Sex Differences in Human Olfaction: A Meta-Analysis

Although the view that women's olfactory abilities outperform men's is taken for granted, some studies involving large samples suggested that male and female olfactory abilities are actually similar. To address this discrepancy, we conducted a meta-analysis of existing studies on olfaction, targeting possible sex differences. The analyzed sample comprised n = 8 848 (5 065 women and 3 783 men) for olfactory threshold (as measured with the Sniffin Sticks Test; SST), n = 8 067 (4 496 women and 3 571 men) for discrimination (SST), n = 13 670 (7 501 women and 6 169 men) for identification (SST), and a total sample of n = 7 154 (3 866 women and 3 288 men) for works using University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test (UPSIT). We conducted separate meta-analyses for each aspect of olfaction: identification, discrimination and threshold. The results of our meta-analysis indicate that women generally outperform men in olfactory abilities. What is more, they do so in every aspect of olfaction analyzed in the current study. However, the effect sizes were weak and ranged between g = 0.08 and g = 0.30. We discuss our findings in the context of factors that potentially shape sex differences in olfaction. Nevertheless, although our findings seem to confirm the “common knowledge” on female olfactory superiority, it needs to be emphasized that the effect sizes we observed were notably small

Insights into the accuracy of social scientists' forecasts of societal change

How well can social scientists predict societal change, and what processes underlie their predictions? To answer these questions, we ran two forecasting tournaments testing the accuracy of predictions of societal change in domains commonly studied in the social sciences: ideological preferences, political polarization, life satisfaction, sentiment on social media, and gender–career and racial bias. After we provided them with historical trend data on the relevant domain, social scientists submitted pre-registered monthly forecasts for a year (Tournament 1; N = 86 teams and 359 forecasts), with an opportunity to update forecasts on the basis of new data six months later (Tournament 2; N = 120 teams and 546 forecasts). Benchmarking forecasting accuracy revealed that social scientists’ forecasts were on average no more accurate than those of simple statistical models (historical means, random walks or linear regressions) or the aggregate forecasts of a sample from the general public (N = 802). However, scientists were more accurate if they had scientific expertise in a prediction domain, were interdisciplinary, used simpler models and based predictions on prior data

Resurrection, Reconstruction, Recursion. "When Attitudes Become Form. Bern 1969/Venice 2013"

W ostatnich latach rekonstruowanie historycznych wystaw stało się jedną z wiodących praktyk kuratorskich. Wystawa When Attitudes Become Form. Bern 1969/Venice 2013, o której traktuje poniższa praca, z wielu względów będzie projektem wyjątkowym. Zrealizowana przez Germano Celanta pod patronatem Fondazione Prada, odbywająca się równolegle do 55. Biennale Sztuki w Wenecji, powtarzać będzie słynną wystawę Haralda Szeemanna Live in Your Head: When Attitudes Become Form, która miała miejsce w Kunsthalle Bern wiosną 1969. Pierwowzór trwale zapisał się w historii kuratorstwa, ochrzczony jedną z najważniejszych wystaw w historii powojennej sztuki, a także jedną z pierwszych prezentujących najbardziej aktualną wtedy praktykę artystyczną w ramach sztuki performance, instalacji czy dzieł site-specific.Wniknięcie w metody i intencje twórców weneckiej rekonstrukcji When Attitudes Become Form pozwoli przyjrzeć się temu, jaki obecnie status ma wystawa oraz jaka jest rola jej autora, jak również ocenić wpływ Haralda Szeemanna na współczesną teorię i praktykę kuratorską.W poniższej dysertacji proponuję analizę fenomenu odtwarzania historycznych wystaw, którego częścią jest When Attitudes Become Form. Bern 1969/Venice 2013, z trzech perspektyw, którym poświęcam kolejne rozdziały. Rezurekcja stanowi rozpatrzenie weneckiej rekonstrukcji w świetle historii kuratorstwa, spisywanej na przestrzeni ostatnich 20 lat, której Harald Szeemann stał się centralną postacią. Tak też wystawa Germano Celanta będzie zarówno sposobem pisania historii, jak i komentarzem jej dotyczącym. Druga część pracy poświęcona jest miejscu rekonstrukcji i strategii konserwatorskich w obliczu sztuki współczesnej i właściwych jej mediów, z których szerokim spektrum zmierzyli się twórcy weneckiej wystawy. Rekurencja, trzeci rozdział, traktuje o zjawisku metakuratorstwa, praktyki autotelicznej skupionej na tworzeniu wystaw o wystawach i w ramach innych wystaw, czego omawiana przeze mnie When Attitudes Become Form. Bern 1969/Venice 2013 może być najlepszym przykładem.In recent years, reconstruction of historic exhibitions has evolved into one of the leading curatorial practices. The subject of the paper, the exhibition When Attitudes Become Form. Bern 1969/Venice 2013 is arguably an outstanding example. Curated by Germano Celant, under the auspices of the Fondazione Prada and parallel to the 55th Venice Biennial, was a recreation of the renowned Live in Your Head: When Attitudes Become Form, a group show authored by Harald Szeemann at the Kunsthalle Bern in 1969, holding a special place within the history of exhibitions and post-war art. Germano Celant, with a help of Rem Koolhaas and Thomas Demand, attempted at reconstructing Szeemann's exhibition as precise as possible, displaying most of the original artworks in their former relations, including the architectural frame.Delving into methods and intentions of the authors of Venetian reconstruction could help to define the status of exhibition and role of curator today. The phenomenon, which When Attitudes Become Form. Bern 1969/Venice 2013 is a part of, is analysed from three different perspectives. Firstly, the reconstruction serves as the reflection on the history of curating, as well as a commentary on Szeemann, who became a central figure of the new discipline. Secondly, the Celant's restaging can be seen as a collection of reconstruction and conservation strategies for contemporary art, including its ephemeral genres, such as installation, happening and performance. In culmination, the Venetian show is considered as a part of the larger trend of metacurating – exhibitions made within and about other exhibitions

Does the Dark Triad of personality traits predict for sexting behaviour? Empirical research on a group of young Poles

Seksting jest formą wymiany prowokatywnych i seksualnie sugestywnych treści (zdjęć, filmów lub wiadomości) za pomocą wiadomości tekstowych lub internetu. Badania wskazują na to, że seksting jest zachowaniem ryzykownym, często związanym z przymusem, które może mieć związek ze zdrowiem psychicznym. Celem badania było sprawdzenie, czy cechy osobowości, takie jak psychopatia, makiawelizm i narcyzm (tzw. ciemna triada), przewidują zachowania związane z sekstingiem. Przebadano grupę 314 młodych Polaków w wieku 16–19 lat. Uzyskane wyniki wskazują, że młodzi Polacy angażują się w zachowania związane z sekstingiem, a częstotliwość takich zachowań jest związana z osobowością i płcią osoby badanej. Osoby, które wysyłały więcej sekstingu, charakteryzowały się wyższym poziomem makiawelizmu i niższym poziomem psychopatii. Co do otrzymywania prowokatywnych i seksualnie sugestywnych treści, to osoby o wyższym poziomie makiawelizmu otrzymywały ich więcej. Niniejsze badania wskazują na związek osobowości z wysyłaniem i otrzymywaniem seksualnie sugestywnych i prowokatywnych treści.Sexting is a form of exchanging provocative and sexually suggestive content (photos, videos or messages) on smartphones, the Internet or social networks. Research shows that sexing is a risky behaviour, often associated with coercion, that can be associated with mental health. The aim of this research is to check whether personality traits such as psychopathy, Machiavellianism and narcissism (the so-called Dark Triad) predict sex-related behaviours. A group of 314 young Poles aged 16-19 was surveyed. The results of this study indicate that young Poles engage in behaviours related to sexting and the frequency of such behaviours is related to the personality and gender of the person surveyed. Those who sent more sexting had higher levels of Machiavellianism and lower levels of psychopathy. As for receiving provocative and sexually suggestive content, those with a higher level of Machiavellianism received more of it. This research shows a relationship between personality and the sending and receiving of sexually suggestive and provocative content

The role of HEXACO personality traits in different kinds of sexting:A cross-cultural study in 10 countries

Sexting has been defined as sharing sexually suggestive content (i.e., sexts) via Internet or smartphone. To date, only a few studies investigated the role of personality traits in relation to sending or receiving sexts, and most of them used the Five Factor Model of Personality. No studies applied the theoretical model of HEXACO six personality traits (i.e., honesty-humility, emotionality, extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to experience) when examining different types of sexting (i.e., sending own sexts, risky sexting, sharing sexts from someone else without his/her permission, sexting under pressure). Thus, this is the first study that, using a cross-cultural perspective, investigated HEXACO personality predictors of sexting behaviors considered as a multidimensional construct. A total of 5542 participants from 13 to 30 years old (Mage = 20.36; SDage = 3.67; 60.4% girls and 39.6% boys) from 10 different countries participated in the study. Participants completed the sexting behaviors questionnaire and the HEXACO personality inventory. Four hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to investigate which HEXACO personality traits predicted different sexting behaviors, controlling for country, biological sex, age, sexual identity status, and dating relationship status. Results showed that honesty-humility and conscientiousness were negatively predictive of all investigated sexting behaviors. Emotionality and extraversion were positively related, and agreeableness was negatively related to sending own sexts and risky sexting. Finally, openness to experience was negatively related to sharing sexts from someone else without his/her consent and sexting under pressure. Results have implications for the development and implementation of sexual education and prevention programs aimed towards adolescents and young adults

The Relationship between Dark Triad Personality Traits and Sexting Behaviors among Adolescents and Young Adults across 11 Countries

Background: Sexting is an increasingly common phenomenon among adolescents and young adults. Some studies have investigated the role of personality traits in different sexting behaviors within mainstream personality taxonomies like Big Five and HEXACO. However, very few studies have investigated the role of maladaptive personality factors in sexting. Therefore, the present study investigated the relationship between Dark Triad Personality Traits and experimental (i.e., sharing own sexts), risky (i.e., sexting under substance use and with strangers), and aggravated sexting (i.e., non-consensual sexting and sexting under pressure) across 11 countries. Methods: An online survey was completed by 6093 participants (Mage = 20.35; SDage = 3.63) from 11 different countries which covered four continents (Europe, Asia, Africa, and America). Participants completed the Sexting Behaviors Questionnaire and the 12-item Dark Triad Dirty Dozen scale. Results: Hierarchical regression analyses showed that sharing own sexts was positively predicted by Machiavellianism and Narcissism. Both risky and aggravated sexting were positively predicted by Machiavellianism and Psychopathy. Conclusions: The present study provided empirical evidence that different sexting behaviors were predicted by Dark Triad Personality Traits, showing a relevant role of Machiavellianism in all kinds of investigated sexting behaviors. Research, clinical, and education implications for prevention programs are discussed

Insights into the accuracy of social scientists' forecasts of societal change

How well can social scientists predict societal change, and what processes underlie their predictions? To answer these questions, we ran two forecasting tournaments testing the accuracy of predictions of societal change in domains commonly studied in the social sciences: ideological preferences, political polarization, life satisfaction, sentiment on social media, and gender-career and racial bias. After we provided them with historical trend data on the relevant domain, social scientists submitted pre-registered monthly forecasts for a year (Tournament 1; N = 86 teams and 359 forecasts), with an opportunity to update forecasts on the basis of new data six months later (Tournament 2; N = 120 teams and 546 forecasts). Benchmarking forecasting accuracy revealed that social scientists' forecasts were on average no more accurate than those of simple statistical models (historical means, random walks or linear regressions) or the aggregate forecasts of a sample from the general public (N = 802). However, scientists were more accurate if they had scientific expertise in a prediction domain, were interdisciplinary, used simpler models and based predictions on prior data. How accurate are social scientists in predicting societal change, and what processes underlie their predictions? Grossmann et al. report the findings of two forecasting tournaments. Social scientists' forecasts were on average no more accurate than those of simple statistical models