Toupee or Not Toupee?: Cranial Hair and Perceptions of Men’s Attractiveness, Personality, and Other Evolutionary Relevant Traits

The question of whether or not cranial hair affects perceptions of attractiveness, personality, career success, and other traits related to fitness for men in two populations was investigated in two experiments. Experiment 1 used a 2 (race) × 2 (cranial hair of man) design, and examined attractiveness, fitness, and socially desirable personality measures. Experiment 2 used a 2 (race) × 2 (cranial hair) design to determine perceived attractiveness, fitness-related traits, and the Big-5 dimensions of personality. Amount of cranial hair did not affect personality ratings on the dimensions of the Big-5 but did affect perceived socially desired aspects of personality (such as warmth, sophistication, kindness, etc.). In Experiment 1, the White man with hair received higher perceived attractiveness, personality, and fitness ratings than the bald White man, while no differences occurred for the Black men. For Experiment 2

The Importance Of Female Choice: Evolutionary Perspectives On Constraints, Expressions, And Variations

This chapter introduces the reader to some of the influential perspectives on female mate choice in human evolutionary biology, including parental investment theory. We then present two key theories in evolutionary psychology that have been applied to understand variations in women’s mating preferences and choices: sexual strategies theory and strategic pluralism theory. Although the importance of female choice has gained widespread acceptance in the biological sciences, the influence that female choice has on mating systems can be limited by many factors, such as control over mating decisions by parents and men’s control over women’s sexuality. Despite these constraints on female choice, women are able to exercise their mate preferences through extramarital affairs and influencing parental attempts to arrange marriages.https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/psychology_books/1015/thumbnail.jp

I saw him first: Competitive nonverbal flirting among women, the tactics used and their perceived effectiveness

Here we explored nonverbal actions women use to flirt competitively against each other for the purposes of accessing a mate. We also investigated the perceived effectiveness of these competitive flirting actions. Using act nomination, Study 1 (n = 91) yielded 11 actions (eye contact with the man, dancing in his line of sight, smiling at him, touching him, giggling at his jokes, butting in between the other woman and the man, showing distaste for her, brushing against him, hugging him, flirting with other men, waving to him) for competitive flirtation against other women. Actions that signal possession (e.g., tie-signs) were predicted to be perceived as the most effective. While other actions were included in Study 2 (n = 139), results showed the most effective actions were tie-signs: touching him, initiating eye contact, hugging him, giggling at his jokes, and butting in between him and the rival. These findings are discussed in terms of prior research

Human Nature and Pop Culture

He who understands baboon would do more toward metaphysics than Locke. Charles Darwin, M Notebook, 1838 You might be asking yourself, why a special issue on evolutionary approaches to studying popular culture? After all, isn't evolutionary psychology focused on reproductive success and the ancestral environment? The aspects of pop culture featured in this issue, such as TV shows and horror films, were not a feature of our ancestral world. They don't seem to directly relate to reproductive success. They don't have obvious ties to the environment (whether it be geographical or temporal) in which we evolved. So, what could an evolutionary perspective possibly add to our understanding of them as aspects of our modern world? The punch line is that we created these media products using our evolved brains, and that we interact with them using these brains. There might not actually be werewolves running around New York City, but we evolved the capacity to imagine them, to consider problems that need solutions, and to play out situations that evoke a sense of astonishment. Indeed, there are many aspects of our modern environment and our behavior that are best understood under the light of an evolutionary perspective. For example, much attention has been focused in recent years on the increase in obesity, especially in the United States, and how one possible cause includes the overconsumption of fast food. The reality is, that for millions of years, humans who stored fat during times of abundance had an advantage over others when food was scarce, and hence they were favored by natural selection. A taste for fatty and sweet foods would also have been favored by natural selection, as they were relatively rare (e.g., honey, ripe fruit) or required hard work to obtain (e.g., hunting for meat) and yet were important sources of calories Evolutionary approaches have already been used in the fields of literary theory and art. The field of Darwinian literary studies, which is quickly gaining considerable momentum, has provided evidence that humankind's evolved history influences the topics of texts Like pop culture, literary theory (and the study of art) has been dominated by a variety of perspectives, such as social constructivism, postmodernism, and deconstructionism (including Marxist, feminist, and psychoanalytic frameworks), which have focused more on a blank-slate view of human behavior. Even those working within these fields have commented on the stagnation that has resulted from this narrow perspective of human behavior (e.g., Carroll, 1995). Psychologists should not be surprised; after all, Freud and Lacan, e.g., are basically footnotes in our understanding of human behavior in modern psychology programs. We've achieved a better understanding of the human mind since the 1930s (which was the last decade of Freud's life). At last, the study of literature and art is starting to benefit from the work of those who are applying that new understanding. For examples from the literary and art fields, there are a number of anthologies including to its appeal to universal aspects of human nature, and how much is due to other factors (such as attached prestige, celebrity of promoters, etc.)? By using evolution to inform our scholarly endeavors, we arrive at a far more satisfying and comprehensive understanding (see Saad, this issue for a general review of these issues, as well as for a detailed discussion on the success and the resistance to the evolutionary framework)

On a pedestal: High heels and the perceived attractiveness and evolutionary fitness of women

We analyzed the responses of 448 participants who completed questions on attractiveness and other evolutionary fitness related traits, and long- and short-term mating potential, of a woman in either high heeled or flat shoes. We hypothesized that the woman in high heels would be rated as more attractive and evolutionarily fit by both men and women, and preferred for short-term mating by men. The hypothesis was partially supported. The woman in high heels was perceived as being more sexually attractive, physically attractive, feminine, and of a higher status. Additionally, women rated women as having a higher status regardless of the shoe, than men, while men rated women as having higher short- and long-term mating potential, than women did, regardless of the shoe. We discuss the implications of these findings

Want to Hookup?: Sex Differences in Short Term Mate Attraction Tactics

While a great deal of psychological research has been conducted on sex-specific mate choice preferences, relatively little attention has been directed toward how heterosexual men and women solicit short-term sexual partners, and which acts are perceived to be the most effective. The present research relied on an act nomination methodology with the goal of determining which actions are used by men and women to solicit a short-term “hook-up” partner (study 1) and then determine which of these actions are perceived as most effective by men and women (study 2). Using sexual strategy theory, we hypothesized that actions that suggest sexual access would be nominated most often by women whereas actions that suggest a willingness to commit were expected to be nominated most often by men. Additionally, men and women were predicted to rate actions by men that suggest a willingness to commit as most effective and actions by women that suggest sexual access as most effective. The results were consistent with these hypotheses. These findings are discussed in the context of both short- and long-term mating strategies and mate solicitation. The relationship between motivation, sexual strategies, and sexual behavior are examined, along with the need for research on the hookup tactics and motivations of self-identifying gay, lesbian, and bisexual individuals

A PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION OF SYNCHRONOUS PREGNANCIES IN WOMEN

Abstract: Menstrual synchrony is when the menstrual cycles of friends or family members coincide, such that women conform to the same cycle. In this paper, we propose for the existence of synchronous pregnancies, which may be analogous to menstrual synchrony. Menstrual synchrony is a well studied topic, whereas synchronous pregnancies among friends or family members is an overlooked area of investigation. In this exploratory study of 81 pregnant women, we hypothesize that women's pregnancies are synchronized with those of friends or family members. We also examine whether women intentionally plan their pregnancies in accordance with these individuals. Finally, we investigate the sharing of resources among women who have simultaneous pregnancies. Our findings suggest that the pregnancies of women are more synchronized with friends than family members, and often the synchronicity is unplanned. The majority of women indicated that they intend to share resources (including parenting) with others who are pregnant at the same time, or who have recently given birth. Using an evolutionary framework, we propose that the sharing of resources is highly valuable and might represent a reason for women to, albeit inadvertently, have synchronized pregnancies. Keywords: pregnancy; sharing behavior; mothering; women's sexuality; menstrual synchrony AN INVESTIGATION OF SYNCHRONOUS PREGNANCIES IN WOMEN The phenomenon that groups of women in close relationships (e.g., sisters, close friends) appear to get or be pregnant simultaneously is an unexplored and potentially unnoticed area of science, despite its implications from both health and medical perspectives. Furthermore, the topic has academic appeal, at least to those in evolutionary psychology, because synchronous pregnancy represents a potentially adaptive behavior for women. Here we investigate the relationships in which synchronous pregnancy occurs and document some of the potential evolutionary bene-

Patterns and universals of mate poaching across 53 nations : the effects of sex, culture, and personality on romantically attracting another person’s partner

As part of the International Sexuality Description Project, 16,954 participants from 53 nations were administered an anonymous survey about experiences with romantic attraction. Mate poaching--romantically attracting someone who is already in a relationship--was most common in Southern Europe, South America, Western Europe, and Eastern Europe and was relatively infrequent in Africa, South/Southeast Asia, and East Asia. Evolutionary and social-role hypotheses received empirical support. Men were more likely than women to report having made and succumbed to short-term poaching across all regions, but differences between men and women were often smaller in more gender-egalitarian regions. People who try to steal another's mate possess similar personality traits across all regions, as do those who frequently receive and succumb to the poaching attempts by others. The authors conclude that human mate-poaching experiences are universally linked to sex, culture, and the robust influence of personal dispositions.peer-reviewe

Are men universally more dismissing than women? Gender differences in romantic attachment across 62 cultural regions

The authors thank Susan Sprecher (USA), Del Paulhus (Canada), Glenn D. Wilson (England), Qazi Rahman (England), Alois Angleitner (Germany), Angelika Hofhansl (Austria), Tamio Imagawa (Japan), Minoru Wada (Japan), Junichi Taniguchi (Japan), and Yuji Kanemasa (Japan) for helping with data collection and contributing significantly to the samples used in this study.Gender differences in the dismissing form of adult romantic attachment were investigated as part of the International Sexuality Description Project—a survey study of 17,804 people from 62 cultural regions. Contrary to research findings previously reported in Western cultures, we found that men were not significantly more dismissing than women across all cultural regions. Gender differences in dismissing romantic attachment were evident in most cultures, but were typically only small to moderate in magnitude. Looking across cultures, the degree of gender differentiation in dismissing romantic attachment was predictably associated with sociocultural indicators. Generally, these associations supported evolutionary theories of romantic attachment, with smaller gender differences evident in cultures with high–stress and high–fertility reproductive environments. Social role theories of human sexuality received less support in that more progressive sex–role ideologies and national gender equity indexes were not cross–culturally linked as expected to smaller gender differences in dismissing romantic attachment.peer-reviewe