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This article attends to recent discussions of validity in psychometric research on human life history strategy (LHS), provides a constructive critique of the extant literature, and describes strategies for improving construct validity. To place the psychometric study of human LHS on more solid ground, our review indicates that researchers should (a) use approaches to psychometric modeling that are consistent with their philosophies of measurement, (b) confirm the dimensionality of life history indicators, and (c) establish measurement invariance for at least a subset of indicators. Because we see confirming the dimensionality of life history indicators as the next step toward placing the psychometrics of human LHS on more solid ground, we use nationally representative data and structural equation modeling to test the structure of middle adult life history indicators. We found statistically independent mating competition and Super-K dimensions and the effects of parental harshness and childhood unpredictability on Super-K were consistent with past research. However, childhood socioeconomic status had a moderate positive effect on mating competition and no effect on Super-K, while unpredictability did not predict mating competition. We conclude that human LHS is more complex than previously suggested—there does not seem to be a single dimension of human LHS among Western adults and the effects of environmental components seem to vary between mating competition and Super-K.

A growing body of empirical literature supports the validity of psychometric assessments of human life history strategies, but no comprehensive quantitative summaries have yet been published. We present a psychometric validation study of a 20-item Short-Form of the Arizona Life History Battery (ALHB), the Mini-K, using metaanalytic procedures to survey a multiplicity of published and unpublished studies on English-speaking North American college student samples. Correlations between the Mini-K with other measures of related constructs describe the dimensions of the

We present a psychometric scale that assesses risk-taking in 10 evolutionary content domains: between-group competition, within-group competition, status-power, environmental exploration, food selection, food acquisition, parent-offspring conflict, kinship, mate attraction, and mate retention. We report on three studies that evaluate the scale’s validity and consistency for a sample of 1,326 participants who rated their likelihood of engagement in, the perceived riskiness of, and the benefit associated with various risky activities. Behaviors were framed as modern-day analogues of qualitatively similar actions in recurring problem domains of the ancestral environment that were potentially beneficial but also potentially costly to survival and reproductive success. As expected, respondents’ degree of risk-taking was not consistently riskaverse or risk-seeking across content domains, and a set of eight life-history variables had domain-specific effects on risk-taking propensity. In most domains, men were significantly more risk-seeking than women, but in 2 of the 10 domains—food selection and kinship risks—women were more risk-prone than men. Participants who reported not being married or in a committed relationship scored significantly higher in the domains of mate attraction and mate retention. Age, reproductive goalsetting, parental status, number of siblings, and birth order also affected the formation of risk thresholds.

Studies of patriarchy typically focus on women’s subordination to men and the detrimental consequences for females. In this study, however, the authors predict that greater social empowerment of women will be associated with smaller mortality differences between women and men, which may seem counterintuitive from a nonevolutionary perspective. In other words, they predict that higher levels of societal patriarchy will be associated with greater levels of excess male mortality. They propose that the degree of patriarchy reflects both the extent of male control of females as reproductive assets, as well as the degree of male competition for positions of high status and power that have historically conferred disproportionate reproductive benefits. The intensity of this male competition directly predicts the extent to which male mortality rates exceed female mortality rates. The authors examined national level sociodemographic and mortality data from the WHO Mortality Database, United Nations, CIA World Factbook, and the Encyclopedia of World Cultures. They found that across nations, women’s social and economic empowerment had a strong inverse relationship with the disparity between male and female mortality from both external (direct behavioral) and (behaviorally mediated) internal causes, even when accounting for general economic inequality and the prevalence of polygyny. This study demonstrates the usefulness of an evolutionary framework for explaining contemporary social phenomena and important public health issues.

While sleep research has focused primarily on aspects of the immediate physical environment and behavioral factors, a growing body of evidence suggests that broader social determinants may play an important role in sleep insufficiency. Yet public health education efforts for sleep largely address &ldquo, sleep hygiene&rdquo, with an emphasis on information for getting a good night&rsquo, s rest. The Flint Sleep Project employed community-based-participatory research methods to try to understand more about the sleep experiences of residents of an urban community reporting sleep insufficiency. The academic and community partner developed recruitment materials with community residents. The focus group protocol also utilized community input. Seven focus groups, with a total of 70 participants, were conducted. When asked about their view of causes for poor sleep, participants identified a range of stressors reflective of social determinants. Economic, safety, and future insecurity were the dominant themes emerging across all seven discussions. Participants also expressed feeling a lack of control over important aspects of their lives. Interventions to improve sleep are more likely to be effective if they include the perspectives of the community. A community-based approach offers opportunities for community empowerment and engagement that can improve efforts at sleep health promotion.

Father involvement reduces risky youth behavior at the individual level. We examine the association between the scarcity of adult men and youth violence at the Census Tract level across a small midwestern city experiencing decades of economic adversity and high rates of violence. We calculated the ratio of men to women aged 25–64 years and indicators of concentrated disadvantage across residential Census Tracts with 2000 U.S. Decennial Census data and the average monthly assault rates for those aged 10–24 years between June 2006 and December 2008 with data from the local police department. Adult male scarcity and the proportion of individuals aged 25 years or older who had less than a high school degree were the two unique predictors of youth assault rates, together explaining 69% of the variance. Interventions promoting effective social, material, and protective support from fathers and other adult male role models may ameliorate risk for youth violence. C

There is growing interest in a feminist perspective on evolutionary research, yet no clear consensus on exactly what this viewpoint entails. We present a framework with three core components for the purpose of generating a constructive dialogue regarding this approach: 1) Think critically about sex and gender, and do not adopt assumptions, regardless of the source, without supportive evidence; 2) Explicitly recognize females as active agents in evolutionary processes; 3) Explicitly recognize women as active agents in human dynamics, including those related to inter-sexual selection and intra-sexual competition. Adoption of these principles may help advance understanding across disciplines, though there may be some feminists and even some evolutionary researchers who will balk at some or all of these principles.

We hypothesize that distinct mating strategies are identifiable in the female characters created by popular British author Jane Austen. Although Austen wrote her novels in the early 19 th Century, and consequently the novels reflect social constraints not applicable to similarly aged women in modern Western societies, we contend that research participants can accurately identify the mating strategies of characters and express relationship preferences consistent with their own fitness interests. Austen's characterizations of women's mating strategies are remarkably similar to depictions in the modern literature of evolutionary psychology. We use personality descriptions of four primary characters assembled from passages in Austen’s novels, Pride and Prejudice and Mansfield Park. When selecting characters with whom to form a hypothetical long-term romantic relationship, participants preferentially chose those who successfully established longterm relationships in the novels. Participants generally favored characters who exemplified short-term mating strategies, such as those who generally valued partners more so for the direct benefits they provided rather than emotional connection, for noncommitted sexual relationships. These results provide stronger empirical support of our hypotheses than earlier efforts.

Men may have evolved to specialize in short-term "cad" and long-term "dad" mating strategies. We hypothesized that dog ownership would increase the long-term attractiveness of men, especially for cads, as this would signal nurturance and suggest tendencies for relationship commitment. Women read vignettes in an experiment with four conditions varying by male mat- ing strategy described (dad vs. cad) and dog ownership (yes vs. no mention). Dog ownership and the dad vignette increased ratings of long-term attractiveness. Higher ratings of long-term attrac- tiveness for cads were mediated by lower ratings of the character on tendencies for a short-term mating strategy.

Objective We investigated the user requirements of African-American youth (aged 14–24 years) to inform the design of a culturally appropriate, network-based informatics intervention for the prevention of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STI). Materials and Methods We conducted 10 focus groups with 75 African-American youth from a city with high HIV/STI prevalence. Data analyses involved coding using qualitative content analysis procedures and memo writing. Results Unexpectedly, the majority of participants' design recommendations concerned trust. Youth expressed distrust towards people and groups, which was amplified within the context of information technology-mediated interactions about HIV/STI. Participants expressed distrust in the reliability of condoms and the accuracy of HIV tests. They questioned the benevolence of many institutions, and some rejected authoritative HIV/STI information. Therefore, reputational information, including rumor, influenced HIV/STI-related decision making. Participants' design requirements also focused on trust-related concerns. Accordingly, we developed a novel trust-centered design framework to guide intervention design. Discussion Current approaches to online trust for health informatics do not consider group-level trusting patterns. Yet, trust was the central intervention-relevant issue among African-American youth, suggesting an important focus for culturally informed design. Our design framework incorporates: intervention objectives (eg, network embeddedness, participation); functional specifications (eg, decision support, collective action, credible question and answer services); and interaction design (eg, member control, offline network linkages, optional anonymity). Conclusions Trust is a critical focus for HIV/STI informatics interventions for young African Americans. Our design framework offers practical, culturally relevant, and systematic guidance to designers to reach this underserved group better.

High rates of youth pregnancy and STIs play a major role in the physical, mental, and emotional health of young people. Despite efforts to provide sexuality education through diverse channels, we know little about the ways in which young people perceive school- and community-based efforts to educate them about sexual health. Forty-eight African-American young people participated in six focus groups to discuss their sexuality education experiences. Three major themes emerged that highlight experiences and perspectives on optimal strategies for promoting sexual health. These themes were: 1) experiences with school-based sexuality education (SBSE); 2) seeking information outside of schools; and 3) general principles of youth-centered sexuality education. Young people in the focus groups expressed their varying satisfaction with SBSE due to the restricted content covered and lack of comfort with the instruction methods. Participants described how they reached outside of SBSE for sexuality education, turning to those in the community, including local organisations, health care providers, and peers, also expressing variability in satisfaction with these sources. Finally, participants identified three important principles for youth-centred sexuality education: trust and confidentiality, credibility, and self-determination. These findings give voice to the often-unheard perspectives of African-American young people. Based on their responses, it is possible to gain a better understanding of the optimal combination of school, family, peer and community-based efforts to support them as they move towards adulthood.

Introduction Little is known about the role of positive financial behaviors (behaviors that allow maintenance of financial stability with financial resources) in mitigating cost-related nonadherence (CRN) to health regimens. This study examined the relationships between positive financial behaviors, financial stress, and CRN. Methods Data came from the 2011 Speak to Your Health! Community Survey (n = 1,234). Descriptive statistics were computed to examine financial stress and CRN, by chronic condition and health insurance status. We used multivariate logistic regression models to examine the relationship between positive financial behaviors and financial stress and their interaction on a composite score of CRN, controlling for health insurance status, educational level, age, marital status, number of chronic conditions, and employment status. Results Thirty percent of the sample engaged in CRN. Participants reported moderate financial stress (mean, 13.85; standard deviation [SD] = 6.97), and moderate positive financial behavior (mean, 8.84; SD = 3.24). Participants with employer-sponsored insurance, Medicaid, Medicare, the Genesee Health Plan, high blood pressure, asthma, and diabetes had the highest proportion of CRN. The relationship between financial stress and CRN was not significantly different between those who reported lower versus higher levels of positive financial behavior (P = .32). Greater financial stress was associated with a greater likelihood of CRN (odds ratio [OR] = 2.49; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.08-2.99). Higher level of positive financial behavior was associated with a lower likelihood of CRN (OR = 0.80; 95% CI, 0.67-0.94). Conclusion Financial literacy as a means of promoting positive financial behavior may help reduce CRN. An intervention strategy focused on improving financial literacy may be relevant for high-risk groups who report high levels of financial stress.

Individuals exhibit differences in their life history strategies along a continuum that ranges from fast (involving investments in immediate rewards) to slow (involving long-term relationships and investments). Components of life history have been demonstrated to be more strongly correlated in individuals with faster life histories, a phenomenon termed Strategic Differentiation–Integration Effort (SD–IE). Sexual strategies are an intrinsic component of life history, yet have not been examined for SD–IE effects. We tested SD–IE in one student and two general population samples from two countries, among sexual strategy traits and correlates (sociosexual orientation, attachment avoidance, attachment anxiety, three groups of postcoital emotions, mate value, and life history speed). Two latent factors were found to explain the overall associations among these variables. The associations between the two factors and among their respective manifest indicators within factor were stronger in individuals with less restricted sexual strategies and more negative emotionality in sexual relationships, traits which are indicative of overall faster life history, supporting SD–IE hypotheses. Sex differences were identified and accounted for by life history speed differences between men and women. Unifactorial and multifactorial views of human sexual strategies can be argued to be equally supported by data, depending on individual life history speed.

Building on findings in evolutionary psychology, we constructed a model of human nature and used it to illuminate the evolved psychology that shapes the organization of characters in nineteenth-century British novels. Characters were rated on the web by 519 scholars and students of Victorian literature. Rated categories include motives, criteria for selecting marital partners, personality traits, and the emotional responses of readers. Respondents assigned characters to roles as protagonists, antagonists, or associates of protagonists or antagonists. We conclude that protagonists and their associates form communities of cooperative endeavor. Antagonists exemplify dominance behavior that threatens community cohesion. We summarize results from the whole body of novels and use them to identify distinctive features in the novels of Jane Austen.

Because the reproductive strategies of men and women are somewhat divergent, influences of the sex ratio on the intensity of mating competition and selectivity for partners produce different outcomes in female biased and male biased populations. Male mating opportunities are enhanced by scarcity and incentives for long-term commitment are diminished, encouraging serial and simultaneous polygyny. Paternal investment is lower in these populations, as indicated by higher divorce rates, more out-of-wedlock births, and a greater proportion of single mother households. Scarce females are able to more effectively secure commitment from partners as well as demand higher levels of resource investment. Women marry earlier in these populations. Although single father households are relatively uncommon, we expect to see higher proportions of households with children headed by single fathers where women are scarce. We also expect to see higher fertility among married couples, both because women may have greater bargaining power in reproductive decision-making and the role of woman in childbearing may be more salient to and valued by men. Data from the 2000 U.S. Census across 318 Metropolitan Statistical Areas supported these hypotheses.

Facial features and expressions influence perceptions of attractiveness, personality, behavioral tendencies, and relationship preferences. We manipulated eyelid openness in facial images of two men. Consistent with our predictions, open eyelid images were associated more so with behaviors consistent with long-term mating strategies and lowered eyelid images were associated more so with behaviors consistent with short-term mating strategies. Participants generally rated the men depicted in the open eyelid images as more attractive; however, the difference between images decreased as the prospective relationship length decreased. Participants’ preferences matched their expectations for the people in the images, for example, mate-guarding concerns were stronger for the lowered eyelid images. Our results suggest that eyelid openness serves as a heuristic in evaluating an individual’s mating intentions. Understandably, we did not find effects seen for manipulations of structural characteristics such as facial masculinity and symmetry, which are thought to be indicators of genetic quality.

Evolutionary theory is the most powerful explanatory system in the life sciences and is the only framework that can unify knowledge in otherwise disparate fields of research. Considerable advances have been made in the application of evolutionary biology to health issues in recent decades. Health researchers and practitioners could benefit considerably from an understanding of the basic principles of evolution and how humans have been shaped by natural and sexual selection, even if they are not explicitly testing evolutionary hypotheses. Life History Theory is a powerful framework that can be used for examining modern human environments and developing environments that maximize opportunities for positive health outcomes. Many of the recommendations derived from this framework converge with the visions of current public health advocates. Despite the benefits of an evolutionary framework, the challenges that face those attempting to integrate evolutionary theory into public health are perhaps greater than those in the social sciences. Although considerable advancements in the understanding of health issues have already been made, health researchers with an evolutionary perspective are very few in number and face constraining disciplinary attributes. Advances in medical technology will continue to extend the boundaries of saving lives in danger, however traditional public health efforts may be reaching their limits of effectiveness in encouraging health-promoting behaviors. This may partially account for the current interest in broad social and policy change to enhance health and reduce health disparities amongst sub-populations. Such substantial physical and social restructuring will face many challenges and gradual progress may be enhanced by a strong foundation of evolutionary human science. The slow but eventual integration of evolutionary principles will gradually enhance the effectiveness of health interventions and provide an ultimate explanation for patterns in health outcomes that are otherwise puzzling. The speed at which the field of public health adopts a Darwinian framework has yet to be determined, and several futures are possible. This pace will depend on several factors, including the visible utility of evolutionary theory for addressing the health promotion goals of the field.

Male behavior and physiology is designed for enhanced competitiveness at the expense of longevity, resulting in higher mortality rates compared to females in most species. These differences vary across populations consistent with factors indicating the intensity of male mating competition. Reproductive dynamics are strongly influenced by the relative proportions of potentially reproductive males and females in a population. Because the reproductive strategies of men and women are somewhat divergent, market influences on the intensity of mating competition and selectivity for partners produce different outcomes in female biased and male biased populations. The single-child law implemented in China in 1979 has led to increasing proportions of men in the Chinese population. Using historical mortality data, we found a trend for increasing sex differences in Chinese mortality rates from 1982 to 2000. This increase was most prevalent in young adulthood, when male mating competition is most intense as males reach sexual maturity and seek female partners. In contrast, males exhibited more survival gains than females in infancy and early childhood.

Women prefer dominant men as short-term mates and prestigious men as long-term mates. People associate short-term mating with masculine male facial features and long-term mating with feminine male facial features. The present study found that people associate dominant men with masculine facial features and short-term mating strategies, and prestigious men with feminine facial features and long-term mating strategies. Both men and women prefer high-prestige men for social relationships. Women prefer high-prestige men for long-term romantic relationships, yet prefer high-dominance men for brief sexual affairs. Although men were generally accurate in predicting women’s partner preferences, men overestimated the degree to which women would find the high-dominance man more attractive for all types of relationships.

All literature embodies an implicit theory of personality and human nature ( Hogan, 1976 ). The research described here investigates the implicit personality theory embedded in the behavior of 435 characters in 143 canonical Victorian novels. Characters were rated on the Web by 519 scholars and students of 19th-century British literature. Ratings included the characters’ goals, success in achieving goals, mate preferences and strategies, and personality according to the Five Factor Model. Results suggest that novels by Victorian authors largely reflect personality and human nature as understood by modern personality psychology, but Victorian authors amplify the significance of agreeableness and thus, whether intentionally or not, encourage cooperative impulses in readers.

The Post-Coital Time Interval (PCTI) may be particularly important for pair-bonding and establishing relationship commitment. Women have greater incentives for establishing relationship commitment than men because of their greater necessary investment in offspring and the benefits of long-term paternal investment. Thus, sex differences in PCTI experiences may emerge based on sex differences in reproductive strategies. We generated 16 items to assess PCTI experiences and extracted three factors related to: 1) satisfaction and bonding, 2) a desire for more signals of bonding and commitment from one’s partner, and 3) romantic partners having a greater interest in talking about relationship issues. Consistent with our predictions, women’s satisfaction with PCTI experiences was inversely related to the extent to which they desired greater bonding and commitment signals from their partner, whereas men’s satisfaction with PCTI experiences was inversely related to the extent to which their partners’ had greater interests in talking about relationship issues. These dimensions were also related to other indicators of reproductive strategies, including attachment style.

Empirical Literary Darwinists investigate how themes and patterns predicted by human evolutionary theory are evident in fictive works. The current study fills an important gap in this emerging literature, and provides additional information in an area currently underrepresented in human evolutionary research in general. Previous research demonstrated how proper and dark male heroes in British Romantic literature represent high paternal investment and high mating effort strategies, respectively. This past work showed that people infer reproductively relevant behaviors from brief character depictions, and report preferring interactions with these characters in ways that would enhance their own reproductive success. We conducted a similar experiment investigating variation in female reproductive strategies depicted by six female characters in novels written by Jane Austen. Three women were described as loyal, quiet, “mother” figures, while three were described as active, boisterous and untamed “lover” figures. Results show that men recognize the distinct strategies, expressing a preference to marry the “mother” and realizing that the “lover” would be more likely to cheat on them. Women recognize that men would prefer the “lover” for sexual relations, and believe that the “mother” would be better with children and a better mother. Once again, people intuitively recognized reproductively relevant behavior from brief character sketches. Austen’s intuitive evolutionary psychology may be one reason why her works remain so popular and well respected nearly 200 years after their publications.

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE HE Williams’ (1966) terminal investment hypothesis states that in species showing an age-related decline in reproductive value, reproductive effort should increase with age. Non-human primate studies have supported this hypothesis, though research in humans is lacking, likely due to the restricted age range of participants in typical studies in evolutionary psychology. We hypothesize that older women will decrease mating effort in order to allocate additional resources to parental effort, and that this shift will be manifested in women’s’ mate selection preferences. Because older women are hypothesized to shift resources from mating to parenting, they may show greater preferences for partners with high potential for paternal investment compared to partners with features signaling high potential for genetic investment. We use character sketches of “dad” and “cad” male reproductive strategies to demonstrate the age-related shift in relationship preferences. We found that older women prefer mating strategies that are related with higher paternal investment. In addition, we found that a woman's self-description changes with age, mediating the age-related changes in mate preferences. We suggest that these changes serve the changing needs of an older woman and the transition from investing in future offspring to investment in the current offspring.

Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) has the twin goals of generating data and shaping policy decisions, yet examples that combine these goals are scarce in the literature. We describe how a community-based survey was created and used to help develop a county health plan. The Genesee Health Plan (GHP), a community-initiated non-profit organization, provides primary care, prescription drugs, and specialty care to uninsured, low-income adults through a network of independent physicians, clinics, and hospital systems. As part of an advocacy effort, GHP supporters used results from the Speak to Your Health! Community Survey to gain financial and political support for GHP. Our study, which used CBPR principles, was created by the community, local health department, and university partners. As a result, Genesee County became one of the first counties in the United States to make basic health care available to nearly all of its uninsured, low-income adults.

This study documents that men and women experience and perform consumer shopping differently, and in ways consistent with adaptations to the sexually dimorphic foraging strategies utilized during recent human evolution. There is an abundant literature on sex differences in spatial abilities and object location that follow from the specific navigational strategies associated with hunting and gathering in the ancestral environment. In addition to sex differences in navigational strategies, the unique features of hunting and gathering may have influenced other aspects of foraging psychology that underlie sex differences in modern male and female shopping experiences and behaviors. Scales were developed to assess several aspects of shopping psychology that may be based on sexually differentiated ancestral adaptations. Results generally confirmed the predicted directions of sex differences. Compared to men, women relied more on object oriented navigation strategies and scored higher on skills and behaviors associated with gathering, the degree to which shopping is seen as recreational, the degree to which shopping is a social activity, and the tendency to see new locations as opportunities for shopping. Men scored higher on skills and behaviors thought to be associated with hunting. Most effect sizes were moderate or strong. These results suggest that shopping experiences and behaviors are influenced by sexually divergent adaptations for gathering and hunting.

We used a life history framework to clarify the relationship between the operational sex ratio (OSR) and the proportion of men who are married across adulthood. Previous studies have found a direct relationship between the OSR and the likelihood of male marriage, although these analyses did not distinguish among age groups. We predicted that more women than men would be married at younger ages, but women would be less likely to be married than men in later adulthood, reflecting age related trends in male and female reproductive values. We predicted that men would use scarcity in a low sex ratio population to their advantage differentially by age, being less likely to marry while young but having higher marital rates than women in older age. This would be consistent with the shift from mating effort to parental investment across the male life course which is apparent in modern societies. Census data from the ten largest metropolitan areas in the United States supported these hypotheses.

We examined the effects of life-history variables on risk-taking propensity, measured by subjective likelihoods of engaging in risky behaviors in five evolutionarily valid domains of risk, including between-group competition, within-group competition, environmental challenge, mating and resource allocation, and fertility and reproduction. The effects of life-history variables on risk-taking propensity were domain specific, except for the expected sex difference, where men predicted greater risk-taking than women in all domains. Males also perceived less inherent risk in actions than females across the five domains. Although the age range in the sample was limited, older respondents showed lower risk propensity in both between- and within-group competition. Parenthood reduced risk-taking propensity in within- and between-group competitions. Higher reproductive goal setting (desiring more offspring) was associated with lower risk-taking propensity. This effect was strongest in the risk domains of mating and reproduction. Having more siblings reduced risk-taking propensity (contrary to our initial prediction) in the domains of environmental challenge, reproduction, and between-group competition. Later-born children showed a higher propensity to engage in environmental and mating risks. Last, shorter subjective life expectancy was associated with increased willingness to take mating and reproductive risks. These results suggest that life-history variables regulate human risk-taking

We conducted an analysis of a demographically representative community health survey to examine the association between psychosocial factors and asthma. Data from the Speak to Your Health! Community Survey, a community-based survey designed and implemented by university and community partners using Community Based Public Health (CBPH) principles to investigate health and social issues in Genesee County, Michigan, was used in the analysis presented. The survey gathered information on self-reported mental and physical health status, disease diagnoses, health access and utilization, health-promoting and health-adverse behaviors, neighborhood conditions, and other topics. We sampled households in all residential census tracts in Genesee County, Michigan. One resident over 18 years of age was randomly selected within each household and participated in a telephone interview. The total sample size for the telephone survey in 2007 was 1,748. The mean age of the participants was 54.7 (SD = 15.69); 66% of participants were white, 26% African American, and 7% other race/ethnicity; and 15% of the population reported being diagnosed with asthma. Adults with asthma had significantly higher body mass index, higher levels of social support, and higher levels of stress than adults without asthma. Clinicians and researchers should be aware of psychosocial factors affecting their adult patient populations and tailor patient care, communication, and community-based educational interventions to specifically address these.

Sex differences in mortality rates stem from multiple causes that are best understood when integrated in an evolutionary life history framework. This study investigates the relationship of sex differences in mortality rates across nations to indicators of the life history characteristics of populations. Controlling for gross national income per capita, the overall sex difference in mortality rates was directly related to the adolescent fertility rate, the percentage of newborns with low birth weight, and was inversely related to the average mother's age at birth of first child. Sex differences for behavioral (external) causes of mortality were also directly related to the difference between the average age of males and females at first marriage. These findings indicate that the sex difference in mortality rates is an important life history indicator, and is related to reproductive patterns. Greater sex differences in mortality may reflect greater degrees of male competition for resources, social status, and mates.

Evolutionary Life History Theory (LHT) is a powerful framework that can be used for understanding behavioral strategies as functional adaptations to environmental conditions. Some evolutionary theorists have described how developmental environments can shape behavioral strategies. Theorists and previous research suggest that individuals developing in relatively less certain environments will exhibit riskier, present oriented, behavioral strategies because of the low probability of reproductive success for more cautious approaches. An evolutionary psychology approach to LHT includes the identification of psychological processes that regulate behavioral strategies as a result of developmental experiences. This paper proposes that time perspective is one psychological mechanism that may underlie functional developmental adaptation. A survey study of urban middle school students (N=607) assessed the relationship between perceptions of local social conditions, time perspective, and risky behaviors. Structural equation model analyses indicated that present and future orientations completely mediated the relationship of positive and negative aspects of students’ neighborhood social environment with reports of interpersonal aggression and illicit resource exploitation. This model had a better fit to the data than competing models depicting time perspective as a byproduct of either phenotypic strategy or social-environmental experiences.

This study investigates how neighborhood deterioration is associated with stress and depressive symptoms and the mediating effects of perceived neighborhood social conditions. Data come from a community survey of 801 respondents geocoded and linked to a systematic on-site assessment of the physical characteristics of nearly all residential and commercial structures around respondents' homes. Structural equation models controlling for demographic effects indicate that the association between neighborhood deterioration and well-being appear to be mediated through social contact, social capital, and perceptions of crime, but not through neighborhood satisfaction. Specifically, residential deterioration was mediated by social contact, then, social capital and fear of crime. Commercial deterioration, on the other hand, was mediated only through fear of crime. Additionally, data indicate that the functional definition of a "neighborhood" depends on the characteristics measured. These findings suggest that upstream interventions designed to improve neighborhood conditions as well as proximal interventions focused on social relationships, may promote well-being.

The physical decay of neighborhoods is associated with social conditions such as disease risk, poor mental health, and fear of crime. Researchers assessing neighborhood effects commonly operationalize neighborhoods via municipal boundaries such as U.S. Census Tracts, although more sophisticated analyses examine structures within a defined radius of respondents, typically .25-mile. This study verifies the .25-mile heuristic as a sound operational definition for neighborhood residential structures consequential to social conditions with measures of social contact with neighbors, perceptions of social capital, fear of neighborhood crime, and satisfaction with neighborhood quality of life. Deteriorating commercial structures cluster in smaller areas than deteriorating residential structures; however, the peak consequential radius appears to occur at 4 times the distance of residential structures. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

This study develops an explanatory framework for fear of neighborhood crime based on respondents' social context and local rates of assault injuries. Rates of assault injuries within zip codes are based on hospital discharge records. We find that only four variables have a significant unique contribution to fear of crime: respondent's sex, perceptions of neighborhood social capital, and the rates of struck by/against assault injuries for the 10–24 and 50+ age groups. We also find that the perception of neighborhood social capital moderates the impact of assault injury rates on fear of crime; those who perceive a high level of neighborhood social capital exhibit less sensitivity to assault injury rates. We include a map of assault injury rates and fear of crime by ZIP Code and describe the community context related to our results. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comm Psychol 35: 483–498, 2007.

Background: Genesee County Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health Program (REACH) is a Community-Based Public Health partnership for reducing African American infant mortality rates that hosts the Undoing Racism Workshop (URW). Objectives: Assess the URW’s effectiveness in promoting an understanding of racism, institutional racism, and how issues related to race/ethnicity can affect maternal and infant health. Methods: Recent URW participants ( n = 84) completed brief preassessment and postassessment forms; participants ( n = 101) also completed an on-line, long-term assessment (LTA). Results: URWs promoted understanding of racism and institutional racism, although they were less effective in addressing racism as related to maternal and infant health. Conclusions: The URWs were most effective in the domains related to their standard content. Additional effort is necessary to customize URWs when utilized for activities beyond their original purpose of community mobilization.

Objective: Increases in body weight and declining physical activity that may accompany aging are linked to a range of problems affecting daily life (i.e., decreased mobility and overall quality of life). This study investigates the actual and perceived neighborhood environment on overweight and obese urban older adults. Method: We selected 217 individuals aged 65+ who answered questions about their neighborhood on the 2009 Speak to Your Health survey. Using multinomial regression models and geospatial models, we examined relationships between neighborhood environment and BMI. Results: We found that obese older adults were 63% less likely to have a park within their neighborhood ( p = .04). Our results also show that older adults who perceive their neighborhood crime as very high are 12 times more likely to be overweight ( p = .04). Discussion: Findings suggest that parks may affect BMI in older adults; however, neighborhood perceptions play a greater role.

Purpose. To investigate pathways in the association between fear of crime and obesity. Design. A cross-sectional survey was administered among residents aged 18 years and older across all Census tracts. Setting. Genesee County, Michigan. Subjects. A total of 3192 residents. Measures. Body mass index (BMI) was calculated by using the respondents' reported height and weight. Composite fear-of-crime and depressive symptoms scores were calculated by using several survey items. Analysis. Path analysis examined the effects of fear of crime on BMI. Results. Fear of crime was associated with higher BMI. Depressive symptoms mediated the relationship between fear of crime and BMI (p < .001). Moderate exercise mediated the association between depressive symptoms and BMI (p < .001). Conclusion. Fear of crime was associated with depressive symptoms, which in turn were associated with reduced exercise and subsequently higher BMI.

Facial masculinity may be used as a cue in female mate choice, as it reflects the success of the male genotype in its developmental environment. Women may maximize reproductive success by using a conditional strategy favoring highly masculine facial features for short-term relationships and feminized facial features in men for long-term relationships. Three studies examine reactions to masculinized and feminized male facial composites. Properties of the original composite image affect ratings of critical attributes and the magnitude of the differences in ratings between versions undergoing identical processes of geometric manipulation (Study 1). Both men and women attribute personality, behavior, and mating strategies consistent with predictions derived from the good genes and mating trade-off hypotheses (Study 2). Participants accurately grouped behavioral tendencies related to high mating effort/risky strategies and high parenting effort/risk adverse strategies and associated mating effort more so with masculinized faces and parenting effort more so with feminized faces (Study 3). These results indicate that male facial masculinity serves as a visual cue for inferring personality and reproductive strategy. Male facial masculinity may be used as a cue in female mate choice, as it reflects the success of the male genotype in the developmental environment. Men exhibiting these features may have a greater rate of return from mating effort compared to other men and thus may allocate more effort toward mating and less to parental investment. Women may maximize their reproductive success by showing stronger preferences for partners with highly masculine faces for short-term sexual relationships but favor less masculinized faces in prospective long-term relationship partners. Three studies examine whether facial masculinity is related to attributions of male reproductive strategy and contingent female mating strategies.

Sex differences in mortality rates stem from genetic, physiological, behavioral, and social causes that are best understood when integrated in an evolutionary life history framework. This paper investigates the Male-to-Female Mortality Ratio (M:F MR) from external and internal causes and across contexts to illustrate how sex differences shaped by sexual selection interact with the environment to yield a pattern with some consistency, but also with expected variations due to socioeconomic and other factors.

Objectives Modern adverse birth outcomes may partially result from mechanisms evolved to evaluate environmental conditions and regulate maternal investment trade-offs. Male scarcity in a population is associated with a cluster of characteristics related to higher mating effort and lower paternal investment. We predicted that modern populations with male scarcity would have shorter gestational times and lower birth weights on average. Methods We compared US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention county-aggregated year 2000 birth records with US Decennial Census data. We combined these data in a path model with the degree of male scarcity and known socio-economic predictors of birth outcomes as exogenous predictors of prematurity and low birth weight, with single mother households as a proportion of families with children as a mediator (N = 450). Results Male scarcity was directly associated with higher rates of low birth weight. Male scarcity made significant indirect predictions of rates of prematurity and low birth weight, as mediated by the proportion of families headed by single mothers. Aggregate socio-economic status also indirectly predicted birth outcomes, as mediated by the proportion of families headed by single mothers, whereas the proportion African American retained both direct and indirect predictions of adverse birth outcomes. Conclusions Male scarcity influences life history tradeoffs, with consequences for important social and public health issues such as adverse birth outcomes. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 25:225–227, 2013. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

This study integrates psychological predictors of helping intentions and naturally selected tendencies enhancing inclusive fitness for a more comprehensive understanding of altruism. Psychological mediators of helping intentions, empathic concern and oneness, and psychological processes facilitating kin selection and reciprocal altruism were combined in a structural equation model to predict participants’ (N=643) intentions to perform a risky rescue behavior. The tendency for reciprocal altruism and kinship were the strongest predictors of rescue intentions. Confirming previous research, empathic concern made a significant but small contribution in predicting helping intentions. Proximate mechanisms currently in the psychological literature did not entirely account for the effect of kinship on helping intentions. D 2003 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.

Evolutionary theory is the unifying framework and the most powerful explanatory system in the life sciences. The application of evolutionary theory to psychological research has generated tremendous theoretical and empirical progress in the last three decades. These efforts have considerably advanced the understanding of human psychology and behavior, yet there remains considerable potential to utilize this understanding beyond basic research. We have created the first special journal issue on practical applications of evolutionary psychology to encourage efforts informing real-world challenges. These articles cover topics spanning psychopathology and mental health, pressing social issues such as teenage pregnancy, community and neighborhood conditions, mass-market media, and public policy. Interventions and public policy should be informed by science; we hope that this initial effort is just the first of many journal issues that highlight how evolutionary theory can bring practical benefits to individuals and their societies.

This chapter is a review of the theoretical and research evidence of the premise that a more hedonistic time perspective is a facet of a fast Life History (LH) strategy and a stronger future time perspective is a facet of a slow LH strategy. While the evidence for these two ideas is mixed; new data is presented that is consistent with the hypothesized association between a fast LH strategy and a hedonistic time perspective. Asking participants to imagine shorter life expectancies increased their hedonistic time perspective. Suggestions for future research are made with the hope that refinements in the measurement of both LH strategy and time perspective will allow for greater integration between the two constructs.

AIM The study investigated the socio-demographic differences in the association between depressive symptoms and higher body mass index (BMI). SUBJECTS AND METHODS In Genesee County, Michigan, random samples of households were drawn from all residential census tracts. The Speak to Your Health! Survey was administered among adults aged 18 years and older in these households. To conduct this cross-sectional study, data from three waves of survey data collection (2007, 2009 and 2011) were combined resulting in a sample of 3381 adults. Self-reported height and weight were used to calculate BMI. Depressive symptoms were assessed with Brief Symptoms Inventory items. Socio-demographic factors included age, race/ethnicity, gender and education. RESULTS Using stepwise linear regression, gender (β = 0.04, P = 0.02) and the interaction terms of race/ethnicity × depressive symptoms (β = 0.15, P < 0.001) and gender × depressive symptoms (β = 0.05, P = 0.01) uniquely predicted BMI. CONCLUSION Women had a higher BMI than men, and depressive symptoms were more strongly associated with BMI among African Americans and women than among non-Latino Whites and men. Tailored interventions to alleviate depressive symptoms in African Americans and females may help decrease racial/ethnic and gender differences in depressive symptoms and obesity.

Sex differences in human mortality rates emerge from a complex interaction of genetic heritage and developmental environment, incorporating genetic, physiological, psychological, social, and environmental factors whose influences and interconnections are best understood in an integrative evolutionary life history framework. Across mammals, males allocate greater investment to reproductive effort at the expense of investment in somatic effort and more investment in mating effort at the expense of investment in parenting effort compared to female life history. Thus, the generally higher male mortality rates result from the trade-off between reproductive competitiveness and longevity. Men on average have riskier behavioral patterns and greater physiological susceptibility than women, dying at higher rates from behavioral and most nonbehavioral causes across the life span. The magnitude of the sex difference in mortality in developed nations peaks when males sexually mature and enter into mating competition. Sex differences in investment towards parenting and mating competition are ultimately responsible for sex differences in mortality rates, and the intensity of male mating competition predicts the extent to which male mortality rates exceed those for females. In humans, male competition for mates includes competition for resources and social status utilized to attract and retain mates. Social and environmental conditions intensifying such male competition lead to increased male mortality.