Nonhuman species may respond to novel mates with increased sexual motivation (‘The Coolidge Effect1). In humans, novel technological advances, such as online dating platforms, are thought to result in ‘Choice Overload’2. This may undermine the goal of finding a meaningful relationship3, orienting the user toward novel possible partners versus committing to a partner. Here, we used a paradigm measuring change in attraction to familiar faces (i.e. rated on second viewing4) to investigate Coolidge-like phenomena in humans primed with choice of potential online dating partners. We examined two pre-registered hypotheses (https://osf.io/xs74r/files/). First, whether experimentally priming choice (viewing a slideshow of online dating images) directly reduces the attractiveness of familiar preferred sex faces compared to our control condition. Second, whether the predicted effect is stronger for men than women given the role of the Coolidge effect in male sexual motivation5.<br/

Ritchie, Kay L.

Sculley, Jordan

Watkins, Christopher D.

English

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Abertay University is an operating name of the University of Abertay Dundee, a charity registered in Scotland, No: SC016040.www.abertay.ac.ukInitial experimental evidence that the ability to choose between items alters attraction to familiar versus novel persons in different ways for men and womenJordan Sculley1 (PhD Candidate*), Christopher D Watkins1 & Kay L Ritchie21Division of Psychology, School of Social and Health Sciences, Abertay University2School of Psychology, College of Social Science, University of LincolnEmail: 1704207@uad.ac.uk* (c.watkins@abertay.ac.uk relationship-lab.com)IntroductionNonhuman species may respond to novel mates with increased sexual motivation (‘The Coolidge Effect1). In humans, novel technological advances,such as online dating platforms, are thought to result in ‘Choice Overload’2. This may undermine the goal of finding a meaningful relationship3,orienting the user toward novel possible partners versus committing to a partner. Here, we used a paradigm measuring change in attraction tofamiliar faces (i.e. rated on second viewing4) to investigate Coolidge-like phenomena in humans primed with choice of potential online datingpartners. We examined two pre-registered hypotheses (https://osf.io/xs74r/files/). First, whether experimentally priming choice (viewing a slideshowof online dating images) directly reduces the attractiveness of familiar preferred sex faces compared to our control condition. Second, whether thepredicted effect is stronger for men than women given the role of the Coolidge effect in male sexual motivation5.MethodsIn our first experiment (N=188), participants rated 10 randomized test faces (10m, 10f 6) for attractiveness (1 to 7 scale). Participants were thenrandomly allocated either to our experimental condition (look through images of 15 potential dates) or our control condition (look through images of15 potential desserts). Image sets in each 1-minute slideshow were matched in attractiveness. Post-priming, participants rated the familiar faces and10 (equally attractive) novel faces on the same scale. We calculated their change in preference for familiar faces. Scores above/below zero indicatea stronger preference for familiar faces/novelty respectively. A second experiment (N=439) on single individuals was identical except that participantswere allocated to one of four priming slideshows, with choice manipulated more directly (2 conditions with 15 slideshow images and 2 conditionscontaining a subset of 5 slideshow images). A third experiment (N=130) was identical except that the priming phase of the experiment was absent inorder to rule out alternate explanations for findings observed in Experiments 1 and 2.References[1] Wilson et al. (1963). J Comp Physiol Psych, 56(3), 636-644. [2] Scheibehenne et al. (2010). J Consum Res, 37(3), 409–425. [3] Finkel et al. (2012). Psychol Sci Publ Int, 13(1),3–66. [4] Little et al. (2014). Arch Sex Behav, 43, 973-981. [5] Jordan & Brooks (2010). J Evolution Biol, 23, 2403-2409. [6] DeBruine & Jones (2017). Face Research Lab LondonSet. Figshare. https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.5047666.v3 [7] Moreland & Zajonc (1982). J Exp Soc Psychol, 18, 395–415.ConclusionsPriming the ability to choose between items/persons may moderate the well-established effect where ‘familiarity breeds liking’7. Women are lessattracted to the same person following our priming manipulation whereas men are more attracted to novel people following our priming manipulation.These findings are consistent with theorizing on the potential costs of online dating sites and platforms that may encourage rapid evaluation ofpotential partners3.ResultsIn our first experiment, no effects or interactions wereobserved, although familiar faces were less attractive onsecond viewing versus first viewing (i.e. after priming) and thenovel face set was perceived as more attractive than thefamiliar face set. In our second experiment, women’s(p=.001, r=.12, 95%CI [.03, .11]), but not men’s (p=.87),attraction to familiar faces decreased from baseline afterpriming via both slideshows (dates and desserts, see Fig. a).The effect of priming on attraction to the novel versus familiarface set was stronger for men (r=.25) than women (r=.12, seeFig. b). Effects observed in this experiment can be attributedto our priming manipulation, as our third experiment (withoutpriming) did not reveal any sex differences in preferences fornovelty versus familiarity among single people. Across thissample, female faces were more attractive than male faces onsecond viewing (t(129)=3.12; p=.002, r=.14).Pre-Priming Phase(10 randomized faces)Preferred-sex dating images Dessert Images (Control condition)Priming phase (look at one of two slideshows)10 familiarPost-Priming Phase(20 randomized faces)10 novel

Initial experimental evidence that the ability to choose between items alters attraction to familiar versus novel persons in different ways for men and women

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Initial experimental evidence that the ability to choose between items alters attraction to familiar versus novel persons in different ways for men and women

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