1,721,209 research outputs found
An evolutionary perspective on interpersonal violence: Sex differences and personality links
No full textAn evolutionary psychology perspective on sex differences in exercise behaviors and motivations
No full textResearchers have found that men and women pursue sex-appropriate strategies to attract mates. On the basis of intrasexual competition, men should be more likely to enact behaviors to look larger, whereas women should be more likely to enact behaviors to look smaller. The types of exercises that each performs should reflect this expectation. The present study replicates and extends work by L. Mealey (1997) on sex differences in exercise behavior. In the present study, male participants focused their energy on gaining muscle mass and enhancing their upper body definition, whereas female participants focused their energy on losing weight with emphasis on their lower body. Both sexes reported efforts to improve their abdominal region. It appears that men and women adopt sex-appropriate exercise behavior as a method of self-enhancement for intrasexual competition. Copyright © 2007 Heldref Publications
A mediation hypothesis to account for the sex difference in reported number of sexual partners:an intrasexual competition approach
No full textMen may gauge their own status by comparing themselves to other men in terms of how many sexual partners they have had. In so doing, men who have had more sexual partners appear to have higher status than a man with fewer past sexual partners. In Study 1, men were more likely than women to use their perceived amount of sexual success as a means of assessing status: accounting for the sex difference in reported number of sex partners. In Study 2, men viewed sexual success as more prestigious than women, as demonstrated experimentally. Men may be more likely to boost reports about their sex life both in real-life and in surveys as functions of (1) their perception that with more sex comes more prestige and (2) the desire to enhance their perceived status among others. ©2007 by The Haworth Press
The potentially conflicted evaluations of others based on their intelligence
No full textIndividual differences in intelligence are apparent and likely to come with important interpersonal consequences. We examined (N = 476) how (manipulated) individual differences in intelligence affect likability ratings of men and women. We found that (1) ratings were generally more favorable than unfavorable, (2) the difference between favorable and unfavorable ratings of the female target differed more than those same evaluations of the male target, (3) the favorable evaluation tendency was present across relative intelligence but weakest when the target was smarter than the participant, (4) the smarter target was rated more unfavorably, and (5) the equally smart target was rated more favorably than the less intelligent target. Results suggest that people are somewhat conflicted in their evaluations of those smarter than they are whereas similarly and less intelligent people presented less of an apparent conflict in evaluations
How happiness expectations relate to the Dark Triad traits
No full textIn samples of Americans (N = 273) and Indians (N = 194) paid through Mechanical Turk (Study 1) and British (N = 132) volunteers contacted through Reddit (Study 2), we examined how the Dark Triad traits (i.e., psychopathy, narcissism, and Machiavellianism) were associated with happiness expectations when participants imagined solving adaptive tasks. In Study 1, the traits were linked to forecasted happiness in achieving status and power and mate-seeking, with psychopathy demonstrating less happiness when pursuing slow life history tasks (e.g., avoiding diseases), whereas the other two traits led to expectations of happiness when forming social bonds, retaining mates, and avoiding pathogens. In Study 2, the traits were associated with choosing to pursue mating opportunities to induce happiness. Women expected more happiness in response to ensuring their safety over pursuing mating opportunities. We suggest happiness might be an affective feedback system that rewards people for pursuing their life history goals
The dark side of the rainbow: Homosexuals and bisexuals have higher Dark Triad traits than heterosexuals
No full textResearch on the Dark Triad traits—psychopathy, Machiavellianism, and narcissism—reveals malevolent, transgressive, and self-centered aspects of personality. Little is known about the Dark Triad traits in individuals differing in sexual orientation, with some studies showing that non-heterosexual individuals have Dark Triad profiles resembling those of opposite-sex heterosexual individuals. In a cross-national sample (N = 4063; 1507 men, 2556 women; Mage = 24.78, SDage = 7.55; 90.58% heterosexual, 5.74% bisexual, 2.83% homosexual) collected online via student and snowball sampling, we found in sex-aggregated analyses that bisexuals and homosexuals were more Machiavellian than heterosexuals. Bisexuals were more psychopathic and narcissistic than heterosexuals. The only significant findings in within-sex comparisons showed that self-identified bisexual women scored higher on all Dark Triad traits than heterosexual women. The findings support the gender shift hypothesis of same-sex sexual attraction in bisexual women, but not in lesbians nor in men. The finding that bisexuals are the sexual orientation group with the most pronounced Dark Triad profiles is opposite to what would be predicted by the prosociality hypothesis of same-sex sexual attraction. The life history and minority stress implications of these findings are discussed as alternative hypotheses to the gender shift hypothesis
The Dark Triad Traits and Mating Psychology
No full textA common misconception among researchers and laypeople is that socially undesirable traits (e.g., aggressiveness) cannot be evolutionarily important and instead must be pathologies. The assumption is that if we— as a society— disapprove of certain behaviors, attitudes, and cognitions, these “pathologies” are then likely to be discouraged, minimized, and eradicated. Further, it is assumed that these undesirable features cannot simultaneously have some desirable or evolutionarily important functions. One potential example of this is found in the research on the Dark Triad traits of psychopathy, Machiavellianism, and narcissism. These traits have a history of research and social perceptions that label them undesirable in etiology, function, and sequelae. In this chapter, we review the evidence and logic of how these traits might be pseudopathologies, or adaptations (i.e., historically increased reproductive fitness of their bearers), while still recognizing that having these traits may come with associated costs to the individual and those around them. We present the argument for these traits as “fast” life history strategies and then detail the mating psychology linked to them. We close with a consideration of conceptual and methodological limitations and suggestions for future research to guide and encourage researcher
The value of physical attractiveness in romantic partners : modeling biological and social variables
No full textAccording to research on physical attractiveness, personal attributes such as gender, height, and self-perception are important in determining how much individuals value physical attractiveness in their romantic partners. In a survey of 228 college-aged participants, the ratings of the physical attractiveness of potential romantic partners were positively correlated with how much participants valued physical attractiveness in their long-term romantic partners. Individuals' partner preferences may be sensitive to their perceptions of themselves. Perceptions of the attractiveness of those in one's local area may also play a part in the development of such partner preferences through exposure
Further tests of validity for the one-dimensional Hong's psychological reactance scale
No full textPrior work using Hong's Psychological Reactance Scale has shown that there were main effects for participants' sex, race, and age. No consistent significant relationships with these demographic factors were obtained with scores on Hong's Psychological Reactance Scale. The one-dimensional nature of the scale was supported. Further analyses yielded no significant results with sexual orientation, socioeconomic classifications, and education. If the scale is to be a useful measure of Psychological Reactance, much more work is needed. The findings from prior work and this one may be affected by measurement error in the construct and the small magnitude of the relationships. © Psychological Reports 2007
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