bims-chumac 2023-07-02 papers

Issue of 2023–07–02
seven papers selected by
Thomas Krichel, Open Library Society

Brain Behav. 2023 Jun 27. e3132

Facial attractiveness in the eyes of men with high arousal.

Shangfeng Han, Jie Gao, Wenjuan Xing, Xinyi Zhou, Yuejia Luo.

INTRODUCTION: Individuals differ in how they judge facial attractiveness. However, little is known about the role of arousal level and gender differences in individuals' facial attractiveness judgments.
METHODS: We used resting-state electroencephalogram (EEG) to investigate this issue. A total of 48 men (aged 22.5 ± 3.03 years [mean ± SD], range: 18-30 years) and 27 women (aged 20.3 ± 2.03 years [mean ± SD], range: 18-25 years) participated in the experiment. After the EEG was collected, participants were instructed to complete a facial attractiveness judgment task. Connectome-based predictive modeling was used to predict individual judgment of facial attractiveness.
RESULTS: Men with high arousal judged female faces as more attractive (M = 3.85, SE = 0.81) than did men with low arousal (M = 3.33, SE = 0.81) and women (M = 3.24, SE = 1.02). Functional connectivity of the alpha band predicted judgment of female facial attractiveness in men but not in women. After controlling for the age and variability, the prediction effect was still significant.
CONCLUSION: Our results provide neural evidence for the enhancement of the judgment of facial attractiveness in men with high arousal levels, which supports the hypothesis that individuals' spontaneous arousal contributes to variations in facial attractiveness preferences.

Keywords: alpha; arousal; facial attractiveness; gender difference

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/brb3.3132

Brain Sci. 2023 May 25. pii: 855. [Epub ahead of print]13(6):

Neural Mechanisms of the Conscious and Subliminal Processing of Facial Attractiveness.

Xuejiao Hou, Junchen Shang, Shuo Tong.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the neural activity evoked by facial attractiveness in conscious and subliminal conditions. The 41 participants judged facial attractiveness in a conscious condition and a subliminal condition (backward masking paradigm). The event-related potential (ERP) analysis indicated that in the conscious condition, more attractive faces elicited a longer N1 (80-120 ms) latency than less attractive faces. Moreover, more attractive female faces elicited a larger late positive component (LPC) (350-550 ms) amplitude than less attractive female faces. In the subliminal condition, more attractive faces elicited a longer P1 (140-180 ms) latency than less attractive faces. The present study demonstrated that more attractive faces evoked different early-stage ERPs from that evoked by less attractive faces in both conscious and subliminal conditions. However, the processing of facial attractiveness is obviously weakened in the subliminal condition.

Keywords: backward masking; conscious; event-related potentials; facial attractiveness; subliminal

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci13060855

Adapt Human Behav Physiol. 2023 Jun 02. 1-16

Facial Attractiveness, but not Facial Masculinity, is Used as a Cue to Paternal Involvement in Fathers.

Ronja I Bartlome, Anthony J Lee.

Purpose: Facial femininity in men is purportedly used as a cue by women as a signal of paternal involvement. However, evidence for this claim is questionable. Previous findings have shown that paternal involvement is linked to testosterone, but have not investigated facial masculinity directly, while other studies have found that facial masculinity is negatively associated with perceptions of paternal involvement but do not assess the accuracy of this judgement. Here, we assess whether facial masculinity in men is used as a cue to paternal involvement, and whether this cue is accurate.
Methods: We collected facial photographs of 259 men (156 of which were fathers) who also completed self-report measures of paternal involvement. Facial images were then rated by a separate group of raters on facial masculinity, attractiveness, and perceived paternal involvement. Shape sexual dimorphism was also calculated from the images using geometric morphometrics.
Results: We found that facial masculinity was not associated with perceptions of paternal involvement, nor was it related with self-reported paternal involvement. Interestingly, facial attractiveness was negatively associated with perceptions of paternal involvement, and we found partial evidence that facial attractiveness was also negatively associated with self-reported paternal involvement.
Conclusion: These findings challenge the hypothesis that sexual dimorphism is used as a cue to paternal involvement, and perhaps indicate that facial attractiveness is more important for this judgement instead.
Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40750-023-00217-y.

Keywords: Attraction; Face perception; Mate preference; Parental effort; Paternal investment; Sexual dimorphism

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40750-023-00217-y

Sex Cult. 2023 May 18. 1-24

American Singles' Attitudes Toward Future Romantic/Sexual Partners' COVID-19 Vaccination Status: Evidence for both Vigilance and Indifference in a National Sample.

Jessica T Campbell, Magaret Bennett-Brown, Alexandra S Marcotte, Ellen M Kaufman, Zoe Moscovici, Olivia R Adams, Sydney Lovins, Justin R Garcia, Amanda N Gesselman.

Around 142 million American adults are currently single; at least half of these singles want to pursue a romantic partner. Romantic dating can involve exposure to numerous people. Thus, dating can significantly impact pathogen exposure risk. In a demographically-representative cross-sectional survey conducted in 2021 (N = 5,000), we examined U.S. American singles' COVID-19 vaccination status, assessed their preferences around a potential partner's COVID-19 vaccination status, and identified demographic subgroups of singles particularly opposed to or indifferent to a partner being vaccinated against COVID-19. Our results showed 65% of participants were fully vaccinated, 10% were partially vaccinated, and 26% were unvaccinated against COVID-19. With regards to partner preferences, half wanted a vaccinated partner; 18.9% wanted a vaccinated partner but would make exceptions; 6.1% wanted an unvaccinated partner; and 25% reported that they did not care about their dating partner's vaccination status. Partner preferences were largely aligned with participants' own vaccination status, such that vaccinated participants preferred vaccinated partners. However, those preferring unvaccinated partners-or those willing to make exceptions for a partner-were most likely to identify as men, younger in age, a political affiliation outside of the two-party political system, a gender or sexual minority, or as a racial minority (i.e., Black/African-American or South Asian). Additionally, participants who were employed (vs. unemployed) were more likely to make exceptions for or prefer an unvaccinated partner. These results suggest that singles prefer homophily in COVID-19 vaccine status, and that minoritized subgroups of singles are more likely to maintain a social network including unvaccinated close others.
Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12119-023-10097-9.

Keywords: Attitudes; COVID-19; Partner attitudes; U.S. American singles; Vaccination status

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-023-10097-9

Sex Roles. 2023 May 18. 1-17

Let's Talk About Single Men: A Qualitative Investigation of Never Married Men's Experiences of Singlehood.

Marta Mrozowicz-Wrońska, Kamil Janowicz, Emilia Soroko, Katarzyna Adamczyk.

Existing research on singlehood has largely focused on the experiences of single women, and little is known about singlehood among men. The current investigation examined the experience of long-term singlehood through individual, semi-structured interviews with 22 never-married single men living in Poland who were aged 22-43 years. Thematic analysis revealed five key themes: (1) the sense of being deficient-is there something wrong with me?; (2) navigating outside the dominant discourse of traditional masculinity, marriage and family; (3) the benefits and downsides of singlehood; (4) adaptation to singlehood; and (5) the dilemma between waiting and actively searching for a romantic partner. An analysis of single men's narratives revealed that men experience their single status in the context of their various needs and hopes and as a status that determines their adult life course. This study contributes to the singlehood literature, highlighting the complexity of singlehood for men and the importance of traditional masculinity norms in experiencing long-term singlehood. These findings challenge stereotypical and unrealistic views of singlehood among men and have practical implications for psychotherapists, counsellors and educators working with single men.

Keywords: Gender stereotypes; Masculine norms; Never-married; Single men; Singlehood, traditional masculinity; Thematic qualitative analysis

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-023-01380-y

Behav Sci (Basel). 2023 Jun 12. pii: 494. [Epub ahead of print]13(6):

A Face to Love or Trust.

Christer Johansson, Per Olav Folgerø.

This article demonstrates the use of a card sorting game that is suitable for field studies. Subjective judgment in face perception is studied by sorting faces based on attractiveness or trustworthiness. Are beautiful people also trustworthy, or does beauty come with a price? Our first hypothesis is that the two conditions like and trust are different. We investigate this using a sorting game, where participants are asked to sort 27 semi-artificial portraits according to how much they like or trust the faces. The faces are in two different conditions: prototypes and individualized prototypes. Our participants were consistent in their judgments. Participants claim to have reacted to small inconsistencies in facial expressions in the trust condition, and we investigate the relation to anatomical features using a model and Correspondence Analysis.

Keywords: attractiveness; human bias; trustworthiness

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/bs13060494

Front Psychol. 2023 ;14 1225763

Editorial: Sex, money, and romantic relationships.

E Jeffrey Hill, Ashley B LeBaron-Black, Chelom E Leavitt, Xiaomin Li.

Keywords: family finance; marriage; money; personal finance; relationship satisfaction; romantic relationships; sex; sexual satisfaction

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1225763