately gender-neutral, conditional on publications and citations. In the past 20 years, however, a positive preference for female members has emerged and strengthened in all three fields. Currently, women are 3-15 times more likely to be selected as members of the AAAS and NAS than men with similar publication and citation records.


 

Monday, October 3, 2022

"Minority-distinct" name in resumes: Discrimination in some "unexpected" countries aren't that surprising to those who travel, but that runs counter the usual narrative

Do Some Countries Discriminate More than Others? Evidence from 97 Field Experiments of Racial Discrimination in Hiring. Lincoln Quillian, Anthony Heath, Devah Pager, Arnfinn H. Midtbøen, Fenella Fleischmann, Ole Hexel. Sociological Science, June 17, 2019. DOI 10.15195/v6.a18

Abstract: Comparing levels of discrimination across countries can provide a window into large-scale social and political factors often described as the root of discrimination. Because of difficulties in measurement, however, little is established about variation in hiring discrimination across countries. We address this gap through a formal meta-analysis of 97 field experiments of discrimination incorporating more than 200,000 job applications in nine countries in Europe and North America. We find significant discrimination against nonwhite natives in all countries in our analysis; discrimination against white immigrants is present but low. However, discrimination rates vary strongly by country: In high-discrimination countries, white natives receive nearly twice the callbacks of nonwhites; in low-discrimination countries, white natives receive about 25 percent more. France has the highest discrimination rates, followed by Sweden. We find smaller differences among Great Britain, Canada, Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway, the United States, and Germany. These findings challenge several conventional macro-level theories of discrimination.

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Alex Tabarrok in Marginal Revolution https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2022/10/the-us-has-low-rates-of-hiring-discrimination.html, Oct 3, 2022:

There have now been lots of resume-audit studies in which identical resumes but for the "minority-distinct" name are sent out to employers and callback rates are measured. A meta-study of 97 field experiments (N = 200,000 job applicants) in 9 countries in Europe and North America finds there is some discrimination in every county but, if anything, the USA has one of the lower rates of discrimination while France and perhaps also Sweden have very high levels. These result's aren't  that surprising to those who travel but they run counter to the narrative that the US is uniquely or especially discriminatory because of its history of slavery and capitalism. Capitalism, in fact, is likely to predict less discrimination.

 

The authors make a number of interesting points:

...national histories of slavery and colonialism are neither necessary nor sufficient conditions for a country to have relatively high levels of labor market discrimination. Some countries with colonial pasts demonstrate high rates of hiring discrimination, but several countries without extensive colonial pasts (outside Europe), such as Sweden, demonstrate similar levels. Likewise, the lower rates of discrimination against minorities in the United States than we find for many European countries seem contrary to expectations that emphasize the primacy of connection to slavery in shaping the contemporary level of national discrimination. These results do not suggest that slavery and colonialism do not matter for levels of discrimination, rather they indicate that they matter in more complex ways than suggested by theories that posit simple, direct influences of the past on current discrimination.


And:

High discrimination in the French labor market seems inconsistent with claims made by some scholars that discourse or measurement of race and ethnicity itself will tend to produce more discrimination by promoting “groupism” and group stereotypes (Sniderman and Hagendoorn 2007). The efforts in France not to measure or formally discuss race or ethnicity do not seem to have led to less discrimination.

 

Rolf Degen summarizing... Genetic propensity for educational attainment was associated with an increased likelihood of using alcohol as an adolescent

Educational Attainment Polygenic Scores: Examining Evidence for Gene–Environment Interplay with Adolescent Alcohol, Tobacco and Cannabis Use. Christal N. Davis et al. Twin Research and Human Genetics, Oct 3 2022. https://doi.org/10.1017/thg.2022.33

Abstract: Genes associated with educational attainment may be related to or interact with adolescent alcohol, tobacco and cannabis use. Potential gene–environment interplay between educational attainment polygenic scores (EA-PGS) and adolescent alcohol, tobacco, and cannabis use was evaluated with a series of regression models fitted to data from a sample of 1871 adult Australian twins. All models controlled for age, age2, cohort, sex and genetic ancestry as fixed effects, and a genetic relatedness matrix was included as a random effect. Although there was no evidence that adolescent alcohol, tobacco or cannabis use interacted with EA-PGS to influence educational attainment, there was a significant, positive gene–environment correlation with adolescent alcohol use at all PGS thresholds (ps <.02). Higher EA-PGS were associated with an increased likelihood of using alcohol as an adolescent (ΔR2 ranged from 0.5% to 1.1%). The positive gene–environment correlation suggests a complex relationship between educational attainment and alcohol use that is due to common genetic factors.

No evidence of any political learning on social media in observational studies, and statistically significant but substantively small increases in knowledge in experiments, across social media platforms, types of knowledge, countries, & periods

Do people learn about politics on social media? A meta-analysis of 76 studies. Eran Amsalem, Alon Zoizner. Journal of Communication, jqac034, September 29 2022. https://doi.org/10.1093/joc/jqac034

Abstract: Citizens turn increasingly to social media to get their political information. However, it is currently unclear whether using these platforms actually makes them more politically knowledgeable. While some researchers claim that social media play a critical role in the learning of political information within the modern media environment, others posit that the great potential for learning about politics on social media is rarely fulfilled. The current study tests which of these conflicting theoretical claims is supported by the existing empirical literature. A preregistered meta-analysis of 76 studies (N = 442,136) reveals no evidence of any political learning on social media in observational studies, and statistically significant but substantively small increases in knowledge in experiments. These small-to-nonexistent knowledge gains are observed across social media platforms, types of knowledge, countries, and periods. Our findings suggest that the contribution of social media toward a more politically informed citizenry is minimal.


Sunday, October 2, 2022

What Makes Single Life Attractive: More time for oneself, focusing on own goals and having no one dictating actions; plus men found the freedom to flirt around more important than women

What Makes Single Life Attractive: an Explorative Examination of the Advantages of Singlehood. Menelaos Apostolou & Chistoforos Christoforou. Evolutionary Psychological Science, Oct 1 2022. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40806-022-00340-1

Abstract: Many people do not have an intimate partner, one reason being that they prefer to be single. The current research aimed to address the question what makes single life appealing, that is, to identify the possible advantages of being single. More specifically, Study 1 employed open-ended questionnaires on a sample of 269 Greek-speaking participants, and identified 84 such advantages. By using quantitative research methods on a sample of 612 Greek-speaking participants, Study 2 classified these advantages into 10 broader categories. The “More time for myself,” followed by the “Focus on my goals,” and the “No one dictates my actions,” were rated as the most important. Men found the “Freedom to flirt around” more important than women, while women found the Focus on my goals and the “No tensions and fights” more important than men. In addition, younger participants rated the Focus on my goals as more important than older ones. Furthermore, low scorers in mating performance found the identified advantages more important than high scorers.


Is regulatory quality declining?

The Next Phase of Regulatory Reform. James Broughel. National Affairs, Summer 2022. https://www.nationalaffairs.com/publications/detail/the-next-phase-of-regulatory-reform

Excerpts... Read the full article, please:

One example of such evidence-free regulation in recent years comes from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). In 2021, HHS repealed a rule enacted by the Trump administration that would have required the agency to periodically review its regulations for their impact on small businesses. The measure was known as the SUNSET rule because it would attach sunset provisions, or expiration dates, to department rules. If the agency failed to conduct a review, the regulation expired.


Ironically, in proposing to rescind the SUNSET rule, HHS argued that it would be too time consuming and burdensome for the agency to review all of its regulations. Citing almost no academic work in support of its proposed repeal — a reflection of the anti-consequentialism that animates so much contemporary regulatory policy — the agency effectively asserted that assessing the real-world consequences of its existing rules was far less pressing an issue than addressing the perceived problems of the day (by, of course, issuing more regulations).


Through its actions, HHS has rejected the very notion of having to review its own rules and assess whether they work. In fact, the suggestion that agencies review their regulations is an almost inexplicably divisive issue in Washington today. "Retrospective review" has become a dirty term, while cost-benefit analysis has morphed into a tool to judge intentions rather than predict real-world consequences. The shift highlights how far the modern administrative state has drifted from the rational, evidence-based system envisioned by the law-and-economics movement just a few decades ago.


In today's administrative state, intellectual fads appear to be in the driver's seat, while science and economics are simply along for the ride. Despite pronouncements to the contrary, few intellectuals seem genuinely interested in "following the science": Too many have their careers, social status, and sense of personal identity wrapped up in perpetuating the status quo.


Smiling makes you look older, even when you wear a mask, due to eye wrinkling

Smiling makes you look older, even when you wear a mask: the effect of face masks on age perception. Tzvi Ganel & Melvyn A. Goodale. Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications volume 7, Article number: 84. Sep 6 2022. https://cognitiveresearchjournal.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s41235-022-00432-3


Abstract: The widespread use of face masks in the era of the Covid-19 pandemic has promoted research on their effect on the perception and recognition of faces. There is growing evidence that masks hinder the recognition of identity and expression, as well as the interpretation of speech from facial cues. It is less clear whether and in what manner masks affect the perception of age from facial cues. Recent research has emphasized the role of the upper region of the face, a part not covered by a mask, in the evaluation of age. For example, smile-related wrinkles in the region of the eyes make smiling faces appear older than neutral faces of the same individuals (the aging effect of smiling, AES). In two experiments, we tested the effect of face masks on age evaluations of neutral and smiling faces in a range of different age groups from 20 to 80 years. The results showed that smiling faces were perceived as older than neutral faces even when individuals were wearing a face mask—and there was no effect of masks on bias in age evaluations. Additional analyses showed reduced accuracy in age evaluations for smiling compared to neutral faces and for masked compared to unmasked faces. The results converge on previous studies emphasizing the importance of the upper region of the face in evaluations of age.


Significance statement: In this manuscript, we provide a comprehensive investigation of the effect of masks on different aspects of age evaluations. Within this context, we looked at the effect of masks on age evaluations of neutral and smiling faces. We found that wearing a face mask does not diminish the well-established effect of smiling on age perception: the fact that when people smile, they look older. In addition, we showed that contrary to previous suggestions, masks do not make people appear to be younger or older. The only difference in age evaluations between masked and unmasked faces was a moderate decrease in accuracy for age evaluations of masked faces. The findings confirm that the perception of age is driven largely by the upper part of the face and that the wrinkling of the eyes that occurs when people smile is responsible for the bias in age perception. These results provide timely insights on the effect of masks on face perception and on the processes that underlie the perception of facial age.




The ubiquity of resilience is one of the most consistent findings in the trauma literature

Myths of Trauma: Why Adversity Does Not Necessarily Make Us Sick. Joel Paris. Oxford Univ. Press, 2022. https://global.oup.com/academic/product/myths-of-trauma-9780197615768


- Focuses on the question of why some people fall ill while others show resilience in the face of adversity.

- Warns clinicians about the tendency to overdiagnose PTSD and overemphasize traumatic events in patients' life histories.

- Addresses the trend toward a "trauma focus" in therapy and offers an alternative, taking personality and life course into account.


The claim that a small number of repeat offenders are responsible for the majority of sexual assaults on college campuses reflects belief in a just & good status quo, and a preference for simple stories

What is the psychological appeal of the serial rapist model? Worldviews predicting endorsement. Ana P. Gantman, Elizabeth Levy Paluck. Behavioural Public Policy, September 30 2022. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/behavioural-public-policy/article/what-is-the-psychological-appeal-of-the-serial-rapist-model-worldviews-predicting-endorsement/732E0DC20E4742A09FEB013E5D466C96


Abstract: The serial rapist model claims that a small number of intentional, repeat offenders are responsible for the majority of sexual assaults on college campuses. The model has formed the dominant argument for some of the most popular forms of campus intervention programs and is cited by high profile advocates and policymakers. Despite enthusiasm for the serial rapist model, it is not empirically well-supported and is contradicted by recent robust data. In this article, we ask: why does the serial rapist model have such broad and enduring appeal? In two US-based samples, one convenience and one representative, we find that people's endorsement of the serial rapist model correlates with worldviews that cohere around ideas of a just and good status quo, and a preference for simple stories. Specifically, we find a positive relationship between endorsement of the serial rapist model and belief in a just world, system justification, social dominance orientation, need for closure and essentialism.



Saturday, October 1, 2022

Ancient DNA suggests that artificial islands were party spots for the elite

New integrated molecular approaches for investigating lake settlements in north-western Europe. Antony G. Brown et al. Antiquity, Sep 28 2022. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/new-integrated-molecular-approaches-for-investigating-lake-settlements-in-northwestern-europe/7A0304934781CF67D37DF76FCC87C54B

Abstract: Lake settlements, particularly crannogs, pose several contradictions—visible yet inaccessible, widespread yet geographically restricted, persistent yet vulnerable. To further our understanding, we have developed the integrated use of palaeolimnological (scanning XRF, pollen, spores, diatoms, chironomids, Cladocera, microcharcoal, biogenic silica, SEM-EDS, stable-isotopes) and biomolecular (faecal stanols, bile acids, sedaDNA) analyses of proximal and through-crannog cores in south-west Scotland and Ireland. Both can be effective methods sets for revealing occupation chronologies and identifying on-crannog activities and practices. Strong results from sedaDNA and lipid biomarker analyses demonstrate probable on-site animal slaughter, food storage and possible feasting, suggesting multi-period, elite site associations, and the storage and protection of valuable resources.

Context and discussion

The scientific techniques outlined here can provide sophisticated insights into the lifeways of societies ranging from the Neolithic to the post-medieval periods (AD 1603–present), even if via the cultural filter of wetland site activities. A key task for future work is to integrate these environmental methods with the more representative evidence generated by excavation of crannog settlements and associated dryland sites, and their wider cultural contexts. Focusing more specifically on crannogs, the frequent identification of ‘high-status’ activities and goods on some of these sites not only supports their role as places for the protective custody of valuable resources, but also suggests a degree of social exclusion combined with the display of power and wealth (O'Sullivan Reference O'Sullivan2004). Although seemingly low-status crannogs have been recorded, such as Sroove in Ireland (Boyle Reference Boyle2004), this impression may be the result of later reuse and disturbance, as the scale of resources required for crannog construction implies considerable investment. Indeed, biomolecular (and geochemical) methods may also be able to identify earlier activities that have left no trace in the on-site material culture, particularly as this could include infrequent events, such as feasting or ceremonial activities.

Shelley (Reference Shelley2009) has shown that for the medieval period in Scotland, crannogs can be regarded as watery lodges or palaces, which later went out of fashion as display became increasingly mediated through estates, mansions and gardens. The royal association of many crannogs suggests that this status display may also have been a factor during earlier periods in both Scotland and Ireland. Similarly, there was ecclesiastical use of some crannogs—especially in the early medieval period (AD 410–1066), following the model of ascetic monasticism whereby a central monastery was surrounded by satellite hermitages in remote locations and, particularly, on islands—although this was far more variable in Ireland (Bitel Reference Bitel, Alison and Bitel2020). An additional element here is the early Christian tradition of islands as places of holiness, retreat and redemption—a practise which can also have practical advantages through a degree of protection and self-sufficiency. Religious associations are visible through artefacts, such as crosses, and the later documented use of crannogs by the Church (Shelley Reference Shelley2009; Stratigos & Noble Reference Stratigos and Nobel2015). All of these considerations imply that the use and importance of crannogs were highly variable in different periods and places. One implication is that there is a fundamental limit to what we can discover about crannogs by studying them in isolation. A key insight comes from their changing use over time, but this relies entirely on increasing the number of dated crannogs, dating their construction and reuse, and comparing these dates to nearby dryland sites (e.g. settlements, raths and ringforts).


Non-conformity in mate choice: Immigrant females who do not conform to the local trend have sons, grandsons, etc. of the non-preferred phenotype, which negatively and cumulatively affects fitness over generations

Conformity in mate choice, the overlooked social component of animal and human culture. Sabine Nöbel et al. Biological Reviews, September 29 2022. https://doi.org/10.1111/brv.12899


Abstract: Although conformity as a major driver for human cultural evolution is a well-accepted and intensely studied phenomenon, its importance for non-human animal culture has been largely overlooked until recently. This limited for decades the possibility of studying the roots of human culture. Here, we provide a historical review of the study of conformity in both humans and non-human animals. We identify gaps in knowledge and propose an evolutionary route towards the sophisticated cultural processes that characterize humanity. A landmark in the study of conformity is Solomon Asch's famous experiment on humans in 1955. By contrast, interest in conformity among evolutionary biologists has only become salient since the turn of the new millennium. A striking result of our review is that, although studies of conformity have examined many biological contexts, only one looked at mate choice. This is surprising because mate choice is probably the only context in which conformity has self-reinforcing advantages across generations. Within a metapopulation, i.e. a group of subpopulations connected by dispersing individuals, dispersers able to conform to the local preference for a given type of mate have a strong and multigenerational fitness advantage. This is because once females within one subpopulation locally show a bias for one type of males, immigrant females who do not conform to the local trend have sons, grandsons, etc. of the non-preferred phenotype, which negatively and cumulatively affects fitness over generations in a process reminiscent of the Fisher runaway process. This led us to suggest a sex-driven origin of conformity, indicating a possible evolutionary route towards animal and human culture that is rooted in the basic, and thus ancient, social constraints acting on mating preferences within a metapopulation. In a generic model, we show that dispersal among subpopulations within a metapopulation can effectively maintain independent Fisher runaway processes within subpopulations, while favouring the evolution of social learning and conformity at the metapopulation scale; both being essential for the evolution of long-lasting local traditions. The proposed evolutionary route to social learning and conformity casts surprising light on one of the major processes that much later participated in making us human. We further highlight several research avenues to define the spectrum of conformity better, and to account for its complexity. Future studies of conformity should incorporate experimental manipulation of group majority. We also encourage the study of potential links between conformity and mate copying, animal aggregations, and collective actions. Moreover, validation of the sex-driven origin of conformity will rest on the capacity of human and evolutionary sciences to investigate jointly the origin of social learning and conformity. This constitutes a stimulating common agenda and militates for a rapprochement between these two currently largely independent research areas.

VII. CONCLUSIONS

(1) The strength of our proposed pathway rooted in mate choice and runaway sexual selection is that it explains the evolution of social learning and conformity, as well as culture.

(2) One of the major challenges therefore for empirical studies of social learning is to find out whether the detection of majority behaviour in mate copying preceded (in evolutionary time) the detection of majority behaviour in other contexts such as foraging and to what extent it evolved analogously or homologously. For that goal we will need to determine in a large range of species the shape of the response function of conformity in mate choice, and other contexts with experiments manipulating the level of majority. Altogether, this provides a rich agenda for future research.

(3) In the expectation of such information, the tentative model we propose and simulate here for the evolution of conformity, and all its cultural evolution consequences, casts surprising light on one of the major processes that has participated in making us humans. Sex might play a bigger role than previously thought in the long-run development of cultural traditions.

Placebo Analgesia not only reduces empathy, also Reduces Costly Prosocial Helping to Lower Another Person’s Pain

Placebo Analgesia Reduces Costly Prosocial Helping to Lower Another Person’s Pain. Helena Hartmann et al. Psychological Science, Sep 29 2022. https://doi.org/10.1177/09567976221119727

Abstract: Painkiller administration lowers pain empathy, but whether this also reduces prosocial behavior is unknown. In this preregistered study, we investigated whether inducing analgesia through a placebo painkiller reduced effortful helping. When given the opportunity to reduce the pain of another person, individuals experiencing placebo analgesia (n = 45 adults from Austria; 21 male, 24 female) made fewer prosocial choices at the lowest helping level and exerted less physical effort when helping, compared with controls whose pain sensitivity was unaltered (n = 45; 21 male, 24 female). Self-reported empathic unpleasantness positively correlated with prosocial choices across the whole sample. While not replicating group differences in empathy, a mediation analysis revealed that the level of unpleasantness to other people’s pain fully mediated the effect of placebo analgesia on prosocial choices. Given the importance of prosociality for social cohesion, these findings have broad potential implications both for individuals under the influence of painkillers and for society at large.


Friday, September 30, 2022

Both men and women perceived women with nipple erection as less intelligent, less moral, more likely to engage in sexual behaviors, & as having poorer sexual health & less sexually manipulative

 Burch, R. L., & Widman, D. R. (2022). The point of nipple erection 3: Sexual and social expectations of women with nipple erection. Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences, Sep 2022. https://doi.org/10.1037/ebs0000312

Abstract: If nipple erection signals/is a cue to sexual interest or arousal, we would expect that women with nipple erection would be sexualized: having a presumed higher sexual arousal and promiscuity and lower mental abilities and morality. To examine this, 234 participants rated pictures of women with and without salient nipple erection (faces were obscured to eliminate facial cues). Participants completed a hypothetical sexual behavior profile (30 items including perceptions of morality and intelligence) for each stimulus photo. Both men and women perceived women with nipple erection as less intelligent, less moral, and more likely to engage in sexual behaviors. These are the primary markers of sexual objectification. They also rated these women as having poorer sexual health and being less sexually manipulative. Men perceived all the women in the stimulus photos as being less moral and having more male sexual partners, indicating that men objectified the stimuli overall more than women. Women reported that women with erect nipples had more male sex partners, lost their virginity at a younger age, and had lower quality relationships. In summary, female nipple erection, which is an uncontrollable reflex, triggers sexualization and objectification by both men and women who observe it.

Impact Statement: Nipple erection is a cue that triggers sexualization and objectification of women; women with nipple erection are thought of as less intelligent, less moral, and more promiscuous by both men and women. Women cannot control their nipple erection, yet these data show that it is used by men and women to make presumptions about women’s character and behavior.

Schizophrenia has been an evolutionary paradox: it has high heritability, but it is associated with decreased reproductive success

Schizophrenia: the new etiological synthesis. Markus J. Rantala et al. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, September 28 2022, 104894. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.104894

Highlights
•    Schizophrenia (SZR) is rare or nonexistent in hunter-gatherer populations
•    Several microbial infections can trigger SZR
•    SZR is associated with neuroinflammation and gut dysbiosis
•    Parasite x genotype x stress interaction forms the new etiological synthesis for SZR
•    Evolutionary mismatch explains SZR better than other evolutionary hypotheses

Abstract: Schizophrenia has been an evolutionary paradox: it has high heritability, but it is associated with decreased reproductive success. The causal genetic variants underlying schizophrenia are thought to be under weak negative selection. To unravel this paradox, many evolutionary explanations have been suggested for schizophrenia. We critically discuss the constellation of evolutionary hypotheses for schizophrenia, highlighting the lack of empirical support for most existing evolutionary hypotheses—with the exception of the relatively well supported evolutionary mismatch hypothesis. It posits that evolutionarily novel features of contemporary environments, such as chronic stress, low-grade systemic inflammation, and gut dysbiosis, increase susceptibility to schizophrenia. Environmental factors such as microbial infections (e.g., Toxoplasma gondii) can better predict the onset of schizophrenia than polygenic risk scores. However, researchers have not been able to explain why only a small minority of infected people develop schizophrenia. The new etiological synthesis of schizophrenia indicates that an interaction between host genotype, microbe infection, and chronic stress causes schizophrenia, with neuroinflammation and gut dysbiosis mediating this etiological pathway. Instead of just alleviating symptoms with drugs, the parasite x genotype x stress model emphasizes that schizophrenia treatment should focus on detecting and treating possible underlying microbial infection(s), neuroinflammation, gut dysbiosis, and chronic stress.

6. Critical evaluation of previous evolutionary hypotheses for schizophrenia

Many of these previous evolutionary hypotheses lack proper empirical validation (Fig. 2) and, above and beyond the critical discussion presented in this article, scientific approaches to schizophrenia would benefit from critical appraisals and rigorous research devising crucial experiments that pitch each hypothesis against one other (cf. Platt, 1964). Even though some of the previous evolutionary hypotheses presented above might explain some of the characteristic manifestations of psychosis or delusions and their relations to the genetics of schizophrenia, all of them—with the exception of the mismatch hypothesis—fail to provide a convincing explanation for the negative symptoms of schizophrenia such as blunting of affect, violent behavior, aggression, apathy, anhedonia, loss of motivation, or cognitive deficit. The hypotheses—with the exception of the mismatch hypothesis—also fail to explain impairments in executive functions typically observed in schizophrenic patients. In addition, the hypotheses have not been able to explain why schizophrenia is commonly comorbid with many other mental disorders (Buckley et al., 2009, Tsai and Rosenheck, 2013). Major depressive disorder, for instance, is a common psychiatric comorbidity in patients with schizophrenia. A recent meta-analysis found that 32.6% of patients with schizophrenia would meet the diagnostic criteria of major depressive disorder (Etchecopar-Etchart et al., 2021) and symptoms of major depressive disorder are common prodromal symptoms of psychosis (Hafner and an der Heiden, 2011). In addition, a 12-month follow-up study found that 80% of patients with first-episode psychosis would also fulfill the diagnostic criteria of major depressive disorder (Upthegrove et al., 2010). Psychosis may also occur in patients with major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, and schizoaffective disorder (Dubovsky et al., 2021), highlighting that these disorders are not completely separate entities. The comorbidity of these disorders is most elegantly explained by the parasite hypothesis of schizophrenia presented in Section 2, as well as their shared genetic basis (Anttila et al., 2018; Hindley, 2021; Legge et al., 2021). These disorders are characterized by sickness behavior that is caused either by the activation of the immune system via low-grade systemic inflammation (Rantala et al., 2018, Rantala et al., 2021) or direct manipulation of host behavior by parasites (Borráz-León et al., 2021).

Schizophrenia is not a discrete disorder and separating it from other disorders is often difficult. This makes all previous evolutionary hypotheses (except the mismatch hypothesis) somewhat problematic. The classification of these disorders is often difficult because of overlapping symptoms, which may result in a patient receiving different diagnoses from different psychiatrists. Hallucinations and delusions occur also in patients with bipolar disorder and Alzheimer’s disease. About half of Alzheimer’s patients have psychosis (Murray et al., 2014) and a study on 1 342 patients with bipolar disorder type I found that 73.8% had a lifetime prevalence of psychotic symptoms (van Bergen et al., 2019). A plausible scientific framework would also explain occurrences of psychosis, delusions, and hallucinations in other disorders, not just in schizophrenia. The parasite hypothesis is able to explain why psychosis may occur in other disorders: differences in the parasite species that individuals are infected with, differences in timing of infection, genetic vulnerability, and microbiota may explain whether a person will have symptoms of schizophrenia or, say, bipolar disorder, or depression with psychotic features (see Section 2.3).

Schizophrenia has traditionally been classified into different subtypes that differ in symptomatology. The prevalence of these subtypes varies geographically and by time (Jablensky et al., 1992). Schizophrenia is not a single disorder. Instead, it seems that schizophrenia is only an umbrella term for a group of separate disorders with some overlapping symptoms. None of the previous evolutionary explanations for schizophrenia have explained the heterogeneous subtypes of schizophrenia and their persistence in modern human populations—although the mismatch hypothesis and the balanced polymorphism hypothesis could conceivably account for these findings. The parasite hypothesis, in contrast, provides an explanation for the heterogeneity by suggesting that it results from different parasite/pathogen species causing schizophrenia and/or individual differences in responses to microbial infections (see Section 2).

With the exception of the mismatch hypothesis, all previous evolutionary hypotheses also fail to provide a rationale for why and how neuroinflammation plays a role in schizophrenia (see Section 2.1.) and why there are inflammatory marker subtypes in schizophrenia (see e.g., Lizano et al., 2021). The parasite hypothesis, in combination with the mismatch hypothesis, explains why neuroinflammation occurs in schizophrenia and why there are different inflammatory marker subtypes. The parasite x genotype x stress model also explains why schizophrenia is more common in cities than in rural areas (see Section 3). Since chronic stress—which is often a triggering factor in psychosis—is rare among people with hunter-gatherer lifestyle(s) (Brenner et al., 2015), the parasite x genotype x stress model, coupled with the mismatch hypothesis, explains why schizophrenia is rare among them (cf. (Abed and Abbas, 2011b). Except for the mismatch hypothesis, previous evolutionary hypotheses for schizophrenia have not been able to explain why schizophrenia is more common in people with modern western lifestyles and why exposure to natural environments in neighborhoods or around residential areas is associated with lower schizophrenia rates (Engemann et al., 2019, Engemann et al., 2020, Kristine et al., 2018).

None of the previous evolutionary hypotheses have been able to explain why adverse life events play an important role in the onset of schizophrenia and psychosis. For example, exposure to childhood trauma is associated with a 2- to 3-fold increase in risk of psychotic outcomes (Croft et al., 2019, Rokita et al., 2021, Trotta et al., 2015). Likewise, cumulative stress pathophysiology is often a triggering factor in psychosis (Nugent et al., 2015), and cortical stress regulation is disrupted in patients with schizophrenia (Schifani et al., 2018). There are also differences in gut microbiota between healthy people and those with schizophrenia (Section 4). These observations do not fit well with previous evolutionary hypotheses for schizophrenia, with the exception of the mismatch hypothesis. Thus, most existing evolutionary hypotheses do not explain empirical findings about schizophrenia and have acquired limited empirical support of their own. The parasite x genotype x stress model, in contrast, suggests that stress negatively impacts immune function and thereby facilitates parasitic/pathogenic effects on the brain (see Section 2).

Many of the previous evolutionary explanations of schizophrenia are examples of evolutionary storytelling: they provide adaptive explanations for a phenomenon which is neither adaptive nor an adaptation, but rather a pathological side effect of microbial infection and chronic stress. Although the parasite x genotype x stress model can explain the occurrence of schizophrenia at one level of analysis, the sexual selection hypothesis (Nettle, 2001), the reformulated social brain hypothesis (Abed and Abbas, 2011b), and the life history hypothesis of schizophrenia (Del Giudice, 2010, 2017; Del Giudice et al., 2014) may partly explain why genetic variants that interact with pathogen infection and chronic stress (Fig. 1) may exist in the human gene pool in the first place. Furthermore, the mismatch hypothesis is an integral component of the parasite x genotype x stress model; environmental mismatch, after all, leads to the chronic stress that makes individuals with contemporary western lifestyles more susceptible to schizophrenia than those with traditional lifestyles (Fig. 1). Despite the abundant evidence supporting the parasite x genotype x stress model coupled with the environmental mismatch hypothesis of schizophrenia, it is also possible that future research will discover other hypotheses at proximate and ultimate levels of analysis that more accurately carve the biopsychosocial nature of schizophrenia at its joints.

Thursday, September 29, 2022

Self-perceived attractiveness, either chronically experienced or temporarily heightened, predicted and increased self-interested behavioral intention and behavior

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall, I Deserve More Than All: Perceived Attractiveness and Self-Interested Behavior. Fei Teng et al. Evolution and Human Behavior, September 29 2022, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2022.09.005

Abstract: A substantial amount of research has demonstrated that good-looking individuals are perceived and treated in a favorable manner; however, relatively little research has examined how attractive people actually behave. There are two predominant theories on attractiveness: the self-fulfilling nature of “what is beautiful is good” from social psychology and the evolutionary perspective of attractiveness, make divergent predictions in this regard. The current research systematically investigated whether physical attractiveness can predict self-interested behavior and, if so, in which direction. Across five studies (N = 1303), self-perceived attractiveness, either chronically experienced (Studies 1–3) or temporarily heightened (Studies 4 and 5), predicted and increased self-interested behavioral intention and behavior. Increased psychological entitlement acted as a mediator in this process (Studies 1–5). Furthermore, the publicity of the act was a boundary condition for the effect of attractiveness on self-interested behavior (Study 5). We have discussed theoretical and practical implications.

Middle-age mortality increases among non-Hispanic Whites from 1992 to 2018 are driven almost entirely by the bottom 10 percent of the education distribution

Novosad, Paul, Charlie Rafkin and Sam Asher. 2022. "Mortality Change among Less Educated Americans." American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 14(4):1-34. DOI: 10.1257/app.20190297

Abstract: Measurements of mortality change among less educated Americans can be biased because the least educated groups (e.g., dropouts) become smaller and more negatively selected over time. We show that mortality changes at constant education percentiles can be bounded with minimal assumptions. Middle-age mortality increases among non-Hispanic Whites from 1992 to 2018 are driven almost entirely by the bottom 10 percent of the education distribution. Drivers of mortality change differ substantially across groups. Deaths of despair explain most of the mortality change among young non-Hispanic Whites, but less among older Whites and non-Hispanic Blacks. Our bounds are applicable in many other contexts.


Sweden: More time served in prison reduces mortality

Hjalmarsson, Randi and Matthew J. Lindquist. 2022. "The Health Effects of Prison." American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 14(4):234-70. DOI: 10.1257/app.20200615


Abstract: This paper studies the health effects of Swedish prison reforms that held sentences constant but increased the share of time inmates had to serve. The increased time served did not harm post-release health and actually reduced mortality risk. We find especially large decreases in mortality for offenders not previously incarcerated, younger offenders, and those more attached to the labor market. Risk of suicide and circulatory death fell for inmates with mental health problems and older inmates, respectively. In-prison health care utilization and program participation increased with time served, suggesting health care treatment and services as the key mechanism for mortality declines.


Wednesday, September 28, 2022

People placing themselves at the political extremes offer much less accurate estimates of the economy

The delusive economy: how information and affect colour perceptions of national economic performance. Lukas Linsi, Daniel Mügge & Ana Carillo-López. Acta Politica, Sep 27 2022. https://rd.springer.com/article/10.1057/s41269-022-00258-30

Abstract: Economic knowledge plays a central role in many theories of political behavior. But empirical studies have found many citizens to be poorly informed about the official state of the economy. Analyzing two waves of the Eurobarometer database, we re-examine the distribution of public knowledge of three macroeconomic indicators in two dozen European countries. Respondents with high income and education give more accurate estimates than others, in line with previous studies. As we show, however, such differences in knowledge do not only reflect varying levels of information. People’s estimates are also shaped by affective dynamics, in particular a more pessimistic outlook that leads to overestimation of official unemployment and inflation (but not growth) figures. We find that emotive factors can bias inflation and unemployment estimates of respondents who find themselves in a privileged economic situation in a direction that incidentally also makes them more accurate, even though respondents are not necessarily being better informed. In real-world politics, official economic statistics thus do not function as a shared information backdrop that could buttress the quality of public deliberation. Instead, knowledge of them is itself driven by personal socio-economic circumstances.

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Robustness checks

To probe the robustness of these results, Appendix Table 8 re-estimates the results from Table 2 in a model with country fixed-effects instead of random intercepts. The results are nearly identical. Taking into account the sharp decrease in ‘don’t know’ responses from the first to the second wave (shown in Table 1), we also compare the results of the 2007 survey and the 2015 survey separately in Appendix Tables 9 and 10. Encouragingly, the results are very similar in substantive terms, indicating that the increase in responses after the crisis does not drive our findings about the general dynamics at play. One interesting difference concerns the result about ideological distance from the incumbent government whose estimates appear to be clearly less accurate and more systematically biased in the more recent 2015 wave than in the pre-crisis survey, in line with observations about political polarization and growing misinformation on the political fringes (‘echo chamber’ effects) in recent years (Matteo et al. 2021). Otherwise the patterns in either of the waves alone are largely identical to the pooled results.


Conclusion

What shapes what people know about the economy? How do they relate to official economic statistics? To what degree can such data count as a shared informational background to public deliberations and the formation of individual economic assessments and preferences?

On the whole, our findings are not encouraging. In the samples of the two large-scale Eurobarometer waves we have examined, less than a third of respondents across Europe offer an estimate of the unemployment, inflation or growth rate that lies within two percentage points of the actual official figure. In that sense, public quantitative economic knowledge is wanting. Furthermore, we have found that (the lack of) such knowledge is not randomly distributed. All else equal, socio-economic insiders—such as highly educated, financially comfortable and politically centrist males—are most likely to be aware of official macroeconomic statistics. The further we move away from this privileged subgroup, the worse estimates become.

Why is that so? Our analysis suggests that it is due to a confluence of informational and affective dynamics. On the one hand, higher levels of education and an active interest in political affairs are associated with better (generally lower) estimates across the three indicators. But such informational dynamics face limitations in explaining the distribution of the (lack of) public economic knowledge on their own. For instance, we find little evidence for the idea that the accuracy of people’s information is a function of how relevant particular knowledge might be to them. There is relatively little evidence, for example, that people in socio-economic positions or employment categories for whom particular information might be especially useful also report it more accurately. Personal economic and political gloom strongly affects what people think they know about the economy—not just general assessments, but actual numbers they are willing to attach to economic conditions. For labor markets, general pessimism about the future translates into higher unemployment estimates here and now. Personal economic distress equally lets people report much higher unemployment and inflation rates than is true for people with fewer economic worries. At least in part, the higher accuracy of economic insiders’ estimates is rooted in their positive economic outlook—their optimism—rather than better knowledge per se. Across the board, we find a clear tendency, in other words, to extrapolate from one’s personal situation.

Political gloom, too, colors subjective economic knowledge. People placing themselves at the political extremes, and hence dissatisfied with the status quo, offer much less accurate estimates across the board than others, suggesting that they tune out of official information channels about economic conditions. The evidence suggests, even if less strongly so, that this results in a pessimistic bias: people at the political extremes think they know economic conditions to be worse. The same holds for citizens who distrust statistics more generally. Here too we find a strong correlation with more pessimistic economic estimates.

These findings upend models of economic opinion formation that theorize economic information as an exogenous input. At first sight, this does not augur well for deliberative democracy, which thrives on the availability of intersubjectively shared common ground–the facts everyone can agree on. (During the past years, American politics has offered a worrying illustration of what happens when that common ground crumbles.) At the same time, our analysis does not assume that official figures offer accurate or even universally useful assessments of economic conditions. They differ enough across socio-economic classes, regions and individuals to justify doubts about just how meaningful “national economic conditions” are for citizens (cf. Jacobs et al. 2021). In that view, it may be understandable after all that people are less invested in such information than common imageries would expect. Either way, our findings underline that statistics are far from the objective economic yardsticks that their champions all too often still hold them to be.

Tuesday, September 27, 2022

White, Male, and Angry: A Reputation-based Rationale

Wolton, Stephane, White, Male, and Angry: A Reputation-based Rationale (September 1, 2022). SSRN http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4206475

Abstract: From the bottom to the top of society, white men are angry. This paper provides a reputation-based rationale for this anger. Individuals care about their social reputation and engage in belief-motivated reasoning. In the presence of uncertainty, white men tend to have too high an opinion of their group, whether they belong to the elite or not. When new information reveal that the elite is biased in favor of white men, the reputation of all white men decreases causing a payoff loss and the anger that comes with it. I also show how policies in favor of disadvantaged groups can be supported by some white men and opposed by some individuals from the minority when social reputation is taken into account. Reducing white men's privileges can have a very different effect than disclosing the advantage this group enjoys.


Keywords: Privileges, Affirmative Action, Discrimination, Bias


Gay males are less likely to be characterized by overweight or obesity than are straight males

Are Gay Men More Fit? Obesity and Overweight Differences Among Gay and Straight Men. Sharon Baker-Hughes & Dudley L. Poston Jr.  Chapter in International Handbook of the Demography of Obesity pp 273–285. September 22 2022. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-10936-2_16

Abstract: Despite an expansive literature in the last few decades on the qualities and characteristics of gay and straight men, research exploring the prevalence of obesity and overweight in the gay male population is limited, especially comparing them to the straight male population. In this chapter, we examine the distribution of weight status (underweight, normal weight, overweight, obese) in gay men. We also examine the likelihood the likelihood of overweight or obesity in gay males compared to heterosexual males. We find that gay males are less likely to be characterized by overweight or obesity than are straight males. Our empirical findings are consistent with those in the limited literature about the prevalence of obesity and overweight in the gay and straight male populations.

As morning turns to evening, engagement on Twitter shifts away from virtue and toward vice content (celebrity gossip, food, etc.)

Tweets We Like Aren’t Alike: Time of Day Affects Engagement with Vice and Virtue TweetsOzum Zor, Kihyun Hannah Kim, Ashwani Monga. Journal of Consumer Research, Volume 49, Issue 3, October 2022, Pages 473–495, https://doi.org/10.1093/jcr/ucab072

Abstract: Consumers are increasingly engaging with content on social media platforms, such as by “following” Twitter accounts and “liking” tweets. How does their engagement change through the day for vice content offering immediate gratification versus virtue content offering long-term knowledge benefits? Examining when (morning vs. evening) engagement happens with which content (vice vs. virtue), the current research reveals a time-of-day asymmetry. As morning turns to evening, engagement shifts away from virtue and toward vice content. This asymmetry is documented in three studies using actual Twitter data—millions of data points collected every 30 minutes over long periods of time—and one study using an experimental setting. Consistent with a process of self-control failure, one of the Twitter data studies shows a theory-driven moderation of the asymmetry, and the experiment shows mediation via self-control. However, multiple processes are likely at play, as time does not unfold in isolation during a day, but co-occurs with the unfolding of multiple events. These results provide new insights into social media engagement and guide practitioners on when to post which content.

Keywords: time of day, vice, virtue, content engagement, self-control failure, Twitter

Monday, September 26, 2022

Setting ambitious goals is a proven strategy for improving performance, but those with highly ambitious goals (and those with unambitious goals) were seen as less warm and as offering less relationship potential

Interpersonal consequences of conveying goal ambition. Sara Wingrove, Gráinne M. Fitzsimons. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Volume 172, September 2022, 104182. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2022.104182

Highlights

• Ambition influences interpersonal expectations of warmth and relationship potential.

• Interpersonal expectations are driven by perceived goal supportiveness.

• Unambitious and highly ambitious goals both signal lower goal supportiveness.

• Moderately ambitious goals are evaluated the best interpersonally.

Abstract: Setting ambitious goals is a proven strategy for improving performance, but we suggest it may have interpersonal costs. We predict that relative to those with moderately ambitious goals, those with highly ambitious goals (and those with unambitious goals) will receive more negative interpersonal evaluations, being seen as less warm and as offering less relationship potential. Thirteen studies including nine preregistered experiments, three preregistered replications, and one archival analysis of graduate school applications (total N = 6,620) test these hypotheses. Across career, diet, fitness, savings, and academic goals, we found a robust effect of ambition on judgments, such that moderately ambitious goals led to the most consistently positive interpersonal expectations. To understand this phenomenon, we consider how ambition influences judgments of investment in one’s own goals as opposed to supportiveness for other people’s goals and explore expectations about goal supportiveness as one mechanism through which ambition may influence interpersonal judgments.

Keywords: GoalsAmbitionInterpersonal perceptionAttributions



Sunday, September 25, 2022

Sexual Repertoire, Duration of Partnered Sex, Sexual Pleasure, and Orgasm: A US Nationally Representative Survey of Adults show that while women and men reported a similar actual duration of sex, men wished it to last longer

Sexual Repertoire, Duration of Partnered Sex, Sexual Pleasure, and Orgasm: Findings from a US Nationally Representative Survey of Adults. Debby Herbenick, Tsung-chieh Fu & Callie Patterson. Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy, Sep 23 2022. https://doi.org/10.1080/0092623X.2022.2126417

Abstract: In a confidential U.S. nationally representative survey of 2,525 adults (1300 women, 1225 men), we examined participants’ event-level sexual behaviors, predictors of pleasure and orgasm, and perceived actual and ideal duration of sex, by gender and age. Event-level kissing, cuddling, vaginal intercourse, and oral sex were prevalent. Sexual choking was more prevalent among adults under 40. While women and men reported a similar actual duration of sex, men reported a longer ideal duration. Participants with same-sex partners reported a longer ideal duration than those with other-sex partners. Finally, findings show that gendered sexual inequities related to pleasure and orgasm persist.



Credence to assign to philosophical claims that were formed without any knowledge of the current philosophical debate & little or no knowledge of the relevant empirical or scientific data

The end of history. Hanno Sauer. Inquiry, Sep 19 2022. https://doi.org/10.1080/0020174X.2022.2124542


Abstract: What credence should we assign to philosophical claims that were formed without any knowledge of the current state of the art of the philosophical debate and little or no knowledge of the relevant empirical or scientific data? Very little or none. Yet when we engage with the history of philosophy, this is often exactly what we do [sic, it means, to give credence]. In this paper, I argue that studying the history of philosophy is philosophically unhelpful. The epistemic aims of philosophy, if there are any, are frustrated by engaging with the history of philosophy, because we have little reason to think that the claims made by history’s great philosophers would survive closer scrutiny today. First, I review the case for philosophical historiography and show how it falls short. I then present several arguments for skepticism about the philosophical value of engaging with the history of philosophy and offer an explanation for why philosophical historiography would seem to make sense even if it didn’t.


Keywords: History of philosophymetaphilosophyphilosophical methodologysocial epistemologyepistemic peerhood


Consider Plato’s or Rousseau’s evaluation of the virtues and vices of democracy. Here is a (non-exhaustive) list of evidence and theories that were unavailable to them at the time:

  • Historical experiences with developed democracies

  • Empirical evidence regarding democratic movements in developing countries

  • Various formal theorems regarding collective decision making and preference aggregation, such as the Condorcet Jury-Theorem, Arrow’s Impossibility-Results, the Hong-Page-Theorem, the median voter theorem, the miracle of aggregation, etc.

  • Existing studies on voter behavior, polarization, deliberation, information

  • Public choice economics, incl. rational irrationality, democratic realism

  • The whole subsequent debate on their own arguments

  • […]

When it comes to people currently alive, we would steeply discount the merits of the contribution of any philosopher whose work were utterly uninformed by the concepts, theories and evidence just mentioned (and whatever other items belong on this list). It is not clear why the great philosophers of the past should not be subjected to the same standard. (Bear in mind that time and attention are severely limited resources. Therefore, every decision we make about whose work to dedicate our time and attention to faces important trade-offs.)

The nature/nurture debate in moral psychology illustrates the same point. Philosophers have long discussed whether there is an innate moral faculty, and what its content may consist in. Now consider which theories and evidence were unavailable to historical authors such as Hume or Kant when they developed their views on the topic, and compare this to a recent contribution to the debate (Nichols et al. 2016):

  • Linguistic corpus data

  • Evolutionary psychology

  • Universal moral grammar theory

  • Sophisticated statistical methods

  • Bayesian formal modeling

  • 250 years of the nature/nurture debate

  • 250 years of subsequent debates on Hume or Kant

  • […]

Finally, consider Hobbes’ justification of political authority in terms of how it allows us to avoid the unpleasantness of the state of nature. Here are some concepts and theories that were not available to him when he devised his arguments:

  • Utility functions

  • Nash equilibria

  • Dominant strategy

  • Backward induction

  • Behavioral economics

  • Experimental game theory

  • Biological evidence on the adaptivity of cooperation

  • Empirical evidence regarding life in hunter/gatherer societies

  • Cross-cultural data regarding life in contemporary tribal societies

  • […]

Again, when it comes to deciding whose philosophical work to devote our time and attention to, any person that didn’t have any knowledge whatsoever of the above items would be a dubious choice.

A version of this problem that is somewhat more specific to moral philosophy is that in ethics, it is often important not to assign disproportionate testimonial weight to people of which we have good reasons to suspect that they harbored deeply objectionable attitudes or publicly expressed moral beliefs we have reason to deem unjustified and/or morally odious. Personally, I have made a habit of not heeding the ethical advice of Adolf Eichmann, Ted Bundy, and various of my family members. But upon looking at the moral views held by many of the most prominent authors in the history of philosophy, one often cannot help but shudder: Plato advocated abolishing the family, violently if need be; Aristotle defended (a version of) slavery as natural; Locke advocated religious toleration, only to exclude atheists from the social contract; Kant argued that masturbation is one of the gravest moral transgressions there is; Hegel claimed that it is an a priori truth that the death penalty is morally obligatory, and indeed a form of respect towards the executed; the list of historical philosophers who held sexist, racist and other discriminatory views would be too long to recount here.