bims-chumac 2021-11-14 papers

Issue of 2021–11–14
four papers selected by
Thomas Krichel, Open Library Society

Arch Sex Behav. 2021 Nov 12.

Norbert Meskó, Dóra Szatmári, András Láng, Cindy M Meston, David M Buss.

Using the same methodology as Meston and Buss (2007), three studies were conducted on a Hungarian sample (total N = 4913) which corroborate previous findings on the universal diversity of sexual motivation. Study 1 (N = 2728; 1069 women and 1659 men) identified 197 reasons for having sex based on participants' free responses. In Study 2 (N = 1161; 820 women and 341 men), participants indicated the extent to which each of the 197 reasons had led them to have sexual intercourse. Factor analyses yielded three factors and 24 subfactors. This differed from the original YSEX? four-factor questionnaire. In Study 3 (N = 1024; 578 women and 446 men), a reliable and valid 73-item short form version of the YSEX? questionnaire was developed in a Hungarian sample (YSEX?-HSF). In addition to similarities and differences in the factor structure, we found important links between reasons for having sex and age, gender, personality, and mating strategy. For example, number of reasons for having sex tended be higher in younger compared to older participants. Men exceeded women on having sex for novelty-seeking and infidelity opportunities, whereas women exceeded men on having sex for relationship commitment and mate retention. Extraversion and neuroticism were linked with reasons for having sex, and those who pursued a short-term mating strategy reported having sex for a larger variety of reasons.

Keywords: Age and gender differences; Hungarian adaptation; Intercourse; Sexual motivation

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-021-02072-y

Int J Psychol. 2021 Nov 08.

My partner looks, swims, and quacks like a duck: The need for cognitive closure in the interpersonal perception of romantic engagement in close relationships.

Annalisa Theodorou, Stefano Livi.

Individuals are motivated to have a reassuring vision of their partners' characteristics that are central to the relationship such as romantic engagement. This can be particularly true for individuals with high levels of need for closure (NFC). In order to preserve a comforting and stable view of the relationship, they might be motivated by greater assumed similarity and lesser accuracy in perceiving partners' romantic engagement. Three-hundred-fifteen heterosexual couples filled out a questionnaire with measures of NFC and self- and other-reported romantic engagement (harmonious and obsessive). Results showed that, for both types of romantic engagement, assumed similarity and accuracy effects were positive and significant. Moreover, NFC had a moderating role in the assumed similarity and accuracy effects in harmonious romantic engagement. In particular, high NFC individuals showed greater assumed similarity and lower accuracy compared to low NFC individuals.

Keywords: Accuracy; Bias; Dualistic model of passion; Need for closure; Truth

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/ijop.12812

Brain Struct Funct. 2021 Nov 12.

Neural responses to facial attractiveness in the judgments of moral goodness and moral beauty.

Qiuping Cheng, Zhili Han, Shun Liu, Yilong Kong, Xuchu Weng, Lei Mo.

The judgments of moral goodness and moral beauty objectively refer to the perception and evaluation of moral traits, which are generally influenced by facial attractiveness. For centuries, people have equated beauty with the possession of positive qualities, but it is not clear whether the association between beauty and positive qualities exerts a similarly implicit influence on people's responses to moral goodness and moral beauty, how it affects those responses, and what is the neural basis for such an effect. The present study is the first to examine the neural responses to facial attractiveness in the judgments of moral goodness and moral beauty. We found that beautiful faces in both moral judgments activated the left ventral occipitotemporal cortices sensitive to the geometric configuration of the faces, demonstrating that both moral goodness and moral beauty required the automatic visual analysis of geometrical configuration of attractive faces. In addition, compared to beautiful faces during moral goodness judgment, beautiful faces during moral beauty judgment induced unique activity in the ventral medial prefrontal cortex and midline cortical structures involved in the emotional-valenced information about attractive faces. The opposite comparison elicited specific activity in the left superior temporal cortex and premotor area, which play a critical role in the recognition of facial identity. Our results demonstrated that the neural responses to facial attractiveness in the process of higher order moral decision-makings exhibit both task-general and task-specific characteristics. Our findings contribute to the understanding of the essence of the relationship between morality and aesthetics.

Keywords: Facial attractiveness; Moral beauty; Moral goodness; fMRI

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00429-021-02422-5

Sex Cult. 2021 Oct 29. 1-19

The Three Dimensions of Unsolicited Dick Pics: Men Who have Sex with Men's Experiences of Sending and Receiving Unsolicited Dick Pics on Dating Apps.

Christopher Dietzel.

The unsolicited "dick pic" (DP), which refers to a photo of a penis that is sent without the consent of the recipient, has been identified as a form of technology-facilitated sexual violence (Powell & Henry, 2017). While men who have sex with men (MSM) experience elevated rates of technology-facilitated sexual violence, much of the research has focused on interactions between heterosexual men and women. This study investigated the experiences that MSM have with sending and receiving unsolicited DPs on dating apps. Analysis of interviews with 25 MSM dating app users in Canada revealed three "dimensions" of unsolicited DPs-consensual, wanted, and typical-that capture users' experiences of receiving such images relative to consent and sexual violence frameworks. Seven factors, including the attractiveness of the sender and the DP, had an impact on MSM's experiences. Unsolicited DPs were found to be sent for a variety of reasons, including to compliment the recipient and to coerce them into replying with sexual images. It is argued that MSM have trivialized unsolicited DPs and that these images are, according to current definitions, a form of technology-facilitated sexual violence that MSM experience on dating apps. However, there were variations in participants' experiences and some participants did not characterize unsolicited DPs as problematic or non-consensual, which challenges the notion that MSM always experience these images as sexually violent. These findings shed light on the complexities of unsolicited DPs and indicate the need to (re)examine definitions of technology-facilitated violence and explore MSM's consent practices within the context of dating apps.

Keywords: Consent; Dating apps; Dick pics; Gay; MSM; Sexual violence

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-021-09920-y