Sequential Effects in Judgements of Attractiveness: The Influences of Face Race and Sex

In perceptual decision-making, a person’s response on a given trial is influenced by their response on the immediately preceding trial. This sequential effect was initially demonstrated in psychophysical tasks, but has now been found in more complex, real-world judgements. The similarity of the current and previous stimuli determines the nature of the effect, with more similar items producing assimilation in judgements, while less similarity can cause a contrast effect. Previous research found assimilation in ratings of facial attractiveness, and here, we investigated whether this effect is influenced by the social categories of the faces presented. Over three experiments, participants rated the attractiveness of own- (White) and other-race (Chinese) faces of both sexes that appeared successively. Through blocking trials by race (Experiment 1), sex (Experiment 2), or both dimensions (Experiment 3), we could examine how sequential judgements were altered by the salience of different social categories in face sequences. For sequences that varied in sex alone, own-race faces showed significantly less opposite-sex assimilation (male and female faces perceived as dissimilar), while other-race faces showed equal assimilation for opposite- and same-sex sequences (male and female faces were not differentiated). For sequences that varied in race alone, categorisation by race resulted in no opposite-race assimilation for either sex of face (White and Chinese faces perceived as dissimilar). For sequences that varied in both race and sex, same-category assimilation was significantly greater than opposite-category. Our results suggest that the race of a face represents a superordinate category relative to sex. These findings demonstrate the importance of social categories when considering sequential judgements of faces, and also highlight a novel approach for investigating how multiple social dimensions interact during decision-making

Voting in the Eurovision Song Contest

The Eurovision Song Contest is not only the largest song contest worldwide but also probably the world’s largest election for a non-political office. In this article, we are interested in the voting behaviour of Eurovision viewers. Do they vote sincerely, strategically according to rational choice assumptions (i.e. for the song they believe will be the likely winner) or for another song? Using data from a large-scale survey carried out in Europe, we find interesting voting patterns with regard to these questions. Roughly one-fourth of the survey participants would vote for either their preferred song or for the song they think will win. However, the percentage of strategic voters is lower (11%). In contrast, many individuals (i.e. 36% of participants) would vote for another song, one that is neither their preferred song, the likely winner, nor a rational choice. The reasoning behind these remaining votes may include neighbourhood voting, ethnic voting, and voting for one’s favourite European country

Reducing the effect of framed messages about health

Patients must be informed about risks before any treatment can be implemented. Yet serious problems in communicating these risks occur because of framing effects. In this chapter, we describe two studies conducted in the USA, Germany, and Spain, investigating the effects of different information frames when communicating health risks. Study 1 focused on people with low and high numeracy and investigated framing effects in perceptions of medical risks expressed in positive (i.e., chances of surviving after surgery) and negative (i.e., chances of dying after surgery) terms. Study 2 focused on a large sample of sexually active young adults and investigated framing effects in affective reactions, risk perceptions, attitudes, behavioral intentions, and reported behaviorsrelating to the prevention and detection of sexually transmitted diseases. Results in both studies showed that people are susceptible to framing effects and illustrate that these effects can be countered or eliminated by using different types of visual displays