bims-chumac 2022-11-06 papers

bims-chumac

Biomed News

on Context effects on human mate choice

Issue of 2022–11–06
seven papers selected by
Thomas Krichel, Open Library Society

Initial impressions of compatibility and mate value predict later dating and romantic interest.
The "beauty premium" effect of voice attractiveness of long speech sounds in outcome-evaluation event-related potentials in a trust game.
Makeup increases attractiveness in male faces.
Attractive and healthy-looking male faces do not show higher immunoreactivity.
The Rising Midlife First Marriage Rate in the U.S.
The Effect of Wearing a Mask on Facial Attractiveness.
Sexual double standard: A gender-based prejudice referring to sexual freedom and sexual shyness.

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2022 Nov 08. 119(45): e2206925119

Initial impressions of compatibility and mate value predict later dating and romantic interest.

Alexander Baxter, Jessica A Maxwell, Karen L Bales, Eli J Finkel, Emily A Impett, Paul W Eastwick.

  Romantic first impressions seem to linger, but why? Few studies have investigated how romantic desire during initial interactions predicts later relational outcomes (e.g., later romantic interest, contact attempts) using a design that can tease apart different possible mechanisms (e.g., mate value, selectivity, compatibility). Across three speed-dating studies (n = 559) with longitudinal follow-ups (including college and community samples, and a sample of men who date men), we investigated whether different components of initial romantic impressions predicted later romantic outcomes and relationship initiation. Using the social relations model, we partitioned initial desire at speed dating (determined from 6,600+ total dates) into partner effects (a date's consensual desirability, e.g., mate value), actor effects (a participant's general desirousness, e.g., selectivity), and relationship effects (a participant's unique liking for a date over and beyond partner and actor effects, e.g., compatibility) to predict later evaluations (romantic interest, physical attraction, and desire to know better) and behaviors (direct messaging and going on dates). Meta-analyses across the three studies showed that, across 6,100+ follow-up reports, partner and relationship effects were especially strong predictors of relationship initiation variables. Consistent with evolutionary models of human pair bonding, these findings suggest that both consensually desirable traits and unique impressions of compatibility have lingering effects on relationship development, even from the moment that two potential partners meet.

Keywords:  compatibility; first impressions; initial attraction; pair bonding; social relations model

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2206925119
Front Psychol. 2022 ;13 1010457

The "beauty premium" effect of voice attractiveness of long speech sounds in outcome-evaluation event-related potentials in a trust game.

Junchen Shang, Zhihui Liu.

  Previous research suggested that people with attractive voices had an advantage in economic games, even if the voices were only presented for 400 ms. The present study investigated the influence of voice attractiveness on the cooperative trust behavior with longer exposure times to the voices. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded during the feedback outcome evaluation. Participants heard a voice of the partner for 2,040 ms and decided whether to invest to the partner for a possibility to gain more money. The results showed that participants made more invest choices to the attractive partners, replicating the "beauty premium" effect of the attractive voices. Moreover, participants were more likely to invest to male partners. The ERP analysis for the outcome showed that the difference waves of feedback-related negativity (FRN) amplitude were smaller in the attractive voice condition than in the unattractive voice condition, suggesting that the rewarding effect of attractive voices weakened the frustrating feelings of the loss. In sum, the present study confirms that attractive voices with longer presentation durations facilitate cooperative behavior and modulate the processing of feedback evaluations.

Keywords:  cooperative behavior; duration; the “beauty premium” effect; trust game; voice attractiveness

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1010457
PLoS One. 2022 ;17(11): e0275662

Makeup increases attractiveness in male faces.

Carlota Batres, Hannah Robinson.

Makeup is commonly attributed with increasing attractiveness in female faces, but this effect has not been investigated in male faces. We therefore sought to examine whether the positive effect of makeup on attractiveness can be extended to male faces. Twenty men were photographed facing forward, under constant camera and lighting conditions, with neutral expressions, and closed mouths. Each man was photographed twice: once without any cosmetics applied and another time with subtle cosmetics applied by a professional makeup artist. Two hundred participants then rated those 40 images on attractiveness. The male faces were rated as higher in attractiveness when presented wearing makeup, compared to when presented not wearing makeup. This was true for both male and female raters, and whether analyzing the data using a by-participant or a by-face analysis. These results provide the first empirical evidence that makeup increases attractiveness in male faces. Following work on female faces, future research should examine the effect of makeup on several other traits in male faces. The market for male cosmetics products is growing and evolving and this study serves as an initial step in understanding the effect of makeup on the perceptions of male faces.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0275662
Sci Rep. 2022 Nov 01. 12(1): 18432

Attractive and healthy-looking male faces do not show higher immunoreactivity.

Žaneta Pátková, Dagmar Schwambergová, Jitka Třebická Fialová, Vít Třebický, David Stella, Karel Kleisner, Jan Havlíček.

Previous research has indicated that facial attractiveness may provide cues to the functioning of the immune system. Mating with individuals who have a more effective immune system could lead to a higher reproductive success. Our main aim was to test a possible association between immunoreactivity (stimulated by vaccination) and perceived facial attractiveness and healthiness. We experimentally activated the immune system of healthy men using vaccination against hepatitis A/B and meningococcus and measured levels of specific antibodies (markers of immune system reactivity) before and 30 days after the vaccination. Further, 1 day before the vaccination, we collected their facial photographs that were judged by females for attractiveness, healthiness, and facial skin patches for healthiness. In view of its proposed connection with the functioning of the immune system, we also measured skin colouration (both from the facial photographs and in vivo using a spectrophotometer) and we assessed its role in attractiveness and healthiness judgements. Moreover, we measured the levels of steroid hormones (testosterone and cortisol) and the percentage of adipose tissue, because both are known to have immunomodulatory properties and are related to perceived facial attractiveness and healthiness. We found no significant associations between antibody levels induced by vaccination and perceived facial attractiveness, facial healthiness, or skin healthiness. We also found no significant connections between steroid hormone levels, the amount of adipose tissue, rated characteristics, and antibody levels, except for a small negative effect of cortisol levels on perceived facial healthiness. Higher forehead redness was perceived as less attractive and less healthy and higher cheek patch redness was perceived as less healthy, but no significant association was found between antibody levels and facial colouration. Overall, our results suggest that perceived facial attractiveness, healthiness, and skin patch healthiness provide limited cues to immunoreactivity, and perceived characteristics seem to be related only to cortisol levels and facial colouration.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-22866-x
J Marriage Fam. 2022 Aug;84(4): 1220-1233

The Rising Midlife First Marriage Rate in the U.S.

Susan L Brown, I-Fen Lin, Kagan A Mellencamp.

   Objective: This study documented change in the midlife first marriage rate for U.S. adults aged 40-59 between 1990 and 2019 and assessed the sociodemographic correlates of midlife first marriage formation for today's women and men.
Background: Median ages at first marriage are at record highs for women and men, signaling that marriage may be increasingly occurring at older ages. However, first marriage formation among midlife adults remains largely overlooked.
Method: Data from the 1990 U.S. Vital Statistics and the 2010 and 2019 American Community Survey (ACS) were used to estimate change in women's and men's first marriage rates across age groups, with a focus on how the rate has changed for midlife adults. Average marginal effects (AMEs) were derived from logistic regression analyses that drew on the 2019 ACS to examine associations between sociodemographic factors and midlife first marriage formation for women and men.
Results: Since 1990, the midlife first marriage rate has increased by 75% for women and 45% for men. The shares of women and men entering a first marriage who were aged 40-59 quadrupled between 1990 and 2019 (rising from 2% to 9% among women and from 3% to 12% among men). Some of the well-established predictors of first marriage in young adulthood operated uniquely for first marriage formation in midlife.
Conclusion: Future research on first marriage formation should incorporate midlife adults.

Keywords:  gender; marriage delay; middle-aged; union formation

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1111/jomf.12861
Aesthet Surg J Open Forum. 2022 ;4 ojac070

The Effect of Wearing a Mask on Facial Attractiveness.

Brian Bassiri-Tehrani, Alvin Nguyen, Akriti Choudhary, Jiddu Guart, Bianca Di Chiaro, Chad A Purnell.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated masking in public spaces. Masks may impact the perceived attractiveness of individuals and hence, interpersonal relations.
Objectives: To determine if facial coverings affect attractiveness.
Methods: An online survey was conducted using 114 headshot images, 2 each-unmasked and masked-of 57 individuals. Two hundred and seven participants rated them on an ordinal scale from 1 (least attractive) to 10 (most attractive). Parametric and nonparametric tests were performed, as appropriate, for comparison.
Results: For the first quartile, the average rating increased significantly when wearing a mask (5.89 ± 0.29 and 6.54 ± 0.67; P = 0.01). For control images ranked within the fourth quartile, the average rating decreased significantly when wearing a mask (7.60 ± 0.26 and 6.62 ± 0.55; P < 0.001). In the female subgroup (n = 34), there was a small increase in average rating when masked, whereas in the male subgroup (n = 23), there was a small decrease in average rating when masked, but the change was not statistically significant (P > 0.05). For unmasked female images ranked within the first quartile, the average rating increased significantly when wearing a mask (5.77 ± 0.27 and 6.76 ± 0.36; P = 0.001). For the female subgroup with mean ratings within the fourth quartile, the average decreased significantly when wearing a medical mask (7.53 ± 0.30 and 6.77 ± 0.53; P < 0.05). For unmasked male images ranked within the first quartile, the average rating increased when wearing a medical mask but the change was not statistically significant (P > 0.05), whereas for the control male images within the fourth quartile, the average rating decreased significantly when masked (7.72 ± 0.18 and 6.50 ± 0.54; P < 0.05).
Conclusions: While wearing a facial covering significantly increased attractiveness for images less attractive at baseline, and decreased attractiveness for those that are more attractive at baseline; it did not cause a significant overall change in attractiveness in the study population.
Level of Evidence 5:

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/asjof/ojac070
Front Psychol. 2022 ;13 1006675

Sexual double standard: A gender-based prejudice referring to sexual freedom and sexual shyness.

Carmen Gómez-Berrocal, Nieves Moyano, Ana Álvarez-Muelas, Juan Carlos Sierra.

  The sexual double standard (SDS) consists of judging men and women differently for the same sexual behavior. This study contributes to research on the factors that determine inconsistent adherence to the SDS. It uses a descriptive methodology to analyze the association between individual and contextual factors both with adherence to the SDS, and with four SDS adherence typologies (man-favorable SDS, woman-favorable SDS, egalitarian and ambivalent). A total of 1,206 heterosexual Spanish adults (603 men and 603 women) participated. The mean age in the male sample was 41.7 (SD = 14.25), in the female sample M = 40.84 (SD = 14.24). The results show that the conceptualization of SDS as a gender-based prejudice is valid to understand the bias of ingroup favoritism that SDS implies: adherence to SDS is more related to the identity of the gender role of men (vs. women). In addition, evidence is provided that the normative context and domain of sexual behavior (i.e., sexual freedom or sexual shyness) determine the form that SDS adopts to express itself. The domain of behaviors related to sexual shyness (vs. domain related to sexual freedom) better discriminates between the different four SDS adherence typologies. The importance of adopting different levels of analysis (i.e., individual, intergroup, societal) to explain and predict both SDS adherence and the prevalence of SDS adherence typologies is discussed.

Keywords:  gender-based prejudice; sexual double standard; sexual freedom; sexual gender norms; sexual shyness

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1006675