Exposure to explicit sexual media impacts men's perceptions of women's motives for sexual intercourse [abstract]

Abstract only availablePrevious studies have shown that exposure to sexually explicit media can influence males' attitudes toward sex and their sexual partners, their behaviors, and their emotions. Researchers found increased aggression towards women when men were exposed to sexually explicit media. Other studies have shown that exposure to pornography leads to insensitivity towards victims of sexual violence, and stronger approval towards premarital sex, extramarital sex, and numerous sexual partners. In the current study, we argue that attitudinal and behavioral changes may originate in part from males' skewed perception of female sex motives. We surveyed male students enrolled in a Human Sexuality course weekly in a 3 month diary study. At pretest, participants reported on their lifetime sexual experiences, lifetime exposure to sexually explicit materials, and female sex motives. Weekly follow-ups tracked sexual experiences, sexually explicit media exposure, and perceptions of female motives for sex. In a multi-level model, we will examine the gamma estimate (analogous to a regression beta) of the link each week between men's media exposure and their ratings of 5 types of female motives for sex (intimacy, enhancement, please partner, power/control, and coping/affirmation). We expect that men's perceptions of female motives will be more unrealistic in men who view more pornography relative to men who view less. We also expect to find interactions with sexual experience such that experienced men are less influenced by sexually explicit media exposure relative to virgins.A&S Undergraduate Research Mentorshi

A good mate inspires loyalty : relationship quality moderates an ovulatory phase shift in romantic relationship feelings

The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file.Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on February 29, 2008)Vita.Thesis (Ph. D.) University of Missouri-Columbia 2007.Theory and evidence are presented that support the hypothesis that being in a high quality romantic relationship protects women from ovulatory phase increases in negative relationship emotions that may shift their interest toward extra pair men. Relationship status, physical abuse, contribution of resources, satisfaction/commitment, and partner attractiveness were reported by a mixed race community sample of 353 women in a between-subjects design. Fertile women in low quality relationships (e.g., less committed, more abusive) showed more negative, conflicted, and ambivalent as well as less positive relationship feelings relative to both fertile women in high quality relationships and to non-fertile women. Supplementary analysis showed partner attractiveness (PA) was uncorrelated with relationship quality (RQ), and PA also moderated the ovulatory shift such that fertile women paired with attractive men felt better about their relationships than did all other women. Three way interactions (Fertility X RQ X PA) confirmed that RQ and PA are not only distinct components of mate quality but that they also moderate the influence of ovulatory shifts on relationship feelings. Implications for the theories of dual sexuality (Thornhill, 2006) and strategic pluralism (Gangestad & Simpson, 2000) are discussed.Includes bibliographical reference

An Iterative Approach to Ground Penetrating Radar at the Maya Site of Pacbitun, Belize

Ground penetrating radar (GPR) surveys provide distinct advantages for archaeological prospection in ancient, complex, urban Maya sites, particularly where dense foliage or modern debris may preclude other remote sensing or geophysical techniques. Unidirectional GPR surveys using a 500 MHz shielded antenna were performed at the Middle Preclassic Maya site of Pacbitun, Belize. The survey in 2012 identified numerous linear and circular anomalies between 1 m and 2 m deep. Based on these anomalies, one 1 m × 4 m unit and three smaller units were excavated in 2013. These test units revealed a curved plaster surface not previously found at Pacbitun. Post-excavation, GPR data were reprocessed to best match the true nature of excavated features. Additional GPR surveys oriented perpendicular to the original survey confirmed previously detected anomalies and identified new anomalies. The excavations provided information on the sediment layers in the survey area, which allowed better identification of weak radar reflections of the surfaces of a burnt, Middle Preclassic temple in the northern end of the survey area. Additional excavations of the area in 2014 and 2015 revealed it to be a large square structure, which was named El Quemado

Some Observations and New Discoveries Related to Altar 3, Pacbitun, Belize

The Pre-Columbian Maya city of Pacbitun, Belize (Fig. 1) is distinguished by the high number of stone monuments (n- 20) identified during the roughly three decades of archaeological research conducted there (Healy et al. 2004:213). Altar 3, recovered in a cache within the main pyramidal structure of the site in 1986, was one of those monuments, but, unlike most of the others from the site, it is carved and bas a short hieroglyphic text. Yet, similar to several of the others, it had been broken in the past and, its pieces scattered. Archaeological excavations in 2016 recovered another piece of the same monument, this one having been used as part of a wall foundation in antiquity

Middle Preclassic Period Maya Greenstone Triangulates : Forms, Contexts, and Geology of a Unique Mesoamerican Groundstone Artifact Type

Over the past twenty years our understanding of the Middle Preclassic (900–300 BCE) period has become much clearer through archaeological investigations at a number of sites located in the Upper Belize River Valley region of the eastern Maya Lowlands. While the picture of Middle Preclassic Maya life, including their material culture, has sharpened, there are aspects that remain uninvestigated. One artifact type, identified as greenstone triangulates, has been found at several Belize Valley sites and in a variety of contexts. Although a number of these multifaceted, polished groundstone items have been recovered, little research has focused on their distribution and function in the archaeological record. An evaluation of these items from primary contexts provides data for determining how they were used in daily social and/or ritual activities throughout the lowlands. Comparative data from other regions of Mesoamerica are also discussed. A detailed geological and petrographic pilot study of a sample of greenstone triangulates is provided, pointing conclusively to early, long-distance and complex exchange networks in exotic raw materials

King Solomon's Silver? Southern Phoenician Hacksilber Hoards and the Location of Tarshish

Evidence from silver hoards found in Phoenicia is linking Tarshish, the legendary source of King Solomon's silver, to ores in the western Mediterranean. Biblical passages sometimes describe this lost land as a supplier of metals (especially silver) to Phoenician sailors who traded in the service of Solomon and Hiram of Tyre in the 10th century BC. Classical authors similarly attribute the mercantile supremacy of the Phoenicians to their command of lucrative supplies of silver in the west, before they colonised the coasts and islands of its metalliferous regions around 800 BC. Conservative rejections of such reports have correctly emphasised a lack of evidence from silver. Lead isotope analyses of silver hoards found in Phoenicia now provide the initial evidence for pre-colonial silver-trade with the west; ore-provenance data correlate with the ancient documents that indicate both Sardinia and Spain as suppliers, and Sardinia as the island of Tarshish

An Iterative Approach To Ground Penetrating Radar At The Maya Site Of Pacbitun, Belize

Ground penetrating radar (GPR) surveys provide distinct advantages for archaeological prospection in ancient, complex, urban Maya sites, particularly where dense foliage or modern debris may preclude other remote sensing or geophysical techniques. Unidirectional GPR surveys using a 500 MHz shielded antenna were performed at the Middle Preclassic Maya site of Pacbitun, Belize. The survey in 2012 identified numerous linear and circular anomalies between 1 m and 2 m deep. Based on these anomalies, one 1 m × 4 m unit and three smaller units were excavated in 2013. These test units revealed a curved plaster surface not previously found at Pacbitun. Post-excavation, GPR data were reprocessed to best match the true nature of excavated features. Additional GPR surveys oriented perpendicular to the original survey confirmed previously detected anomalies and identified new anomalies. The excavations provided information on the sediment layers in the survey area, which allowed better identification of weak radar reflections of the surfaces of a burnt, Middle Preclassic temple in the northern end of the survey area. Additional excavations of the area in 2014 and 2015 revealed it to be a large square structure, which was named El Quemado