bims-chumac 2022-12-25 papers

Issue of 2022–12–25
six papers selected by
Thomas Krichel, Open Library Society

Pers Soc Psychol Bull. 2022 Dec 21. 1461672221135955

The Role of Accurate Self-Assessments in Optimizing Mate Choice.

Kaitlyn T Harper, Fiona Stanley, Morgan J Sidari, Anthony J Lee, Brendan P Zietsch.

Individuals are thought to seek the best possible romantic partner in exchange for their own desirability. We investigated whether individuals' self-evaluations were related to their partner choices and whether the accuracy of these self-evaluations was associated with mating outcomes. Participants (N = 1,354) took part in a speed-dating study where they rated themselves and others on mate value and indicated their willingness to date each potential partner. Individuals were somewhat accurate in their self-evaluations, and these self-evaluations were associated with individuals' revealed minimum and maximum standards for a potential partner, but not the number of partners they were interested in. Participants who overestimated their mate value were accepted by an equivalent number of partners compared with under-estimators, but the over-estimators were choosier and thus ended up with fewer (but similarly attractive) reciprocal matches. Results support social exchange theory and the matching hypothesis, and contrast findings that self-enhancement facilitates positive social outcomes.

Keywords: attraction; dating; mate choice; self-perception; social exchange theory

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/01461672221135955

Heliyon. 2022 Dec;8(12): e12169

What potential traits do adolescents and early adults look for in mate preferences?

Muhammad Rehan Masoom.

There are universal sex differences in mate preferences. Mostly, women will prioritize greater financial prospects, but men will emphasize physical attractiveness. However, we know little about whether these preferences remain stable in adolescence and early adulthood. The study examines whether these universal differences between men and women in mate preferences can be found in Bangladesh and whether these differences are constant among adolescents and early adults. An online survey was conducted by using a structured close-ended questionnaire to collect data from males and females who were aged no more than 30, yet to be married, had at least a secondary education, and belonged to any religious faith. A total of 2017 people, 1059 males and 958 females, participated in the survey. Independent Samples t-tests were estimated to compare the mean scores of the traits of interest, while Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was used to reduce the dimensions to outline the possible factors that affect mate preferences. The results show that women of Bangladesh prioritize greater financial prospects, whereas men emphasize traits related to fertility and reproduction. However, unlike the universal trend, having a similar religious background is among the top-two priorities of both males and females. Factor-wise differentiation indicates that, compared with males, females emphasize attachment and sociability. In addition, adolescent females put greater emphasis on refinement and neatness, mutual attraction-love, and desire for home and children than early adult females. Compared with adolescent males, early adult males were found emphasizing more on having kind and understanding mates. Therefore, results support universal sex differences, but religion, culturally-defined gender roles, and social environment also affect mate preferences; sometimes people require making some trade-offs between preferences depending on the sociocultural context.

Keywords: Adolescents; Early adults; Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA); Mate preferences; Muslim-majority country

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e12169

Pers Individ Dif. 2022 Jan;184 111195

Wearing mask hinders emotion recognition, but enhances perception of attractiveness.

Pamela Parada-Fernández, David Herrero-Fernández, Richard Jorge, Patricia Comesaña.

The current global pandemic situation due to the Covid-19 has implied several consequences at all psychological levels. One of the main differences with respect to the pre-pandemic life in most of countries around the world is the obligation to wear a mask for citizens. This new habit could have several issues for human relationships. The current research aimed to explore the effect of wearing a mask on both emotion recognition and perception of attractiveness. Two hundred and two participants completed a task consisting of 24 face images presented twice, with and without mask. Of them, there were six images for emotion: anger, sadness, fear, and happiness. The results showed that emotion recognition was worse when wearing a face mask except for surprise: happiness, η2 = 0.84; anger, η2 = 0.74; anger, η2 = 52. Moreover, wearing a mask enhanced the perception of attractiveness both in male and female in all emotions except for happiness: sadness, η2 = 0.22; surprise, η2 = 0.05, and anger, η2 = 0.03. Finally, social implications and limitations of the study are discussed.

Keywords: Attractiveness; Covid-19; Emotion recognition; Mask

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2021.111195

Arch Sex Behav. 2022 Dec 21.

Sexual Behaviors, Satisfaction, and Intentions to Engage in Casual Sexual Relationships and Experiences in Emerging Adulthood.

Sophie E Hawkins, Haylee K DeLuca, Shannon E Claxton, Elizabeth A Baker.

The present study examined the role of sexual behavior and sexual satisfaction in casual sexual relationships and experiences (CSREs) on both immediate and long-term intentions to engage in further CSREs in a sample of emerging adults. We examined how four different operationalizations of sexual behavior (1) Penetrative sexual behaviors not including oral sex vs. non-penetrative sexual behaviors, (2) Penetrative sexual behaviors including oral sex vs. non-penetrative sexual behaviors, (3) Most sexually intimate behaviors, and (4) A sum score of sexual behaviors) and sexual satisfaction were associated with immediate intentions to engage in CSREs (measured during a five-day daily diary) and long-term intentions to engage in CSREs (measured one month later). Follow-up analyses examined intentions to engage in additional CSREs with a different partner. Our sample (N = 274) included both college-attending and non-college-attending emerging adults. Path analysis models indicated that more sexually intimate behaviors were associated with higher sexual satisfaction following a CSRE. Additionally, sexual satisfaction, but not type of sexual behavior, was associated with both immediate and long-term intentions to engage in CSREs above and beyond the effects of sample, gender, alcohol consumption, and previous CSREs. Follow-up analyses indicated that only alcohol consumption and gender were significantly associated with immediate intentions to engage in a CSRE, and only daily diary intentions and gender were significantly associated with long-term intentions to engage in a CSRE. Overall, these findings support previous research that suggests positive outcomes of a CSRE (sexual satisfaction) are associated with higher intentions to engage in future CSREs.

Keywords: Casual sex; Emerging adults; Intentions; Intentions to engage in CSREs; Sexual satisfaction

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-022-02508-z

Arch Sex Behav. 2022 Dec 22.

Impulsivity as a Predictor of Early Dating Initiation in 11-12-Year-Old Youth.

Elizabeth Kwon, Mathew C Aalsma, Tamika C B Zapolski, Patrick O Monahan, Leslie Hulvershorn.

As early initiation of dating behaviors is associated with risky sexual behaviors (e.g., higher number of sexual partners, sex with strangers), the current study examined determinants of early dating behaviors, focusing on impulsivity. Participants were 11-12-year-old boys (n = 109) and girls (n = 61) recruited from a psychiatric clinic and ads targeted to the general public. Ordered logistic regression models were used to examine the association between each facet of impulsivity (negative urgency, positive urgency, lack of premeditation, lack of perseverance, and sensation seeking) and dating behaviors. Youth with higher sensation seeking and negative urgency was more likely to initiate dating behaviors at early ages compared to those with lower scores on those measures. Further, we found that female gender and higher parental education were associated with lower risk of initiating dating behaviors at early age. Advanced pubertal development was associated with higher risk for early dating. Our findings can inform prevention efforts, identifying sensation seeking and negative urgency as predictors of youths' early engagement in dating behaviors, which can be a precursor of early sexual debut and risky sexual behaviors.

Keywords: Adolescent; Early dating; Impulsivity; Romantic relationship; UPPS

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-022-02495-1

Sex Cult. 2022 Dec 08. 1-14

Sexual Debut Ages in Heterosexual Norwegians Across Six Birth Cohorts.

Nantje Fischer, Bente Træen, Sven Ove Samuelsen.

This study aims to estimate six different sexual debut ages in heterosexual Norwegians in six birth cohorts of the general population in Norway. The results are based on a 2020 national web panel survey of 18-89-year-olds in Norway (n = 4160). There was a general decline in the median debut age from those aged 70+ to those 18-29 (born 1991-2002). Oral sex with a female partner has become increasingly common among men at an earlier age across generations. The same pattern was found in women as well with regard to oral sex with a male partner and receptive anal sex. There was a slight increase in median debut age in 18-29-year-olds for receptive vaginal sex (born 1991-2002). The median debut age for vaginal sex was fairly stable for generations of men and women born after 1950.

Keywords: Anal sex debut age; General population; Oral sex debut age; Vaginal sex debut age

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-022-10045-z