Own attractiveness and dissatisfaction with physical appearance independently predict the salience of facial cues to size when women judge other women’s attractiveness

While facial cues to body size are a valid guide to health and attractiveness, it is unclear whether the observer’s own condition predicts the salience of (low) size as a cue to female attractiveness. The current study examines whether measures related to women’s own attractiveness/appearance predict the extent to which they use facial cues to size to differentiate other women on the attractiveness dimension. Women completed a BMI preference task, where they indicated their preference for high- versus low-BMI versions of the same woman, provided data to calculate their BMI and completed various psychometric measures (self-rated attractiveness/health, dissatisfaction with physical appearance). Here, attractive women and women who were dissatisfied with their own appearance were more likely to associate facial cues to low body size with high attractiveness. These data suggest that psychological factors related to women’s appearance shape their evaluations of other women based on cues to size. Such variation in attractiveness judgements may function to reduce the costs of female competition for resources, for example, by identifying ‘quality’ rivals and/or excluding others based on cues to size

Cues derived from facial appearance in security-related contexts:a biological and socio-cognitive framework

Failures in the security process can have profound costs for both the individual and organizations (e.g., fraud costs the British economy approximately £72 billion; NFA, 2012). A biological and socio-cognitive framework may enhance our understanding of the security process, as the two perspectives collectively acknowledge that (i) competition for resources is/was an important factor in human social behavior and evolution (e.g., Bowles, 2009) and (ii) individuals differ in the ways in which they interpret information given their own traits and circumstances. Both levels of explanation (Mayr, 1963; Tinbergen, 1963) could generate novel hypotheses. For example, proximate-level explanations may clarify how resources are defended and extorted, and the cognitive processes underlying the “chess game” between gatekeepers and “gate crashers.” Ultimate-level explanations may clarify why some individuals are more likely than others to succeed at securing or gaining access to resources and whether certain security-related outcomes can be reliably predicted given specific contexts or ecological conditions

System-size convergence of point defect properties: The case of the silicon vacancy

We present a comprehensive study of the vacancy in bulk silicon in all its charge states from 2+ to 2-, using a supercell approach within plane-wave density-functional theory, and systematically quantify the various contributions to the well-known finite size errors associated with calculating formation energies and stable charge state transition levels of isolated defects with periodic boundary conditions. Furthermore, we find that transition levels converge faster with respect to supercell size when only the Gamma-point is sampled in the Brillouin zone, as opposed to a dense k-point sampling. This arises from the fact that defect level at the Gamma-point quickly converges to a fixed value which correctly describes the bonding at the defect centre. Our calculated transition levels with 1000-atom supercells and Gamma-point only sampling are in good agreement with available experimental results. We also demonstrate two simple and accurate approaches for calculating the valence band offsets that are required for computing formation energies of charged defects, one based on a potential averaging scheme and the other using maximally-localized Wannier functions (MLWFs). Finally, we show that MLWFs provide a clear description of the nature of the electronic bonding at the defect centre that verifies the canonical Watkins model.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figure

Effect of Night Blinds on Open Integral Display Cabinets

The impact of night blinds on the product temperature performance and electrical energy consumption of an integral open multi-deck cabinet is investigated in this paper. The cabinet was tested at various environmental conditions to establish the impact of ambient temperature on the effectiveness of the blind in reducing the energy consumption of the cabinet during night-time operation. The cabinet was tested over a range of temperatures between 20 °C and 35 °C at a constant moisture content. The results indicate that the use of night blinds could produce energy savings of between 10% and 22% calculated on the basis of a 24 hour period of operation with the blind lowered for 12 hours out of the 24 hours. These energy savings lead to pay-back periods of between 2 and 4 years. The savings reduced with increasing ambient temperature due to the increase in the impact of infiltration and conduction across the blind at higher temperatures

Trait openness and agreeableness are related to a left-leaning political orientation but are negatively related to the endorsement of totalitarian ideals

Although relationships between temperament and political orientation are well established [1-2], it is unclear whether they are moderated by opinions on how we should execute our political ambitions, with or without regard to individual liberty. We examined whether prior relationships between personality and political orientation are replicated using a short-form measure of the Big Five, and whether the extent of these relationships differ when including the endorsement of totalitarian ideals in the same model. We also examined whether self-reported dominance was related to the endorsement of totalitarian ideals, which may develop recent theorizing on the role of agentic personality traits in alliance politics and leadership emergence. [1] Gerber et al. (2010). Am Political Sci Rev, 104, 111-133. [2] Hirsh et al. (2010). Pers Soc Psychol Bull, 36, 655-664 [3] Watkins (2018). In Facial Displays of Leaders (Chapter). [4] van Vugt & Grabo (2015). Curr Dir Psychol Sci, 24, 484-489. [5] Judge & Bono (2000). J Appl Psychol, 85, 751-765

Infrastructural Decay: Artists Exploring the Social and Political Relationships of Maintenance and Repair

With the ongoing spread of Coronavirus, societies around the world have become aware of how inextricably linked we all are to the infrastructures that distribute the resources for everyday life. While infrastructures promise modernity and growth, their neglect and absence expose inequality and the fragility of progress. Continual maintenance and repair keep infrastructures functioning. Infrastructure systems are often hidden beneath the surface of urban life, only becoming apparent when their breakdown occurs. I propose presenting a brief overview of artists exploring how the often neglected and undervalued activities of maintenance and repair are shaped by race, gender, class, and other political, economic and cultural forces

Competition-related factors directly influence preferences for facial cues of dominance in allies

Alliance formation is a critical dimension of social intelligence in political, social and biological systems. As some allies may provide greater ‘leverage’ than others during social conflict, the cognitive architecture that supports alliance formation in humans may be shaped by recent experience, for example in light of the outcomes of violent or non-violent forms intrasexual competition. Here we used experimental priming techniques to explore this issue. Consistent with our predictions, while men’s preference for dominant allies strengthened following losses (compared to victories) in violent intrasexual contests, women’s preferences for dominant allies weakened following losses (compared to victories) in violent intrasexual contests. Our findings suggest that while men may prefer dominant (i.e. masculine) allies following losses in violent confrontation in order to facilitate successful resource competition, women may ‘tend and befriend’ following this scenario and seek support from prosocial (i.e. feminine) allies and/or avoid the potential costs of dominant allies as long-term social partners. Moreover, they demonstrate facultative responses to signals related to dominance in allies, which may shape sex differences in sociality in light of recent experience and suggest that intrasexual selection has shaped social intelligence in humans

Effect of the spin-orbit interaction and the electron phonon coupling on the electronic state in a silicon vacancy

The electronic state around a single vacancy in silicon crystal is investigated by using the Green's function approach. The triply degenerate charge states are found to be widely extended and account for extremely large elastic softening at low temperature as observed in recent ultrasonic experiments. When we include the LS coupling $\lambda_{\rm Si}$ on each Si atom, the 6-fold spin-orbital degeneracy for the $V^{+}$ state with the valence +1 and spin 1/2 splits into $\Gamma_{7}$ doublet groundstates and $\Gamma_{8}$ quartet excited states with a reduced excited energy of $O(\lambda_{\rm Si}/10)$. We also consider the effect of couplings between electrons and Jahn-Teller phonons in the dangling bonds within the second order perturbation and find that the groundstate becomes $\Gamma_{8}$ quartet which is responsible for the magnetic-field suppression of the softening in B-doped silicon.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure

Negative effects of makeup use on perceptions of leadership ability across two ethnicities

Cosmetics alter social perceptions, and prior work suggests that cosmetic use may aid female intrasexual competition, making women appear more dominant to other women but more prestigious to other men. It is unclear whether these findings reflect general improvements in perceptions of traits related to women's dominance or if they are specific to mating contexts only. Here, across two ethnicities, we examined effects of cosmetics used for a social night out on perceptions of women's leadership ability, a trait that denotes competence/high status outside of mating contexts. Participants of African and Caucasian ethnicity judged faces for leadership ability where half of the trials differed in ethnicity (own- vs. other-ethnicity face pairs) and the subtlety of the color manipulation (50% vs. 100%). Regardless of the participant's sex or ethnicity, makeup used for a social night out had a negative effect on perceptions of women's leadership ability. Our findings suggest that, in prior work, women are afforded traits related to dominance, as makeup enhances perceptions of traits that are important for successful female mating competition but not other components of social dominance such as leadership