bims-chumac Biomed News
on Context effects on human mate choice
Issue of 2022–05–29
six papers selected by
Thomas Krichel, Open Library Society
  1. The roles of self-regulation and partner regulation on romantic relationship quality.
  2. Links between Best Friendship, Romantic Relationship, and Psychological Well-Being in Emerging Adulthood.
  3. The Effect of Odor Valence on Facial Attractiveness Judgment: A Preliminary Experiment.
  4. "I Was Always Trying to Figure It Out… on My Own Terms": Structural Barriers, the Internet, and Sexual Identity Development among Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Queer People of Different Generations.
  5. "Play with Me, Darling!" Testing the Associations between Adult Playfulness and Indicators of Sexuality.
  6. Dating in Motion: Online Dating Through the Lives of Different Generations of Men Who Have Sex with Men.
  1. Fam Process. 2022 May 27.
    The roles of self-regulation and partner regulation on romantic relationship quality.
    Elizabeth K Ferguson, Gery C Karantzas.
      Research into self-regulation and partner regulation strategies has largely involved parallel lines of research, thus, it is difficult to determine the relative contribution of both forms of regulation when it comes to relationship outcomes. Therefore, the question remains as to which form of regulation is more strongly associated with relationship quality; is it more important to focus on adaptive self-regulation or adaptive strategies to regulate one's partner? The current research addresses this important gap by comparing the relative associations of adaptive self-regulation and adaptive partner regulation strategies on romantic relationship quality. A community sample of mixed gender couples (N = 114) who were predominantly satisfied with their current relationships - but nonetheless still experienced relationship conflict - were administered self-report assessments of various self-regulation and partner regulation strategies as well as a measure of relationship quality. Couples also participated in a videotaped discussion of an unresolved relationship issue that was scored by trained coders for verbal and nonverbal indicators of self-regulation and partner regulation strategies. Actor-partner interdependence modeling revealed that for both men and women, adaptive self-regulation strategies were positively associated with their own evaluations of relationship quality as well as their partner's relationship quality. In contrast, engaging in adaptive partner regulation strategies was not significantly associated with men's or women's own, or their partner's relationship quality. Findings highlight the importance of focusing on self-regulation in relationships, as it is these strategies, over partner regulation strategies, that have more positive implications for the relationship quality experienced by typically satisfied couples.
    Keywords:  conflict; partner regulation; relationship quality; romantic relationships; self-regulation; 伴侣调节; 关系质量; 冲突; 浪漫关系; 自我调节
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1111/famp.12782
  2. J Genet Psychol. 2022 May 24. 1-17
    Links between Best Friendship, Romantic Relationship, and Psychological Well-Being in Emerging Adulthood.
    Elisabeth Camirand, François Poulin.
      Best friendships and romantic relationships are linked to psychological well-being in emerging adulthood, but few studies have assessed their contribution simultaneously. This research (n = 190; 64.4% women) examined the links between intimacy and conflict with the best friend and the romantic partner on psychological well-being (self-esteem, depression, loneliness). Results showed that both relationships were independently linked to well-being, while also interacting with one another. Among participants reporting a less intimate or conflictual romantic relationship, an intimate best friendship was linked to higher self-esteem. Moreover, a conflictual best friendship was related to higher depressive symptoms only among those having a conflictual romantic relationship. Thus, best friendships and romantic relationships show distinct and combined contributions to well-being in emerging adulthood.
    Keywords:  Emerging adulthood; best friendship; conflict; intimacy; psychological well-being; romantic relationship
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1080/00221325.2022.2078684
  3. Brain Sci. 2022 May 19. pii: 665. [Epub ahead of print]12(5):
    The Effect of Odor Valence on Facial Attractiveness Judgment: A Preliminary Experiment.
    Guo Feng, Jiawei Lei.
      The role of social odors on human social interactions, including face evaluation, has been widely indicated. However, for nonsocial odors, there has not been a consistent conclusion. Therefore, this study aimed to verify the effect of suprathreshold nonsocial odors on facial attractiveness judgment when the visual input is ambiguous. We designed a 3 (odor valence: neutral, pleasant, and unpleasant) × 7 (continuous levels of morphed fuzziness of attractiveness: 37.5% to 62.5%) within-subject experiment. A total of 30 participants (18 females) completed the whole experiment simultaneously for three consecutive days. The results showed that faces presented with pleasant and neutral odors were judged as significantly more attractive than those with unpleasant odors. The intervention effect of odor valence on facial attractiveness differed by fuzzy attractiveness levels. Results also suggested that male faces were perceived as more attractive than female faces no matter the odor conditions. The results of this study provide evidence to support the cross-modal emotion integration effect of olfaction and vision. Follow-up studies need to be conducted to reveal the underlying mechanism of odor valence on visual fact attractive judgment.
    Keywords:  cross-modal integration; facial attraction; odor valence; olfaction
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci12050665
  4. J Homosex. 2022 May 23. 1-23
    "I Was Always Trying to Figure It Out… on My Own Terms": Structural Barriers, the Internet, and Sexual Identity Development among Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Queer People of Different Generations.
    Chadwick K Campbell, Phillip L Hammack, Allegra R Gordon, Marguerita A Lightfoot.
      Recognizing the historical grounding of sexual identity development, we examined the spontaneous narration of the internet's significance among a diverse sample of three distinct birth cohorts of sexual minority adults (n = 36, ages 18-59) in the United States. Thematic analysis revealed two structural barriers and four roles of the internet in sexual identity development. Structural barriers were being in a heterosexual marriage (exclusive to members of the older cohort), and (2) growing up in a conservative family, religion, or community (which cut across cohorts). Roles of the internet included: learning about LGBQ+ identities and sex; watching pornography (which appeared only in narratives of the younger cohort); finding affirming community; and facilitating initial LGBQ+ romantic and sexual experiences (which appeared mostly in narratives of the younger cohort). Most participants who described the internet as playing a role in sexual identity development were members of the younger (ages 18-25) and middle (ages 34-41) cohorts. We discuss how the internet has assumed a unique role in history in the development of sexual minority people. Further, our findings highlight that sexual identity development occurs across the lifespan, and how that process and the roles of the internet vary by generation and structural realities.
    Keywords:  LGBQ+; Sexual Identity; coming out; generations; internet; life course; sexual identity development
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1080/00918369.2022.2071136
  5. J Sex Res. 2022 May 24. 1-13
    "Play with Me, Darling!" Testing the Associations between Adult Playfulness and Indicators of Sexuality.
    Kay Brauer, Stanley F Friedemann, Garry Chick, René T Proyer.
      Previous studies have shown that individual differences in adult playfulness are important in interpersonal relationships. However, there is a lack of research on the role of playfulness in human sexuality. Using three studies with four independently collected samples (Ntotal = 1,124) we tested the differential relations between global playfulness and four facets of playfulness (Other-directed, Lighthearted, Intellectual, Whimsical; OLIW) with broad ("Sexy Seven") and narrow (sociosexuality, sexual sensation seeking, and sexual compulsivity) sexuality-related personality traits and sadomasochistic sexual practices (BDSM). Our main findings were: (1) Each of the Sexy Seven traits was related to global playfulness or at least one playfulness facet while only Whimsical playfulness (liking odd and/or unusual things, persons, or activities) was related to each Sexy Seven trait; (2) Sexual sensation seeking related to playfulness with small effect sizes (f2 ≤ 0.11), Whimsical playfulness positively related to narrow traits of sexuality; and (3) those engaging in BDSM were more playful than non-practitioners. The findings support the notion that playfulness (particularly Whimsical playfulness) relates to sexuality-related personality traits and sadomasochistic practices may be one way of expressing adult playfulness.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2022.2077289
  6. Sex Cult. 2022 May 21. 1-19
    Dating in Motion: Online Dating Through the Lives of Different Generations of Men Who Have Sex with Men.
    Alexander Dhoest.
      From the early years of the internet, its key importance was recognized as a site for sexual minorities to explore and express their identity and sexuality. Gay men were quick to connect online, first in chat rooms and subsequently on an ever-expanding array of sites and apps, culminating in geolocation apps such as Grindr. Although a lot of research has investigated the uses of these services, the focus is mostly on younger users, disregarding the experiences of older people. Moreover, the life stage of users is not sufficiently addressed, nor are their evolving uses throughout the life course. The current paper aims to contribute to this knowledge by reporting on a study involving four generations of Belgian men who have sex with men (MSM), combining insights gained in an exploratory survey (N = 684) with in-depth interviews (N = 80). The results show how men from different generations got access to dating sites and apps at different times in their lives, in a shifting balance with offline dating practices. Moreover, at the time of the research, participants were in different stages of their lives, which led to a variety of online dating practices. The end picture is one of dating "in motion", both shifting between generations and changing with the life course of individuals. This paper contributes to the literature on MSM online dating by adding a non-Anglophone perspective, studying a broad age range including older users, disclosing clear intergenerational differences, and transcending a static view of online dating among a single age cohort.
    Keywords:  Generations; Interviews; Life course; MSM; Online dating; Survey
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-022-09979-1
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