bims-chumac Biomed News
on Context effects on human mate choice
Issue of 2022–01–09
nine papers selected by
Thomas Krichel, Open Library Society
  1. Mixed and conflicted: The role of ambivalence in romantic relationships in light of attractive alternatives.
  2. Single and Partnered Individuals' Sexual Satisfaction as a Function of Sexual Desire and Activities: Results Using a Sexual Satisfaction Scale Demonstrating Measurement Invariance Across Partnership Status.
  3. Observer Gaze Patterns of Patient Photos Pre- and Post-Facial Feminization.
  4. Adolescent reproductive attitudes and knowledge effects on early adult unintended and nonmarital fertility across gender.
  5. BDSM, Non-Monogamy, Consent, and Stigma Navigation: Narrative Experiences.
  6. Friendship, Mating, and Reputation in U.S. College Sororities: Exploring Female Intrasexual Competition and Cooperation.
  7. Lip color affects ERP components in temporal face perception processing.
  8. The Prevalence of BDSM in Finland and the Association between BDSM Interest and Personality Traits.
  9. Sex and Relationships Pre- and Early- COVID-19 Pandemic: Findings from a Probability Sample of U.S. Undergraduate Students.
  1. Emotion. 2022 Jan 06.
    Mixed and conflicted: The role of ambivalence in romantic relationships in light of attractive alternatives.
    Giulia Zoppolat, Ruddy Faure, María Alonso-Ferres, Francesca Righetti.
      People in romantic relationships tend to have positive feelings toward their partner and want their relationship to last. However, maintaining a romantic relationship over time is challenging, and people can often experience mixed and conflicting feelings (i.e., ambivalence) toward their significant other. While research has identified the serious consequences that ambivalence can have for personal and relational well-being, very little is known about the factors that can lead people to experience ambivalence in relationships. The present work examines how extradyadic desire (i.e., desire for someone other than the partner), a common difficulty people face in the context of monogamy, is a situation in which people feel more ambivalent toward their partner. In three studies (N = 1,178) using experimental, daily diary, and longitudinal approaches, we find that feelings of desire for an attractive alternative increase ambivalence toward the current partner, above and beyond how much people actually value their partner, and that this has short- and long-term negative consequences for personal and relational well-being. Furthermore, while most people could identify an attractive alternative in their life, desire for the alternative-rather than just their presence-seems to play a stronger role in increasing ambivalence. This work highlights the emotional processes through which attractive alternatives pose a threat to romantic relationships and the role that ambivalence plays in daily life and over time. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0001055
  2. Arch Sex Behav. 2022 Jan 08.
    Single and Partnered Individuals' Sexual Satisfaction as a Function of Sexual Desire and Activities: Results Using a Sexual Satisfaction Scale Demonstrating Measurement Invariance Across Partnership Status.
    Yoobin Park, Geoff MacDonald.
      Although some evidence exists to suggest that single (i.e., unpartnered) individuals are less sexually satisfied on average than are partnered individuals, it is unclear whether the variables correlating with each group's sexual satisfaction are similar or different. This research sought to examine how desire for and actual engagement in solitary and partnered sexual activities are associated with both groups' sexual satisfaction. We first conducted a preliminary study (n = 572) to test and refine existing measures of sexual satisfaction for applicability across relationship status. In two follow-up studies (N = 1,238), measurement invariance (across relationship status and gender) of the resulting 4-item sexual satisfaction scale was established. Further, results across the studies showed that for singles dyadic sexual desire was negatively related to sexual satisfaction, whereas no significant link was found with solitary desire. For individuals in romantic relationships, having higher sexual desire involving a partner and lower solitary desire were both associated with greater sexual satisfaction. When analyzing participants' responses on the desired and actual frequency of engaging in specific sexual acts, we found that for both single and partnered individuals, frequent engagement in partnered acts was associated with greater sexual satisfaction. Wanting frequent engagement in partnered acts was associated with lower sexual satisfaction for both groups, but only if the current frequency of engaging in these acts was low. These findings suggest that at least during the COVID-19 pandemic, meeting desires for partnered sex plays an important role in maintaining a sexually satisfying life, regardless of one's relationship status.
    Keywords:  Relationship status; Sexual desire; Sexual satisfaction; Singlehood
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-021-02153-y
  3. Aesthet Surg J. 2022 Jan 05. pii: sjab434. [Epub ahead of print]
    Observer Gaze Patterns of Patient Photos Pre- and Post-Facial Feminization.
    Nikita Gupta, Hannah White, Skylar Trott, Jeffrey H Spiegel.
       BACKGROUND: Human interaction begins with the visual evaluation of others, and this often centers on the face. Objective measurement of this evaluation gives clues to social perception.
    OBJECTIVES: The objective was to use eye-tracking technology to evaluate if there are scanpath differences when observers view faces of men, women, and transgender women pre- and post-facial feminization surgery (FFS) including when assigning tasks assessing femininity, attractiveness, and likability.
    METHODS: Undergraduate psychology students were prospectively recruited as observers at a single institution. Using eye-tracking technology, they were presented frontal images of prototypical male, prototypical female, and pre- and post-FFS face photos in a random order and then with prompting to assess femininity, attractiveness, and likability.
    RESULTS: Twenty-seven observers performed the tasks. Participants focused their attention more on the central triangle of post-operative and prototypical female images and forehead of pre-operative and prototypical male images. Higher femininity ratings were associated with longer proportional fixations to the central triangle and lower proportional fixations to the forehead.
    CONCLUSIONS: This preliminary study implies the scanpath for viewing a post-FFS face is closer to that for viewing a prototypical female than a prototypical male based on differences viewing the forehead and brow versus the central triangle.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1093/asj/sjab434
  4. Adv Life Course Res. 2021 Dec;pii: 100430. [Epub ahead of print]50
    Adolescent reproductive attitudes and knowledge effects on early adult unintended and nonmarital fertility across gender.
    Karen Benjamin Guzzo, Sarah R Hayford.
      Theory and evidence suggest strong short-term effects of attitudes toward, and knowledge about, reproduction on women's fertility. Adolescent attitudes and knowledge may also have longer-term implications about the contexts women perceive as appropriate for childbearing and their capacity to manage their preferences. Although previous research on men's fertility is limited, theory would suggest the links between adolescent attitudes and knowledge and subsequent fertility would also exist for men (though perhaps in different ways given the gendered meanings of sex, contraception, and reproduction). We analyze the relationship between reproductive attitudes and knowledge in adolescence and unintended and nonmarital first and second births in early adulthood, using the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (N = 9,431). Adolescent reproductive attitudes, especially life course consequences of early childbearing, predict the intendedness and marital status of first and second births. Adolescent reproductive knowledge is more often linked to the context of second births than first births. These associations vary by gender, but the overall results suggest that fertility schemas developed during adolescence predict behavior into early adulthood.
    Keywords:  Gender; Nonmarital fertility; Schemas; Unintended fertility
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.alcr.2021.100430
  5. Arch Sex Behav. 2022 Jan 07.
    BDSM, Non-Monogamy, Consent, and Stigma Navigation: Narrative Experiences.
    Thomson J Ling, Christina J Geiger, Jessica M Hauck, Savanna M Daquila, Jenna E Pattison.
      With the rise in popularity of media pieces depicting alternative sexual/relationship preferences, there has been a rise in interest in kink and BDSM (Sprott & Berkey, 2015), which corresponds with research suggesting that approximately 20% of Americans have been in a consensually non-monogamous relationship (Haupert et al., 2016). Despite this growing popularity, these populations are often stigmatized and misunderstood (Bettinger, 2002). The present study examined the self-reported experiences of individuals who have participated in kink, BDSM, non-monogamy, and/or polyamory. Specifically, the study used qualitative methodology to examine narratives of discrimination, harassment, coming out, being outed, consent violations, and/or sexual assault in a BDSM or non-monogamous encounter. Participants consisted of 67 adults who completed an online survey conducted by the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom and were asked to provide narratives of their experience. Data were analyzed using a modified consensual qualitative research methodology (CQR-M; Spangler et al., 2012). Results indicated 11 categories falling into three domains: navigating incidents (consent issues, negotiation of scenes or relationships, identity/beliefs about coming out, and reporting), contributing factors (role of social media/media, exacerbating factors, and beliefs about the community), and response/prevention (outcome of incident, emotions felt, lessons learned from incident by the participant, and what would be helpful from the community). This study contributes to our understanding of the experiences in this community and elucidates strategies that can be used to intervene and advocate for these populations, including education of the general public and deliberate community support.
    Keywords:  BDSM; Consent; Discrimination; Kink; Non-monogamy
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-021-02191-6
  6. Arch Sex Behav. 2022 Jan 03.
    Friendship, Mating, and Reputation in U.S. College Sororities: Exploring Female Intrasexual Competition and Cooperation.
    Nicole H Hess.
      
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-021-02260-w
  7. J Integr Neurosci. 2021 Dec 30. 20(4): 1029-1038
    Lip color affects ERP components in temporal face perception processing.
    Hideaki Tanaka.
      This brief report investigates the relationship between the lip color of women's faces and the latency and amplitude of the P1, N170, and early posterior negativity of event-related potential components. To show different color lipsticks affect face perception processing, we used EEG to observe these event-related potential components in 19 participants exposed to visual stimuli under four conditions: red lips, yellow lips, blue lips, and no-makeup. The results indicate a significantly higher attractiveness score for red lips than the other three conditions and a significantly shorter P1 peak latency for red lips than blue lips or no-makeup. This may reflect that red lips attract attention more than blue or natural lips in the early stages of face processing. The results indicate that the peak of early posterior negativity for red lips occurred significantly longer than for yellow lips, blue lips, or no-makeup. Early posterior negativity amplitudes were significantly larger to red lips than blue lips or no-makeup. These results may indicate that, at later stages of face processing, the high attractiveness of red lips is associated with slower and careful processing. In contrast, blue lips, which have a low attractiveness score, are processed speedily and carelessly. These present results suggest a novel possibility that P1 and early posterior negativity can be used as a biomarker for temporal face perception processing of facial attractiveness in the human brain.
    Keywords:  Early posterior negativity; Event-related potential; Lip color; N170; P1; Temporal face perception processing, EEG
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.31083/j.jin2004104
  8. J Sex Res. 2022 Jan 07. 1-9
    The Prevalence of BDSM in Finland and the Association between BDSM Interest and Personality Traits.
    Markus Paarnio, Nils Sandman, Marianne Källström, Ada Johansson, Patrick Jern.
      According to previous research, interest in BDSM (Bondage-Discipline, Dominance-Submission and Sadomasochism) activities is high in several European countries and various BDSM practices are not uncommon. There is a limited amount of research on the personalities of BDSM practitioners, but in previous research practitioners have been found to have better overall well-being and to be more educated than the general population. The current study explored the prevalence of BDSM interest and practice in a Finnish sample (n = 8,137, age range 18-60, M = 30.14, SD = 8.08) and investigated the association between BDSM interest and personality measured with the six-factor personality measure HEXACO. A total of 38% of the sample was interested in BDSM sex and non-heterosexual individuals displayed almost twice as much interest and at most 83% more participation in BDSM than heterosexual individuals. Younger participants (18-28 years old) displayed almost three times as much interest than older participants. There were some associations between BDSM interest and personality factors, but the effect sizes of these associations were modest. The study shows that BDSM interest is quite common among the Finnish population.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2021.2015745
  9. Arch Sex Behav. 2022 Jan 03.
    Sex and Relationships Pre- and Early- COVID-19 Pandemic: Findings from a Probability Sample of U.S. Undergraduate Students.
    Debby Herbenick, Devon J Hensel, Heather Eastman-Mueller, Jonathon Beckmeyer, Tsung-Chieh Fu, Lucia Guerra-Reyes, Molly Rosenberg.
      In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, most U.S. colleges closed their campuses-including residence halls-causing significant disruption to students' lives. Two waves of data were collected from undergraduate students enrolled at a large U.S. Midwestern university: Wave 1 was a confidential online survey of 4989 randomly sampled undergraduate students collected in January/February 2020; Wave 2 was collected in April/May 2020 following campus closure. Our research aimed to: (1) assess how the COVID-19 related campus closure affected college students' romantic/sexual relationships, (2) examine students' past month sexual behaviors prior to the pandemic in comparison with their sexual behaviors during campus closure, and (3) compare participants' pre-pandemic event-level sexual behaviors with those occurring during campus closure. Of 2137 participants who completed both waves (49.8% women, mean age = 20.9), 2.6% were living at home in Wave 1 compared to 71.0% at Wave 2. Of those in relationships, 14.5% experienced a breakup and 25.3% stayed in their relationship but returned home to different cities. There were no statistically significant differences in participants' prior month reports of solo masturbation or sending/receiving nude/sexy images between Waves 1 and 2; however, participation in oral, vaginal, and anal sex significantly decreased across waves. Examining participants' most recent sexual events, Wave 2 sex more often occurred with a cohabiting or relationship partner and was rated as more wanted, emotionally intimate, and orgasmic. Implications for sexual health professionals are discussed.
    Keywords:  COVID-19; College students; Coronavirus; Living arrangements; Relationships; Sexual behavior
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-021-02265-5
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