Imprinting and flexibility in human face cognition

Faces are an important cue to multiple physiological and psychological traits. Human preferences for exaggerated sex typicality (masculinity or femininity) in faces depend on multiple factors and show high inter-subject variability. To gain a deeper understanding of the mechanisms underlying facial femininity preferences in men, we tested the interactive effect of family structure (birth order, sibling sex-ratio and number of siblings) and parenthood status on these preferences. Based on a group of 1304 heterosexual men, we have found that preference for feminine faces was not only influenced by sibling age and sex, but also that fatherhood modulated this preference. Men with sisters had a weaker preference for femininity than men with brothers, highlighting a possible effect of a negative imprinting-like mechanism. What is more, fatherhood increased strongly the preference for facial femininity. Finally, for fathers with younger sisters only, the more the age difference increased between them, the more femininity preference increased. Overall our findings bring new insight into how early-acquired experience at the individual level may determine face preference in adulthood, and what is more, how these preferences are flexible and potentially dependent on parenthood status in adult men

Women's preferences for men's facial masculinity are strongest under favorable ecological conditions

The strength of sexual selection on secondary sexual traits varies depending on prevailing economic and ecological conditions. In humans, cross-cultural evidence suggests women's preferences for men's testosterone dependent masculine facial traits are stronger under conditions where health is compromised, male mortality rates are higher and economic development is higher. Here we use a sample of 4483 exclusively heterosexual women from 34 countries and employ mixed effects modelling to test how social, ecological and economic variables predict women's facial masculinity preferences. We report women's preferences for more masculine looking men are stronger in countries with higher sociosexuality and where national health indices and human development indices are higher, while no associations were found between preferences and indices of intra-sexual competition. Our results show that women's preferences for masculine faces are stronger under conditions where offspring survival is higher and economic conditions are more favorable

A Multi-Lab Test of the Facial Feedback Hypothesis by the Many Smiles Collaboration

Following theories of emotional embodiment, the facial feedback hypothesis suggests that individuals’ subjective experiences of emotion are influenced by their facial expressions. However, evidence for this hypothesis has been mixed. We thus formed a global adversarial collaboration and carried out a preregistered, multicentre study designed to specify and test the conditions that should most reliably produce facial feedback effects. Data from n = 3,878 participants spanning 19 countries indicated that a facial mimicry and voluntary facial action task could both amplify and initiate feelings of happiness. However, evidence of facial feedback effects was less conclusive when facial feedback was manipulated unobtrusively via a pen-in-mouth task

A multi-lab test of the facial feedback hypothesis by the Many Smiles Collaboration

Following theories of emotional embodiment, the facial feedback hypothesis suggests that individuals' subjective experiences of emotion are influenced by their facial expressions. However, evidence for this hypothesis has been mixed. We thus formed a global adversarial collaboration and carried out a preregistered, multicentre study designed to specify and test the conditions that should most reliably produce facial feedback effects. Data from n = 3,878 participants spanning 19 countries indicated that a facial mimicry and voluntary facial action task could both amplify and initiate feelings of happiness. However, evidence of facial feedback effects was less conclusive when facial feedback was manipulated unobtrusively via a pen-in-mouth task

The Psychological Science Accelerator: Advancing Psychology Through a Distributed Collaborative Network

Source at https://doi.org/10.1177/2515245918797607.Concerns about the veracity of psychological research have been growing. Many findings in psychological science are based on studies with insufficient statistical power and nonrepresentative samples, or may otherwise be limited to specific, ungeneralizable settings or populations. Crowdsourced research, a type of large-scale collaboration in which one or more research projects are conducted across multiple lab sites, offers a pragmatic solution to these and other current methodological challenges. The Psychological Science Accelerator (PSA) is a distributed network of laboratories designed to enable and support crowdsourced research projects. These projects can focus on novel research questions or replicate prior research in large, diverse samples. The PSA’s mission is to accelerate the accumulation of reliable and generalizable evidence in psychological science. Here, we describe the background, structure, principles, procedures, benefits, and challenges of the PSA. In contrast to other crowdsourced research networks, the PSA is ongoing (as opposed to time limited), efficient (in that structures and principles are reused for different projects), decentralized, diverse (in both subjects and researchers), and inclusive (of proposals, contributions, and other relevant input from anyone inside or outside the network). The PSA and other approaches to crowdsourced psychological science will advance understanding of mental processes and behaviors by enabling rigorous research and systematic examination of its generalizability

To which world regions does the valence–dominance model of social perception apply?

Over the past 10 years, Oosterhof and Todorov’s valence–dominance model has emerged as the most prominent account of how people evaluate faces on social dimensions. In this model, two dimensions (valence and dominance) underpin social judgements of faces. Because this model has primarily been developed and tested in Western regions, it is unclear whether these findings apply to other regions. We addressed this question by replicating Oosterhof and Todorov’s methodology across 11 world regions, 41 countries and 11,570 participants. When we used Oosterhof and Todorov’s original analysis strategy, the valence–dominance model generalized across regions. When we used an alternative methodology to allow for correlated dimensions, we observed much less generalization. Collectively, these results suggest that, while the valence–dominance model generalizes very well across regions when dimensions are forced to be orthogonal, regional differences are revealed when we use different extraction methods and correlate and rotate the dimension reduction solution

A multi-country test of brief reappraisal interventions on emotions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has increased negative emotions and decreased positive emotions globally. Left unchecked, these emotional changes might have a wide array of adverse impacts. To reduce negative emotions and increase positive emotions, we tested the effectiveness of reappraisal, an emotion-regulation strategy that modifies how one thinks about a situation. Participants from 87 countries and regions (n = 21,644) were randomly assigned to one of two brief reappraisal interventions (reconstrual or repurposing) or one of two control conditions (active or passive). Results revealed that both reappraisal interventions (vesus both control conditions) consistently reduced negative emotions and increased positive emotions across different measures. Reconstrual and repurposing interventions had similar effects. Importantly, planned exploratory analyses indicated that reappraisal interventions did not reduce intentions to practice preventive health behaviours. The findings demonstrate the viability of creating scalable, low-cost interventions for use around the world

Composante sociale des traits d'histoires de vie d'un ongulé forestier européen : cas du sanglier femelle

Life-history theory predicts that reproduction is costly. In iteroparous organisms, this cost leads to a trade-off between the reproductive effort at a given time and the future reproduction expectation. The cost of precocious reproduction for yearling female wild boar (Sus scrofa) was assessed using data from a wild population in Champagne, France, collected during 12 years. In the wild boar, a polygynous ungulate species, yearling females can reproduce as early one year of age, and they have generally large litters. We estimated possible costs of early reproduction for those young females using body mass to estimate energy reserves. Precocious breeders were bigger, but after weaning they gained little mass and were leaner than non-breeding females. This difference in body mass disappeared by the following spring. This suggests a trade-off between energy allocated to reproduction and body mass maintenance, but only for a short time. We also checked possible consequences of the short-term cost on subsequent reproduction success. Reproduction at 1-yr of age did not affect the breeding frequency at 2-yr. At the second year of age, litter size at weaning of females, which already reproduced during the previous year, was bigger than the litter size of females, which did not reproduce at 1-yr. However, non-parous females gave birth one month earlier than parous females, and the energetic cost of reproduction may have had consequences for the quality of piglets. Finally at short-term, reproductive investment of precocious wild boars appeared to be of low cost and could even offer benefits in term of reproductive success. However, precocious reproduction entailed social costs that its may compensate the high reproductive success.L'hypothèse selon laquelle les femelles de sanglier, Sus scrofa, d'une population forestière, s'assemblent entre elles de manière à maximiser leur succès reproducteur est testée ici. La dynamique à court et à long terme des groupes est abordée en intégrant la composante sociale dans les choix relatifs aux trajectoires sociales et à certains traits d'histoire de vie des laies. Après avoir déterminé les paramètres sociaux du groupe, c'est-à-dire la mise en évidence de l'organisation sociale, des relations sociales entres les individus et donc de la structure sociale, le système d'appariement des individus de cette population a été apprécié. Nos résultats montrent que les groupes familiaux sont constitués d'une laie adulte, de deux laies yearlings et des jeunes de l'année. Cette organisation sociale typique peut fluctuer autant dans les effectifs qu'au niveau de la structure en âge des membres, sous l'influence de paramètres spéci-spécifiques et environnementaux. Bien que toutes les femelles du groupe familial soient apparentées génétiquement à la matriarche, une hiérarchie, basée sur le poids et l'âge des femelles, régit les relations sociales. Les analyses génétiques ont révélé l'existence d'une multipaternité au niveau des fœtus d'une même portée traduisant ainsi un système d'appariement de type polygynandrie pour les individus de cette population. La dynamique à court et à long terme du groupe a ensuite été étudiée. La pérennité du groupe social a été quantifiée à partir des différents flux d'individus. L'estimation des flux d'individus entrant et sortant du groupe familial a nécessité de déterminer les trajectoires sociales liées à la dispersion et à la reproduction des femelles. L'appréciation des flux d'individus entrant et sortant a révélé que le taux de croissance des groupes familiaux est, globalement, très légèrement positif ; ce qui se traduit, au niveau populationnel, par une faible augmentation des effectifs. L'intégration de la composante sociale dans l'analyse des traits d'histoire de vie des laies a démontré que les groupes familiaux sont soumis à plusieurs mécanismes de régulation interne. Le premier mécanisme est une compétition entre les femelles adultes. Celle-ci affecte principalement la fitness directe des femelles en diminuant la taille de portée. Le second mécanisme de régulation du groupe résulte de la dispersion des femelles yearlings. Ce phénomène, qui a pour conséquence une fission du groupe familial, s'opère dans un tiers des groupes. L'interprétation de la relation entre la fission du groupe et la participation à la reproduction des femelles yearlings a été faite en considérant un budget-temps différentiel entre les femelles du groupe. Tester cette hypothèse a nécessité de quantifier les coûts et les bénéfices associés aux comportements de vie en groupe et ceux engendrés par une participation à un épisode reproductif. La synchronisation des laies en gésine, phénomène âge-dépendant, permet un élevage coopératif des marcassins. L'absence de synchronisation dans les dates de parturition peut se traduire, au niveau collectif, par un échec social qui amène les femelles à se séparer. Pour les femelles yearlings, les bénéfices liés à la participation à un épisode reproductif (gain de fitness directe) ne semblent pas compenser les coûts (phénotypiques et sociaux) qu'engendrent l'expression de ce comportement. Ce travail a également montré que la taille et la composition en individus du groupe influencent l'exploitation des ressources spatiales. Enfin, le rôle clef des femelles yearlings, autant au niveau de la pérennité du groupe, qu'au niveau de l'aide coopérative qu'elles apportent, est discuté. Pour terminer, ce travail suggère de nouvelles investigations pour gérer cette espèce en pleine explosion démographique

Kin Recognition and Classification in Humans

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Factors Influencing the Reactions of Aversion to Incest and Moral Involvements.

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