Does being close to your family make you less trusting?
..people with strong family ties have a lower level of trust in strangers than people with weak family ties, and argue that this association is causal." We provide direct evidence that people with strong family ties have a lower level of trust in strangers than people with weak family ties, and argue that this association is causal. We also investigate the mechanisms that underlie this effect, and provide evidence that these revolve around the level of outward exposure: factors that…
1 min read
Do rich guys give women more orgasms? (pt2)
d I mention I'm not a scientist? I'm just a guy who posts stuff he finds interesting on a website. So, caveat emptor, dear readers. In my post on what to look for in a marriage partner I said that rich guys give women more orgasms. And that's what the study showed. Well, turns out the study was wrong: In a recent article in this journal (Pollet and Nettle, 2009), we reported that women with higher-income partners reported more frequent…
2 minutes
How To Increase The Amount Of “Good Sex” You Have
's less about the Kama Sutra and more about increasing self-esteem: Self-determination Theory posits that psychological wellbeing stems from feeling autonomous, competent, and related. Prior research has found that people report that, on days in which they perceive these needs are met, they have good days, as evidenced by both positive mood and fewer physical symptoms. The current research examined the relationship between satisfaction of these needs and sexuality, hypothesizing that having sexual interactions in which these needs are met,…
1 min read
Does a female breadwinner raise risk of divorce?
s, and substantially so: Using German panel data from 1984 to 2007, we analyze the impact of labor division between husband and wife on the risk of divorce. Gary Becker’s theory of marriage predicts that specialization in domestic and market work, respectively, reduces the risk of separation. Traditionally, the breadwinner role is assigned to the husband, however, female labor force participation and their wages have risen substantially. Our results suggest that there are gender-specific differences, e.g. female breadwinner-couples have a…
1 min read
Is marriage a good idea for handsome men?
ybe not: Physical appearance plays a crucial role in shaping new relationships, but does it continue to affect established relationships, such as marriage? In the current study, the authors examined how observer ratings of each spouse's facial attractiveness and the difference between those ratings were associated with (a) observations of social support behavior and (b) reports of marital satisfaction. In contrast to the robust and almost universally positive effects of levels of attractiveness on new relationships, the only association between…
1 min read
How To Deal With A Narcissist, Backed By Research
ere are ways to make a narcissist easier to deal with. Emphasize community when you talk to them. When they feel there's a strong group behind something, they're more likely to behave: Three studies tested the hypotheses that the activation of communal mental representations promotes relationship commitment (communal activation hypothesis) and that this effect is stronger among narcissists than among nonnarcissists (Communal Activation x Narcissism hypothesis). Across experimental, longitudinal, and interaction-based research methods, and in participant samples ranging from college…
3 minutes
Why you don’t want an older brother or a younger pair of twin siblings:
t an older brother? You're less likely to have kids: Sex-specific sibling interactions are potentially important in human ecology. It is well established that in patrilineal societies that sons suffer from the presence of brothers because of competition for inheritance. However, offspring (of both sexes) might also suffer from being born after an elder brother because of the greater costs sons may entail for their mother. Evidence that the cost of producing sons is higher has been gained from studies…
2 minutes
What can you accurately tell about a person just by looking at their face?
lot, actually: Several studies have demonstrated some accuracy in personality attribution using only visual appearance. Using composite images of those scoring high and low on a particular trait, the current study shows that judges perform better than chance in guessing others' personality, particularly for the traits conscientiousness and extraversion. This study also shows that attractiveness, masculinity and age may all provide cues to assess personality accurately and that accuracy is affected by the sex of both of those judging…
1 min read
