High Heels Increase Women's Attractiveness.

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Guéguen, Nicolas

2015-11-01

Research has found that the appearance of women's apparel helps increase their attractiveness as rated by men and that men care more about physical features in potential opposite-sex mates. However, the effect of sartorial appearance has received little interest from scientists. In a series of studies, the length of women's shoe heels was examined. A woman confederate wearing black shoes with 0, 5, or 9 cm heels asked men for help in various circumstances. In Study 1, she asked men to respond to a short survey on gender equality. In Study 2, the confederate asked men and women to participate in a survey on local food habit consumption. In Study 3, men and women in the street were observed while walking in back of the female confederate who dropped a glove apparently unaware of her loss. It was found that men's helping behavior increased as soon as heel length increased. However, heel length had no effect on women's helping behavior. It was also found that men spontaneously approached women more quickly when they wore high-heeled shoes (Study 4). Change in gait, foot-size judgment, and misattribution of sexiness and sexual intent were used as possible explanations.

Watching Aggressive, Attractive, Female Protagonists Shapes Gender Roles for Women Among Male and Female Undergraduate Viewers.

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Taylor, Laramie D; Setters, Tiffany

2011-07-01

The impact of exposure to media representations of aggressive, attractive, female protagonists on audiences' gender role expectations for women was explored through a laboratory experiment with 122 undergraduates from a large university on the west coast of the United States. Participants viewed a segment of a major Hollywood motion picture that featured a female protagonist who was either highly attractive or less attractive and either highly aggressive or not aggressive. Viewing clips featuring a female protagonist who was both aggressive and stereotypically attractive led to greater endorsement of stereotypically feminine and stereotypically masculine gender role expectations for women. The effect on endorsement of stereotypically masculine expectations was partially mediated by the perception that the protagonist was a good role model for women. Although women endorsed both feminine and masculine gender role expectations for women more strongly than men, the effects of exposure to aggressive, attractive, female protagonists were similar for both male and female participants. Results are discussed in terms of gender stereotype activation and superwoman expectations for women.

An Eye Tracking Examination of Men’s Attractiveness by Conceptive Risk Women

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Ray Garza

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Previous research has indicated that women prefer men who exhibit an android physical appearance where fat distribution is deposited on the upper body (i.e., shoulders and arms and abdomen. This ideal physical shape has been associated with perceived dominance, health, and immunocompetence. Although research has investigated attractability of men with these ideal characteristics, research on how women visually perceive these characteristics is limited. The current study investigated visual perception and attraction toward men in Hispanic women of Mexican American descent. Women exposed to a front-posed image, where the waist-to-chest ratio (WCR and hair distribution were manipulated, rated men’s body image associated with upper body strength (low WCR 0.7 as more attractive. Additionally, conceptive risk did not play a strong role in attractiveness and visual attention. Hair distribution did not contribute to increased ratings of attraction but did contribute to visual attraction when measuring total time where men with both facial and body hair were viewed longer. These findings suggest that physical characteristics in men exhibiting upper body strength and dominance are strong predictors of visual attraction.

Visual Attention Patterns of Women with Androphilic and Gynephilic Sexual Attractions.

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Dawson, Samantha J; Fretz, Katherine M; Chivers, Meredith L

2017-01-01

Women who report exclusive sexual attractions to men (i.e., androphilia) exhibit gender-nonspecific patterns of sexual response-similar magnitude of genital response to both male and female targets. Interestingly, women reporting any degree of attraction to women (i.e., gynephilia) show significantly greater sexual responses to stimuli depicting female targets compared to male targets. At present, the mechanism(s) underlying these patterns are unknown. According to the information processing model (IPM), attentional processing of sexual cues initiates sexual responding; thus, attention to sexual cues may be one mechanism to explain the observed within-gender differences in specificity findings among women. The purpose of the present study was to examine patterns of initial and controlled visual attention among women with varying sexual attractions. We used eye tracking to assess visual attention to sexually preferred and nonpreferred cues in a sample of 164 women who differed in their degree of androphilia and gynephilia. We found that both exclusively and predominantly androphilic women showed gender-nonspecific patterns of initial attention. In contrast, ambiphilic (i.e., concurrent androphilia and gynephilia) and predominantly/exclusively gynephilic women oriented more quickly toward female targets. Controlled attention patterns mirrored patterns of self-reported sexual attractions for three of these four groups of women, such that gender-specific patterns of visual attention were found for androphilic and gynephilic women. Ambiphilic women looked significantly longer at female targets compared to male targets. These findings support predictions from the IPM and suggest that both initial and controlled attention to sexual cues may be mechanisms contributing to within-gender variation in sexual responding.

The Effect of Attractiveness on Recognition Memory when Women Look at Female Faces

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Kana Kuraguchi

2011-05-01

Full Text Available In previous studies, the relationship between facial attractiveness and memory has been inconsistent. We investigated the effect of facial attractiveness on recognition memory in terms of gender and judgment contents. Both female and male facial images were judged for their attractiveness and personal character, and incidental memory was tested later. Recognition performance was shown as d' and analyzed with 2 (participant's gender x 2 (condition of attractiveness ANOVA. The interaction was significant for female faces but not for male faces. It is, therefore, suggested that the difference of gender affects the recognition memory concerning facial attractiveness. In particular, attractiveness of female faces had different effects for female participants when compared to other combinations. As a control, the interaction for female faces was not significant when the task was to judge the physical features such as the size of eyes and the angle of mouth. In sum, unattractive faces were better recognized than attractive faces in general except for the case when women judged attractiveness of female faces. These results suggest that there may be an effect of attention to attractiveness on recognition memory that is particularly strong when women look at female faces.

The influence of attraction to partner on heterosexual women's sexual and relationship satisfaction in long-term relationships.

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Mark, Kristen P; Herbenick, Debby

2014-04-01

Previous research has consistently found that attraction is important in the formation of relationships though research on attraction in long-term relationships is less well understood. This article examined the predictive value of self-reported attraction to partner and change in attraction to partner on sexual and relationship satisfaction in 176 women in committed heterosexual relationships using online survey methodology. Participants' age ranged from 21 to 56 (M = 34.5) years and their relationship length ranged from 5 to 35 (M = 11.75) years. Hierarchical multiple regression results indicated that change in attraction to partner was the most salient predictor of sexual satisfaction, with current attraction to partner also related to women's sexual satisfaction, accounting for 20 % of the variance. Current attraction to partner was the only significant predictor of women's relationship satisfaction, accounting for 22 % of the variance. Additionally, attraction variables accounted for variance above and beyond the impact of relationship and sexual satisfaction. These findings suggest that self-reported attraction to partner is an important contributor to women's satisfaction outcomes in long-term relationships. Further studies in the area of attraction to partner that include couple dynamics and longitudinal data are encouraged and implications for therapists, clinicians, and educators are discussed.

Men dissociate sexual attraction from moral judgement more than women.

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González-Álvarez, Julio

2017-10-01

Would you find an opposite-sex individual physically less attractive if you knew that he/she was a bad person? Would you feel the same if you were a man or a woman? This study examined whether gender differences exist in the influence of moral judgements on heterosexual physical attraction. In a first Experiment, participants (N = 214) rated on attractiveness photographs of opposite-sex persons. Each photograph was paired with a "good" and a "bad" (from a moral point of view) sentence to depict a quality or activity of the displayed person (i.e., she/he is a defender of human rights in an NGO vs. she/he belongs to a terrorist group). Compared with women, men were significantly less influenced by sentence valence in their attractiveness ratings. A second Experiment (N = 105) using photographs of very attractive people showed the same pattern of results. The data suggest that sexual attraction is relatively less permeable to moral factors in men, and that this sex difference is consistent with an evolutionary approach to human sexuality. © 2015 International Union of Psychological Science.

Costs of reproduction are reflected in women's faces: Post-menopausal women with fewer children are perceived as more attractive, healthier and younger than women with more children.

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Marcinkowska, Urszula M; Little, Anthony C; Galbarczyk, Andrzej; Nenko, Ilona; Klimek, Magdalena; Jasienska, Grazyna

2018-03-01

The costs associated with reproduction (i.e., gestation, lactation, childcare) have long-term negative consequences by elevating risk of disease and reducing lifespan. We tested the hypotheses that high parity, and thus high reproductive costs bear by women, is perceived by other people when they evaluate facial appearance of health, attractiveness and age of mothers. Using computer software we created average facial images based on real photographs of post-menopausal women with varying number of children; 3 parity categories were created (1-2, 4-5, and 7-9 children). Study participants (N = 571) were asked to choose the face they perceived as more attractive, younger and healthier via two-alternative forced choice questions asked in three randomized blocks. Women who had given birth to fewer children were judged both by men and women as more attractive, younger and healthier than women with more children. In each category the lowest scores were received by women from highest parity category (7-9 children). Mechanisms behind the observed variation in facial appearance are not known but higher levels of oxidative stress among women with high parity may explain their faster aging and lower attractiveness in older age. These results suggest that costs of reproduction might affect women's physical appearance. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Women's Hormonal Status and Mate Value Influence Relationship Satisfaction and Perceived Male Attractiveness

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Ivana Hromatko

2006-12-01

Full Text Available Numerous findings suggest that female preferences for certain features of male faces vary during the menstrual cycle. Similarly, changes during the cycle have also been found in women's commitment to a current relationship. Furthermore, from the perspective of securing benefits from extra-pair affairs, the differences between women with high vs. low mate value could be expected. In this study we have tried to connect these sets of findings: first, we explored differences between partnered and single women in their ratings of male facial attractiveness in different phases of the menstrual cycle; and second, their satisfaction with the current relationship in relation to the cycle phase and selfperceived mate value. Two groups of women (single vs. partnered rated the attractiveness of two sets of male faces (normal vs. symmetrical. Repeated measures ANOVA showed that women in a relationship gave higher ratings of attractiveness for both normal and symmetrical faces in the luteal phase compared to the early follicular phase of a cycle, while single women showed the opposite pattern. Analyses of satisfaction with their current relationship in relation to cycle phase and self-perceived mate value showed that women with higher mate value are generally more satisfied with their current partners, and show smaller differences in satisfaction in various phases of the cycle. The results are interpreted in terms of content-specificity of hormone mediated adaptive design.

Women's self-rated attraction to male faces does not correspond with physiological arousal.

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Hagerman, S; Woolard, Z; Anderson, K; Tatler, B W; Moore, F R

2017-10-19

There has been little work to determine whether attractiveness ratings of faces correspond to sexual or more general attraction. We tested whether a measure of women's physiological arousal (pupil diameter change) was correlated with ratings of men's facial attractiveness. In Study 1, women rated the faces of men for whom we also measured salivary testosterone. They rated each face for attractiveness, and for desirability for friendship and long- and short-term romantic relationships. Pupil diameter change was not related to subjective ratings of attractiveness, but was positively correlated with the men's testosterone. In Study 2 we compared women's pupil diameter change in response to the faces of men with high versus low testosterone, as well as in response to non-facial images pre-rated as either sexually arousing or threatening. Pupil dilation was not affected by testosterone, and increased relatively more in response to sexually arousing than threatening images. We conclude that self-rated preferences may not provide a straightforward and direct assessment of sexual attraction. We argue that future work should identify the constructs that are tapped via attractiveness ratings of faces, and support the development of methodology which assesses objective sexual attraction.

The effects of women's age and physical appearance on evaluations of attractiveness and social desirability.

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Perlini, A H; Bertolissi, S; Lind, D L

1999-06-01

Younger people are perceived as possessing a host of socially desirable attributes, some of which are the same traits attributed to attractive people. In the present study, 160 younger and older White Canadians rated the attractiveness and personality traits of 1 of 4 target women. The results indicated an interaction between the participant's age and gender and the age and attractiveness of the target person. Both younger and older judges showed an attractiveness bias and downrated the social desirability of younger unattractive targets. Younger judges rated younger and older attractive targets as equal in social desirability. Older male judges rated older attractive targets as less socially desirable than younger attractive targets. Results are discussed in terms of cultural expectations of beauty.

Attractive celebrity and peer images on Instagram: Effect on women's mood and body image.

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Brown, Zoe; Tiggemann, Marika

2016-12-01

A large body of research has documented that exposure to images of thin fashion models contributes to women's body dissatisfaction. The present study aimed to experimentally investigate the impact of attractive celebrity and peer images on women's body image. Participants were 138 female undergraduate students who were randomly assigned to view either a set of celebrity images, a set of equally attractive unknown peer images, or a control set of travel images. All images were sourced from public Instagram profiles. Results showed that exposure to celebrity and peer images increased negative mood and body dissatisfaction relative to travel images, with no significant difference between celebrity and peer images. This effect was mediated by state appearance comparison. In addition, celebrity worship moderated an increased effect of celebrity images on body dissatisfaction. It was concluded that exposure to attractive celebrity and peer images can be detrimental to women's body image. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Development of a Framework for Attracting and Retaining Women in Construction Practice

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K.J. Adogbo

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Previous research has indicated that women are significantly under-represented in the Nigerian construction industry and that female undergraduates face barriers that deter them from engaging in construction practice. This research examined the barriers faced by female undergraduates in the construction disciplines at Nigerian Universities. The research adopted the use of a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. A total of 360 questionnaires were distributed, and 259 (71.94% were returned and used in the analysis. The semi-structured interviews were conducted with 50 female students and 16 women across the professions of Architecture, Building, Civil Engineering and Quantity Surveying. The results revealed that the undergraduates perceived the construction practice to be synonymous with site activities and that family responsibility posed the greatest barrier to their participation. The strategies identified by the women in practice included active participation in the activity of professional bodies and seeking a mentor. It was concluded that female graduates can be attracted to the industry, but efforts need to be put in place to successfully implement the strategies identified by the professional women. A framework that addresses gender issues in attracting and retaining graduates in the construction practice was developed to help women plan their career in the industry.

Judging the difference between attractiveness and health: does exposure to model images influence the judgments made by men and women?

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Ian D Stephen

Full Text Available Recent research has shown facial adiposity (apparent weight in the face to be a significant predictor of both attractiveness and health, thus making it an important determinant of mate selection. Studies looking at the relationship between attractiveness and health have shown that individuals differentiate between the two by preferring a lower weight for attractiveness than for health in female faces. However, these studies have either been correlational studies, or have investigated weight perceived from only the face. These differences have been discussed with regard to sociocultural factors such as pressure from parents, peers and also media, which has been seen to have the highest influence. While exposure to media images has been shown to influence women's own-body image, no study has yet directly tested the influence of these factors on people's preferred weight in other women's bodies. Here we examine how a short exposure to images of models influences men's and women's judgments of the most healthy looking and attractive BMI in Malaysian Chinese women's bodies by comparing differences in preferences (for attractiveness and health between groups exposed to images of models of varying attractiveness and body weight. Results indicated that participants preferred a lower weight for attractiveness than for health. Further, women's but not men's preferred BMI for attractiveness, but not health, was influenced by the type of media images to which they were exposed, suggesting that short term exposure to model images affect women's perceptions of attractiveness but not health.

Invisibility, safety and psycho-social distress among same-sex attracted women in rural South Australia.

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Edwards, Jane

2005-01-01

Available work from North America indicates that same-sex attracted (SSA) individuals enjoy aspects of rural life but nonetheless report encountering homophobia and experiencing isolation from SSA networks. The experience of prejudice and social isolation are often associated with psycho-social distress among the general population of same-sex attracted individuals. Little is known of how SSA women experience life in rural areas of Australia and how this influences their psycho-social wellbeing. This was a small-scale qualitative study using guided interviews to explore the experience of SSA women living in rural areas of South Australia. Seven women identifying as same-sex attracted were interviewed. In addition, a woman who provides a counseling and support service for same-sex attracted women was also interviewed. All interviews were audiotaped and transcribed verbatim and were then analysed for emergent themes. Summaries of the interviews, based on the emergent themes, were sent to all interviewees so that they could verify or challenge the validity of the emergent themes, as well as to allow them to remove any information they felt might identify them. Most women had felt 'different' while growing up; almost unanimously describing themselves as having been 'tomboys'. However, the lack of visible SSA role models in rural areas, together with a lack of SSA social networks, did not allow some of the women to identify and name their same-sex attraction. For many of the women in this study, it was visits to the state capital, where they had the opportunity to meet other SSA women, which precipitated them identifying themselves as same-sex attracted. In light of this new knowledge, some women denied their same-sex attraction and entered into heterosexual relationships, often entailing marriage. Other women entered same-sex relationships but tried to keep them invisible within their communities. Rural communities are frequently close-knit environments, where

Facial attractiveness, symmetry, and physical fitness in young women.

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Hönekopp, Johannes; Bartholomé, Tobias; Jansen, Gregor

2004-06-01

This study explores the evolutionary-based hypothesis that facial attractiveness (a guiding force in mate selection) is a cue for physical fitness (presumably an important contributor to mate value in ancestral times). Since fluctuating asymmetry, a measure of developmental stability, is known to be a valid cue for fitness in several biological domains, we scrutinized facial asymmetry as a potential mediator between attractiveness and fitness. In our sample of young women, facial beauty indeed indicated physical fitness. The relationships that pertained to asymmetry were in the expected direction. However, a closer analysis revealed that facial asymmetry did not mediate the relationship between fitness and attractiveness. Unexpected problems regarding the measurement of facial asymmetry are discussed.

Sex differences in attraction to familiar and unfamiliar opposite-sex faces: men prefer novelty and women prefer familiarity.

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Little, Anthony C; DeBruine, Lisa M; Jones, Benedict C

2014-07-01

Familiarity is attractive in many types of stimuli and exposure generally increases feelings of liking. However, men desire a greater number of sexual partners than women, suggesting a preference for novelty. We examined sex differences in preferences for familiarity. In Study 1 (N = 83 women, 63 men), we exposed individuals to faces twice and found that faces were judged as more attractive on the second rating, reflecting attraction to familiar faces, with the exception that men's ratings of female faces decreased on the second rating, demonstrating attraction to novelty. In Studies 2 (N = 42 women, 28 men) and 3 (N = 51 women, 25 men), exposure particularly decreased men's ratings of women's attractiveness for short-term relationships and their sexiness. In Study 4 (N = 64 women, 50 men), women's attraction to faces was positively related to self-rated similarity to their current partner's face, while the effect was significantly weaker for men. Potentially, men's attraction to novelty may reflect an adaptation promoting the acquisition of a high number of sexual partners.

The Role of Skin Color on Hispanic Women's Perceptions of Attractiveness

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Stephens, Dionne P.; Fernandez, Paula

2012-01-01

This study relies on qualitative methods to investigate Hispanic women's skin color perceptions. The primary goal is to identify the relevance of these perceptions on their beliefs about their own physical attractiveness. Thirty-four self-identified White-Hispanic women attending a large Hispanic Serving Institution in the southeastern United…

Individual differences in valuing mates' physical attractiveness.

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Mathes, Eugene W; Bielser, Abby; Cassell, Ticcarra; Summers, Sarah; Witowski, Aggie

2006-10-01

To investigate correlates of valuing physical attractiveness in a mate, it was hypothesized that valuing physical attractiveness in a mate would correlate with sex and valuing promiscuous sex, status, personal physical attractiveness, beauty, and order. Men and women college students completed measures of the extent to which they valued physical attractiveness in a mate and other variables. Valuing physical attractiveness in a mate was correlated with sex (men valued physical attractiveness in a mate more than did women) and valuing promiscuous sex and status, and, for women, valuing personal physical attractiveness. The results were explained in terms of evolutionary theory.

Attractive Women Want it All: Good Genes, Economic Investment, Parenting Proclivities, and Emotional Commitment1

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David M. Buss

2008-01-01

Full Text Available The current research tests the hypothesis that women have an evolved mate value calibration adaptation that functions to raise or lower their standards in a long-term mate according to their own mate value. A woman's physical attractiveness is a cardinal component of women's mate value. We correlated observer-assessed physical attractiveness (face, body, and overall with expressed preferences for four clusters of mate characteristics (N = 214: (1 hypothesized good-gene indicators (e.g., masculinity, sexiness; (2 hypothesized good investment indicators (e.g., potential income; (3 good parenting indicators (e.g., desire for home and children, and (4 good partner indicators (e.g., being a loving partner. Results supported the hypothesis that high mate value women, as indexed by observer-judged physical attractiveness, expressed elevated standards for all four clusters of mate characteristics. Discussion focuses on potential design features of the hypothesized mate-value calibration adaptation, and suggests an important modification of the trade-off model of women's mating. A minority of women—notably those low in mate value who are able to escape male mate guarding and the manifold costs of an exposed infidelity—will pursue a mixed mating strategy, obtaining investment from one man and good genes from an extra-pair copulation partner (as the trade-off model predicts. Since the vast majority of women secure genes and direct benefits from the same man, however, most women will attempt to secure the best combination of all desired qualities from the same man.

Fatal attraction phenomenon in humans: cat odour attractiveness increased for toxoplasma-infected men while decreased for infected women.

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Jaroslav Flegr

2011-11-01

Full Text Available Latent toxoplasmosis, a lifelong infection with the protozoan Toxoplasma gondii, has cumulative effects on the behaviour of hosts, including humans. The most impressive effect of toxoplasmosis is the "fatal attraction phenomenon," the conversion of innate fear of cat odour into attraction to cat odour in infected rodents. While most behavioural effects of toxoplasmosis were confirmed also in humans, neither the fatal attraction phenomenon nor any toxoplasmosis-associated changes in olfactory functions have been searched for in them.Thirty-four Toxoplasma-infected and 134 noninfected students rated the odour of urine samples from cat, horse, tiger, brown hyena and dog for intensity and pleasantness. The raters were blind to their infection status and identity of the samples. No signs of changed sensitivity of olfaction were observed. However, we found a strong, gender dependent effect of toxoplasmosis on the pleasantness attributed to cat urine odour (p = 0.0025. Infected men rated this odour as more pleasant than did the noninfected men, while infected women rated the same odour as less pleasant than did noninfected women. Toxoplasmosis did not affect how subjects rated the pleasantness of any other animal species' urine odour; however, a non-significant trend in the same directions was observed for hyena urine.The absence of the effects of toxoplasmosis on the odour pleasantness score attributed to large cats would suggest that the amino acid felinine could be responsible for the fatal attraction phenomenon. Our results also raise the possibility that the odour-specific threshold deficits observed in schizophrenia patients could be caused by increased prevalence of Toxoplasma-infected subjects in this population rather than by schizophrenia itself. The trend observed with the hyena urine sample suggests that this carnivore, and other representatives of the Feliformia suborder, should be studied for their possible role as definitive hosts in

Judging attractiveness: Biases due to raters’ own attractiveness and intelligence

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Stacy Yen-Lin Sim

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Tennis and Dabbs (1975 reported that physically attractive males showed a positivity bias when rating the attractiveness of others. The opposite pattern was observed for females. We attempted to replicate and extend these findings by: (1 using self-assessed attractiveness rather than the experimentally derived attractiveness measure used in previous research, (2 using face-to-face interactions with targets as opposed to using photographs, and (3 examining the effect of another ego-involving attribute: intelligence. Consistent with previous research, attractiveness judgments made by men, but not women, correlated positively with their own self-perceived level of attractiveness (r = .51, p < .001. Attractiveness judgments made by women, but not men, correlated negatively with their intelligence (r = −.32, p = .001. Judgments of attractiveness are thus biased by a rater’s own attributes (e.g. attractiveness and intelligence, but these effects are not generalizable across men and women raters, and may be driven by different mechanisms.

Sexual Attraction, Sexual Identity, and Psychosocial Wellbeing in a National Sample of Young Women during Emerging Adulthood

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Johns, Michelle Marie; Zimmerman, Marc; Bauermeister, Jose A.

2012-01-01

Identity-based conceptualizations of sexual orientation may not account adequately for variation in young women’s sexuality. Sexual minorities fare worse in psychosocial markers of wellbeing (i.e., depressive symptoms, anxiety, self esteem, social support) than heterosexual youth; however, it remains unclear whether these health disparities exclusively affect individuals who adopt a sexual minority identity or if it also may be present among heterosexually-identified youth who report same-sex attractions. We examined the relationship between sexual attraction, sexual identity, and psychosocial wellbeing in the female only subsample (weighted, n = 391) of a national sample of emerging adults (age 18–24). Women in this study rated on a scale from 1 (Not at all) to 5 (Extremely) their degree of sexual attraction to males and females, respectively. From these scores, women were divided into 4 groups (low female /low male attraction, low female /high male attraction, high female /low male attraction, or high female /high male attraction). We explored the relationship between experiences of attraction, reported sexual identity, and psychosocial outcomes using ordinary least squares regression. The results indicated sexual attraction to be predictive of women’s psychosocial wellbeing as much as or more than sexual identity measures. We discuss these findings in terms of the diversity found in young women’s sexuality, and how sexual minority status may be experienced by this group. PMID:22847750

Don't judge a book by its cover, revisited: perceived and reported traits and values of attractive women.

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Segal-Caspi, Lihi; Roccas, Sonia; Sagiv, Lilach

2012-10-01

Research has documented a robust stereotype regarding personality attributes related to physical attractiveness (the "what is beautiful is good" stereotype). But do physically attractive women indeed possess particularly attractive inner attributes? Studying traits and values, we investigated two complementary questions: how perceived attractiveness relates to perceived personality, and how it relates to actual personality. First, 118 women reported their traits and values and were videotaped reading the weather forecast. Then, 118 judges rated the traits, values, and attractiveness of the women. As hypothesized, attractiveness correlated with attribution of desirable traits, but not with attribution of values. By contrast, attractiveness correlated with actual values, but not actual traits: Attractiveness correlated with tradition and conformity values (which were contrasted with self-direction values) and with self-enhancement values (which were contrasted with universalism values). Thus, despite the widely accepted "what is beautiful is good" stereotype, our findings suggest that the beautiful strive for conformity rather than independence and for self-promotion rather than tolerance.

Changes in women's attractiveness perception of masculine men's dances across the ovulatory cycle: preliminary data.

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Cappelle, Tessa; Fink, Bernhard

2013-10-10

Women's preferences for putative cues of genetic quality in men's voices, faces, bodies, and behavioral displays are stronger during the fertile phase of the ovulatory cycle. Here we show that ovulatory cycle-related changes in women's attractiveness perceptions of male features are also found with dance movements, especially those perceived as highly masculine. Dance movements of 79 British men were recorded with an optical motion-capture system whilst dancing to a basic rhythm. Virtual humanoid characters (avatars) were created and converted into 15-second video clips and rated by 37 women on masculinity. Another 23 women judged the attractiveness of the 10 dancers who scored highest and those 10 who scored lowest on masculinity once in days of high fertility and once in days of low fertility of their ovulatory cycle. High-masculine dancers were judged higher on attractiveness around ovulation than on other cycle days, whilst no such perceptual difference was found for low-masculine dancers. We suggest that women may gain fitness benefits from evolved preferences for masculinity cues they obtain from male dance movements.

Changes in Women's Attractiveness Perception of Masculine Men's Dances across the Ovulatory Cycle: Preliminary Data

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Tessa Cappelle

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Women's preferences for putative cues of genetic quality in men's voices, faces, bodies, and behavioral displays are stronger during the fertile phase of the ovulatory cycle. Here we show that ovulatory cycle-related changes in women's attractiveness perceptions of male features are also found with dance movements, especially those perceived as highly masculine. Dance movements of 79 British men were recorded with an optical motion-capture system whilst dancing to a basic rhythm. Virtual humanoid characters (avatars were created and converted into 15-second video clips and rated by 37 women on masculinity. Another 23 women judged the attractiveness of the 10 dancers who scored highest and those 10 who scored lowest on masculinity once in days of high fertility and once in days of low fertility of their ovulatory cycle. High-masculine dancers were judged higher on attractiveness around ovulation than on other cycle days, whilst no such perceptual difference was found for low-masculine dancers. We suggest that women may gain fitness benefits from evolved preferences for masculinity cues they obtain from male dance movements.

The masculinity paradox: facial masculinity and beardedness interact to determine women's ratings of men's facial attractiveness.

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Dixson, B J W; Sulikowski, D; Gouda-Vossos, A; Rantala, M J; Brooks, R C

2016-11-01

In many species, male secondary sexual traits have evolved via female choice as they confer indirect (i.e. genetic) benefits or direct benefits such as enhanced fertility or survival. In humans, the role of men's characteristically masculine androgen-dependent facial traits in determining men's attractiveness has presented an enduring paradox in studies of human mate preferences. Male-typical facial features such as a pronounced brow ridge and a more robust jawline may signal underlying health, whereas beards may signal men's age and masculine social dominance. However, masculine faces are judged as more attractive for short-term relationships over less masculine faces, whereas beards are judged as more attractive than clean-shaven faces for long-term relationships. Why such divergent effects occur between preferences for two sexually dimorphic traits remains unresolved. In this study, we used computer graphic manipulation to morph male faces varying in facial hair from clean-shaven, light stubble, heavy stubble and full beards to appear more (+25% and +50%) or less (-25% and -50%) masculine. Women (N = 8520) were assigned to treatments wherein they rated these stimuli for physical attractiveness in general, for a short-term liaison or a long-term relationship. Results showed a significant interaction between beardedness and masculinity on attractiveness ratings. Masculinized and, to an even greater extent, feminized faces were less attractive than unmanipulated faces when all were clean-shaven, and stubble and beards dampened the polarizing effects of extreme masculinity and femininity. Relationship context also had effects on ratings, with facial hair enhancing long-term, and not short-term, attractiveness. Effects of facial masculinization appear to have been due to small differences in the relative attractiveness of each masculinity level under the three treatment conditions and not to any change in the order of their attractiveness. Our findings suggest that

Physical attractiveness and women’s HIV risk in rural Malawi

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Frye, Margaret; Chae, Sophia

2017-01-01

BACKGROUND Qualitative evidence from sub-Saharan Africa, where a generalized AIDS epidemic exists, suggests that attractiveness may play a role in shaping individual-level HIV risk. Attractive women, who are often blamed for the epidemic and stigmatized, are believed to pose a higher HIV risk because they are viewed as having more and riskier partners. OBJECTIVE We examine the association between perceived attractiveness and HIV infection and risk in rural Malawi in the midst of the country’s severe AIDS epidemic. METHODS We use interviewers’ ratings of respondents’ attractiveness, along with HIV test results and women’s assessments of their own likelihood of infection, to estimate the association between perceived attractiveness and HIV infection and risk for a random sample of 961 women aged 15–35. RESULTS Results show that women who are rated by interviewers as ‘much less’ or ‘less’ attractive than other women their age are 9% more likely to test positive for HIV. We also find that attractiveness is associated with women’s own assessments of their HIV risk: Among women who tested negative, those perceived as ‘much less’ or ‘less’ attractive than average report themselves to be at greater risk of HIV infection. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that attractiveness is negatively associated with HIV risk in Malawi, countering local beliefs that hold attractive women responsible for perpetuating the epidemic. CONTRIBUTION This study highlights the need to consider perceived physical attractiveness, and sexual desirability more broadly, as an under-examined axis of inequality in HIV risk in high-prevalence settings. PMID:29242708

Physical strength and dance attractiveness: Further evidence for an association in men, but not in women.

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Weege, Bettina; Pham, Michael N; Shackelford, Todd K; Fink, Bernhard

2015-01-01

Physical strength provides information about male quality and can be assessed from facial and body morphology. Research on perception of dance movements indicates that body movement also provides information about male physical strength. These relationships have not been investigated for women. We investigated relationships of handgrip strength (HGS) and dance attractiveness perception in 75 men and 84 women. We identified positive relationships between HGS and opposite-sex assessments of dance attractiveness for men but not women. The replication of previous research investigating relationships between dance attractiveness and physical strength in men corroborates the hypothesis that dance movements provide information about male quality. We argue that these relationships are interpretable in contexts of inter- and intra-sexual selection. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

When gay is pretty: physical attractiveness and low homophobia.

Science.gov (United States)

Innala, S M; Ernulf, K E

1994-06-01

Photographs of physically attractive men and women were presented as depicting homosexuals and heterosexuals to subjects on the University of California at Berkeley campus who were generally judged to be nonhomophobic opposite-sexed students. Analysis showed that the 62 women rated 3 men as significantly more physically attractive when they believed the men were homosexual than when they believed the men were heterosexual. The 65 men did not rate photographs of 3 women as more physically attractive when they believed the women were lesbian compared to when they believed the women were heterosexual. The results illustrate an effect of the "gay-pretty-boy stereotype," namely, that women judged to be nonhomophobic perceived homosexual men as more physically attractive than comparable heterosexual men.

An Eye Tracking Examination of Men’s Attractiveness by Conceptive Risk Women

OpenAIRE

Ray Garza; Roberto R. Heredia; Anna B. Cieślicka

2017-01-01

Previous research has indicated that women prefer men who exhibit an android physical appearance where fat distribution is deposited on the upper body (i.e., shoulders and arms) and abdomen. This ideal physical shape has been associated with perceived dominance, health, and immunocompetence. Although research has investigated attractability of men with these ideal characteristics, research on how women visually perceive these characteristics is limited. The current study investigated visual p...

Evaluating self and partner physical attractiveness.

Science.gov (United States)

Swami, Viren; Furnham, Adrian; Georgiades, Chrissa; Pang, Lily

2007-03-01

This study used a novel questionnaire to examine ratings of self and partner physical attractiveness. Seventy-two men and 83 women estimated their own and their opposite-sex partner's overall physical attractiveness and the attractiveness of various body parts and measures. They also answered six simple questions concerning physical attractiveness. Results showed significant gender differences in self-estimates of overall facial attractiveness and upper body features. In general, and regardless of gender, participants rated their opposite-sex partners as being significantly more attractive than themselves. In addition, the results showed that body weight and facial attractiveness were the best predictors of overall physical attractiveness. Implications of these results in terms of social biases are considered.

Attracting girls to physics

Science.gov (United States)

Borg, Anne; Sui, Manling

2013-03-01

Large regional differences remain in the number of girls studying physics and the number of female physicists in academic positions. While many countries struggle with attracting female students to university studies in physics, climbing the academic ladder is the main challenge for these women. Furthermore, for many female physicists the working climate is not very supportive. The workshop Attracting Girls to Physics, organized as part of the 4th IUPAP International Conference on Women in Physics, South Africa 2011, addressed attitudes among education-seeking teenagers and approaches for attracting young girls to physics through successful recruitment plans, including highlighting the broad spectrum of career opportunities for those with physics qualifications. The current paper presents findings, examples of best practices, and recommendations resulting from this workshop.

The Body and the Beautiful: Health, Attractiveness and Body Composition in Men's and Women's Bodies.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mary-Ellen Brierley

Full Text Available The dominant evolutionary theory of physical attraction posits that attractiveness reflects physiological health, and attraction is a mechanism for identifying a healthy mate. Previous studies have found that perceptions of the healthiest body mass index (weight scaled for height; BMI for women are close to healthy BMI guidelines, while the most attractive BMI is significantly lower, possibly pointing to an influence of sociocultural factors in determining attractive BMI. However, less is known about ideal body size for men. Further, research has not addressed the role of body fat and muscle, which have distinct relationships with health and are conflated in BMI, in determining perceived health and attractiveness. Here, we hypothesised that, if attractiveness reflects physiological health, the most attractive and healthy appearing body composition should be in line with physiologically healthy body composition. Thirty female and 33 male observers were instructed to manipulate 15 female and 15 male body images in terms of their fat and muscle to optimise perceived health and, separately, attractiveness. Observers were unaware that they were manipulating the muscle and fat content of bodies. The most attractive apparent fat mass for female bodies was significantly lower than the healthiest appearing fat mass (and was lower than the physiologically healthy range, with no significant difference for muscle mass. The optimal fat and muscle mass for men's bodies was in line with the healthy range. Male observers preferred a significantly lower overall male body mass than did female observers. While the body fat and muscle associated with healthy and attractive appearance is broadly in line with physiologically healthy values, deviations from this pattern suggest that future research should examine a possible role for internalization of body ideals in influencing perceptions of attractive body composition, particularly in women.

The Body and the Beautiful: Health, Attractiveness and Body Composition in Men's and Women's Bodies.

Science.gov (United States)

Brierley, Mary-Ellen; Brooks, Kevin R; Mond, Jonathan; Stevenson, Richard J; Stephen, Ian D

2016-01-01

The dominant evolutionary theory of physical attraction posits that attractiveness reflects physiological health, and attraction is a mechanism for identifying a healthy mate. Previous studies have found that perceptions of the healthiest body mass index (weight scaled for height; BMI) for women are close to healthy BMI guidelines, while the most attractive BMI is significantly lower, possibly pointing to an influence of sociocultural factors in determining attractive BMI. However, less is known about ideal body size for men. Further, research has not addressed the role of body fat and muscle, which have distinct relationships with health and are conflated in BMI, in determining perceived health and attractiveness. Here, we hypothesised that, if attractiveness reflects physiological health, the most attractive and healthy appearing body composition should be in line with physiologically healthy body composition. Thirty female and 33 male observers were instructed to manipulate 15 female and 15 male body images in terms of their fat and muscle to optimise perceived health and, separately, attractiveness. Observers were unaware that they were manipulating the muscle and fat content of bodies. The most attractive apparent fat mass for female bodies was significantly lower than the healthiest appearing fat mass (and was lower than the physiologically healthy range), with no significant difference for muscle mass. The optimal fat and muscle mass for men's bodies was in line with the healthy range. Male observers preferred a significantly lower overall male body mass than did female observers. While the body fat and muscle associated with healthy and attractive appearance is broadly in line with physiologically healthy values, deviations from this pattern suggest that future research should examine a possible role for internalization of body ideals in influencing perceptions of attractive body composition, particularly in women.

Women's Drinking Decisions in Heterosocial Situations: Development and Validation of Scenarios to Assess Influence of Attraction and Risk-Awareness.

Science.gov (United States)

Noel, Nora E; Ogle, Richard L; Maisto, Stephen A; Jackson, Lee A; Loomis, Randi B; Heaton, Jennifer A

2016-07-01

These three related studies created a set of ecologically valid scenarios for assessing relative associations of both attraction and sexual coercion risk-recognition in college women's heterosocial situational drinking decisions. The first study constructed nine scenarios using input from heterosexual drinking women in the age cohort (18-30) most likely to experience alcohol-related sexual coercion. In the second study, 50 female undergraduates (ages 18-25) assessed the salience of three important dimensions (attraction, risk, and realism) in these scenarios. The third study was a factor analysis (and a follow-up confirmatory factor analysis) of the elements of coercion-risk as perceived by the target group with two female samples recruited 1 year apart (Sample 1: N = 157, ages 18-29); Sample 2: N = 157, ages 18-30). Results confirmed that the scenarios could be a useful vehicle for assessing how women balance out risk and attraction to make in-the moment heterosocial drinking decisions. The factor analysis showed participants perceived two types of situations, based on whether the male character was "Familiar" or "Just Met" and perceived themselves as happier and more excited with Familiar males. However, in contrast to HIV risk studies, Familiar males were perceived as higher risk for unwanted sex. Future research will use the six scenarios that emerged from the factor analysis to study how attraction and risk perception differentially affect young adult women's social drinking decisions.

Why does women's education stabilize marriages? The role of marital attraction and barriers to divorce

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Diederik Boertien

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Background: Despite widespread attention paid to the negative correlation between female education and divorce, we lack an explanation for it. In this study we use social exchange theory to assess two broad groups of explanations. According to the 'marital attraction' explanation, educated women's marriages have higher marital quality and marital satisfaction. According to the 'barriers to divorce' explanation, educated women's marriages include factors that raise the cost of divorcing. Many previous studies have referred to variants of the former explanation, whereas the latter has been less prominent. Our objective is to investigate the explanatory power of these two explanations. Methods: We use discrete-time event history models to document the educational gradient of divorce from first marriages using the British Household Panel Survey (N = 1,263 for the years 1996-2009. We subsequently perform a mediation analysis to explain the educational gradient in divorce and a path analysis to distinguish which factors shape marital attraction and barriers to divorce. Results: Female education is positively related to marital stability, but this association is only partly explained by educational differences in marital satisfaction and variables that shape attractions. Variables interpreted as affecting barriers to divorce, such as home ownership and having divorced parents, provide an at least equally important explanation of the educational gradient in divorce. Contribution: This paper shows that the negative female educational gradient of divorce is shaped not only by educational differences in marital attraction, but also by differences in barriers to divorce.

Women entering clinical psychology: Q-sort narratives of career attraction of female clinical psychology trainees in the UK.

Science.gov (United States)

Baker, Martyn; Nash, Jen

2013-01-01

The great majority of the UK clinical psychology workforce are women, and this fact prompted an examination of the various ways clinical psychology might be seen as attractive to women--a neglected research topic. Female clinical psychology trainees from a variety of training programmes Q-sorted statements of potential job attractors. The process of analysis is outlined before most of the article is devoted to explicating the five narratives of attraction generated: making a difference, waiting for what I want, idealising challenge, identifying with distress and acknowledging power and privilege. Two super-ordinate 'stories' spanning the narratives are suggested--an over-riding attraction to the profession and a rebuttal of the suggestion that this attraction may be based on any overtly gendered grounds. In the absence of previous empirical data of women's attraction to clinical psychology, the small but significant contribution to understanding the profession made by the analysis is acknowledged--as is the need for further research to confirm and develop the findings. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Body Image, Physical Attractiveness, and Depression.

Science.gov (United States)

Noles, Steven W.; And Others

1985-01-01

Examined the relationship between body image, global self-concept, and depression. Men and women (N=224) completed questionnaires and were videotaped and objectively rated on attractiveness. Results indicated that depressed subjects were less satisfied with their bodies and saw themselves as less physically attractive than was reported by…

The Impact of Female Attractiveness in Spy

OpenAIRE

Pangjaya, Veronika Juliani; Handojo, Priska Febrinia

2017-01-01

This thesis discusses the impact of female attractiveness on the female character which is related to the way Spy sees attractive women and what the impacts to them are. There are criteria for female attractiveness that are displayed by the film such as physical attributes and traits. In order to show the criteria of attractive women and the responses that they get, I use stereotyping theory. Women who are physically attractive get better treatment, but in order to get that, they have to dres...

"I Liked Girls and I Thought They Were Pretty": Initial Memories of Same-Sex Attraction in Young Lesbian and Bisexual Women.

Science.gov (United States)

McClelland, Sara I; Rubin, Jennifer D; Bauermeister, José A

2016-08-01

There is little research on what is meant by the concept of "feeling attracted" and even less about what same-sex attraction looks and feels like for individuals. Without insight into the phenomenon of same-sex attraction, researchers risk misunderstanding the role of sexual attraction in sexual identity development and risk mis-categorizing individuals in research designs that compare LGBTQ and heterosexual samples. The current study draws from semi-structured interviews (n = 30) with young lesbian-, bisexual-, and queer-identified women (ages 18-24) about their initial memories of same-sex attraction. Two questions were pursued using qualitative analytic strategies. We examined the age that participants remembered first experiencing same-sex attraction using content analysis. Two age groups emerged as distinct: those with experiences of same-sex attraction in childhood and those with initial attractions in later adolescence. We also examined key elements in participants' descriptions of early same-sex attraction using thematic analysis. The role of embodied feelings, relationships with other young women, and social environments including media images emerged as central to initial experiences of attraction. Findings highlight how early experiences of same-sex attraction produced different types of interpretations within individuals and, in turn, these interpretations informed how participants did or did not take up LGBTQ identity labels. These findings may help guide the development of more refined measurement tools for researchers hoping to sample sexual minorities and can contribute to developing more effective supports for individuals who experience same-sex attraction but may not adopt LGBTQ identity labels and, as a result, are routinely missed in outreach efforts.

Facial attractiveness, symmetry and cues of good genes.

Science.gov (United States)

Scheib, J E; Gangestad, S W; Thornhill, R

1999-09-22

Cues of phenotypic condition should be among those used by women in their choice of mates. One marker of better phenotypic condition is thought to be symmetrical bilateral body and facial features. However, it is not clear whether women use symmetry as the primary cue in assessing the phenotypic quality of potential mates or whether symmetry is correlated with other facial markers affecting physical attractiveness. Using photographs of men's faces, for which facial symmetry had been measured, we found a relationship between women's attractiveness ratings of these faces and symmetry, but the subjects could not rate facial symmetry accurately. Moreover, the relationship between facial attractiveness and symmetry was still observed, even when symmetry cues were removed by presenting only the left or right half of faces. These results suggest that attractive features other than symmetry can be used to assess phenotypic condition. We identified one such cue, facial masculinity (cheek-bone prominence and a relatively longer lower face), which was related to both symmetry and full- and half-face attractiveness.

Mental health help seeking patterns and associations among Australian same sex attracted women, trans and gender diverse people: a survey-based study

OpenAIRE

McNair, Ruth P.; Bush, Rachel

2016-01-01

Background Same sex attracted women (SSAW) are disproportionately affected by depression and anxiety, due to experiences of sexuality and gender based discrimination. They access mental health services at higher rates than heterosexual women, however with lower levels of satisfaction. This study examined the range of professional and social help seeking by same-sex attracted women, and patterns according to sexual orientation and gender identity subgroup. Methods Eight key stakeholders were i...

Hair length, facial attractiveness, personality attribution: A multiple fitness model of hairdressing

OpenAIRE

Bereczkei, Tamas; Mesko, Norbert

2007-01-01

Multiple Fitness Model states that attractiveness varies across multiple dimensions, with each feature representing a different aspect of mate value. In the present study, male raters judged the attractiveness of young females with neotenous and mature facial features, with various hair lengths. Results revealed that the physical appearance of long-haired women was rated high, regardless of their facial attractiveness being valued high or low. Women rated as most attractive were those whose f...

Dimensionality and Transcultural Specificity of the Sexual Attraction Questionnaire (SAQ).

Science.gov (United States)

Fernández, Juan; Quiroga, María Angeles; Icaza, Vanessa J; Escorial, Sergio

2012-03-01

Sexual attraction was considered a component of sexual orientation from the beginning of the second half of the 20th century to present times. However, some recent researchers have studied sexual attraction as an independent field measuring it by the Sexual Attraction Questionnaire (SAQ). This study analyzes sexual attraction through the SAQ in 400 university students from a Peruvian catholic university. These participants -191 women and 209 men- show a very diverse curricular background. The following hypotheses were tested: a) the structure of the SAQ, pointing out two concepts: attraction to men and attraction to women; b) the high inverse correlation between these two concepts or factors; c) the specific impact of this context in sexual attraction: higher percentage of attracted by none of the sexes and lower percentage of attracted to the opposite sex, in comparison with other contexts; and d) the Lippa prediction (2006, 2007), regarding a higher polarization of sexual attraction for men than for women. Results support the first three hypotheses. Clarifications are laid down with regard to the fourth one. Discussion focuses on theoretical and applied advantages of using the SAQ as opposed to the frequent use of a single item of sexual attraction for each sex.

[Sexual attraction: a concept analysis using an evolutionary perspective].

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Shu-Chin; Chu, Chun-Hong; Lu, Zxy-Yann Jane

2015-02-01

Medical technology has transformed the body image of women and altered perceptions of beauty and sexual attraction. While "sexual attraction" is a fundamental concept in sexology, the characteristics of this concept have not been studied in the field of nursing. Because nurses provide advice and health education for women, it is essential to clarify the concept of sexual attraction for the benefit of related nursing research and for the further development of nursing knowledge. This study explores the concept of sexual attraction in a Taiwanese social context using concept analysis based on an evolutionary perspective. Inductive inquiry is used to compare and contrast articles from the academic literature, magazines, and newspapers, and data from participant observation and interviews are used to generate exemplars. The process by which the concept of sexual attraction has evolved over time is captured from three distinct aspects: significance, use, and application. The definitional statement of sexual attraction includes the five dimensions of: 1. sexual-oriented psychological dynamics; 2. personal aesthetics and sensory experience; 3. instinct body forces; 4. body language of self; and 5. social and cultural norms. This study scrutinized the changes in attributes that emphasize the biological, objectified body, and stereotyped gender roles of women. Further directions for research and nursing knowledge development are suggested. Examples include identifying the changes in the concept of sexual attraction that result from technological advancement and further clarifying the experiential knowledge of sexual attraction that represents the selfhood and independence of women in Taiwan.

Retraction of "Women's Preference for Attractive Makeup Tracks Changes in Their Salivary Testosterone".

Science.gov (United States)

2016-03-01

At the request of the authors, the following article has been retracted by the Editor and publishers of Psychological Science:Fisher, C. I., Hahn, A. C., DeBruine, L. M., & Jones, B. C. (2015). Women's preference for attractive makeup tracks changes in their salivary testosterone. Psychological Science, 26, 1958-1964. doi:10.1177/0956797615609900. © The Author(s) 2016.

Men still value physical attractiveness in a long-term mate more than women: rejoinder to Eastwick, Neff, Finkel, Luchies, and Hunt (2014).

Science.gov (United States)

Meltzer, Andrea L; McNulty, James K; Jackson, Grace L; Karney, Benjamin R

2014-03-01

Sexual selection theory and parental investment theory suggest that partner physical attractiveness should more strongly affect men's relationship outcomes than women's relationship outcomes. Nevertheless, the contextual nature of this prediction makes serious methodological demands on studies designed to evaluate it. Given these theories suggest that men value observable aspects of partner attractiveness more than women do only in the context of long-term and reproductively viable relationships, they require that studies testing this sex difference involve (a) participants in long-term relationships, (b) women of child-bearing age, and (c) measures of physical attractiveness that assess observable aspects of appearance. In our original article (Meltzer, McNulty, Jackson, & Karney, 2014), we applied 7 methodological standards that allowed us to meet these 3 criteria and demonstrated that partner physical attractiveness is more strongly associated with men's long-term relationship satisfaction than women's long-term relationship satisfaction. Eastwick, Neff, Finkel, Luchies, and Hunt (2014), in contrast, described an unfocused meta-analysis, a refocused meta-analysis, and new data that all failed to meet these criteria and, not surprisingly, failed to demonstrate such a sex difference. We continue to believe that men value physical attractiveness more than women do, that such preferences have implications for their evaluations of long-term relationships, and that studies properly calibrated to detect such differences will do so. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved).

(Psychological) Distance Makes the Heart Grow Fonder: Effects of Psychological Distance and Relative Intelligence on Men's Attraction to Women.

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Park, Lora E; Young, Ariana F; Eastwick, Paul W

2015-11-01

Interpersonal attraction may be shaped by (a) one's psychological distance from a target (the subjective experience that a target is close to or far from the self) and (b) the perceived standing of a target on a trait relative to the self (as better or worse than the self). We propose that when evaluating a psychologically distant target, individuals may rely on abstract schemas (e.g., the desirability of a partner's traits) and prefer targets who possess more (vs. less) desirable qualities than themselves. However, when evaluating psychologically near targets, concrete contextual details of the environment (e.g., how a target's behavior affects self-evaluations in the moment) may determine individuals' attraction toward targets. Six studies revealed that when evaluating psychologically distant targets, men showed greater attraction toward women who displayed more (vs. less) intelligence than themselves. In contrast, when targets were psychologically near, men showed less attraction toward women who outsmarted them. © 2015 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.

The Influence of Body Mass Index on the Physical Attractiveness Preferences of Feminist and Nonfeminist Heterosexual Women and Lesbians

Science.gov (United States)

Swami, Viren; Tovee, Martin J.

2006-01-01

The present study examined associations between lesbian and feminist identity and predictors of female physical attractiveness. Seventy-two nonfeminist heterosexuals, 38 feminist heterosexuals, 75 nonfeminist lesbians, and 33 feminist lesbians were asked to rate according to physical attractiveness a set of images of real women with known body…

Romantic attraction and adolescent smoking trajectories.

Science.gov (United States)

Pollard, Michael S; Tucker, Joan S; Green, Harold D; Kennedy, David P; Go, Myong-Hyun

2011-12-01

Research on sexual orientation and substance use has established that lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals are more likely to smoke than heterosexuals. This analysis furthers the examination of smoking behaviors across sexual orientation groups by describing how same- and opposite-sex romantic attraction, and changes in romantic attraction, are associated with distinct six-year developmental trajectories of smoking. The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health dataset is used to test our hypotheses. Multinomial logistic regressions predicting smoking trajectory membership as a function of romantic attraction were separately estimated for men and women. Romantic attraction effects were found only for women. The change from self-reported heterosexual attraction to lesbian or bisexual attraction was more predictive of higher smoking trajectories than was a consistent lesbian or bisexual attraction, with potentially important differences between the smoking patterns of these two groups. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Effect of Attractiveness on Food Sharing Preferences in Human Mating Markets

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michael Stirrat

2011-01-01

Full Text Available The current study explored how physical attractiveness affects food sharing by studying payment preferences for hypothetical romantic dinner dates (a hypothetical mating market. We analyzed payment preferences, self-rated attractiveness, and rated attractiveness for hypothetical dates in 416 participants. We hypothesized that (1 men would be more likely to prefer to pay than would women, (2 attractive individuals of both sexes would be less willing to pay, and (3 preferences to enter an exchange would be influenced by the attractiveness of prospective partners such that (3a men would prefer to pay for attractive women, and (3b women would prefer to be paid for by attractive men. All hypotheses were supported by our results. Individuals with higher self-rated attractiveness were more likely to prefer that their date would pay for the meal, and we found clear sex differences in how the attractiveness of potential dates affected payment preferences. Male participants preferred to pay for dates that had higher facial attractiveness, while female participants preferred that attractive men would pay. Individuals show condition dependent financial preferences consistent with the provisioning hypothesis in this mating market that are adaptive to evaluations of their own quality and that of prospective partners.

Effects of Attractiveness and Status in Dating Desire in Homosexual and Heterosexual Men and Women

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ha, P.T.; Berg, J.E.M. van den; Engels, R.C.M.E.; Lichtwarck-Aschoff, A.

2012-01-01

The present study examined partner preferences of homosexual and heterosexual men and woman, focusing on attractiveness and status. Homosexual (N = 591 men; M age = 28.87 years, SD = 10.21; N = 249 women; M age = 33.36 years, SD = 13.12) and heterosexual participants (N = 346 men; M age = 39.74

The role of women in nuclear - attracting public participation in regulatory decision-making process

Science.gov (United States)

Mohamad Jais, Azlina; Hassan, Najwa

2018-01-01

Public participation is vital in demonstrating transparency and enhancing effectiveness of a nuclear regulatory process. As such, it is necessary for nuclear practitioners to involve the public in key nuclear delivery milestones. This paper specifically discusses challenges faced in attracting public participation throughout the nuclear regulatory decision-making process, and highlights the roles of women in nuclear (WiN) in initiating the said public discourse.

Change in Physical Attraction in Early Romantic Relationships

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Victor Karandashev

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The goal of our research was to study the changes in physical attraction during the early stages of romantic relationships. The longitudinal study explored the personality characteristics of a partner and relationship events affecting physical attraction of early (within the first year romantic relationships. Participants completed an eight-week longitudinal rating of their attraction toward their romantic partner. Factor analysis revealed behavioral, cognitive, emotional, and physiological dimensions. The behavioral and emotional dimensions play the largest role in attraction among both genders, with cognitive dimension also affecting attraction in women. Personality characteristics of one’s partner are significant predictors of physical attraction for both men and women. However, events occurring in the relationship seem to be only reliable predictors for a women’s attraction.

Jurors' locus of control and defendants' attractiveness in death penalty sentencing.

Science.gov (United States)

Beckham, Crystal M; Spray, Beverly J; Pietz, Christina A

2007-06-01

The authors examined the relationship between jurors' locus of control and defendants' attractiveness in death penalty sentencing. Ninety-eight participants voluntarily served as mock jurors. The authors administered J. B. Rotter's (1966) Internal-External Locus of Control Scale to participants and then randomly assigned them to a group with either an attractive or an unattractive defendant (represented by photographs). Participants read a murder vignette and selected a punishment--either a lifetime jail sentence or the death penalty-for the defendant. Results indicated that neither jurors' locus of control nor defendants' attractiveness influenced sentencing. However, jurors' age and gender significantly influenced sentencing. Men, with the exception of the youngest men, were more likely than women to choose the death penalty. Additionally, young women were more likely than older women to select the death penalty. The authors discuss the implications of these results for the study of jury behavior and bias.

Attentional and affective biases for attractive females emerge early in development.

Science.gov (United States)

Rennels, Jennifer Lynn; Verba, Stephanie Ann

2017-01-01

Predominant experience with females early in development results in infants developing an attractive, female-like facial representation that guides children's attention toward and affective preferences for attractive females. When combined with increased interest in the other sex at puberty, these early emerging biases might help explain the robust prosocial and financial biases men exhibit toward attractive women during adulthood.

Women entering clinical psychology: Q-sort narratives of career attraction of female clinical psychology trainees in the UK

OpenAIRE

Baker, Martyn; Nash, Jen

2011-01-01

The great majority of the UK clinical psychology workforce is female, and this fact prompted an examination of the various ways clinical psychology might be seen as attractive to women – a neglected research topic. Female clinical psychology trainees from a variety of training programmes Q-sorted statements of potential job attractors. The process of analysis is outlined, before most of the article is devoted to explicating the five narratives of attraction generated: making a difference, wai...

Is homophobia associated with an implicit same-sex attraction?

Science.gov (United States)

Macinnis, Cara C; Hodson, Gordon

2013-01-01

Some theorists propose that homophobia stems from underlying same-sex attraction. A few studies have tested this hypothesis, yet without a clear measure of implicit sexual attraction, producing mixed results. For the first time, we test this attraction-based account of homophobia among both men and women using an implicit measure of sexual attraction. No evidence of an attraction-based account of homophobia emerged. Instead, implicit same-sex attraction was related to positive evaluations of gay men and lesbians among female participants. Even in targeted analyses examining the relation between implicit same-sex attraction and homosexual evaluations among only those theoretically most likely to demonstrate an attraction-based homophobic effect, implicit same-sex attraction was not associated with evaluations of homosexuals or was associated with more positive evaluations of homosexuals. In addition, explicit same-sex attraction was related to positive evaluations of gay men and lesbians for male participants. These results are more in keeping with the attitude-similarity effect (i.e., people like, rather than dislike, similar others).

Creating beauty: creativity compensates for low physical attractiveness when individuals assess the attractiveness of social and romantic partners.

Science.gov (United States)

Watkins, Christopher D

2017-04-01

Although creativity is attractive in a potential mate, it is unclear (i) whether the effects of creativity on attractiveness generalize to other social contexts and (ii) whether creativity has equivalent effects on men's and women's attractiveness. As social knowledge of creativity may either enhance or 'offset' the appeal of social partners who differ in physical attractiveness, three repeated measures experiments were conducted to directly address these issues. Here, participants rated a series of face-text pairs for attractiveness on trials that differed in one of four combinations of facial attractiveness (attractive and less attractive) and creativity (creative and less creative), rating story-tellers in two experiments (short interpretations of an identical painting) and creative ideas in a further experiment (alternative uses for an everyday object). Regardless of the sex of the judge, creativity and facial attractiveness had independent effects on men's overall attractiveness (initial experiment) and, in further experiments, more substantial effects on the attractiveness of men with less attractive faces than men with attractive faces (when using a different measure of creativity) and specific effects on the attractiveness of individuals with less attractive faces (when using different face stimuli). Collectively, across three experiments, these findings suggest that creativity may compensate for putative cues to lower biological 'quality' and that the benefits of creativity to social groups more generally enhance attraction to creative men (in two experiments) and creative men and women (one experiment). More broadly, the data suggest that species can integrate knowledge of cognitive intelligence with visual cues to biological 'quality' to facilitate mate and/or ally choice.

Adopting a dyadic perspective to better understand the association between physical attractiveness and dieting motivations and behaviors.

Science.gov (United States)

Reynolds, Tania; Meltzer, Andrea L

2017-09-01

The relationship between women's objective physical attractiveness and their dieting motivations and behaviors may depend upon their social environment-specifically, their romantic partners' attractiveness-such that less attractive women with more attractive partners may be particularly motivated to diet. Theoretically, men's dieting motivations should not depend on their partners' attractiveness. We tested this possibility using a sample of 223 U.S. newlywed spouses. After completing measures assessing dieting motivations, each participant was photographed; we used those photographs to code spouses' objective facial and body attractiveness. Results demonstrated that own and partner attractiveness interacted to predict only women's dieting motivations and behaviors. Less attractive wives married to more (versus less) attractive husbands reported more dieting motivations and behaviors. In contrast, men's dieting motivations were not significantly associated with their own and their partners' attractiveness. These findings highlight the value of adopting a dyadic approach to understanding dieting motivations. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Factors related to depression and eating disorders: self-esteem, body image, and attractiveness.

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Grubb, H J; Sellers, M I; Waligroski, K

1993-06-01

To test hypotheses that women suffering from some form of eating disorder would experience lower self-esteem and higher depression and that women with lower self-esteem and greater depression would rate their attractiveness lower and see themselves as heavier than less depressed individuals, 42 college undergraduate women were individually administered the Eating Disorders Inventory, Beck Depression Inventory, Coopersmith Self-esteem Inventory, and a Body Image/Attractiveness Perception Scale. A Pearson correlation indicated a substantial relation between scores on depression and scores on eating disorders, but nonsignificant values between self-esteem scores and scores on either eating disorders or on depression. Depression scores correlated significantly with rated body size, but not attractiveness, while self-esteem scores were significantly correlated with rated attractiveness, not body size. These results contradict literature on the relation between self-esteem and depression. Directions for additional research are discussed.

Stability of Sexual Attractions Across Different Timescales: The Roles of Bisexuality and Gender.

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Diamond, Lisa M; Dickenson, Janna A; Blair, Karen L

2017-01-01

We examined the stability of same-sex and other-sex attractions among 294 heterosexual, lesbian, gay, and bisexual men and women between the ages of 18 and 40 years. Participants used online daily diaries to report the intensity of each day's strongest same-sex and other-sex attraction, and they also reported on changes they recalled experiencing in their attractions since adolescence. We used multilevel dynamical systems models to examine individual differences in the stability of daily attractions (stability, in these models, denotes the tendency for attractions to "self-correct" toward a person-specific setpoint over time). Women's attractions showed less day-to-day stability than men's, consistent with the notion of female sexual fluidity (i.e., heightened erotic sensitivity to situational and contextual influences). Yet, women did not recollect larger post-adolescent changes in sexual attractions than did men, and larger recollected post-adolescent changes did not predict lower day-to-day stability in the sample as a whole. Bisexually attracted individuals recollected larger post-adolescent changes in their attractions, and they showed lower day-to-day stability in attractions to their "less-preferred" gender, compared to individuals with exclusive same-sex or exclusive other-sex attractions. Our results suggest that both gender and bisexuality have independent influences on sexual fluidity, but these influences vary across short versus long timescales, and they also differ for attractions to one's "more-preferred" versus "less-preferred" gender.

Comparison of soft-tissue orbital morphometry in attractive and normal Italian subjects.

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Sforza, Chiarella; Dolci, Claudia; Grandi, Gaia; Tartaglia, Gianluca M; Laino, Alberto; Ferrario, Virgilio F

2015-01-01

To identify esthetic characteristics of the orbital soft tissues of attractive Italian adult women and men. Three-dimensional computerized digitizers were used to collect the coordinates of facial landmarks in 199 healthy, normal subjects aged 18 to 30 years (71 women, 128 men; mean age, 22 years) and in 126 coetaneous attractive subjects (92 women, 34 men; mean age, 20 years) selected during beauty competitions. From the landmarks, six linear distances, two ratios, six angles, and two areas were calculated. Attractive subjects were compared with normal ones by computing z-scores. Intercanthal width was reduced while eye fissure lengths were increased in both genders. Orbital heights (os-or) were increased only in attractive women, with a significant gender-related difference. The inclinations of the eye fissure were increased in attractive subjects, while the inclinations of the orbit were reduced. For several of the analyzed measurements, similar patterns of z-scores were observed for attractive men and women (r  =  .883). Attractive women and men had several specific esthetic characteristics in their orbital soft tissues; esthetic reference values can be used to determine optimal goals in surgical treatment.

The Effect of Target Sex, Sexual Dimorphism, and Facial Attractiveness on Perceptions of Target Attractiveness and Trustworthiness

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Yuanyan Hu

2018-06-01

Full Text Available Facial sexual dimorphism has widely demonstrated as having an influence on the facial attractiveness and social interactions. However, earlier studies show inconsistent results on the effect of sexual dimorphism on facial attractiveness judgments. Previous studies suggest that the level of attractiveness might work as a moderating variable among the relationship between sexual dimorphism and facial preference and have often focused on the effect of sexual dimorphism on general attractiveness ratings, rather than concentrating on trustworthiness perception. Male and female participants viewed target male and female faces that varied on attractiveness (more attractive or less attractive and sexual dimorphism (masculine or feminine. Participants rated the attractiveness of the faces and reported how much money they would give to the target person as a measure of trust. For the facial attractiveness ratings, (a both men and women participants preferred masculine male faces to feminine male ones under the more attractive condition, whereas preferred feminine male faces to masculine male ones under the less attractive condition; (b all participants preferred feminine female faces to masculine female ones under the less attractive condition, while there were no differences between feminine female faces and masculine female faces under the more attractive condition. For the target trustworthiness perception, (a participants showed no preference between masculine male faces and feminine male faces, neither under the more attractive condition nor the less attractiveness condition; (b however, all the participants preferred masculine female faces over feminine female faces under the more attractive condition, exhibiting no preference between feminine female faces and masculine female faces under the less attractive condition. These findings suggest that the attractiveness of facial stimulus may be a reason to interpret the inconsistent results from the

Children's Physical Attractiveness and Sex as Determinants of Adult Punitiveness

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Dion, Karen K.

1974-01-01

Two studies investigated the influence of a child's physical attractiveness and sex as potential elicitors of differential adult punitiveness. Assessed were the reactions of 40 women and 44 men. Results reveal differences in men's and women's reactions and suggest differences in their orientation towards children's task behavior. (Author/SDH)

Human Nonindependent Mate Choice: Is Model Female Attractiveness Everything?

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Antonios Vakirtzis

2012-04-01

Full Text Available Following two decades of research on non-human animals, there has recently been increased interest in human nonindependent mate choice, namely the ways in which choosing women incorporate information about a man's past or present romantic partners (‘model females’ into their own assessment of the male. Experimental studies using static facial images have generally found that men receive higher desirability ratings from female raters when presented with attractive (compared to unattractive model females. This phenomenon has a straightforward evolutionary explanation: the fact that female mate value is more dependent on physical attractiveness compared to male mate value. Furthermore, due to assortative mating for attractiveness, men who are paired with attractive women are more likely to be of high mate value themselves. Here, we also examine the possible relevance of model female cues other than attractiveness (personality and behavioral traits by presenting video recordings of model females to a set of female raters. The results confirm that the model female's attractiveness is the primary cue. Contrary to some earlier findings in the human and nonhuman literature, we found no evidence that female raters prefer partners of slightly older model females. We conclude by suggesting some promising variations on the present experimental design.

Attracting Interest: Dynamic Displays of Proceptivity Increase the Attractiveness of Men and Women

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Andrew P. Clark

2008-10-01

Full Text Available Proceptive signals may influence judgments of opposite-sex attractiveness because these signals indicate high mate quality and/or non-threatening behavior but they may also signal high probable rate of return for mating effort. If so, individuals observing these signals may be sensitive to where the signals are directed to; signals directed toward other individuals may not predict what signals would be directed toward the observer. To explore these possibilities I made use of video stimuli composed of mock interviews with actors. Each actor did one proceptive and one unreceptive interview. Each interview was presented as being directed toward participants or toward an opposite sex interviewer. Proceptivity enhanced the attractiveness of opposite-sex actors and an interaction between proceptive state and signal direction was found, with this pattern varying substantially between actors. The possibility that this variation is mediated by the physical attractiveness and sex of the actors will be discussed.

Lip colour affects perceived sex typicality and attractiveness of human faces.

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Stephen, Ian D; McKeegan, Angela M

2010-01-01

The luminance contrast between facial features and facial skin is greater in women than in men, and women's use of make-up enhances this contrast. In black-and-white photographs, increased luminance contrast enhances femininity and attractiveness in women's faces, but reduces masculinity and attractiveness in men's faces. In Caucasians, much of the contrast between the lips and facial skin is in redness. Red lips have been considered attractive in women in geographically and temporally diverse cultures, possibly because they mimic vasodilation associated with sexual arousal. Here, we investigate the effects of lip luminance and colour contrast on the attractiveness and sex typicality (masculinity/femininity) of human faces. In a Caucasian sample, we allowed participants to manipulate the colour of the lips in colour-calibrated face photographs along CIELab L* (light--dark), a* (red--green), and b* (yellow--blue) axes to enhance apparent attractiveness and sex typicality. Participants increased redness contrast to enhance femininity and attractiveness of female faces, but reduced redness contrast to enhance masculinity of men's faces. Lip blueness was reduced more in female than male faces. Increased lightness contrast enhanced the attractiveness of both sexes, and had little effect on perceptions of sex typicality. The association between lip colour contrast and attractiveness in women's faces may be attributable to its association with oxygenated blood perfusion indicating oestrogen levels, sexual arousal, and cardiac and respiratory health.

Same-sex attraction in a birth cohort: prevalence and persistence in early adulthood.

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Dickson, Nigel; Paul, Charlotte; Herbison, Peter

2003-04-01

There is a continuing debate about the importance of social versus biological factors in the expression of same-sex attraction. Investigation of prevalence, continuities, and changes over time among young adults growing up in a country with a relatively accepting climate to homosexuality is likely to illuminate this debate. Analyses were therefore undertaken of self-reported same-sex attraction at age 21 and 26, in a cohort of about 1000 people born in 1972/3 in one New Zealand city. Participants were also asked about same-sex behaviour and attitudes to same-sex relationships. By age 26, 10.7% of men and 24.5% of women reported being attracted to their own sex at some time. This dropped to 5.6% of men and 16.4% of women who reported some current same-sex attraction. Current attraction predominantly to their own sex or equally to both sexes (major attraction) was reported by 1.6% of men and 2.1% of women. Occasional same-sex attraction, but not major attraction, was more common among the most educated. Between age 21 and 26, slightly more men moved away from an exclusive heterosexual attraction (1.9% of all men) than moved towards it (1.0%), while for women, many more moved away (9.5%) than towards (1.3%) exclusive heterosexual attraction. These findings show that much same-sex attraction is not exclusive and is unstable in early adulthood, especially among women. The proportion of women reporting some same-sex attraction in New Zealand is high compared both to men, and to women in the UK and US. These observations, along with the variation with education, are consistent with a large role for the social environment in the acknowledgement of same-sex attraction. The smaller group with major same-sex attraction, which changed less over time, and did not differ by education, is consistent with a basic biological dimension to sexual attraction. Overall these findings argue against any single explanation for homosexual attraction.

Male and Female Perception of Physical Attractiveness

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Ray Garza

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Waist-to-hip ratio (WHR and breast size are morphological traits that are associated with female attractiveness. Previous studies using line drawings of women have shown that men across cultures rate low WHRs (0.6 and 0.7 as most attractive. In this study, we used additional viewing measurements (i.e., first fixation duration and visual regressions to measure visual attention and record how long participants first focused on the female body and whether they regressed back to an area of interest. Additionally, we manipulated skin tone to determine whether they preferred light- or dark-skinned women. In two eye tracking experiments, participants rated the attractiveness of female nude images varying in WHR (0.5–0.9, breast size, and skin tone. We measured first fixation duration, gaze duration, and total time. The overall results of both studies revealed that visual attention fell mostly on the face, the breasts, and the midriff of the female body, supporting the evolutionary view that reproductively relevant regions of the female body are important to female attractiveness. Because the stimuli varied in skin tone and the participants were mainly Hispanic of Mexican American descent, the findings from these studies also support a preference for low WHRs and reproductively relevant regions of the female body.

Effects of gender role self-discrepancies and self-perceived attractiveness on social anxiety for women across social situations.

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Howell, Ashley N; Weeks, Justin W

2017-01-01

Psychosocial factors, such as gender role norms, may impact how social anxiety disorder (SAD) is experienced and expressed in different social contexts for women. However to date, these factors have not been examined via experimental methodology. This was a cross-sectional, quasi-experimental controlled study. The current study included 48 highly socially anxious (HSA) women (70.9% meeting criteria for SAD) and examined the relationships among psychosocial factors (i.e. gender role self-discrepancies and self-perceived physical attractiveness), self-perceived social performance, and state anxiety, across two in vivo social tasks (i.e. conversation and opinion speech). On average, participants reported belief that they ought to be less feminine for the speech task and more masculine for both the conversation and speech tasks. Also, for the conversation task, only lower self-rated attractiveness predicted poorer self-perceived performance and greater post-task state anxiety, above gender role self-discrepancies and confederate gender. For the speech task, only greater self-discrepancy in prototypical masculine traits predicted poorer performance ratings, and it was related to greater state anxiety in anticipation of the task. For HSA women, psychosocial factors may play different roles in social anxiety across social contexts.

Racial stereotypes and interracial attraction: phenotypic prototypicality and perceived attractiveness of Asians.

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Wilkins, Clara L; Chan, Joy F; Kaiser, Cheryl R

2011-10-01

What does it take to find a member of a different race attractive? In this research, we suggest that for Whites, attraction to Asians may be based, in part, on stereotypes and variations in Asians' racial appearance. Study 1 reveals that Asians are stereotyped as being more feminine and less masculine than other racial groups-characteristics considered appealing for women but not for men to possess. Study 2 examines how variation in racial appearance, phenotypic prototypicality (PP), shapes the degree to which Asians are gender stereotyped and how PP relates to perceptions of attractiveness. Higher PP Asian men are perceived as being less masculine and less physically attractive than lower PP Asian men. These findings inform theory on how within-group variation in racial appearance affects stereotyping and other social outcomes.

Cyber sexy: electronic game play and perceptions of attractiveness among college-aged men.

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Wack, Elizabeth R; Tantleff-Dunn, Stacey

2008-12-01

The current study was conducted to determine if electronic gaming among males is related to body image, formation of body ideals, and appraisals of female attractiveness. A sample of 219 college-aged men (age 18-32) completed a variety of measures that assessed their game play habits, their perceptions of their own attractiveness, and perceptions of women's attractiveness. Results indicated that participants' ratings of women's attractiveness varied across the genres of game most frequently played but was not related to age of commencement or frequency of electronic game play. Additionally, frequency of play and age of commencement of game play were not related to self-perceptions of physical attractiveness, the association of positive attributes with muscularity, or the drive to become more muscular. Men's appearance satisfaction and valuation of muscularity was related to the extent to which they compare their own appearance to that of the characters featured in their electronic games. The results indicate that, unlike other forms of media, electronic gaming may have a weaker relationship to decreased appearance satisfaction or the formation of unrealistic standards of attractiveness.

The Putative Son's Attractiveness Alters the Perceived Attractiveness of the Putative Father.

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Prokop, Pavol

2015-08-01

A body of literature has investigated female mate choice in the pre-mating context (pre-mating sexual selection). Humans, however, are long-living mammals forming pair-bonds which sequentially produce offspring. Post-mating evaluations of a partner's attractiveness may thus significantly influence the reproductive success of men and women. I tested herein the theory that the attractiveness of putative sons provides extra information about the genetic quality of fathers, thereby influencing fathers' attractiveness across three studies. As predicted, facially attractive boys were more frequently attributed to attractive putative fathers and vice versa (Study 1). Furthermore, priming with an attractive putative son increased the attractiveness of the putative father with the reverse being true for unattractive putative sons. When putative fathers were presented as stepfathers, the effect of the boy's attractiveness on the stepfather's attractiveness was lower and less consistent (Study 2). This suggests that the presence of an attractive boy has the strongest effect on the perceived attractiveness of putative fathers rather than on non-fathers. The generalized effect of priming with beautiful non-human objects also exists, but its effect is much weaker compared with the effects of putative biological sons (Study 3). Overall, this study highlighted the importance of post-mating sexual selection in humans and suggests that the heritable attractive traits of men are also evaluated by females after mating and/or may be used by females in mate poaching.

Fairy Tales: Attraction and Stereotypes in Same-Gender Relationships.

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Felmlee, Diane; Orzechowicz, David; Fortes, Carmen

2010-02-01

We examine the process of romantic attraction in same-gender relationships using open and closed-ended questionnaire data from a sample of 120 men and women in Northern California. Agreeableness (e.g., kind, supportive) and Extraversion (e.g., fun, sense of humor) are the two most prominent bases of attraction, followed by Physical Attractiveness (e.g., appearance, sexy). The least important attractors represent traits associated with material success (e.g., financially secure, nice house). We also find evidence of seemingly contradictory attraction processes documented previously in heterosexual romantic relationships, in which individuals become disillusioned with the qualities in a partner that were initially appealing. Our findings challenge common stereotypes of same-gender relationships. The results document broad similarities between same-gender and cross-gender couples in attraction.

Physical Attractiveness, Opportunity, and Success in Everyday Exchange.

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Mulford, Matthew; Orbell, John; Shatto, Catherine; Stockard, Jean

1998-01-01

Addresses the role of perceived physical attractiveness in everyday exchange. Indicates that decisions to enter into play and to cooperate with others is directly related to individuals' perceptions of others' attractiveness, but that individuals' perceptions of their own attractiveness affects men's and women's decisions differently. Suggests…

Physical attractiveness and reproductive success in humans: Evidence from the late 20 century United States.

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Jokela, Markus

2009-09-01

Physical attractiveness has been associated with mating behavior, but its role in reproductive success of contemporary humans has received surprisingly little attention. In the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (1244 women, 997 men born between 1937 and 1940) we examined whether attractiveness assessed from photographs taken at age ~18 predicted the number of biological children at age 53-56. In women, attractiveness predicted higher reproductive success in a nonlinear fashion, so that attractive (second highest quartile) women had 16% and very attractive (highest quartile) women 6% more children than their less attractive counterparts. In men, there was a threshold effect so that men in the lowest attractiveness quartile had 13% fewer children than others who did not differ from each other in the average number of children. These associations were partly but not completely accounted for by attractive participants' increased marriage probability. A linear regression analysis indicated relatively weak directional selection gradient for attractiveness (β=0.06 in women, β=0.07 in men). These findings indicate that physical attractiveness may be associated with reproductive success in humans living in industrialized settings.

Hormonal predictors of women's extra-pair vs. in-pair sexual attraction in natural cycles: Implications for extended sexuality.

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Grebe, Nicholas M; Emery Thompson, Melissa; Gangestad, Steven W

2016-02-01

In naturally cycling women, Roney and Simmons (2013) examined hormonal correlates of their desire for sexual contact. Estradiol was positively associated, and progesterone negatively associated, with self-reported desire. The current study extended these findings by examining, within a sample of 33 naturally cycling women involved in romantic relationships, hormonal correlates of sexual attraction to or interests in specific targets: women's own primary partner or men other than women's primary partner. Women's sexual interests and hormone (estradiol, progesterone, and testosterone) levels were assessed at two different time points. Whereas estradiol levels were associated with relatively greater extra-pair sexual interests than in-pair sexual interests, progesterone levels were associated with relatively greater in-pair sexual interests. Both hormones specifically predicted in-pair sexual desire, estradiol negatively and progesterone positively. These findings have implications for understanding the function of women's extended sexuality - their sexual proceptivity and receptivity outside the fertile phase, especially during the luteal phase. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Female waist-to-hip ratio, body mass index and sexual attractiveness in China

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B.J. DIXSON, Baoguo LI, A.F. DIXSON

2010-04-01

Full Text Available Men and women at Northwest University (n = 751, Xi’an, China were asked to judge the attractiveness of photographs of female patients who had undergone micrograft surgery to reduce their waist-to-hip ratios (WHR. Micrograft surgery involves harvesting adipose tissue from the waist and reshaping the buttocks to produce a low WHR and an ‘hourglass’ female figure. This gynoid distribution of female body fat has been shown to correlate with measures of fertility and health. Significantly larger numbers of subjects, of both sexes, chose post-operative photographs, with lower WHRs, as more attractive than pre-operative photographs of the same women. Some patients had gained, and some had lost weight, post-operatively, with resultant changes in body mass index (BMI. However, these changes in BMI were not related to judgments of attractiveness. These results show that the hourglass female figure is rated as attractive in China, and that WHR, rather than BMI, plays a crucial role in such attractiveness judgments [Current Zoology 56 (2: 175–181, 2010].

Sexual Attraction and Harassment: Management's New Problems.

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Driscoll, Jeanne Bosson

1981-01-01

Both sexual attraction and harassment must be dealt with if men and women are to develop truly productive working relationships. Key issues include policies on sexual attraction and harassment, availability of professional resources on the subjects, training, and the role of personnel specialists. (CT)

Appearance-related social comparisons: the role of contingent self-esteem and self-perceptions of attractiveness.

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Patrick, Heather; Neighbors, Clayton; Knee, C Raymond

2004-04-01

Two studies examined contingent self-esteem (CSE) and responses to appearance-related social comparisons. Study 1 was an experimental study in which women rated a series of advertisements from popular women's magazines. Study 2 employed an event-contingent diary recording procedure. In Study 1, women who were higher in CSE and lower in self-perceptions of attractiveness (SPA) experienced greater decreases in positive affect and greater increases in negative affect following the ad-rating task. Study 2 results supported a mediation model in which women who were higher in CSE felt worse after social comparisons because they made primarily upward comparisons. Overall, results suggest that appearance-related comparisons are more distressing for those who base their self-worth on contingencies and have lower self-perceived attractiveness.

Sex-Specificity in the Reward Value of Facial Attractiveness.

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Hahn, Amanda C; Fisher, Claire I; DeBruine, Lisa M; Jones, Benedict C

2016-05-01

Studies of the sex-specificity of sexual arousal in adults (i.e., the tendency to respond more strongly to preferred-sex individuals than non-preferred sex individuals) have suggested that heterosexual men, homosexual men, and homosexual women show stronger sex-specific responses than do heterosexual women. Evidence for a similar pattern of results in studies investigating the reward value of faces is equivocal. Consequently, we investigated the effects of (1) sexual orientation (homosexual vs. heterosexual), (2) sex (male vs. female), (3) image sex (preferred-sex vs. non-preferred-sex), and (4) the physical attractiveness of the individual shown in the image on the reward value of faces. Participants were 130 heterosexual men, 130 homosexual men, 130 heterosexual women, and 130 homosexual women. The reward value of faces was assessed using a standard key-press task. Multilevel modeling of responses indicated that images of preferred-sex individuals were more rewarding than images of non-preferred-sex individuals and that this preferred-sex bias was particularly pronounced when more physically attractive faces were presented. These effects were not qualified by interactions involving either the sexual orientation or the sex of our participants, however, suggesting that the preferred-sex bias in the reward value of faces is similar in heterosexual men, homosexual men, heterosexual women, and homosexual women.

Red is Romantic, but Only for Feminine Females: Sexual Dimorphism Moderates Red Effect on Sexual Attraction

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Fangfang Wen

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Previous researchers have documented that the color red enhances one's sexual attraction to the opposite sex. The current study further examined the moderating role of sexual dimorphism in red effects. The results indicated that red enhanced men's sexual attraction to women with more feminine facial characteristics but had no effect on ratings of perceived general attractiveness. Red clothing also had a marginally significant effect on men's sexual attractiveness. In addition, regardless of sexual dimorphism cues, male participants rated women with red as warmer and more competent. The underlying mechanisms of the red effect, the limitations of the current study, and suggestions for future directions are discussed.

A greater decline in female facial attractiveness during middle age reflects women’s loss of reproductive value

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Dario eMaestripieri

2014-02-01

Full Text Available Facial attractiveness represents an important component of an individual’s overall attractiveness as a potential mating partner. Perceptions of facial attractiveness are expected to vary with age-related changes in health, reproductive value, and power. In this study, we investigated perceptions of facial attractiveness, power, and personality in two groups of women of pre- and post-menopausal ages (35-50 years and 51-65 years, respectively and two corresponding groups of men. We tested three hypotheses: 1 that perceived facial attractiveness would be lower for older than for younger men and women; 2 that the age-related reduction in facial attractiveness would be greater for women than for men; and 3 that for men, there would be a larger increase in perceived power at older ages. Eighty facial stimuli were rated by 60 (30 male, 30 female middle-aged women and men using online surveys. Our three main hypotheses were supported by the data. Consistent with sex differences in mating strategies, the greater age-related decline in female facial attractiveness was driven by male respondents, while the greater age-related increase in male perceived power was driven by female respondents. In addition, we found evidence that some personality ratings were correlated with perceived attractiveness and power ratings. The results of this study are consistent with evolutionary theory and with previous research showing that faces can provide important information about characteristics that men and women value in a potential mating partner such as their health, reproductive value, and power or possession of resources.

Different Vocal Parameters Predict Perceptions of Dominance and Attractiveness

OpenAIRE

Hodges-Simeon, Carolyn R.; Gaulin, Steven J. C.; Puts, David A.

2010-01-01

Low mean fundamental frequency (F 0) in men’s voices has been found to positively influence perceptions of dominance by men and attractiveness by women using standardized speech. Using natural speech obtained during an ecologically valid social interaction, we examined relationships between multiple vocal parameters and dominance and attractiveness judgments. Male voices from an unscripted dating game were judged by men for physical and social dominance and by women in fert...

Different Vocal Parameters Predict Perceptions of Dominance and Attractiveness.

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Hodges-Simeon, Carolyn R; Gaulin, Steven J C; Puts, David A

2010-12-01

Low mean fundamental frequency (F(0)) in men's voices has been found to positively influence perceptions of dominance by men and attractiveness by women using standardized speech. Using natural speech obtained during an ecologically valid social interaction, we examined relationships between multiple vocal parameters and dominance and attractiveness judgments. Male voices from an unscripted dating game were judged by men for physical and social dominance and by women in fertile and non-fertile menstrual cycle phases for desirability in short-term and long-term relationships. Five vocal parameters were analyzed: mean F(0) (an acoustic correlate of vocal fold size), F(0) variation, intensity (loudness), utterance duration, and formant dispersion (D(f), an acoustic correlate of vocal tract length). Parallel but separate ratings of speech transcripts served as controls for content. Multiple regression analyses were used to examine the independent contributions of each of the predictors. Physical dominance was predicted by low F(0) variation and physically dominant word content. Social dominance was predicted only by socially dominant word content. Ratings of attractiveness by women were predicted by low mean F(0), low D(f), high intensity, and attractive word content across cycle phase and mating context. Low D(f) was perceived as attractive by fertile-phase women only. We hypothesize that competitors and potential mates may attend more strongly to different components of men's voices because of the different types of information these vocal parameters provide.

Sexual identity, sexual attraction and sexual experience: the Second Australian Study of Health and Relationships.

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Richters, Juliet; Altman, Dennis; Badcock, Paul B; Smith, Anthony M A; de Visser, Richard O; Grulich, Andrew E; Rissel, Chris; Simpson, Judy M

2014-11-01

Background Behavioural and other aspects of sexuality are not always consistent. This study describes the prevalence and overlap of same-sex and other-sex attraction and experience and of different sexual identities in Australia. Computer-assisted telephone interviews were completed by a representative sample of 20094 men and women aged 16-69 years recruited by landline and mobile phone random-digit dialling with a response rate (participation rate among eligible people) of 66.2%. Respondents were asked about their sexual identity ('Do you think of yourself as' heterosexual/straight, homosexual/gay, bisexual, etc.) and the sex of people with whom they had ever had sexual contact and to whom they had felt sexually attracted. Men and women had different patterns of sexual identity. Although the majority of people identified as heterosexual (97% men, 96% women), women were more likely than men to identify as bisexual. Women were less likely than men to report exclusively other-sex or same-sex attraction and experience; 9% of men and 19% of women had some history of same-sex attraction and/or experience. Sexual attraction and experience did not necessarily correspond. Homosexual/gay identity was more common among men with tertiary education and living in cities and less common among men with blue-collar jobs. Many gay men (53%) and lesbians (76%) had some experience with an other-sex partner. More women identified as lesbian or bisexual than in 2001-02. Similarly, more women reported same-sex experience and same-sex attraction. In Australia, men are more likely than women to report exclusive same-sex attraction and experience, although women are more likely than men to report any non-heterosexual identity, experience and attraction. Whether this is a feature of the plasticity of female sexuality or due to lesser stigma than for men is unknown.

Infant Preferences for Attractive Faces: Rudiments of a Stereotype?

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Langlois, Judith H.; And Others

1987-01-01

Two studies, one with two- to three-month-olds and one with six- to eight-month-olds, examined infant preferences for attractive faces. A visual preference technique was used. Infants were shown slides of faces of adult women previously rated for attractiveness. When shown pairs of attractive and unattractive faces, older and younger infants…

Meeting your match: how attractiveness similarity affects approach behavior in mixed-sex dyads.

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van Straaten, Ischa; Engels, Rutger C M E; Finkenauer, Catrin; Holland, Rob W

2009-06-01

This experimental study investigated approach behavior toward opposite-sex others of similar versus dissimilar physical attractiveness. Furthermore, it tested the moderating effects of sex. Single participants interacted with confederates of high and low attractiveness. Observers rated their behavior in terms of relational investment (i.e., behavioral efforts related to the improvement of interaction fluency, communication of positive interpersonal affect, and positive self-presentation). As expected, men displayed more relational investment behavior if their own physical attractiveness was similar to that of the confederate. For women, no effects of attractiveness similarity on relational investment behavior were found. Results are discussed in the light of positive assortative mating, preferences for physically attractive mates, and sex differences in attraction-related interpersonal behaviors.

Are Women’s Mate Preferences for Altruism Also Influenced by Physical Attractiveness?

OpenAIRE

Daniel Farrelly; Paul Clemson; Melissa Guthrie

2016-01-01

Altruism plays a role in mate choice, particularly in women’s preferences, and particularly for long-term relationships. The current study analyzed how these preferences interacted with another important mate choice variable, physical attractiveness. Here, female participants were presented with photographs of men of varying levels of physical attractiveness, alongside descriptions of them behaving either altruistically or not in different scenarios. The results showed women preferred altruis...

Self-Perceived Mate Value, Facial Attractiveness, and Mate Preferences: Do Desirable Men Want It All?

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Arnocky, Steven

2018-01-01

Ten years ago, Buss and Shackelford demonstrated that high mate value (i.e., physically attractive) women held more discerning mate preferences relative to lower mate value women. Since then, researchers have begun to consider the equally important role of men's sexual selectivity in human mate choice. Yet, little research has focused on whether high mate value men are similarly choosy in their mate preferences. In a sample of 139 undergraduate men, relationships between self-perceived mate value as well as female-rated facial attractiveness were examined in relation to men's expressed mate preferences. Results showed that self-perceived mate value was unrelated to men's facial attractiveness as rated by women. Men who believed they were of high mate value were more likely than lower mate value men to prefer to marry at a younger age; to have a spouse who was younger than them; and to have a partner who was sociable, ambitious, high in social status, with good financial prospects, a desire for children, health, good looks, and mutual attraction. Objective male facial attractiveness was generally unrelated to heightened mate preferences, with the exception of heightened preference for similar religious background and good physical health. Findings suggest that men who perceive themselves as high in overall mate value are selective in their mate choice in a manner similar to high mate value women.

Mate preferences do predict attraction and choices in the early stages of mate selection.

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Li, Norman P; Yong, Jose C; Tov, William; Sng, Oliver; Fletcher, Garth J O; Valentine, Katherine A; Jiang, Yun F; Balliet, Daniel

2013-11-01

Although mate preference research has firmly established that men value physical attractiveness more than women do and women value social status more than men do, recent speed-dating studies have indicated mixed evidence (at best) for whether people's sex-differentiated mate preferences predict actual mate choices. According to an evolutionary, mate preference priority model (Li, Bailey, Kenrick, & Linsenmeier, 2002; Li & Kenrick, 2006; Li, Valentine, & Patel, 2011), the sexes are largely similar in what they ideally like, but for long-term mates, they should differ on what they most want to avoid in early selection contexts. Following this model, we conducted experiments using online messaging and modified speed-dating platforms. Results indicate that when a mating pool includes people at the low end of social status and physical attractiveness, mate choice criteria are sex-differentiated: Men, more than women, chose mates based on physical attractiveness, whereas women, more than men, chose mates based on social status. In addition, individuals who more greatly valued social status or physical attractiveness on paper valued these traits more in their actual choices. In particular, mate choices were sex-differentiated when considering long-term relationships but not short-term ones, where both sexes shunned partners with low physical attractiveness. The findings validate a large body of mate preferences research and an evolutionary perspective on mating, and they have implications for research using speed-dating and other interactive contexts. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.

Attractiveness and Cooperation in Social Exchange

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Chisato Takahashi

2006-01-01

Full Text Available We tested the hypothesis that physically more attractive men are less likely to cooperate in social exchange than less attractive men, while physical attractiveness has no effect on women's tendency toward cooperation, with four different experimental games (Prisoner's Dilemma with 99 players, Allocator Choice with 77 players, Faith with 16 players, and Trust with 21 players. Pictures of the game players were taken after they participated in one of the four games, and those pictures were presented to another set of participants (85 raters in Study 1 and 2, 36 raters in Study 3 for attractiveness ratings. Both male and female raters who were unaware of the photographed game players' actual behavior in the game judged the faces of male defectors (who defected in one of the four games to be more attractive than those of male cooperators, but they did not give differential attractiveness ratings to female defectors and female cooperators.

The role of men's physical attractiveness in women's perceptions of sexual risk: danger or allure?

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Lennon, Carter A; Kenny, David A

2013-09-01

The rate of casual sexual encounters is increasing on college campuses. To decrease sexual risk behavior, information used to judge sexual risk in others needs to be identified. Women rated male targets on willingness to have unprotected sex with the target and likelihood that the target has a sexually transmitted infection. Physical attractiveness was the strongest predictor of ratings, accounting for all the target variance in willingness to have unprotected sex. However, risk factors reported by the target were inconsistent predictors of perceived sexual risk. Findings are discussed within the context of safer sex interventions for college students.

Consequences of Beauty: Effects of Rater Sex and Sexual Orientation on the Visual Exploration and Evaluation of Attractiveness in Real World Scenes

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Aleksandra eMitrovic

2016-03-01

Full Text Available One of the key behavioral effects of attractiveness is increased visual attention to attractive people. This effect is often explained in terms of evolutionary adaptations, such as attractiveness being an indicator of good health. Other factors could influence this effect. In the present study, we explored the modulating role of sexual orientation on the effects of attractiveness on exploratory visual behavior. Heterosexual and homosexual men and women viewed natural-looking scenes that depicted either two women or two men who varied systematically in levels of attractiveness (based on a pre-study. Participants’ eye movements and attractiveness ratings towards the faces of the depicted people were recorded. The results showed that although attractiveness had the largest influence on participants’ behaviors, participants’ sexual orientations strongly modulated the effects. With the exception of homosexual women, all participant groups looked longer and more often at attractive faces that corresponded with their sexual orientations. Interestingly, heterosexual and homosexual men and homosexual women looked longer and more often at the less attractive face of their non-preferred sex than the less attractive face of their preferred sex, evidence that less attractive faces of the preferred sex might have an aversive character. These findings provide evidence for the important role that sexual orientation plays in guiding visual exploratory behavior and evaluations of the attractiveness of others.

Changes in sleep time and sleep quality across the ovulatory cycle as a function of fertility and partner attractiveness.

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Brooke N Gentle

Full Text Available Research suggests that near ovulation women tend to consume fewer calories and engage in more physical activity; they are judged to be more attractive, express greater preferences for masculine and symmetrical men, and experience increases in sexual desire for men other than their primary partners. Some of these cycle phase shifts are moderated by partner attractiveness and interpreted as strategic responses to women's current reproductive context. The present study investigated changes in sleep across the ovulatory cycle, based on the hypothesis that changes in sleep may reflect ancestral strategic shifts of time and energy toward reproductive activities. Participants completed a 32-day daily diary in which they recorded their sleep time and quality for each day, yielding over 1,000 observations of sleep time and quality. Results indicated that, when the probability of conception was high, women partnered with less attractive men slept more, while women with more attractive partners slept less.

The Perception of Sexual Harassment in Higher Education: Impact of Gender and Attractiveness.

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LaRocca, Michela A.; Kromrey, Jeffrey D.

1999-01-01

Examined the perceptions of sexual harassment of male and female college students and perceptions of perpetrator and victim traits. Results from 296 male and 295 female college students indicate that women see the presented scenario as more sexually harassing than males did and that both men and women were influenced by perpetrator attractiveness.…

Effect of Leg-to-Body Ratio on Body Shape Attractiveness.

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Kiire, Satoru

2016-05-01

Recent studies have examined various aspects of human physical attractiveness. Attractiveness is considered an evolved psychological mechanism acquired via natural selection because an attractive body reflects an individual's health and fertility. The length of the legs is an often-emphasized aspect of attractiveness and has been investigated using the leg-to-body ratio (LBR), which reflects nutritional status of the infant, health status, fecundity, and other factors that are predictive of physical fitness. However, previous studies of leg length and physical fitness have produced mixed results. The present study investigated the relationship between LBR, defined as the height to perineum divided by total height, and perceived attractiveness. Three-dimensional stimuli (11 male and 11 female) were constructed with various LBR features. Each stimulus was rated by 40 women and 40 men in Japan on a 7-point scale. The results showed that the values closest to the average LBRs were rated as the most attractive. Furthermore, by fitting a quadratic curve on the relationship between attractiveness and LBR, an inverted U-shaped curve with the peak located at the average LBR was observed. In addition, high LBR values were rated as more attractive in females, whereas the opposite was true for males. These results suggest that average LBR is indicative of good health and good reproductive potential, whereas more extreme values are avoided because they could be indicative of diseases and other maladaptive conditions.

A facial attractiveness account of gender asymmetries in interracial marriage.

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Lewis, Michael B

2012-01-01

In the US and UK, more Black men are married to White women than vice versa and there are more White men married to Asian women than vice versa. Models of interracial marriage, based on the exchange of racial status for other capital, cannot explain these asymmetries. A new explanation is offered based on the relative perceived facial attractiveness of the different race-by-gender groups. This explanation was tested using a survey of perceived facial attractiveness. This found that Black males are perceived as more attractive than White or East Asian males whereas among females, it is the East Asians that are perceived as most attractive on average. Incorporating these attractiveness patterns into the model of marriage decisions produces asymmetries in interracial marriage similar to those in the observed data in terms of direction and relative size. This model does not require differences in status between races nor different strategies based on gender. Predictions are also generated regarding the relative attractiveness of those engaging in interracial marriage.

A facial attractiveness account of gender asymmetries in interracial marriage.

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Michael B Lewis

Full Text Available In the US and UK, more Black men are married to White women than vice versa and there are more White men married to Asian women than vice versa. Models of interracial marriage, based on the exchange of racial status for other capital, cannot explain these asymmetries. A new explanation is offered based on the relative perceived facial attractiveness of the different race-by-gender groups.This explanation was tested using a survey of perceived facial attractiveness. This found that Black males are perceived as more attractive than White or East Asian males whereas among females, it is the East Asians that are perceived as most attractive on average.Incorporating these attractiveness patterns into the model of marriage decisions produces asymmetries in interracial marriage similar to those in the observed data in terms of direction and relative size. This model does not require differences in status between races nor different strategies based on gender. Predictions are also generated regarding the relative attractiveness of those engaging in interracial marriage.

Gender-Specificity in Viewing Time Among Heterosexual Women.

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Xu, Yin; Rahman, Qazi; Zheng, Yong

2017-07-01

Measures of sexual interest tend to be more gender-specific in heterosexual men than in heterosexual women. Cognitive measures, such as viewing time to attractive stimuli, may also show similar patterns of gender-specificity or nonspecificity among men and women and thus serve as useful adjuncts to more direct measures of sexual interest. The objectives of the present research were to determine the extent of gender-specificity in women's viewing times for female pictures (varying in their perceived physical attractiveness) and explore the influence of social comparison of physical appearance on these patterns of responses. In Study 1, we recorded only women's viewing times for pictures of both genders, measured self-reported menstrual cycle phase, and manipulated the waist-to-hip ratio of the women in the female pictures. In Study 2, we recorded women's and men's viewing times, self-reported sexual attraction to pictures of males and females, and physical appearance social comparison. Study 1 found that heterosexual women's viewing time toward female pictures was not associated with manipulation of the perceived attractiveness of those pictures. Study 2 found that heterosexual men were more gender-specific than heterosexual women in their viewing time patterns. We also found that reported sexual attraction and physical appearance social comparison were associated with heterosexual women's viewing times for female pictures, while heterosexual men's viewing times were associated with sexual attraction only. Our results are discussed in relation to the utility of viewing time as an indicator of visual attention toward attractive or sexually appealing visual stimuli.

Assessing facial attractiveness: individual decisions and evolutionary constraints

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Kocsor, Ferenc; Feldmann, Adam; Bereczkei, Tamas; Kállai, János

2013-01-01

Background Several studies showed that facial attractiveness, as a highly salient social cue, influences behavioral responses. It has also been found that attractive faces evoke distinctive neural activation compared to unattractive or neutral faces. Objectives Our aim was to design a face recognition task where individual preferences for facial cues are controlled for, and to create conditions that are more similar to natural circumstances in terms of decision making. Design In an event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) experiment, subjects were shown attractive and unattractive faces, categorized on the basis of their own individual ratings. Results Statistical analysis of all subjects showed elevated brain activation for attractive opposite-sex faces in contrast to less attractive ones in regions that previously have been reported to show enhanced activation with increasing attractiveness level (e.g. the medial and superior occipital gyri, fusiform gyrus, precentral gyrus, and anterior cingular cortex). Besides these, females showed additional brain activation in areas thought to be involved in basic emotions and desires (insula), detection of facial emotions (superior temporal gyrus), and memory retrieval (hippocampus). Conclusions From these data, we speculate that because of the risks involving mate choice faced by women during evolutionary times, selection might have preferred the development of an elaborated neural system in females to assess the attractiveness and social value of male faces. PMID:24693356

Assessing facial attractiveness: individual decisions and evolutionary constraints

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Ferenc Kocsor

2013-10-01

Full Text Available Background: Several studies showed that facial attractiveness, as a highly salient social cue, influences behavioral responses. It has also been found that attractive faces evoke distinctive neural activation compared to unattractive or neutral faces. Objectives: Our aim was to design a face recognition task where individual preferences for facial cues are controlled for, and to create conditions that are more similar to natural circumstances in terms of decision making. Design: In an event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI experiment, subjects were shown attractive and unattractive faces, categorized on the basis of their own individual ratings. Results: Statistical analysis of all subjects showed elevated brain activation for attractive opposite-sex faces in contrast to less attractive ones in regions that previously have been reported to show enhanced activation with increasing attractiveness level (e.g. the medial and superior occipital gyri, fusiform gyrus, precentral gyrus, and anterior cingular cortex. Besides these, females showed additional brain activation in areas thought to be involved in basic emotions and desires (insula, detection of facial emotions (superior temporal gyrus, and memory retrieval (hippocampus. Conclusions: From these data, we speculate that because of the risks involving mate choice faced by women during evolutionary times, selection might have preferred the development of an elaborated neural system in females to assess the attractiveness and social value of male faces.

Do partnered women discriminate men's faces less along the attractiveness dimension?

OpenAIRE

Wang, Hongyi; Hahn, Amanda C.; DeBruine, Lisa M.; Jones, Benedict C.

2016-01-01

Romantic relationships can have positive effects on health and reproductive fitness. Given that attractive potential alternative mates can pose a threat to romantic relationships, some researchers have proposed that partnered individuals discriminate opposite-sex individuals less along the physical attractiveness dimension than do unpartnered individuals. This effect is proposed to devalue attractive (i.e., high quality) alternative mates and help maintain romantic relationships. Here we inve...

Specialising in radiology in Switzerland: Still attractive for medical school graduates?

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Buddeberg-Fischer, B.; Hoffmann, A.; Christen, S.; Weishaupt, D.; Kubik-Huch, R.A.

2012-01-01

Purpose: To gain insight into the professional characteristics of radiologists in Switzerland and to determine how to enhance the attractiveness of radiology to medical graduates as a specialty. Materials and methods: Data from 262 members of the Swiss Society of Radiology (m:f = 76:24%) obtained in a questionnaire survey were analysed regarding socio-demographic variables, working status, specialty, main fields of interest, career success, mentoring and reasons for the shortage of radiologists. Results: 35 (56.4%) female and 85 (45.5%) male radiologists were aged ≤45 years. 228 (87%) were board-certified; 44 (17.9%) had completed a sub-specialisation. Men worked part-time mostly just before retirement, while women worked part-time at a younger age. As reasons for specialty choice, the wide range of clinical work and the combination of technology and medicine were ranked highest. Women reported significantly less career success and support. To improve the attractiveness of radiology to graduates, radiology should be visible on medical school curricula. Conclusion: In Switzerland, more female radiologists work part-time than male ones, and there is less career success and support for women. In order to make radiology more attractive to medical graduates as a specialty, structured residency programmes and reliable gender-respecting career support are needed.

Gender Differences in Sexual Attraction and Moral Judgment: Research With Artificial Face Models.

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González-Álvarez, Julio; Cervera-Crespo, Teresa

2018-01-01

Sexual attraction in humans is influenced by cultural or moral factors, and some gender differences can emerge in this complex interaction. A previous study found that men dissociate sexual attraction from moral judgment more than women do. Two experiments consisting of giving attractiveness ratings to photos of real opposite-sex individuals showed that men, compared to women, were significantly less influenced by the moral valence of a description about the person shown in each photo. There is evidence of some processing differences between real and artificial computer-generated faces. The present study tests the robustness of González-Álvarez's findings and extends the research to an experimental design using artificial face models as stimuli. A sample of 88 young adults (61 females and 27 males, average age 19.32, SD = 2.38) rated the attractiveness of 80 3D artificial face models generated with the FaceGen Modeller 3.5 software. Each face model was paired with a "good" and a "bad" (from a moral point of view) sentence depicting a quality or activity of the person represented in the model (e.g., she/he is an altruistic nurse in Africa vs. she/he is a prominent drug dealer). Results were in line with the previous findings and showed that, with artificial faces as well, sexual attraction is less influenced by morality in men than in women. This gender difference is consistent with an evolutionary perspective on human sexuality.

Persepsi Wisatawan Terhadap Night Life Attraction

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Hary Hermawan

2017-04-01

ABSTRACT Cabaret is a term performances of music, comedy, dance, drama, and other special mix of art perfomed by men who dressed in women (ladyboy on stage. Cabaret performances in Oyot Godhong Restaurant intended as new tourist attraction that is expected to increase the interest of tourists to visit Malioboro in Yogyakarta, especially to Oyot Godhong Restaurants. Based descriptive study shows that the characteristics travelers who viewed Kabaret show is very diverse, each of which has perceptions and motivations are different. Cabaret performances have qualified to become the cultural attractions are staged at night (night atraction in the city of Yogyakarta. Based on traveler perception indicates that the cabaret performances have beauty or aesthetics, uniqueness, and values that match the criteria criteria of the standard as a tourist attraction. Performances Cabaret in Oyot Godhong Restaurants able to increase the sale value. Oyot Godhong Restaurants previously only form of tourism facilities (amenities, but is now a restaurant that has a tourist attraction (atraction.   Keywords: Cabaret show, night life attractions, tourism attraction, tourists perception, tourism marketing

Beyond initial attraction: physical attractiveness in newlywed marriage.

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McNulty, James K; Neff, Lisa A; Karney, Benjamin R

2008-02-01

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 levels of attractiveness and the outcomes of these marriages was that attractive husbands were less satisfied. Further, in contrast to the importance of matched attractiveness to new relationships, similarity in attractiveness was unrelated to spouses' satisfaction and behavior. Instead, the relative difference between partners' levels of attractiveness appeared to be most important in predicting marital behavior, such that both spouses behaved more positively in relationships in which wives were more attractive than their husbands, but they behaved more negatively in relationships in which husbands were more attractive than their wives. These results highlight the importance of dyadic examinations of the effects of spouses' qualities on their marriages.

Fairy Tales: Attraction and Stereotypes in Same-Gender Relationships

OpenAIRE

Felmlee, Diane; Orzechowicz, David; Fortes, Carmen

2010-01-01

We examine the process of romantic attraction in same-gender relationships using open and closed-ended questionnaire data from a sample of 120 men and women in Northern California. Agreeableness (e.g., kind, supportive) and Extraversion (e.g., fun, sense of humor) are the two most prominent bases of attraction, followed by Physical Attractiveness (e.g., appearance, sexy). The least important attractors represent traits associated with material success (e.g., financially secure, nice house). W...

Sexual Conflict and Gender Gap Effects: Associations between Social Context and Sex on Rated Attractiveness and Economic Status.

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Gouda-Vossos, Amany; Dixson, Barnaby J; Brooks, Robert C

2016-01-01

Human mate choice research often concerns sex differences in the importance of traits such as physical attractiveness and social status. A growing number of studies indicate that cues to social context, including other people who appear in stimulus photographs, can alter that individual's attractiveness. Fewer studies, however, consider judgements of traits other than physical attractiveness, such as wealth. Here we manipulate the presence/absence of other people in photographs of target models, and test the effects on judgments of both attractiveness and earnings (a proxy for status). Participants (N = 2044) rated either male or female models for either physical attractiveness or social/economic status when presented alone, with same sex others or with opposite sex others. We collectively refer to this manipulation as 'social context'. Male and female models received similar responses for physical attractiveness, but social context affected ratings of status differently for women and men. Males presented alongside other men received the highest status ratings while females presented alone were given the highest status ratings. Further, the status of females presented alongside a male was constrained by the rated status of that male. Our results suggests that high status may not directly lead to high attractiveness in men, but that status is more readily attributed to men than to women. This divide in status between the sexes is very clear when men and women are presented together, possibly reflecting one underlying mechanism of the modern day gender gap and sexist attitudes to women's economic participation. This adds complexity to our understanding of the relationship between attractiveness, status, and sex in the light of parental investment theory, sexual conflict and economic theory.

Effects of potential partners' physical attractiveness and socioeconomic status on sexuality and partner selection.

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Townsend, J M; Levy, G D

1990-04-01

Male (n = 170) and female (n = 212) college students viewed photographs, which had been prerated for physical attractiveness, of three opposite-sex individuals. These photographs were paired with three levels of occupational status and income. Subjects indicated their willingness to engage in relationships of varying levels of sexual intimacy and marital potential with the portrayed individuals. Analyses of variance, correlations, and trend analyses supported the hypotheses. Compared to men, women are more likely to prefer or insist that sexual intercourse occur in relationships that involve affection and marital potential, and women place more emphasis than men do on partners' SES in such relationships. Consequently, men's SES and their willingness and ability to invest affection and resources in relationships may often outweigh the effects of their physical attractiveness in women's actual selection of partners. These results and the literature reviewed are more consistent with parental investment theory than with the view that these sex differences are solely the result of differential access to resources and differential socialization.

Integrating body movement into attractiveness research.

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Fink, Bernhard; Weege, Bettina; Neave, Nick; Pham, Michael N; Shackelford, Todd K

2015-01-01

People judge attractiveness and make trait inferences from the physical appearance of others, and research reveals high agreement among observers making such judgments. Evolutionary psychologists have argued that interest in physical appearance and beauty reflects adaptations that motivate the search for desirable qualities in a potential partner. Although men more than women value the physical appearance of a partner, appearance universally affects social perception in both sexes. Most studies of attractiveness perceptions have focused on third party assessments of static representations of the face and body. Corroborating evidence suggests that body movement, such as dance, also conveys information about mate quality. Here we review evidence that dynamic cues (e.g., gait, dance) also influence perceptions of mate quality, including personality traits, strength, and overall attractiveness. We recommend that attractiveness research considers the informational value of body movement in addition to static cues, to present an integrated perspective on human social perception.

Alcohol, tobacco and illicit drug use amongst same-sex attracted women: results from the Western Australian Lesbian and Bisexual Women's Health and Well-Being Survey

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McManus Alexandra

2009-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The prevalence of alcohol, tobacco and illicit drug use has been reported to be higher amongst lesbian and bisexual women (LBW than their heterosexual counterparts. However, few studies have been conducted with this population in Australia and rates that have been reported vary considerably. Methods A self-completed questionnaire exploring a range of health issues was administered to 917 women aged 15-65 years (median 34 years living in Western Australia, who identified as lesbian or bisexual, or reported having sex with another woman. Participants were recruited from a range of settings, including Perth Pride Festival events (67.0%, n = 615, online (13.2%, n = 121, at gay bars and nightclubs (12.9%, n = 118, and through community groups (6.9%, n = 63. Results were compared against available state and national surveillance data. Results LBW reported consuming alcohol more frequently and in greater quantities than women in the general population. A quarter of LBW (25.7%, n = 236 exceeded national alcohol guidelines by consuming more than four standard drinks on a single occasion, once a week or more. However, only 6.8% (n = 62 described themselves as a heavy drinker, suggesting that exceeding national alcohol guidelines may be a normalised behaviour amongst LBW. Of the 876 women who provided data on tobacco use, 28.1% (n = 246 were smokers, nearly double the rate in the female population as a whole. One third of the sample (33.6%, n = 308 reported use of an illicit drug in the previous six months. The illicit drugs most commonly reported were cannabis (26.4%, n = 242, meth/amphetamine (18.6%, n = 171, and ecstasy (17.9%, n = 164. Injecting drug use was reported by 3.5% (n = 32 of participants. Conclusion LBW appear to use alcohol, tobacco and illicit drugs at higher rates than women generally, indicating that mainstream health promotion messages are not reaching this group or are not perceived as relevant. There is an urgent

Are Women’s Mate Preferences for Altruism Also Influenced by Physical Attractiveness?

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Daniel Farrelly

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Altruism plays a role in mate choice, particularly in women’s preferences and in long-term (LT relationships. The current study analyzed how these preferences interacted with another important mate choice variable, physical attractiveness. Here, female participants were presented with photographs of men of varying levels of physical attractiveness, alongside descriptions of them behaving either altruistically or not in different scenarios. The results showed women preferred altruistic men, particularly in LT relationships and that this interacted with physical attractiveness such that being both attractive and altruistic made a man more desirable than just the sum of the two desirable parts. Also, being altruistic made low attractive men more desirable but only for LT relationships. Finally, men who were just altruistic were rated more desirable than men who were just attractive, especially for LT relationships. Overall, these findings are discussed in terms of the role of altruism in mate choice, particularly in LT relationships and directions of future research.

Sexual selection and physical attractiveness : Implications for mating dynamics.

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Gangestad, S W

1993-09-01

Sexual selection processes have received much attention in recent years, attention reflected in interest in human mate preferences. Among these mate preferences are preferences for physical attractiveness. Preferences in and of themselves, however, do not fully explain the nature of the relationships that individuals attain. A tacit negotiation process underlies relationship formation and maintenance. The notion that preferences for physical attractiveness evolved under parasite-driven "good genes" sexual selection leads to predictions about the nature of trade-offs that individuals make between mates' physical attractiveness and investment potential. These predictions and relevant data are explored, with a primary emphasis on women's preferences for men's qualities. In addition, further implications of trade-offs are examined, most notably (a) the impact of environmental variations on the nature of mating and (b) some effects of trade-offs on infidelity and male attempts to control women.

Geometric morphometrics of male facial shape in relation to physical strength and perceived attractiveness, dominance, and masculinity.

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Windhager, Sonja; Schaefer, Katrin; Fink, Bernhard

2011-01-01

Evolutionary psychologists claim that women have adaptive preferences for specific male physical traits. Physical strength may be one of those traits, because recent research suggests that women rate faces of physically strong men as more masculine, dominant, and attractive. Yet, previous research has been limited in its ability to statistically map specific male facial shapes and features to corresponding physical measures (e.g., strength) and ratings (e.g., attractiveness). The association of handgrip strength (together with measures of shoulder width, body height, and body fat) and women's ratings of male faces (concerning dominance, masculinity, and attractiveness) were studied in a sample of 26 Caucasian men (aged 18-32 years). Geometric morphometrics was used to statistically assess the covariation of male facial shape with these measures. Statistical results were visualized with thin-plate spline deformation grids along with image unwarping and image averaging. Handgrip strength together with shoulder width, body fat, dominance, and masculinity loaded positively on the first dimension of covariation with facial shape (explaining 72.6%, P attractive and taller men had longer, narrower jaws and wider/fuller lips. Male physical strength was more strongly associated with changes in face shape that relate to perceived masculinity and dominance than to attractiveness. Our study adds to the growing evidence that attractiveness and dominance/masculinity may reflect different aspects of male mate quality. Copyright © 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Physical Attractiveness, Employment, and Earnings

OpenAIRE

Christian Pfeifer

2011-01-01

Survey data is used to estimate the impact of physical attractiveness rated by the interviewer as well as by the respondent on employment probability and labor income of men and women. In addition to mean linear and non-linear effects on earnings, simultaneous quantile regressions are applied to analyze heterogeneity across the wage distribution.

Perception and evaluation of women's bodies in adolescents and adults with anorexia nervosa.

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Horndasch, Stefanie; Heinrich, Hartmut; Kratz, Oliver; Mai, Sandra; Graap, Holmer; Moll, Gunther H

2015-12-01

Body image disturbance in anorexia nervosa (AN) has been widely studied with regard to the patient's own body, but little is known about perception of or attitude towards other women's bodies in AN. The aim of the present study was to investigate how 20 girls aged 12-18 years and 19 adult women suffering from AN compared to 37 healthy adolescent girls and women estimate weight and attractiveness of women's bodies belonging to different BMI categories (BMI 13.8-61.3 kg/m²). Weight and attractiveness ratings of the participant's own body and information on physical comparisons were obtained, and effects on others' weight and attractiveness ratings investigated. Differential evaluation processes were found: AN patients estimated other women's weight higher than control participants. Patients showed a bias towards assessing extremely underweight women as more attractive and normal weight and overweight women as less attractive than healthy girls and women. These effects were more pronounced in adult than in adolescent AN patients. The tendency to engage in physical comparison with others significantly correlated with weight as well as attractiveness ratings in patients. A logistic regression model encompassing own attractiveness ratings, attractiveness bias towards strongly underweight others' bodies and the interaction of this bias with age as predictors differentiated best between AN patients and controls. Our results indicate that females suffering from AN and healthy girls and women perceive other women's bodies differently. Assessment of others' weight and attractiveness may contribute to the maintenance of dysfunctional physical comparison processes.

"You are so beautiful"*: behind women's attractiveness towards the biology of reproduction: a narrative review.

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Buggio, Laura; Vercellini, Paolo; Somigliana, Edgardo; Viganò, Paola; Frattaruolo, Maria Pina; Fedele, Luigi

2012-10-01

Female beauty has always attracted human beings. In particular, beauty has been interpreted in terms of reproductive potential and advantage in selection of mates. We have reviewed the recent literature on female facial and physical beauty with the objective of defining which parameters could influence female attractiveness. Symmetry, averageness, and sexual dimorphism with regards to facial beauty, as well as waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), breast size, and body mass index (BMI) for physical beauty, have been assessed. In current societies, it appears that facial attractiveness results from a mixture of symmetry and averageness of traits, high forehead and cheekbones, small nose and chin, full lips, thin eyebrows, and thick hair. A low WHR reliably characterized physical attractiveness, whereas inconsistencies have been observed in the evaluation of breast size and BMI. The importance of breast size appears to vary with time and sex of evaluators, whereas the impact of BMI is related to socio-economic conditions. The various hypotheses behind beauty and the role of attractiveness in mate choice and sexual selection are here described in terms of continuation of human species. Intriguing associations are emerging between features of attractiveness and some reproductive disorders, as both are substantially influenced by sex steroid hormones.

Gender differences in the motivational processing of babies are determined by their facial attractiveness.

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Rinah Yamamoto

2009-06-01

Full Text Available This study sought to determine how esthetic appearance of babies may affect their motivational processing by the adults.Healthy men and women were administered two laboratory-based tasks: a key pressing to change the viewing time of normal-looking babies and of those with abnormal facial features (e.g., cleft palate, strabismus, skin disorders, Down's syndrome and fetal alcohol syndrome and b attractiveness ratings of these images. Exposure to the babies' images produced two different response patterns: for normal babies, there was a similar effort by the two groups to extend the visual processing with lower attractiveness ratings by men; for abnormal babies, women exerted greater effort to shorten the viewing time despite attractiveness ratings comparable to the men.These results indicate that gender differences in the motivational processing of babies include excessive (relative to the esthetic valuation motivation to extend the viewing time of normal babies by men vs. shortening the exposure to the abnormal babies by women. Such gender-specific incentive sensitization phenomenon may reflect an evolutionary-derived need for diversion of limited resources to the nurturance of healthy offspring.

Gender Differences in the Motivational Processing of Babies Are Determined by Their Facial Attractiveness

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Yamamoto, Rinah; Ariely, Dan; Chi, Won; Langleben, Daniel D.; Elman, Igor

2009-01-01

Background This study sought to determine how esthetic appearance of babies may affect their motivational processing by the adults. Methodology and Principal Findings Healthy men and women were administered two laboratory-based tasks: a) key pressing to change the viewing time of normal-looking babies and of those with abnormal facial features (e.g., cleft palate, strabismus, skin disorders, Down's syndrome and fetal alcohol syndrome) and b) attractiveness ratings of these images. Exposure to the babies' images produced two different response patterns: for normal babies, there was a similar effort by the two groups to extend the visual processing with lower attractiveness ratings by men; for abnormal babies, women exerted greater effort to shorten the viewing time despite attractiveness ratings comparable to the men. Conclusions These results indicate that gender differences in the motivational processing of babies include excessive (relative to the esthetic valuation) motivation to extend the viewing time of normal babies by men vs. shortening the exposure to the abnormal babies by women. Such gender-specific incentive sensitization phenomenon may reflect an evolutionary-derived need for diversion of limited resources to the nurturance of healthy offspring. PMID:19554100

Commission release recommendations for attracting more women, minorities

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Showstack, Randy

U.S. Air Force Colonel Eileen Collins, the first woman to command a U.S. Space Shuttle mission, tries to encourage and inspire young women and minorities to follow their dreams of becoming scientists, engineers, and technicians.“I like to tell young women that there have been 12 men who have walked on the Moon, but not yet one woman, and you could be the first,” Collins, who is a member of the Commission on the Advancement of Women and Minorities in Science, Engineering, and Technology Development (CAWMSET), said at a July 13 hearing of the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Technology reviewing the commission's recommendations. Collins said she tells young women, “No one has walked on Mars, and you could be that person.”

If you've got it, flaunt it: humans flaunt attractive partners to enhance their status and desirability.

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Benjamin M Winegard

Full Text Available Mating decisions are influenced by conspecifics' mate choices in many species including humans. Recent research has shown that women are more attracted to men with attractive putative partners than those with less attractive partners. We integrate these findings with traditional accounts of social signaling and test five hypotheses derived from it. In our study, 64 men and 75 women were paired with attractive and unattractive opposite-sex putative partners and asked whether they would prefer to give surveys to peers or to older adults. Consistent with predictions, both men and women wanted to show off (flaunt attractive partners by administering surveys to peers and both men and women wanted to hide (conceal unattractive partners from peers by administering surveys to older adults. These decisions were mediated by how participants expected others to evaluate their status and desirability when they administered the surveys, consistent with partners serving a social signaling function in humans.

If you've got it, flaunt it: humans flaunt attractive partners to enhance their status and desirability.

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Winegard, Benjamin M; Winegard, Bo; Geary, David C

2013-01-01

Mating decisions are influenced by conspecifics' mate choices in many species including humans. Recent research has shown that women are more attracted to men with attractive putative partners than those with less attractive partners. We integrate these findings with traditional accounts of social signaling and test five hypotheses derived from it. In our study, 64 men and 75 women were paired with attractive and unattractive opposite-sex putative partners and asked whether they would prefer to give surveys to peers or to older adults. Consistent with predictions, both men and women wanted to show off (flaunt) attractive partners by administering surveys to peers and both men and women wanted to hide (conceal) unattractive partners from peers by administering surveys to older adults. These decisions were mediated by how participants expected others to evaluate their status and desirability when they administered the surveys, consistent with partners serving a social signaling function in humans.

Stability and change in same-sex attraction, experience, and identity by sex and age in a New Zealand birth cohort.

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Dickson, Nigel; van Roode, Thea; Cameron, Claire; Paul, Charlotte

2013-07-01

Gaps remain in knowledge of changes in sexual orientation past adolescence and early adulthood. A longitudinal study of a New Zealand birth cohort was used to examine differences by age and sex in change in sexual attraction between 21 (1993/1994) and 38 years (2010/2011), sexual experiences between 26 and 38 years, and sexual identity between 32 and 38 years. Any same-sex attraction was significantly more common among women than men at all ages. Among women, any same-sex attraction increased up to age 26 (from 8.8 to 16.6 %), then decreased slightly by age 38 (12.0 %); among men, prevalence was significantly higher at age 38 (6.5 %) than 21 (4.2 %), but not in the intermediate assessments. It is likely that the social environment becoming more tolerant was responsible for some of the changes. Same-sex attraction was much more common than same-sex experiences or a same-sex identity, especially among women, with no major sex differences in these latter dimensions. Women exhibited much greater change in sexual attraction between assessments than men; for change in experiences and identity, sex differences were less marked and not statistically confirmed. Changes in the respective dimensions appeared more likely among those initially with mixed attraction and experiences, and among those initially identifying as bisexual, but this did not account for the sex difference in likelihood of change. These results provide contemporary information about the extent and variation of reported sexual attraction, experiences, and identity that we show continues across early and mid-adulthood.

Bodily Attractiveness and Egalitarianism are Negatively Related in Males

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Michael E. Price

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Ancestrally, relatively attractive individuals and relatively formidable males may have had reduced incentives to be egalitarian (i.e., to act in accordance with norms promoting social equality. If selection calibrated one's egalitarianism to one's attractiveness/formidability, then such people may exhibit reduced egalitarianism (“observed egalitarianism” and be perceived by others as less egalitarian (“perceived egalitarianism” in modern environments. To investigate, we created 3D body models of 125 participants to use both as a source of anthropometric measurements and as stimuli to obtain ratings of bodily attractiveness and perceived egalitarianism. We also measured observed egalitarianism (via an economic “dictator” game and indices of political egalitarianism (preference for socialism over capitalism and “equity sensitivity.” Results indicated higher egalitarianism levels in women than in men, and moderate-to-strong negative relationships between (a attractiveness and observed egalitarianism among men, (b attractiveness and perceived egalitarianism among both sexes, and (c formidability and perceived egalitarianism among men. We did not find support for two previously-reported findings: that observed egalitarianism and formidability are negatively related in men, and that wealth and formidability interact to explain variance in male egalitarianism. However, this lack of support may have been due to differences in variable measurement between our study and previous studies.

Educational Attainment by Life Course Sexual Attraction: Prevalence and Correlates in a Nationally Representative Sample of Young Adults

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Walsemann, Katrina M.; Lindley, Lisa L.; Gentile, Danielle; Welihindha, Shehan V.

2014-01-01

Researchers know relatively little about the educational attainment of sexual minorities, despite the fact that educational attainment is consistently associated with a range of social, economic, and health outcomes. We examined whether sexual attraction in adolescence and early adulthood was associated with educational attainment in early adulthood among a nationally representative sample of US young adults. We analyzed Waves I and IV restricted data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (n=14,111). Sexual orientation was assessed using self-reports of romantic attraction in Waves I (adolescence) and IV (adulthood). Multinomial regression models were estimated and all analyses were stratified by gender. Women attracted to the same-sex in adulthood only had lower educational attainment compared to women attracted only to the opposite-sex in adolescence and adulthood. Men attracted to the same-sex in adolescence only had lower educational attainment compared to men attracted only to the opposite-sex in adolescence and adulthood. Adolescent experiences and academic performance attenuated educational disparities among men and women. Adjustment for adolescent experiences also revealed a suppression effect; women attracted to the same-sex in adolescence and adulthood had lower predicted probabilities of having a high school diploma or less compared to women attracted only to the opposite-sex in adolescence and adulthood. Our findings challenge previous research documenting higher educational attainment among sexual minorities in the US. Additional population-based studies documenting the educational attainment of sexual minority adults are needed. PMID:25382888

I like my voice better: self-enhancement bias in perceptions of voice attractiveness.

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Hughes, Susan M; Harrison, Marissa A

2013-01-01

Previous research shows that the human voice can communicate a wealth of nonsemantic information; preferences for voices can predict health, fertility, and genetic quality of the speaker, and people often use voice attractiveness, in particular, to make these assessments of others. But it is not known what we think of the attractiveness of our own voices as others hear them. In this study eighty men and women rated the attractiveness of an array of voice recordings of different individuals and were not told that their own recorded voices were included in the presentation. Results showed that participants rated their own voices as sounding more attractive than others had rated their voices, and participants also rated their own voices as sounding more attractive than they had rated the voices of others. These findings suggest that people may engage in vocal implicit egotism, a form of self-enhancement.

A group's physical attractiveness is greater than the average attractiveness of its members: the group attractiveness effect.

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van Osch, Yvette; Blanken, Irene; Meijs, Maartje H J; van Wolferen, Job

2015-04-01

We tested whether the perceived physical attractiveness of a group is greater than the average attractiveness of its members. In nine studies, we find evidence for the so-called group attractiveness effect (GA-effect), using female, male, and mixed-gender groups, indicating that group impressions of physical attractiveness are more positive than the average ratings of the group members. A meta-analysis on 33 comparisons reveals that the effect is medium to large (Cohen's d = 0.60) and moderated by group size. We explored two explanations for the GA-effect: (a) selective attention to attractive group members, and (b) the Gestalt principle of similarity. The results of our studies are in favor of the selective attention account: People selectively attend to the most attractive members of a group and their attractiveness has a greater influence on the evaluation of the group. © 2015 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.

Sex differences in relative foot length and perceived attractiveness of female feet: relationships among anthropometry, physique, and preference ratings.

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Voracek, Martin; Fisher, Maryanne L; Rupp, Barbara; Lucas, Deanna; Fessler, Daniel M T

2007-06-01

Foot size proportionate to stature is smaller in women than in men, and small feet apparently contribute to perceived physical attractiveness of females. This exploratory study investigated the sex difference in relative foot length and interrelations among foot length, physique, and foot preference ratings in samples from Austria and Canada, each comprised of 75 men and 75 women. The findings included the following lines of evidence: the sex difference in relative foot length replicated in both data sets; the magnitude of this sex effect was large. Relative foot length was smaller in young, nulliparous, and slim women. Pointed-toe and high-heel shoes were more likely worn by smaller, lighter, and slimmer women. Men reported liking women's feet in general more than vice versa. A vast majority of both men and women favored small feet in women, but large feet in men. One's own foot size appeared to correspond to evaluations of attractiveness; particularly, women with small feet preferred small feet in women in general. The preference for small feet in women was convergent across different methods of evaluating attractiveness. Directions for investigations in this emerging field of research on physical attractiveness are discussed.

Female appearance: facial and bodily attractiveness as shape

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KATRIN SCHAEFER

2006-06-01

Full Text Available Human physical attractiveness is supposed to reflect developmental stability (i.e. the ability of individuals to maintain stable development of their morphology under a given environmental condition and physiological status. Hence, evolutionary psychologists have suggested that appearance may not only reveal so called ‘honest signals’ but even comprise a single ornament of mate value. However, it is still a matter of debate which physical features affect the ratings of female beauty, and whether these features are truly associated with aspects of developmental and physiological status. Here we present morphometric data of images of faces and bodies from 92 women together with ratings of attractiveness by 60 men. A total of 101 somatometric landmarks were digitized as two-dimensional coordinates from three views: facial, front and back full-body view. These image sets were analyzed separately by means of geometric morphometric methodology (GMM. Attractiveness ratings of the face and body were significantly associated with both (i the amount of fluctuating asymmetry (as a measure of developmental stability, and (ii specific localized shape differences in regions of known estrogen sensitivity. The results support the notion that ratings of women’s physical attractiveness are indeed based on indicators of developmental stability and physiological status.

The synergistic effect of prosociality and physical attractiveness on mate desirability.

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Ehlebracht, Daniel; Stavrova, Olga; Fetchenhauer, Detlef; Farrelly, Daniel

2017-12-17

Mate selection requires a prioritization and joint evaluation of different traits present or absent in potential mates. Herein, we focus on two such traits - physical attractiveness and prosociality - and examine how they jointly shape impressions of overall desirability. We report on two related experiments which make use of an innovative methodology combining large samples of raters and target persons (i.e., stimuli) and information on targets' behaviour in economic games representing altruistic behaviour (Experiment 1) and trustworthiness (Experiment 2), two important facets of prosociality. In accordance with predictions derived from a cognitive perspective on mate choice and sexual strategies theory, the results show that the impact of being prosocial on an individual's overall desirability was increased further by them also being physically attractive, but only in long-term mating contexts. Furthermore, we show that men's mate preferences for certain prosocial traits (i.e., trustworthiness) were more context-dependent than women's due to differential evolutionary pressures for ancestral men and women. © 2017 The British Psychological Society.

Unconscious processing of facial attractiveness: invisible attractive faces orient visual attention.

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Hung, Shao-Min; Nieh, Chih-Hsuan; Hsieh, Po-Jang

2016-11-16

Past research has proven human's extraordinary ability to extract information from a face in the blink of an eye, including its emotion, gaze direction, and attractiveness. However, it remains elusive whether facial attractiveness can be processed and influences our behaviors in the complete absence of conscious awareness. Here we demonstrate unconscious processing of facial attractiveness with three distinct approaches. In Experiment 1, the time taken for faces to break interocular suppression was measured. The results showed that attractive faces enjoyed the privilege of breaking suppression and reaching consciousness earlier. In Experiment 2, we further showed that attractive faces had lower visibility thresholds, again suggesting that facial attractiveness could be processed more easily to reach consciousness. Crucially, in Experiment 3, a significant decrease of accuracy on an orientation discrimination task subsequent to an invisible attractive face showed that attractive faces, albeit suppressed and invisible, still exerted an effect by orienting attention. Taken together, for the first time, we show that facial attractiveness can be processed in the complete absence of consciousness, and an unconscious attractive face is still capable of directing our attention.

Do women and providers value the same features of contraceptive products? Results of a best-worst stated preference experiment.

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Weisberg, Edith; Bateson, Deborah; Knox, Stephanie; Haas, Marion; Viney, Rosalie; Street, Deborah; Fiebig, Denzil

2013-06-01

To determine how women and physicians rate individual characteristics of contraceptives. Discrete choice experiments are used in health economics to elicit preferences for healthcare products. A choice experiment uses hypothetical scenarios to determine which individual factors influence choice. Women and general practitioners (GPs) were shown individual characteristics of contraceptives, not always matching existing methods, and chose the best and worst features. Two hundred women, mean age 36, 71% using contraception, were presented with descriptions of 16 possible methods and asked to indicate their preference for individual characteristics. One hundred and sixty-two GPs, mostly women, also completed 16 descriptions. Longer duration of action was most favoured by both, followed by lighter periods with less pain or amenorrhoea. The least attractive features for women were heavier and more painful periods, high cost, irregular periods, low efficacy (10% failure) and weight gain of 3 kg. GPs ranked a 10% pregnancy rate as least attractive followed by heavy painful periods and a 5% failure rate. Women and GPs differed in their ranking of contraceptive characteristics. Long duration of use, high efficacy, minimal or no bleeding without pain, were preferred by both. Very undesirable were heavy periods especially with pain, and low efficacy.

When men appear smaller or larger than they really are: preliminary evidence that women are fooled by size illusions in attractiveness judgment tasks

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Ludwig Yannick S.

2014-12-01

Full Text Available In humans, studies have shown that contrast illusions can affect perceptions of facial attractiveness and dominance. In non-human animals, recent research found that contrast illusions of size positively affected male mate value. In humans, male height is a potentially important indicator of mate value, with women preferring men taller than themselves. We tested in two studies whether height contrast illusions could affect women’s perceptions of male height and mate value, particularly attractiveness, dominance, and muscularity. Using computer-generated images of men of different heights standing in groups of three, 104 female participants rated targets either surrounded by shorter, same height, or taller distractors in a within-subject design. The second experiment (N=80 replicated and extended the first by making the images more realistic and adding natural backgrounds, suggesting that when participants are given a visual anchor, in order to get a better sense of the absolute height of the targets, the effects remain. In both studies, results showed that, compared with same height distractors, male targets were rated as taller when surrounded by shorter distractors, and as shorter when surrounded by taller distractors. Additionally, attractiveness, dominance, and muscularity perceptions were affected in a similar manner, with most of the differences in these appraisals being mediated by the perceived height differences. Therefore, differently sized distractors affected the perceived height and mate value of the targets, which were in effect all of the same constant size. These findings indicate that context dependent effects could potentially influence attractiveness judgments. The same man might thus be perceived as more attractive when surrounded by men of similar or smaller height, as opposed to when surrounded by men who are taller.

Sexual Conflict and Gender Gap Effects: Associations between Social Context and Sex on Rated Attractiveness and Economic Status

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Dixson, Barnaby J.

2016-01-01

Human mate choice research often concerns sex differences in the importance of traits such as physical attractiveness and social status. A growing number of studies indicate that cues to social context, including other people who appear in stimulus photographs, can alter that individual’s attractiveness. Fewer studies, however, consider judgements of traits other than physical attractiveness, such as wealth. Here we manipulate the presence/absence of other people in photographs of target models, and test the effects on judgments of both attractiveness and earnings (a proxy for status). Participants (N = 2044) rated either male or female models for either physical attractiveness or social/economic status when presented alone, with same sex others or with opposite sex others. We collectively refer to this manipulation as ‘social context’. Male and female models received similar responses for physical attractiveness, but social context affected ratings of status differently for women and men. Males presented alongside other men received the highest status ratings while females presented alone were given the highest status ratings. Further, the status of females presented alongside a male was constrained by the rated status of that male. Our results suggests that high status may not directly lead to high attractiveness in men, but that status is more readily attributed to men than to women. This divide in status between the sexes is very clear when men and women are presented together, possibly reflecting one underlying mechanism of the modern day gender gap and sexist attitudes to women’s economic participation. This adds complexity to our understanding of the relationship between attractiveness, status, and sex in the light of parental investment theory, sexual conflict and economic theory. PMID:26731414

Physical attractiveness biases in ratings of employment suitability: tracking down the "beauty is beastly" effect.

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Johnson, Stefanie K; Podratz, Kenneth E; Dipboye, Robert L; Gibbons, Ellie

2010-01-01

The "what is beautiful is good" heuristic suggests that physically attractive persons benefit from their attractiveness in a large range of situations, including perceptions of employment suitability. Conversely, the "beauty is beastly" effect suggests that attractiveness can be detrimental to women in certain employment contexts, although these findings have been less consistent than those for the "what is beautiful is good" effect. The current research seeks to uncover situations in which beauty might be detrimental for female applicants. In two studies, we found that attractiveness can be detrimental for women applying for masculine sex-typed jobs for which physical appearance is perceived as unimportant.

The effect of meat consumption on body odor attractiveness.

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Havlicek, Jan; Lenochova, Pavlina

2006-10-01

Axillary body odor is individually specific and potentially a rich source of information about its producer. Odor individuality partly results from genetic individuality, but the influence of ecological factors such as eating habits are another main source of odor variability. However, we know very little about how particular dietary components shape our body odor. Here we tested the effect of red meat consumption on body odor attractiveness. We used a balanced within-subject experimental design. Seventeen male odor donors were on "meat" or "nonmeat" diet for 2 weeks wearing axillary pads to collect body odor during the final 24 h of the diet. Fresh odor samples were assessed for their pleasantness, attractiveness, masculinity, and intensity by 30 women not using hormonal contraceptives. We repeated the same procedure a month later with the same odor donors, each on the opposite diet than before. Results of repeated measures analysis of variance showed that the odor of donors when on the nonmeat diet was judged as significantly more attractive, more pleasant, and less intense. This suggests that red meat consumption has a negative impact on perceived body odor hedonicity.

'Women and the nuclear talent pool' : myths and perspectives on the present and future

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brissette, S.; Keenan, B.

2008-01-01

The nuclear industry has been slow to exhibit significant results in attracting, promoting and retaining women. The result has been a lack of representation of women in the industry. Research suggests that those companies with women in senior positions do better financially than peers with less female representation and that a key factor in attracting and retaining women is the availability of female role models. The nuclear industry is not alone in failing to attract and develop women. However, with the current demographics and planned retirements in our industry, against a backdrop of growth, there is an opportunity for the nuclear industry to proactively address issues that have in the past resulted in poor representation of females in a wide variety of management, engineering and technical trade positions. Many industries suffer from stereotypic bias that may prevent significant advancement

Sex typicality and attractiveness in childhood and adulthood: assessing their relationships from videos.

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Rieger, Gerulf; Gygax, Lorenz; Linsenmeier, Joan A W; Siler-Knogl, Amber; Moskowitz, David A; Bailey, J Michael

2011-02-01

Prior research suggests that sex typicality (especially femininity of females, but also masculinity of males) relates to perceptions of attractiveness, for both heterosexual and homosexual individuals. Using videos from childhood and adulthood, we investigated how different components of sex typicality contributed to this effect, whether the sex of the evaluator or of the target moderated the effect, and how the relationship of attractiveness with sex typicality varied across the lifespan. In Study 1, videos of 45 female and 50 male heterosexual and homosexual adult targets (ages 18-30 years) were judged by 56 female and 65 male heterosexual and homosexual raters (ages 18-30 years). Results suggested that both heterosexual men and lesbians viewed more feminine women as more attractive. Femininity of appearance was a primary contributor to this relationship. Masculinity was not related to men's attractiveness. Study 2 used similar methodology (44 male and 46 female heterosexual and homosexual targets and 22 male and 20 female heterosexual raters). Study 2 replicated results of Study 1. In addition, Study 2 included ratings of childhood videos of targets (ages 0-15). Results suggested that childhood femininity related to attractiveness of both young girls and young boys and that the relationship became stronger for girls as they got older. The impact of femininity on attractiveness may, therefore, depend on both targets' sex and their maturity.

Effects of Humor Production, Humor Receptivity, and Physical Attractiveness on Partner Desirability

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Michelle Tornquist

2015-10-01

Full Text Available This study examined women’s and men’s preferences for humor production and humor receptivity in long-term and short-term relationships, and how these factors interact with physical attractiveness to influence desirability. Undergraduates viewed photographs of the opposite sex individuals who were high or low in physical attractiveness, along with vignettes varying in humor production and receptivity. Participants rated physical attractiveness and desirability for long-term and short-term relationships. The main findings were that individuals desired partners who were high in humor production and receptivity, though the effects were particularly pronounced for women judging long-term relationships. Moreover, humor production was more important than receptivity for women’s ratings of male desirability. Notably, we also found that ratings of physical attractiveness were influenced by the humor conditions. These results are discussed in terms of the fitness indicator, interest indicator, and encryption hypotheses of the evolutionary functions of humor.

Tobacco Use and Sexual Orientation in a National Cross-sectional Study: Age, Race/Ethnicity, and Sexual Identity-Attraction Differences.

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McCabe, Sean Esteban; Matthews, Alicia K; Lee, Joseph G L; Veliz, Phil; Hughes, Tonda L; Boyd, Carol J

2018-04-09

The purpose of this study is to determine the past-year prevalence estimates of any nicotine/tobacco use, cigarette smoking, and DSM-5 tobacco use disorder based on sexual identity among U.S. adults, and to examine potential variations in these estimates by age, race/ethnicity, and sexual identity-attraction concordance/discordance. The 2012-2013 National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions collected data via in-person interviews with a cross-sectional nationally representative sample of non-institutionalized adults (response rate=60.1%) and analyses for the present study were conducted in 2017. Any past-year nicotine/tobacco use, cigarette smoking, and DSM-5 tobacco use disorder were most prevalent among sexual minority-identified adults compared with heterosexual-identified adults, with notable variations based on sex, age, race/ethnicity, and sexual identity-attraction discordance. Elevated rates of any nicotine/tobacco use, cigarette smoking, and DSM-5 tobacco use disorder among sexual minorities were most prevalent among younger lesbian women and gay men, and all age groups of bisexual men and women. The odds of any nicotine/tobacco use, cigarette smoking, and DSM-5 tobacco use disorder were significantly greater among sexual identity-attraction discordant women and significantly lower among sexual identity-attraction discordant men. These findings provide valuable new information about sexual minority subgroups, such as self-identified bisexual older adults and sexual identity-attraction discordant women, that appear to be at higher risk for adverse smoking-related health consequences as a result of their elevated rates of cigarette smoking. Additional attention is warranted to examine these high-risk subpopulations prospectively and, if the results are replicated with larger samples, this information can be used to target smoking-cessation and lung cancer screening efforts. Copyright © 2018 American Journal of Preventive Medicine

Rheology of attractive emulsions.

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Datta, Sujit S; Gerrard, Dustin D; Rhodes, Travers S; Mason, Thomas G; Weitz, David A

2011-10-01

We show how attractive interactions dramatically influence emulsion rheology. Unlike the repulsive case, attractive emulsions below random close packing, φ(RCP), can form soft gel-like elastic solids. However, above φ(RCP), attractive and repulsive emulsions have similar elasticities. Such compressed attractive emulsions undergo an additional shear-driven relaxation process during yielding. Our results suggest that attractive emulsions begin to yield at weak points through the breakage of bonds, and, above φ(RCP), also undergo droplet configurational rearrangements.

Mate attraction, retention and expulsion.

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Miner, Emily J; Shackelford, Todd K

2010-02-01

Sexual selection theory and parental investment theory have guided much of the evolutionary psychological research on human mating. Based on these theories, researchers have predicted and found sex differences in mating preferences and behaviors. Men generally prefer that their long-term partners are youthful and physically attractive. Women generally prefer that their long-term partners have existing resources or clear potential for securing resources and display a willingness to invest those resources in children the relationship might produce. Both men and women, however, desire long-term partners who are kind and intelligent. Once a partner is obtained, men and women act in sex-specific ways to ensure the continuation and exclusivity of the relationship. Men, in particular, engage in behaviors designed to prevent, correct, and anticipate their partner's sexual infidelity. Relationships dissolve for evolutionarily-relevant reasons: infidelity, childlessness, and infertility. The discussion addresses directions for future research.

Heterosexual Men's Ratings of Sexual Attractiveness of Adolescent Girls: A Cross-Cultural Analysis.

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Bennett, Paul; Lowe, Rob; Petrova, Hristina

2015-11-01

Following an identical procedure to the one we previously reported (O'Donnell, Lowe, Brotherton, & Bennett, 2014), we examined ratings of sexual attraction to photographs of (the same) adolescent girls (Tanner stages 3-4) labelled as either 14-15 years or 16-17 years old, women, and men. Ratings were made by Bulgarian heterosexual men by pressing buttons on a response box which recorded the ratings made and the time in milliseconds taken to respond. Despite the age of sexual consent in Bulgaria being 14 years, the pattern of findings did not differ from those found in the UK, where the age of consent is 16 years. That is, mean ratings of the sexual attractiveness of the girls labelled as younger were lower than those of the (same) girls labelled as older, and those of the women. In addition, correlations revealed significantly longer responding times when younger girls (and men) were rated as more highly sexually attractive. These associations were reversed in response to the photographs of women. We take these findings to indicate an inhibitory effect arising from generalized sexual norms relating to the inappropriateness of sexual attraction to young girls; the greater the attraction, the higher the inhibition. This second replication of our initial findings suggests a robust effect that may be of benefit in exploration of pedophile or sex offender groups.

The association between discontinuing hormonal contraceptives and wives' marital satisfaction depends on husbands' facial attractiveness.

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Russell, V Michelle; McNulty, James K; Baker, Levi R; Meltzer, Andrea L

2014-12-02

How are hormonal contraceptives (HCs) related to marital well-being? Some work suggests HCs suppress biological processes associated with women's preferences for partner qualities reflective of genetic fitness, qualities that may be summarized by facial attractiveness. Given that realizing such interpersonal preferences positively predicts relationship satisfaction, any changes in women's preferences associated with changes in their HC use may interact with partner facial attractiveness to predict women's relationship satisfaction. We tested this possibility using two longitudinal studies of 118 newlywed couples. Trained observers objectively rated husbands' facial attractiveness in both studies. In study 1, wives reported their marital satisfaction every 6 mo for 4 y and then reported the history of their HC use for their relationship. In study 2, wives reported whether they were using HCs when they met their husbands and then their marital satisfaction and HC use every 4 mo for up to three waves. In both studies, and in an analysis that combined the data from both studies, wives who were using HCs when they formed their relationship with their husband were less satisfied with their marriage when they discontinued HCs if their husband had a relatively less attractive face, but more satisfied if their husband had a relatively more attractive face. Beginning HCs demonstrated no consistent associations with marital satisfaction. Incongruency between HC use at relationship formation and current HC use was negatively associated with sexual satisfaction, regardless of husbands' facial attractiveness. These findings suggest that HC use may have unintended implications for women's close relationships.

Women's motivations to have sex in casual and committed relationships with male and female partners.

Science.gov (United States)

Armstrong, Heather L; Reissing, Elke D

2015-05-01

Women report a wide variety of reasons to have sex (e.g., Meston & Buss, 2010), and while it is reasonable to assume that those reasons may vary based on the context of the relationship, this assumption has not yet been tested. The purpose of this study was to explore how relationship type, sexual attraction, and the gender of one's partner interact and affect the sexual motivations of women. A total of 510 women (361 who reported exclusively other-sex attraction and 149 who reported same-sex/bisexual attraction) completed the YSEX? questionnaire. Participants rated their sexual motivations for casual sex and sex in a committed relationship with male and/or female partners, depending on reported sexual attraction. Results showed that relationship type affected reported motivation for sex: physical motivations were more strongly endorsed for casual sex, whereas emotional motivations were more strongly endorsed for sex in committed relationships. No significant differences in motivation were reported between women who reported same-sex attraction and those who did not. Women who reported bisexual attraction and identified as being lesbian, bisexual, or another sexual minority reported no significant differences in motivation for sex with male or female partners. The results of this study highlight the importance of relationship context when discussing sexual motivation and suggest a high degree of similarity in motivation for women, regardless of sexual orientation or gender of partner.

Patterns of Asexuality in China: Sexual Activity, Sexual and Romantic Attraction, and Sexual Desire.

Science.gov (United States)

Zheng, Lijun; Su, Yanchen

2018-05-01

This study examined patterns of asexuality in Chinese asexual people in terms of sexual activities, sexual/romantic attraction, and sexual desire. The sample included 227 (64 men and 163 women) asexual participants and 57 (26 men and 31 women) uncertain asexual participants recruited from social networks for asexual people. The control group included 217 (115 men and 102 women) heterosexual participants recruited from general social networks. Participants scoring 40 or higher on the Asexuality Identification Scale were classified as asexual. Asexual participants reported having less frequent masturbation, sexual intercourse experience, and sexual and romantic attraction compared to heterosexual participants. Lower sexual attraction among asexuals indicated that "people who experience little or no sexual attraction" would be a more appropriate definition of asexuality. The pattern of uncertain asexual participants' sexual/romantic attraction and sexual desire was intermediate between heterosexual and asexual participants. Asexual participants scored significantly lower on dyadic sexual desire and slightly lower on solitary sexual desire than heterosexual participants. There were significant differences in sexual activities and solitary sexual desire among romantic orientation categories. Homoromantic participants showed higher dyadic sexual desire and were more likely to engage in masturbation, indicating the heterogeneity among asexual people. The findings indicated that Chinese asexual people showed similar patterns of asexuality as in Western nations. Specifically, asexual people have little or no sexual attraction, non-partner-orientated sexual desire, and are heterogeneous in sexual activities and sexual desire. This implies similar mechanisms underlying the etiology of asexuality across cultures.

If-then contingencies and the differential effects of the availability of an attractive alternative on relationship maintenance for men and women.

Science.gov (United States)

Lydon, John E; Menzies-Toman, Danielle; Burton, Kimberly; Bell, Chris

2008-07-01

In 7 experiments, the causal effects of the availability of an attractive alternative (AA) relationship partner on current relationship thoughts and intentions were tested using confederates, mental simulations, and virtual reality. Men behaved consistent with traditional relationship-commitment theories, showing decreased willingness to tolerate their partner's transgressions after the availability of an AA was made salient. However, consistent with a motivated cognition approach to commitment and work on relational self-construals, women increased their tolerance when presented with the relationship threat of an alternative. Word-fragment and lexical decision data suggested that AAs may activate threat for women, and their ability to dampen threat accessibility is associated with prorelationship responses. Finally, this "if relationship is threatened, then defend the relationship" contingency was induced in men with an implementation intention induction.

'Women and the nuclear talent pool' : myths and perspectives on the present and future

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brissette, S. [WiN-Canada (Women in Nuclear), Tiverton, Ontario (Canada); Keenan, B. [Ontario Power Generation (OPG), Ontario (Canada)

2008-07-01

The nuclear industry has been slow to exhibit significant results in attracting, promoting and retaining women. The result has been a lack of representation of women in the industry. Research suggests that those companies with women in senior positions do better financially than peers with less female representation and that a key factor in attracting and retaining women is the availability of female role models. The nuclear industry is not alone in failing to attract and develop women. However, with the current demographics and planned retirements in our industry, against a backdrop of growth, there is an opportunity for the nuclear industry to proactively address issues that have in the past resulted in poor representation of females in a wide variety of management, engineering and technical trade positions. Many industries suffer from stereotypic bias that may prevent significant advancement.

Facial attractiveness judgements reflect learning of parental age characteristics.

Science.gov (United States)

Perrett, David I; Penton-Voak, Ian S; Little, Anthony C; Tiddeman, Bernard P; Burt, D Michael; Schmidt, Natalie; Oxley, Roz; Kinloch, Nicholas; Barrett, Louise

2002-05-07

Mate preferences are shaped by infant experience of parental characteristics in a wide variety of species. Similar processes in humans may lead to physical similarity between parents and mates, yet this possibility has received little attention. The age of parents is one salient physical characteristic that offspring may attend to. The current study used computer-graphic faces to examine how preferences for age in faces were influenced by parental age. We found that women born to 'old' parents (over 30) were less impressed by youth, and more attracted to age cues in male faces than women with 'young' parents (under 30). For men, preferences for female faces were influenced by their mother's age and not their father's age, but only for long-term relationships. These data indicate that judgements of facial attractiveness in humans reflect the learning of parental characteristics.

The Influence of Television Images on Black Females' Self- Perceptions of Physical Attractiveness.

Science.gov (United States)

Perkins, Karen R.

1996-01-01

Examines the role television images play in African American women's perceptions of their own physical attractiveness. The significance of physical attractiveness is discussed in relation to age, gender, and race. Several research questions are posed and suggestions are made that may assist parents, educators, and clinicians in prevention of…

Hidden attraction the history and mystery of magnetism

CERN Document Server

Verschuur, Gerrit L

1993-01-01

Long one of nature's most fascinating phenomena, magnetism was once the subject of many superstitions. Magnets were thought useful to thieves, effective as a love potion or as a cure for gout or spasms. They could remove sorcery from women and put demons to flight and even reconcile married couples. It was said that a lodestone pickled in the salt of sucking fish had the power to attract gold. Today, these beliefs have been put aside, but magnetism is no less remarkable for our modern understanding of it. In Hidden Attraction, Gerrit L. Verschuur, a noted astronomer and National Book Award nom

Physical attractiveness and sex as modulatory factors of empathic brain responses to pain.

Science.gov (United States)

Jankowiak-Siuda, Kamila; Rymarczyk, Krystyna; Żurawski, Łukasz; Jednoróg, Katarzyna; Marchewka, Artur

2015-01-01

Empathy is a process that comprises affective sharing, imagining, and understanding the emotions and mental states of others. The brain structures involved in empathy for physical pain include the anterior insula (AI), and the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). High empathy may lead people to undertake pro-social behavior. It is important to understand how this process can be changed, and what factors these empathic responses depend on. Physical attractiveness is a major social and evolutional cue, playing a role in the formation of interpersonal evaluation. The aim of the study was to determine how attractiveness affects the level of empathy both in relation to self-rated behavior and in terms of activation of specific empathy-related brain regions. Twenty-seven subjects (14 female and 13 male) were studied using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) method while they were watching short video scenes involving physically more and less attractive men and women who exhibited pain responses. In the absence of behavioral effects in compassion ratings, we observed stronger activation in empathic brain structures (ACC; AI) for less attractive men and for attractive women than for attractive men. Evolutionary psychology studies suggest that beauty is valued more highly in females than males, which might lead observers to empathize more strongly with the attractive woman than the men. Attractive mens' faces are typically associated with enhanced masculine facial characteristics and are considered to possess fewer desirable personality traits compared with feminized faces. This could explain why more empathy was shown to less attractive men. In conclusion, the study showed that the attractiveness and sex of a model are important modulators of empathy for pain.

Physical attractiveness and sex as modulatory factors of empathic brain responses to pain

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kamila Jankowiak Siuda

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Empathy is a process that comprises affective sharing, imagining, and understanding the emotions and mental states of others. The brain structures involved in empathy for physical pain include the anterior insula (AI, and the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC. High empathy may lead people to undertake pro-social behaviour. It is important to understand how this process can be changed, and what factors these empathic responses depend on. Physical attractiveness is a major social and evolutional cue, playing a role in the formation of interpersonal evaluation. The aim of the study was to determine how attractiveness affects the level of empathy both in relation to self-rated behaviour and in terms of activation of specific empathy-related brain regions. Twenty-seven subjects (14 female and 13 male were studied using fMRI method while they were watching short video scenes involving physically more and less attractive men and women who exhibited pain responses. In the absence of behavioural effects in compassion ratings, we observed stronger activation in empathic brain structures (ACC; AI for less attractive men and for attractive women than for attractive men. Evolutionary psychology studies suggest that beauty is valued more highly in females than males, which might lead observers to empathize more strongly with the attractive woman than the men. Attractive mens’ faces are typically associated with enhanced masculine facial characteristics and are considered to possess fewer desirable personality traits compared with feminized faces. This could explain why more empathy was shown to less attractive men. In conclusion, the study showed that the attractiveness and sex of a model are important modulators of empathy for pain.

Physical attractiveness and sex as modulatory factors of empathic brain responses to pain

Science.gov (United States)

Jankowiak-Siuda, Kamila; Rymarczyk, Krystyna; Żurawski, Łukasz; Jednoróg, Katarzyna; Marchewka, Artur

2015-01-01

Empathy is a process that comprises affective sharing, imagining, and understanding the emotions and mental states of others. The brain structures involved in empathy for physical pain include the anterior insula (AI), and the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). High empathy may lead people to undertake pro-social behavior. It is important to understand how this process can be changed, and what factors these empathic responses depend on. Physical attractiveness is a major social and evolutional cue, playing a role in the formation of interpersonal evaluation. The aim of the study was to determine how attractiveness affects the level of empathy both in relation to self-rated behavior and in terms of activation of specific empathy-related brain regions. Twenty-seven subjects (14 female and 13 male) were studied using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) method while they were watching short video scenes involving physically more and less attractive men and women who exhibited pain responses. In the absence of behavioral effects in compassion ratings, we observed stronger activation in empathic brain structures (ACC; AI) for less attractive men and for attractive women than for attractive men. Evolutionary psychology studies suggest that beauty is valued more highly in females than males, which might lead observers to empathize more strongly with the attractive woman than the men. Attractive mens’ faces are typically associated with enhanced masculine facial characteristics and are considered to possess fewer desirable personality traits compared with feminized faces. This could explain why more empathy was shown to less attractive men. In conclusion, the study showed that the attractiveness and sex of a model are important modulators of empathy for pain. PMID:26441569

Facial Visualizations of Women's Voices Suggest a Cross-Modality Preference for Femininity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Susanne Röder

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Women with higher-pitched voices and more feminine facial features are commonly judged as being more attractive than are women with lower-pitched voices and less feminine faces, possibly because both features are affected by (age-related variations in endocrine status. These results are primarily derived from investigations of perceptions of variations in single-modality stimuli (i.e., faces or voices in samples of young adult women. In the present study we sought to test whether male and female perceptions of women's voices affect visual representations of facial femininity. Eighty men and women judged voice recordings of 10 young girls (11–15 years, 10 adult women (19–28 years and 10 peri-/post-menopausal women (50–64 years on age, attractiveness, and femininity. Another 80 men and women were asked to indicate the face they think each voice corresponded to using a video that gradually changed from a masculine looking male face into a feminine looking female face. Both male and female participants perceived voices of young girls and adult women to be significantly younger, more attractive and feminine than those of peri-/post-menopausal women. Hearing young girls' and adult women's voices resulted in both men and women selecting faces that differed markedly in apparent femininity from those associated with peri-/post-menopausal women's voices. Voices of young girls had the strongest effect on visualizations of facial femininity. Our results suggest a cross-modal preference for women's vocal and facial femininity, which depends on female age and is independent of the perceiver's sex.

Menstrual cycle, pregnancy and oral contraceptive use alter attraction to apparent health in faces.

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, B C; Perrett, D I; Little, A C; Boothroyd, L; Cornwell, R E; Feinberg, D R; Tiddeman, B P; Whiten, S; Pitman, R M; Hillier, S G; Burt, D M; Stirrat, M R; Law Smith, M J; Moore, F R

2005-02-22

Previous studies demonstrating changes in women's face preferences have emphasized increased attraction to cues to possible indirect benefits (e.g. heritable immunity to infection) that coincides with periods of high fertility (e.g. the late follicular phase of the menstrual cycle). By contrast, here we show that when choosing between composite faces with raised or lowered apparent health, women's preferences for faces that are perceived as healthy are (i) stronger during the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle than during the late follicular, fertile phase, (ii) stronger in pregnant women than in non-pregnant women and (iii) stronger in women using oral contraceptives than in women with natural menstrual cycles. Change in preference for male faces was greater for short- than long-term relationships. These findings indicate raised progesterone level is associated with increased attraction to facial cues associated with possible direct benefits (e.g. low risk of infection) and suggest that women's face preferences are influenced by adaptations that compensate for weakened immune system responses during pregnancy and reduce the risk of infection disrupting foetal development.

Men’s Perception of Raped Women: Test of the Sexually Transmitted Disease Hypothesis and the Cuckoldry Hypothesis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Prokop Pavol

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Rape is a recurrent adaptive problem of female humans and females of a number of non-human animals. Rape has various physiological and reproductive costs to the victim. The costs of rape are furthermore exaggerated by social rejection and blaming of a victim, particularly by men. The negative perception of raped women by men has received little attention from an evolutionary perspective. Across two independent studies, we investigated whether the risk of sexually transmitted diseases (the STD hypothesis, Hypothesis 1 or paternity uncertainty (the cuckoldry hypothesis, Hypothesis 2 influence the negative perception of raped women by men. Raped women received lower attractiveness score than non-raped women, especially in long-term mate attractiveness score. The perceived attractiveness of raped women was not influenced by the presence of experimentally manipulated STD cues on faces of putative rapists. Women raped by three men received lower attractiveness score than women raped by one man. These results provide stronger support for the cuckoldry hypothesis (Hypothesis 2 than for the STD hypothesis (Hypothesis 1. Single men perceived raped women as more attractive than men in a committed relationship (Hypothesis 3, suggesting that the mating opportunities mediate men’s perception of victims of rape. Overall, our results suggest that the risk of cuckoldry underlie the negative perception of victims of rape by men rather than the fear of disease transmission.

An Adult Developmental Approach to Perceived Facial Attractiveness and Distinctiveness

OpenAIRE

Natalie C. Ebner; Natalie C. Ebner; Natalie C. Ebner; Joerg Luedicke; Manuel C. Voelkle; Manuel C. Voelkle; Michaela Riediger; Michaela Riediger; Tian Lin; Ulman Lindenberger; Ulman Lindenberger

2018-01-01

Attractiveness and distinctiveness constitute facial features with high biological and social relevance. Bringing a developmental perspective to research on social-cognitive face perception, we used a large set of faces taken from the FACES Lifespan Database to examine effects of face and perceiver characteristics on subjective evaluations of attractiveness and distinctiveness in young (20–31 years), middle-aged (44–55 years), and older (70–81 years) men and women. We report novel findings su...

The importance of feeling sexually attractive: Can it predict an individual's experience of their sexuality and sexual relationships across gender and sexual orientation?

Science.gov (United States)

Amos, Natalie; McCabe, Marita

2017-10-01

Limited research exists on the implications of feeling sexually attractive for various aspects of sexuality and sexual relationships. This article examined associations between self-perceived sexual attractiveness and sexual esteem, sexual satisfaction and amount of sexual experience, among both men and women who identified as heterosexual (n = 1017), gay or lesbian (n = 1225) or bisexual (n = 651). Results of the study demonstrated that positive self-perceptions of sexual attractiveness predicted greater sexual esteem, greater sexual satisfaction, a higher frequency of sexual activity with others and a larger number of sexual partners among both men and women who identified as heterosexual, gay, lesbian or bisexual. The findings suggest that feeling sexually attractive may have implications for how an individual experiences their sexuality and sexual relationships regardless of their gender or sexual orientation. The importance of considering an individual's self-perceptions of sexual attractiveness when they present with concerns related to their sexual experiences or relationships, and the potential benefits of educational and therapeutic interventions designed to enhance self-perceptions of sexual attractiveness are discussed. © 2015 International Union of Psychological Science.

Unattractive, promiscuous and heavy drinkers: perceptions of women with tattoos.

Science.gov (United States)

Swami, Viren; Furnham, Adrian

2007-12-01

This study examined social and physical perceptions of blonde and brunette women with different degrees of tattooing. Eighty-four female and 76 male undergraduates rated a series of 16 female line drawings that varied in 2 levels of hair colour and 8 levels of tattooing. Ratings were made for physical attractiveness and sexual promiscuity, as well as estimates of the number of alcohol units consumed on a typical night out. Results showed that tattooed women were rated as less physically attractive, more sexually promiscuous and heavier drinkers than untattooed women, with more negative ratings with increasing number of tattoos. There were also weak interactions between body art and hair colour, with blonde women in general rated more negatively than brunettes. Results are discussed in terms of stereotypes about women who have tattoos and the effects of such stereotypes on well-being.

Strangers With Benefits: Attraction to Outgroup Men Increases as Fertility Increases Across the Menstrual Cycle.

Science.gov (United States)

Salvatore, Joseph F; Meltzer, Andrea L; March, David S; Gaertner, Lowell

2017-02-01

Research typically reveals that outgroups are regarded with disinterest at best and hatred and enmity at worst. Working from an evolutionary framework, we identify a unique pattern of outgroup attraction. The small-group lifestyle of pre-human ancestors plausibly limited access to genetically diverse mates. Ancestral females may have solved the inbreeding dilemma while balancing parental investment pressures by mating with outgroup males either via converting to an outgroup or cuckolding the ingroup. A vestige of those mating strategies might manifest in human women as a cyclic pattern of attraction across the menstrual cycle, such that attraction to outgroup men increases as fertility increases across the cycle. Two studies, one using a longitudinal method and the other an experimental method, evidenced the hypothesized linear relationship between attraction to outgroup men and fertility in naturally cycling women.

"Physical attractiveness stereotype" and the attribution of homosexuality revisited.

Science.gov (United States)

Dunkle, J H; Francis, P L

1996-01-01

The present study investigated whether subjects would perceive male and female faces as homosexual based upon facial attractiveness while statistically controlling for facial masculinity/femininity. Also of interest was the extent to which the subjects' gender and attitudes toward homosexuality would influence their perceptions. Eighty undergraduates indicated how likely they thought it was that six male and six female faces were homosexual. The targets were also rated on attractiveness and masculinity/femininity. The present sample also completed the Index of Homophobia, the Bem Sex Role Inventory, the Attitude Toward Women Scale, a conservatism scale, and a demographic questionnaire. The subjects assigned higher homosexuality ratings to the unattractive males and females compared to their attractive counterparts. Gender of subject and attitudes toward homosexuality did not significantly affect evaluations.

Attracting young women to the physical sciences: The Newton Summer Science Academy and other extra curricular programs

Science.gov (United States)

Chandrasekhar, Meera

2000-03-01

Early familiarity is regarded as one of the keys to attracting female students to traditionally male professions. I will describe four different extra curricular programs that my collaborators in the local school district and I have developed for students in grades 5-12. These programs are part of a project entitled ``Promoting Young Women in the Physical sciences", which also includes teacher training and programs in which parents participate with the child. Through these sustained and broad based interventions, we provide early experiences that we expect will prove positive to students. In particular, I will describe the Newton Summer Academy, a program for female high school students which integrates Physics, Chemistry, Math, Engineering and Economics. I will also address the successes and difficulties in starting and sustaining these programs.

Power and Attraction to the Counternormative Aspects of Infidelity.

Science.gov (United States)

Lammers, Joris; Maner, Jon

2016-01-01

Previous research shows that powerful people are more likely than those lacking power to engage in infidelity. One possible explanation holds (a) that power psychologically releases people from the inhibiting effects of social norms and thus increases their appetite for counternormative forms of sexuality. Two alternative explanations are (b) that power increases appetite for any form of sexuality, normative or counternormative, and (c) that power makes men (but not women) seem more attractive to others and thus increases their access to potential mating opportunities. The current research tested these explanations using correlational data from 610 Dutch men and women. Supporting the first explanation, power's relationship with infidelity was statistically mediated by increased attraction to the secrecy associated with infidelity. Inconsistent with the second explanation, power was linked with infidelity but not with casual sex among singles (a more normative form of sexuality). Inconsistent with the third explanation, the link between power and infidelity was observed just as strongly in women as in men. Findings suggest that power may be associated with infidelity because power draws people to the counternormative aspects of infidelity. Implications for theories of power, sexuality, and gender are discussed.

Altruists Attract

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel Farrelly

2007-04-01

Full Text Available Explaining human cooperation continues to present a challenge because it goes beyond what is predicted by established theories of kinship and reciprocal altruism. Little attention has been paid to the sexual selection hypothesis that proposes that cooperation can act as a display that attracts mates. The costs of cooperating are then offset not by kinship or reciprocation but by increased mating success. Here we present results from a series of experiments which show that, as predicted by the sexual selection hypothesis, people preferentially direct cooperative behavior towards more attractive members of the opposite sex. Furthermore, cooperative behavior increases the perceived attractiveness of the cooperator. Economically costly behaviors can therefore bring benefits through mate choice and sexual selection should be regarded as an evolutionary mechanism capable of promoting cooperation.

Global Attractivity Results for Mixed-Monotone Mappings in Partially Ordered Complete Metric Spaces

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Kalabušić S

2009-01-01

Full Text Available We prove fixed point theorems for mixed-monotone mappings in partially ordered complete metric spaces which satisfy a weaker contraction condition than the classical Banach contraction condition for all points that are related by given ordering. We also give a global attractivity result for all solutions of the difference equation , where satisfies mixed-monotone conditions with respect to the given ordering.

Intolerance of sexy peers: intrasexual competition among women.

Science.gov (United States)

Vaillancourt, Tracy; Sharma, Aanchal

2011-01-01

Intrasexual competition among males of different species, including humans, is well documented. Among females, far less is known. Recent nonexperimental studies suggest that women are intolerant of attractive females and use indirect aggression to derogate potential rivals. In Study 1, an experimental design was used to test the evolutionary-based hypothesis that women would be intolerant of sexy women and would censure those who seem to make sex too readily available. Results provide strong empirical support for intrasexual competition among women. Using independent raters, blind to condition, we found that almost all women were rated as reacting negatively ("bitchy") to an attractive female confederate when she was dressed in a sexually provocative manner. In contrast, when she was dressed conservatively, the same confederate was barely noticed by the participants. In Study 2, an experimental design was used to assess whether the sexy female confederate from Study 1 was viewed as a sexual rival by women. Results indicated that as hypothesized, women did not want to introduce her to their boyfriend, allow him to spend time alone with her, or be friends with her. Findings from both studies are discussed in terms of evolutionary theory. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Self-Perceptions of Sexual Attractiveness: Satisfaction With Physical Appearance is Not of Primary Importance Across Gender and Sexual Orientation.

Science.gov (United States)

Amos, Natalie; McCabe, Marita P

2016-01-01

Research on self-perceived sexual attractiveness has predominantly focused on the importance of physical appearance, overlooking nonphysical traits that may contribute to these self-perceptions. The present study examined and compared the importance of a variety of traits for self-perceived sexual attractiveness. Self-identified heterosexual, gay, and bisexual men (N = 1,801) and heterosexual, lesbian, and bisexual women (N = 1,092) completed an online questionnaire examining self-perceived sexual attractiveness, body esteem, sexual esteem, adherence to gender norms, and sexual experience. Body esteem and sexual esteem were significant predictors of self-perceived sexual attractiveness, regardless of gender and sexual orientation. Adhering to a masculine gender norm was a significant predictor among all groups (to varying extents) but heterosexual women. Adhering to a feminine gender norm was a significant predictor among heterosexual men and bisexual women. Finally, sexual experience was a significant predictor for all men and bisexual women. Furthermore, while body esteem was a predictor across all groups, for most individuals it did not appear to be of primary importance, with either sexual esteem or masculinity proving to be of greater importance. These findings suggest the need to consider traits related to both physical and nonphysical factors for improving an individual's self-perceived sexual attractiveness.

The Male Aesthetic Patient: Facial Anatomy, Concepts of Attractiveness, and Treatment Patterns.

Science.gov (United States)

Keaney, Terrence C; Anolik, Robert; Braz, André; Eidelman, Michael; Eviatar, Joseph A; Green, Jeremy B; Jones, Derek H; Narurkar, Vic A; Rossi, Anthony M; Gallagher, Conor J

2018-01-01

BACKGROUND: The number of nonsurgical aesthetic procedures performed in men is growing rapidly. However, there are limited data on treatment principles and goals for the male aesthetic patient. OBJECTIVE: To review the objective data available on male aging and aesthetics and to synthesize with expert opinion on treatment considerations specific to male patients. METHODS: Expert advisors met to discuss anatomical differences in male versus female facial anatomy related to aging, facial treatment preferences in aesthetically oriented men, and current dosing data for facial injectable treatments in male versus female patients. RESULTS: Symmetry, averageness, sexual dimorphism, and youthfulness are generally accepted as factors that contribute to the perception of attractiveness. There are differences between men and women in facial anatomy, concepts of attractiveness in the context of masculinity and femininity, and treatment objectives. A communication gap exists for men, as evidenced by the lack of information available online or by word of mouth about injectable treatments. CONCLUSIONS: Approaches to aesthetic consultation and treatment should differ between men and women based on the fundamental dissimilarities between the sexes. Educating men about available aesthetic treatments and about the safety and side effects associated with each treatment, as well as addressing concerns about their treatment results looking natural, are key considerations. J Drugs Dermatol. 2018;17(1):19-28..

Attentional Biases toward Attractive Alternatives and Rivals: Mechanisms Involved in Relationship Maintenance among Chinese Women.

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Yidan; Zhao, Guang; Tu, Shen; Zheng, Yong

2015-01-01

A long-term romantic relationship can offer many benefits to committed individuals. Thus, humans possess relationship maintenance mechanisms to protect against threats from those who serve as attractive alternatives or intrasexual rivals. Many studies have indicated that romantic love can act as a commitment device to activate these mechanisms. To examine the attentional bias associated with relationship maintenance among 108 college students (49 single and 59 committed females) in China, we used a semantic priming procedure to activate mental representations associated with romantic love and then asked participants to complete a dot-probe task for the purpose of making a distinction between the engage and disengage components of attention. No significant engaging effects toward attractive faces were observed among committed females, but the following significant disengaging effects were found: when primed with romantic love, single females showed increased attention toward and difficulty in disengaging from attractive male faces, whereas females already in a committed relationship did not alter their attention, remaining as inattentive to attractive alternatives as they were in the baseline condition. In addition, committed females responded to love priming by exhibiting difficulty in disengaging from attractive rivals. The present findings provide evidence in the Chinese cultural context for the existence of early-stage attentional processes in the domain of relationship maintenance that committed Chinese females protected an ongoing relationship by not only being inattentive to attractive males who could serve as attractive alternatives, but also being more attentive to attractive females who could be potential rivals when mental representations associated with romantic love were primed.

Attentional Biases toward Attractive Alternatives and Rivals: Mechanisms Involved in Relationship Maintenance among Chinese Women.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yidan Ma

Full Text Available A long-term romantic relationship can offer many benefits to committed individuals. Thus, humans possess relationship maintenance mechanisms to protect against threats from those who serve as attractive alternatives or intrasexual rivals. Many studies have indicated that romantic love can act as a commitment device to activate these mechanisms. To examine the attentional bias associated with relationship maintenance among 108 college students (49 single and 59 committed females in China, we used a semantic priming procedure to activate mental representations associated with romantic love and then asked participants to complete a dot-probe task for the purpose of making a distinction between the engage and disengage components of attention. No significant engaging effects toward attractive faces were observed among committed females, but the following significant disengaging effects were found: when primed with romantic love, single females showed increased attention toward and difficulty in disengaging from attractive male faces, whereas females already in a committed relationship did not alter their attention, remaining as inattentive to attractive alternatives as they were in the baseline condition. In addition, committed females responded to love priming by exhibiting difficulty in disengaging from attractive rivals. The present findings provide evidence in the Chinese cultural context for the existence of early-stage attentional processes in the domain of relationship maintenance that committed Chinese females protected an ongoing relationship by not only being inattentive to attractive males who could serve as attractive alternatives, but also being more attentive to attractive females who could be potential rivals when mental representations associated with romantic love were primed.

Attentional Biases toward Attractive Alternatives and Rivals: Mechanisms Involved in Relationship Maintenance among Chinese Women

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Yidan; Zhao, Guang; Tu, Shen; Zheng, Yong

2015-01-01

A long-term romantic relationship can offer many benefits to committed individuals. Thus, humans possess relationship maintenance mechanisms to protect against threats from those who serve as attractive alternatives or intrasexual rivals. Many studies have indicated that romantic love can act as a commitment device to activate these mechanisms. To examine the attentional bias associated with relationship maintenance among 108 college students (49 single and 59 committed females) in China, we used a semantic priming procedure to activate mental representations associated with romantic love and then asked participants to complete a dot-probe task for the purpose of making a distinction between the engage and disengage components of attention. No significant engaging effects toward attractive faces were observed among committed females, but the following significant disengaging effects were found: when primed with romantic love, single females showed increased attention toward and difficulty in disengaging from attractive male faces, whereas females already in a committed relationship did not alter their attention, remaining as inattentive to attractive alternatives as they were in the baseline condition. In addition, committed females responded to love priming by exhibiting difficulty in disengaging from attractive rivals. The present findings provide evidence in the Chinese cultural context for the existence of early-stage attentional processes in the domain of relationship maintenance that committed Chinese females protected an ongoing relationship by not only being inattentive to attractive males who could serve as attractive alternatives, but also being more attentive to attractive females who could be potential rivals when mental representations associated with romantic love were primed. PMID:26309232

Do Orgasms Give Women Feedback about Mate Choice?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gordon G. Gallup

2014-04-01

Full Text Available The current study represents a preliminary investigation of the extent to which female orgasm functions to promote good mate choices. Based on a survey of heterosexual female college students in committed relationships, how often women experienced orgasm as a result of sexual intercourse was related to their partner's family income, his self-confidence, and how attractive he was. Orgasm intensity was also related to how attracted they were to their partners, how many times they had sex per week, and ratings of sexual satisfaction. Those with partners who their friends rated as more attractive also tended to have more intense orgasms. Orgasm frequency was highly correlated (r = .82 with orgasm intensity, and orgasm intensity was a marginally better predictor of sexual satisfaction than orgasm frequency. Sexual satisfaction was related to how physically attracted women were to their partner and the breadth of his shoulders. Women who began having sexual intercourse at earlier ages had more sex partners, experienced more orgasms, and were more sexually satisfied with their partners. We also identified an ensemble of partner psychological traits (motivation, intelligence, focus, and determination that predicted how often women initiated sexual intercourse. Their partner's sense of humor not only predicted his self-confidence and family income, but it also predicted women's propensity to initiate sex, how often they had sex, and it enhanced their orgasm frequency in comparison with other partners.

Misattribution of musical arousal increases sexual attraction towards opposite-sex faces in females.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Manuela M Marin

Full Text Available Several theories about the origins of music have emphasized its biological and social functions, including in courtship. Music may act as a courtship display due to its capacity to vary in complexity and emotional content. Support for music's reproductive function comes from the recent finding that only women in the fertile phase of the reproductive cycle prefer composers of complex melodies to composers of simple ones as short-term sexual partners, which is also in line with the ovulatory shift hypothesis. However, the precise mechanisms by which music may influence sexual attraction are unknown, specifically how music may interact with visual attractiveness cues and affect perception and behaviour in both genders. Using a crossmodal priming paradigm, we examined whether listening to music influences ratings of facial attractiveness and dating desirability of opposite-sex faces. We also tested whether misattribution of arousal or pleasantness underlies these effects, and explored whether sex differences and menstrual cycle phase may be moderators. Our sample comprised 64 women in the fertile or infertile phase (no hormonal contraception use and 32 men, carefully matched for mood, relationship status, and musical preferences. Musical primes (25 s varied in arousal and pleasantness, and targets were photos of faces with neutral expressions (2 s. Group-wise analyses indicated that women, but not men, gave significantly higher ratings of facial attractiveness and dating desirability after having listened to music than in the silent control condition. High-arousing, complex music yielded the largest effects, suggesting that music may affect human courtship behaviour through induced arousal, which calls for further studies on the mechanisms by which music affects sexual attraction in real-life social contexts.

Fatal attraction phenomenon in humans – cat odour attractiveness increased for Toxoplasma-infected men while decreased for infected women

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Flegr, J.; Lenochová, P.; Hodný, Zdeněk; Vondrová, M.

2011-01-01

Roč. 5, č. 11 (2011), e1389 ISSN 1935-2735 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z50520514 Keywords : toxoplasmosis * fatal attraction phenomenon * urine odour Subject RIV: EB - Genetics ; Molecular Biology Impact factor: 4.716, year: 2011

Associations among facial masculinity, physical strength, fluctuating asymmetry and attractiveness in young men and women.

Science.gov (United States)

Van Dongen, Stefan

2014-01-01

Studies of the process of human mate selection and attractiveness have assumed that selection favours morphological features that correlate with (genetic) quality. Degree of masculinity/femininity and fluctuating asymmetry (FA) may signal (genetic) quality, but what information they harboured and how they relate to fitness is still debated. To study strength of associations between facial masculinity/femininity, facial FA, attractiveness and physical strength in humans. Two-hundred young males and females were studied by measuring facial asymmetry and masculinity on the basis of frontal photographs. Attractiveness was determined on the basis of scores given by an anonymous panel, and physical strength using hand grip strength. Patterns differed markedly between males and females and analysis method used (univariate vs multivariate). Overall, no associations between FA and attractiveness, masculinity and physical strength were found. In females, but not males, masculinity and attractiveness correlated negatively and masculinity and physical strength correlated positively. Further research into the differences between males and females in associations between facial morphology, attractiveness and physical strength is clearly needed. The use of a multivariate approach can increase our understanding of which regions of the face harbour specific information of hormone levels and perhaps behavioural traits.

Existential neuroscience: effects of mortality salience on the neurocognitive processing of attractive opposite-sex faces

Science.gov (United States)

Silveira, Sarita; Graupmann, Verena; Agthe, Maria; Gutyrchik, Evgeny; Blautzik, Janusch; Demirçapa, Idil; Berndt, Andrea; Pöppel, Ernst; Frey, Dieter; Reiser, Maximilian

2014-01-01

Being reminded of the inherently finite nature of human existence has been demonstrated to elicit strivings for sexual reproduction and the formation and maintenance of intimate relationships. Recently, it has been proposed that the perception of potential mating partners is influenced by mortality salience. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we investigated the neurocognitive processing of attractive opposite-sex faces after priming with death-related words for heterosexual men and women. Significant modulations of behavioral and neural responses were found when participants were requested to decide whether they would like to meet the presented person. Men were more in favor of meeting attractive women after being primed with death-related words compared to a no-prime condition. Increased neural activation could be found under mortality salience in the left anterior insula and the adjacent lateral prefrontal cortex (lPFC) for both men and women. As previously suggested, we believe that the lPFC activation reflects an approach-motivated defense mechanism to overcome concerns that are induced by being reminded of death and dying. Our results provide insight on a neurocognitive level that approach motivation in general, and mating motivation in particular is modulated by mortality salience. PMID:24078106

The shape of beauty: determinants of female physical attractiveness.

Science.gov (United States)

Fisher, Maryanne L; Voracek, Martin

2006-06-01

Rarely has one research area gained as much attention as that which is observed for female physical attractiveness. The past decade has resulted in numerous, exciting developments, particularly with respect to three proposed determinants of beauty: waist to hip ratio (WHR), body mass index (BMI), and curvaceousness. The goal of our paper is to provide a highly necessary review of contemporary research on the female attractiveness, including an in-depth examination of these factors. In our review, we first discuss WHR, an index of fat deposition, which is calculated by measuring the circumference of the waist compared to the circumference of the hips. WHR is controlled by the sex hormones, and increases as women age, and hence, may influence perceptions of attractiveness. This factor has been hotly contested, as some researchers have claimed that a WHR of approximately 0.7 is universally most attractive, whereas others have found inconsistent findings, or suggest the importance of other factors, such as BMI. Body mass index (BMI), calculated by dividing the body weight (in kilograms) by height (in meters) squared, serves as a measure of body fat. Although WHR and BMI are correlated, they lead to different conclusions, and the importance of BMI as a measure of female attractiveness is debated in the literature. Similar to WHR research, BMI and its role in attractiveness is not cross-culturally consistent and is affected by the availability of resources within a given environment. It may be the case that both WHR and BMI influence female attractiveness. However, there has been little investigation of this possibility. We have explored this issue in our research, which revealed that both influence attractiveness, but in addition, we noticed that curvaceousness was also a factor. Curvaceousness is the degree of "hourglass" shape as determined, for example, by the size of the bust, relative to the circumference of the hips and waist, and the size of the buttocks. However

Cues of upper body strength account for most of the variance in men's bodily attractiveness.

Science.gov (United States)

Sell, Aaron; Lukazsweski, Aaron W; Townsley, Michael

2017-12-20

Evolution equips sexually reproducing species with mate choice mechanisms that function to evaluate the reproductive consequences of mating with different individuals. Indeed, evolutionary psychologists have shown that women's mate choice mechanisms track many cues of men's genetic quality and ability to invest resources in the woman and her offspring. One variable that predicted both a man's genetic quality and his ability to invest is the man's formidability (i.e. fighting ability or resource holding power/potential). Modern women, therefore, should have mate choice mechanisms that respond to ancestral cues of a man's fighting ability. One crucial component of a man's ability to fight is his upper body strength. Here, we test how important physical strength is to men's bodily attractiveness. Three sets of photographs of men's bodies were shown to raters who estimated either their physical strength or their attractiveness. Estimates of physical strength determined over 70% of men's bodily attractiveness. Additional analyses showed that tallness and leanness were also favoured, and, along with estimates of physical strength, accounted for 80% of men's bodily attractiveness. Contrary to popular theories of men's physical attractiveness, there was no evidence of a nonlinear effect; the strongest men were the most attractive in all samples. © 2017 The Author(s).

Women's fertility across the cycle increases the short-term attractiveness of creative intelligence.

Science.gov (United States)

Haselton, Martie G; Miller, Geoffrey F

2006-03-01

Male provisioning ability may have evolved as a "good dad" indicator through sexual selection, whereas male creativity may have evolved partly as a "good genes" indicator. If so, women near peak fertility (midcycle) should prefer creativity over wealth, especially in short-term mating. Forty-one normally cycling women read vignettes describing creative but poor men vs. uncreative but rich men. Women's estimated fertility predicted their short-term (but not long-term) preference for creativity over wealth, in both their desirability ratings of individual men (r=.40, p<.01) and their forced-choice decisions between men (r=.46, p<.01). These preliminary results are consistent with the view that creativity evolved at least partly as a good genes indicator through mate choice.

Depression and anxiety in patients with and without same-sex attraction: differences in clinical expression, lifestyle factors, and vulnerability indicators.

Science.gov (United States)

Bos, Henny M W; Boschloo, Lynn; Schoevers, Robert A; Sandfort, Theo G M

2015-09-01

The aim of this study was to compare clinical expressions (severity and loneliness), lifestyle factors (substance use), and vulnerability indicators (stressful childhood experiences) in patients with any same-sex attraction versus heterosexual patients diagnosed with depression and/or anxiety disorder. Little is known about this, even though it is now well documented that depression and anxiety are more prevalent among persons with same-sex attraction. Data, derived from the Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety (NESDA), allowed us to compare patients with a same-sex (n = 122) and an exclusively opposite-sex (n = 1658) attraction. Persons with same-sex attraction included persons who were attracted to both sexes. Data were collected by means of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview and paper-and pencil questionnaires. Seven percent of the patients reported any same-sex orientation. Clinical expression of depression and anxiety did not differ in relation to sexual attraction. Regarding substance use, same-sex attracted women reported more drug use than heterosexual women (drug use: 16.2% vs. 6.6%, P = 0.003). Regarding stressful childhood experiences, men with any same-sex attraction reported more sexual abuse during childhood than men with a heterosexual orientation (20.4% vs. 8.5%, P = 0.005). For women with same-sex attraction substance use (especially illicit drug use) might be a coping mechanism to deal with existing symptoms or with the minority stressors they have to deal with; for same-sex attracted men stressful childhood experiences might reflect an aspect of etiology.

Attracting International Hotels

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Assaf, A. George; Josiassen, Alexander; Agbola, Frank Wogbe

2015-01-01

With the increased international competition facing hotel chains, it is essential that the next destination they enter is the most attractive option possible. The host destinations too have a keen interest in strategically positioning themselves in order to attract international hotels since...... their presence has several positive effects. Using, for the first time, actual on-location data we investigate the factors that matter most for international hotels when selecting host destinations. Specifically, we identify 23 factors that make a destination an attractive (or unattractive) location...... for international hotels. We then rank these. The results show that welcomeness, infrastructure, and crime rate are the three most important factors that influence the location of international hotels in host destinations....

Analysis of Attentional Bias towards Attractive and Unattractive Body Regions among Overweight Males and Females: An Eye-Movement Study.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Petra Warschburger

Full Text Available Body image distortion is highly prevalent among overweight individuals. Whilst there is evidence that body-dissatisfied women and those suffering from disordered eating show a negative attentional bias towards their own unattractive body parts and others' attractive body parts, little is known about visual attention patterns in the area of obesity and with respect to males. Since eating disorders and obesity share common features in terms of distorted body image and body dissatisfaction, the aim of this study was to examine whether overweight men and women show a similar attentional bias.We analyzed eye movements in 30 overweight individuals (18 females and 28 normal-weight individuals (16 females with respect to the participants' own pictures as well as gender- and BMI-matched control pictures (front and back view. Additionally, we assessed body image and disordered eating using validated questionnaires.The overweight sample rated their own body as less attractive and showed a more disturbed body image. Contrary to our assumptions, they focused significantly longer on attractive compared to unattractive regions of both their own and the control body. For one's own body, this was more pronounced for women. A higher weight status and more frequent body checking predicted attentional bias towards attractive body parts. We found that overweight adults exhibit an unexpected and stable pattern of selective attention, with a distinctive focus on their own attractive body regions despite higher levels of body dissatisfaction. This positive attentional bias may either be an indicator of a more pronounced pattern of attentional avoidance or a self-enhancing strategy. Further research is warranted to clarify these results.

Analysis of Attentional Bias towards Attractive and Unattractive Body Regions among Overweight Males and Females: An Eye-Movement Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Warschburger, Petra; Calvano, Claudia; Richter, Eike M; Engbert, Ralf

2015-01-01

Body image distortion is highly prevalent among overweight individuals. Whilst there is evidence that body-dissatisfied women and those suffering from disordered eating show a negative attentional bias towards their own unattractive body parts and others' attractive body parts, little is known about visual attention patterns in the area of obesity and with respect to males. Since eating disorders and obesity share common features in terms of distorted body image and body dissatisfaction, the aim of this study was to examine whether overweight men and women show a similar attentional bias. We analyzed eye movements in 30 overweight individuals (18 females) and 28 normal-weight individuals (16 females) with respect to the participants' own pictures as well as gender- and BMI-matched control pictures (front and back view). Additionally, we assessed body image and disordered eating using validated questionnaires. The overweight sample rated their own body as less attractive and showed a more disturbed body image. Contrary to our assumptions, they focused significantly longer on attractive compared to unattractive regions of both their own and the control body. For one's own body, this was more pronounced for women. A higher weight status and more frequent body checking predicted attentional bias towards attractive body parts. We found that overweight adults exhibit an unexpected and stable pattern of selective attention, with a distinctive focus on their own attractive body regions despite higher levels of body dissatisfaction. This positive attentional bias may either be an indicator of a more pronounced pattern of attentional avoidance or a self-enhancing strategy. Further research is warranted to clarify these results.

Sweet attraction: sugarcane pollen-associated volatiles attract gravid Anopheles arabiensis.

Science.gov (United States)

Wondwosen, Betelehem; Birgersson, Göran; Tekie, Habte; Torto, Baldwyn; Ignell, Rickard; Hill, Sharon R

2018-02-21

Anopheles arabiensis is a key vector for the transmission of human malaria in sub-Saharan Africa. Over the past 10,000 years, humans have successfully cultivated grasses and altered the landscape, creating An. arabiensis favourable environments that contain excellent habitats for both larvae and adults. Sugarcane is the most expanding agricultural system in sub-Saharan Africa, and is linked to the increased threat of malaria in rural communities. The prolific production and wind dispersal of sugarcane pollen, together with standing pools of water, often provide, as a result of irrigation, a nutrient-rich environment for the offspring of gravid malaria mosquitoes. In the present study, sugarcane pollen-associated volatiles from two cultivars are shown to attract gravid An. arabiensis in a still air two-port olfactometer and stimulate egg laying in an oviposition bioassay. Through combined gas chromatography and electroantennographic detection, as well as combined gas chromatography and mass spectrometric analyses, we identified the bioactive volatiles and generated a synthetic blend that reproduced the full behavioural repertoire of gravid mosquitoes in the Y-tube assay. Two subtractive odour blends, when compared with the full blend, were significantly more attractive. These three and four-component subtractive blends share the compounds (1R)-(+)-α-pinene, nonanal and benzaldehyde, of which, (1R)-(+)-α-pinene and nonanal are found in the attractive odour blends from rice plants and maize pollen. In pairwise comparisons, the rice synthetic odour blend was more attractive to gravid mosquitoes than either of the pollen blends, whereas the pollen blends did not differ in attraction. The attraction of gravid females to sugarcane pollen volatiles demonstrated in this study, together with the previously found grass-associated volatiles, raise the potential of developing a bioactive chimeric blend to attract gravid malaria mosquitoes. This is discussed in relation to

Sex Differences in the Implications of Partner Physical Attractiveness for the Trajectory of Marital Satisfaction

OpenAIRE

Meltzer, Andrea L.; McNulty, James K.; Jackson, Grace; Karney, Benjamin R.

2013-01-01

Do men value physical attractiveness in a mate more than women? Scientists in numerous disciplines believe that they do, but recent research using speed-dating paradigms suggests that males and females are equally influenced by physical attractiveness when choosing potential mates. Nevertheless, the premise of the current work is that sex differences in the importance of physical attractiveness are most likely to emerge in research on long-term relationships. Accordingly, the current work dre...

Adaptive Allocation of Attention: Effects of Sex and Sociosexuality on Visual Attention to Attractive Opposite-Sex Faces.

Science.gov (United States)

Duncan, Lesley A; Park, Justin H; Faulkner, Jason; Schaller, Mark; Neuberg, Steven L; Kenrick, Douglas T

2007-09-01

We tested the hypothesis that, compared with sociosexually restricted individuals, those with an unrestricted approach to mating would selectively allocate visual attention to attractive opposite-sex others. We also tested for sex differences in this effect. Seventy-four participants completed the Sociosexual Orientation Inventory, and performed a computer-based task that assessed the speed with which they detected changes in attractive and unattractive male and female faces. Differences in reaction times served as indicators of selective attention. Results revealed a Sex X Sociosexuality interaction: Compared with sociosexually restricted men, unrestricted men selectively allocated attention to attractive opposite-sex others; no such effect emerged among women. This finding was specific to opposite-sex targets and did not occur in attention to same-sex others. These results contribute to a growing literature on the adaptive allocation of attention in social environments.

Resources, attractiveness, family commitment; reproductive decisions in human mate choice.

Science.gov (United States)

Bereczkei, T; Voros, S; Gal, A; Bernath, L

1997-08-01

This study of reproductive decisions in human mate selection used data from "lonely hearts" advertisements to examine a series of predictions based on the mate preferences of male and females relating to age; physical appearance; financial condition and socioeconomic status; family commitment and personal traits; short- and long-term mating; and marital status and preexisting children. The sample consisted of 1000 personal advertisements (500 male) placed in two daily, national papers between February and October 1994 in Hungary. The research procedure included a pilot study of 150 advertisers (75 male) to refine the categories examined. Analysis was performed using 1) a matrix with one axis referring to offers and the other to demands of males and females separately; 2) a matrix of offers only to derive correlated traits of claims by males and females; and 3) a matrix with columns describing sex, offers, demands, advertiser's age, and required age and a row for each of the 1000 samples. It was found that men preferred younger mates, while women preferred older ones. Men were more likely to seek physical attractiveness, while women were more likely to seek financial resources (ranked 7th) and high status (ranked 6th). Women strongly preferred male domestic virtue and family commitment, and twice as many women as men demanded long-term relationships. Women more frequently declared preexisting children, and men exhibited a reluctance to accept these children. Both males and females employed "trade-off" strategies, making greater demands if they felt they had attractive offers.

High Status Men (but Not Women Capture the Eye of the Beholder

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. Nathan DeWall

2008-04-01

Full Text Available Two studies tested the hypothesis that people attend preferentially to high status men (but not women. Participants overestimated the frequency of high status men in rapidly presented arrays (Experiment 1 and fixated their visual attention on high status men in an eye-tracking study (Experiment 2. Neither study showed any evidence of preferential attention to high status women, but there was evidence that physically attractive women captured attention. The results from both studies support evolutionary theories regarding differential prioritization of social status and physical attractiveness in men versus women. These findings illustrate how examination of early-in-the-stream social cognition can provide useful insights into the adapted mind.

Embarrassing Age Spots or Just Plain Ugly? Physical Attractiveness Stereotyping as an Instrument of Sexism on American Television Commercials.

Science.gov (United States)

Downs, A. Chris; Harrison, Sheila K.

1985-01-01

Study examines frequency of attractiveness-based messages on 4,294 network television commercials. Attractiveness statements appear to be associated more with food and drink and personal care ads and with female performers and male voice-overs. Implications of an association of women and attractiveness on television are explored. (Author/SA)

Drawing Women In: Engaging in Science and Engineering Disciplines

Science.gov (United States)

Greene, Senta

2013-03-01

Recent data on the participation of women in the scientific, technological, engineering, and mathematical (STEM) disciplines shows a landscape that is somewhat different from our expectations in the past. For example, women who earn bachelors' degrees in physics go on to earn PhDs, be hired to faculty positions, and achieve promotions at the same rate as their male counterparts. However, such gains do not foretell equal participation of women in physics since, although girls make up about half of high school physics classes, the fraction of bachelor's degrees earned by women has been flat at around 20% for about a decade. This remains true even with significantly increased awareness of the need to attract more women to STEM fields and despite various interventions to attract and retain talented women. This talk will present an overview of data on women's participation in STEM disciplines, provide possible explanations for the continued failure to attract women to some STEM fields, and give a brief description of some current interventions.

Finnish women and men who self-report no sexual attraction in the past 12 months: prevalence, relationship status, and sexual behavior history.

Science.gov (United States)

Höglund, Jannike; Jern, Patrick; Sandnabba, N Kenneth; Santtila, Pekka

2014-07-01

The aim of the present study was to investigate the prevalence of not reporting sexual attraction in the past year and its associations with factors related to partner relations as well as sexuality-related characteristics in a population-based sample of Finnish twins. The present study was based on a total of 3,540 participants (1,304 men and 2,236 women) aged 33-43 years. A total of 19 men and 73 women reported complete absence of sexual interest in women or men during the past year. Older age was associated with absence of sexual interest in the past year in women, but not men. Individuals who reported absence of sexual interest in the past year were more likely than individuals who reported sexual interest to be single, but those who were in a relationship did not express more dissatisfaction with their relationships. Individuals who reported absence of sexual interest in the past year had had fewer sexual partners and reported less experience of sexual behavior in childhood. Women who reported no sexual interest in the past year, but who were nevertheless sexually active, reported higher frequencies of sexual dysfunctions than matched controls. No significant differences regarding the tendency to fake orgasm were found between the sexually active individuals who reported absence of sexual interest in the past year and the group of matched controls. The present study suggests that absence of sexual interest may be a lifelong phenomenon which does not necessarily affect relationship satisfaction, but is associated with variation in sexual behaviors.

Psychiatric symptoms and same-sex sexual attraction and behavior in light of childhood gender atypical behavior and parental relationships.

Science.gov (United States)

Alanko, Katarina; Santtila, Pekka; Witting, Katarina; Varjonen, Markus; Jern, Patrik; Johansson, Ada; von der Pahlen, Bettina; Kenneth Sandnabba, N

2009-01-01

This study explores the relation between the level of current symptoms of depression and anxiety and recalled childhood gender atypical behavior (GAB), and quality of relationships with parents among men and women who reported same-sex sexual attraction or engaged in same-sex sexual behavior and men and women who did not. Matched pairs, 79 men (n = 158) and 148 women (n = 296), with equal levels of GAB were created of Finnish participants with either same-sex sexual attraction or behavior and participants without. The measures used were retrospective questionnaires. Ratings of maternal and paternal over-control and coldness differed as a function of same-sex sexual attraction or behavior. Childhood GAB was correlated with negative ratings of parental relationships. Both same-sex sexual attraction or behavior and a history of childhood GAB affected the reported levels of current depression and anxiety. Only gender typical participants with no same-sex sexual attraction or behavior reported significantly lower levels of symptoms. The findings suggest that childhood GAB is related to later distress both among hetero- and homosexual individuals. The elevated level of psychological distress among homosexual individuals, reported in several studies, might--to some extent--be caused by their generally higher levels of childhood GAB as opposed to a homosexual orientation per se.

Attracting Girls into Physics (abstract)

Science.gov (United States)

Gadalla, Afaf

2009-04-01

A recent international study of women in physics showed that enrollment in physics and science is declining for both males and females and that women are severely underrepresented in careers requiring a strong physics background. The gender gap begins early in the pipeline, from the first grade. Girls are treated differently than boys at home and in society in ways that often hinder their chances for success. They have fewer freedoms, are discouraged from accessing resources or being adventurous, have far less exposure to problem solving, and are not encouraged to choose their lives. In order to motivate more girl students to study physics in the Assiut governorate of Egypt, the Assiut Alliance for the Women and Assiut Education District collaborated in renovating the education of physics in middle and secondary school classrooms. A program that helps in increasing the number of girls in science and physics has been designed in which informal groupings are organized at middle and secondary schools to involve girls in the training and experiences needed to attract and encourage girls to learn physics. During implementation of the program at some schools, girls, because they had not been trained in problem-solving as boys, appeared not to be as facile in abstracting the ideas of physics, and that was the primary reason for girls dropping out of science and physics. This could be overcome by holding a topical physics and technology summer school under the supervision of the Assiut Alliance for the Women.

An Adult Developmental Approach to Perceived Facial Attractiveness and Distinctiveness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Natalie C. Ebner

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Attractiveness and distinctiveness constitute facial features with high biological and social relevance. Bringing a developmental perspective to research on social-cognitive face perception, we used a large set of faces taken from the FACES Lifespan Database to examine effects of face and perceiver characteristics on subjective evaluations of attractiveness and distinctiveness in young (20–31 years, middle-aged (44–55 years, and older (70–81 years men and women. We report novel findings supporting variations by face and perceiver age, in interaction with gender and emotion: although older and middle-aged compared to young perceivers generally rated faces of all ages as more attractive, young perceivers gave relatively higher attractiveness ratings to young compared to middle-aged and older faces. Controlling for variations in attractiveness, older compared to young faces were viewed as more distinctive by young and middle-aged perceivers. Age affected attractiveness more negatively for female than male faces. Furthermore, happy faces were rated as most attractive, while disgusted faces were rated as least attractive, particularly so by middle-aged and older perceivers and for young and female faces. Perceivers largely agreed on distinctiveness ratings for neutral and happy emotions, but older and middle-aged compared to young perceivers rated faces displaying negative emotions as more distinctive. These findings underscore the importance of a lifespan perspective on perception of facial characteristics and suggest possible effects of age on goal-directed perception, social motivation, and in-group bias. This publication makes available picture-specific normative data for experimental stimulus selection.

From the depletion attraction to the bridging attraction: the effect of solvent molecules on the effective colloidal interactions.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Jie; Kline, Steven R; Liu, Yun

2015-02-28

Depletion attraction induced by non-adsorbing polymers or small particles in colloidal solutions has been widely used as a model colloidal interaction to understand aggregation behavior and phase diagrams, such as glass transitions and gelation. However, much less attention has been paid to study the effective colloidal interaction when small particles/molecules can be reversibly attracted to large colloidal particles. At the strong attraction limit, small particles can introduce bridging attraction as it can simultaneously attach to neighbouring large colloidal particles. We use Baxter's multi-component method for sticky hard sphere systems with the Percus-Yevick approximation to study the bridging attraction and its consequence to phase diagrams, which are controlled by the concentration of small particles and their interaction with large particles. When the concentration of small particles is very low, the bridging attraction strength increases very fast with the increase of small particle concentration. The attraction strength eventually reaches a maximum bridging attraction (MBA). Adding more small particles after the MBA concentration keeps decreasing the attraction strength until reaching a concentration above which the net effect of small particles only introduces an effective repulsion between large colloidal particles. These behaviors are qualitatively different from the concentration dependence of the depletion attraction on small particles and make phase diagrams very rich for bridging attraction systems. We calculate the spinodal and binodal regions, the percolation lines, the MBA lines, and the equivalent hard sphere interaction line for bridging attraction systems and have proposed a simple analytic solution to calculate the effective attraction strength using the concentrations of large and small particles. Our theoretical results are found to be consistent with experimental results reported recently.

National Survey Results: Retention of Women in Collegiate Aviation

Science.gov (United States)

Turney, Mary Ann; Bishop, James C.; Karp, Merrill R.; Niemczyk, Mary; Sitler, Ruth L.; Green, Mavis F.

2002-01-01

Since the numbers of women pursuing technical careers in aviation continues to remain very low, a study on retention of women was undertaken by a team of university faculty from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, Arizona State University, and Kent State University. The study was initiated to discover the factors that influence women once they have already selected an aviation career and to ascertain what could be done to support those women who have demonstrated a serious interest in an aviation career by enrolling in a collegiate aviation program. This paper reports preliminary results of data collected in the first and second years of the study. The data was collected from surveys of 390 college students (195 women and 195 men) majoring in aviation programs in nine colleges and universities, representing widely varied geographic areas and including both two- and four-year institutions. Results revealed significant areas of concern among women in pilot training. When queried about these concerns, differences were evident in the responses of the male and female groups. These differences were expected. However, a surprising finding was that women in early stages of pilot training responded differently from women in more experienced stages, These response differences did not occur among the men surveyed. The results, therefore, suggest that women in experienced stages of training may have gone through an adaptation process and reflect more male-like attitudes about a number of objects, including social issues, confidence, family, and career.

INVESTMENT ATTRACTIVENESS OF ENTERPRISES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nadiia Davydenko

2017-03-01

Full Text Available In the article the approaches to defining the essence of the concept of “investment attractiveness of enterprises” were analyzed. On the example of "Agrofirm Brusilov" depth analysis of the agricultural enterprises to evaluate of profitability, liquidity, solvency, financial stability, the timing of the return of invested funds and minimizing investment risks was conducted. To study methods of rating and system analysis were used. To justify the conditions of  increasing investment attractiveness farms method of scoring was used. It was established as a result of the use of integrated evaluation of the financial position one can see problem aspects of financial position of the company and develop measures to enhance liquidity, solvency, identify potential for raising the efficiency of company and prevention of financial crisis. The analysis of financial position showed that the management of the enterprise doesn’t  think  about  financial stability and solvency, does not understand the benefit of borrowed capital. Using research results in practice of agricultural enterprises allows us to give a real evaluation of investment attractiveness and justify ways to improve it. Key words: investments, investment attractiveness, potential business, financial position.

The path to science is steeper for women

CERN Multimedia

2009-01-01

The SET-Routes programme, launched in 2007 with the goal of attracting girls and young women to careers in science, came to an end in April this year. The result of a collaboration between EMBL, EMBO and CERN, the programme established a network of "ambassadors", women scientists who went out to talk about their careers in science at schools and universities across Europe.

Eye-mouth-eye angle as a good indicator of face masculinization, asymmetry, and attractiveness (Homo sapiens).

Science.gov (United States)

Danel, Dariusz; Pawlowski, Boguslaw

2007-05-01

Past research on male facial attractiveness has been limited by the reliance on facialmetric measures that are less than ideal. In particular, some of these measures are face size dependent and show only weak sexual dimorphism, which limits the ability to identify the relationship between masculinization and attractiveness. Here, the authors show that eye-mouth-eye (EME) angle is a quantitative and face size independent trait that is sexually dimorphic and a good indicator of masculinity and face symmetry. Using frontal photographs of female and male faces, the authors first confirmed that the EME angle (measured with the vertex in the middle of the mouth and the arms crossing the centers of pupils) was highly sexually dimorphic. Then, using pictures of young male faces whose attractiveness was assessed on a 7-point scale by young women, the authors showed that attractiveness rate was negatively correlated with EME angle and with the angle asymmetry. The results are compared with those that could be obtained with interpupilary or upper face height measurements. The authors discuss the relationship between attractiveness and both EME angle and its symmetry in the light of evolutionary psychology.

Positive illusions about one's partner's physical attractiveness.

Science.gov (United States)

Barelds-Dijkstra, Pieternel; Barelds, Dick P H

2008-03-01

This study examined couples' ratings of self and partner physical attractiveness. On the basis of the theory of positive illusions, it was expected that individuals would rate their partners as more attractive than their partners would rate themselves. Both members of 93 heterosexual couples, with a mean relationship length of about 14 years, provided ratings of both their own and their partner's physical attractiveness. Results support the theory that individuals hold positive illusions about their partner's physical attractiveness. Implications of these results in terms of relationship-enhancing biases are discussed.

Women's hair as a cue to desired relationship and parenting characteristics.

Science.gov (United States)

Matz, David C; Hinsz, Verlin B

2017-10-30

We investigated how women's hair color (blond, brown, black) and length (short, medium, long) influences males' judgments about the women's age, health, physical attractiveness, relationship potential, and parenting capability. Results, which are generally consistent with evolutionary psychology approaches, indicate that hair color and, to a lesser extent, length can affect perceptions of personal characteristics. More specifically, we found that lighter hair (blond and brown) compared to darker hair (black) is generally associated with perceptions of youth, health and attractiveness, and generally leads to more positive perceptions of relationship and parenting potential. Furthermore, the relationships between variables suggest that characteristics directly related to reproductive potential may be inferred from more obvious indirect characteristics. These results suggest that males are able to make complex judgments about women concerning their desirable relationship and parenting potential based on discernable characteristics such as hair color and length.

Reproductive strategy, sexual development and attraction to facial characteristics.

Science.gov (United States)

Cornwell, R Elisabeth; Law Smith, Miriam J; Boothroyd, Lynda G; Moore, Fhionna R; Davis, Hasker P; Stirrat, Michael; Tiddeman, Bernard; Perrett, David I

2006-12-29

Sexual reproduction strategies vary both between and within species in the level of investment in offspring. Life-history theories suggest that the rate of sexual maturation is critically linked to reproductive strategy, with high investment being associated with few offspring and delayed maturation. For humans, age of puberty and age of first sex are two developmental milestones that have been associated with reproductive strategies. Stress during early development can retard or accelerate sexual maturation and reproduction. Early age of menarche is associated with absence of younger siblings, absence of a father figure during early life and increased weight. Father absence during early life is also associated with early marriage, pregnancy and divorce. Choice of partner characteristics is critical to successful implementation of sexual strategies. It has been suggested that sexually dimorphic traits (including those evident in the face) signal high-quality immune function and reproductive status. Masculinity in males has also been associated with low investment in mate and offspring. Thus, women's reproductive strategy should be matched to the probability of male investment, hence to male masculinity. Our review leads us to predict associations between the rate of sexual maturation and adult preferences for facial characteristics (enhanced sexual dimorphism and attractiveness). We find for men, engaging in sex at an early age is related to an increased preference for feminized female faces. Similarly, for women, the earlier the age of first sex the greater the preference for masculinity in opposite-sex faces. When we controlled sexual dimorphism in male faces, the speed of sexual development in women was not associated with differences in preference for male facial attractiveness. These developmental influences on partner choice were not mediated by self-rated attractiveness or parental relationships. We conclude that individuals assort in preferences based on

Reproductive strategy, sexual development and attraction to facial characteristics

Science.gov (United States)

Cornwell, R. Elisabeth; Law Smith, Miriam J; Boothroyd, Lynda G; Moore, Fhionna R; Davis, Hasker P; Stirrat, Michael; Tiddeman, Bernard; Perrett, David I

2006-01-01

Sexual reproduction strategies vary both between and within species in the level of investment in offspring. Life-history theories suggest that the rate of sexual maturation is critically linked to reproductive strategy, with high investment being associated with few offspring and delayed maturation. For humans, age of puberty and age of first sex are two developmental milestones that have been associated with reproductive strategies. Stress during early development can retard or accelerate sexual maturation and reproduction. Early age of menarche is associated with absence of younger siblings, absence of a father figure during early life and increased weight. Father absence during early life is also associated with early marriage, pregnancy and divorce. Choice of partner characteristics is critical to successful implementation of sexual strategies. It has been suggested that sexually dimorphic traits (including those evident in the face) signal high-quality immune function and reproductive status. Masculinity in males has also been associated with low investment in mate and offspring. Thus, women's reproductive strategy should be matched to the probability of male investment, hence to male masculinity. Our review leads us to predict associations between the rate of sexual maturation and adult preferences for facial characteristics (enhanced sexual dimorphism and attractiveness). We find for men, engaging in sex at an early age is related to an increased preference for feminized female faces. Similarly, for women, the earlier the age of first sex the greater the preference for masculinity in opposite-sex faces. When we controlled sexual dimorphism in male faces, the speed of sexual development in women was not associated with differences in preference for male facial attractiveness. These developmental influences on partner choice were not mediated by self-rated attractiveness or parental relationships. We conclude that individuals assort in preferences based on

Physical attraction to reliable, low variability nervous systems: Reaction time variability predicts attractiveness.

Science.gov (United States)

Butler, Emily E; Saville, Christopher W N; Ward, Robert; Ramsey, Richard

2017-01-01

The human face cues a range of important fitness information, which guides mate selection towards desirable others. Given humans' high investment in the central nervous system (CNS), cues to CNS function should be especially important in social selection. We tested if facial attractiveness preferences are sensitive to the reliability of human nervous system function. Several decades of research suggest an operational measure for CNS reliability is reaction time variability, which is measured by standard deviation of reaction times across trials. Across two experiments, we show that low reaction time variability is associated with facial attractiveness. Moreover, variability in performance made a unique contribution to attractiveness judgements above and beyond both physical health and sex-typicality judgements, which have previously been associated with perceptions of attractiveness. In a third experiment, we empirically estimated the distribution of attractiveness preferences expected by chance and show that the size and direction of our results in Experiments 1 and 2 are statistically unlikely without reference to reaction time variability. We conclude that an operating characteristic of the human nervous system, reliability of information processing, is signalled to others through facial appearance. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A group's physical attractiveness is greater than the average attractiveness of its members : The group attractiveness effect

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Osch, Y.M.J.; Blanken, Irene; Meijs, Maartje H. J.; van Wolferen, Job

2015-01-01

We tested whether the perceived physical attractiveness of a group is greater than the average attractiveness of its members. In nine studies, we find evidence for the so-called group attractiveness effect (GA-effect), using female, male, and mixed-gender groups, indicating that group impressions of

Mate-Choice Copying in Single and Coupled Women: The Influence of Mate Acceptance and Mate Rejection Decisions of other Women

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yan Deng

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Studies of humans and non-human animals indicate that females tend to change the likelihood of choosing a potential mate based on the decisions of other females; this is known as mate-choice copying. In a sample of both single and coupled women, we examined the influence of other women's (model mate-choice decisions, including mate acceptance and mate rejection, on participants' attractiveness ratings of men (target and willingness of mate selection. We also examined whether different types of relationships between the target men and the model women affected mate-choice copying. We found that both the single and coupled women showed mate-choice copying, but their response patterns differed. The significant effects for single women were dependent on a decrease in attractiveness ratings when they perceived the models' mate rejection. However, the significant findings for coupled women relied on an increase in attractiveness ratings when they observed the models' mate acceptance. Furthermore, the relationship status between the target men and the model women affected the magnitude of mate-choice copying effects for the single women. Specifically, they showed less mate-choice copying when the targets and models were in a committed romantic relationship than when in a temporary relationship.

No Compelling Evidence that Preferences for Facial Masculinity Track Changes in Women's Hormonal Status.

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Benedict C; Hahn, Amanda C; Fisher, Claire I; Wang, Hongyi; Kandrik, Michal; Han, Chengyang; Fasolt, Vanessa; Morrison, Danielle; Lee, Anthony J; Holzleitner, Iris J; O'Shea, Kieran J; Roberts, S Craig; Little, Anthony C; DeBruine, Lisa M

2018-06-01

Although widely cited as strong evidence that sexual selection has shaped human facial-attractiveness judgments, findings suggesting that women's preferences for masculine characteristics in men's faces are related to women's hormonal status are equivocal and controversial. Consequently, we conducted the largest-ever longitudinal study of the hormonal correlates of women's preferences for facial masculinity ( N = 584). Analyses showed no compelling evidence that preferences for facial masculinity were related to changes in women's salivary steroid hormone levels. Furthermore, both within-subjects and between-subjects comparisons showed no evidence that oral contraceptive use decreased masculinity preferences. However, women generally preferred masculinized over feminized versions of men's faces, particularly when assessing men's attractiveness for short-term, rather than long-term, relationships. Our results do not support the hypothesized link between women's preferences for facial masculinity and their hormonal status.

Attractive evolutionary equilibria

OpenAIRE

Roorda, Berend; Joosten, Reinoud

2011-01-01

We present attractiveness, a refinement criterion for evolutionary equilibria. Equilibria surviving this criterion are robust to small perturbations of the underlying payoff system or the dynamics at hand. Furthermore, certain attractive equilibria are equivalent to others for certain evolutionary dynamics. For instance, each attractive evolutionarily stable strategy is an attractive evolutionarily stable equilibrium for certain barycentric ray-projection dynamics, and vice versa.

Mental health help seeking patterns and associations among Australian same sex attracted women, trans and gender diverse people: a survey-based study.

Science.gov (United States)

McNair, Ruth P; Bush, Rachel

2016-07-04

Same sex attracted women (SSAW) are disproportionately affected by depression and anxiety, due to experiences of sexuality and gender based discrimination. They access mental health services at higher rates than heterosexual women, however with lower levels of satisfaction. This study examined the range of professional and social help seeking by same-sex attracted women, and patterns according to sexual orientation and gender identity subgroup. Eight key stakeholders were interviewed, and a convenience sample of 1628 Australian SSAW completed an online survey in 2015. This included several scales to measure mental health, community connectedness and resilience; and measured past 12 month help seeking behaviour, enablers, barriers and preferences for mental health care. Chi-square analyses and binary logistic regression analyses examined demographic associations with mental health. Correlations between help seeking, mental and physical health, and connectedness were run. A high proportion (80 %) of the total sample had perceived mental health problems over the past 12 months. Over half had depression, and over 96 % had anxiety. Trans and gender diverse participants were twice as likely as female participants to have mental health problems, and lesbians were least likely. High levels of past 12 month help seeking included 74.4 % seeing a GP, 44.3 % seeing a psychologist/counsellor, 74.7 % seeking family/friends support and 55.2 % using internet based support. Professional help was prioritised by those with higher mental health need. Trans participants were most likely to have sought professional help and participated in support groups, but least likely to have sought help from friends or family. The most common barriers to help seeking were discrimination and lack of LGBTI sensitivity of services, particularly for gender diverse, queer and pansexual participants. Enablers included mainstream community connectedness, having a trustworthy GP, and

Does computer-synthesized speech manifest personality? Experimental tests of recognition, similarity-attraction, and consistency-attraction.

Science.gov (United States)

Nass, C; Lee, K M

2001-09-01

Would people exhibit similarity-attraction and consistency-attraction toward unambiguously computer-generated speech even when personality is clearly not relevant? In Experiment 1, participants (extrovert or introvert) heard a synthesized voice (extrovert or introvert) on a book-buying Web site. Participants accurately recognized personality cues in text to speech and showed similarity-attraction in their evaluation of the computer voice, the book reviews, and the reviewer. Experiment 2, in a Web auction context, added personality of the text to the previous design. The results replicated Experiment 1 and demonstrated consistency (voice and text personality)-attraction. To maximize liking and trust, designers should set parameters, for example, words per minute or frequency range, that create a personality that is consistent with the user and the content being presented.

Nitrate analogs as attractants for soybean cyst nematode.

Science.gov (United States)

Hosoi, Akito; Katsuyama, Tsutomu; Sasaki, Yasuyuki; Kondo, Tatsuhiko; Yajima, Shunsuke; Ito, Shinsaku

2017-08-01

Soybean cyst nematode (SCN) Heterodera glycines Ichinohe, a plant parasite, is one of the most serious pests of soybean. In this paper, we report that SCN is attracted to nitrate and its analogs. We performed attraction assays to screen for novel attractants for SCN and found that nitrates were attractants for SCN and SCN recognized nitrate gradients. However, attraction of SCN to nitrates was not observed on agar containing nitrate. To further elucidate the attraction mechanism in SCN, we performed attraction assays using nitrate analogs ([Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text]). SCN was attracted to all nitrate analogs; however, attraction of SCN to nitrate analogs was not observed on agar containing nitrate. In contrast, SCN was attracted to azuki root, irrespective of presence or absence of nitrate in agar media. Our results suggest that the attraction mechanisms differ between plant-derived attractant and nitrate.

Face inversion increases attractiveness.

Science.gov (United States)

Leder, Helmut; Goller, Juergen; Forster, Michael; Schlageter, Lena; Paul, Matthew A

2017-07-01

Assessing facial attractiveness is a ubiquitous, inherent, and hard-wired phenomenon in everyday interactions. As such, it has highly adapted to the default way that faces are typically processed: viewing faces in upright orientation. By inverting faces, we can disrupt this default mode, and study how facial attractiveness is assessed. Faces, rotated at 90 (tilting to either side) and 180°, were rated on attractiveness and distinctiveness scales. For both orientations, we found that faces were rated more attractive and less distinctive than upright faces. Importantly, these effects were more pronounced for faces rated low in upright orientation, and smaller for highly attractive faces. In other words, the less attractive a face was, the more it gained in attractiveness by inversion or rotation. Based on these findings, we argue that facial attractiveness assessments might not rely on the presence of attractive facial characteristics, but on the absence of distinctive, unattractive characteristics. These unattractive characteristics are potentially weighed against an individual, attractive prototype in assessing facial attractiveness. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The relative contributions of facial shape and surface information to perceptions of attractiveness and dominance.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jaimie S Torrance

Full Text Available Although many studies have investigated the facial characteristics that influence perceptions of others' attractiveness and dominance, the majority of these studies have focused on either the effects of shape information or surface information alone. Consequently, the relative contributions of facial shape and surface characteristics to attractiveness and dominance perceptions are unclear. To address this issue, we investigated the relationships between ratings of original versions of faces and ratings of versions in which either surface information had been standardized (i.e., shape-only versions or shape information had been standardized (i.e., surface-only versions. For attractiveness and dominance judgments of both male and female faces, ratings of shape-only and surface-only versions independently predicted ratings of the original versions of faces. The correlations between ratings of original and shape-only versions and between ratings of original and surface-only versions differed only in two instances. For male attractiveness, ratings of original versions were more strongly related to ratings of surface-only than shape-only versions, suggesting that surface information is particularly important for men's facial attractiveness. The opposite was true for female physical dominance, suggesting that shape information is particularly important for women's facial physical dominance. In summary, our results indicate that both facial shape and surface information contribute to judgments of others' attractiveness and dominance, suggesting that it may be important to consider both sources of information in research on these topics.

The relative contributions of facial shape and surface information to perceptions of attractiveness and dominance.

Science.gov (United States)

Torrance, Jaimie S; Wincenciak, Joanna; Hahn, Amanda C; DeBruine, Lisa M; Jones, Benedict C

2014-01-01

Although many studies have investigated the facial characteristics that influence perceptions of others' attractiveness and dominance, the majority of these studies have focused on either the effects of shape information or surface information alone. Consequently, the relative contributions of facial shape and surface characteristics to attractiveness and dominance perceptions are unclear. To address this issue, we investigated the relationships between ratings of original versions of faces and ratings of versions in which either surface information had been standardized (i.e., shape-only versions) or shape information had been standardized (i.e., surface-only versions). For attractiveness and dominance judgments of both male and female faces, ratings of shape-only and surface-only versions independently predicted ratings of the original versions of faces. The correlations between ratings of original and shape-only versions and between ratings of original and surface-only versions differed only in two instances. For male attractiveness, ratings of original versions were more strongly related to ratings of surface-only than shape-only versions, suggesting that surface information is particularly important for men's facial attractiveness. The opposite was true for female physical dominance, suggesting that shape information is particularly important for women's facial physical dominance. In summary, our results indicate that both facial shape and surface information contribute to judgments of others' attractiveness and dominance, suggesting that it may be important to consider both sources of information in research on these topics.

Ailing voters advance attractive congressional candidates.

Science.gov (United States)

Zebrowitz, Leslie A; Franklin, Robert G; Palumbo, Rocco

2015-01-06

Among many benefits of facial attractiveness, there is evidence that more attractive politicians are more likely to be elected. Recent research found this effect to be most pronounced in congressional districts with high disease threat-a result attributed to an adaptive disease avoidance mechanism, whereby the association of low attractiveness with poor health is particularly worrisome to voters who feel vulnerable to disease. We provided a more direct test of this explanation by examining the effects of individuals' own health and age. Supporting a disease avoidance mechanism, less healthy participants showed a stronger preference for more attractive contenders in U.S. Senate races than their healthier peers, and this effect was stronger for older participants, who were generally less healthy than younger participants. Stronger effects of health for older participants partly reflected the absence of positive bias toward attractive candidates among the healthiest, suggesting that healthy older adults may be unconcerned about disease threat or sufficiently wise to ignore attractiveness.

Heritability of attractiveness to mosquitoes.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G Mandela Fernández-Grandon

Full Text Available Female mosquitoes display preferences for certain individuals over others, which is determined by differences in volatile chemicals produced by the human body and detected by mosquitoes. Body odour can be controlled genetically but the existence of a genetic basis for differential attraction to insects has never been formally demonstrated. This study investigated heritability of attractiveness to mosquitoes by evaluating the response of Aedes aegypti (=Stegomyia aegypti mosquitoes to odours from the hands of identical and non-identical twins in a dual-choice assay. Volatiles from individuals in an identical twin pair showed a high correlation in attractiveness to mosquitoes, while non-identical twin pairs showed a significantly lower correlation. Overall, there was a strong narrow-sense heritability of 0.62 (SE 0.124 for relative attraction and 0.67 (0.354 for flight activity based on the average of ten measurements. The results demonstrate an underlying genetic component detectable by mosquitoes through olfaction. Understanding the genetic basis for attractiveness could create a more informed approach to repellent development.

Differences between self-assessment and external rating of voice with regard to sex characteristics, age, and attractiveness.

Science.gov (United States)

Sandmann, Katja; am Zehnhoff-Dinnesen, Antoinette; Schmidt, Claus-Michael; Rosslau, Ken; Lang-Roth, Ruth; Burgmer, Markus; Knief, Arne; Matulat, Peter; Vauth, Melanie; Deuster, Dirk

2014-01-01

This study investigates differences between the self-assessment and external rating of a person's voice with regard to sex characteristics, age, and attractiveness of the voice and mean fundamental frequency (F0). Cross-sectional study. A group of 47 participants with a balanced sex distribution was recruited and the following data were collected: videostroboscopy, voice range profile, F0, self-assessment questionnaire (attractiveness, masculinity or femininity of voice, and appearance), Voice Handicap Index, and questionnaires to determine levels of depression and quality of life. External rating was performed by four experts and four laymen. In both sexes, fair to moderate significant correlations between the self-assessment of masculinity (men)/femininity (women) of voice and masculinity/femininity of appearance could be found, but not between the self-assessment of attractiveness of voice and appearance. In men, a statistically significant correlation was found between external ratings and self-assessment of attractiveness and, with the exception of the female rating group, of masculinity. In women, self-assessment of femininity and attractiveness of voice did not correlate to a statistically significant extent with the evaluation of the external rater. Additionally, the statistical correlation between estimated and real ages was high. Although the objective parameters of age and gender identification could be rated with a high degree of accuracy, subjective parameters showed significant differences between self-assessment and external rating, in particular in rating women's voices. Taking these findings into account in treatments for modifying voice could impede successful interventions. As one consequence, we recommend summarizing target agreements in detail before the treatment. Copyright © 2014 The Voice Foundation. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

The ultrasound research's results of the peri menopausal women's genitals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dodkhoeva, M.F.; Djonova, B.Yu.; Barieva, L.S.; Djonbekova, P.A.

2007-01-01

The results of ultrasound research of the peri menopausal women's genitals revealed that the sizes of the ovaries of women with the climacteric syndrome are smaller that the size of ovaries of the women with the physiologic menopause

Observation of attraction between dark solitons

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dreischuh, A.; Neshev, D.N.; Petersen, D.E.

2006-01-01

We demonstrate a dramatic change in the interaction forces between dark solitons in nonlocal nonlinear media. We present what we believe is the first experimental evidence of attraction of dark solitons. Our results indicate that attraction should be observable in other nonlocal systems...

The face of AIDS: Effects of physical attractiveness and target gender on inferred mode of HIV infection.

Science.gov (United States)

Boehm, L; Wambaugh, M; Riney, T; Kunzelman, C

1996-04-01

We examined the effects of physical attractiveness on the assumed mode of HIV acquisition. 176 students read a description of an HIV-positive target whose photograph was placed above the description. A 2 (target gender) by 2 (attractive or unattractive target) factorial design was used. Unattractive targets were perceived as more likely to have acquired HIV through homosexual relationships. Further, men were perceived as more likely than women to have acquired HIV homosexually. Attractiveness did not bias health-care allocations regarding the infected target.

Exploring Attractiveness of the Basic Sciences for Female Physicians.

Science.gov (United States)

Yamazaki, Yuka; Fukushima, Shinji; Kozono, Yuki; Uka, Takanori; Marui, Eiji

2018-01-01

In Japan, traditional gender roles of women, especially the role of motherhood, may cause early career resignations in female physicians and a shortage of female researchers. Besides this gender issue, a general physician shortage is affecting basic science fields. Our previous study suggested that female physicians could be good candidates for the basic sciences because such work offers good work-life balance. However, the attractiveness for female physicians of working in the basic sciences, including work-life balance, is not known. In a 2012 nationwide cross-sectional questionnaire survey, female physicians holding tenured positions in the basic sciences at Japan's medical schools were asked an open-ended question about positive aspects of basic sciences that clinical medicine lacks, and we analyzed 58 respondents' comments. Qualitative analysis using the Kawakita Jiro method revealed four positive aspects: research attractiveness, priority on research productivity, a healthy work-life balance, and exemption from clinical duties. The most consistent positive aspect was research attractiveness, which was heightened by medical knowledge and clinical experience. The other aspects were double-edged swords; for example, while the priority on research productivity resulted in less gender segregation, it sometimes created tough competition, and while exemption from clinical duties contributed to a healthy work-life balance, it sometimes lowered motivation as a physician and provided unstable income. Overall, if female physicians lack an intrinsic interest in research and seek good work-life balance, they may drop out of research fields. Respecting and cultivating students' research interest is critical to alleviating the physician shortage in the basic sciences.

Photometric study of divine proportion and its correlation with facial attractiveness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ana Paula Lazzari Marques Peron

2012-04-01

Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate if there is correlation between perception of facial esthetic and divine proportion, verifying if most attractive faces are closer to and less attractive faces are more distant to this proportion. METHODS: Standard facial photographs (frontal and lateral in natural head position were taken of a sample of 85 Brazilian Caucasian women, with mean age of 23 years and 9 months. The photographs were evaluated by 5 orthodontists, 5 artists and 5 laymen and were classified, according to their subjective analysis of facial esthetic, in pleasant, acceptable and not pleasant. Frontal photographs were evaluated by divine proportion analysis using the computerized method. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: According to subjective analysis the sample consisted 18.8% of pleasant, 70.6% of acceptable and 10.6% of not pleasant faces. After statistical analysis, a lack of agreement was verified in esthetic facial preferences among the three groups of observers. It was also possible to verify that in this research there was no correlation between perception of facial beauty and divine proportion.

Neural and behavioral responses to attractiveness in adult and infant faces.

Science.gov (United States)

Hahn, Amanda C; Perrett, David I

2014-10-01

Facial attractiveness provides a very powerful motivation for sexual and parental behavior. We therefore review the importance of faces to the study of neurobiological control of human reproductive motivations. For heterosexual individuals there is a common brain circuit involving the nucleus accumbens, the medial prefrontal, dorsal anterior cingulate and the orbitofrontal cortices that is activated more by attractive than unattractive faces, particularly for faces of the opposite sex. Behavioral studies indicate parallel effects of attractiveness on incentive salience or willingness to work to see faces. There is some evidence that the reward value of opposite sex attractiveness is more pronounced in men than women, perhaps reflecting the greater importance assigned to physical attractiveness by men when evaluating a potential mate. Sex differences and similarities in response to facial attractiveness are reviewed. Studies comparing heterosexual and homosexual observers indicate the orbitofrontal cortex and mediodorsal thalamus are more activated by faces of the desired sex than faces of the less-preferred sex, independent of observer gender or sexual orientation. Infant faces activate brain regions that partially overlap with those responsive to adult faces. Infant faces provide a powerful stimulus, which also elicits sex differences in behavior and brain responses that appear dependent on sex hormones. There are many facial dimensions affecting perceptions of attractiveness that remain unexplored in neuroimaging, and we conclude by suggesting that future studies combining parametric manipulation of face images, brain imaging, hormone assays and genetic polymorphisms in receptor sensitivity are needed to understand the neural and hormonal mechanisms underlying reproductive drives. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Attracting Generation Y Graduates: Organisational Attributes, Likelihood to Apply and Sex Differences

Science.gov (United States)

Terjesen, Siri; Vinnicombe, Susan; Freeman, Cheryl

2007-01-01

Purpose: Building on person-organisation fit and gender self-schema, this research aims to examine UK university final year students' perception of the importance of organisational attributes and their presence in three major graduate employers. This study also seeks to explore which organisational attributes attract Generation Y men and women to…

Explaining financial and prosocial biases in favor of attractive people: Interdisciplinary perspectives from economics, social psychology, and evolutionary psychology.

Science.gov (United States)

Maestripieri, Dario; Henry, Andrea; Nickels, Nora

2017-01-01

Financial and prosocial biases in favor of attractive adults have been documented in the labor market, in social transactions in everyday life, and in studies involving experimental economic games. According to the taste-based discrimination model developed by economists, attractiveness-related financial and prosocial biases are the result of preferences or prejudices similar to those displayed toward members of a particular sex, racial, ethnic, or religious group. Other explanations proposed by economists and social psychologists maintain that attractiveness is a marker of personality, intelligence, trustworthiness, professional competence, or productivity. Evolutionary psychologists have argued that attractive adults are favored because they are preferred sexual partners. Evidence that stereotypes about attractive people are causally related to financial or prosocial biases toward them is weak or nonexistent. Consistent with evolutionary explanations, biases in favor of attractive women appear to be more consistent or stronger than those in favor of attractive men, and biases are more consistently reported in interactions between opposite-sex than same-sex individuals. Evolutionary explanations also account for increased prosocial behavior in situations in which attractive individuals are simply bystanders. Finally, evolutionary explanations are consistent with the psychological, physiological, and behavioral changes that occur when individuals are exposed to potential mates, which facilitate the expression of courtship behavior and increase the probability of occurrence of mating. Therefore, multiple lines of evidence suggest that mating motives play a more important role in driving financial and prosocial biases toward attractive adults than previously recognized.

Using eye tracking to test for individual differences in attention to attractive faces.

Science.gov (United States)

Valuch, Christian; Pflüger, Lena S; Wallner, Bernard; Laeng, Bruno; Ansorge, Ulrich

2015-01-01

We assessed individual differences in visual attention toward faces in relation to their attractiveness via saccadic reaction times. Motivated by the aim to understand individual differences in attention to faces, we tested three hypotheses: (a) Attractive faces hold or capture attention more effectively than less attractive faces; (b) men show a stronger bias toward attractive opposite-sex faces than women; and (c) blue-eyed men show a stronger bias toward blue-eyed than brown-eyed feminine faces. The latter test was included because prior research suggested a high effect size. Our data supported hypotheses (a) and (b) but not (c). By conducting separate tests for disengagement of attention and attention capture, we found that individual differences exist at distinct stages of attentional processing but these differences are of varying robustness and importance. In our conclusion, we also advocate the use of linear mixed effects models as the most appropriate statistical approach for studying inter-individual differences in visual attention with naturalistic stimuli.

Using eye tracking to test for individual differences in attention to attractive faces

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christian eValuch

2015-02-01

Full Text Available We assessed individual differences in visual attention toward faces in relation to their attractiveness via saccadic reaction times (SRTs. Motivated by the aim to understand individual differences in attention to faces, we tested three hypotheses: (a Attractive faces hold or capture attention more effectively than less attractive faces; (b men show a stronger bias toward attractive opposite-sex faces than women; and (c blue-eyed men show a stronger bias toward blue-eyed than brown-eyed feminine faces. The latter test was included because prior research suggested a high effect size. Our data supported hypotheses (a and (b but not (c. By conducting separate tests for disengagement of attention and attention capture, we found that individual differences exist at distinct stages of attentional processing but these differences are of varying robustness and importance. In our conclusion, we also advocate the use of linear mixed effects models as the most appropriate statistical approach toward studying inter-individual differences in visual attention with naturalistic stimuli.

The wandering mind of men: ERP evidence for gender differences in attention bias towards attractive opposite sex faces.

Science.gov (United States)

van Hooff, Johanna C; Crawford, Helen; van Vugt, Mark

2011-09-01

To examine the time course and automaticity of our attention bias towards attractive opposite sex faces, event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded from 20 males and 20 females while they carried out a covert orienting task. Faces that were high, low or average in attractiveness, were presented in focus of attention, but were unrelated to task goals. Across the entire sample larger P2 amplitudes were found in response to both attractive and unattractive opposite sex faces, presumably reflecting early implicit selective attention to distinctive faces. In male but not female participants this was followed by an increased late slow wave for the attractive faces, signifying heightened processing linked to motivated attention. This latter finding is consistent with sexual strategy theory, which suggests that men and women have evolved to pursue different mating strategies with men being more attentive to cues such as facial beauty. In general, our ERP results suggest that, in addition to threat-related stimuli, other evolutionary-relevant information is also prioritized by our attention systems.

The big, the rich, and the powerful: physical, financial, and social dimensions of dominance in mating and attraction.

Science.gov (United States)

Bryan, Angela D; Webster, Gregory D; Mahaffey, Amanda L

2011-03-01

Dominance is a key feature on which romantic partners are evaluated, yet there is no clear consensus on its definition. In Study 1 (N=305), the authors developed scales to measure three putatively distinct dimensions of dominance: social, financial, and physical. In Study 2 (N=308), the authors used their scales in a mate-selection paradigm and found that women perceived physical dominance to be related to both attractiveness and social dominance. For both sexes, attractiveness predicted desirability for a one-night stand, whereas attractiveness and agreeableness were predictors of desirability for a serious relationship. In Study 3 (N=124), the authors surveyed romantic partners in monogamous relationships and found that although aspects of a partner's dominance-financial for women and social for men-played a bivariate role in relationship satisfaction, agreeableness was the strongest predictor of current and future relationship satisfaction and the only significant predictor of relationship dissolution.

Women's Fertility Status Alters Other Women's Jealousy and Mate Guarding.

Science.gov (United States)

Hurst, Ashalee C; Alquist, Jessica L; Puts, David A

2017-02-01

Across three studies, we tested the hypothesis that women exhibit greater jealousy and mate guarding toward women who are in the high (vs. low) fertility phase of their cycle. Women who imagined their partner with a woman pictured at high fertility reported more jealousy than women who imagined their partner with a woman pictured at low fertility (Studies 1 and 2). A meta-analysis across studies manipulating fertility status of the pictured woman found a significant effect of fertility status on both jealousy and mate guarding. Women with attractive partners viewed fertile-phase women as less trustworthy, which led to increased mate guarding (Study 2). In Study 3, the closer women were to peak fertility, the more instances they reported of other women acting jealously and mate guarding toward them. These studies provide evidence that women selectively exhibit jealousy and mate guarding toward women who are near peak fertility.

Attracting and repelling in homogeneous signal processes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Downarowicz, T; Grzegorek, P; Lacroix, Y

2010-01-01

Attracting and repelling are discussed on two levels: in abstract signal processes and in signal processes arising as returns to a fixed set in an ergodic dynamical system. In the first approach, among other things, we give three examples in which the sum of two Poisson (hence neutral—neither attracting nor repelling) processes comes out either neutral or attracting, or repelling, depending on how the two processes depend on each other. The main new result of the second type concerns so-called 'composite events' in the form of a union of all cylinders over blocks belonging to the δ-ball in the Hamming distance around a fixed block. We prove that in a typical ergodic nonperiodic process the majority of such 'composite events' reveal strong attracting. We discuss the practical interpretation of this result

Effects of gender diversity management on perceptions of organizational attractiveness: the role of individual differences in attitudes and beliefs.

Science.gov (United States)

Martins, Luis L; Parsons, Charles K

2007-05-01

In this study, the authors examined how individual gender-related attitudes and beliefs affect the reactions of men and women to gender diversity management programs in organizations. They found that whereas there were no significant between-sex differences in the effects of gender diversity management on organizational attractiveness, there were strong within-sex differences based on individual attitudes and beliefs. Specifically, within the sexes, centrality of one's gender identity, attitudes toward affirmative action for women, and the belief that women are discriminated against in the workplace moderated the effects of gender diversity management on organizational attractiveness. The findings, combined with prior research, suggest that it is critical for organizations to incorporate efforts to manage perceptions of gender diversity management programs into their diversity management strategies. 2007 APA, all rights reserved

High-temperature superconductivity: the attractive Up regime

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gulacsi, Miklos

2005-01-01

Full text: We present the result of an infinite order unitary transformation applied to a multiband Hubbard Hamiltonian by which it can be shown rigorously that an attractive interaction term appears at the oxygen ion sites as a result of oxygen-copper virtual charge excitations. This exact result yields convincing evidence that the pairing mechanism in two or three band Hubbard models results precisely from this attraction. (author)

2015 Association for Women in Mathematics Symposium

CERN Document Server

Lauter, Kristin; Chambers, Erin; Flournoy, Nancy; Grigsby, Julia; Martin, Carla; Ryan, Kathleen; Trivisa, Konstantina

2016-01-01

Presenting the latest findings in topics from across the mathematical spectrum, this volume includes results in pure mathematics along with a range of new advances and novel applications to other fields such as probability, statistics, biology, and computer science. All contributions feature authors who attended the Association for Women in Mathematics Research Symposium in 2015: this conference, the third in a series of biennial conferences organized by the Association, attracted over 330 participants and showcased the research of women mathematicians from academia, industry, and government.

Identifying Stereotypes in the Online Perception of Physical Attractiveness

OpenAIRE

Araújo, Camila Souza; Meira Jr., Wagner; Almeida, Virgilio

2016-01-01

Stereotyping can be viewed as oversimplified ideas about social groups. They can be positive, neutral or negative. The main goal of this paper is to identify stereotypes for female physical attractiveness in images available in the Web. We look at the search engines as possible sources of stereotypes. We conducted experiments on Google and Bing by querying the search engines for beautiful and ugly women. We then collect images and extract information of faces. We propose a methodology and app...

Sex Differences in the Implications of Partner Physical Attractiveness for the Trajectory of Marital Satisfaction

Science.gov (United States)

Meltzer, Andrea L.; McNulty, James K.; Jackson, Grace; Karney, Benjamin R.

2014-01-01

Do men value physical attractiveness in a mate more than women? Scientists in numerous disciplines believe that they do, but recent research using speed-dating paradigms suggests that males and females are equally influenced by physical attractiveness when choosing potential mates. Nevertheless, the premise of the current work is that sex differences in the importance of physical attractiveness are most likely to emerge in research on long-term relationships. Accordingly, the current work drew from four independent, longitudinal studies to examine sex differences in the implications of partner physical attractiveness for trajectories of marital satisfaction. In all four studies, both partners’ physical attractiveness was objectively rated at baseline and both partners reported their marital satisfaction up to eight times over the first four years of marriage. Whereas husbands were more satisfied at the beginning of the marriage and remained more satisfied over the next four years to the extent that they had an attractive wife, wives were no more or less satisfied initially or over the next four years to the extent that they had an attractive husband. Most importantly, a direct test indicated that partner physical attractiveness played a larger role in predicting husbands’ satisfaction than predicting wives’ satisfaction. These findings strengthen support for the idea that gender differences in self-reported preferences for physical attractiveness do have implications for long-term relationship outcomes. PMID:24128188

O efeito da infidelidade sobre a atratividade facial de homens e mulheres The effect of infidelity on male and female facial attractiveness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rosana Suemi Tokumaru

2010-04-01

Full Text Available Os estudos da atratividade e da seleção de parceiros têm recebido atenção especial dentro da perspectiva da Psicologia Evolucionista, mostrando influências tanto de fatores físicos quanto de fatores não-físicos. Neste estudo, utilizou-se de fotografias da face de homens e mulheres, pré-julgados como medianamente atraentes, desconhecidos dos participantes, associadas a uma história neutra ou que envolvia comportamento de infidelidade, para avaliar a influência de informação sobre o comportamento de infidelidade na avaliação da atratividade de indivíduos do sexo oposto. Os resultados mostraram diferenças significativas apenas quando as mulheres avaliavam fotografias de homens, atribuindo menor atratividade a homens associados à história de infidelidade. As diferenças entre homens e mulheres podem refletir mecanismos adaptativos para a avaliação da atratividade do sexo oposto relacionados às diferenças nos custos reprodutivos. Esses resultados são discutidos sob a perspectiva da Psicologia Evolucionista.Studies of attractiveness and mate selection have received special attention within the Evolutionary Psychology perspective, showing influences from both physical and non-physical factors. In the present study, we used photographs showing faces of men and women, pre-judged as median attractive people, unknown to the participants, associated with neutral stories or stories involving infidelity behavior, to investigate the influence of information about infidelity behavior on the evaluation of attractiveness of opposite sex individuals. Results showed significant differences only when women evaluated men's photographs, attributing lower attractiveness to men associated with a story of infidelity. The sex differences found may represent adapted mechanisms to evaluate opposite sex attractiveness related to differences in reproductive costs. These results are discussed mainly under the Evolutionary Psychology perspective.

Physical attractiveness, romantic love, and equity restoration in dating relationships.

Science.gov (United States)

Critelli, J W; Waid, L R

1980-12-01

Measures of physical attractiveness, romantic love, and dominance were given to a sample of 123 dating couples. Contrary to expectation, attractive subjects were not loved more than those judged as less attractive. As suggested by equity theory, however, subjects who believed that their partners were the more attractive member of the dyad loved their partners more (p relationships (p attractive member. The results suggest that as the dating relationship progresses, the relative difference in attractiveness between partners may become a more important determinant of attraction than overall level of attractiveness.

Accessing Internal Leadership Positions at School: Testing The Similarity-Attraction Approach Regarding Gender in Three Educational Systems in Israel

Science.gov (United States)

Addi-Raccah, Audrey

2006-01-01

Background: Women school leaders may act as social agents who promote gender equality, but evidence is inconclusive regarding the effect of women's leadership on gender stratification in the workplace. Purpose: Based on the similarity-attraction perspective, this study examined male and female school leaders' relations to similar others in three…

Social preferences based on sexual attractiveness

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brask, Josefine Bohr; Croft, Darren P.; Thompson, Katharine

2012-01-01

influencing the decision-making of males to their advantage. We tested this hypothesis in the Trinidadian guppy (Poecilia reticulata), a species with high levels of male sexual harassment. First, we confirmed that non-receptive females were harassed less when they were paired with a more sexually attractive...... with females that are more sexually attractive than themselves and that they perform active partner choices based on this relative attractiveness. We propose that this strategy is likely to represent an important pathway by which females can construct social niches that influence the decision-making of others......Male sexual harassment of females is common across sexually reproducing species and can result in fitness costs to females. We hypothesized that females can reduce unwanted male attention by constructing a social niche where their female associates are more sexually attractive than themselves, thus...

The effects of advertisements that sexually objectify women on state body dissatisfaction and judgments of women: The moderating roles of gender and internalization.

Science.gov (United States)

Krawczyk, Ross; Thompson, J Kevin

2015-09-01

Experimental studies have demonstrated that exposure to idealized images of women increases state body image disturbance. However, little work has experimentally examined the effects of exposure to images that sexually objectify women, especially as it relates to women and men's state body dissatisfaction and judgments of women. In the current study, 437 women and men were randomly assigned to view advertisements that sexually objectify women and portray appearance ideals, or to view non-appearance-related advertisements. Results indicated that state body dissatisfaction increased for women and men exposed to advertisements that sexually objectified women, although this effect was larger for women. Trait internalization of appearance ideals moderated this effect, indicating that women and men with higher internalization exhibited greater state body dissatisfaction after viewing women sexually objectified in advertisements. Exposure to women sexually objectified in advertisements did not affect women's or men's attractiveness or competence ratings of women in university advertisements. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A system of tourism attractions

OpenAIRE

Kušen, Eduard

2010-01-01

Although tourism attractions are a basic resource for long term tourism developments, they are not given the proper attention, both, theoretical and practical. Therefore, rare studies of tourism attractions, especially those with the ambition of creating a functional system of tourism attractions, attract special attention. The aim of this paper is to present a new system of tourism attractions. This new system is based on the review of published research on tourism attractions, particularly ...

Does an activity based remuneration system attract young doctors to general practice?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abelsen Birgit

2012-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The use of increasingly complex payment schemes in primary care may represent a barrier to recruiting general practitioners (GP. The existing Norwegian remuneration system is fully activity based - 2/3 fee-for-service and 1/3 capitation. Given that the system has been designed and revised in close collaborations with the medical association, it is likely to correspond - at least to some degree - with the preferences of current GPs (men in majority. The objective of this paper was to study which preferences that young doctors (women in majority, who are the potential entrants to general practice have for activity based vs. salary based payment systems. Methods In November-December 2010 all last year medical students and all interns in Norway (n = 1.562 were invited to participate in an online survey. The respondents were asked their opinion on systems of remuneration for GPs; inclination to work as a GP; risk attitude; income preferences; work pace tolerance. The data was analysed using one-way ANOVA and multinomial logistic regression analysis. Results A total of 831 (53% responded. Nearly half the sample (47% did not consider the remuneration system to be important for their inclination to work as GP; 36% considered the current system to make general practice more attractive, while 17% considered it to make general practice less attractive. Those who are attracted by the existing system were men and those who think high income is important, while those who are deterred by the system are risk averse and less happy with a high work pace. On the question of preferred remuneration system, half the sample preferred a mix of salary and activity based remuneration (the median respondent would prefer a 50/50 mix. Only 20% preferred a fully activity based system like the existing one. A salary system was preferred by women, and those less concerned with high income, while a fully activity based system was preferred by men, and those

Does an activity based remuneration system attract young doctors to general practice?

Science.gov (United States)

2012-01-01

Background The use of increasingly complex payment schemes in primary care may represent a barrier to recruiting general practitioners (GP). The existing Norwegian remuneration system is fully activity based - 2/3 fee-for-service and 1/3 capitation. Given that the system has been designed and revised in close collaborations with the medical association, it is likely to correspond - at least to some degree - with the preferences of current GPs (men in majority). The objective of this paper was to study which preferences that young doctors (women in majority), who are the potential entrants to general practice have for activity based vs. salary based payment systems. Methods In November-December 2010 all last year medical students and all interns in Norway (n = 1.562) were invited to participate in an online survey. The respondents were asked their opinion on systems of remuneration for GPs; inclination to work as a GP; risk attitude; income preferences; work pace tolerance. The data was analysed using one-way ANOVA and multinomial logistic regression analysis. Results A total of 831 (53%) responded. Nearly half the sample (47%) did not consider the remuneration system to be important for their inclination to work as GP; 36% considered the current system to make general practice more attractive, while 17% considered it to make general practice less attractive. Those who are attracted by the existing system were men and those who think high income is important, while those who are deterred by the system are risk averse and less happy with a high work pace. On the question of preferred remuneration system, half the sample preferred a mix of salary and activity based remuneration (the median respondent would prefer a 50/50 mix). Only 20% preferred a fully activity based system like the existing one. A salary system was preferred by women, and those less concerned with high income, while a fully activity based system was preferred by men, and those happy with a high work

Attraction and cooperative behavior

OpenAIRE

Donja Darai; Silvia Grätz

2012-01-01

Being good-looking seems to generate substantial benefits in many social interactions, making the "beauty premium" a not to be underrated economic factor. This paper investigates how physical attractiveness enables people to generate these benefits in the case of cooperation, using field data from a modified one-shot prisoner's dilemma played in a high-stakes television game show. While attractive contestants are not more or less cooperative than less attractive ones, facial attractiveness pr...

Straight but Not Narrow; Within-Gender Variation in the Gender-Specificity of Women's Sexual Response.

Science.gov (United States)

Chivers, Meredith L; Bouchard, Katrina N; Timmers, Amanda D

2015-01-01

Gender differences in the specificity of sexual response have been a primary focus in sexual psychophysiology research, however, within-gender variability suggests sexual orientation moderates category-specific responding among women; only heterosexual women show gender-nonspecific genital responses to sexual stimuli depicting men and women. But heterosexually-identified or "straight" women are heterogeneous in their sexual attractions and include women who are exclusively androphilic (sexually attracted to men) and women who are predominantly androphilic with concurrent gynephilia (sexually attracted to women). It is therefore unclear if gender-nonspecific responding is found in both exclusively and predominantly androphilic women. The current studies investigated within-gender variability in the gender-specificity of women's sexual response. Two samples of women reporting concurrent andro/gynephilia viewed (Study 1, n = 29) or listened (Study 2, n = 30) to erotic stimuli varying by gender of sexual partner depicted while their genital and subjective sexual responses were assessed. Data were combined with larger datasets of predominantly gyne- and androphilic women (total N = 78 for both studies). In both studies, women reporting any degree of gynephilia, including those who self-identified as heterosexual, showed significantly greater genital response to female stimuli, similar to predominantly gynephilic women; gender-nonspecific genital response was observed for exclusively androphilic women only. Subjective sexual arousal patterns were more variable with respect to sexual attractions, likely reflecting stimulus intensity effects. Heterosexually-identified women are therefore not a homogenous group with respect to sexual responses to gender cues. Implications for within-gender variation in women's sexual orientation and sexual responses are discussed.

Measuring the operational efficiency of individual theme park attractions.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Changhee; Kim, Soowook

2016-01-01

This study assesses the operation efficiency of theme park attractions using the data envelopment analysis, utilizing actual data on 15 attractions at Samsung Everland located in Yongin-si, Republic of Korea. In particular, this study identifies crowding and waiting time as one of the main causes of visitor's satisfaction, and analyzes the efficiency of individual attractions in terms of waiting time. The installation area, installation cost, and annual repair cost are set as input factors and the number of annual users and customer satisfaction as output factors. The results show that the roller coaster-type attractions were less efficient than other types of attractions while rotating-type attractions were relatively more efficient. However, an importance performance analysis on individual attraction's efficiency and satisfaction showed that operational efficiency should not be the sole consideration in attraction installation. In addition, the projection points for input factors for efficient use of attractions and the appropriate reference set for benchmarking are provided as guideline for attraction efficiency management.

Age, Health and Attractiveness Perception of Virtual (Rendered) Human Hair.

Science.gov (United States)

Fink, Bernhard; Hufschmidt, Carla; Hirn, Thomas; Will, Susanne; McKelvey, Graham; Lankhof, John

2016-01-01

The social significance of physical appearance and beauty has been documented in many studies. It is known that even subtle manipulations of facial morphology and skin condition can alter people's perception of a person's age, health and attractiveness. While the variation in facial morphology and skin condition cues has been studied quite extensively, comparably little is known on the effect of hair on social perception. This has been partly caused by the technical difficulty of creating appropriate stimuli for investigations of people's response to systematic variation of certain hair characteristics, such as color and style, while keeping other features constant. Here, we present a modeling approach to the investigation of human hair perception using computer-generated, virtual (rendered) human hair. In three experiments, we manipulated hair diameter (Experiment 1), hair density (Experiment 2), and hair style (Experiment 3) of human (female) head hair and studied perceptions of age, health and attractiveness. Our results show that even subtle changes in these features have an impact on hair perception. We discuss our findings with reference to previous studies on condition-dependent quality cues in women that influence human social perception, thereby suggesting that hair is a salient feature of human physical appearance, which contributes to the perception of beauty.

Internet research: self-monitoring and judgments of attractiveness.

Science.gov (United States)

Buchanan, T

2000-11-01

Two studies examined the relationship between self-monitoring and factors influencing romantic attraction to others. In Study 1, participants completed an Internet-mediated version of the Self-Monitoring Scale (Gangestad & Snyder, 1985) and indicated which of two people (one physically attractive, one with a more desirable personality) they found most attractive. Results matched previous findings (Snyder, Berscheid, & Glick, 1985), but the effect was smaller. Study 2, a paper-and-pencil replication of Study 1, examined whether the weaker effect was due to Internet mediation and found no differences in the choices made by high and low self-monitors. Results suggested that while determinants of attraction may vary for different populations, Internet research methods can tap the same phenomena as traditional laboratory studies.

Hidden attraction the history and mystery of magnetism

CERN Document Server

Verschuur, Gerrit L

1996-01-01

Long one of nature''s most fascinating phenomena, magnetism was once the subject of many superstitions. Magnets were thought useful to thieves, effective as a love potion or as a cure for gout or spasms. They could remove sorcery from women and put demons to flight and even reconcile married couples. It was said that a lodestone pickled in the salt of sucking fish had the power to attract gold. Today, these beliefs have been put aside, but magnetism is no less remarkable for our modern understanding of it. In Hidden Attraction, Gerrit L. Verschuur, a noted astronomer and National Book Award nominee for The Invisible Universe, traces the history of our fascination with magnetism, from the first discovery of magnets in Greece, to state-of-the-art theories that see magnetism as a basic force in the universe. The book begins with the early debunking of superstitions by Peter Peregrinus (Pierre de Maricourt), whom Roger Bacon hailed as one of the world''s first experimental scientists (Perigrinus held that "experi...

Conformation-dependent DNA attraction

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Weifeng; Nordenskiöld, Lars; Zhou, Ruhong; Mu, Yuguang

2014-05-01

Understanding how DNA molecules interact with other biomolecules is related to how they utilize their functions and is therefore critical for understanding their structure-function relationships. For a long time, the existence of Z-form DNA (a left-handed double helical version of DNA, instead of the common right-handed B-form) has puzzled the scientists, and the definitive biological significance of Z-DNA has not yet been clarified. In this study, the effects of DNA conformation in DNA-DNA interactions are explored by molecular dynamics simulations. Using umbrella sampling, we find that for both B- and Z-form DNA, surrounding Mg2+ ions always exert themselves to screen the Coulomb repulsion between DNA phosphates, resulting in very weak attractive force. On the contrary, a tight and stable bound state is discovered for Z-DNA in the presence of Mg2+ or Na+, benefiting from their hydrophobic nature. Based on the contact surface and a dewetting process analysis, a two-stage binding process of Z-DNA is outlined: two Z-DNA first attract each other through charge screening and Mg2+ bridges to phosphate groups in the same way as that of B-DNA, after which hydrophobic contacts of the deoxyribose groups are formed via a dewetting effect, resulting in stable attraction between two Z-DNA molecules. The highlighted hydrophobic nature of Z-DNA interaction from the current study may help to understand the biological functions of Z-DNA in gene transcription.Understanding how DNA molecules interact with other biomolecules is related to how they utilize their functions and is therefore critical for understanding their structure-function relationships. For a long time, the existence of Z-form DNA (a left-handed double helical version of DNA, instead of the common right-handed B-form) has puzzled the scientists, and the definitive biological significance of Z-DNA has not yet been clarified. In this study, the effects of DNA conformation in DNA-DNA interactions are explored by

Report on IUPAP's International Conference on Women in Physics

Science.gov (United States)

Karplus Hartline, Beverly

2002-03-01

Teams of physicists from more than 60 countries are expected to participate in IUPAP's International Conference on Women in Physics in Paris, France from 7-9 March 2002. Discussions and resolutions will focus on (1) Attracting Girls into Physics, (2) Launching a Successful Physics Career, (3) Improving the Institutional Structure and Climate for Women in Physics, (4) Getting Women into the Power Structure of Physics, Nationally and Internationally, (5) Learning from Regional Differences, and (6) Balancing Family and Career. This talk will summarize the results and insights from the conference, with an emphasis on followup actions and strategies applicable to the United States.

Sex differences in the implications of partner physical attractiveness for the trajectory of marital satisfaction.

Science.gov (United States)

Meltzer, Andrea L; McNulty, James K; Jackson, Grace L; Karney, Benjamin R

2014-03-01

Do men value physical attractiveness in a mate more than women? Scientists in numerous disciplines believe that they do, but recent research using speed-dating paradigms suggests that males and females are equally influenced by physical attractiveness when choosing potential mates. Nevertheless, the premise of the current work is that sex differences in the importance of physical attractiveness are most likely to emerge in research on long-term relationships. Accordingly, the current work drew from 4 independent, longitudinal studies to examine sex differences in the implications of partner physical attractiveness for trajectories of marital satisfaction. In all 4 studies, both partners' physical attractiveness was objectively rated at baseline, and both partners reported their marital satisfaction up to 8 times over the first 4 years of marriage. Whereas husbands were more satisfied at the beginning of the marriage and remained more satisfied over the next 4 years to the extent that they had an attractive wife, wives were no more or less satisfied initially or over the next 4 years to the extent that they had an attractive husband. Most importantly, a direct test indicated that partner physical attractiveness played a larger role in predicting husbands' satisfaction than predicting wives' satisfaction. These findings strengthen support for the idea that sex differences in self-reported preferences for physical attractiveness do have implications for long-term relationship outcomes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved).

Understanding talent attraction: The influence of financial rewards elements on perceived job attractiveness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anton Schlechter

2014-11-01

Full Text Available Orientation: In order to attract knowledge workers and maintain a competitive advantage,it is necessary for organisations to understand how knowledge workers are attracted todifferent types and levels of financial rewards. Research purpose: This research investigated a set of financial reward elements (remuneration, employee benefits and variable pay to determine whether knowledgeworkers perceived them as attractive inducements when considering a job or position. Motivation for the study: In South Africa there is a shortage of talent, largely due to highrates of emigration of scarce skills (human capital. Financial rewards or inducementsare necessary to attract talent and it is essential to assess which of these rewards are mostsuccessful in this regard. Method: A 23 full-factorial experimental design (field experiment was used. The threefinancial reward elements (remuneration, employee benefits and variable pay weremanipulated in a fictitious job advertisement (each at two levels. Eight (2 × 2 × 2 = 8 differentversions of a job advertisement were used as a stimulus to determine the effect of financialreward elements on perceived job attractiveness. A questionnaire was used to measure howparticipants perceived the attractiveness of the job. A convenience sampling approach wasused. Different organisations throughout South Africa, as well as corporate members of the South African Reward Association, were asked to participate in the study. Respondents (n = 169 were randomly assigned to the various experimental conditions (i.e. one of the eightadvertisements. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics. A full-factorial analysis ofvariance was used to investigate if significant main effects could be found. Main findings: Participants considered high levels of remuneration, the inclusion ofbenefits and variable pay to be significant job attraction factors within a reward package. Remuneration was found to have the largest main effect on job

Quantum quenches to the attractive one-dimensional Bose gas: exact results

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lorenzo Piroli, Pasquale Calabrese, Fabian H. L. Essler

2016-09-01

Full Text Available We study quantum quenches to the one-dimensional Bose gas with attractive interactions in the case when the initial state is an ideal one-dimensional Bose condensate. We focus on properties of the stationary state reached at late times after the quench. This displays a finite density of multi-particle bound states, whose rapidity distribution is determined exactly by means of the quench action method. We discuss the relevance of the multi-particle bound states for the physical properties of the system, computing in particular the stationary value of the local pair correlation function $g_2$.

Cultured skin microbiota attracts malaria mosquitoes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Takken Willem

2009-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Host-seeking of the African malaria mosquito, Anopheles gambiae sensu stricto, is guided by human odours. The precise nature of the odours, and the composition of attractive blends of volatiles, remains largely unknown. Skin microbiota plays an important role in the production of human body odours. It is hypothesized that host attractiveness and selection of An. gambiae is affected by the species composition, density, and metabolic activity of the skin microbiota. A study is presented in which the production and constituency of volatile organic compounds (VOCs by human skin microbiota is examined and the behavioural responses of An. gambiae to VOCs from skin microbiota are investigated. Methods Blood agar plates incubated with skin microbiota from human feet or with a reference strain of Staphylococcus epidermidis were tested for their attractiveness to An. gambiae in olfactometer bioassays and indoor trapping experiments. Entrained air collected from blood agar plates incubated with natural skin microbiota or with S. epidermidis were analysed using GC-MS. A synthetic blend of the compounds identified was tested for its attractiveness to An. gambiae. Behavioural data were analysed by a χ2-test and GLM. GC-MS results were analysed by fitting an exponential regression line to test the effect of the concentration of bacteria. Results More An. gambiae were caught with blood agar plates incubated with skin bacteria than with sterile blood agar plates, with a significant effect of incubation time and dilution of the skin microbiota. When bacteria from the feet of four other volunteers were tested, similar effects were found. Fourteen putative attractants were found in the headspace of the skin bacteria. A synthetic blend of 10 of these was attractive to An. gambiae. Conclusions The discovery that volatiles produced by human skin microorganisms in vitro mediate An. gambiae host-seeking behaviour creates new opportunities for the

Attractive evolutionary equilibria

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Joosten, Reinoud A.M.G.; Roorda, Berend

2011-01-01

We present attractiveness, a refinement criterion for evolutionary equilibria. Equilibria surviving this criterion are robust to small perturbations of the underlying payoff system or the dynamics at hand. Furthermore, certain attractive equilibria are equivalent to others for certain evolutionary

Malaria mosquitoes attracted by fatal fungus.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Justin George

Full Text Available Insect-killing fungi such as Beauveria bassiana are being evaluated as possible active ingredients for use in novel biopesticides against mosquito vectors that transmit malaria. Fungal pathogens infect through contact and so applications of spores to surfaces such as walls, nets, or other resting sites provide possible routes to infect mosquitoes in and around domestic dwellings. However, some insects can detect and actively avoid fungal spores to reduce infection risk. If true for mosquitoes, such behavior could render the biopesticide approach ineffective. Here we find that the spores of B. bassiana are highly attractive to females of Anopheles stephensi, a major anopheline mosquito vector of human malaria in Asia. We further find that An. stephensi females are preferentially attracted to dead and dying caterpillars infected with B. bassiana, landing on them and subsequently becoming infected with the fungus. Females are also preferentially attracted to cloth sprayed with oil-formulated B. bassiana spores, with 95% of the attracted females becoming infected after a one-minute visit on the cloth. This is the first report of an insect being attracted to a lethal fungal pathogen. The exact mechanisms involved in this behavior remain unclear. Nonetheless, our results indicate that biopesticidal formulations comprising B. bassiana spores will be conducive to attraction and on-source visitation by malaria vectors.

Attractiveness bias: A cognitive explanation.

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Schein, Stevie S; Trujillo, Logan T; Langlois, Judith H

2017-01-01

According to cognitive averaging theory, preferences for attractive faces result from their similarity to facial prototypes, the categorical central tendencies of a population of faces. Prototypical faces are processed more fluently, resulting in increased positive affect in the viewer.

Effects of reading health and appearance exercise magazine articles on perceptions of attractiveness and reasons for exercise.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Melanie Pankratow

Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: To examine the effects of reading exercise-related magazine articles (health, appearance, or control and the moderating effects of exercise self-identity on reasons for exercise and perceptions of attractiveness, among women in first year university. An additional purpose was to use a thought listing technique, the results of which were examined for evidence of internalization of the exercise-related messages. PARTICIPANTS: Female students in their first year of studies between September 2010 and April 2011 (N = 173; mean age = 19.31 years, mean body mass index = 22.01. METHODS: Participants read a health, appearance, or control article, listed thoughts, and completed questionnaires measuring reasons for exercising, physical self-perception, and exercise self-identity. RESULTS: Participants in the health condition rated exercise for health significantly higher than control condition participants. Participants with high exercise self-identity rated attractiveness as a reason for exercising significantly higher than low exercise self-identity participants in both the health and appearance conditions. Participants with higher internalization scores (i.e., accepted societal norms of appearance reported exercising for attractiveness reasons more so than participants with lower internalization scores. CONCLUSIONS: The good news is that health messages may be influential and result in wanting to exercise for health purposes. However, exercising for attractiveness was rated highly by participants with high exercise identity who read either the health or appearance articles. Health and appearance are not necessarily distinct concepts for female undergraduate students and the media may influence cited reasons for exercise.

Facial-Attractiveness Choices Are Predicted by Divisive Normalization.

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Furl, Nicholas

2016-10-01

Do people appear more attractive or less attractive depending on the company they keep? A divisive-normalization account-in which representation of stimulus intensity is normalized (divided) by concurrent stimulus intensities-predicts that choice preferences among options increase with the range of option values. In the first experiment reported here, I manipulated the range of attractiveness of the faces presented on each trial by varying the attractiveness of an undesirable distractor face that was presented simultaneously with two attractive targets, and participants were asked to choose the most attractive face. I used normalization models to predict the context dependence of preferences regarding facial attractiveness. The more unattractive the distractor, the more one of the targets was preferred over the other target, which suggests that divisive normalization (a potential canonical computation in the brain) influences social evaluations. I obtained the same result when I manipulated faces' averageness and participants chose the most average face. This finding suggests that divisive normalization is not restricted to value-based decisions (e.g., attractiveness). This new application to social evaluation of normalization, a classic theory, opens possibilities for predicting social decisions in naturalistic contexts such as advertising or dating.

Why do the Karo Batak prefer women with big feet? Flexible mate preferences and the notion that one size fits all.

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Kushnick, Geoff

2013-09-01

Men may find women with small feet relative to body size more attractive because foot size reliably indexes nubility-i.e., age and parity. I collected judgments of attractiveness in response to drawings of women with varying foot sizes from a sample of 159 Karo Batak respondents from North Sumatra, Indonesia, as part of a collaborative project on foot size and attractiveness. The data revealed a contrarian preference among the Karo Batak for women with big feet. The judgments were compared with the results of an existing cross-cultural study that found a preference for women with small feet in aggregate, but a mix of small- and large-foot preferences in the societies taken individually. Using contingency table analysis, I found that ecology and less exposure to Western media were associated with a preference for women with big feet; patriarchal values were not. The findings suggest that human mating preferences may arise in response to local ecological conditions, and may persist and spread via cultural transmission. This has implications for the concept of universality espoused in some versions of evolutionary psychology.

Women and Tobacco Use

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... smokers appear less attractive and prematurely old. 5 Women have been extensively targeted by tobacco marketing. These ads are dominated by themes associating cigarettes with social desirability, independence, weight control and having fun. Like most other ...

Advertising's impact on calls to a women's healthline.

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Jasper, L G; Terwilliger, E L

1989-09-01

The impact of advertising on calls to a women's healthline during its first year is assessed. Results indicate that callers cited all but one medium used as their source(s) of information about the healthline. Television and billboards drew the most callers, whereas other paid media attracted fewer callers than did free communication channels such as word of mouth.

Evidence from a homosexual sample for a sex-specific rival-oriented mechanism : Jealousy as a function of a rival's physical attractiveness and dominance

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Buunk, BP; Dijkstra, P

2001-01-01

Among heterosexual women in particular. a rival's physical attractiveness evokes jealousy, whereas among heterosexual men in particular. a rival's dominance evokes feelings of jealousy. The present study conducted with gay men and lesbian women examined whether these sex-differentiated responses

The impact of weather on women's tendency to wear red or pink when at high risk for conception.

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Jessica L Tracy

Full Text Available Women are particularly motivated to enhance their sexual attractiveness during their most fertile period, and men perceive shades of red, when associated with women, as sexually attractive. Building on this research, we recently found that women are more likely to wear reddish clothing when at peak fertility (Beall & Tracy, 2013, presumably as a way of increasing their attractiveness. Here, we first report results from a methodological replication, conducted during warmer weather, which produced a null effect. Investigating this discrepancy, we considered the impact of a potentially relevant contextual difference between previous research and the replication: current weather. If the red-dress effect is driven by a desire to increase one's sexual appeal, then it should emerge most reliably when peak-fertility women have few alternative options for accomplishing this goal (e.g., wearing minimal clothing. Results from re-analyses of our previously collected data and a new experiment support this account, by demonstrating that the link between fertility and red/pink dress emerges robustly in cold, but not warm, weather. Together, these findings suggest that the previously documented red-dress effect is moderated by current climate concerns, and provide further evidence that under certain circumstances red/pink dress is reliably associated with female fertility.

Slimmer women's waist is associated with better erectile function in men independent of age.

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Brody, Stuart; Weiss, Petr

2013-10-01

Previous research has indicated that men generally rate slimmer women as more sexually attractive, consistent with the increased morbidity risks associated with even mild abdominal adiposity. To assess the association of women's waist size with a more tangible measure of perceived sexual attractiveness (as well as reward value for both sexes), we examined the association of women's age and waist circumference with an index of men's erectile function (IIEF-5 scores), frequency of penile-vaginal intercourse (PVI), and sexual satisfaction in a representative sample of Czechs (699 men and 715 women) aged 35-65 years. Multivariate analyses indicated that better erectile function scores were independently associated with younger age of self and partner and women's slimmer waist. PVI frequency was independently associated with women's younger age and women's slimmer waist. Sexual satisfaction was independently associated with men's younger age and slimmer waist for both sexes. Better erectile function, greater PVI frequency, and greater sexual satisfaction were associated with women's slimmer waist, independently of both sexes' ages. Possible reasons for the waist effects were discussed, including women's abdominal body fat decreasing their own desire through neurohormonal mechanisms and decreasing their partner's desire through evolutionarily-related decreased sexual attractiveness.

Attraction of Pollinators to Atemoya (Annona squamosa × Annona cherimola) in Puerto Rico Using Commercial Lures and Food Attractants.

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Jenkins, David A; Millan-Hernandez, Christian; Cline, Andrew R; McElrath, Thomas C; Irish, Brian; Goenaga, Ricardo

2015-08-01

Atemoya is a hybrid between Annona squamosa L. and Annona cherimola Miller (Annonaceae) and has potential to be an important fruit crop in tropical and subtropical areas. A major impediment to fruit production is low fruit set due to inadequate pollinator visits, typically, by beetles in the family Nitidulidae. We used Universal moth traps to monitor the attractiveness of two commercially available Nitidulidae lures in combination with various food attractants, including raw bread dough, apple juice, and malta beverage, a soft drink by-product of the brewing process. The most commonly trapped beetles were, in order of decreasing frequency, Carpophilus dimidiatus (F.), Brachypeplus mutilatus Erichson, Urophorus humeralis (F.) (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae), and Europs fervidus Blatchley (Coleoptera: Monotomidae). All traps, except the unbaited control traps, caught beetles. In a previous study, we found that combining two commercial lures had a synergistic effect on the attraction of these beetle species. In this study, the addition of food attractants increased the number of beetles trapped compared with traps baited with only the commercial lures. Also, food attractants appear to be key in attracting U. humeralis; only one U. humeralis individual of the 206 caught during the experiment was trapped without a food attractant. The variation between the number of beetles caught in traps containing the same treatments was high and may explain the erratic results reported in other studies of pollination in Annona spp. The results are discussed with respect to the use of nitidulid lures and food attractants to increase fruit set in atemoya and other Annonaceae. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America 2015. This work is written by US Government employees and is in the public domain in the US.

Chemosignalling effects of human tears revisited: Does exposure to female tears decrease males' perception of female sexual attractiveness?

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Gračanin, Asmir; van Assen, Marcel A L M; Omrčen, Višnja; Koraj, Ivana; Vingerhoets, Ad J J M

2017-01-01

Gelstein et al. reported the results of three experiments suggesting a dampening influence of inhalation of female emotional tears on males' arousal and perception of female sexual attractiveness, specifically in non-sexual situations. This prompted the hypothesis that crying exerts its influence on others not only via the auditory and visual mode but also via chemosignals. In three studies, we attempted to replicate and extend Gelstein et al.'s findings by including an additional condition with irritant tears, by using pictures of sexually attractive women, and by testing related hypotheses on the pro-social effects of exposure to tears. All three studies, separately or combined in a meta-analysis, failed to replicate the original inhibitory effects of tears. In addition, sniffing tears did not affect measures of connectedness, aggression and pro-social behaviour. It is concluded that the effects of female tears on male arousal and perception of female sexual attractiveness, if any, are very weak at best. Rather, it seems that crying exerts its strong inter-personal effects through the visual and auditory sensory channels.

Effects of gender, rape-supportive attitudes, and explicit instruction on perceptions of women's momentary sexual interest.

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Treat, Teresa A; Church, Erin K; Viken, Richard J

2017-06-01

Contemporary models of male-initiated sexual aggression toward female acquaintances implicate misperception of women's sexual interest. This study investigated the effects of gender, rape-supportive attitudes and an instructional manipulation on college students' sexual-interest judgments. Two hundred seventy-six women and 220 men judged the cues of momentary sexual interest expressed by photographed women; half received instruction on the differential validity of nonverbal cues of sexual interest for estimation of women's momentary sexual interest. Participants also completed an assessment of rape-supportive attitudes. Overall, college students' perceptions of women's momentary sexual interest are compromised both nomothetically and idiographically. Both male and female college students relied not only on women's nonverbal affect but also on the provocativeness of women's clothing and attractiveness when judging women's sexual interest. Men and women showed similar average ratings, but women relied more than men on women's affect, whereas men relied more than women on women's attractiveness. Both male and female students who endorsed more rape-supportive attitudes, relative to their peers, relied less on women's affect and more on women's clothing style and attractiveness. Explicit instruction regarding the greater validity of women's affective than nonaffective cues enhanced focus on nonverbal affective cues and decreased focus on clothing style and attractiveness. Although higher rape-supportive attitudes predicted more deficits in processing cues of sexual interest, explicit instruction proved to be effective for both higher-risk and lower-risk participants. These findings highlight the generalizability of the well-established effects of explicit instruction on category learning to sexual perception and may point to procedures that eventually could be incorporated into augmented prevention programs for sexual aggression on college campuses.

Public perceptions of 'negging': lowering women’s self-esteem to increase the male attractiveness and achieve sexual conquest

OpenAIRE

Green, Kathleen; Kukan, Zoe; Tully, Ruth

2017-01-01

Purpose: ‘Negging’ can be described as the purposeful lowering of a woman’s self-esteem to increase perceived attractiveness of the man in order to achieve sexual conquest. Negging has evolved over time. Whilst ‘Original’ negging was intended to be a harmless tool for attracting women, more recently dating companies have been teaching men ‘Evolved’ negging in a potentially damaging way, which could escalate into an abusive intimate relationship. \\ud Design: An online survey involving vignette...

Longitudinal examination of the exercise and self-esteem model in middle-aged women.

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Elavsky, Steriani

2010-12-01

This 2-year prospective study examined the exercise and self-esteem model in middle-aged women (N = 143) previously enrolled in a randomized controlled exercise trial. Across the 2-year period, increases in physical activity (PA) and self-efficacy and reductions in body mass index (BMI) were associated with improved subdomain self-perceptions relative to physical condition, and reductions in BMI were associated with improved subdomain self-perceptions relative to physical condition and body attractiveness. The effects of PA, self-efficacy, and BMI on changes in physical self-worth and global self-esteem were mediated by changes in self-perceptions relative to physical condition and body attractiveness. The results of this longitudinal analysis support the hierarchical and multidimensional structure of self-esteem and indicate that middle-aged women can enhance how they perceive their condition and body attractiveness by continued participation in physical activity, increasing their self-efficacy, and maintaining healthy BMI levels.

Sexual Behavior, Sexual Attraction, and Sexual Orientation Among Adults Aged 18-44 in the United States: Data From the 2011-2013 National Survey of Family Growth.

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Copen, Casey E; Chandra, Anjani; Febo-Vazquez, Isaedmarie

2016-01-07

This report provides national estimates of sexual behavior, sexual attraction, and sexual orientation among women and men aged 18-44 in the United States, based on the 2011-2013 National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG). Data for the 2011-2013 NSFG were collected through in-person interviews with 10,416 women and men aged 15-44 in the household population in the United States. In this report, data are shown only for 9,175 adults aged 18-44. The data presented in this report were primarily collected using audio computer-assisted self-interviewing, in which the respondent enters his or her answers into the computer without telling them to an interviewer. The overall response rate for the 2011-2013 NSFG was 72.8%. Regarding opposite-sex sexual behavior, 94.2% of women and 92.0% of men aged 18-44 had ever had vaginal intercourse; 86.2% of women and 87.4% of men had ever had oral sex; and 35.9% of women and 42.3% of men had ever had anal sex. Almost three times as many women (17.4%) reported any same-sex contact in their lifetime compared with men (6.2%) aged 18-44. Feelings of attraction "only to the opposite sex" were more common for men (92.1%) compared with women (81.0%) aged 18-44. Among those aged 18-44, 92.3% of women and 95.1% of men said they were "heterosexual or straight"; 1.3% of women and 1.9% of men said they were "homosexual, gay, or lesbian"; 5.5% of women and 2.0% of men said they were bisexual; and 0.9% of women and 1.0% of men said "don't know" or "refused" (i.e., "did not report") on sexual orientation. Sexual attraction and sexual orientation correlate closely but not completely with reports of sexual behavior. Sexual behavior, sexual attraction, and sexual orientation vary by age, marital or cohabiting status, education, and race and Hispanic origin. All material appearing in this report is in the public domain and may be reproduced or copied without permission; citation as to source, however, is appreciated.

Conformation-dependent DNA attraction.

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Li, Weifeng; Nordenskiöld, Lars; Zhou, Ruhong; Mu, Yuguang

2014-06-21

Understanding how DNA molecules interact with other biomolecules is related to how they utilize their functions and is therefore critical for understanding their structure-function relationships. For a long time, the existence of Z-form DNA (a left-handed double helical version of DNA, instead of the common right-handed B-form) has puzzled the scientists, and the definitive biological significance of Z-DNA has not yet been clarified. In this study, the effects of DNA conformation in DNA-DNA interactions are explored by molecular dynamics simulations. Using umbrella sampling, we find that for both B- and Z-form DNA, surrounding Mg(2+) ions always exert themselves to screen the Coulomb repulsion between DNA phosphates, resulting in very weak attractive force. On the contrary, a tight and stable bound state is discovered for Z-DNA in the presence of Mg(2+) or Na(+), benefiting from their hydrophobic nature. Based on the contact surface and a dewetting process analysis, a two-stage binding process of Z-DNA is outlined: two Z-DNA first attract each other through charge screening and Mg(2+) bridges to phosphate groups in the same way as that of B-DNA, after which hydrophobic contacts of the deoxyribose groups are formed via a dewetting effect, resulting in stable attraction between two Z-DNA molecules. The highlighted hydrophobic nature of Z-DNA interaction from the current study may help to understand the biological functions of Z-DNA in gene transcription.

Host country attractiveness for CDM non-sink projects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jung, Martina

2006-01-01

In the present study, CDM host countries are classified according to their attractiveness for CDM non-sink projects by using cluster analysis. The attractiveness of host countries for CDM non-sink projects is described by three indicators: mitigation potential, institutional CDM capacity and general investment climate. The results suggest that only a small proportion of potential host countries will attract most of the CDM investment. The CDM (non-sink) stars are China, India, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, South Africa, Indonesia and Thailand. They are followed by attractive countries like Costa Rica, Trinidad and Tobago, Mongolia, Panama, and Chile. While most of the promising CDM host countries are located in Latin America and Asia, the general attractiveness of African host countries is relatively low (with the exception of South Africa). Policy implications of this rather inequitable geographical distribution of CDM project activities are discussed briefly

Nurturance and Imitation: The Mediating Role of Attraction

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Parton, David A.; Siebold, James R.

1975-01-01

Describes two experiments which examine the relationship between nurturance, attraction, and imitation. The results showed a significant relationship between nurturance and attraction and no relationship between nurturance and imitation. This suggests that positive relationships between nurturance and imitation are mediated by the child's…

Women's Participation in Academic Conferences in Israel

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Eden, Devorah

2016-01-01

This article examines the participation of women in academic conferences in Israel, a country in which women are under-represented in academia vertically and horizontally. Data were retrieved from announcements of academic conferences in Israel, for one academic year, covering 56 conferences that attracted 997 participants. Participation was…

Non-Heterosexuality, Relationships, and Young Women's Contraceptive Behavior.

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Ela, Elizabeth J; Budnick, Jamie

2017-06-01

Non-heterosexual young women have a higher rate of unintended pregnancy than their heterosexual peers, but their fertility behaviors are understudied. We use longitudinal data from the Relationship Dynamics and Social Life study to investigate mechanisms contributing to non-heterosexual women's higher pregnancy risk. These data include weekly reports of relationships, sex, and contraceptive use over 30 months. We compare the relationships and fertility behaviors of three groups: exclusively heterosexual (consistent heterosexual behavior, identity, and attraction); mostly heterosexual (heterosexual identity with same-sex behavior and/or same-sex attraction); and LGBTQ (any non-heterosexual identity). We find that mostly heterosexual and LGBTQ women behave differently from exclusively heterosexual women in ways likely to elevate their risk of unintended pregnancy: more distinct partners during the study period, more sexual intercourse with men, less frequent contraceptive use, less use of a dual method (condom plus hormonal method), and more gaps in contraceptive coverage. Mostly heterosexual women resemble LGBTQ women in their contraceptive behavior but have significantly more intercourse with men, which may increase their pregnancy risk relative to both LGBTQ and exclusively heterosexual women. We conclude by considering implications for LGBTQ health and the measurement of sexual minority populations.

The Status of Women in Physics in Sudan

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Abdelbagi, Abdrazig M.; Sirelkhatim, Amna H.; Abdelrahman, Wafaa S.; Osman, Mai E.; Shatir, Tahani S.

2009-04-01

The progress of women in physics education in the last five years was surveyed in the six top universities in Sudan. The data reveal great increases in the number of females studying undergraduate physics. Most were studying experimental physics rather than theoretical physics, especially the laser and electronics fields. It appears undergraduate laboratory experiments are an important factor in attracting women to physics. Our survey found that girls are encouraged to study physics at the high school level. However, the data also showed that the fewer tendencies to study physics among the women after high school are due to the limited job opportunities and low income of teachers. Postgraduate physics study is handicapped by lack of institutions, financial constraints, and lack of qualified advisors. Improvement of education systems and new ways of teaching will have great influences on attracting women to physics in Sudan.

How to be an attractive male: floral dimorphism and attractiveness to pollinators in a dioecious plant

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Waelti Marc O

2009-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Sexual selection theory predicts that males are limited in their reproductive success by access to mates, whereas females are more limited by resources. In animal-pollinated plants, attraction of pollinators and successful pollination is crucial for reproductive success. In dioecious plant species, males should thus be selected to increase their attractiveness to pollinators by investing more than females in floral traits that enhance pollinator visitation. We tested the prediction of higher attractiveness of male flowers in the dioecious, moth-pollinated herb Silene latifolia, by investigating floral signals (floral display and fragrance and conducting behavioral experiments with the pollinator-moth, Hadena bicruris. Results As found in previous studies, male plants produced more but smaller flowers. Male flowers, however, emitted significantly larger amounts of scent than female flowers, especially of the pollinator-attracting compounds. In behavioral tests we showed that naïve pollinator-moths preferred male over female flowers, but this preference was only significant for male moths. Conclusion Our data suggest the evolution of dimorphic floral signals is shaped by sexual selection and pollinator preferences, causing sexual conflict in both plants and pollinators.

Does being attractive always help? Positive and negative effects of attractiveness on social decision making.

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Agthe, Maria; Spörrle, Matthias; Maner, Jon K

2011-08-01

Previous studies of organizational decision making demonstrate an abundance of positive biases directed toward highly attractive individuals. The current research, in contrast, suggests that when the person being evaluated is of the same sex as the evaluator, attractiveness hurts, rather than helps. Three experiments assessing evaluations of potential job candidates (Studies 1 and 3) and university applicants (Study 2) demonstrated positive biases toward highly attractive other-sex targets but negative biases toward highly attractive same-sex targets. This pattern was mediated by variability in participants' desire to interact with versus avoid the target individual (Studies 1 and 2) and was moderated by participants' level of self-esteem (Study 3); the derogation of attractive same-sex targets was not observed among people with high self-esteem. Findings demonstrate an important exception to the positive effects of attractiveness in organizational settings and suggest that negative responses to attractive same-sex targets stem from perceptions of self-threat.

Characteristics of activities that affect the development of women's same-sex relationships.

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Davis-Delano, Laurel R

2014-01-01

The author utilized semistructured interviews with 56 women to explore how a wide range of activities affected the development of the participants' same-sex attractions and relationships. The researcher was able to identify and describe some aspects of the process by which eight characteristics of activities that are more or less present in various social contexts have the potential to impact whether these contexts are more or less conducive or hindering to the development of women's same-sex attractions and relationships. Activities were more apt to nurture the development of the participants' same-sex attractions and relationships when the activity (a) included lesbians, (b) was composed primarily of women, (c) affirmed women, (d) facilitated bonding, (e) featured a climate of acceptance of lesbians/gays/bisexuals, (f) did not feature a climate that emphasized heteronormativity, (g) was perceived as gender neutral, and (h) generated or drew participants who were similar to each other.

The Relationship of Interpersonal Attraction and Attraction to Group in a Growth Group Setting.

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Evans, Nancy J.

1984-01-01

Investigated the relationship of interpersonal attraction and attraction to groups. Students (N=56) participating in growth groups completed the Group Attitude Scale and individual rating scales early, midway, and late in the group. Data indicated an increasing relationship between interpersonal and group attraction throughout the life of the…

Effects of a tattoo on men's behavior and attitudes towards women: An experimental field study.

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Guéguen, Nicolas

2013-11-01

Previous studies have indicated negative evaluations of women with tattoos. However, a study by Swami and Furnham (2007) showed that tattooed women were rated as less physically attractive but more sexually promiscuous. Given that men interpret women's sexual intent according to their physical appearance, we predicted that women with tattoos would be more favorably approached by men. A temporary tattoo was placed on confederates' lower back, or not, and all confederates were instructed to read a book while lying flat on their stomach on a well-known beach. Two experiments were conducted. The first experiment showed that more men (N = 220) approached the tattooed confederates and that the mean latency of their approach was quicker. A second experiment showed that men (N = 440) estimated to have more chances to have a date and to have sex on the first date with tattooed confederates. However, the level of physical attractiveness attributed to the confederate was not influenced by the tattoo condition. These results were discussed with respect to men's possible misinterpretation of women wearing tattoos and the risks associated with this misinterpretation.

Sex, attractiveness, and third-party punishment in fairness consideration.

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Jia Li

Full Text Available Social evaluation of others is often influenced by the physical attractiveness of the person being judged, leading to either a beauty premium or penalty depending on the circumstances. Here we asked Chinese participants to act as an interest-free third party in a dictator game and to evaluate the fairness level of monetary allocation by attractive and less attractive proposers of the same or opposite sex. We also instructed participants to express their willingness to punish the proposers by using a visual analogue scale. Results confirmed that the reasonableness evaluation was mainly affected by the reasonableness of offers. However, participants' intention to punish the proposers was affected by the level of reasonableness in the asset distribution and by both the sex and attractiveness of the proposers. Overall, male proposers were punished more severely than female proposers. Moreover, the same-sex proposers were punished more severely than opposite-sex proposers when they were physically attractive; this pattern was reversed when the proposers were less physically attractive. These results demonstrate social responses following an individual's unfair asset distribution can be affected by both social norms and the personal characteristics of the individual.

Sex, Attractiveness, and Third-Party Punishment in Fairness Consideration

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Li, Jia; Zhou, Xiaolin

2014-01-01

Social evaluation of others is often influenced by the physical attractiveness of the person being judged, leading to either a beauty premium or penalty depending on the circumstances. Here we asked Chinese participants to act as an interest-free third party in a dictator game and to evaluate the fairness level of monetary allocation by attractive and less attractive proposers of the same or opposite sex. We also instructed participants to express their willingness to punish the proposers by using a visual analogue scale. Results confirmed that the reasonableness evaluation was mainly affected by the reasonableness of offers. However, participants' intention to punish the proposers was affected by the level of reasonableness in the asset distribution and by both the sex and attractiveness of the proposers. Overall, male proposers were punished more severely than female proposers. Moreover, the same-sex proposers were punished more severely than opposite-sex proposers when they were physically attractive; this pattern was reversed when the proposers were less physically attractive. These results demonstrate social responses following an individual's unfair asset distribution can be affected by both social norms and the personal characteristics of the individual. PMID:24709987

Ovulation leads women to perceive sexy cads as good dads.

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Durante, Kristina M; Griskevicius, Vladas; Simpson, Jeffry A; Cantú, Stephanie M; Li, Norman P

2012-08-01

Why do some women pursue relationships with men who are attractive, dominant, and charming but who do not want to be in relationships--the prototypical sexy cad? Previous research shows that women have an increased desire for such men when they are ovulating, but it is unclear why ovulating women would think it is wise to pursue men who may be unfaithful and could desert them. Using both college-age and community-based samples, in 3 studies we show that ovulating women perceive charismatic and physically attractive men, but not reliable and nice men, as more committed partners and more devoted future fathers. Ovulating women perceive that sexy cads would be good fathers to their own children but not to the children of other women. This ovulatory-induced perceptual shift is driven by women who experienced early onset of puberty. Taken together, the current research identifies a novel proximate reason why ovulating women pursue relationships with sexy cads, complementing existing research that identifies the ultimate, evolutionary reasons for this behavior.

Women prefer men who use metaphorical language when paying compliments in a romantic context.

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Gao, Zhao; Gao, Shan; Xu, Lei; Zheng, Xiaoxiao; Ma, Xiaole; Luo, Lizhu; Kendrick, Keith M

2017-02-09

Language plays an important role in romantic attachment. However, it is unclear whether the structure and topic of language use might influence potential mate choice. We investigated 124 female students' preference for compliments paid by males incorporating either literal or metaphoric (conventional/novel) language and targeting their appearance or possessions (house) throughout their menstrual cycle. Male faces paired with novel metaphorical compliments were rated as more attractive by women than those paired with literal ones. Compliments targeting appearance increased male attractiveness more than possessions. Interestingly, compliments on appearance using novel metaphors were preferred by women in a relationship during the fertile phase but by single women during the luteal phase. A similar pattern of altered face attraction ratings was subsequently shown by subjects in the absence of the verbal compliments and even though they were unable to recognize the faces. Thus the maintained attraction bias for faces previously associated with figurative language compliments appears to be unconscious. Overall this study provides the first evidence that women find men who typically use novel metaphorical language to compliment appearance more attractive than those using prosaic language or complimenting possessions. The evolutionary significance for such a language use bias in mate selection is discussed.

Attractiveness Differences Between Twins Predicts Evaluations of Self and Co-Twin

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Principe, Connor P.; Rosen, Lisa H.; Taylor-Partridge, Teresa; Langlois, Judith H.

2012-01-01

One of the most consistent findings in psychology shows that people prefer and make positive attributions about attractive compared with unattractive people. The goal of the current study was to determine the power of attractiveness effects by testing whether these social judgments are made where attractiveness differences are smallest: between twins. Differences in facial attractiveness predicted twins’ evaluations of self and their co-twin (n = 158; 54 male). In twin pairs, the more attractive twin judged their less attractive sibling as less physically attractive, athletic, socially competent, and emotionally stable. The less attractive twin did the reverse. Given that even negligible differences in facial attractiveness predicted self and co-twin attitudes, these results provide the strongest test yet of appearance-based stereotypes. PMID:23467329

Attractive forces study in macromolecules and critical systems; Etude des forces attractives dans les macromolecules et les systemes critiques

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Penninckx-Sans, A.

1995-07-10

The attractive forces effect is particularly interesting at the proximity of a critical point. In a liquid system, there are two kinds of attractive forces in presence : the forces bound to the solution volume and those generated by the presence of the solution surface or by a solution interface. In the first case, the attractive forces are the more important as the system is in a critical field. For this study, the selected example is a polymer solution in a two solvents mixture. A formulation in terms of way integrals as part of statistical physics has lead us to find again some known results on the polymer chain conformation in the presence of two solvents (collapse of the polymer on itself) far from the critical point and to extend these results to the critical field. In the case of attractive forces created by the surface in some critical systems (polymer of infinite size in solution and binary mixture near the de mixture point), the adsorption profile created by the attraction of one specie by the surface, follows a scale law. The optical methods usually used for the study of these systems do not give characteristic sign of concentration profile in power law. In the case where the interaction potential between radiation and matter is attractive, the reflectivity gives a separate mark of the existence of the scale law in the form of a resonance. After some theoretical forecasts, the author has used this method on the binary mixture methanol-cyclohexane in order to reveal experimentally a reflectivity pseudo-discontinuity and then the existence of the power law in the critical adsorption profile. (O.L.). 69 refs., 60 tabs.

Designing attractive gamification features for collaborative storytelling websites.

Science.gov (United States)

Hsu, Shang Hwa; Chang, Jen-Wei; Lee, Chun-Chia

2013-06-01

Gamification design is considered as the predictor of collaborative storytelling websites' success. Although aforementioned studies have mentioned a broad range of factors that may influence gamification, they neither depicted the actual design features nor relative attractiveness among them. This study aims to identify attractive gamification features for collaborative storytelling websites. We first constructed a hierarchical system structure of gamification design of collaborative storytelling websites and conducted a focus group interview with eighteen frequent users to identify 35gamification features. After that, this study determined the relative attractiveness of these gamification features by administrating an online survey to 6333 collaborative storytelling websites users. The results indicated that the top 10 most attractive gamification features could account for more than 50% of attractiveness among these 35 gamification features. The feature of unpredictable time pressure is important to website users, yet not revealed in previous relevant studies. Implications of the findings were discussed.

Streetlights attract a broad array of beetle species

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Bruno Augusto Souza de Medeiros

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Light pollution on ecosystems is a growing concern, and knowledge about the effects of outdoor lighting on organisms is crucial to understand and mitigate impacts. Here we build up on a previous study to characterize the diversity of all beetles attracted to different commonly used streetlight set ups. We find that lights attract beetles from a broad taxonomic and ecological spectrum. Lights that attract a large number of insect individuals draw an equally high number of insect species. While there is some evidence for heterogeneity in the preference of beetle species to different kinds of light, all species are more attracted to some light radiating ultraviolet. The functional basis of this heterogeneity, however, is not clear. Our results highlight that control of ultraviolet radiation in public lighting is important to reduce the number and diversity of insects attracted to lights. Keywords: Lighting, Coleoptera, Light pollution, Insects, Ultraviolet

Interpersonal Attraction and Organizational Outcomes: A Field Examination.

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Ross, Jerry; Ferris, Kenneth R.

1981-01-01

A cross-sectional study of 306 male accountants and managers at two public accounting firms examined the relationship of physical attractiveness, attitude similarity, and social background to performance ratings and salaries. Results suggest that physical attractiveness leads to higher ratings and salaries but that attitudes and background have…

Positive Perceptions of Genital Appearance and Feeling Sexually Attractive: Is It a Matter of Sexual Esteem?

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Amos, Natalie; McCabe, Marita

2016-07-01

The present study examined the relationship between perceptions of genital appearance and self-perceived sexual attractiveness. The study sample included men and women (aged 18-45 years, M = 23.7, SD = 4.98) who identified as heterosexual (n = 1017), gay or lesbian (n = 1225), or bisexual (n = 651). Participants responded to an online survey assessing their self-perceived sexual attractiveness, genital self-image, genital self-consciousness during sexual activity, and sexual esteem. Based on previous findings, we hypothesized a positive link between genital self-perceptions and self-perceived sexual attractiveness, with sexual esteem acting as a mediator. We tested this hypothesis using structural equation modeling. Analyses revealed a significant association between both genital self-image and genital self-consciousness and self-perceived sexual attractiveness. However, these relationships were at least partially mediated by sexual esteem, across both gender and sexual orientation. The findings suggest that, regardless of gender or sexual orientation, individuals who maintain a positive genital self-image or lack genital self-consciousness, are more likely to experience greater sexual esteem, and in turn, feel more sexually attractive. The findings have implications for the importance of genital appearance perceptions and improving individuals' sexual esteem and self-perceived sexual attractiveness.

Big and beautiful? Evidence of racial differences in the perceived attractiveness of obese females.

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Ali, Mir M; Rizzo, John A; Heiland, Frank W

2013-06-01

This paper investigates the relationships between body weight, race, and attractiveness in appearance and personality among adolescents. We study a sample of 5947 (non-Hispanic) white and black girls age 12 to 18 who were interviewed by a group of 338 interviewers. We find that overweight and obese white female adolescents are, respectively, 23% and 40% less likely, on average, to be perceived as physically attractive compared to normal-weight white girls. The physical appearance penalties are significantly smaller for overweight and obese black girls compared to white girls. These findings suggest that being overweight or obese is costly due to its negative impact on inner and outer perceived beauty, providing an explanation for the observed stigmatization of overweight and obesity among women in labor and relationship markets. The smaller beauty penalties for black girls above the normal-weight range suggest that the range of body sizes considered attractive may be wider for black females. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Selflessness is sexy: reported helping behaviour increases desirability of men and women as long-term sexual partners.

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Moore, David; Wigby, Stuart; English, Sinead; Wong, Sonny; Székely, Tamás; Harrison, Freya

2013-09-03

Despite its short-term costs, behaviour that appears altruistic can increase an individual's inclusive fitness by earning direct (selfish) and/or indirect (kin-selected) benefits. An evolved preference for other-regarding or helping behaviour in potential mates has been proposed as an additional mechanism by which these behaviours can yield direct fitness benefits in humans. We asked 32 heterosexual women and 35 heterosexual men to rate the attractiveness of members of the opposite sex in the presence and the absence of information about helping behaviours. Reports of helping behaviour were associated with a significant increase in the attractiveness of both men and women as potential long-term sexual partners. Altruism also increased the attractiveness of men as potential partners for short-term flings, but to a lesser extent than when the same men were being considered for long-term relationships. Altruism did not affect the attractiveness of women as partners for short-term flings. Our results unite two important areas of evolutionary theory - social evolution and sexual selection - and extend the list of means by which helping behaviours, which appear at first glance to be costly to the actor, can in fact earn direct fitness benefits. Helping behaviours may be attractive because they signal 'good genes' and/or because they are perceived as a signal of likely provision of non-genetic benefits (e.g. parental care). Exactly why helping behaviours in a non-mating context might be attractive to potential mates, and whether they are honest signals of mate quality, remains to be elucidated.

Development of a female medfly attractant system in Morocco

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bakri, A.

1999-01-01

Field trials were conducted in Morocco to evaluate food-based attractants according to the FAO/IAEA international network program. Ammonium acetate plus putrescine (FA-2 attractants) were very effective and selective for female medfly attraction. The addition of trimethylamine (FA-3 attractants) increased trap catches. The association of the female attractants with various traps were tested in two medfly host plants, argan (Argania spinosa) and mandarin (Citrus reticulata Blanco) during two seasons (fall and summer). Open bottom dry traps (OBDTs), closed bottom dry traps (CBDTs), dry International Pheromone's McPhail traps (IPMTs), wet IPMTs, locally made traps and Tephri traps, all baited with the synthetic lures (FA-2 and FA-3), were compared to liquid protein baited IPMTs and Trimedlure baited Jackson traps. Results showed that the new trapping systems were as effective in capturing females as the standard IPMT baited with NuLure + borax. Furthermore, dry Tephri traps were the most effective under certain conditions. Only in one experiment were CBDTs baited with the synthetic two component lure (FA-2) as effective as Trimedlure baited Jackson traps. In most cases the attracted females were immature. Attempts to increase the attractiveness of the synthetic lure by the addition of male medfly synthetic pheromone failed. Based on the results obtained, it is apparent that the three component synthetic female attractant (FA-3) provides an effective system for capturing female medflies and could be used as an alternative to NuLure baited IPMT traps for assessing the efficacy of SIT when sterile males are released. (author)

Simultaneous perceptual and response biases on sequential face attractiveness judgments

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Pegors, Teresa K.; Mattar, Marcelo G.; Bryan, Peter B.; Epstein, Russell A.

2015-01-01

Face attractiveness is a social characteristic that we often use to make first-pass judgments about the people around us. However, these judgments are highly influenced by our surrounding social world, and researchers still understand little about the mechanisms underlying these influences. In a series of three experiments, we used a novel sequential rating paradigm that enabled us to measure biases on attractiveness judgments from the previous face and the previous rating. Our results revealed two simultaneous and opposing influences on face attractiveness judgments that arise from our past experience of faces: a response bias in which attractiveness ratings shift towards a previously given rating, and a stimulus bias in which attractiveness ratings shift away from the mean attractiveness of the previous face. Furthermore, we provide evidence that the contrastive stimulus bias (but not the assimilative response bias) is strengthened by increasing the duration of the previous stimulus, suggesting an underlying perceptual mechanism. These results demonstrate that judgments of face attractiveness are influenced by information from our evaluative and perceptual history and that these influences have measurable behavioral effects over the course of just a few seconds. PMID:25867223

Female attraction to appetitive-aggressive men is modulated by women's menstrual cycle and men's vulnerability to traumatic stress.

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Giebel, Gilda; Weierstall, Roland; Schauer, Maggie; Elbert, Thomas

2013-03-20

Many studies have reported that during high fertility points in the menstrual cycle, women demonstrate increased preference for men with masculinized faces and bodies. In this study, we analyzed whether appetitive aggression in men serves as an additional signal for a favored partner choice. Appetitive aggression describes the intrinsic motivation to act violently even when not being threatened. This study evaluated the responses of 1212 women to one of four descriptions regarding a soldier´s experience after returning from war. The four vignettes included trauma related symptoms with high or low appetitive aggression, or no trauma related symptoms with high or low appetitive aggression. Participants rated their desirability for the soldier in regards to potential long-term and short-term relationships. Results indicate that women preferred a soldier high in appetitive aggression as a short-term mate but not as a long-term relationship. This preference for the "warrior" was higher for women in their fertile window of the menstrual cycle. We conclude that women in their fertile window prefer men exhibiting higher appetitive aggression as a short-term partner, revealing appetitive aggression in men may serve as a signal for a higher genetic fitness.

Female Attraction to Appetitive-Aggressive Men is Modulated by Women's Menstrual Cycle and Men's Vulnerability to Traumatic Stress

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Gilda Giebel

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Many studies have reported that during high fertility points in the menstrual cycle, women demonstrate increased preference for men with masculinized faces and bodies. In this study, we analyzed whether appetitive aggression in men serves as an additional signal for a favored partner choice. Appetitive aggression describes the intrinsic motivation to act violently even when not being threatened. This study evaluated the responses of 1212 women to one of four descriptions regarding a soldier's experience after returning from war. The four vignettes included trauma related symptoms with high or low appetitive aggression, or no trauma related symptoms with high or low appetitive aggression. Participants rated their desirability for the soldier in regards to potential long-term and short-term relationships. Results indicate that women preferred a soldier high in appetitive aggression as a short-term mate but not as a long-term relationship. This preference for the “warrior” was higher for women in their fertile window of the menstrual cycle. We conclude that women in their fertile window prefer men exhibiting higher appetitive aggression as a short-term partner, revealing appetitive aggression in men may serve as a signal for a higher genetic fitness.

Liquid crystal phase behaviour of attractive disc-like particles.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Liang; Jackson, George; Müller, Erich A

2013-08-08

We employ a generalized van der Waals-Onsager perturbation theory to construct a free energy functional capable of describing the thermodynamic properties and orientational order of the isotropic and nematic phases of attractive disc particles. The model mesogen is a hard (purely repulsive) cylindrical disc particle decorated with an anisotropic square-well attractive potential placed at the centre of mass. Even for isotropic attractive interactions, the resulting overall inter-particle potential is anisotropic, due to the orientation-dependent excluded volume of the underlying hard core. An algebraic equation of state for attractive disc particles is developed by adopting the Onsager trial function to characterize the orientational order in the nematic phase. The theory is then used to represent the fluid-phase behaviour (vapour-liquid, isotropic-nematic, and nematic-nematic) of the oblate attractive particles for varying values of the molecular aspect ratio and parameters of the attractive potential. When compared to the phase diagram of their athermal analogues, it is seen that the addition of an attractive interaction facilitates the formation of orientationally-ordered phases. Most interestingly, for certain aspect ratios, a coexistence between two anisotropic nematic phases is exhibited by the attractive disc-like fluids.

Power increases infidelity among men and women.

Science.gov (United States)

Lammers, Joris; Stoker, Janka I; Jordan, Jennifer; Pollmann, Monique; Stapel, Diederik A

2011-09-01

Data from a large survey of 1,561 professionals were used to examine the relationship between power and infidelity and the process underlying this relationship. Results showed that elevated power is positively associated with infidelity because power increases confidence in the ability to attract partners. This association was found for both actual infidelity and intentions to engage in infidelity in the future. Gender did not moderate these results: The relationship between power and infidelity was the same for women as for men, and for the same reason. These findings suggest that the common assumption (and often-found effect) that women are less likely than men to engage in infidelity is, at least partially, a reflection of traditional gender-based differences in power that exist in society.

The Relationship between Students' Motives to Communicate with Their Instructors and Perceived Instructor Credibility, Attractiveness, and Homophily

Science.gov (United States)

Myers, Scott A.; Huebner, Alex D.

2011-01-01

This study investigated the relationship between students' motives to communicate (i.e., relational, functional, participatory, excuse making, and sycophantic) with their instructors and perceived instructor credibility, attractiveness, and homophily. 150 undergraduate students (85 men, 64 women, one did not indicate sex) enrolled at a large…

Facial beauty affects implicit and explicit learning of men and women differently

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eleni eZiori

2015-08-01

Full Text Available The present work explores the unconscious and/or conscious nature of learning attractive faces of same and opposite sex, that is, of stimuli that experimental and neuroimaging research has shown to be rewarding and thus highly motivating. To this end, we examined performance of men and women while classifying strings of average and attractive faces for grammaticality in the experimental task of artificial grammar learning (AGL, which reflects both conscious and unconscious processes. Subjective measures were used to assess participants’ conscious and unconscious knowledge. It was found that female attractiveness impaired performance in male participants. In particular, male participants demonstrated the lowest accuracy while classifying beautiful faces of women. Conversely, female attractiveness facilitated performance in female participants. The pattern was similar for conscious and unconscious knowledge. Presumably, objects with high incentive salience, as are beautiful faces, captured resources, which were used in task relevant versus task irrelevant ways by women versus men. The present findings shed light on the relation of conscious and unconscious processing with affective and reward-related stimuli, as well as on gender differences underlying this relation.

Marketing places: multipurpose artificial reefs as tourist attraction proposal

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Marco Antonio Moraes Ocke

2013-11-01

Full Text Available Marketing places focuses on the use of marketing activities as a way to leverage the socioeconomic development of cities, states and countries and in this context, the attractions of a given locality are essential to the growth of tourism in the region. From the literature review of concepts and types of attractions, this paper aims to suggest the convergence of the concepts of natural attraction and artificial attraction applied to artificial multipurpose artificial reefs and describe its hybrid nature to recover degraded areas by coastal erosion, increased marine biodiversity and the ability to improve the quality of waves for surfing, resulting in an increase of tourist flow of the region. Through the observation of cases in countries that have invested in the implementation of multipurpose artificial reefs it has been found positive results regarding tourism development and socioeconomic in these regions and thus, this paper considers the possibility of deployment of multipurpose artificial reefs along the Brazilian coast as a proposal to attract visitors and promote benefits to the receiving place.

Making clinical academic careers more attractive: views from questionnaire surveys of senior UK doctors

Science.gov (United States)

Lambert, Trevor W; Goldacre, Michael J

2015-01-01

Summary Objectives To report on doctors’ reasons, as expressed to our research group, for choosing academic careers and on factors that would make a career in clinical academic medicine more attractive to them. Design Postal, email and web questionnaires. Setting UK. Participants A total of 6936 UK-trained doctors who graduated in 1996, 1999 and 2000. Main outcome measures Open-ended comments about a career in clinical academic medicine. Results Of doctors who provided reasons for pursuing a long-term career in clinical academic medicine, the main reasons were enjoyment of academic work and personal satisfaction, whether expressed directly in those terms, or in terms of intellectual stimulation, enjoyment of research, teaching and the advancement of medicine, and the job being more varied than and preferable to clinical work alone. Doctors’ suggestions for making clinical academic medicine more attractive included improved pay and job security, better funding of research, greater availability of academic posts, more dedicated time for research (and less service work) and more support and mentoring. Women were more likely than men to prioritise flexible working hours and part-time posts. Conclusions Medical schools could provide more information, as part of student teaching, about the opportunities for and realities of a career in clinical academic medicine. Women, in particular, commented that they lacked the role models and information which would encourage them to consider seriously an academic career. Employers could increase academic opportunities by allowing more time for teaching, research and study and should assess whether job plans make adequate allowance for academic work. PMID:26380103

Effects of solute--solvent attractive forces on hydrophobic correlations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pratt, L.R.; Chandler, D.

1980-01-01

A theory is presented for the effect of slowly varying attractive forces on correlations between nonpolar solutes in dilute aqueous solution. We find that hydrophobic correlations are sensitive to relatively long range slowly varying interactions. Thus, it is possible to make qualitative changes in these correlations by introducing small changes in the attractive forces. Several model calculations are presented to illustrate these facts. The contributions of the Lennard-Jones attractive forces to the computer simulation results of Pangali, Rao, and Berne are calculated. For this case it is found that the potential of mean force between spherical nonpolar solutes is hardly affected by inclusion of attractive forces. However, the osmotic second virial coefficient is dominated by the contributions of the attractive forces. For spherical solutes which provide a reasonable model for the methane molecule, inclusion of attractive forces produces a qualitative change in the methane--methane potential of mean force. The connection between these effects of slowly varying attractive forces and the enthalpic part of Ben-Naim's deltaA/sup H/I is discussed

Objective assessment of the contribution of dental esthetics and facial attractiveness in men via eye tracking.

Science.gov (United States)

Baker, Robin S; Fields, Henry W; Beck, F Michael; Firestone, Allen R; Rosenstiel, Stephen F

2018-04-01

Recently, greater emphasis has been placed on smile esthetics in dentistry. Eye tracking has been used to objectively evaluate attention to the dentition (mouth) in female models with different levels of dental esthetics quantified by the aesthetic component of the Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need (IOTN). This has not been accomplished in men. Our objective was to determine the visual attention to the mouth in men with different levels of dental esthetics (IOTN levels) and background facial attractiveness, for both male and female raters, using eye tracking. Facial images of men rated as unattractive, average, and attractive were digitally manipulated and paired with validated oral images, IOTN levels 1 (no treatment need), 7 (borderline treatment need), and 10 (definite treatment need). Sixty-four raters meeting the inclusion criteria were included in the data analysis. Each rater was calibrated in the eye tracker and randomly viewed the composite images for 3 seconds, twice for reliability. Reliability was good or excellent (intraclass correlation coefficients, 0.6-0.9). Significant interactions were observed with factorial repeated-measures analysis of variance and the Tukey-Kramer method for density and duration of fixations in the interactions of model facial attractiveness by area of the face (P models was eye, mouth, and nose, but for men of average attractiveness, it was mouth, eye, and nose. For dental esthetics by area, at IOTN 7, the mouth had significantly more visual attention than it did at IOTN 1 and significantly more than the nose. At IOTN 10, the mouth received significantly more attention than at IOTN 7 and surpassed the nose and eye. These findings were irrespective of facial attractiveness levels. For rater sex by area in visual density, women showed significantly more attention to the eyes than did men, and only men showed significantly more attention to the mouth over the nose. Visual attention to the mouth was the greatest in men of

Effects of Instructor Attractiveness on Learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Westfall, Richard; Millar, Murray; Walsh, Mandy

2016-01-01

Although a considerable body of research has examined the impact of student attractiveness on instructors, little attention has been given to the influence of instructor attractiveness on students. This study tested the hypothesis that persons would perform significantly better on a learning task when they perceived their instructor to be high in physical attractiveness. To test the hypothesis, participants listened to an audio lecture while viewing a photograph of instructor. The photograph depicted either a physically attractive instructor or a less attractive instructor. Following the lecture, participants completed a forced choice recognition task covering material from the lecture. Consistent with the predictions; attractive instructors were associated with more learning. Finally, we replicated previous findings demonstrating the role attractiveness plays in person perception.

The attractive lip: A photomorphometric analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Penna, V; Fricke, A; Iblher, N; Eisenhardt, S U; Stark, G B

2015-07-01

Throughout literature, there are different parameters defining the ideal shape of the lip and lower third of the face. This study was conducted to clarify what it is that makes lips attractive - and whether there are gender-related differences of an attractive lip and lower third of the face. Pictures of the lip and chin region of 176 patients were photographed in a standardised way and evaluated by 250 voluntary judges through an internet presentation by means of an analogue Likert scaling system. We found a significant higher ratio of upper vermillion height/mouth-nose distance in frontal-view images of attractive compared to unattractive female (p attractive than in unattractive female (p attractive compared to unattractive female perioral regions (p attractive female lip and chin regions showed a wider mentolabial angle compared to unattractive female lip and chin regions (p attractive female perioral regions showed a higher ratio of lower vermillion height/chin-mouth distance (p attractive male perioral regions (p attractivity of female and male individuals and prove that there are gender-related differences in form and shape of an attractive lower third of the face. Copyright © 2015 British Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Infants' Differential Social Responses to Attractive and Unattractive Faces.

Science.gov (United States)

Langlois, Judith H.; And Others

1990-01-01

Two studies examined social responses to attractive and unattractive faces on the part of 123 infants of 12 months. Results suggest that visual and behavioral preferences for attractiveness are exhibited much earlier in life than was previously thought. (RH)

Attract Visitors to Your Site

CERN Document Server

MacDonald, Matthew

2010-01-01

To be a success, a website has to attract-and keep--visitors. This Mini Missing Manual shows you how to attract new and return visitors and use the power of keywords and Web search engines to rise up in the rankings of search results. You'll also learn how to use a powerful-and free--service that tracks visitor activity on your site so you know which of your Web pages they love, and-just as important--which pages don't work for them. Using this information, you can fine-tune your site to keep the visitors coming. This Mini Missing Manual is excerpted from Creating a Web Site: The Missing Man

Effects of student physical attractiveness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Krnjajić Stevan B.

2005-01-01

Full Text Available Implicit personality theories suggest that people draw conclusions about other persons by using a relatively small number of visible features. The formation of "the first impression" is influenced by the factors, such as sex, age, appearances, race or nationality. Frequently, conclusions based on those factors lead to developing social stereotypes. Attractiveness is a good example of "the first impression" effect, because physical attractiveness entails the creation of impression about another person along a relatively great number of dimensions. Experimental paradigm, introduced in the sphere of interpersonal perception around the mid-20th century, led to a relatively great number of studies on stereotype based on physical attractiveness. One of the most often quoted conclusions of studies on physical attractiveness is summarized by the idiom "what is beautiful is good". For example, socially desirable personality traits (responsibility kindness, energy quality, modesty, more successful private and professional life, are all attributed to physically attractive persons. In addition physical attractiveness is coupled with positive expectations, peer acceptance, academic achievement etc. On the basis of studies on the "what is beautiful is good" stereotype, we have situated our analysis within the domain of roles regulating social interaction between teachers and students i.e. effects of physical attractiveness on teacher expectations, peer acceptance and academic achievement.

Fluids with highly directional attractive forces. III. Multiple attraction sites

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wertheim, M.S.

1986-01-01

The authors derive a reformulation of statistical thermodynamics for fluids of molecules which interact by highly directional attraction. The molecular model consists of a repulsive core and several sites of very short-ranged attraction. The authors explore the relationship between graph cancellation in the fugacity expansion and three types of steric incompatibility between repulsive and attractive interactions involving several molecules. The steric effects are used to best advantage in a limited regrouping of bonds. This controls the density parameters which appear when articulation points are eliminated in the graphical representation. Each density parameter is a singlet density for a species consisting of molecules with a specified set of sites bonded. The densities satisfy subsidiary conditions of internal consistency. These conditions are equivalent to a minimization of the Helmholtz free energy A. Graphical expressions for A and for the pressure are derived. Analogs of the s-particle direct correlation functions and of the Ornstein-Zernike equation are found

Cross-channel effects of vocal and physical attractiveness and their implications for interpersonal perception.

Science.gov (United States)

Zuckerman, M; Miyake, K; Hodgins, H S

1991-04-01

Judges' ratings of senders' vocal attractiveness from face-plus-voice (F+V) cues were influenced by senders' physical attractiveness, and ratings of senders' physical attractiveness from F+V cues were influenced by senders' vocal attractiveness. This occurred even when judges were warned not to pay attention to face when rating vocal attractiveness and not to pay attention to voice when rating physical attractiveness. Instructions to judge attractiveness without being told which channel to attend to resulted in ratings influenced by both vocal and physical attractiveness of senders. Because of cross-channel effects, F+V attractiveness ratings should be more highly related to F+V personality impressions than attractiveness ratings based on only face or only voice. The results supported this hypothesis. Implications of cross-channel effects for research on the attractiveness stereotype were discussed.

Managing employer brand attributes to attract potential future leaders

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bonaiuto, Marino; De Dominicis, Stefano; Illia, Laura

2013-01-01

for attracting talented people. Using three empirical studies, we identify brand attributes that have not been very widely diffused among real companies (versus ideal) but are relevant for attracting young professionals with the potential to become leaders. We also identify which brand attributes already present...... among real employees allow for attracting talented individuals versus the non-talented ones. The three studies are conducted with a sample of 493, 729 and 1605 recent graduates from Italian universities, respectively. The results indicate that the most idealized brand attributes are related...... are discussed with reference to how they contribute to our understanding of EB, brand management and the attraction of future leaders....

Attracting electromagnet for control rod

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kato, Kazuo; Sasaki, Kotaro.

1989-01-01

Non-magnetic material plates with inherent resistivity of greater than 20 μΩ-cm and thickness of less than 3 mm are used for the end plates of attracting electromagnets for closed type control rods. By using such control rod attracting electromagnets, the scram releasing time can be shortened than usual. Since the armature attracting side of the electromagnet has to be sealed by a non-magnetic plate, a bronze plate of about 5 mm thickness has been used so far. Accordingly, non-magnetic plate is inserted to the electromagnet attracting face to increase air source length for improving to shorten the scram releasing time. This method, however, worsens the attracting property on one hand to require a great magnetomotive force. For overcoming these drawbacks, in the present invention, the material for tightly closing end plates in an electromagnet is changed from bronze plate to non-magnetic stainless steel SUS 303 or non-magnetic Monel metal and, in addition, the plate thickness is reduced to less than 5 mm thereby maintaining the attracting property and shortening the scram releasing time. (K.M.)

The attractiveness of Serbian market in attracting international companies in tourism sector

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Tornjanski Aleksandra

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The entry of international companies in the field of tourism in the domestic market creates a huge potential for its growth, greater involvement in the international tourism, flow of people and information as well as transfer of new technologies. Furthermore, international companies in the field of tourism develop tourism in the country they enter and it is therefore necessary to prepare the domestic market for their entry. Controlled and uncontrolled factors both have impact on the attractiveness of a country as a potential market and consequently affect its business operations. Various barriers to entry may be administrative and real (actual, thus affecting the development of market for entry and business operations of companies interested in internationalization in the field of tourism. The subject of this paper is to analyze the market entry barriers of Serbia faced by international companies in the field of tourism. The main objective of this paper is to evaluate if the Serbian market is attractive for entry of international companies in the field of tourism by analysis of its market entry barriers. The results show that the Serbian market still has to work to reduce market entry barriers, in order to become more attractive for entry of international companies in tourism. Manifold advantages of the global companies' entry in the market are that they are perceived as strong incentives for countries such as Serbia to develop their market and make it more accessible to enter.

I-131 attraction by thyroid during first hours following its oral administration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Franquiz, J.M.; Cardenas, R.; Blanco, J.; Garcia, M.

1982-01-01

From radioisotopic investigations used to study thyroid function, that of I-131 attraction results to be one of the most known and used in medical practice. In the authors' laboratory measurement of I-131 activity upon the gland has been for long adopted at 24 hours after administration; however, current needs compel to look for an early time (within the first six hours) for measuring it. In the paper results of I-131 attraction by thyroid in a group with more than 200 patients at 2,4 and 24 hours following its administration are presented in order to assess a 24 hours attraction representativeness by an early attraction. Results demonstrate early attraction is representative of an attraction at 24 hours and with the same diagnostic usefulness. Normal and doubtful ranks for attraction in our medium are determined at 2 and 6 hours, being adopted as proceeding for those cases whose value should be found within doubtful rank, a measurement at 24 hours in order to determine functional condition of the gland. (author)

A two-dimensional model for the study of interpersonal attraction.

Science.gov (United States)

Montoya, R Matthew; Horton, Robert S

2014-02-01

We describe a model for understanding interpersonal attraction in which attraction can be understood as a product of the initial evaluations we make about others. The model posits that targets are evaluated on two basic dimensions, capacity and willingness, such that affective and behavioral attraction result from evaluations of (a) a target's capacity to facilitate the perceiver's goals/needs and (b) a target's potential willingness to facilitate those goals/needs. The plausibility of the two-dimensional model of attraction is evaluated vis-à-vis the extant literature on various attraction phenomena including the reciprocity of liking effect, pratfall effect, matching hypothesis, arousal effects, and similarity effect. We conclude that considerable evidence across a wide range of phenomena supports the idea that interpersonal attraction is principally determined by inferences about the target's capacity and willingness.

Insulin signaling mediates sexual attractiveness in Drosophila.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tsung-Han Kuo

Full Text Available Sexually attractive characteristics are often thought to reflect an individual's condition or reproductive potential, but the underlying molecular mechanisms through which they do so are generally unknown. Insulin/insulin-like growth factor signaling (IIS is known to modulate aging, reproduction, and stress resistance in several species and to contribute to variability of these traits in natural populations. Here we show that IIS determines sexual attractiveness in Drosophila through transcriptional regulation of genes involved in the production of cuticular hydrocarbons (CHC, many of which function as pheromones. Using traditional gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS together with newly introduced laser desorption/ionization orthogonal time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LDI-MS we establish that CHC profiles are significantly affected by genetic manipulations that target IIS. Manipulations that reduce IIS also reduce attractiveness, while females with increased IIS are significantly more attractive than wild-type animals. IIS effects on attractiveness are mediated by changes in CHC profiles. Insulin signaling influences CHC through pathways that are likely independent of dFOXO and that may involve the nutrient-sensing Target of Rapamycin (TOR pathway. These results suggest that the activity of conserved molecular regulators of longevity and reproductive output may manifest in different species as external characteristics that are perceived as honest indicators of fitness potential.

Branner-Hubbard Motions and attracting dynamics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Petersen, Carsten Lunde; Tan, Lei

2006-01-01

We introduce a new notion of attracting dynamics, which is related to polynomial-like mappings. Also we review the Branner-Hubbard Motion and study its action on attracting dynamics.......We introduce a new notion of attracting dynamics, which is related to polynomial-like mappings. Also we review the Branner-Hubbard Motion and study its action on attracting dynamics....

Status of Women In Physics in Australia

Science.gov (United States)

Foley, C. P.

2009-04-01

The status of women in physics is Australia has remained mostly steady until recently, with the appointment of several eminent women in major government of public roles. Australia seems to maintain the same gender ratio for those studying and working in physics. There is no overall coordination of programs to assist women into the workplace but there is generally goodwill. Success in attracting and retaining women in the physics workforce appears to depend on the local culture, initiatives, and attitude of the most senior person in the organization.

Moving attractive virtual agent improves interpersonal coordination stability.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Zhong; Salesse, Robin N; Gueugnon, Mathieu; Schmidt, Richard C; Marin, Ludovic; Bardy, Benoît G

2015-06-01

Interpersonal motor coordination is influenced not only by biomechanical factors such as coordination pattern, oscillating frequency, and individual differences, but also by psychosocial factor such as likability and social competences. Based on the social stereotype of "what is beautiful is good", the present study aimed at investigating whether people coordinate differently with physically attractive people compared to less attractive people. 34 participants were engaged in an interpersonal coordination task with different looking (virtual) agents while performing at the same time a reaction time task. Results showed that participants had more stable motor coordination with the moving attractive than with the less attractive agent, and that the difference in motor coordination could not be interpreted by a specific attention allocation strategy. Our findings provide the evidence that physical attractiveness genuinely affects how people interact with another person, and that the temporal-spatial coordinated movement varies with the partner's psychosocial characteristics. The study broadens the perspective of exploring the effect of additional psychosocial factors on social motor coordination. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Gender differences in the evaluation of physical attractiveness ideals for male and female body builds.

Science.gov (United States)

Salusso-Deonier, C J; Markee, N L; Pedersen, E L

1993-06-01

The purposes of this research were (1) to explore gender differences in the evaluation of physical attractiveness stimuli developed to represent commonly occurring real builds, (2) to identify observers' concepts of physical attractiveness ideals promoted by the media, and (3) to begin cross-validation of these stimuli as representations of observers' concepts of ideal physical attractiveness for male and female builds. Responses included (1) open-ended descriptions of ideal male and ideal female build, (2) ratings of relative attractiveness of 12 male and 15 female stimuli, (3) selections of stimulus types which best represented ideal builds, and (4) selections of stimulus types perceived to be promoted by the media. Analysis showed strong cross-validation among modes of response. Ideal male build included average/balanced type (small and medium), lean/broad-shouldered type (large), and muscular bulk type (medium). Ideal female body build included average/balanced type (small and medium) and lean/broad-shouldered type (small and medium). Gender differences were in emphasis only. Women emphasized lean/broad-shouldered and average/balanced male types. Men emphasized the muscular bulk male type. Body types perceived to be media-promoted highlighted stereotypic male muscularity and female leanness.

Creating kampong as tourist attractions

Science.gov (United States)

Sari, N.; Utama, R.; Hidayat, A. R. T.; Zamrony, A. B.

2017-06-01

Tourism attractions become one of the main components and they drive the tourism activity in a region. The quality of tourism attractions would affect tourists’ visits. Tourism power can basically be built on any conditions which can attract people to visit. Towns is full of activities which include their economic, social, cultural and physical features, if they are presented properly, they can be a tourist attraction. Kampung City, as a form of urban settlement, has the potential to be developed as a tourism attraction. Kampung is not only a physical area of housing but it has also productive activities. Even the city’s economic activities are also influenced by the productive activities of its Kampung. The shape of Kampung which varies in physical, social, economic and cultural raises special characteristics of each Kampung. When it is linked with the city’s tourism activities, these special characteristics of course could be one of the attractions to attract tourists. This paper studies about one of Kampung in the Malang City. Administratively located in the Penanggungan Village Lowokwaru District, but the potential will just be focused on RW 4. Main productive activities of this village are pottery. In contrast to ceramics, pottery is made from clay and its uniqueness in color and shape. Based on the history of pottery in the Malang, it is concentrated in Penanggungan Village. But along with its development, pottery is decreasingly in demand and number of craftsmen is dwindling. Based on these circumstances, a concept is prepared to raise the image of the region as the Kampung of pottery and to repack it as a tourism attraction of the city.

Finite-Time Attractivity for Diagonally Dominant Systems with Off-Diagonal Delays

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T. S. Doan

2012-01-01

Full Text Available We introduce a notion of attractivity for delay equations which are defined on bounded time intervals. Our main result shows that linear delay equations are finite-time attractive, provided that the delay is only in the coupling terms between different components, and the system is diagonally dominant. We apply this result to a nonlinear Lotka-Volterra system and show that the delay is harmless and does not destroy finite-time attractivity.

Women Entrepreneurship in the Western Romania. Research Results and Policy Recommendations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anca DODESCU

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Starting from the results of the empirical, quantitative, and qualitative research performed in the AntrES project, between 5.01.2009 - 4.01.2011, in the Western Romania, referring to the existence of obvious gender gaps regarding the start up of new businesses and the ownership of the businesses; the characteristics, the motivations, and the difficulties of the women entrepreneurs and potentially enterprising women; the successful women entrepreneurs' perceptions on the sex equality in the field of entrepreneurship - this paper presents arguments and recommendations of specific policies meant to support the potential women entrepreneurship in Romania, as an engine to overcome the economic crisis and to reconnect to the regional development mechanism facilitated by the European Union's regional policy.

Physical attractiveness stereotype and memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Rohner, Jean-Christophe; Rasmussen, Anders

2011-08-01

Three experiments examined explicit and implicit memory for information that is congruent with the physical attractiveness stereotype (i.e. attractive-positive and unattractive-negative) and information that is incongruent with the physical attractiveness stereotype (i.e. attractive-negative and unattractive-positive). Measures of explicit recognition sensitivity and implicit discriminability revealed a memorial advantage for congruent compared to incongruent information, as evident from hit and false alarm rates and reaction times, respectively. Measures of explicit memory showed a recognition bias toward congruent compared to incongruent information, where participants tended to call congruent information old, independently of whether the information had been shown previously or not. This recognition bias was unrelated to reports of subjective confidence in retrieval. The present findings shed light on the cognitive mechanisms that might mediate discriminatory behavior towards physically attractive and physically unattractive individuals. © 2011 The Authors. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology © 2011 The Scandinavian Psychological Associations.

Attractive faces temporally modulate visual attention

Science.gov (United States)

Nakamura, Koyo; Kawabata, Hideaki

2014-01-01

Facial attractiveness is an important biological and social signal on social interaction. Recent research has demonstrated that an attractive face captures greater spatial attention than an unattractive face does. Little is known, however, about the temporal characteristics of visual attention for facial attractiveness. In this study, we investigated the temporal modulation of visual attention induced by facial attractiveness by using a rapid serial visual presentation. Fourteen male faces and two female faces were successively presented for 160 ms, respectively, and participants were asked to identify two female faces embedded among a series of multiple male distractor faces. Identification of a second female target (T2) was impaired when a first target (T1) was attractive compared to neutral or unattractive faces, at 320 ms stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA); identification was improved when T1 was attractive compared to unattractive faces at 640 ms SOA. These findings suggest that the spontaneous appraisal of facial attractiveness modulates temporal attention. PMID:24994994

Attractive faces temporally modulate visual attention

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Koyo eNakamura

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Facial attractiveness is an important biological and social signal on social interaction. Recent research has demonstrated that an attractive face captures greater spatial attention than an unattractive face does. Little is known, however, about the temporal characteristics of visual attention for facial attractiveness. In this study, we investigated the temporal modulation of visual attention induced by facial attractiveness by using a rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP. Fourteen male faces and two female faces were successively presented for 160 ms respectively, and participants were asked to identify two female faces embedded among a series of multiple male distractor faces. Identification of a second female target (T2 was impaired when a first target (T1 was attractive compared to neutral or unattractive faces, at 320 ms SOA; identification was improved when T1 was attractive compared to unattractive faces at 640 ms SOA. These findings suggest that the spontaneous appraisal of facial attractiveness modulates temporal attention.

Progress of women in neurosurgery.

Science.gov (United States)

Spetzler, Robert F

2011-01-01

Despite advances in issues related to gender equity, barriers to recruiting and retaining women in neurosurgery continue to exist. At the same time, the overall projected shortage of neurosurgeons suggests that women will be vital to the long-term success of the field. Attracting women to neurosurgery can capitalize on strategies, such as mentoring, teaching leadership and negotiating skills, and job sharing or dual training tracks to name a few, that would benefit both men and women passionate about pursuing neurosurgery. Ultimately, personal and institutional accountability must be evaluated to ensure that the best and brightest candidates, regardless of gender, are recruited to neurosurgical programs to promote the health of our challenging but most satisfying profession.

Assertiveness and Physical Attractiveness.

Science.gov (United States)

Kleim, David M.; And Others

Earlier research investigating the relationship between physical attractiveness and assertiveness found that physically attractive females were more assertive than other females. To investigate this relationship further and to broaden the scope of the study, 69 students were videotaped in groups of five to ten while responding to open-ended…

The effects of facial adiposity on attractiveness and perceived leadership ability.

Science.gov (United States)

Re, Daniel E; Perrett, David I

2014-01-01

Facial attractiveness has a positive influence on electoral success both in experimental paradigms and in the real world. One parameter that influences facial attractiveness and social judgements is facial adiposity (a facial correlate to body mass index, BMI). Overweight people have high facial adiposity and are perceived to be less attractive and lower in leadership ability. Here, we used an interactive design in order to assess whether the most attractive level of facial adiposity is also perceived as most leader-like. We found that participants reduced facial adiposity more to maximize attractiveness than to maximize perceived leadership ability. These results indicate that facial appearance impacts leadership judgements beyond the effects of attractiveness. We suggest that the disparity between optimal facial adiposity in attractiveness and leadership judgements stems from social trends that have produced thin ideals for attractiveness, while leadership judgements are associated with perception of physical dominance.

Social attraction mediated by fruit flies' microbiome.

Science.gov (United States)

Venu, Isvarya; Durisko, Zachary; Xu, Jianping; Dukas, Reuven

2014-04-15

Larval and adult fruit flies are attracted to volatiles emanating from food substrates that have been occupied by larvae. We tested whether such volatiles are emitted by the larval gut bacteria by conducting tests under bacteria-free (axenic) conditions. We also tested attraction to two bacteria species, Lactobacillus brevis, which we cultured from larvae in our lab, and L. plantarum, a common constituent of fruit flies' microbiome in other laboratory populations and in wild fruit flies. Neither larvae nor adults showed attraction to axenic food that had been occupied by axenic larvae, but both showed the previously reported attraction to standard food that had been occupied by larvae with an intact microbiome. Larvae also showed significant attraction to volatiles from axenic food and larvae to which we added only either L. brevis or L. plantarum, and volatiles from L. brevis reared on its optimal growth medium. Controlled learning experiments indicated that larvae experienced with both standard and axenic used food do not perceive either as superior, while focal larvae experienced with simulated used food, which contains burrows, perceive it as superior to unused food. Our results suggest that flies rely on microbiome-derived volatiles for long-distance attraction to suitable food patches. Under natural settings, fruits often contain harmful fungi and bacteria, and both L. brevis and L. plantarum produce compounds that suppress the growth of some antagonistic fungi and bacteria. The larval microbiome volatiles may therefore lead prospective fruit flies towards substrates with a hospitable microbial environment.

On the modulispace of attracting dynamics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Petersen, Carsten Lunde

An Attracting Dynamics is a triple (f,W,a), where W is an open subset of the R(iemann) S(phere), f is a holomorphic map from W into the RS and a is an attracting periodic point for f. Denote by B(a) the attracted basin of the orbit of a for f. Two attracting dynamics (f,W,a) and (f',W',a') are i...

EVALUATION OF INVESTMENT ATTRACTIVENESS INDICATORS OF REGIONS IN UKRAINE

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Vira Vartsaba

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The theoretical and methodological principles for assessing the investment attractiveness of the regions are the subject of the research. The aims of the research consist in improving the existing approach for measuring the level of investment attractiveness of territorial systems in the direction of taking into account the possible multicollinearity and determining the share of investment attractiveness factors in the aggregate indicator on the basis of calculated values of determination coefficients, which respectively provide to distinguish the priority directions in the formation of regional investment policy aimed at raising the level of investment attractiveness of regions of Ukraine. Methodology. The article deals with the research of theoretical and methodological approaches to the definition of investment attractiveness of Ukrainian regions by means of general scientific methods of analysis: systematization and generalization, induction, deduction. Results. To assess the investment climate in the regions of Ukraine, an improved existing approach for measuring the level of investment attractiveness of territorial systems is proposed in the direction of taking into account possible multicollinearity and determining the share of factors of investment attractiveness, which is based, in particular, on the selected indicators, in particular: the volume of direct foreign investments per capita (FORINV; per capita net exports (NETEXP; the number of economically active enterprises per 10 000 population (ENTRP; volumes of industrial production (PROM; population income (REV; volume of retail trade turnover per capita (TOV; volume of completed construction work (BUD. It is proved that the priority and intensity of influence on the indicator of investment into fixed capital per capita of factors of investment attractiveness varies for different regions of Ukraine, therefore, according to the conducted analysis, the investment attractiveness of the

Recognition bias and the physical attractiveness stereotype.

Science.gov (United States)

Rohner, Jean-Christophe; Rasmussen, Anders

2012-06-01

Previous studies have found a recognition bias for information consistent with the physical attractiveness stereotype (PAS), in which participants believe that they remember that attractive individuals have positive qualities and that unattractive individuals have negative qualities, regardless of what information actually occurred. The purpose of this research was to examine whether recognition bias for PAS congruent information is replicable and invariant across a variety of conditions (i.e. generalizable). The effects of nine different moderator variables were examined in two experiments. With a few exceptions, the effect of PAS congruence on recognition bias was independent of the moderator variables. The results suggest that the tendency to believe that one remembers information consistent with the physical attractiveness stereotype is a robust phenomenon. © 2012 The Authors. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology © 2012 The Scandinavian Psychological Associations.

Intelligence and Physical Attractiveness

Science.gov (United States)

Kanazawa, Satoshi

2011-01-01

This brief research note aims to estimate the magnitude of the association between general intelligence and physical attractiveness with large nationally representative samples from two nations. In the United Kingdom, attractive children are more intelligent by 12.4 IQ points (r=0.381), whereas in the United States, the correlation between…

PRODUCTIVE GENERATIONS AND CAREERS: WHAT DO (Y GEN WOMEN WANT?

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Ana Heloísa Costa Lemos

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Despite the attention that Generation Y has received in recent times, studies that map the attitudes related to work of these individuals has devoted little attention to understanding the differences that gender can produce in the same generational group. However, we believe that gender differences should be better understood, because, according to the IBGE (2012, women represent 45.4% of the current Brazilian labor force. The growing importance of women in the labor market brings the challenge for organizations to attract and retain that portion of the workforce, whose demands are not necessarily equal those of men. The scarcity of studies on the expectations related to career of Gen Y women motivated the present work, which sought to understand the desires of young professionals with regard to the construction of their professional careers. To answer these questions we carried out a qualitative research, interviewing young women born between 1980 and 2000. We tried to understand what these professionals expect from its insertion in the labor market. The results confirm the analysis of the descriptions of the recent literature on Yrs, because the interviewees proved eager for success, professional recognition and attractive remuneration, but also highlight differences and indicate some specifics aspects related to the gender considerations, as expressed by these young woman, which expect to lower their work dedication when they become mothers and wives.

Motivational and Adaptational Factors of Successful Women Engineers

Science.gov (United States)

Bornsen, Susan Edith

2012-01-01

It is no surprise that there is a shortage of women engineers. The reasons for the shortage have been researched and discussed in myriad papers, and suggestions for improvement continue to evolve. However, there are few studies that have specifically identified the positive aspects that attract women to engineering and keep them actively engaged…

Spinon Attraction in Spin-1/2 Antiferromagnetic Chains

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bernevig, B. A.; Giuliano, D.; Laughlin, R. B.

2001-01-01

We derive the representation of the two-spinon wave function for the Haldane-Shastry model in terms of the spinon coordinates. This result allows us to rigorously analyze spinon interaction and its physical effects. We show that spinons attract one another. The attraction gets stronger as the size of the system is increased and, in the thermodynamic limit, determines the power law with which the susceptibility diverges

Does an activity based remuneration system attract young doctors to general practice?

Science.gov (United States)

Abelsen, Birgit; Olsen, Jan Abel

2012-03-20

The use of increasingly complex payment schemes in primary care may represent a barrier to recruiting general practitioners (GP). The existing Norwegian remuneration system is fully activity based - 2/3 fee-for-service and 1/3 capitation. Given that the system has been designed and revised in close collaborations with the medical association, it is likely to correspond - at least to some degree - with the preferences of current GPs (men in majority). The objective of this paper was to study which preferences that young doctors (women in majority), who are the potential entrants to general practice have for activity based vs. salary based payment systems. In November-December 2010 all last year medical students and all interns in Norway (n = 1.562) were invited to participate in an online survey. The respondents were asked their opinion on systems of remuneration for GPs; inclination to work as a GP; risk attitude; income preferences; work pace tolerance. The data was analysed using one-way ANOVA and multinomial logistic regression analysis. A total of 831 (53%) responded. Nearly half the sample (47%) did not consider the remuneration system to be important for their inclination to work as GP; 36% considered the current system to make general practice more attractive, while 17% considered it to make general practice less attractive. Those who are attracted by the existing system were men and those who think high income is important, while those who are deterred by the system are risk averse and less happy with a high work pace. On the question of preferred remuneration system, half the sample preferred a mix of salary and activity based remuneration (the median respondent would prefer a 50/50 mix). Only 20% preferred a fully activity based system like the existing one. A salary system was preferred by women, and those less concerned with high income, while a fully activity based system was preferred by men, and those happy with a high work pace. Given a concern

Penguins are attracted to dimethyl sulphide at sea.

Science.gov (United States)

Wright, Kyran L B; Pichegru, Lorien; Ryan, Peter G

2011-08-01

Breeding Spheniscus penguins are central place foragers that feed primarily on schooling pelagic fish. They are visual hunters, but it is unclear how they locate prey patches on a coarse scale. Many petrels and storm petrels (Procellariiformes), the penguins' closest relatives, use olfactory cues to locate prey concentrations at sea, but this has not been demonstrated for penguins. Procellariiforms are attracted to a variety of olfactory cues, including dimethyl sulphide (DMS), an organosulphur compound released when phytoplankton is grazed, as well as fish odorants such as cod liver oil. A recent study found that African penguins Spheniscus demersus react to DMS on land. We confirm this result and show that African penguins are also attracted by DMS at sea. DMS-scented oil slicks attracted 2-3 times more penguins than control slicks, whereas penguins showed no response to slicks containing cod liver oil. The number of penguins attracted to DMS increased for at least 30 min, suggesting penguins could travel up to 2 km to reach scent cues. Repeats of land-based trials confirmed previous results showing DMS sensitivity of penguins on land. Our results also support the hypothesis that African penguins use DMS as an olfactory cue to locate prey patches at sea from a distance, which is particularly important given their slow commuting speed relative to that of flying seabirds.

Gay male attraction toward muscular men: does mating context matter?

Science.gov (United States)

Varangis, Eleanna; Lanzieri, Nicholas; Hildebrandt, Tom; Feldman, Matthew

2012-03-01

The purpose of this study was to examine gay men's perceived attractiveness of male figures based on short-term and long-term partner contexts. A sample of 190 gay adult men rated the attractiveness of line-drawings depicting male figures varying systematically in muscularity and body fat percentage in both short-term and long-term dating contexts. Mixed effects modeling was used to estimate the effects of figure (muscularity and body fat), dating context (short-term vs. long-term), and individual rater characteristics on attractiveness ratings. Results indicated that figure muscularity and body-fat had significant non-linear (i.e., quadratic) relationships with attractiveness ratings, and short-term dating context was associated with more discriminating ratings of attractiveness. Interactions between individual characteristics and figure characteristics indicated that the more available the individual and lower body fat, the more discriminating they were in ratings of attractiveness. The implications for future investigations considering both object and observer characteristics of attractiveness preferences are discussed. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Indices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2011-02-01

Since 2003 Ernst and Young team has been releasing quarterly data that ranks national renewable energy markets, and their suitability for individual technologies. The Country Attractiveness Indices now track the relative attractiveness of 30 countries' renewable energy markets across a selection of technologies each quarter. The Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Indices publication scores and comments on various technologies, including: on-shore wind, off-shore wind, solar PV, solar CSP, biomass, and geothermal.

Benevolent sexist ideology attributed to an abusive partner decreases women's active coping responses to acts of sexual violence.

Science.gov (United States)

Durán, Mercedes; Moya, Miguel; Megías, Jesús L

2014-05-01

This article describes three studies in which we explored the influence of the sexist ideology attributed to the perpetrator on women's responses to hypothetical acts of sexual assault perpetrated by male intimate partners. In Study 1 (n = 83), college women read three sexual assault scenarios in the context of an intimate relationship. The male partner's sexist ideology (benevolent, hostile, or control) was manipulated within participants. Women showed less active responses when the partner had been described as a benevolent sexist man. This effect was replicated in Study 2 (n = 103), which showed a relationship between women's less active responses and the belief that benevolent sexist men are very attracted to and interested in their partners. Study 3 (n = 130) demonstrated experimentally that women's responses are less active when they are exposed to information that indicates that the perpetrator is both high in benevolent sexism and highly attracted to his victim than when the latter information is not provided. Results suggest that sexist ideology and particularly benevolent sexism-attributed to the perpetrator in this case-is highly important in women's reactions to acts of sexual violence perpetrated by male intimate partners.

Sociosexuality predicts women's preferences for symmetry in men's faces.

Science.gov (United States)

Quist, Michelle C; Watkins, Christopher D; Smith, Finlay G; Little, Anthony C; Debruine, Lisa M; Jones, Benedict C

2012-12-01

Although men displaying cues of good physical condition possess traits that are desirable in a mate (e.g., good health), these men are also more likely to possess antisocial characteristics that are undesirable in a long-term partner (e.g., aggression and tendency to infidelity). How women resolve this trade-off between the costs and benefits associated with choosing a mate in good physical condition may lead to strategic variation in women's mate preferences. Because the costs of choosing a mate with antisocial personality characteristics are greater in long- than short-term relationships, women's sociosexuality (i.e., the extent to which they are interested in uncommitted sexual relationships) may predict individual differences in their mate preferences. Here we investigated variation in 99 heterosexual women's preferences for facial symmetry, a characteristic that is thought to be an important cue of physical condition. Symmetry preferences were assessed using pairs of symmetrized and original (i.e., relatively asymmetric) versions of 10 male and 10 female faces. Analyses showed that women's sociosexuality, and their sociosexual attitude in particular, predicted their preferences for symmetry in men's, but not women's, faces; women who reported being more interested in short-term, uncommitted relationships demonstrated stronger attraction to symmetric men. Our findings present new evidence for potentially adaptive variation in women's symmetry preferences that is consistent with trade-off theories of attraction.

Automatic Direction of Spatial Attention to Male Versus Female Stimuli: A Comparison of Heterosexual Men and Women.

Science.gov (United States)

Snowden, Robert J; Curl, Catriona; Jobbins, Katherine; Lavington, Chloe; Gray, Nicola S

2016-05-01

Abundant research has shown that men's sexual attractions are more category-specific in relation to gender than women's are. We tested whether the early automatic allocation of spatial attention reflects these sexual attractions. The dot-probe task was used to assess whether spatial attention was attracted to images of either male or female models that were naked or partially clothed. In Experiment 1, men were faster if the target appeared after the female stimulus, whereas women were equally quick to respond to targets after male or female stimuli. In Experiment 2, neutral cues were introduced. Men were again faster to female images in comparison to male or neutral images, but showed no bias on the male versus neutral test. Women were faster to both male and female pictures in comparison to neutral pictures. However, in this experiment they were also faster to female pictures than to male pictures. The results suggest that early attentional processes reveal category-specific interest to the preferred sexual category for heterosexual men, and suggest that heterosexual women do not have category-specific guidance of attentional mechanisms. The technique may have promise in measuring sexual interest in other situations where participants may not be able, or may not be willing, to report upon their sexual interests (e.g., assessment of paedophilic interest).

Sociosexual attitudes and dyadic sexual desire independently predict women's preferences for male vocal masculinity.

Science.gov (United States)

O'Connor, Jillian J M; Jones, Benedict C; Fraccaro, Paul J; Tigue, Cara C; Pisanski, Katarzyna; Feinberg, David R

2014-10-01

Research suggests that the desire to behave sexually with a partner (dyadic sexual desire) may reflect desire for intimacy whereas solitary sexual desire may reflect pleasure seeking motivations more generally. Because direct reproductive success can only be increased with a sexual partner, we tested whether dyadic sexual desire was a better predictor of women's preferences for lower pitched men's voices (a marker of relatively high reproductive success) than was solitary sexual desire. In Study 1, women (N = 95) with higher dyadic sexual desire scores on the Sexual Desire Inventory-2 preferred masculinized male voices more than did women with lower dyadic sexual desire scores. We did not find a significant relationship between women's vocal masculinity preferences and their solitary sexual desire scores. In Study 2, we tested whether the relationship between voice preferences and dyadic sexual desire scores was related to differences in sociosexual orientation. Women (N = 80) with more positive attitudes towards uncommitted sex had stronger vocal masculinity preferences regardless of whether men's attractiveness was judged for short-term or long-term relationships. Independent of the effect of sociosexual attitudes, dyadic sexual desire positively predicted women's masculinity preferences when assessing men's attractiveness for short-term but not long-term relationships. These effects were independent of women's own relationship status and hormonal contraceptive use. Our results provide further evidence that women's mate preferences may independently reflect individual differences in both sexual desire and openness to short-term relationships, potentially with the ultimate function of maximizing the fitness benefits of women's mate choices.

Fatal attraction

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Kim Ebensgaard

2012-01-01

The purpose of this paper is two-fold. Firstly, it presents an argument for usage-based inheritance models over complete inheritance models in construction grammar. It is argued that, with the principle of inductive language learning as their foundation, usage-based inheritance models allow...... for redundancies and incongruities in construction networks which enables linguists to take into account details of language use, which would otherwise not be facilitated in complete inheritance models. Secondly, making use of the method of collostructional analysis, the article offers a corpus-based description...... of the use of the Danish ihjel-construction which accounts for patterns of attraction of construction-verb attraction, patterns of productivity, and various types of subconstructions, including item- and item-class-based ones and metaphorical extensions. The description of the ihjel-construction should also...

Implications of Integrating Women into USMC Infantry

Science.gov (United States)

2015-01-01

well-defined, updated, and clearly communicated sexual harassment policies; and procedures to ensure that women receive equal training and...retention policies that attract women into such occupations and keep them there. These might include flexible workplace policies and child-care resources...Corps will need to man - age both internal and external expectations and ensure that the planning process for integration is flexible enough to accom

On Being "Attractive" With Resistant Clients.

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, Mark J.; Wells, Don

1990-01-01

Calls client resistance a frequent occurrence within the helping profession. Defines client resistance, provides a brief review of related literature, and offers counselor attractiveness as one way of addressing the issue. Identifies attractive counselor behaviors and attitudes and presents case study illustrating specific attractive counselor…

Electron attraction mediated by Coulomb repulsion.

Science.gov (United States)

Hamo, A; Benyamini, A; Shapir, I; Khivrich, I; Waissman, J; Kaasbjerg, K; Oreg, Y; von Oppen, F; Ilani, S

2016-07-21

One of the defining properties of electrons is their mutual Coulomb repulsion. However, in solids this basic property may change; for example, in superconductors, the coupling of electrons to lattice vibrations makes the electrons attract one another, leading to the formation of bound pairs. Fifty years ago it was proposed that electrons can be made attractive even when all of the degrees of freedom in the solid are electronic, by exploiting their repulsion from other electrons. This attraction mechanism, termed 'excitonic', promised to achieve stronger and more exotic superconductivity. Yet, despite an extensive search, experimental evidence for excitonic attraction has yet to be found. Here we demonstrate this attraction by constructing, from the bottom up, the fundamental building block of the excitonic mechanism. Our experiments are based on quantum devices made from pristine carbon nanotubes, combined with cryogenic precision manipulation. Using this platform, we demonstrate that two electrons can be made to attract each other using an independent electronic system as the 'glue' that mediates attraction. Owing to its tunability, our system offers insights into the underlying physics, such as the dependence of the emergent attraction on the underlying repulsion, and the origin of the pairing energy. We also demonstrate transport signatures of excitonic pairing. This experimental demonstration of excitonic pairing paves the way for the design of exotic states of matter.

Mutual attraction of magnetic knots

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Parker, E.N.

1978-01-01

It is observed that the magnetic knots associated with active regions on the Sun have an attraction for each other during the formative period of the active regions, when new magnetic flux is coming to the surface. The attraction disappears when new flux ceases to rise through the surface. Then the magnetic spots and knots tend to come apart, leading to disintegration of the sunspots previously formed. The dissolution of the fields is to be expected, as a consequence of the magnetic repulsion of knots of like polarity and as a consequence of the hydromagnetic exchange instability.The purpose of this paper is to show that the mutual attraction of knots during the formative stages of a sunspot region may be understood as the mutual hydrodynamic attraction of the rising flux tubes. Two rising tubes attract each other, as a consequence of the wake of the leading tube when one is moving behind the other, and as a consequence of the Bernoulli effect when rising side by side

Will women ever break the glass ceiling in medicine?

Science.gov (United States)

Achkar, Edgar

2008-07-01

Increased attention is being paid to women's working conditions in medicine. Few data are available regarding gender disparity in gastroenterology. It seems, however, that in general women are paid less than men and that their progress in academic practice tends to be slow. The GI community needs to recognize that gender disparity is not an imaginary issue and that action is necessary to attract women to gastroenterology by providing equal opportunities.

Hidden Attraction - The History and Mystery of Magnetism

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Verschuur, Gerrit L.

1996-04-01

Long one of nature's most fascinating phenomena, magnetism was once the subject of many superstitions. Magnets were thought useful to thieves, effective as a love potion, and as a cure for gout or spasms. They could remove sorcery from women and put demons to flight and even reconcile married couples. It was said that a lodestone pickled in the salt of sucking fish had the power to attract gold. Today, these beliefs have been put aside, but magnetism is no less remarkable for our modern understanding of it. In Hidden Attraction , Gerrit L. Verschuur, a noted astronomer and National Book Award nominee for The Invisible Universe , traces the history of our fascination with magnetism, from the mystery and superstition that propelled the first alchemical experiments with lodestone, through the more tangible works of Faraday, Maxwell, Hertz and other great pioneers of magnetism (scientists responsible for the extraordinary advances in modern science and technology, including radio, the telephone, and computers, that characterize the twentieth century), to state-of-the-art theories that see magnetism as a basic force in the universe. Boasting many informative illustrations, this is an adventure of the mind, using the specific phenomenon of magnetism to show how we have moved from an era of superstitions to one in which the Theory of Everything looms on the horizon.

Attracting Women to Psychology: Effects of University Behavior and the Labor Market.

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Solmon, Lewis C.

1978-01-01

This article reviews certain behaviors of graduate departments in regard to possible sex discrimination. It also evaluates job market conditions for men and women with data from a national sample of doctorate holders and from a recent survey of mobile or nontraditionally employed PhD's in psychology. (Author)

Threshold separation distance for attractive interaction between dust particles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jabdaraghi, R. Najafi; Sobhanian, S.

2008-01-01

Interaction between dust grains in a dusty plasma could be both repulsive and attractive. The Coulomb interaction between two negatively charged dust particulates and the electrostatic force between them are repulsive, while the shadowing force affecting them is attractive. We show in this paper that in some experimental conditions, there is some grain separation zone for which the attractive shadowing force is larger than the repulsive forces between them. In experimental conditions, for the grains separation distance r = 0.4 cm the shadowing force is almost equal to the electrostatic force between them and for r>0.4 cm the shadowing force exceeds the electrostatic force. So the resultant interaction force will be attractive. The possibility of dust crystal formation in this zone and also the motion of dust particles in the resultant potential of the form V = -(a/r)+(b/r 2 ) will be discussed. This form of potential comes from the combination electrostatic (F es (c/r 3 )) and shadowing (F shadow = -(d/r 2 )) forces.

EVALUATION METHODS OF INVESTMENT ATTRACTIVENESS OF UKRAINIAN AGRICULTURAL ENTERPRISES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nadiia Davydenko

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The purpose of the article is to reveal scientific approaches to determining investment attractiveness of enterprises. Evaluation methods of investment attractiveness of enterprises, which are based on various expert assessments, on statistical information, and also combined methodologies based on expert and statistical calculations are investigated. Decision-making criteria on the appropriateness of investment are determined. Methodology. To determine investment attractiveness of agrarian enterprise on the basis of rating and analytical assessment, it is necessary to use an integrated approach and take into account certain set of indicators. During developing and organizing rating restrictions, we conducted an analysis of groups of indicators, which combined characterize investment attractiveness in a complex way, taking into account specifics of the industry. Results. Application of this approach allows quickly evaluating perspectives of funds investing and the reliability of the investment object. At the same time, the investment potential of company and investment risk are expressed by one general indicator, which allows applying rating comparisons. In order to approbate research results, seven agrarian enterprises with positive profitability and appropriate level of financial autonomy are selected. Based on financial statements, we determined their investment attractiveness and rating. Practical implications. Proposed calculation methodology covers all major processes occurring in different functional sectors of the internal environment of agrarian enterprise, which ensures a systematic view of the subject of management, which enables to identify all the strengths and weaknesses, as well as to create a strategy for prospective development on this basis. Presented methodology for the evaluation of investment attractiveness of enterprises can be successfully applied in agrarian enterprises as during the choice of priority directions of

Do women feel worse to look their best? Testing the relationship between self-esteem and fertility status across the menstrual cycle.

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Hill, Sarah E; Durante, Kristina M

2009-12-01

Two studies measured self-esteem across the menstrual cycle to test the prediction that self-esteem will vary interindividually as a positive function of mate value and intraindividually as a negative function of fertility status. Study 1 (n = 52) found that self-esteem was positively related to mate value between women but that women experienced a self-esteem decrease nearest to ovulation, when women tend to be more attractive to men. Study 2 (n = 59) replicated these results and demonstrated that the self-esteem decrease at high fertility was positively related to women's reported long-term mating motivation. Additionally, the magnitude of the self-esteem decrease at high fertility was found to be related to increased willingness to spend money on items to enhance attractiveness at high fertility. A self-esteem decrease at high fertility may motivate mate value enhancement efforts when such efforts are most critical.

Fatal attraction: vegetation responses to nutrient inputs attract herbivores to infectious anthrax carcass sites.

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Turner, Wendy C; Kausrud, Kyrre L; Krishnappa, Yathin S; Cromsigt, Joris P G M; Ganz, Holly H; Mapaure, Isaac; Cloete, Claudine C; Havarua, Zepee; Küsters, Martina; Getz, Wayne M; Stenseth, Nils Chr

2014-11-22

Parasites can shape the foraging behaviour of their hosts through cues indicating risk of infection. When cues for risk co-occur with desired traits such as forage quality, individuals face a trade-off between nutrient acquisition and parasite exposure. We evaluated how this trade-off may influence disease transmission in a 3-year experimental study of anthrax in a guild of mammalian herbivores in Etosha National Park, Namibia. At plains zebra (Equus quagga) carcass sites we assessed (i) carcass nutrient effects on soils and grasses, (ii) concentrations of Bacillus anthracis (BA) on grasses and in soils, and (iii) herbivore grazing behaviour, compared with control sites, using motion-sensing camera traps. We found that carcass-mediated nutrient pulses improved soil and vegetation, and that BA is found on grasses up to 2 years after death. Host foraging responses to carcass sites shifted from avoidance to attraction, and ultimately to no preference, with the strength and duration of these behavioural responses varying among herbivore species. Our results demonstrate that animal carcasses alter the environment and attract grazing hosts to parasite aggregations. This attraction may enhance transmission rates, suggesting that hosts are limited in their ability to trade off nutrient intake with parasite avoidance when relying on indirect cues. © 2014 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

Tourism Attraction Systems. Exploring cultural behavior

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Richards, G.W.

2002-01-01

Attractions are vital sub-elements in all whole tourism systems, and yet their study suffers from lack of theoretical depth and empirical foundation. This paper presents an empirical exploration of the attraction system model, based on a survey of over 6,000 tourists to cultural attractions. The

Gender Preference in the Sexual Attractions, Fantasies, and Relationships of Voluntarily Castrated Men.

Science.gov (United States)

Handy, Ariel B; Jackowich, Robyn A; Wibowo, Erik; Johnson, Thomas Wayne; Wassersug, Richard J

2016-03-01

Some men seek castration outside a clear medical need. This study explored how their sexuality changed after castration. To explore changes in preferred gender(s) of sexual attraction, fantasy, and relationships in voluntarily castrated men with or without gonadal hormone therapy. A questionnaire was posted at http://www.eunuch.org that yielded data on men who had been voluntarily castrated physically (n = 198) or chemically (n = 96). Respondents were asked to report retrospectively on their sexuality, including their sexual activity and which gender(s) they were sexually attracted to, fantasized about, or had sexual relations with 6 months to 1 year before and after castration. A substantial proportion of men remained sexually active after castration; 37% had sex at least several times per week. Most respondents did not report a change in preferred gender(s) of attraction (65%, n = 181), fantasies (62%, n = 169), or sexual relationships (66%, n = 163), although approximately 20% to 30% of respondents did report such changes and 8% to 11% became non-sexual after castration. Respondents who were attracted to and fantasized about "only men" or who had sexual relationship with "only women" before castration were the least likely to report a change subsequent to castration. Respondents who were taking neither supplemental testosterone nor estrogen were more likely to report (i) becoming attracted to no one, (ii) fantasizing about no one, and (iii) becoming sexually inactive. Sexual changes in voluntarily castrated men vary and can be influenced by various factors including the use of supplemental testosterone or estrogen therapy. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Discriminating males and unpredictable females: males differentiate self-similar facial cues more than females in the judgment of opposite-sex attractiveness.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jin-Ying Zhuang

Full Text Available Attractiveness judgment in the context of mate preferences is thought to reflect an assessment of mate quality in relation to an absolute scale of genetic fitness and a relative scale of self-similarity. In this study, subjects judged the attractiveness and trustworthiness of faces in composite images that were manipulated to produce self-similar (self-resemblance and dissimilar (other-resemblance images. Males differentiated between self- and other-resemblance as well as among different degrees of self-resemblance in their attractiveness ratings; females did not. Specifically, in Experiment 1, using a morphing technique, we created previously unseen face images possessing different degrees (0%, 30%, 40%, or 50% of incorporation of the subject's images (different degrees of self-resemblance and found that males preferred images that were closer to average (0% rather than more self-similar, whereas females showed no preference for any degree of self-similarity. In Experiment 2, we added a pro-social question about trustworthiness. We replicated the Experiment 1 attractiveness rating results and further found that males differentiated between self- and other-resemblance for the same degree of composites; women did not. Both males and females showed a similar preference for self-resemblances when judging trustworthiness. In conclusion, only males factored self-resemblance into their attractiveness ratings of opposite-sex individuals in a manner consistent with cues of reproductive fitness, although both sexes favored self-resemblance when judging trustworthiness.

Integrating cues of social interest and voice pitch in men's preferences for women's voices.

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Benedict C; Feinberg, David R; Debruine, Lisa M; Little, Anthony C; Vukovic, Jovana

2008-04-23

Most previous studies of vocal attractiveness have focused on preferences for physical characteristics of voices such as pitch. Here we examine the content of vocalizations in interaction with such physical traits, finding that vocal cues of social interest modulate the strength of men's preferences for raised pitch in women's voices. Men showed stronger preferences for raised pitch when judging the voices of women who appeared interested in the listener than when judging the voices of women who appeared relatively disinterested in the listener. These findings show that voice preferences are not determined solely by physical properties of voices and that men integrate information about voice pitch and the degree of social interest expressed by women when forming voice preferences. Women's preferences for raised pitch in women's voices were not modulated by cues of social interest, suggesting that the integration of cues of social interest and voice pitch when men judge the attractiveness of women's voices may reflect adaptations that promote efficient allocation of men's mating effort.

Image Problems Deplete the Number of Women in Academic Applicant Pools

Science.gov (United States)

Sears, Anna L. W.

Despite near numeric parity in graduate schools, women and men in science and mathematics may not perceive the same opportunities for career success. Instead, female doctoral students' career ambitions may often be influenced by perceptions of irreconcilable conflicts between personal and academic goals. This article reports the results of a career goals survey of math and science doctoral students at the University of California, Davis. Fewer women than men began their doctoral programs seeking academic research careers. Of those who initially favored academic research, twice as many women as men downgraded these ambitions during graduate school. Women were more likely to feel geographically constrained by family ties and to express concern about balancing work and family, long work hours, and tenure clock inflexibility. These results partially explain why the percentage of women in academic applicant pools is often well below the number of Ph.D. recipients. The current barriers to gender equity thus cannot be completely ameliorated by increasing the number of women in the pipeline or by altered hiring practices, but changes must be undertaken to make academic research careers more flexible, family friendly, and attractive to women.

Genetic variation in plant volatile emission does not result in differential attraction of natural enemies in the field.

Science.gov (United States)

Wason, Elizabeth L; Hunter, Mark D

2014-02-01

Volatile organic chemical (VOC) emission by plants may serve as an adaptive plant defense by attracting the natural enemies of herbivores. For plant VOC emission to evolve as an adaptive defense, plants must show genetic variability for the trait. To date, such variability has been investigated primarily in agricultural systems, yet relatively little is known about genetic variation in VOCs emitted by natural populations of native plants. Here, we investigate intraspecific variation in constitutive and herbivore-induced plant VOC emission using the native common milkweed plant (Asclepias syriaca) and its monarch caterpillar herbivore (Danaus plexippus) in complementary field and common garden greenhouse experiments. In addition, we used a common garden field experiment to gauge natural enemy attraction to milkweed VOCs induced by monarch damage. We found evidence of genetic variation in the total constitutive and induced concentrations of VOCs and the composition of VOC blends emitted by milkweed plants. However, all milkweed genotypes responded similarly to induction by monarchs in terms of their relative change in VOC concentration and blend. Natural enemies attacked decoy caterpillars more frequently on damaged than on undamaged milkweed, and natural enemy visitation was associated with higher total VOC concentrations and with VOC blend. Thus, we present evidence that induced VOCs emitted by milkweed may function as a defense against herbivores. However, plant genotypes were equally attractive to natural enemies. Although milkweed genotypes diverge phenotypically in their VOC concentrations and blends, they converge into similar phenotypes with regard to magnitude of induction and enemy attraction.

Body odor quality predicts behavioral attractiveness in humans.

Science.gov (United States)

Roberts, S Craig; Kralevich, Alexandra; Ferdenzi, Camille; Saxton, Tamsin K; Jones, Benedict C; DeBruine, Lisa M; Little, Anthony C; Havlicek, Jan

2011-12-01

Growing effort is being made to understand how different attractive physical traits co-vary within individuals, partly because this might indicate an underlying index of genetic quality. In humans, attention has focused on potential markers of quality such as facial attractiveness, axillary odor quality, the second-to-fourth digit (2D:4D) ratio and body mass index (BMI). Here we extend this approach to include visually-assessed kinesic cues (nonverbal behavior linked to movement) which are statistically independent of structural physical traits. The utility of such kinesic cues in mate assessment is controversial, particularly during everyday conversational contexts, as they could be unreliable and susceptible to deception. However, we show here that the attractiveness of nonverbal behavior, in 20 male participants, is predicted by perceived quality of their axillary body odor. This finding indicates covariation between two desirable traits in different sensory modalities. Depending on two different rating contexts (either a simple attractiveness rating or a rating for long-term partners by 10 female raters not using hormonal contraception), we also found significant relationships between perceived attractiveness of nonverbal behavior and BMI, and between axillary odor ratings and 2D:4D ratio. Axillary odor pleasantness was the single attribute that consistently predicted attractiveness of nonverbal behavior. Our results demonstrate that nonverbal kinesic cues could reliably reveal mate quality, at least in males, and could corroborate and contribute to mate assessment based on other physical traits.

Hierarchical encoding makes individuals in a group seem more attractive.

Science.gov (United States)

Walker, Drew; Vul, Edward

2014-01-01

In the research reported here, we found evidence of the cheerleader effect-people seem more attractive in a group than in isolation. We propose that this effect arises via an interplay of three cognitive phenomena: (a) The visual system automatically computes ensemble representations of faces presented in a group, (b) individual members of the group are biased toward this ensemble average, and (c) average faces are attractive. Taken together, these phenomena suggest that individual faces will seem more attractive when presented in a group because they will appear more similar to the average group face, which is more attractive than group members' individual faces. We tested this hypothesis in five experiments in which subjects rated the attractiveness of faces presented either alone or in a group with the same gender. Our results were consistent with the cheerleader effect.

On Physical Attractiveness Stereotyping in Taiwan: A Revised Sociocultural Perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Nicole Y.; Shaffer, David R.; Wu, Chenghuan

1997-01-01

Questions the current thesis that people from "collectivist" cultures are less likely to make character inferences based on physical attractiveness. Presents the results of a study that revealed Taiwanese undergraduates assigning positive character attributes to people based on their physical attractiveness. Discusses related literature…

Molecular-scale hydrophobic interactions between hard-sphere reference solutes are attractive and endothermic.

Science.gov (United States)

Chaudhari, Mangesh I; Holleran, Sinead A; Ashbaugh, Henry S; Pratt, Lawrence R

2013-12-17

The osmotic second virial coefficients, B2, for atomic-sized hard spheres in water are attractive (B2 attractive with increasing temperature (ΔB2/ΔT attractive and endothermic at moderate temperatures. Hydrophobic interactions between atomic-sized hard spheres in water are more attractive than predicted by the available statistical mechanical theory. These results constitute an initial step toward detailed molecular theory of additional intermolecular interaction features, specifically, attractive interactions associated with hydrophobic solutes.

Crowding-facilitated macromolecular transport in attractive micropost arrays.

Science.gov (United States)

Chien, Fan-Tso; Lin, Po-Keng; Chien, Wei; Hung, Cheng-Hsiang; Yu, Ming-Hung; Chou, Chia-Fu; Chen, Yeng-Long

2017-05-02

Our study of DNA dynamics in weakly attractive nanofabricated post arrays revealed crowding enhances polymer transport, contrary to hindered transport in repulsive medium. The coupling of DNA diffusion and adsorption to the microposts results in more frequent cross-post hopping and increased long-term diffusivity with increased crowding density. We performed Langevin dynamics simulations and found maximum long-term diffusivity in post arrays with gap sizes comparable to the polymer radius of gyration. We found that macromolecular transport in weakly attractive post arrays is faster than in non-attractive dense medium. Furthermore, we employed hidden Markov analysis to determine the transition of macromolecular adsorption-desorption on posts and hopping between posts. The apparent free energy barriers are comparable to theoretical estimates determined from polymer conformational fluctuations.