Mutual Mate Choice Drives the Desirability of Altruism in Relationships

Although previous research has found that altruism is an important trait in human mate choice, much of this has concentrated on female preferences only. Subsequently, the current study explored how both men and women desire altruistic partners who varied in physical attractiveness for both short and long term romantic relationships. A sample of 136 women and 53 men viewed profiles of members of the opposite sex of either high or low physical attractiveness, alongside scenarios that described them as either being altruistic or not. Participants then rated each targets’ desirability as both a short and long term partner. As hypothesised, altruism was rated more desirable, particularly for long term relationships, by both men and women. However there were inconsistent findings when physical attractiveness was accounted for, which did not support the hypotheses nor directly replicate previous findings. Overall it was concluded that although the study provided strong support for the desirability of altruism being due to mutual mate choice, the additional effects of examining other mate choice traits such as attractiveness shows much is still to be known

Investigating behaviour and face encoding in a hypothetical real-world social contract : handwashing in hazardous health settings

Investigations into the evolutionary origins of human cognition has shown that individuals’ memory for others is influenced by the latter’s behaviour in social contracts. Such research is primarily based on hypothetical or more abstract forms of social contracts, whereas an application of this knowledge to everyday health behaviours can be of great value. To address this, the current study investigated whether participants who were asked to imagine themselves in a hypothetical hazardous health scenario showed differential response sensitivity (d’) and latency (RT) to faces of hospital staff tagged with contrasting hand hygiene before touching patients: clean hands, dirty hands, or unknown hand-washing behaviour (control). The test used a two alternative forced-choice (2AFC: “old/new”) face recognition paradigm. The findings showed that d’ to dirty and clean hands was similar, but higher than for controls. Moreover, d’ was not affected by the occupation of hospital staff (nurses vs porters). The absence of memory gains towards clean or dirty hands points to the need for new strategies to remind patients to observe (and remember) the hand hygiene of others when exposed to hazardous health environments

The Type of Behavior and the Role of Relationship Length in Mate Choice for Prosociality Among Physically Attractive Individuals

Two further key aspects of prosociality as a sexual signal are explored here. Firstly, the context in which it is used (in particular relationship length), and, second, also the different types of prosocial behaviors that exist in social interactions. Therefore, this commentary can show why prosocial behaviors are biased towards physically attractive individuals, as they can gain valuable information from them

The Role of Prosocial Behaviors in Mate Choice: a Critical Review of the Literature

Research has focused on the role of prosocial behaviors in mate choice, across both social and evolutionary psychology. Several studies provide strong support for the role of altruism in mate choice, whereby people find prosociality attractive in potential mates. As most research focuses on the role of altruism in mate choice, most research has found that people exhibit altruism towards attractive people, suggesting altruistic behavior is driven by mate choice motivation. Although studies have supported the notion that men’s altruism towards women is driven by mate choice, the findings are inconsistent, which may be due to the methodologies adopted by researchers. To our knowledge, this review paper is the first to critically review the literature concerning prosociality and mate choice. We provide an outline of the research thus far, methodological issues, and considerations for future research

Evidence of an Alternative Currency for Altruism in Laboratory-Based Experiments

Research shows that altruistic behaviours arise in varying social situations in line with different theories of causes of such behaviours. However most research uses financial costs only, which makes our understanding of altruism currently limited. This study presents findings of three experiments that use a novel and simple laboratory-based task that measures altruism based on the amount of time participants are willing to spend as a cost to help others. This task assessed two specific theories; altruistic punishment (Experiments 1 & 2) and empathy-altruism (Experiment 3). All experiments showed that the task was successful, as participants were more likely to altruistically punish violators of social contracts than other scenarios (Experiments 1 and 2), and also incur more costs to behave altruistically towards others when feeling empathic than different emotional states (Experiment 3). These results provide clear support for the use and value of this novel task in future research

The Impact of Student Response Systems on the Learning Experience of Undergraduate Psychology Students

Student response systems (SRS) are hand-held devices or mobile phone polling systems which collate real-time, individual responses to on-screen questions. Previous research examining their role in higher education has highlighted both advantages and disadvantages of their use. This paper explores how different SRS influence the learning experience of psychology students across different levels of their programme. Across two studies, first year students’ experience of using Turningpoint clickers and second year students’ experience of using Poll Everywhere was investigated. Evaluations of both studies revealed that SRS has a number of positive impacts on learning, including enhanced engagement, active learning, peer interaction, and formative feedback. Technical and practical issues emerged as consistent barriers to the use of SRS. Discussion of these findings and the authors’ collective experiences of these technologies are used to provide insight into the way in which SRS can be effectively integrated within undergraduate psychology programmes

Technology Enhanced Learning in Psychology: Current Direction and Perspectives

Contemporary use of digital technologies has rapidly transformed the learning and teaching environment within higher education (Beetham and White, 2013; Jordan, 2013). When used effectively, technology can improve the usefulness and quality of feedback to support learning and create unique opportunities for active, independent learning (Trapp et al., 2011; Higher Education Academy, 2012; UoW, 2015). However, identifying appropriate technology and effectively embedding this within teaching practices can be challenging. Here we outline the way in which Psychology staff at the University of Worcester have used technology to enhance the student learning experience in four key areas: promoting engagement in large groups, enhancing participation in research, teaching via blended learning and fostering a learning community. We hope that sharing our experiences will be of value to colleagues interested in using technology for similar purposes

The Effects of Being in a “New Relationship” on Levels of Testosterone in Men.

In light of previous research showing that different types of relationships affect levels of testosterone in men, this study examined whether categorizing relationship types according to relationship length can shed further light on variations in levels of testosterone. Salivary testosterone samples were obtained from a sample of men and details about their relationship status, sociosexual orientation, extra-pair sexual interest, and their perceptions of their relationships were recorded. Using a median split analysis, participants who indicated that they had been in their relationship for less than 12 months were categorized as being in “new relationships” and those in longer relationships being categorized as in long-term relationships. Results showed that levels of testosterone of single men and men in new relationships did not differ, but both had significantly greater levels of testosterone than men in long-term relationships. Differences in levels of testosterone were unrelated to sociosexual orientation and extra-pair sexual interest. These findings support the evolutionary explanation of levels of testosterone in men varying in accordance with their internal motivation to seek new potential mates

Men increase time spent on a charitable task when in the presence of women and other men: Evidence of competitive altruism in online mating scenarios

Previous research shows that competition can increase altruistic behaviour, however, the majority of such research focuses on financial costs and so our understanding is currently limited. Subsequently, the present study explored how competitive altruism can affect prosocial behaviour where time spent is the currency, using a real world charity. A sample of 67 men and 71 women completed the online altruistic task. As hypothesised, significant differences in giving behaviour due to competition were present in men but not women, suggesting that men use time spent here as a signal in mate choice scenarios. These findings therefore expand upon previous research on financial altruism, using artificial and/or hypothetical scenarios, by demonstrating that competitive altruism can be applied to real-world scenarios, where prosocial behaviours are of benefit. It also builds on previous research showing that men can compete with other men to display their altruistic nature to potential mates

Are Everyday Heroic or Altruistic Acts More Desirable in Human Mate Choice?

Previous research has shown that heroic acts are valued traits in human mate choice, due to their desirability particularly for long term partners. There is however inconsistency as to whether heroism is a more valued trait than more general forms of altruism, or if both signal the same underlying desired trait in partners. To assess this, the current study looked to directly compare the desirability of heroic and altruistic acts when both are options that individuals may choose. Here, both male and female participants were provided with descriptions of hypothetical individuals who chose to behave either heroically or altruistically in the same everyday scenario, and asked to rate their desirability for both short and long term relationships. It was found that although both heroic and altruistic individuals were considered more desirable for long term than short term relationships, there were no differences in the ratings of heroic and altruistic acts nor were there any sex differences. Accordingly it is concluded that heroism is not a distinct trait in mate choice than altruism when potential confounding factors are controlled for, and both signal the actor’s underlying prosocial personality characteristic that is valued in long term relationship for both men and women