bims-chumac 2021-07-25 papers

bims-chumac

Biomed News

on Context effects on human mate choice

Issue of 2021–07–25
seven papers selected by
Thomas Krichel, Open Library Society

Sex differences in human mate preferences vary across sex ratios.
Women's Preferences for Strong Men Under Perceived Harsh Versus Safe Ecological Conditions.
"You spent how much?" Toward an understanding of how romantic partners respond to each other's financial decisions.
Individual and Relationship Predictors of Trajectories of Sexual Function across Adolescent and Young Adult Relationships.
Pre-Cohabitation Conversations for Relationships: Recommended Questions for Discussion.
Beyond categories: Perceiving sexual attraction from faces.
Racial preferences in sexual attraction among White heterosexual and gay men: Evidence from sexual arousal patterns and negative racial attitudes.

Proc Biol Sci. 2021 Jul 28. 288(1955): 20211115

Sex differences in human mate preferences vary across sex ratios.

Kathryn V Walter, Daniel Conroy-Beam, David M Buss, Kelly Asao, Agnieszka Sorokowska, Piotr Sorokowski, Toivo Aavik, Grace Akello, Mohammad Madallh Alhabahba, Charlotte Alm, Naumana Amjad, Afifa Anjum, Chiemezie S Atama, Derya Atamtürk Duyar, Richard Ayebare, Carlota Batres, Mons Bendixen, Aicha Bensafia, Boris Bizumic, Mahmoud Boussena, Marina Butovskaya, Seda Can, Katarzyna Cantarero, Antonin Carrier, Hakan Cetinkaya, Ilona Croy, Rosa María Cueto, Marcin Czub, Daria Dronova, Seda Dural, Izzet Duyar, Berna Ertugrul, Agustín Espinosa, Ignacio Estevan, Carla Sofia Esteves, Luxi Fang, Tomasz Frackowiak, Jorge Contreras Garduño, Karina Ugalde González, Farida Guemaz, Petra Gyuris, Mária Halamová, Iskra Herak, Marina Horvat, Ivana Hromatko, Chin-Ming Hui, Jas Laile Jaafar, Feng Jiang, Konstantinos Kafetsios, Tina Kavčič, Leif Edward Ottesen Kennair, Nicolas Kervyn, Truong Thi Khanh Ha, Imran Ahmed Khilji, Nils C Köbis, Hoang Moc Lan, András Láng, Georgina R Lennard, Ernesto León, Torun Lindholm, Trinh Thi Linh, Giulia Lopez, Nguyen Van Luot, Alvaro Mailhos, Zoi Manesi, Rocio Martinez, Sarah L McKerchar, Norbert Meskó, Girishwar Misra, Conal Monaghan, Emanuel C Mora, Alba Moya-Garófano, Bojan Musil, Jean Carlos Natividade, Agnieszka Niemczyk, George Nizharadze, Elisabeth Oberzaucher, Anna Oleszkiewicz, Mohd Sofian Omar-Fauzee, Ike E Onyishi, Baris Özener, Ariela Francesca Pagani, Vilmante Pakalniskiene, Miriam Parise, Farid Pazhoohi, Annette Pisanski, Katarzyna Pisanski, Edna Ponciano, Camelia Popa, Pavol Prokop, Muhammad Rizwan, Mario Sainz, Svjetlana Salkičević, Ruta Sargautyte, Ivan Sarmány-Schuller, Susanne Schmehl, Shivantika Sharad, Razi Sultan Siddiqui, Franco Simonetti, Stanislava Yordanova Stoyanova, Meri Tadinac, Marco Antonio Correa Varella, Christin-Melanie Vauclair, Luis Diego Vega, Dwi Ajeng Widarini, Gyesook Yoo, Marta Marta Zaťková, Maja Zupančič.

  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.

Keywords:  cross-cultural; mate preferences; mating market; sex differences; sex ratio

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2021.1115
Evol Psychol. 2021 Jul-Sep;19(3):19(3): 14747049211032351

Women's Preferences for Strong Men Under Perceived Harsh Versus Safe Ecological Conditions.

Ray Garza, Farid Pazhoohi, Jennifer Byrd-Craven.

  Ecological conditions provide information about available resources for one's environment. In humans, this has been shown to influence reproductive behavior, as individuals may engage in trade-offs between partner quality and investment. For instance, many women may trade-off preferences for men with physical features indicative of social dominance and health over physical features indicative of commitment and investment. The current study explored women's preferences for formidable men under safe vs. harsh ecological conditions. Across three studies, U.S. university women (N = 1,098) were randomly assigned to a perceived harsh or safe ecological condition. They were asked to rate the attractiveness of men's body types (i.e., muscular vs. less muscular). Findings revealed that in general, women rated stronger men as more attractive than weaker men irrespective of the ecological condition. Evidence for preference as a function of ecology appeared only when a two-alternative forced-choice task was used (Study 3), but not in rating tasks (Studies 1 and 2). Study 3 showed that women had a relatively stronger preference for stronger men for short-term relationships in a resource scarce ecological condition. This research provides some evidence that perceived ecological conditions can drive women's preferences for men with enhanced secondary sex characteristics as a function of mating context. These findings are consistent with previous research indicating the importance of physical characteristics in men's attractiveness, and it adds to the existing literature on ecological factors and mating preferences.

Keywords:  attractiveness; ecology; evolutionary psychology; formidability; short-term mating

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1177/14747049211032351
Curr Opin Psychol. 2021 Jun 21. pii: S2352-250X(21)00075-0. [Epub ahead of print]43 70-74

"You spent how much?" Toward an understanding of how romantic partners respond to each other's financial decisions.

Jenny G Olson, Scott I Rick.

  How people choose to spend money is often observable to others (e.g. based on their clothes, accessories, and social media pages), but there is a whole universe of financial decisions that are essentially unobservable (e.g. how people handle their debts, taxes, and retirement planning). We explore one context where people have an up-close-and-personal view of someone else's financial decision-making process: romantic relationships. We discuss how the endless opportunities for financial observation in romantic relationships influence a range of behaviors, including spending habits, decisions about bank account structure, and financial infidelity. Our review highlights the need for more research on the ways in which financial decisions are made, communicated, and observed within romantic relationships.

Keywords:  Consumer financial decision-making; Marriage; Person perception; Romantic relationships

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2021.06.006
J Sex Res. 2021 Jul 17. 1-16

Individual and Relationship Predictors of Trajectories of Sexual Function across Adolescent and Young Adult Relationships.

Lucia F O'Sullivan, E Sandra Byers, Samantha J Dawson.

Many young adults report poor sexual function, but research typically fails to consider relationship context and how problems might evolve over time. Research is needed to provide insights into how sexual problems are experienced across relationships, as well as the types of sexual function problems associated with various trajectories. We investigated retrospective trajectories of sexual problems across the multiple relationships of 688 young adults (18-24 years) as well as the individual and relationship factors associated with these trajectories. Both persistent suboptimal and optimal trajectories emerged for men and women. However, persistent and variable problematic function trajectories also emerged for women (and not men). Across all individual and relationship factors analyzed, multivariate multinomial regression analysis indicated that higher sexual esteem and more traditional gender beliefs best predicted membership in trajectories capturing better sexual function. Implications are discussed in terms of the need to provide substantive information regarding sexual function to young people as they transition to adulthood.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2021.1948497
Contemp Fam Ther. 2021 Jul 13. 1-15

Pre-Cohabitation Conversations for Relationships: Recommended Questions for Discussion.

Kristina S Brown, Brooke Schmidt, Cate Morrow, Gaston Rougeaux-Burnes.

  Moving in together is an important transition in a relationship. For many, it is often a shift to the next phase of the relationship indicating higher levels of commitment. Whether the partners are married, plans to get married, or marriage is not part of their future, there are important conversations to be had prior to this transition. As such, this article presents recommended pre-cohabitation conversations with question prompts for partners to explore prior to moving in together. To best understand the dynamics of cohabiting that informed the questions, a review of the literature on cohabitation is presented. Additionally, race and culture, religion, and sexual and gender identity will be highlighted as essential conversation considerations especially as the majority of the literature is centered around white, hetero, and monogamous relationships. Created by a group of couple and family therapy graduate trainees based on the literature and their own personal and professional experiences, the pre-cohabitation conversations are organized into three categories- relationship negotiations, household rules, and communication. These conversations are recommended to be used both by therapists with their clients as well as for direct use by partners following the questions presented within. The topics represent a comprehensive range of relationship issues including consideration of unique issues as presented in the literature with the goal of aiding partners in successful management of their transition to a shared living space.

Keywords:  Cohabitation; Communication; Consensual non-monogamy; Couples therapy; Race; Religion; Self-help; Sexual and gender identity; Therapy resource

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1007/s10591-021-09594-6
Br J Psychol. 2021 Jul 23.

Beyond categories: Perceiving sexual attraction from faces.

R Thora Bjornsdottir, Diana Cheso, Nicholas O Rule.

  Although people can categorize others' sexual orientation (e.g., gay/lesbian vs. straight) from their facial appearance, not everyone defines their sexual orientation categorically. Indeed, many individuals within the same sexual orientation category experience different degrees of own- and other-gender attraction. Moving beyond sexual orientation categories, we found that perceivers' judgments of individuals' sexual attraction correlated with those individuals' self-reported degrees of attraction to women and men. Similar to past work on sexual orientation categories, facial affect cued sexual attraction in men whereas gender typicality cued sexual attraction in women. Moreover, asking participants to categorize the targets as 'not straight' versus 'straight' revealed a linear pattern distinct from the discrete category thresholds typical of other social groups (e.g., race). Facial appearance thus reveals nuances in sexual attraction that support sexual orientation categorizations. These findings refine understanding of social categorization more broadly.

Keywords:  face perception; first impressions; person perception; sexual attraction; sexual orientation; social categorization

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1111/bjop.12523
Psychophysiology. 2021 Jul 22. e13911

Racial preferences in sexual attraction among White heterosexual and gay men: Evidence from sexual arousal patterns and negative racial attitudes.

Kevin J Hsu, Ryan F Lei, Galen V Bodenhausen.

  Racial preferences in sexual attraction are highly visible and controversial. They may also negatively impact those who are excluded. It is unclear whether these preferences are merely self-attributed or extend to patterns of experienced sexual arousal. Furthermore, some argue that racial preferences in sexual attraction reflect idiosyncratic personal preferences, while others argue that they are more systematically motivated and reflect broader negative attitudes toward particular races. In two studies, we examined these issues by measuring the sexual arousal patterns and negative racial attitudes of 78 White men in relation to their racial preferences in sexual attraction to White versus Black people. For both White heterosexual men (n = 40; Study 1) and White gay men (n = 38; Study 2), greater racial preferences in sexual attraction to White versus Black people of their preferred gender were associated with more subjective and genital arousal by erotic stimuli featuring White versus Black people of their preferred gender, and with more explicit and implicit negative attitudes toward Black people. Findings suggest that racial preferences in sexual attraction are reflected in patterns of sexual arousal, and they might also be systematically motivated by negative attitudes toward particular races.

Keywords:  negative attitudes; penile plethysmography; physiological sexual arousal; racial preferences in sexual attraction; sexual orientation; sexual racism

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1111/psyp.13911