Gender differences in liking and wanting sex: examining the role of motivational context and implicit versus explicit processing

The present study investigated the specificity of sexual appraisal processes by making a distinction between implicit and explicit appraisals and between the affective (liking) and motivational (wanting) valence of sexual stimuli. These appraisals are assumed to diverge between men and women, depending on the context in which the sexual stimulus is encountered. Using an Implicit Association Test, explicit ratings, and film clips to prime a sexual, romantic or neutral motivational context, we investigated whether liking and wanting of sexual stimuli differed at the implicit and explicit level, differed between men and women, and were differentially sensitive to context manipulations. Results showed that, at the implicit level, women wanted more sex after being primed with romantic mood whereas men showed the least wanting of sex in the romantic condition. At the explicit level, men reported greater liking and wanting of sex than women, independently of context. We also found that women's (self-reported) sexual behavior was best predicted by the incentive salience of sexual stimuli whereas men's sexual behavior was more closely related to the hedonic qualities of sexual stimuli. Results were discussed in relation to an emotion-motivational account of sexual functioning

Attentional breadth and proximity seeking in romantic attachment relationships

The present study provides first evidence that attentional breadth responses can be influenced by proximity-distance goals in adult attachment relationships. In a sample of young couples, we measured attachment differences in the breadth of attentional focus in response to attachment-related cues. Results showed that priming with a negative attachment scenario broadens attention when confronted with pictures of the attachment figure in highly avoidant men. In women, we found that attachment anxiety was associated with a more narrow attentional focus on the attachment figure, yet only at an early stage of information processing. We also found that women showed a broader attentional focus around the attachment figure when their partner was more avoidantly attached. This pattern of results reflects the underlying action of attachment strategies and provides insight into the complex and dynamic influence of attachment on attentional processing in a dyadic context

Altruistic behavior as a costly signal of general intelligence.

Unconditional altruism is an enduring puzzle for evolutionary approaches to social behavior. In this paper we argue that costly signaling theory, a well-established framework in biology and economics, may be useful to shed light on the individual differences in human unconditional altruism. Based on costly signaling theory, we propose and show that unconditional altruistic behavior is related to general intelligence. The cost incurred by engaging in unconditional altruism is lower for highly intelligent people than for less intelligent people because they may expect to regain the drained resources. As a result, unconditional altruism can serve as an honest signal of intelligence. Our findings imply that distinguishing altruistic behavior from cooperative behavior in social psychological and economic theories of human behavior might be useful, and that costly signaling theory may provide novel insights on various individual difference variables.Altruistic; Behavior; Costly signaling; Economic theory; Individual differences; General intelligence;

Exerting self-control induces a narrow mindset.

Self-control theories have focused on various aspects of the processes involved in exerting self-control. In the present paper, we intend to add to this literature by demonstrating that exerting self-control leads one to narrow one's attention and cognition, inducing a narrow mindset. We demonstrate this in three studies. Participants who exerted self-control applied a narrower view (Study 1), applied a narrower categorization (Study 2), and used more concrete language (Study 3) than participants who did not exert self-control. Results are discussed in light of the possibility that a narrow mindset enhances performance on the self-control task at hand at the cost of poorer performance on other tasks.Self-control; Theory; Processes; Cognition; Performance; Consumer behavior;

The struggle between the present and the future procrastinators and the punctual.

Abstract: Two studies investigated the role of impulsivity in procrastinators' problems. In the first study, 147 freshmen completed questionnaires measuring the big five personality factors, a broad impulsivity scale, and Lay's general procrastination scale, and their perceptions concerning a compulsory course. The data revealed that procrastination was closely related to a lack of perseverance, that is, the inability to complete projects. This relation explained a large part of the well-documented relation between conscientiousness and procrastination. In the second study, a subsample of these students was followed-up during 11 weeks before their exams. They had to provide their study intentions and behavior, the reasons why they failed to enact upon their intentions, and the perceived impact of studying on their final grade. The data revealed that all students tend to postpone the bulk of their study activities to the last week before an exam, and that this trend could nicely be described by a hyperbolic curve. The results also revealed that procrastinators postponed more of their intentions, mainly because of fun alternatives, but did not intend to study less or later. At the contrary, they even seemed to compensate for their vulnerability by formulating more intentions earlier. Procrastinators emerged as highly motivated students that lack the ability to ward off temptations and distractions during their studying activities.Studies; Problems; Questionnaires; Factors; Data;

Second to fourth digit ratio and cooperative behavior.

A low second to fourth digit ratio (2D:4D) has been related to high testosterone levels and to markers of high status. In a social dilemma context status can be obtained either by acting egoistically (i.e. not contributing one's share) or by acting altruistically (i.e. contributing more than one's fair share). We therefore predicted that a low 2D:4D would be associated with high levels of egoism and altruism and low levels of common cooperativeness (i.e. contributing exactly one's fair share). We found the exact opposite: participants with a low 2D:4D were more likely to act cooperatively and less likely to act altruistically and egoistically. These findings suggest that (1) there might be a high and a low testosterone strategy to gain status and (2) that the high testosterone strategy is characterized by a preference for normative behavior.Altruism; Strategy; Preference; Behavior;

How to capture the heart ? Reviewing 20 years of emotion measurement in advertising.

In the latest decades, emotions have become an important research topic in all behavioral sciences, and not the least in advertising. Yet, advertising literature on how to measure emotions is not straightforward. The major aim of this article is to give an update on the different methods used for measuring emotions in advertising and to discuss their validity and applicability. We further draw conclusions on the relation between emotions and traditional measures of advertising effectiveness. We finally formulate recommendations on the use of the different methods and make suggestions for future research.Research; Emotions; Science; Advertising; Effectiveness; Recommendations;

Is this a question? Not for long. The statement bias.

Four experiments demonstrate a 'statement bias': questions are more often misremembered as statements than vice versa. Experiment 1 suggests that the bias increases with increasing item comprehensibility. This finding rules out that the statement bias is only due to the belief that statements are more prevalent in communication than questions are. Experiment 2 demonstrates that the statement bias is related to depth of processing at encoding. Experiment 3 shows that the bias occurs irrespective of the truth of the statement underlying the sentence. Experiment 4 shows that the statement bias is also obtained for sentences pertaining to products and services.Internet; Yield; Market; Market research; Research; Communication;

Give and you shall receive. Give more and you shall be honored. Experimental evidence for altruism as costly signaling.

In two studies, we measured the degree and manner of reciprocation of a public good in subsequent two-by-two interactions. Both studies consisted of two phases: a public good phase and a subsequent give some game (i.e. a gradual Prisoner's dilemma game). In the first study, the public good was a financial game in the lab. In the second study, the public good games were real life student projects. The observed behavior in the subsequent interactions was consistent with the reciprocity rule, but only up to the fairness norm of equality. Students who had invested more than their fair share, did not receive more financial returns than those who had invested a fair share. However, despite the lack of financial benefits, these high investors were preferred more as future team mates (Study 1), or received more social rewards (Study 2). We interpret these findings in terms of altruism as costly signaling.Altruism; Cooperation; Costly signaling; Prisoner's dilemma game; Reputations; Studies;

Mating games: cultural evolution and sexual selection.

In this paper, we argue that mating games, a concept that denotes cultural practices characterized by a competitive element and an ornamental character, are essential drivers behind the emergence and maintenance of human cultural practices. In order to substantiate this claim, we sketch out the essential role of the game's players and audience, as well as the ways in which games can mature and turn into relatively stable cultural practices. After outlining the life phase of mating games - their emergence, rise, maturation, and possible eventual decline - we go on to argue that participation in these games (in each phase) does make sense from an adaptationist point of view. The strong version of our theory which proposes that all cultural practices are, or once were, mating games, allows us to derive a set of testable predictions for the fields of archaeology, economics, and psychology.competition; cultural evolution; evolutionary psychology; play; sexual selection; strategies; handicap; mates; play;