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

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;

The robustness of the "Raise-The-Stakes" strategy - Coping with exploitation in noisy Prisoner's Dilemma Games.

Recent models of altruism point out the success of a strategy called 'Raise-The- Stakes' (RTS) in situations allowing variability in cooperation. In theory, RTS is difficult to exploit because it begins with a small investment in an iterated Prisoner's Dilemma Game. When its cooperation is reciprocated, RTS increases its generosity, thereby taking advantage of cooperative opportunities. Previous research has shown that human subjects indeed adopt RTS but start out moderately cooperative rather than with a minimal investment. This raises the question how robust RTS is against exploitation, certainly in a noisy situation. In a behavioral experiment we investigate whether human subjects vary their cooperation in interaction with reciprocators and cheaters in an iterated non-discrete version of a Prisoner's Dilemma Game. When confronted with a strategy that matches the investment of the subject on the previous round, we find that subjects are likely to increase cooperation. However, cooperation gradually breaks down in interaction with a strategy that undercuts the level of cooperation of the subjects, indicating the robustness of RTS. In line with RTS modeling studies, but in contrast with the cheater detection literature, we find that human subjects are less willing to increase cooperation when the perceived likelihood of mistakes increases.Cheating; Evolution of cooperation; Noise; Prisoner's dilemma; Reciprocal altruism;

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

How to portray men and women in advertisements? Explicit and implicit evaluations of ads depicting different gender roles.

The purpose of the current study was to gain more insight in the evaluation of advertisements containing different gender role portrayals (stereotypical/a-stereotypical) by examining explicit and implicit processes of ad evaluation. The results of two experiments showed an explicit preference for ads containing a-stereotypical images. Implicitly, we found a preference for 'warm' ads irrespective of the degree of gender stereotypicality of the ad. These findings suggest that complex stimuli such as ads may inhibit implicit gender stereotype activation. At an implicit level, warmth seems a better predictor of ad evaluation.Ad evaluation; Evaluation; Gender role portrayal; Image; Implicit association test; Implicit attitudes; Implicit stereotyping; Preference; Processes; Research; Roles; Studies;

Social value orientation as a moral intuition: Decision-making in the dictator game

We studied the decision making process in the Dictator Game and showed that decisions are the result of a two-step process. In a first step, decision makers generate an automatic, intuitive proposal. Given sufficient motivation and cognitive resources, they adjust this in a second, more deliberated phase. In line with the social intuitionist model, we show that one’s Social Value Orientation determines intuitive choice tendencies in the first step, and that this effect is mediated by the dictator’s perceived interpersonal closeness with the receiver. Self-interested concerns subsequently lead to a reduction of donation size in step 2. Finally, we show that increasing interpersonal closeness can promote pro-social decision-making.Dictator game; social dilemma; decision-making; two stage model; social value orientation, interpersonal closeness

Social value orientation as a moral intuition: Decision making in the dictator game.

We studied the hypothesis that social value orientations are expressed automatically in behavior, as would be suggested by the social intuitionist model. We observed automatic and deliberated decisions in the dictator game and confirmed that social values determine behavior when responses are based on the intuitive system. By means of both mediation and experimental analyses we further demonstrate that the automatic expression of social value orientations is mediated by perceptions of interpersonal closeness. Conscious deliberation can subsequently override these automatic responses and disconnects dictator game decisions from perceptions of interpersonal closeness. This results in lower levels of other-regarding behavior, at least for prosocials.dictator game; social dilemma; dual processes; social value orientation; interpersonal closeness;

Doe one need to go a long way to dig deep? An empirical comparison of online and traditional focus groups.

We evaluate the potential of online focus groups to trigger deep level customer information, which is the major aim of focus groups. We do so by comparing its yield to that of its traditional counterpart. The traditional focus group substantially outperforms online focus groups in level of disclosure, in number of words generated, and in number of ideas generated. However, participants do not reveal these differences in their self-reports. Further, in line with the view that disclosure requires gradual warming up, we find increases in disclosure during the interview in traditional focus groups but not in online focus groups. We conclude that in its present form, the online focus group is not particularly suitable to yield deep level customer information. Starting from our finding that the difference in communication speed explains the differences in disclosure, we suggest some methodological improvements to online focus groups that might increase their yield.Characteristics; Communication; Disclosure; Focus groups; Group dynamics; Implications;