bims-chumac 2021-09-05 papers

Issue of 2021–09–05
four papers selected by
Thomas Krichel, Open Library Society

Q J Exp Psychol (Hove). 2021 Sep 03. 17470218211047176

EXPRESS: Perceiving the facial trustworthiness: facial age, emotional expression and attractiveness.

People can make trustworthiness judgements based on facial characteristics. However, the previous findings regarding on whether facial age influences interpersonal trust are inconsistent. Using the trust game, the current study investigated the interactions of facial age with attractiveness and emotional expression in regarding to trustworthiness judgements. In experiments 1 & 2, younger participants were asked to invest in either younger or older faces that were shown for 2000 ms and 33 ms respectively. The results showed that people trust the faces of older people more than they do of younger people. There was also an interaction between facial age and attractiveness. The participants invested more money in older faces than in younger faces only when they perceived the faces to be less attractive. However, the interaction between facial age and emotional expression was inconsistent in the two experiments. The participants invested more money in older faces that were shown for 2000 ms when they perceived the happy and sad emotions, but they invested more money in older faces that were shown for 33 ms when they perceived the happy emotion. These results reveal that people make trustworthiness judgements based on multiple facial cues when they view strangers of different ages.

Keywords: Trust Game; Trustworthiness; attractiveness; emotional expression; facial age

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/17470218211047176

Acta Psychol (Amst). 2021 Sep;pii: S0001-6918(21)00135-9. [Epub ahead of print]219 103385

The effect of aging on facial attractiveness: An empirical and computational investigation.

Dexian He, Clifford I Workman, Yoed N Kenett, Xianyou He, Anjan Chatterjee.

How does aging affect facial attractiveness? We tested the hypothesis that people find older faces less attractive than younger faces, and furthermore, that these aging effects are modulated by the age and sex of the perceiver and by the specific kind of attractiveness judgment being made. Using empirical and computational network science methods, we confirmed that with increasing age, faces are perceived as less attractive. This effect was less pronounced in judgments made by older than younger and middle-aged perceivers, and more pronounced by men (especially for female faces) than women. Attractive older faces were perceived as elegant more than beautiful or gorgeous. Furthermore, network analyses revealed that older faces were more similar in attractiveness and were segregated from younger faces. These results indicate that perceivers tend to process older faces categorically when making attractiveness judgments. Attractiveness is not a monolithic construct. It varies by age, sex, and the dimensions of attractiveness being judged.

Keywords: Age; Attractiveness; Face perception; Network science; Sex

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2021.103385

J Fam Psychol. 2021 Sep 02.

Happy, healthy, and wedded? How the transition to marriage affects mental and physical health.

Charlie Huntington, Scott M Stanley, Brian D Doss, Galena K Rhoades.

Decades of research have documented the apparent health benefits of marriage, but the dynamics of how health may change across the transition to marriage are not fully understood. In two studies, we compared being unmarried or married on several indices of mental and physical health. In Study 1, we used a national sample of 1,078 individuals in different-sex relationships who completed surveys by mail. Compared with those who were cohabiting or dating, married individuals generally reported better mental and physical health than those in less committed relationships, and most differences remained when controlling for putative selection factors. Study 2 used longitudinal data from the participants in the Study 1 sample who later married (N = 168) to study changes within individuals over the transition to marriage on the same indicators. Six waves of mailed surveys spanning 20 months were employed. Findings of Study 2 indicated that although some indicators of mental and physical health were improving up until the point of marriage, these indicators then stabilized or began to decline, with women experiencing these declines more than men. Findings are more consistent with selection effects (i.e., better-adjusted individuals are more likely to get married) than social causation effects (i.e., marriage causes improvements in mental and physical health) and suggest that if marriage does have a causal effect on well-being in the short term, it may actually manifest in the lead-up to the wedding. Implications of these findings are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/fam0000913

J Fam Psychol. 2021 Aug 30.

A latent class analysis of nonrelative foster caregivers' trait mindfulness and individual and relationship outcomes.

Evin W Richardson, Mark E Pettit, Ted G Futris, Jerry E Gale.

Despite the joys related to fostering, foster caregivers also report challenges that consequently may influence placement stability. A healthy couple relationship is a characteristic of a high-quality, two-parent foster home. Further, foster caregivers who experience less parenting stress and possess greater well-being (e.g., lower depressive symptoms, higher levels of self-care) are better equipped to manage the challenges of fostering. Trait mindfulness has been associated with a greater capacity to manage parenting stress and cultivate greater well-being. The present descriptive study employs latent class analysis to examine the trait mindfulness of heterosexual foster caregiver couples (N = 235), potential covariates of trait mindfulness, and couple and individual outcomes. Four groups of foster caregiver couples emerged where both partners reported either high or low levels of trait mindfulness and where one partner reported high mindfulness and the other reported low mindfulness. Foster caregiver couples where both partners were younger, non-White, and those where the woman was employed outside of the home reported lower levels of mindfulness for one or both partners. Further, individuals in couples where both partners were highly mindful reported better couple relationship outcomes and self-care and fewer depressive symptoms. Implications for future research and practice are shared. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/fam0000917