Human Nonindependent Mate Choice: Is Model Female Attractiveness Everything?

Following two decades of research on non-human animals, there has recently been increased interest in human nonindependent mate choice, namely the ways in which choosing women incorporate information about a man's past or present romantic partners ('model females') into their own assessment of the male. Experimental studies using static facial images have generally found that men receive higher desirability ratings from female raters when presented with attractive (compared to unattractive) model females. This phenomenon has a straightforward evolutionary explanation: the fact that female mate value is more dependent on physical attractiveness compared to male mate value. Furthermore, due to assortative mating for attractiveness, men who are paired with attractive women are more likely to be of high mate value themselves. Here, we also examine the possible relevance of model female cues other than attractiveness (personality and behavioral traits) by presenting video recordings of model females to a set of female raters. The results confirm that the model female's attractiveness is the primary cue. Contrary to some earlier findings in the human and nonhuman literature, we found no evidence that female raters prefer partners of slightly older model females. We conclude by suggesting some promising variations on the present experimental design

Testing perceivers' accuracy and accuracy awareness when forming personality impressions from faces

People spontaneously judge others' personality based on their facial appearance and these impressions guide many important decisions. Although the consequences of personality impressions are well documented, studies on the accuracy of personality impressions have yielded mixed results. Moreover, relatively little is known about people's accuracy awareness (i.e., whether they are aware of their judgment accuracy). Even if accuracy is generally low, awareness of accuracy would allow people to rely on their impressions in the right situations. In two studies (one preregistered), we estimated perceivers' accuracy and accuracy awareness when forming personality impressions based on facial photographs. Our studies have three crucial advantages as compared to previous studies (a) by incentivizing accuracy and accuracy awareness, (b) by relying on substantially larger samples of raters (n(Study 1)= 223, n(Study 2) = 423) and targets (k(Study 1)= 140, k(Study 2) = 1,260 unique pairs with 280 unique targets), and (c) by conducting Bayesian analyses to also quantify evidence for the null hypothesis. Our findings suggest that face-based personality impressions are not accurate, that perceivers lack insight into their (in)accuracy, and that most people overestimate their accuracy

Testing perceivers’ accuracy and accuracy awareness when forming personality impressions from faces

People spontaneously judge others’ personality based on their facial appearance and these impressions guide many important decisions. Although the consequences of personality impressions are well documented, studies on the accuracy of personality impressions have yielded mixed results. Moreover, relatively little is known about people’s accuracy awareness (i.e., whether they are aware of their judgment accuracy). Even if accuracy is generally low, awareness of accuracy would allow people to rely on their impressions in the right situations. In two studies (one preregistered), we estimated perceivers’ accuracy and accuracy awareness when forming personality impressions based on facial photographs. Our studies have three crucial advantages as compared to previous studies (a) by incentivizing accuracy and accuracy awareness, (b) by relying on substantially larger samples of raters (nStudy 1 = 223, nStudy 2 = 423) and targets (kStudy 1 = 140, kStudy 2 = 1,260 unique pairs with 280 unique targets), and (c) by conducting Bayesian analyses to also quantify evidence for the null hypothesis. Our findings suggest that face-based personality impressions are not accurate, that perceivers lack insight into their (in)accuracy, and that most people overestimate their accuracy

An exploratory conformational analysis of 3-mercapto-propanamide and 2-methyl-3-mercapto-propanamide as well as their S-deprotonated conjugate basis: An ab initio study

Ab initio conformational analysis has been carried out on 3-mercapto-propanamide, (R)- and (S)-2-methyl-3-mercaptopropanamide as well as their S-deprotonated conjugate basis. They were carried out at the HF/3-21G level of theory. The topology of the conformational potential energy surfaces and hypersurfaces have been analysed.Fil: Torday, László L.. Albert Szent-Györgyi Medical University; HungríaFil: Penke, Botond. Albert Szent-Györgyi Medical University; HungríaFil: Zamarbide, Graciela Nidia. Universidad Nacional de San Luis; ArgentinaFil: Enriz, Ricardo Daniel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Luis. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Investigaciones Biológicas de San Luis. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Ciencias Físico Matemáticas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Investigaciones Biológicas de San Luis; ArgentinaFil: Papp, Julius Gy. Albert Szent-Györgyi Medical University; Hungrí