Peacocks, Picasso, and parental investment: The effects of romantic motives on creativity.

Four experiments explored the effects of mating motivation on creativity. Even without other incentives to be creative, romantic motives enhanced creativity on subjective and objective measures. For men, any cue designed to activate a short-term or a long-term mating goal increased creative displays; however, women displayed more creativity only when primed to attract a high-quality long-term mate. These creative boosts were unrelated to increased effort on creative tasks or to changes in mood or arousal. Furthermore, results were unaffected by the application of monetary incentives for creativity. These findings align with the view that creative displays in both sexes may be linked to sexual selection, qualified by unique exigencies of human parental investment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex similarities and differences in preferences for short-term mates: What, whether, and why.

Are there sex differences in criteria for sexual relationships? The answer depends on what question a researcher asks. Data suggest that, whereas the sexes differ in whether they will enter short-term sexual relationships, they are more similar in what they prioritize in partners for such relationships. However, additional data and context of other findings and theory suggest different underlying reasons. In Studies 1 and 2, men and women were given varying "mate budgets" to design short-term mates and were asked whether they would actually mate with constructed partners. Study 3 used a mate-screening paradigm. Whereas women have been found to prioritize status in long-term mates, they instead (like men) prioritize physical attractiveness much like an economic necessity in short-term mates. Both sexes also show evidence of favoring well-rounded long- and short-term mates when given the chance. In Studies 4 and 5, participants report reasons for having casual sex and what they find physically attractive. For women, results generally support a good genes account of short-term mating, as per strategic pluralism theory (S. W. Gangestad & J. A. Simpson, 2000). Discussion addresses broader theoretical implications for mate preference, and the link between method and theory in examining social decision processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Changes in Young People's Sexual Behavior and Attitudes, 1943-1999: A Cross-Temporal Meta-Analysis.

A cross-temporal meta-analysis of 530 studies (N = 269,649) showed that young people's sexual attitudes and behavior changed substantially between 1943 and 1999, with the largest shifts occurring among girls and young women. Both young men and women became more sexually active over time, as measured by age at first intercourse (decreasing from 19 to 15 years among young women) and percentage sexually active (increasing from 13% to 47% among young women). Attitudes toward premarital intercourse became more lenient, with approval increasing from 12% to 73% among young women and from 40% to 79% among young men. Feelings of sexual guilt decreased. The correlation between attitudes and behaviors was stronger among young women. These data support theories positing that culture has a larger effect on women's sexuality. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Acculturation-Related Variables, Sexual Initiation, and Subsequent Sexual Behavior Among Puerto Rican, Mexican, and Cuban Youth.

The relationship among acculturation-related variables, past sexual activity, and subsequent sexual behavior was examined for a sample of Latino youth in the United States over a 12-month period. A subsample from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health database was analyzed by means of a prospective design. History of sexual intercourse predicted subsequent sexual behavior over the ensuing 12 months. The acculturation-related variables were related to whether an adolescent reported being sexually active at Wave 1 but in a complex fashion. Among recent immigrants, youth from English-speaking homes were less likely to be sexually active than those from Spanish-speaking homes. The opposite was observed for youth who were born in the United States or who had resided in the United States most of their lives. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Rape in non-human animals: An evolutionary perspective.

Rape-like behaviour has been documented in a number of species of animals. The purpose of this paper is to explain the evolutionary perspective on this behaviour. Several key concepts of modern evolutionary theory are first explained. Then the problem of defining rape in such a way that it is amenable to scientific study is discussed. Agonistic mating, altruistic mating, forced mating, and detrimental mating are defined in terms of costs and benefits to both male and female fitness. The introductory section concludes with a discussion of the role of genes in determining sexual behaviour and the nature of biological adaptations. Forced mating in orangutans, mallard ducks, and scorpionflies is described. The evolution of this behaviour is explained in terms of parental investment and sexual selection theory. Speculations on mechanisms that females might evolve to deal with this coercive male reproductive strategy conclude the paper. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Genitosensory nerve modulation of paced mating behavior: Evidence for pelvic, but not hypogastric, nerve influence.

The pelvic nerve is known to play a role in the behavioral and neurochemical responses exhibited during paced mating behavior. The present study extended the analysis of the contribution of the genitosensory nerves to the display of paced mating behavior to include bilateral hypogastric nerve transection, bilateral pelvic nerve transection, or transection of both the hypogastric and pelvic nerves. Rats with pelvic nerve transection were less likely to exit the male compartment, took longer to exit the male compartment following intromissions, and returned to the male more quickly following intromissions compared to rats with an intact pelvic nerve. In contrast, hypogastric nerve transection alone did not affect paced mating and had no modulating effect on the paced mating behavior of rats with pelvic nerve transection. Our results support the view that key aspects of paced mating behavior are modulated by signals transmitted via the pelvic nerve, without any discernable contribution from the hypogastric nerve. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Sex, evolution and behavior (2nd edition).

Reviews the book, Sex, evolution and behavior (2nd edition) by Martin Daly and Margo Wilson (1983). As Daly's and Wilson's text makes clear, the general framework of sociobiology has ordered an immense amount of disparate data on the nature of sexuality and offered important insights into the human condition. The book is written in an engaging and ebullient manner, aimed primarily as a textbook for undergraduate students in psychology and the social sciences. It is much more than this, however. It stands as a highly accessible guide and reference manual to current research and theory for psychologists interested in interfacing with evolutionary biology, as well as being "a good read" for any reasonably intelligent, literate person. It is very unusual for a book to so usefully serve such a wide audience. The authors have a quite remarkable capacity to "bottom line" knotty theories and complicated data sets. There are very few criticisms that can be made and most of these will be idiosyncratic to the particular reviewer. However, I suspect that three may occur to those psychologists considering offering courses on human sociobiology. First, the book is highly focused on sex and reproduction and, therefore, does not cover other important topics in the degree of detail that course instructors may have wished: altruism and aggression, to mention two. Second, an even greater emphasis on the human species would have been preferred by most behavioural scientists (particularly students). Finally, and allied to the last two criticisms, more information could have been incorporated from social-personality-developmental psychology. Instead, a mildly deprecating tone is occasionally adopted. Despite such minor carpings (and it is always easy to criticize a book for what it didn't include), the book is highly recommended for anyone interested in the current status of research in sociobiology. It would make an excellent textbook for anyone teaching a half year introductory course on sociobiology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Evolution, emotions, and emotional disorders.

Emotions research is now routinely grounded in evolution, but explicit evolutionary analyses of emotions remain rare. This article considers the implications of natural selection for several classic questions about emotions and emotional disorders. Emotions are special modes of operation shaped by natural selection. They adjust multiple response parameters in ways that have increased fitness in adaptively challenging situations that recurred over the course of evolution. They are valenced because selection shapes special processes for situations that have influenced fitness in the past. In situations that decrease fitness, negative emotions are useful and positive emotions are harmful. Selection has partially differentiated subtypes of emotions from generic precursor states to deal with specialized situations. This has resulted in untidy emotions that blur into each other on dozens of dimensions, rendering the quest for simple categorically distinct emotions futile. Selection has shaped flexible mechanisms that control the expression of emotions on the basis of an individual's appraisal of the meaning of events for his or her ability to reach personal goals. The prevalence of emotional disorders can be attributed to several evolutionary factors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

金属钆中钨的演化迁移行为与调控

以氟化钆为原料,金属钙为还原剂,在真空感应炉内,用钙热还原和XRD法研究了金属钆中钨的来源、形态、分布、演化迁移行为和调控方法。结果表明,金属钆中钨主要来源于坩埚,以熔解态钨和夹杂物Gd_2(WO_4)_3两种形态存在。钨在金属钆铸锭的下表面中心区域位置发生偏聚,含量最高,上表面二分之一半径处含量最低。演化迁移行为主要有两条途径,单质钨经脱落、熔解、熔体中迁移再分配、铸模内向中心和底部迁移;单质钨被氧化为氧化钨后,进入熔体与钆结合为Gd_2(WO_4)_3、铸模内向中心和底部迁移。从钨坩埚致密性、熔炼氛围、炉内残余氧量、原辅料纯度和升降温制度等方面调控后,可获得平均钨含量为0.008%的金属钆。     

Romantic involvement often reduces men's testosterone levels--but not always: The moderating role of extrapair sexual interest.

Testosterone (T) appears to facilitate what biologists refer to as mating effort--the investment of time and energy into same-sex competition and mate-seeking behavior. Multiple studies show that men who are romantically involved (i.e., are paired) have lower T than single men, which may be due to a facultative adjustment by men of T levels in response to lower demands for mating effort. The authors proceeded on the basis of the idea that men who retain interests in sexual opportunities with women other than a primary partner continue to dedicate more time and energy to mating effort when romantically paired, and so they predicted that the association between relationship status and T depends on men's extrapair sexual interests. Study 1 used the Sociosexual Orientation Inventory to measure extrapair sexual interests, whereas Study 2 used a broader measure to examine this interaction. Both studies found support for it. These results have implications for an understanding of the biosocial regulation of men's behavior in romantic relationships. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Impact of Time in Prison and Security Level on Inmates' Sexual Attitude, Behavior, and Identity.

The aim of the present study was to develop an understanding of changes in inmates' sexual identity and the role these changes play in inmates' sexual attitudes and behaviors while incarcerated. Participants in this study consisted of 185 inmates from minimum and maximum security correctional facilities in a midwestern state. Results revealed that the higher the security level was and the longer inmates spent in a correctional facility, the greater was the probability that inmates would begin to endorse some preference for same-sex sexual behavior. This is in contrast to the finding that inmates less readily changed their sexual identity from heterosexual to homosexual regardless of the security level or the length of time spent in prison. Furthermore, inmates generally reported engaging in consensual same-sex sexual activities for reasons that are consistent with those of nonincarcerated persons (love and pleasure). Implications and future studies are also discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Peer Influences on Risk Behavior: An Analysis of the Effects of a Close Friend.

Cross-sectional research suggests that peer influence has a moderate to strong impact on adolescent risk behavior. Such estimates may be inflated owing to third-variable confounds representing either friendship selection effects or the operation of parallel events. Approximately 1,700 peer dyads in Grades 7 to 11 were studied over a 1-year period to estimate the influence of closest friends on sexual activity and binge drinking. Analyses suggested that peer influence was small but reliable when both selection effects and parallel events were taken into account. Peer influence varied as a function of individual-peer similarity and maternal relations but not in accord with other theoretical predictions. It is suggested that the magnitude of peer effects in previous research may be overestimated in many contexts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Peacocks, Porsches, and Thorstein Veblen: Conspicuous consumption as a sexual signaling system.

Conspicuous consumption is a form of economic behavior in which self-presentational concerns override desires to obtain goods at bargain prices. Showy spending may be a social signal directed at potential mates. We investigated such signals by examining (a) which individuals send them, (b) which contexts trigger them, and (c) how observers interpret them. Three experiments demonstrated that conspicuous consumption is driven by men who are following a lower investment (vs. higher investment) mating strategy and is triggered specifically by short-term (vs. long-term) mating motives. A fourth experiment showed that observers interpret such signals accurately, with women perceiving men who conspicuously consume as being interested in short-term mating. Furthermore, conspicuous purchasing enhanced men's desirability as a short-term (but not as a long-term) mate. Overall, these findings suggest that flaunting status-linked goods to potential mates is not simply about displaying economic resources. Instead, conspicuous consumption appears to be part of a more precise signaling system focused on short-term mating. These findings contribute to an emerging literature on human life-history strategies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Men's media use, sexual cognitions, and sexual risk behavior: Testing a mediational model.

Efforts to link media use to adolescents' sexual initiation have produced somewhat inconsistent results, perhaps as a result of the limited framing of the question. This study sought to expand current approaches by sampling college students instead of high school students, by investigating a range of sexual behaviors and media formats, and by testing a model that featured sexual cognitions as mediators. We tested our model with a sample of 796 heterosexual, male college students who reported on their regular consumption of 4 media (prime-time TV programs, music videos, movies, and men's magazines); their attitudes toward abstinence, the male sexual role, and nonrelational sex; their perceptions of peer sexual behavior; and several aspects of their sexual behavior (e.g., number of sexual partners). Findings revealed strong support for our mediated model, with exposure to men's magazines and movies contributing most strongly to their sexual cognitions, and with men's cognitions, in turn, contributing heavily to their sexual behavior. Some direct connections from media use to sexual behavior also emerged. Together, the findings provide insight into both potential mechanisms for and new approaches to addressing this issue. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

The great struggles of life: Darwin and the emergence of evolutionary psychology.

Darwin envisioned a scientific revolution for psychology. His theories of natural and sexual selection identified two classes of struggles--the struggle for existence and the struggle for mates. The emergence of evolutionary psychology and related disciplines signals the fulfillment of Darwin's vision. Natural selection theory guides scientists to discover adaptations for survival. Sexual selection theory illuminates the sexual struggle, highlighting mate choice and same-sex competition adaptations. Theoretical developments since publication of On the Origin of Species identify important struggles unknown to Darwin, notably, within-families conflicts and conflict between the sexes. Evolutionary psychology synthesizes modern evolutionary biology and psychology to penetrate some of life's deep mysteries: Why do many struggles center around sex? Why is social conflict pervasive? And what are the mechanisms of mind that define human nature? (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Race, evolution, and behaviour: A life history perspective.

Reviews the book, Race, evolution, and behaviour: A life history perspective (2nd special abridged edition) by J. Philippe Rushton (2000). In 1995, Philippe Rushton wrote Race, evolution and behavior, which summarized his ideas about race and racial differences. Rushton assumes that the major racial groupings of humankind represent a deep biological and evolutionary reality, and that there are important racial differences caused by evolutionary differences in reproductive strategies. Rushton claims that Blacks are less intelligent, more sexually precocious and promiscuous, less involved in parenting, and more likely to engage in criminal behaviour than "Mongoloids." "Caucasoids" fall between the two other groups in all those characteristics. The book caused considerable controversy. Rushton has defended abridgements of his book as simply providing briefer, more accessible editions of it. Most of the scientific claims made by Rushton, in either the 1995 book or its subsequent revisions, have been roundly criticized, but Rushton continues to present these same claims as if the criticisms did not exist. In many cases, Rushton's review of the evidence is highly selective. Although space precludes examining all of Rushton's claims about racial differences, Rushton hardly provides a balanced scientific account of the evidence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Women's history of sexual abuse, their sexuality, and sexual self-schemas.

In this study, the authors assessed 48 female survivors of child sexual abuse (CSA) and 71 female control participants using measures of adult sexual function, psychological function (i.e., depression and anxiety), and sexual self-schemas. The primary purpose of this study was to examine whether differences existed between women with and without a history of CSA in the way that they viewed themselves as a sexual person and, if so, whether such differences mediated the link between early unwanted sexual experiences and later adult sexuality. CSA survivors were found to view themselves as less romantic and passionate than women who were not abused. In particular, CSA survivors showed an inverse relationship between romantic/passionate sexual self-schemas and negative sexual affect during sexual arousal. The relationship between CSA and negative sexual affect was independent from symptoms of depression and anxiety, suggesting that the impact of CSA on sexual self-schemas may be independent from the impact that the abuse may have in other areas of the survivor's life. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The detection of social exclusion: Evolution and beyond.

This article analyzes how humans detect threats to social inclusion. The authors begin by noting the likely evolutionary roots of (a) the human sensitivity to threats of both interpersonal and group exclusion and (b) the nature of the primitive system that humans developed for detecting such threats. The authors then propose seven generic classes of signals (hurting, avoiding, exploiting, deregulating, disengaging, differentiating, and slandering) that modern humans use in detecting exclusion and compare our taxonomy to prior empirical attempts to identify rejection cues. Finally, the authors offer a preliminary model of how the modern sociometer operates, emphasizing the importance of behavioral expectations and attribution processes, and discuss open questions suggested by our analysis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Influence of Physical Attractiveness and Alcohol on Men's Perceptions of Potential Sexual Partners and Sexual Behavior Intentions.

The current research presents the results of 2 related experimental studies designed to evaluate the influence of physical attractiveness and a moderate dose of alcohol on men's perceptions of potential sexual partners and sexual behavior intentions. Analyses revealed significant effects of physical attractiveness on partner perceptions and sexual behavior intentions. Although no main effects of alcohol were observed, alcohol differentially moderated the relations between perceived risk and sexual behavior intentions by limb of absorption. Results suggest that greater attention should be focused on identifying the specific physical characteristics of a potential sexual partner--beyond attractiveness--that influence perceptions of risk and intentions to engage in safer sex behaviors and highlight the importance of assessing limb of absorption in evaluating the complex association between alcohol and risky sexual behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Child Sexual Abuse and Number of Sexual Partners in Young Women: The Role of Abuse Severity, Coping Style, and Sexual Functioning.

The authors proposed and tested a model describing distinct pathways through which childhood sexual abuse (CSA) may lead to relatively low or high numbers of sexual partners in adulthood. Path analyses were conducted on survey responses of young female US Navy recruits who reported CSA (N=547). Use of avoidant strategies to cope with CSA was expected to produce higher levels of sexual problems and fewer heterosexual sex partners, whereas use of self-destructive coping strategies was expected to result in more dysfunctional sexual behavior and more heterosexual sex partners. As predicted, the effect of CSA on number of sex partners was largely mediated by coping strategies and dysfunctional sexual behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)