bims-chumac 2022-03-06 papers

bims-chumac

Biomed News

on Context effects on human mate choice

Issue of 2022–03–06
ten papers selected by
Thomas Krichel, Open Library Society

Is Mate Preference Recognizable Based on Electroencephalogram Signals? Machine Learning Applied to Initial Romantic Attraction.
Demographic and sociocultural predictors of face image satisfaction: The U.S. Body Project I.
Does fat talk affect relationship and sexual satisfaction?: Adults' perceptions of fat talk in a fictional romantic relationship.
Beyond Observation: Manipulating Circumstances to Detect Affordances and Infer Traits.
Androstadienone influences women's perception of happiness and anger on same-sex faces: Preliminary findings.
Dark personality and intimate partner relationships in young adults.
Attitudes Toward and Willingness to Engage in Consensual Non-Monogamy (CNM) Among African Americans Who Have Never Engaged in CNM.
Traversing TechSex: benefits and risks in digitally mediated sex and relationships.
Predictors of Revictimization in Online Dating.
Interpersonal scripts and sexual communication: experiences and perspectives of young people in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Front Neurosci. 2022 ;16 830820

Is Mate Preference Recognizable Based on Electroencephalogram Signals? Machine Learning Applied to Initial Romantic Attraction.

Guangjie Yuan, Wenguang He, Guangyuan Liu.

  Initial romantic attraction (IRA) refers to a series of positive reactions toward potential ideal partners based on individual preferences; its evolutionary value lies in facilitating mate selection. Although the EEG activities associated with IRA have been preliminarily understood; however, it remains unclear whether IRA can be recognized based on EEG activity. To clarify this, we simulated a dating platform similar to Tinder. Participants were asked to imagine that they were using the simulated dating platform to choose the ideal potential partner. Their brain electrical signals were recorded as they viewed photos of each potential partner and simultaneously assessed their initial romantic attraction in that potential partner through self-reported scale responses. Thereafter, the preprocessed EEG signals were decomposed into power-related features of different frequency bands using a wavelet transform approach. In addition to the power spectral features, feature extraction also accounted for the physiological parameters related to hemispheric asymmetries. Classification was performed by employing a random forest classifier, and the signals were divided into two categories: IRA engendered and IRA un-engendered. Based on the results of the 10-fold cross-validation, the best classification accuracy 85.2% (SD = 0.02) was achieved using feature vectors, mainly including the asymmetry features in alpha (8-13 Hz), beta (13-30 Hz), and theta (4-8 Hz) rhythms. The results of this study provide early evidence for EEG-based mate preference recognition and pave the way for the development of EEG-based romantic-matching systems.

Keywords:  aesthetic preference; frequency band; hemispheric asymmetries; mate choice; physiological signals

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2022.830820
Body Image. 2022 Feb 25. pii: S1740-1445(22)00013-4. [Epub ahead of print]41 1-16

Demographic and sociocultural predictors of face image satisfaction: The U.S. Body Project I.

David A Frederick, Tania A Reynolds, Carlos A Barrera, Stuart B Murray.

  Despite substantial literature surrounding how people process and perceive faces, there is very little research investigating how people evaluate their own faces. We examined how gender, body mass, race, age, and sexual orientation were linked to people's satisfaction with the appearance of their eyes, nose, facial shape, and face overall among 11,620 adults recruited via Mechanical Turk. Most people mostly or definitely agreed they were happy with their facial appearance. There were notable racial differences, with Asian participants tending to report greater dissatisfaction. For example, only 66% of Asian women and 60% of Asian men mostly or definitely agreed that they were happy with the appearance of their eyes, which was lower than other racial groups. BMI and age were not strongly associated with face satisfaction. Sexual minority men were less satisfied than heterosexual men. About one in four gay and bisexual men, compared to only one in seven heterosexual men, reported dissatisfaction with their overall facial appearance. Men and women with poorer face image engaged in more appearance surveillance, more strongly internalized the thin-ideal, and perceived stronger sociocultural pressures from peers, parents, and media. The current study highlights important sociocultural and demographic factors tied to poorer face image.

Keywords:  Appearance; Body image; Face image satisfaction; Facial attractiveness; Race differences

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2022.01.016
Eat Behav. 2022 Feb 20. pii: S1471-0153(22)00009-5. [Epub ahead of print]45 101603

Does fat talk affect relationship and sexual satisfaction?: Adults' perceptions of fat talk in a fictional romantic relationship.

Cassidy M Sandoval, Denise M Martz, Doris G Bazzini, Rose Mary Webb, Madison M Hinkle, Lauren Francis.

  Little is known about how fat talk - a verbal expression of body image concerns - functions within romantic relationships. This study used vignettes about a fictional couple to examine how varied levels of a woman's fat talk were perceived by participants as affecting a fictional couple's relationship and sexual satisfaction. Participants were recruited from Amazon Mechanical Turk and included 239 heterosexual people (127 men, 112 women) with long-term relationship experience. Using a 3 (Level of Body Talk: Excessive vs. Minimal Fat Talk vs. Self-Accepting Talk) × 2 (Participant Gender: Male vs. Female) × 2 (Perspective: Husband vs. Wife) between-subjects design, participants read a vignette where the target woman used varying levels of body talk when speaking with her partner. Afterwards, participants completed a series of questionnaires to report on their perceptions of the couple's relationship and sexual satisfaction. Supporting hypotheses, results indicated that participants in the Excessive Fat Talk condition perceived lower relationship and sexual satisfaction levels than the Minimal Fat Talk and Self-Accepting Body Talk conditions. No differences emerged between those exposed to the Self-Accepting and Minimal Fat Talk vignette dialog. Male participants reported lower perceived relationship quality and sexual satisfaction than women participants. Research in this area is in its infancy, and more is needed (especially with actual couples) to better understand how fat talk, as a behavioral function of poor body image, impacts relationship functioning.

Keywords:  Fat talk; Relationship satisfaction; Romantic relationships; Sexual satisfaction

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eatbeh.2022.101603
Pers Soc Psychol Rev. 2022 Feb 28. 10888683221076688

Beyond Observation: Manipulating Circumstances to Detect Affordances and Infer Traits.

Cari M Pick, Steven L Neuberg.

  Social perceivers seek to understand the opportunities and threats others potentially afford-for example, whether a teammate will behave tenaciously or a romantic partner, faithfully. We typically detect affordances and draw trait inferences by observing behaviors that reveal or predict others' likely intentions and characteristics. However, detection and inference from simple observation are often difficult (e.g., even dishonest people are frequently honest, people often mask unpopular beliefs). In such cases, we propose that people test, actively manipulating others' circumstances to reveal hard-to-observe affordances and characteristics. The Observation-Testing Model is a framework predicting circumstances under which testing is more likely to happen, which affordances and characteristics are more likely to be tested for, and which people are more likely to test and be tested. We identify preliminary support for the model from a range of literatures (e.g., employment assessment, coming-of-age rituals, dating processes) and identify areas needing further research.

Keywords:  group processes; information gathering; interpersonal processes; observation-testing model; person perception

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1177/10888683221076688
Biol Psychol. 2022 Feb 28. pii: S0301-0511(22)00035-7. [Epub ahead of print] 108293

Androstadienone influences women's perception of happiness and anger on same-sex faces: Preliminary findings.

Yue Wu, Lijun Zheng, Caoyuan Niu.

  This study investigated whether androstadienone (AND) influences women's emotional perception of potential mates and rivals in a manner that promotes women's reproductive success. Sixty participants (29 in the fertile phase and 31 in the luteal phase) rated their perception of happiness, sadness, anger and sexual arousal from male and female neutral faces during exposure to AND or control solution on two consecutive days. The results showed that AND led women to perceive neutral female faces as unhappier, regardless of their menstrual cycle phase. In addition, AND led women in the fertile phase (i.e., periovulatory phase) to perceive more anger from neutral female faces. Further, no AND-effects were found on the emotional perception of male faces, nor were there perceptions of the sadness or sexual arousal in female faces. These findings may suggest that AND influences women's cognitive processing that can benefit women from staying away from potential threats or preparing to reduce the costs of intrasexual competition.

Keywords:  Androstadienone; Anger; Happiness; Intrasexual competition; Menstrual cycle

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2022.108293
Acta Psychol (Amst). 2022 Feb 24. pii: S0001-6918(22)00064-6. [Epub ahead of print]225 103549

Dark personality and intimate partner relationships in young adults.

Laura Ferreiros, Miguel Clemente.

  People with dark personality traits tend to be unsympathetic, manipulative, and violent, and this can affect their intimate partner relationships. The objective of this research is to analyze how the presence of the dark personality traits affects young people's intimate couple relationships. Sociodemographic variables, sexual practices, and tendencies towards the partner, moral disengagement (PMD), and the dark personality traits were assessed in 308 participants, all of them aged between 18 and 25, of whom 78.3% were women and 21.2% were men. Men obtained higher scores than women both in moral disengagement and dark personality traits, as did people who were unfaithful or who consumed pornographic content, which conditions the quality of couple relationships. Consistent with this, men with higher levels of dark personality traits and higher use of a moral disengagement mechanism also presented a greater tendency towards infidelity, especially repeated infidelity. Infidelity is highly related to the presence of dark personality traits, unrestricted socio-sexuality, and having more sexual partners. These results aid in the design of interventions to prevent sexual harassment and abuse in young people and their intimate partner relationships.

Keywords:  Dark personality traits; Moral disengagement; Partner relationship; Violence prevention; Young adults

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2022.103549
Arch Sex Behav. 2022 Mar 01.

Attitudes Toward and Willingness to Engage in Consensual Non-Monogamy (CNM) Among African Americans Who Have Never Engaged in CNM.

Noelle M St Vil, Kelly N Giles.

  Research on consensual non-monogamy (CNM) has largely focused on CNM behavior, while less attention has been given to attitudes toward and willingness to engage in CNM. Additionally, the study of CNM among African Americans is underexplored. Through an online survey study, we examined the correlates of attitudes toward and willingness to engage in CNM among African Americans who have never engaged in CNM, as attitudes and willingness provide insight into future behavior and stigmatization of CNM. We also assessed open-ended responses of reasons given for considering or not considering CNM engagement. A total of 904 African Americans between the ages of 18-40 participated in this study. Regressions were utilized to determine the correlates of attitudes toward and willingness to engage in CNM. Sexual orientation and gender were significant predictors of attitudes toward CNM. Age, sexual orientation, and gender were significant predictors of willingness to engage in CNM. Qualitative analyses revealed three themes among those who have considered engaging in CNM: (1) always been curious or had fantasies about trying a threesome, swinging, or open relationship, (2) thinks it would be fun, provides excitement, and can improve the relationship, and (3) would consider it under the right circumstances. Most participants reported never considering CNM engagement for the following reasons: (1) CNM is inconsistent with religious beliefs, morals, or values, (2) is just not for me, (3) it's the same as cheating, (4) committed to partner, (5) the belief that CNM increases risk of HIV/STIs, and (6) that CNM causes drama.

Keywords:  African Americans; Attitudes; Consensual non-monogamy; Willingness

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-021-02268-2
Sex Health. 2022 Mar 03.

Traversing TechSex: benefits and risks in digitally mediated sex and relationships.

Jennifer Power, Lily Moor, Joel Anderson, Andrea Waling, Alexandra James, Nicole Shackleton, Anne-Maree Farrell, Elizabeth Agnew, Gary W Dowsett.

BACKGROUND: Digital technologies play a significant role in people's sexual and intimate lives via smart phones, cameras, dating apps and social media. Although there is a large body of research on the potential risks posed by these technologies, research on benefits and pleasures is limited.
METHODS: This study explored digital sexual practices, including perceptions of risks and benefits among a sample of Australian adults (n=445). Data were collected in 2020 via an online survey. Descriptive and bivariate analyses were undertaken to identify significant relationships between demographic variables and the use of technologies in relation to perceived risks and benefits. The mean age of participants was 42 years, over half were women (58.5%) and identified as heterosexual (61.1%).
RESULTS: Findings reveal that use of digital media was common in participants' sex lives and relationships; 60.3% of participants had viewed pornography online, 34.9% had used dating apps, and 33.9% had sent sexual or naked self-images to another person. Over one in three reported positive outcomes from this: 38.2% felt emotionally connected to their partners due to online communication; 38.0% agreed that digital technologies facilitated closer connections;however, the majority of participants were aware of potential risks associated with online sexual engagement, particularly non-consensual exposure of their sexual or naked images, with women expressing greater concern.
CONCLUSIONS: Policy, legal and educational responses should be based on holistic understanding of digital sexual engagement, acknowledging the ways in which technologies can support sexual relationships while also building people's knowledge and capacity to manage risks.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1071/SH21220
J Interpers Violence. 2022 Feb 28. 8862605211073715

Predictors of Revictimization in Online Dating.

Fatemeh Fereidooni, Judith Daniels, Miriam Lommen.

  Introduction: While a significant association between childhood maltreatment and sexual victimization in adulthood has been established in previous research, it is unknown whether this also applies to the context of online dating. Therefore, we aimed to investigate whether revictimization is common in online users and which mechanisms mediate this risk. Method: The participants were 413 heterosexual women aged between 18 and 35 who used mobile dating applications in the year before the assessment. The participants reported information on using mobile dating applications, motives for engaging in casual sex, protective dating strategies, and general motives for online dating. Results: Childhood maltreatment severity was positively related to both cyber and in-person sexual victimization severity. Motives related to regulating negative affect and self-esteem mediated the relationship between childhood maltreatment severity and in-person sexual victimization severity in adulthood. Furthermore, those motives moderated the association between cyber and in-person sexual victimization. The effect of cyber victimization on in-person sexual victimization was stronger at higher levels of affect/self-esteem regulatory sex motives compared to lower levels. The affect/self-esteem regulatory sex motives were not related to protective dating strategies. Discussion: The results of the study imply that a history of childhood maltreatment is a risk factor for sexual victimization in adulthood among young heterosexual women who use online dating. One of the factors linking these variables in this population might be affect/self-esteem regulatory sex motives. Future studies should aim at replicating these associations prospectively.

Keywords:  affect/self-esteem regulatory sex motives; childhood maltreatment; online dating; revictimization; sexual victimization in adulthood

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1177/08862605211073715
Cult Health Sex. 2022 Mar 04. 1-14

Interpersonal scripts and sexual communication: experiences and perspectives of young people in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Elizaveta Dyachenko.

  In Russia, young adults face many barriers that prevent them from accessing reliable and up-to-date knowledge about what sexual communication between partners can look like. This may lead to episodes of sexual miscommunication, which in turn sometimes result in sexual aggression. The study aimed to identify how following prevalent sexual scripts facilitates clear sexual communication or alternatives leads to miscommunication between Russian young adults. Individual in-depth interviews were conducted with 14 women and 11 men aged 19-25 years living in St. Petersburg (Russia) who had had at least one sexual partner of the opposite sex. Data were analysed thematically. Four themes were developed from the interviews: (1) endorsing (or not endorsing) traditional sexual scripts, (2) the presence or absence of sexual compliance, (3) softening refusal of sexual contact or intercourse, (4) the belief that asking for consent is unusual. Findings indicate that patterns and clarity of sexual communication differ depending on the type of relationship (serious, casual, and other), its stage, and partners' beliefs. Study findings underscore the need for sex and sexuality education for young people in Russia.

Keywords:  Russia; Sexual Script Theory; Sexual communication; miscommunication; youth

DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1080/13691058.2022.2045037