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There are a number of questions concerning human sexual psychology where pornography consumption may be particularly informative, yet evolutionary psychologists have been slow to incorporate it into research designs. This study examines the relationships between pornography preferences, individual's sex, proxies for short-term mating strategies (e.g., life history strategy, sociosexuality), and infidelity. For example, we predict that men, more than women, will be interested in group sex (i.e., threesomes and gangbang) scenarios in pornography as a result of selective pressures for sperm competition. Further, specific activities and sexual situations in pornography are likely to be differentially appealing based on the sexual strategies pursued by consumers. Thus, women who have higher, versus lower, intentions of committing infidelity will be more interested in activities like group sex, given the latter involves no commitment. Results suggest that men exhibit more interest in group sex scenarios than women, and intentions to commit infidelity are also associated with greater interest in group sex scenarios. Collectively, our findings demonstrate the usefulness of incorporating consumption of pornography measures in evolutionary social psychological research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focuses on the connection between prosocial behavior, defined as acting in ways that benefit others, and shared meals, defined as meals that consist of food(s) shared with others. In contrast to individual meals, where consumers eat their own food and perhaps take a sample of someone else's dish as a taste, shared meals are essentially about sharing all the food with all individuals. Consequently, these meals create situations where consumers are confronted with issues of fairness and respect. One should not be greedy and consume most of a dish; instead, rules of polite food sharing need to be obeyed. It is therefore proposed that those who have often engaged in shared meals during childhood will have a more prosocial personality, as compared to those who less often took part in shared meals during childhood. To test this hypothesis, data about frequency of shared meals during childhood and altruistic personality in early adulthood were collected using a cross-sectional survey in Belgium ( n  = 487). Results confirm that higher levels of shared meal consumption correspond to higher scores on the self-report altruism scale among students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Jane Austen's works may be perennially popular because they excel at the three kinds of adaptive advantage that Denis Dutton proposed to explain the pervasiveness of fiction. Based on brief personality sketches assembled from her novels, contemporary readers readily identify her characters' mating strategies. They accurately match characters to actual behaviors portrayed in the novels, and would interact with the characters in ways that protected their own reproductive interests. Thus, Austen's character descriptions provide low-cost, low-risk surrogate experiences of encounters with realistic personas, and promote readers' understanding of others' motivations and behaviors in order to regulate their own behavior adaptively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, there has been increased at tent ion to allomothering and cooperative breeding. This research seems at odds with some of the existing literature on women's intrasexual competition, particularly with findings that suggest women may attempt to decrease a rival's reproductive success in order to increase their own. In this letter, we propose competitive mothering as a new direction for research. We review the literature on cooperative versus competitive mothering and incorporate some examples of topics for future research. We propose that competitive mothering represents an opportunity to merge evolutionary psychology with feminist science. This conceptual merger challenges widely conceived socio-cultural stereotypes of women as always being kind-hearted, caring mothers, while recognizing the functional aspects of diverse mothering behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has been almost five years since the formation of the Feminist Evolutionary Psychology Society (FEPS), which was created with the hopes of drawing attention to issues that influence women's role in evolution. In those years, FEPS has changed into a more structured society with clear aims. In this letter, we review the rationale for creating FEPS, as well as how we structured FEPS to be an effective organization. The majority of the letter pertains to four distinct goals of FEPS that we will continue to address in the future. These goals are to investigate the active role of women in human evolution, re-examine previous findings, highlight understudied topics, and call attention to diverse populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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 19th 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 long-term 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 non-committed sexual relationships. These results provide stronger empirical support of our hypotheses than earlier efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We generated an inventory of 27 interpersonal behaviors and examined the extent to which participants judged each behavior as cheating on a long-term partner. We predicted variation in these judgments based on participant sex and attachment insecurity. Ratings for items ranged considerably; participants rated sexual behaviors as most indicative of cheating, then erotic behaviors, followed by behaviors consistent with a romantic relationship, and then behaviors related to financial support. Women rated ten items higher than did men, and men's ratings were higher on a minor financial support item. Higher attachment anxiety was associated with higher ratings for 18 of 27 behaviors; higher attachment avoidance was associated with lower scores on five items and higher scores on one item. Principle Axis Factoring identified three dimensions; sexual interaction, behaviors indicating close relationships, and casual social interaction. We discuss these results using the framework of attachment theory and sex-specific mating strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Darwinian literary analysis is a way to examine texts and arrive at conclusions about evolved human behaviors, motivations, and emotions (Carrol, 1995, 2011). That is, by analyzing texts, it is possible to indirectly analyze human nature. Recently, scholars have examined the works of Jane Austen (Strout, Fisher, Kruger, & Steelworthy, 2010), Harlequin romance novels (Fisher & Cox, 2010), and folktales (Gottschall, Martin, Quish, & Rea, 2004) for this purpose. Although this prior work has been informative, it has only included heterosexual relationships. Symons (1979) noted that lesbian and gay populations are a vital group to gain insight into evolutionary sex differences, as their relationships involve only same sex individuals, thus highlighting dominant female and male mating behaviors. Therefore, in this paper, our primary goal is to analyze lesbian pulp fiction to better comprehend women's evolved mating strategies. We also consider the era that these books were most popular and explore the cultural climate in relation to the characters in the novels. In general, the way the characters are described and their relationship dynamics are consistent gender stereotypes concerning masculine versus feminine women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The overarching premise of this paper is that the tenets of Darwinian literary criticism (e.g., Carroll, 1995) can be applied to other human artifacts, enabling us to better understand human's evolved motives, emotions and behaviors in the realms of popular music, cinema, and art. Here we focus on Western paintings created between 1700 and 1940. Unlike past researchers who have examined the evolutionary foundations of art, we specifically concentrate on paintings by women in order to explore whether their works reflect issues that are specific to women's evolutionary history. Our analysis reveals that women tend to paint portraits of self and others, create work with themes of motherhood and family, and paint still life and landscapes. These themes are consistent with the evolved motivations of women, namely the establishment and maintenance of alliances and family relations using depictions of motherhood, family life, and portraits, or more generally, the display of private over public life through the use of still life more commonly than landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of the current study was to explore, via qualitative means, female intrasexual competition for mates as documented in the lyrics of popular songs that are sung by female musicians. Similar to the recent Darwinian analyses of art and literature, we sought to explore the various tactics and emotions underlying the female competitive experience by way of examining a selection of these songs. Our review shows a wide array of topics, such as reactions to mate poaching, feelings of ownership for mates, attempts to persuade a mate that the rival is not a suitable alternative, and noting differences in mate value between oneself and a perceived potential rival. Most of these topics fall within the documented strategies for intrasexual competition. We discuss these findings within the context of women's competition for mates, as well as the applicability of Darwinian literary analysis to other human artifacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mass media gossip is interesting to many people, as evidenced by the proliferation of gossip magazines and gossip television shows. Despite its popularity, there has been little research into the evolutionary underpinnings of why gossip contains particular topics. Furthermore, no one has provided input to those working in gossip-based media. Therefore, we begin by defining and explaining mass media gossip using an evolutionary, biosocial perspective. To demonstrate that the media workers may benefit from relying on knowledge of evolved human nature in their work, we conducted a study. We examined the content of three successful tabloids, using a list of evolutionary-based topics created a priori. The results indicate that tabloids reflect fitness-relevant topics that were important throughout our evolutionary past. The tabloids equally represent both sexes, and while they mostly concentrate on entertainers and royalty, they do pay some attention to unknown individuals. By correlating who and what is gossiped about, we found celebrities are more often the subjects of stories involving wealth, while unknown individuals are almost always gossiped about within the context of life-threatening events. We use our study to provide guidelines for those working in media, which will hopefully enable their work to obtain maximum audience interest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are many aspects of our modern environment and our behavior that are best understood under the light of an evolutionary perspective. By using evolution to inform our scholarly endeavors, we arrive at a far more satisfying and comprehensive understanding, This special issue by no means addresses all the ways in which evolutionary psychology and popular culture intersect. However, it does represent a good start to understanding this area, and hopefully will propel future researchers into new directions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on intrasexual competition for mates focused on the strategies of self-promotion and competitor derogation. Although these strategies describe many competitive behaviors, it was predicted that they do not describe all possible strategies. In Study 1, a qualitative investigation, participants reported how they compete with same-sex rivals for mates. This led to the discovery of the strategies of competitor manipulation and mate manipulation. All 4 strategies were compared and no sex difference in their frequency of application was found. In Study 2, a quantitative survey using the 4 strategies was created. There was no sex difference in strategy use, but those involved in a romantic relationship were significantly more likely to use competitor derogation than any other strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The determination of paternity is important due to the possibility of cuckoldry and the subsequent squandering of male reproductive effort. Men may be attuned to prevalence rates of cuckoldry in the local environment to assess risk. However, women may have an enhanced ability to assess paternity and may have superior insight into women’s sexual infidelity. Accordingly, this study examined subjective estimates of human non-paternity (HNP), the discrepancy between social/legal versus genetic paternity. The hypothesis was that women would provide higher estimates of HNP than men. A sex difference in the hypothesized direction was observed across four community samples of Austrian adults (totalling 763 men and 795 women), with women overall providing higher HNP estimates than men (14.5% vs. 9.1%). Furthermore, key demographic variables impacted HNP estimates for both sexes: individuals who were unmarried, childless, currently unpartnered, or currently in a romantic relationship of a shorter duration provided higher HNP estimates than their counterparts, thus suggesting that such estimates might be attuned to mating effort and strategies, as well as relationship quality and investment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Men are generally more distressed by a partner's sexual infidelity whereas women are generally more distressed by a partner's emotional infidelity. The importance of the identity of the interloper, however, has been neglected. We explored the influence of relational proximity (i.e., the degree of genetic relatedness) on distress about infidelity. In Study 1, participants were most distressed when the imagined infidelity occurred between their current mate and close kin. In Study 2, relational proximity mattered more than the type of sexual behavior, the likelihood of contracting a sexually transmitted disease, and the likelihood of the infidelity leading to a damaged reputation. Together, the results indicate that identity matters, especially if the interloper is someone with whom we have familial bonds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Here we explored nonverbal actions women use to flirt competitively against each other for the purposes of accessing a mate. We also investigated the perceived effectiveness of these competitive flirting actions. Using act nomination, Study 1 (n = 91) yielded 11 actions (eye contact with the man, dancing in his line of sight, smiling at him, touching him, giggling at his jokes, butting in between the other woman and the man, showing distaste for her, brushing against him, hugging him, flirting with other men, waving to him) for competitive flirtation against other women. Actions that signal possession (e.g., tie-signs) were predicted to be perceived as the most effective. While other actions were included in Study 2 (n = 139), results showed the most effective actions were tie-signs: touching him, initiating eye contact, hugging him, giggling at his jokes, and butting in between him and the rival. These findings are discussed in terms of prior research. • Actions signaling a tie to the target man are most effective • Effective actions differ from the effective actions used to attract a mate • Men and women show strong agreement on which actions are most effective [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Researchers have little explored individuals' perceptions of same-sex attractiveness in terms of the influence of relationship status. By using intrasexual competition as a conceptual framework, the authors predicted that romantically involved individuals would protect their relationship by derogating competitors. Although previous researchers have strongly predicted this result, in the present study the relationship status had a negligible impact on competition, for which relationship commitment, sociosexual orientation, and self-monitoring did not account. Also, among uninvolved individuals, the authors expected those individuals seeking mates would use competitor derogation more than would those individuals not seeking mates, but there was no significant difference. Finally, because the vehicle for this investigation was attractiveness, an area in which women compete, the authors proposed that women would derogate more fiercely than would men. However, the results did not support this hypothesis either. The authors discuss future directions for research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although there is extensive literature regarding sex differences in jealousy due to infidelity, guilt resulting from infidelity remains unexplored. We hypothesize that men will feel guiltier from imagined emotional rather than sexual infidelity, as it is most important for their partner's reproductive success. Similarly, we predict that women will feel more guilt from imagined sexual rather than emotional infidelity. The findings indicate a different pattern; men feel guiltier following sexual infidelity, whereas women feel guiltier following emotional infidelity. Results also show that both sexes believe their partners would have a more difficult time forgiving sexual, rather than emotional, infidelity, but women and not men report that sexual infidelity would more likely lead to relationship dissolution. These findings are discussed in view of evolved mating strategies and individual reproductive success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: The genetics underlying suicidal behavior is becoming increasingly recognized and investigated. Convergent evidence towards this end has emerged from numerous research strategies (adoption, family, genome-scan, geographic, immigrant, molecular genetic, surname, and twin studies of suicide). The topic-related mental-health literacy (i.e. knowledge and beliefs) of professionals and laypersons, however, may lag behind this research progress, and data on this question are scant. The aim of the present study was therefore to further validate, in a cross-language setting, the novel 22-item Beliefs in the Inheritance of Risk Factors for Suicide Scale (BIRFSS), originally developed in German, which assesses beliefs about the genetics of suicide. Methods: Data were collected from a mixed student sample from Canada ( n = 288; 70.5% females, 58.0% studying psychology as a major or minor). Results: Factor analysis of BIRFSS items yielded a dominant first factor. Internal scale consistency was, however, only middling (lower than previously observed in Austrian samples). Although the structure of beliefs about the genetics of suicide seems to be complex, the Canadian sample's item-performance indicators corresponded strongly to those obtained in Austrian samples, thus indicating cross-sample and cross-language robustness of item statistics. Conclusion: For the Canadian sample, BIRFSS scores were positively related to overall and specific knowledge about suicide and general beliefs about genetic determinism (convergent validity), whereas they were not (or only trivially) related to the Big Five personality dimensions, lay theories of suicide, locus of control, social desirability, religiosity, and political orientation (discriminant validity), and to several key demographic variables. Supplemental findings, study limitations, application possibilities, user recommendations, and avenues for further inquiry are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Life history theory (LHT) is a powerful framework for examining relationship choices and other behavioral strategies which integrates evolutionary, ecological, and socio-developmental perspectives. We examine the relationship between psychological and behavioral indicators of women's life history attributes and hypothetical relationship choices with characters representing short-term and long-term male sexual strategies. We demonstrate that psychological indicators of women's life history strategies are related to predicted and actual behaviors in mating relationships. Women with insecure attachment styles, especially those with negative evaluations of both themselves and others (fearful attachment), were more likely to consider men with attributes indicating short-term mating strategies for short-term and long-term relationships than women with a secure attachment style. Women with relatively unrestricted sociosexuality were more likely to predict they would have sexual affairs with men in general, with the tendency being generally stronger when considering men with attributes indicating short-term mating strategies. Those who scored high on self-monitoring were also more likely to predict having sexual affairs and short-term relationships with these men. These and other findings demonstrate the usefulness of a life history approach for understanding women's relationship choices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Past research suggests that single-sex educational environments provide many benefits to women's learning. Similarly, as indicated by their under-representation, it is known that there are problems in attracting and subsequently retaining women in information technology disciplines. In an effort to improve the enrollment and retention of women, we created a partial single-sex environment during a third-year university software engineering course. This course involved a multi-phase, one term group project, for which we assigned group membership based on sex, resulting in five men's groups and one women's group. Thus, in accordance with suggested practice, we employed an integrative approach where single-sex activities were integrated in a mixed-sex classroom environment. At the end of the term, the women voluntarily completed a survey about their experiences with their single-sex group, as compared to their experiences in mixed-sex groups in other courses. Here we qualitatively present the survey results, along with suggestions for educators who may wish to implement similar strategies with the intention of improving the educational experience for female undergraduates in disciplines where they are under-represented. In general, our findings show that women enjoyed the experience and that it allowed them to develop further confidence in their abilities, as compared to their experiences in mixed-sex groups. With respect to learning, the women felt that because they were more comfortable with group members they were more willing to attempt new tasks and reported instances of high levels of cooperation. Consequently, we propose that better experiences may lead to improved retention of female students in these disciplines. To assist instructors who wish to employ a similar approach, we provide a discussion of our experiences and the lessons we learned. We believe that the successful application of single-sex activities in a mixed-sex classroom is founded on effective communication and monitoring. Instructors must be able to communicate their intentions to the students, rapidly identify and remedy any problems that occur, and be aware of actions that could lead to the development or strengthening of stereotypes. However, despite the challenge in using single-sex activities, the benefits were encouragingly positive and worth the effort. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Foot size proportionate to stature is smaller in women than in men, and small feet apparently contribute to perceived physical attractiveness of females. This exploratory study investigated the sex difference in relative foot length and interrelations among foot length, physique, and foot preference ratings in samples from Austria and Canada, each comprised of 75 men and 75 women. The findings included the following lines of evidence: the sex difference in relative foot length replicated in both data sets; the magnitude of this sex effect was large. Relative foot length was smaller in young, nulliparous, and slim women. Pointed-toe and high-heel shoes were more likely worn by smaller, lighter, and slimmer women. Men reported liking women's feet in general more than vice versa. A vast majority of both men and women favored small feet in women, but large feet in men. One's own foot size appeared to correspond to evaluations of attractiveness; particularly, women with small feet preferred small feet in women in general. The preference for small feet in women was convergent across different methods of evaluating attractiveness. Directions for investigations in this emerging field of research on physical attractiveness are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The debate of whether body-mass index (BMI) or waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) is the primary visual cue to female physical attractiveness (FPA) has generated considerable interest. However, experiments addressing this question typically have limited ecological validity and do not capture the ultimate goal of FPA, which is to elicit male sexual arousal. Hence, using an unobtrusive measures design, we retrieved movie and magazine starring frequencies of 125 adult media actresses from a company's database, operationalized starring frequencies as FPA measures, and tested their relationship to actresses' anthropometric data. Low BMI was related to frequent movie starring, while WHR, waist-to-bust ratio (WBR), and bust size were not. Conversely, low WHR, low WBR, and larger bust size were related to frequent magazine starring, while BMI was not. Visual cues to FPA might be domain-specific, with androgenousness cues salient for attractiveness evaluation of moving bodies and curvaceousness cues salient for posing bodies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rarely has one research area gained as much attention as that which is observed for female physical attractiveness. The past decade has resulted in numerous, exciting developments, particularly with respect to three proposed determinants of beauty: waist to hip ratio (WHR), body mass index (BMI), and curvaceousness. The goal of our paper is to provide a highly necessary review of contemporary research on the female attractiveness, including an in-depth examination of these factors. In our review, we first discuss WHR, an index of fat deposition, which is calculated by measuring the circumference of the waist compared to the circumference of the hips. WHR is controlled by the sex hormones, and increases as women age, and hence, may influence perceptions of attractiveness. This factor has been hotly contested, as some researchers have claimed that a WHR of approximately 0.7 is universally most attractive, whereas others have found inconsistent findings, or suggest the importance of other factors, such as BMI. Body mass index (BMI), calculated by dividing the body weight (in kilograms) by height (in meters) squared, serves as a measure of body fat. Although WHR and BMI are correlated, they lead to different conclusions, and the importance of BMI as a measure of female attractiveness is debated in the literature. Similar to WHR research, BMI and its role in attractiveness is not cross-culturally consistent and is affected by the availability of resources within a given environment. It may be the case that both WHR and BMI influence female attractiveness. However, there has been little investigation of this possibility. We have explored this issue in our research, which revealed that both influence attractiveness, but in addition, we noticed that curvaceousness was also a factor. Curvaceousness is the degree of “hourglass” shape as determined, for example, by the size of the bust, relative to the circumference of the hips and waist, and the size of the buttocks. However, curvaceousness does not appear to be temporally stable as a marker of attractiveness, and it is not consistent across modes of presentation. For example, models in male-oriented magazines are more curvaceous than models in female-oriented magazines. In summary, faced with these recent findings, it is difficult to ascertain agreement among the various factors, especially when researchers investigate each determinant in isolation. We conclude that, although researchers have made many important initial steps in examining female attractiveness, there remains much to be discovered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We recently demonstrated that college-aged women who were given a brief character sketch of personality features consistent with each strategy readily comprehended alternative male mating strategies. In the current study, we confirmed that college-aged males are also able to identify traits and tendencies associated with long-term “dad” and short-term “cad” mating strategies. Participants were aware of the cads' greater tendency for mating effort and success with women and the dads' greater suitability for long-term relationships and potential for paternal investment in offspring. There was some preference for dads rather than cads in social alliances. Participants also predicted responses to these characters in ways that would benefit their own reproductive success. Participants’ personality attributes, hypothetical behaviors, and actual behaviors generally corresponded with their judgments of their similarity to the character descriptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the book "Reproductive Fitness? Femininity and the Physically Active Woman," by Precilla Y.L. Choi. Choi's book is part of the Women and Psychology series, which is edited by Jane Ussher. Choi covers many aspects of female athieticism, with chapters devoted to historical and current rates of activity, biological theory, sports and stigma, bodybuilding, the relationship between exercise, health and beauty, and how women learn to be inactive. The goal of Choi is to explore why women shy away from physical activity, with the unstated aim of showing how societal and cultural views of femininity are juxtaposed with athleticism. From the outset, the topic is rather interesting and female inactivity is well documented. Choi does a fantastic job of motivating the female reader to get up from her chair and go for a run or some other exerting activity. She argues that women need to improve their physical activity to be healthy and that there is no sufficient excuse for inactivity. The omission of a biological perspective is considerably more pronounced when she examines issues that are well studied in the medical or evolutionary fields.

The marked variation regarding the suicide rate in 34 European countries is well described by regressing the national suicide rate on the capital cities' latitudes and on an interaction term of squared latitude multiplied with longitude. The interaction term explains 40.8% and 29.1% of men's and women's suicide rate, respectively, and latitude explains a further significant increment of 10.9% and 10.6% variance of men's and women's suicide rate, respectively. This regression model quantifies the Finno-Ugrian suicide hypothesis of Kondrichin and of MarušIč and Farmer. The European countries highest in suicide rate constitute a contiguous, J-shaped belt, spanning from Finland to Austria. This area maps onto the second principal component identified for European gene distribution, representing ancestral adaptation to cold climates and the Uralic language dispersion. Thus, population differences in genetic risk factors may account for the spatial pattern in European suicide rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article describes the empirical tests done to support the hypotheses derived from evolutionary theory based on the perceptions of literary characters. The imaginations of literary researchers are allowed to run wild, and theories like deconstruction and Lacanian psychoanalysis are selected not because of their effectiveness in generating empirically valid hypotheses, but because people just happen to like them. Literary historians have drawn a distinction between two basic heroic types in the British Romantic period: the proper hero and the dark hero. There is a close correspondence between the personality traits of proper and dark heroes and those of two personality types described by evolutionary scientists. Recent research on human sexuality suggests that humans evolved to pursue both short-term and long-term, or cad and dad, mating strategies. Many theorists have hypothesized that women may have evolved in some circumstances to prefer cues in men that show high sexual success, or good genes, to cues of potential paternal investment. The proper and the dark (or Byronic or Romantic) hero are two of the major male character types of the British Romantic period. Although common in Romantic narrative, the dark hero was always an eccentric figure. The proper hero is nonviolent and low in dominance traits. This project contributes to Darwinian literary criticism, an emerging theoretical approach that promises to promote consilience among the sciences and the humanities.

Focuses on the evidence for lack of change in seasonality of suicide from Timi&ssect; County, Romania. Cause of the sudden decrease in the seasonality of suicide; Patterns of suicide; Analysis of suicide data.

A response by Martin Voracek and Maryanne L. Fischer to a letter to the editor about their article on porn actors in the previous issue is presented.

We examined which pick-up lines that women may use on men, in the context of dating, are the most effective. Effectiveness was defined as success in securing a phone number or agreeing to meet again. We tested to determine which type of line (direct, innocuous, or flippant) was rated as most effective when attractiveness and perceived promiscuity of the women were manipulated. We predicted that direct pick-up lines would be the most effective when trying to pick-up men for the purpose of dating. We also predicted that men would rate the pick-up lines used by women rated high on attractiveness and promiscuity as being more effective than the pick-up lines used by those rated low on both characteristics. Results indicate that direct pick-up lines are preferred over flippant or innocuous pick-up lines, with the innocuous being the least preferred. Further, regardless of the line that is used, once a woman has been viewed as attractive by men, she is rated positively. This study provides insight into the effectiveness of women's tactics for soliciting dating attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evolutionary theory predicts that female intrasexual competition will occur when males of high genetic quality are considered to be a resource. It is probable that women compete in terms of attractiveness since this is one of the primary criteria used by men when selecting mates. Furthermore, because hormones influence the mate-selection process, they may also mediate competition. One competitive strategy that women use is derogation--any act intended to decrease a rival's perceived value. To investigate intrasexual competition through derogation, the influence of oestrogen on women's ratings of female facial attractiveness was examined. During periods of high oestrogen, competition, and hence derogation, increased, as evidenced by lower ratings of female facial attractiveness. By contrast, oestrogen levels did not significantly affect ratings of male faces. These findings support the theory of female intrasexual competition with respect to attractiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mate value is an important concept in mate choice research although its operationalization and understanding are limited. Here, we reviewed and evaluated previously established conceptual and methodological approaches measuring mate value and presented original research using individual differences in how people view themselves as a face-valid proxy for mate value in long- and short-term contexts. In data from 41 nations (N = 3895, Mage = 24.71, 63% women, 47% single), we tested sex, age, and relationship status effects on self-perceived mate desirability, along with individual differences in the Dark Triad traits, life history strategies, peer-based comparison of desirability, and self-reported mating success. Both sexes indicated more short-term than long-term mate desirability; however, men reported more long-term mate desirability than women, whereas women reported more short-term mate desirability than men. Further, individuals who were in a committed relationship felt more desirable than those who were not. Concerning the cross-sectional stability of mate desirability across the lifespan, in men, short- and long-term desirability rose to the age of 40 and 50, respectively, and decreased afterward. In women, short-term desirability rose to the age of 38 and decreased afterward, whereas long-term desirability remained stable over time. Our results suggest that measuring long- and short-term self-perceived mate desirability reveals predictable correlates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a trend analysis about the decline in the optimally attractive body mass index. Depiction of fashion models in the media; Consideration of the hip ratios of centerfold models in 'Playboy', a sex magazine; Subjects; Methods; Results; How models shapely body characteristics have given way to more androgynous ones.

Nudging is a method for eliciting a desired behavior. One approach to nudging involves information provision. When information presented for this purpose is designed from an evolutionary perspective, it may reveal a deeper level of rationality within human decision-making that might otherwise appear to be irrational. Based on insights from the evolution of altruism, we previously designed a message to remind people of the benefits they have received from the actions of relatives to realize industrialization. We then demonstrated that using this message in Japan was effective at moderating extreme risk-averse attitudes toward air pollution resulting from industrialization. However, the universality of the intervention effect, including whether it could be affected by exogenous factors, was not explored. Therefore, in the present study, we conducted a randomized controlled trial based on an online survey carried out in Japan, Canada, and the US. The intervention was shown to be effective in all the three countries, but the effect size varied according to segment. Although women showed more intervention effects than men in Japan and the US, no significant sex difference was observed in Canada. In terms of personality traits, higher agreeableness significantly contributed to the intervention effects. The influence of the COVID-19 pandemic, which necessitated many lifestyle changes, was found to weaken the intervention effect by increasing the message effect in the control group. We propose that this effect was caused by an increased perception of familial support in everyday life. These results suggest that the nudge message was universally effective, although the effect size might have been affected by cultural factors and social events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Disposable plastics are drawing considerable attention as a source of environmental risk despite their benefits in daily life. Banning the use of disposable plastics could increase other types of risks, which may damage the public good in the long run. Considering the trade-off of the risks and benefits, one way to improve social welfare is to conduct proper recycling and to continue using plastics but limit them to essential use, avoiding an unnecessary ban. A potential barrier to such a policy might be risk-averse attitudes toward actions that are perceived to threaten future generations, which is a well-known phenomenon. We previously designed a framework for information provision using messages that remind individuals about familial support, which had significant effects in multiple countries on increasing positive attitudes toward air pollution caused by industrialization. We hypothesized that this information provision could also be effective for disposable plastic use. Thus, we conducted a randomized controlled trial via online surveys in Japan, Canada, and the US to identify the effects of our designed messages about recycling on increasing positive attitudes toward disposable plastics. The intervention effects were measured by the difference-in-difference method and panel analysis based on linear regression models using the respondents' attributes and personality traits. The effects were consistently correlated with a sense of familial support, with the effect sizes varying according to country (US > Japan > Canada). Attributes that positively contributed to the message being more effective were higher agreeableness, lower Machiavellianism, lower psychopathy, and being a woman. Although personal fear about COVID-19 moderated the message effects, concern about the threats to relatives and family boosted the effects. Although the effect sizes were influenced by external factors, the results suggested that our proposed framework for information provision has the potential to be applied to a wider variety of risk-related topics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Intrasexual Competition Scale (ICS) measures the extent to which individuals view their interaction with same-sex others in competitive terms. Although it is frequently used in studies investigating differences in mating behavior, the factor structure of the ICS has never been confirmed. Researchers have yet to use multiple-group confirmatory factor analysis to test whether the properties of the scale are equivalent between the sexes. In Study 1, we report on an investigation in which participants' responses to the ICS were submitted to exploratory factor analysis (EFA). In Study 2A, we compared the fit of one and two-factor models from the EFA as well as two additional models, using confirmatory factor analysis with an independent sample. The best fit was obtained by a two-factor solution, which reflected: (1) respondents' feelings of frustration when intrasexual competitors are better off (Inferiority Frustration), and (2) respondents' enjoyment of being better than intrasexual competitors (Superiority Enjoyment). This model achieved a high degree of measurement invariance. In Study 2B, we found the ICS had good concurrent validity via associations with sociosexuality, mating effort, and sexual behavior. Together, these analyses suggest that the ICS is a valid measure of intrasexually competitive attitudes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We analyzed the responses of 448 participants who completed questions on attractiveness and other evolutionary fitness related traits, and long- and short-term mating potential, of a woman in either high heeled or flat shoes. We hypothesized that the woman in high heels would be rated as more attractive and evolutionarily fit by both men and women, and preferred for short-term mating by men. The hypothesis was partially supported. The woman in high heels was perceived as being more sexually attractive, physically attractive, feminine, and of a higher status. Additionally, women rated women as having a higher status regardless of the shoe, than men, while men rated women as having higher short- and long-term mating potential, than women did, regardless of the shoe. We discuss the implications of these findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies on luxury consumption demonstrated that men spend large sums of money on luxury brands to signal their mate value to women and, thus, increase their reproductive success. Although women also spend copious amounts of money on luxuries, research focusing on women's motives for luxury consumption is rather scarce. Relying on costly signaling and intrasexual competition theory, the goal of the current study was to test whether female intrasexual competition in a mate attraction context triggers women's spending on luxuries. The results of the first experiment reveal that an intrasexual competition context enhances women's preferences for attractiveness enhancing, but not for non-attractiveness related luxuries such as a smartphone. This finding indicates that women may use luxury consumption as a self-promotion strategy during within-sex competitions, as these luxuries improve their advantages against same- sex rivals for mates. A follow-up study shows that compared to women who do not consume luxuries, women who do so are perceived as more attractive, flirty, young, ambitious, sexy, and less loyal, mature and smart by other women. These results suggest that luxury consumption may provide information about a women's willingness to engage in sex, as well as her views about other women, and consequently, her success in intrasexual competitions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Miller's (2008) positive manifold theory argues that mental fitness indicators tend to positively interrelate, with individuals high on various indicators having increased likelihood of reproductive success (RS). In modern times, mating success must be used as a proxy for RS; however, current measures do not account for relationship quality, which is theorized to have increased RS. A mating success scale (MSS) was created for this study, which measures the quality of participants' most recent short- and long-term sexual relationship. Fifty-one men and 202 women participated. Hypothesized mental fitness indicators (e.g., general intelligence, sense of humor) and other traits (e.g., extraversion) were measured. Results generally did not show support for positive manifold theory. The MSS showed good reliability (Cronbach's α between .90 -.94) and negatively correlated with female fluctuating asymmetry and the number of partners in participants' preferred temporal mating strategy. Results are discussed in terms of modern sexual selection theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nonpaternity (i.e., discrepant biological versus social fatherhood) affects many issues of interests to psychologists, including familial dynamics, interpersonal relationships, sexuality, and fertility, and therefore represents an important topic for psychological research. The advent of modern contraceptive methods, particularly the market launch of the birth-control pill in the early 1960s and its increased use ever since, should have affected rates of nonpaternity (i.e., discrepant genetic and social fatherhood). This cross-temporal mets-analysis investigated whether there has been a recent decline in nonpaternity rates in the western industrialized nations. The eligible database comprised 32 published samples unbiased towards nonpaternity for which nonoverlapping data from more than 24,000 subjects from nine (mostly Anglo-Saxon heritage) countries with primarily Caucasian populations are reported. Publication years ranged from 1932 to 1999, and estimated years of the reported nonpaternity events (i.e., the temporal occurrence of nonpaternity) ranged from 1895 to 1993. In support of the hypothesis, weighted meta-regression models showed a significant decrease (r=-.4 1) of log-transformed nonpaternity rates with publication years and also a decrease, albeit not significant (r=-.17), with estimated years of nonpaternity events. These results transform into an estimated absolute decline in untransformed nonpaternity rates of 0.83% and 0.91% per decade, respectively. Across studies, the mean (and median) nonpaternity rate was 3.1% (2.1%). This estimate is consistent with estimates of 2 to 3% from recent reviews on the topic that were based on fewer primary studies. This estimate also rebuts the beliefs and hearsay data widespread among both the public and researchers which contend nonpaternity rates in modern populations might be as high as about 10%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although there is an abundance of gossip research, little is known about the impact of individuals’ characteristics and their ability to recall gossip’s content. We concentrated on gossip related to mating reputation, and investigated the effects of individuals’ sex and relationship status when they are the subjects and receivers of such gossip. We presented 84 students with gossip-like stories, manipulated for content, and then provided a surprise recall test. We found that cues of attractiveness were recalled more for female characters, whereas cues of wealth status were recalled more for male characters. Gender differences in participants’ recall occurred for gossip about same-sex people who may represent rivals, but not for gossip about other-sex people who may represent potential mates. The relationship status of the subjects and receivers did not affect the recall rates. We discuss these findings within the conceptual framework offered by evolutionary psychology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although frequently cited, there has been no published scientific replication of Clark and Hatfield's (1989) and Clark's (1990) findings concerning women's low receptivity to male strangers' offers of casual sex. Consistently across three identically designed naturalistic experiments (aggregated N= 144), these authors reported a 0% acceptance rate by women. The present research analyzed an informal "real- life" journalistic project (N= 100) initiated by an Austrian magazine, in which results indicated a 6.1% acceptance rate (95% CI: 2.8-12.6%) for a complete stranger offering women immediate sexual involvement. Various contextual differences, such as setting, subjects' age and attractiveness, and age differences between requestor and receiver, probably contributed to the observed difference in outcome between the journalistic project and the original experiments. The present findings point to the importance of contextual effects in naturalistic investigations of women's receptivity to sexual offers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]