bims-chumac 2021-04-18 papers

Issue of 2021–04–18
four papers selected by
Thomas Krichel, Open Library Society

Arch Sex Behav. 2021 Apr 13.

The Role of Vision in the Emergence of Mate Preferences.

Meike Scheller, Francine Matorres, Anthony C Little, Lucy Tompkins, Alexandra A de Sousa.

Cross-cultural research has repeatedly demonstrated sex differences in the importance of partner characteristics when choosing a mate. Men typically report higher preferences for younger, more physically attractive women, while women typically place more importance on a partner's status and wealth. As the assessment of such partner characteristics often relies on visual cues, this raises the question whether visual experience is necessary for sex-specific mate preferences to develop. To shed more light onto the emergence of sex differences in mate choice, the current study assessed how preferences for attractiveness, resources, and personality factors differ between sighted and blind individuals using an online questionnaire. We further investigate the role of social factors and sensory cue selection in these sex differences. Our sample consisted of 94 sighted and blind participants with different ages of blindness onset: 19 blind/28 sighted males and 19 blind/28 sighted females. Results replicated well-documented findings in the sighted, with men placing more importance on physical attractiveness and women placing more importance on status and resources. However, while physical attractiveness was less important to blind men, blind women considered physical attractiveness as important as sighted women. The importance of a high status and likeable personality was not influenced by sightedness. Blind individuals considered auditory cues more important than visual cues, while sighted males showed the opposite pattern. Further, relationship status and indirect, social influences were related to preferences. Overall, our findings shed light on the availability of visual information for the emergence of sex differences in mate preference.

Keywords: Blindness; Mate preferences; Partner choice; Sensory cues; Sex differences; Visual impairment

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-020-01901-w

Pers Soc Psychol Bull. 2021 Apr 15. 1461672211007229

Phenotypic Mimicry Distinguishes Cues of Mating Competition From Paternal Investment in Men's Conspicuous Consumption.

Daniel J Kruger.

Evolutionary psychologists propose that men's conspicuous consumption facilitates mate attraction because it predicts resource investment in offspring. This article elaborates on the ultimate functions of men's luxury displays based on Life History Theory. Three studies provide evidence for phenotypic mimicry, in which consumer product features mimicking male secondary sex characteristics indicate investment in mating competition, at the expense of paternal investment. Men owning shirts with larger luxury brand logos were rated higher on mating effort, lower on parental investment, higher on interest in brief sexual affairs, lower on interest in long-term committed romantic relationships, higher in attractiveness to women for brief sexual affairs, lower in attractiveness to women for long-term committed relationships, and higher in developmental environment unpredictability compared with men owning shirts displaying a smaller logo. Participants recognized the strategic use of luxury display properties across social contexts but did not consistently associate product properties with owners' physiological characteristics.

Keywords: conspicuous consumption; mating effort; parental investment; secondary sex characteristics

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/01461672211007229

Cogn Emot. 2021 Apr 15. 1-16

Facial coloration influences social approach-avoidance through social perception.

Christopher A Thorstenson, Adam D Pazda.

Perceptions of others' social characteristics are essential for guiding social behaviour and decision making. Recent research has demonstrated that increased facial redness facilitates both positive (e.g. health, attractiveness, happiness) and negative (e.g. dominance, anger) social evaluations. Given that similar facial colouration can lead to diverging evaluations, it is unclear how people integrate these cues to inform social decisions (e.g. approach-avoidance). We suggest that the influence of facial redness on social perceptions and decisions depends on contextual information, including facial-muscular emotion expressions. We test this hypothesis across two studies where participants view faces either increasing or decreasing redness, evaluate them on a range of social characteristics (i.e. aggressiveness, attractiveness, health, friendliness, dominance) and decide whether to approach or avoid them. Increased facial redness facilitated, and decreased redness impeded (to a greater extent), perceptions of each social characteristic. However, the extent of this influence was moderated by the muscular expression (i.e. neutral, happy, angry). Further, we found that the influence of facial redness on approach-avoidance was largely mediated by evaluations of attractiveness and health. Altogether, the current work provides nuanced insights into facial colouration's role as a social signal that informs social perception and decision making.

Keywords: Face color; approach; attractiveness; avoidance; social perception

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02699931.2021.1914554

Fam Process. 2021 Apr 17.

Iranian women's divorce style: A qualitative study.

Somayeh Jaberi, Ozra Etemadi, Maryam Fatehizade, Ali Rabbani Khorasgani.

Divorce has received scant attention in Iran, despite the problems that arise for individuals and families and in social life. The present study aimed to find the divorce process of the Iranian couples among whom the woman was the divorce initiator. For this purpose, interviews were conducted, using the grounded theory method, with 34 Iranian divorcing men and women (women initiating a divorce and their spouses) to investigate their divorce experience. The results revealed that the psychological, communication, cultural, and social factors involved in the divorce phenomenon were observed in five stages: (1) emergence of thinking about divorce, (2) hesitation on stay, (3) difficult decision-making, (4) separation, and (5) legal action. Despite more restrictive laws and more complicated social conditions for women initiating divorce than men, the number of women initiating the divorce is increasing in the changing cultural context of Iran. Therefore, we hope that our results on the divorce process help couples, families, and especially professionals plan preventive measures and develop clinical interventions targeting marriage and marital relationships.

Keywords: Divorce Process; Grounded Theory; Women Initiating Divorce; mujeres que inician el divorcio; proceso de divorcio; teoría fundamentada; 女性提出离婚的; 扎根理论; 离婚过程中

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/famp.12655