bims-chumac 2022-07-24 papers

Issue of 2022–07–24
five papers selected by
Thomas Krichel, Open Library Society

Evol Psychol. 2022 Jul-Sep;20(3):20(3): 14747049221111738

Attachment Security Priming Affecting Mating Strategies Endorsement among College Students.

Maximiliane Uhlich, Omri Gillath, Dory A Schachner, Phillip R Shaver.

Exposure to environmental cues reflecting potential threats to future survivability is associated with a stronger endorsement of short-term mating strategies. Less is known, however, about the effects of safety and security cues. In four studies, we examined the effects of attachment-related security cues compared to neutral cues on preferences for short- and long-term mating strategies. Preferences were assessed using self-report and behavioral measures. In line with Life History Theory (LHT) and our hypotheses, exposure to attachment-related security cues was mainly associated with a stronger preference for long-term mating strategies and a weaker preference for short-term strategies. Our internal meta-analysis of the experimental security manipulations across studies provided further support for the association between state attachment security and endorsement of mating strategies. We also found some predictable effects of gender and relationship status. Implications for LHT and attachment theory are discussed. (139 words).

Keywords: attachment theory; life history theory; mating strategies; security priming

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/14747049221111738

J Pers. 2022 Jul 22.

A Developmental Perspective on Personality-Relationship Transactions: Evidence from Three Nationally Representative Samples.

Janina Larissa Bühler, Marcus Mund, Franz J Neyer, Cornelia Wrzus.

OBJECTIVE: Throughout their lives, people experience different relationship events, such as beginning or dissolving a romantic relationship. Personality traits predict the occurrence of such relationship events (i.e., selection effects), and relationship events predict changes in personality traits (i.e., socialization effects), summarized as personality-relationship transactions. So far, evidence was partly inconsistent as to how personality traits and relationship events are linked with each other. In this article, we argue that unnoticed age differences might have led to these inconsistencies. To systematically test for age differences in transactions, we conceptualize relationship events in terms of gains and losses and apply a developmental perspective on transactions.
METHODS: Using longitudinal data from three nationally representative samples (SOEP, HILDA, Understanding Society), we computed event-focused latent growth models and summarized the results meta-analytically.
RESULTS: The findings indicated some transactions. Of these, selection effects were stronger than socialization effects, and effects of gain-based events were stronger than effects of loss-based events. We observed few interactions with age.
CONCLUSION: Selection effects and, particularly, socialization effects, tend to be rare and fairly independent of age. We discuss a series of broader and narrower factors that may have an impact on the strength of transactions across adulthood.

Keywords: life-span development; personality development; personality-relationship transactions; relationship events; romantic relationships

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.12757

J Sex Res. 2022 Jul 20. 1-12

Associations of Adolescents' Pornography Viewing with their Romantic Relationship Skills and Behaviors.

Charlie Huntington, Brian Willoughby, Galena Rhoades.

Research into adolescent pornography use has identified numerous individual-level behavioral and attitudinal correlates. However, associations between adolescents' pornography viewing and their romantic relationships remain understudied. Furthermore, very little is known about adolescents' watching pornography with their romantic partners (i.e., joint pornography use). The present study of adolescents (n = 755, 59.9% girls, M age = 15.72 years old [SD = 1.34]) is among the first attempts to link adolescents' pornography viewing behaviors to their romantic relationship attitudes and behaviors. We hypothesized that adolescents' viewing would be associated with poorer self-reported relationship skills, more negative relationship behaviors, and increased involvement in sexual activity, such as sexting. Partial support for these hypotheses was found. Frequency of overall viewing was associated with lower relationship and refusal skills. Lifetime joint pornography viewing was associated with higher rates of dating violence victimization and perpetration in the past six months and with more abusive behaviors from one's partner and more verbal conflict in the current dating relationship. Results, though cross-sectional, suggest that pornography viewing in adolescence is associated with poorer romantic outcomes. Implications for adolescent development and for healthcare providers and educators are discussed.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2022.2096844

BMC Public Health. 2022 Jul 16. 22(1): 1368

"I feel like it is asking if he is a stalker … but I also feel like it is asking if he cares": exploring young South African women and men's perceptions of the Sexual Relationship Power Scale.

Kalysha Closson, Campion Zharima, Michelle Kuchena, Janan J Dietrich, Anne Gadermann, Gina Ogilvie, Mags Beksinska, Angela Kaida.

BACKGROUND: Gender inequity and the subsequent health impacts disproportionately affect communities in the Global South. However, most gender equity measures, such as Pulerwitz' (2000) Sexual Relationship Power Scale (SRPS), are developed and validated in the Global North and then applied in Global South settings without investigation of context applicability or validity. This study examines the SRPS' validity evidence, comprehensiveness, and contemporary relevance for young South African women and men.
METHODS: Between 2019 and 2021, 38 cognitive interviews (CIs) were conducted among previous participants of a South African youth cohort study 'AYAZAZI' (2015-2017) to explore youth's perceptions of the SRPS. The SRPS measures women's perceptions of their partner's controlling behaviours, and men's perceptions of their own controlling behaviours. Using CIs, participants responded to a 13-item adaptation of the SRPS for use among South African youth (strongly agree-strongly disagree), and then were asked to think-aloud their reasoning for responses, their understanding and perceived relevance of each item, and made overall suggestions for scale adaptations. An item appraisal coding process was applied, whereby Cognitive Coding assessed the types of cognitive problems youth had with understanding the items, and Question Feature Coding assessed which item features caused problems for participant understandings. Finally, youth recommendations for scale adaptations were summarized.
RESULTS: Overall, 21 women and 17 men aged 21-30 participated in CIs in Durban and Soweto, South Africa. Cognitive Coding revealed 1. Comprehension issues, and 2. Judgements related to items' applicability to lived experiences and identities (e.g., being unmarried). Question Feature Coding revealed items' 1. Lack of clarity or vagueness in wording and 2. Logical problems in assumptions leading to multiple interpretations (e.g., item 'my partner always need to know where I am' interpreted as both controlling and caring behaviour). Multiple, overlapping issues revealed how many items failed to "fit" within the present-day living realities of South African youth. Youth recommended several item adaptations and additions, including strength-based items, to existing measures of gender equity and relationship power.
CONCLUSION: Given identified issues, several adaptations including revising items to be more inclusive, contemporary, context specific, relational, and strength-based are needed to validly measure gender equity and power dynamics within the relationships of South African youth.

Keywords: Gender; Gender Equity; Measurement; Sexual Relationship Power; South Africa; Youth

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-13686-9

Demography. 2022 Jul 22. pii: 10126742. [Epub ahead of print]

Is It Only a Numbers Game? A Macro-Level Study of Educational Hypogamy.

Sinn Won Han.

In many countries, the tendency for highly educated women to marry down in education has markedly increased. Research has pointed to an oversupply of highly educated women-that is, a marriage squeeze affecting women-as the core reason for this phenomenon. This study aims to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the causes of this marriage trend by analyzing over-time data drawn from IPUMS International census microdata samples for 34 countries. Several key findings are notable. First, the degree of educational hypogamy is associated with the magnitude of the deficit in college-educated men in the marriage market, which is consistent with the marriage squeeze hypothesis. Second, the degree of educational hypogamy is related to the economic empowerment of college-educated women, even after accounting for the mating squeeze effect. Third, counterfactual simulations show that while the mating squeeze is the major driver of educational hypogamy in the majority of the sample countries, the economic empowerment of college-educated women plays an equally important role in several countries.

Keywords: Assortative mating; Educational hypogamy; Gender; Marriage

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1215/00703370-10126742