On the causes and consequences of agency in women: A social and hormonal approach

Scholars have long understood that individuals who are ascribed low agency or lack the capacity for agency are routinely victimised. Yet despite the importance of agency to understanding maltreatment, researchers have largely ignored the effect of women's low agency on male-to-female sexual aggression. In Part I of this PhD thesis, I investigated how Western cultural sexualisation of women increased the extent to which women were perceived to lack agency and suffer sexual harm. In Part II, I examined whether hormones and fertility affected expressions of women s agency. Results from Experiments 1 4 indicated that women who were perceived as sexually open were more vulnerable to sexual aggression because both men and women assumed such women lacked agency. In Experiment 5, I found that men were more aggressive towards a sexually open woman after they were romantically rejected. I also found that aggressing against a woman after being rejected heightened men s feelings of sexual dominance. In Study 6, I first ensured my procedure for recruiting fertile women was methodologically rigorous by analysing the accuracy of indirect counting methods used for estimating women s fertility. Results consistently showed that indirect fertility estimation methods were highly inaccurate. I thus developed a best practice protocol for recruiting women in their fertile phase. Using this protocol, Studies 7 and 8 showed that patterns of ovarian hormones reflective of high fertility were positively associated with sexual openness and agency. Study 7 showed that women wore more red clothing which is perceived to represent high sexual openness as their estradiol to progesterone ratio increased. However, this effect was only found among younger women. Study 8 showed that women implicitly associated themselves with high sexual openness when they were fertile. When estradiol was high and progesterone was low, women placed more monetary value on sexy clothes and expressed higher agency. In the General Discussion, I discuss and integrate findings from Part I and Part II. I provide a functional account for why men might perceive sexually open women lack agency, and conversely why women may feel and act more agentically when sexually motivated

Left / Write // Hook: A mixed method study of a writing and boxing workshop for survivors of childhood sexual abuse and trauma

This article investigates how the combination of writing therapy and embodied empowerment, explored through the physical sport of non-contact boxing, can facilitate the recovery journeys of women survivors of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) and their move towards post-traumatic growth. It uses established quantitative psychological measurements and qualitative analytical approaches to examine the impact of an eight-week boxing and writing workshop for female survivors of CSA, called Left/Write//Hook (LWH), on participants’ recovery journeys. The hypothesis was that the LWH workshops would contribute to participants’ recovery and wellbeing. The article reports on the pilot study of the workshops as one aspect of an ongoing research project around LWH which uses concurrent, triangulation mixed methods design to gather and analyze qualitative audio-visual and creative-writing data produced by the women, alongside quantitative psychological assessment data. The findings of qualitative analyses of the participants’ creative writing and the quantitative psychological assessments of the impact of the LWH workshops on participants’ assertiveness, post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms, wellbeing, depression, anxiety and stress, along with preliminary findings of filmed material are presented and discussed in this article. The findings supported the hypothesis that the LWH workshops helped facilitate participants’ recovery journeys and supported their wellbeing. This article offers preliminary support for the argument that the dual approach of written/verbal and embodied creativity can enhance the wellbeing of survivors of sexual abuse and trauma

Women's preferences for men's beards show no relation to their ovarian cycle phase and sex hormone levels

According to the ovulatory shift hypothesis, women's mate preferences for male morphology indicative of competitive ability, social dominance, and/or underlying health are strongest at the peri-ovulatory phase of the menstrual cycle. However, recent meta-analyses are divided on the robustness of such effects and the validity of the often-used indirect estimates of fertility and ovulation has been called into question in methodological studies. In the current study, we test whether women's preferences for men's beardedness, a cue of male sexual maturity, androgenic development and social dominance, are stronger at the peri-ovulatory phase of the menstrual cycle compared to during the early follicular or the luteal phase. We also tested whether levels of estradiol, progesterone, and the estradiol to progesterone ratio at each phase were associated with facial hair preferences. Fifty-two heterosexual women completed a two-alternative forced choice preference test for clean-shaven and bearded male faces during the follicular, peri-ovulatory (validated by the surge in luteinizing hormone or the drop in estradiol levels) and luteal phases. Participants also provided for one entire menstrual cycle daily saliva samples for subsequent assaying of estradiol and progesterone. Results showed an overall preference for bearded over clean-shaven faces at each phase of the menstrual cycle. However, preferences for facial hair were not significantly different over the phases of menstrual cycle and were not significantly associated with levels of reproductive hormones. We conclude that women's preferences for men's beardedness may not be related to changes in their likelihood of conception

To which world regions does the valence–dominance model of social perception apply?

Over the past 10 years, Oosterhof and Todorov’s valence–dominance model has emerged as the most prominent account of how people evaluate faces on social dimensions. In this model, two dimensions (valence and dominance) underpin social judgements of faces. Because this model has primarily been developed and tested in Western regions, it is unclear whether these findings apply to other regions. We addressed this question by replicating Oosterhof and Todorov’s methodology across 11 world regions, 41 countries and 11,570 participants. When we used Oosterhof and Todorov’s original analysis strategy, the valence–dominance model generalized across regions. When we used an alternative methodology to allow for correlated dimensions, we observed much less generalization. Collectively, these results suggest that, while the valence–dominance model generalizes very well across regions when dimensions are forced to be orthogonal, regional differences are revealed when we use different extraction methods and correlate and rotate the dimension reduction solution.C.L. was supported by the Vienna Science and Technology Fund (WWTF VRG13-007); L.M.D. was supported by ERC 647910 (KINSHIP); D.I.B. and N.I. received funding from CONICET, Argentina; L.K., F.K. and Á. Putz were supported by the European Social Fund (EFOP-3.6.1.-16-2016-00004; ‘Comprehensive Development for Implementing Smart Specialization Strategies at the University of Pécs’). K.U. and E. Vergauwe were supported by a grant from the Swiss National Science Foundation (PZ00P1_154911 to E. Vergauwe). T.G. is supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). M.A.V. was supported by grants 2016-T1/SOC-1395 (Comunidad de Madrid) and PSI2017-85159-P (AEI/FEDER UE). K.B. was supported by a grant from the National Science Centre, Poland (number 2015/19/D/HS6/00641). J. Bonick and J.W.L. were supported by the Joep Lange Institute. G.B. was supported by the Slovak Research and Development Agency (APVV-17-0418). H.I.J. and E.S. were supported by a French National Research Agency ‘Investissements d’Avenir’ programme grant (ANR-15-IDEX-02). T.D.G. was supported by an Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship. The Raipur Group is thankful to: (1) the University Grants Commission, New Delhi, India for the research grants received through its SAP-DRS (Phase-III) scheme sanctioned to the School of Studies in Life Science; and (2) the Center for Translational Chronobiology at the School of Studies in Life Science, PRSU, Raipur, India for providing logistical support. K. Ask was supported by a small grant from the Department of Psychology, University of Gothenburg. Y.Q. was supported by grants from the Beijing Natural Science Foundation (5184035) and CAS Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology. N.A.C. was supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (R010138018). We acknowledge the following research assistants: J. Muriithi and J. Ngugi (United States International University Africa); E. Adamo, D. Cafaro, V. Ciambrone, F. Dolce and E. Tolomeo (Magna Græcia University of Catanzaro); E. De Stefano (University of Padova); S. A. Escobar Abadia (University of Lincoln); L. E. Grimstad (Norwegian School of Economics (NHH)); L. C. Zamora (Franklin and Marshall College); R. E. Liang and R. C. Lo (Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman); A. Short and L. Allen (Massey University, New Zealand), A. Ateş, E. Güneş and S. Can Özdemir (Boğaziçi University); I. Pedersen and T. Roos (Åbo Akademi University); N. Paetz (Escuela de Comunicación Mónica Herrera); J. Green (University of Gothenburg); M. Krainz (University of Vienna, Austria); and B. Todorova (University of Vienna, Austria). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish or preparation of the manuscript.https://www.nature.com/nathumbehav/am2023BiochemistryGeneticsMicrobiology and Plant Patholog

To which world regions does the valence–dominance model of social perception apply?

Over the past 10 years, Oosterhof and Todorov’s valence–dominance model has emerged as the most prominent account of how people evaluate faces on social dimensions. In this model, two dimensions (valence and dominance) underpin social judgements of faces. Because this model has primarily been developed and tested in Western regions, it is unclear whether these findings apply to other regions. We addressed this question by replicating Oosterhof and Todorov’s methodology across 11 world regions, 41 countries and 11,570 participants. When we used Oosterhof and Todorov’s original analysis strategy, the valence–dominance model generalized across regions. When we used an alternative methodology to allow for correlated dimensions, we observed much less generalization. Collectively, these results suggest that, while the valence–dominance model generalizes very well across regions when dimensions are forced to be orthogonal, regional differences are revealed when we use different extraction methods and correlate and rotate the dimension reduction solution

A multi-country test of brief reappraisal interventions on emotions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has increased negative emotions and decreased positive emotions globally. Left unchecked, these emotional changes might have a wide array of adverse impacts. To reduce negative emotions and increase positive emotions, we tested the effectiveness of reappraisal, an emotion-regulation strategy that modifies how one thinks about a situation. Participants from 87 countries and regions (n = 21,644) were randomly assigned to one of two brief reappraisal interventions (reconstrual or repurposing) or one of two control conditions (active or passive). Results revealed that both reappraisal interventions (vesus both control conditions) consistently reduced negative emotions and increased positive emotions across different measures. Reconstrual and repurposing interventions had similar effects. Importantly, planned exploratory analyses indicated that reappraisal interventions did not reduce intentions to practice preventive health behaviours. The findings demonstrate the viability of creating scalable, low-cost interventions for use around the world

“I sexually identify as an Attack Helicopter”: Incels, trolls, and non-binary gender politics online

Recent public debate on gender identification has provided new alternatives to the traditional binary divergent titles of “man and woman”. Some contributors to this discussion have proposed a more regressive position regarding gender equity and identity awareness, instead choosing to mock online discussion by relabeling their own gender as different forms of military hardware (“attack helicopters”). The describing characteristics of these individuals are unclear. Using a sample of respondents (N=20) to the 2016 Australian Sex Survey, we explore some key demographics of those identifying as inanimate objects of modern warfare, and those simply rejecting the possibility of non-binary alternatives. Our archetype analysis delineates participant characteristics into two subpopulations of “Incel” and “Troll”, and identifies key differences in their demographics, personality traits and online behaviours. On average, the study population presents as single Caucasian males, high school educated, with average to low incomes, and some degree of non-heterosexual attraction. While cyber aggression and trolling are well researched areas, further qualitative and quantitative research is warranted into new growing sub-populations such as Incels, and how they differ from other individuals and groups online

High Mate Value Men Become More Accepting of Intimate Partner Abuse When Primed With Gender Equality

Although attempts to rectify intimate partner violence (IPV) predominantly target gender inequality as its socio-structural source, evolutionary insights cast doubt on the notion that gender equality unambiguously lessens IPV. Here we test whether the effect of gender equality on male-to-female IPV will depend upon men's relative position in the sexual marketplace (i.e., their mate value). We primed 350 subjects (218 men) with one of three different prime types (high or low gender equality, or neutral control) each replicated five ways (total 15 primes). We measured support for coercive IPV and attitudes to abortion (to see if gender equality cues men's urges to control female reproduction). Mate value moderated the effect of gender equality on men's (but not women's) attitudes toward IPV, and there was no effect for abortion. High-value men were supportive of IPV in conditions of gender equality, yet we found the reverse for low-value men. We interpret our results in light of the fitness costs and benefits IPV poses to perpetrators in high and low gender equality environments. Our findings show that phenotypic plasticity in male-to-female IPV can depend upon both broader socio-structural conditions between men and women and on an individual man's position in the sexual marketplace

How intrasexual competitiveness shapes attitudes towards cosmetic surgery recipients

Cosmetic surgery is extremely popular. Despite this, negative attitudes towards cosmetic surgery recipients prevail. Across two pre-registered studies, we examined whether intrasexual competitiveness explains these negative attitudes. Participants in Study 1 were 343 (mean age = 24.74) single heterosexual American women and participants in Study 2 were 445 (mean age = 19.03) single heterosexual Australian women. Participants in both studies were primed for either low or high intrasexual competitiveness. Contrary to our predictions, we found that priming condition did not influence participants’ derogation and social exclusion of cosmetic surgery recipients. We did, however, find evidence for a ‘relative attractiveness’ halo effect: participants engaged in less derogation and social exclusion when they assumed cosmetic surgery recipients were more attractive than themselves. This suggests that 'pretty privilege' extends not only to women who meet conventional beauty standards, but also to those who are perceived as relatively closer to meeting these standards than the individual with whom they are engaging. Overall, we concluded that intrasexual competitiveness does not encourage the stigmatisation of cosmetic surgery recipients and examined alternative explanations for this phenomenon

Effects of gender inequality and wealth inequality on within-sex mating competition under hypergyny

Documentation of code used for MS: "Effects of gender inequality and wealth inequality on within-sex mating competition under hypergyny", published in Evolution and Human Behavior. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2022.08.006 1. Overview The code provided is Matlab code. The function 'iteratedmatching.m' contains the main code for the simulation. When contained in the same folder (along with its sub-functions 'pickcandidates.m' and 'vectperm.m'), this code can be called from the scripts Figure_1.m, Figure_2.m etc. to produce the figures. 2. File list __________ Title: Main code File name: iteratedmatching.m Description: Main code for running simulations of iterative partner matching Title: Figure 1 File name: Figure_1.m Description: Script that produces figure 1. Title: Figure 2 File name: Figure_2.m Description: Script that produces figure 2. Title: Figure 3 File name: Figure_3.m Description: Script that produces figure 3. Title: Figure 4 File name: Figure_4.m Description: Script that produces figure 4. Title: Figure 5 File name: Figure_5.m Description: Script that produces figure 5. Title: Pick candidates File name: pickcandidates.m Description: Sub-function called by function iteratedmatching.m Title: Vector permutation File: vectperm.m Description: Sub-function called by function iteratedmatching.