bims-chumac 2023-06-11 papers

Issue of 2023–06–11
four papers selected by
Thomas Krichel, Open Library Society

Psychophysiology. 2023 Jun 04. e14358

Dominance of face over voice in human attractiveness judgments: ERP evidence.

Meng Liu, Werner Sommer, Siqi Yue, Weijun Li.

The attractiveness of a person, a complex, and socially relevant type of information, is transmitted in many ways, not least through face and voice. However, it is unclear how the stimulus domains carrying attractiveness information interact. The present study explored the audiovisual perception of attractiveness in a Stroop-like paradigm using event-related potentials (ERPs). Participants were presented with face-voice pairs carrying congruent or incongruent attractiveness information and, in turn, judged the attractiveness level of each domain while ignoring the other. Voice attractiveness judgments were influenced by unattended face attractiveness, in terms of both, early perceptual encoding (N170, P200) as well as later evaluative stages (N400, LPC). In contrast, effects of unattended voice attractiveness on face attractiveness judgments were confined to early perceptual encoding (N170). These results demonstrate not only the interaction of multiple domains in human attractiveness perception at different processing stages but also a relative dominance of face over voice attractiveness.

Keywords: ERPs; audiovisual perception; face attractiveness; voice attractiveness

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/psyp.14358

Evol Psychol. 2023 Apr-Jun;21(2):21(2): 14747049231179151

An Experiment Using a Sexual Strategies Explanation to Alleviate Internalized Homophobia Among Men Who Have Sex With Men in China.

Qianhui Gao, Jan Antfolk, Pekka Santtila.

Some men who have sex with men (MSM) having more casual sex and sexual partners is interpreted to be a sign of mental disorder and used to justify negative attitudes toward them by some. MSM may internalize this attitude causing internalized homophobia (IH). According to the sexual strategies theory, MSM having more casual sex is the result of differences between men's and women's sexual strategies and is unrelated to sexual orientation. We investigated whether this explanation would reduce IH and improve mental health in MSM. We recruited 255 Chinese MSM online using Wenjuanxing, Douban, Weibo, Tieba, and Blued and divided them using simple randomization into an experimental group (n = 77; sexual strategies explanation provided), an active control group (n = 99; minority stress explanation provided), and a control group (n = 79; no intervention) with pretest (N = 255); a 1 week post-test (n = 195); and a 1 month follow-up test (n = 170) of outcome measures. IH, mental distress (MD), sort-term mating orientation, and risky sexual behaviors were measured online. The data were analyzed by SPSS 28. IH was associated with MD while being married was associated with IH and sexual contact with women with both more IH and MD as were not being masculine and self-identifying as straight. The sexual strategies explanation reduced IH related to pathologizing sexual behaviors and high-risk sexual behaviors while the minority stress explanation reduced MD. Providing a sexual strategies explanation may be used to de-stigmatize casual sex among MSM.

Keywords: gay men; internalized homophobia; men who have sex with men; mental distress; sexual strategies theory

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/14747049231179151

Front Psychol. 2023 ;14 1158751

Relationship status and gender-related differences in response to infidelity.

Tsukasa Kato, Nobutoshi Okubo.

Introduction: The sexual imagination hypothesis suggests that responses to a partner's infidelity emerge from the sociocultural factors that affect individuals' imagining of that occurrence irrespective of biological sex, including relationship status (i.e., the experience of a serious, committed relationship). Nevertheless, evolutionary psychological perspectives predict that responses to a partner's infidelity emerge from a sex-specific evolved innate mechanism.
Methods: A lower 2D:4D digit ratio is associated with more robust responses to a partner's sexual infidelity. In this study, participants (660 males and 912 females) were requested to measure finger lengths, reactions to their partners' sexual and emotional infidelity, and relationship status.
Results: A logistic regression and multiple regression analyses revealed that relationship status was uniquely associated with responses to a partner's sexual and emotional infidelity beyond the effects of sex and 2D:4D. Those in committed relationships were more upset or distressed over their partners' infidelity, particularly over sexual infidelity, than those not in committed relationships.
Discussion: The results supported the sexual imagination hypothesis indirectly, while evolutionary psychological perspectives were met with skepticism. Our findings implied that sex differences in jealousy result from relationship status, and that responses to partners' infidelity are more alike than different.

Keywords: 2D:4D digit ratio; evolutionary psychology; gender similarity; infidelity; jealousy; sexual imagination hypothesis

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1158751

Sex Roles. 2023 ;88(11-12): 514-528

It Takes Two to Tango: Links Between Traditional Beliefs About both Men's and Women's Gender Roles and Comfort Initiating Sex and Comfort Refusing Sex.

Auguste G Harrington, Jessica A Maxwell.

Traditional gender roles dictate rigid rules and standards prescribing which behaviors, thoughts, and feelings are considered masculine and feminine within sexual contexts, and thus internalizing these beliefs (higher traditional gender ideology) may influence sexual attitudes. Prior theorizing has primarily focused on how women's traditional beliefs about women's gender roles (traditional femininity ideology) and men's traditional beliefs about men's gender roles (traditional masculinity ideology) influence their sexual assertiveness. Yet, men can hold traditional beliefs about women, and women can hold traditional beliefs about men, and these beliefs should have important implications for sexual assertiveness. We addressed this gap by testing how both heterosexual women's (n = 389) and men's (n = 393) traditional masculinity and femininity ideologies associate with their reported comfort initiating sex and comfort refusing sex in their relationships. When accounting for both sets of beliefs, women's traditional beliefs about men's and women's roles interacted to predict comfort initiating sex, but not comfort refusing sex. Men's traditional beliefs about men's roles predicted less comfort refusing sex, and their traditional beliefs about women's roles predicted less comfort initiating sex. This novel research underscores the importance of considering beliefs about both sets of traditional gender roles for understanding people's sexual attitudes.
Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11199-023-01366-w.

Keywords: Gender ideology; Gender roles; Sexual assertiveness; Sexual initiation; Sexual refusal

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-023-01366-w