229 posts · 114,881 views
The goal of this blog is to better understand why people think, feel, and behave the way they do. What's unique, in some ways, about this blog is that we'll be generating theories about people's behavior from cutting-edge psychological science!
Psych Your Mind
229 posts
Sort by: Latest Post, Most Popular
View by: Condensed, Full
- November 20, 2011
- 12:10 PM
- 460 views
The Happiness Chronicles, Part II: Does Money Buy Happiness?
by Psych Your Mind in Psych Your Mind
This is the second installment of an occasional series on Psych Your Mind examining the pursuit of happiness. Last time we considered the dark side of happiness. In this post, we consider an important question: Does money buy happiness?
Answering the question "Does money buy you happiness?" is not an easy task, and researchers have been trying to answer it for at least 25 years (philosophers, I imagine, have been considering this question for even longer). Over the years, psychology research has amassed a great deal of evidence suggesting that money in-and-of-itself does not make you happy. There are of course, some caveats to this answer and we'll consider them in today's post.
Read More->... Read more »
Oishi, S., Kesebir, S., & Diener, E. (2011) Income Inequality and Happiness. Psychological Science, 22(9), 1095-1100. DOI: 10.1177/0956797611417262
Niemiec, C., Ryan, R., & Deci, E. (2009) The path taken: Consequences of attaining intrinsic and extrinsic aspirations in post-college life. Journal of Research in Personality, 43(3), 291-306. DOI: 10.1016/j.jrp.2008.09.001
Howell, R., & Howell, C. (2008) The relation of economic status to subjective well-being in developing countries: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 134(4), 536-560. DOI: 10.1037/0033-2909.134.4.536
- November 18, 2011
- 03:34 AM
- 498 views
The probability of your existence: Zero
by Psych Your Mind in Psych Your Mind
At some point after first learning about the birds and the bees as a child (possibly after watching the opening credits of Look Who's Talking or thinking too hard about the implications of Back to the Future), it occurred to me that I could have easily been someone else. Had my parents not happened to meet when they did, and happened to conceive at the moment they did, with a specific pair of egg and sperm, I wouldn't be here. Apart from being a minor existential crisis, this realization made me feel incredibly lucky. Out of an infinite number of possible people, I was one of those who got a chance at life.
I recently came across a lovely (if statistically questionable) visual demonstration of one person's attempt to approximate the odds that each of us came into the world and exist as we are today. It incorporates probabilities ranging from our parents' first encounter to our unbroken line of ancestors to the emergence of the first single celled organism, concluding with the following analogy: The probably that we as unique individuals came to be is equivalent to "the probability of 2 million people getting together each to play a game of dice with trillion-sided die. They each roll the dice, and they all come up with the exact same number - for example, 550, 343, 279, 001. The odds that you exist at all are basically zero."
Read More-... Read more »
Keltner, D., & Haidt, J. (2003) Approaching awe, a moral, spiritual, and aesthetic emotion. Cognition , 17(2), 297-314. DOI: 10.1080/02699930302297
- November 14, 2011
- 11:22 PM
- 504 views
Intelligence: It’s all in your head
by Psych Your Mind in Psych Your Mind
Which do you think is more predictive of success: innate ability or hard work? Do you think anyone can rise up to meet a challenge with enough effort, or are some people just more intelligent and able than others?
It seems like there should be a true answer to these questions, but according to Dr. Carol Dweck, the truth is all in your head. Dr. Dweck isn’t interested in what exactly intelligence is, she’s interested in what you think it is, and the long term impact of those beliefs.
Entity theorist. Some people believe that intelligence is an unchangeable, fixed trait. If you are an entity theorist, you think of intelligence as a “thing” that you can have a lot or a little of. Entity theorists would say that some people are just more intelligent than others.
Incremental theorist. Some people believe that intelligence is a malleable quality that can developed. If you are more of an incremental theorist, you think of intelligence more as a muscle that can get stronger with effort. Incremental theorists would say that anyone can achieve if they work hard at it.
Read More-... Read more »
Aronson, J., Fried, C., & Good, C. (2002) Reducing the Effects of Stereotype Threat on African American College Students by Shaping Theories of Intelligence. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 38(2), 113-125. DOI: 10.1006/jesp.2001.1491
Blackwell, L., Trzesniewski, K., & Dweck, C. (2007) Implicit Theories of Intelligence Predict Achievement Across an Adolescent Transition: A Longitudinal Study and an Intervention. Child Development, 78(1), 246-263. DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2007.00995.x
- November 11, 2011
- 11:13 AM
- 451 views
Cutting up flags and kissing your sister – what is morality?
by Psych Your Mind in Psych Your Mind
Today's post comes from another great guest blogger. Olga Antonenko Young is a graduate student in the social-personality psychology program at UC-Berkeley.
Is burning the American flag immoral?
A woman cleaning her bathroom decides to cut up an old American flag and use it as a rag to scrub the toilet. Is this morally wrong? Two adult siblings enjoy French kissing each other. Are they acting immorally? Your answers to these questions may depend on your definition of morality as well as unexpected factors including your culture, socio-economic status, and political orientation.
Most people agree that morality concerns itself with the welfare of others. The reason we deem an action immoral is that it, in some way, negatively impacts other individuals or society as a whole. However, exactly what kinds of actions fall into this category vary depending on the person you ask. Think about it for yourself. How do you define morality? What categories of actions count as immoral?
You most likely thought of actions that hurt other people or seem unjust. So, then, what’s wrong with French kissing your sister?
Read More-... Read more »
Graham, J., Haidt, J., & Nosek, B. (2009) Liberals and conservatives rely on different sets of moral foundations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 96(5), 1029-1046. DOI: 10.1037/a0015141
Haidt, J., & Graham, J. (2007) When Morality Opposes Justice: Conservatives Have Moral Intuitions that Liberals may not Recognize. Social Justice Research, 20(1), 98-116. DOI: 10.1007/s11211-007-0034-z
- November 7, 2011
- 12:13 PM
- 393 views
Go Tigers! The Southern Culture of Honor
by Psych Your Mind in Psych Your Mind
source
This weekend college football fans were treated to one of the most highly anticipated football games in the recent history of the sport: #1 LSU vs. #2 Alabama in a battle of the unbeaten juggernauts of college football. As expected, the game was a physical, defense-first battle. A true representation of what has become a southern tradition.
A social psychologist by training, I tend to think about this new southern tradition in the context of some of my other stereotypes of the south. For instance, southern hospitality comes to mind. This makes me wonder:
How does such a hospitable place also earn a reputation for smash-mouth football?
Read More->... Read more »
Cohen D, Nisbett RE, Bowdle BF, & Schwarz N. (1996) Insult, aggression, and the southern culture of honor: an "experimental ethnography". Journal of personality and social psychology, 70(5), 945-59. PMID: 8656339
- November 4, 2011
- 02:02 AM
- 467 views
Friday Fun: A Healthy Skepticism About Science?
by Psych Your Mind in Psych Your Mind
"There are a substantial number of scientists who have manipulated data, so that they will have dollars rolling into their projects." -- Rick Perry, Governor of Texas
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook
Last week a colleague of mine pointed out this wonderful little video from the Daily Show. In it, the Daily Show's "chief science correspondent" Aasif Mandvi asks some pretty hilarious and revealing questions about the scientific method. This piece is amazing and I definitely recommend taking the 6 minutes or so to watch it. At one point, Mandvi speaks to a Republican strategist, Noelle Nikpour, who seems to be skeptical of science (that is a bit of an understatement). In the interview, Ms. Nikpour says "Scientists are scamming the American people for their own financial gain." Hilarity aside, that one person, let alone hundreds or thousands, would believe this about science is a disturbing thought. Particularly since Ms. Nikpour's opinions are likely to influence more people than any single scientist's research ever would. Admittedly, recent events in social psychology have not been a good defense against this opinion (see here and here). Nonetheless, today I'd like to discuss why this opinion is inaccurate.
Read More->... Read more »
Peters, D., & Ceci, S. (2010) Peer-review practices of psychological journals: The fate of published articles, submitted again. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 5(02), 187. DOI: 10.1017/S0140525X00011183
- November 3, 2011
- 01:43 AM
- 397 views
Can sweets make you sweeter?
by Psych Your Mind in Psych Your Mind
This week, kids around the nation are scarfing down bucket loads of Halloween candy, and the rest of us are likely sneaking in some extra treats for ourselves as well. So how is all this sugar consumption affecting us? On the one hand, it may be poisoning us, but on the bright side, new research suggests that eating sweets can actually make you not only seem more sweet, but also lead you to behave in more caring ways.
Read More-... Read more »
Meier BP, Moeller SK, Riemer-Peltz M, & Robinson MD. (2011) Sweet taste preferences and experiences predict prosocial inferences, personalities, and behaviors. Journal of personality and social psychology. PMID: 21875232
- October 31, 2011
- 03:10 PM
- 440 views
What do Halloween and Social Psychology have in common? Deindividuation, of course
by Psych Your Mind in Psych Your Mind
As the children take to the streets tonight in search of a
trick-or-treat, you might be wondering the best way to protect your house from
some heavy candy-looting. In 1976, Ed
Diener and his colleagues asked a similar question, though they were more
interested in the conditions that prompted trick-or-treaters to overindulge and
take more than they should. Halloween is a holiday which encourages people to
dress up in costumes and roam the streets in large groups - the perfect recipe
for deindividuation. Deindividuation
occurs when people’s own sense of individuality is diminished and can result in
antisocial behaviors. Diener used Halloween as an opportunity to research how
anonymity, group size, and feelings of responsibility influence people’s
willingness to steal extra candy and money.
The scene: Imagine
that you come up to a house with a table, on one side is a bowl full of
individually wrapped bite-sized candy bars, about 2 feet away on the other side
is a bowl full of pennies and nickels. Nearby is a decorative backdrop with a
peep hole that camouflages an unobtrusive observer. When you arrive at the
door, a woman you have never met greets you.
Read More-... Read more »
Diener, E., Fraser, S., Beaman, A., & Kelem, R. (1976) Effects of deindividuation variables on stealing among Halloween trick-or-treaters. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 33(2), 178-183. DOI: 10.1037/0022-3514.33.2.178
- October 28, 2011
- 01:19 PM
- 486 views
Improving memory - (retrieval) practice makes perfect
by Psych Your Mind in Psych Your Mind
Today we would like to present you with the another (terrific) guest blogger. Joseph Williams is a graduate student in the cognitive psychology program at UC-Berkeley. Enjoy!
source
You’re about to read a 200-word science passage on sea otters so that you can successfully answer questions about it in a week’s time. What strategies would you use to study it? Which of these options would you choose? (a) reading it four times, (b) drawing out a concept map of all the key ideas, or (c) reading it, trying to recall it, reading it one more time, and trying to recall it one more time.
If you smugly chose the alluring quadruple study option or took a gamble on the newfangled concept map, it’s likely that a week from now your memory would be letting you down. A recent paper in Science by Karpicke & Blunt at Purdue University reports an experiment along these lines. Testing oneself or engaging in retrieval practice had the greatest benefit for being able to remember facts from the passage and for drawing inferences that required putting these facts together. But it seems so counterintuitive that testing yourself on information could be better than thoroughly studying material or building elaborate diagrams. Surely students would all be on the honor roll if only they put in that much effort!
Read More->... Read more »
Karpicke JD, & Blunt JR. (2011) Retrieval practice produces more learning than elaborative studying with concept mapping. Science (New York, N.Y.), 331(6018), 772-5. PMID: 21252317
- October 26, 2011
- 02:18 PM
- 443 views
The power of red
by Psych Your Mind in Psych Your Mind
Like most teenagers in suburbia I took a driver’s education class shortly after I earned my learner’s permit. Though I picked up critical driving tips, and got plenty of practice in the driver’s seat, one of the most interesting facts I learned concerned car insurance and the color red. According to my teacher, drivers with red cars had to pay higher insurance rates. Apparently this was due to the fact that people in red cars were more likely to speed. I’ve since learned that the relationship between red and speeding is actually a pervasive urban legend. Nevertheless, it piqued my interest in the association between color and behavior. Though red might not be associated with speeding, it has been found to relate to a variety of psychological processes and outcomes in both humans and non-human primates including dominance, competitive sports outcomes, achievement, and sexual attraction. Read More-... Read more »
Elliot, A., & Niesta, D. (2008) Romantic red: Red enhances men's attraction to women. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95(5), 1150-1164. DOI: 10.1037/0022-3514.95.5.1150
Khan SA, Levine WJ, Dobson SD, & Kralik JD. (2011) Red signals dominance in male rhesus macaques. Psychological science, 22(8), 1001-3. PMID: 21750249
Hill, R., & Barton, R. (2005) Psychology: Red enhances human performance in contests. Nature, 435(7040), 293-293. DOI: 10.1038/435293a
Hagemann, N., Strauss, B., & Leißing, J. (2008) When the Referee Sees Red …. Psychological Science, 19(8), 769-771. DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02155.x
Elliot, A., Maier, M., Moller, A., Friedman, R., & Meinhardt, J. (2007) Color and psychological functioning: The effect of red on performance attainment. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 136(1), 154-168. DOI: 10.1037/0096-3445.136.1.154
Elliot AJ, Kayser DN, Greitemeyer T, Lichtenfeld S, Gramzow RH, Maier MA, & Liu H. (2010) Red, rank, and romance in women viewing men. Journal of experimental psychology. General, 139(3), 399-417. PMID: 20677892
- October 24, 2011
- 12:59 PM
- 416 views
Three Myths About Power
by Psych Your Mind in Psych Your Mind
Does Power Corrupt? source
The reign of Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi came to an end last week at the hands of a combination of rebel and UN forces. Qaddafi-- at least according to the American news media and some of his own people--was widely considered a tyrannical ruler who stifled free expression and democracy during his 40 years of rule. Whenever I think of men like Qaddafi, the social psychologist in me can't help but think that the situation has created the tyrant we now know-- that there is something about power that changes people, and transforms them into ruthless and oppressive individuals.
This explanation fits our narrative about power nicely, but it actually doesn't hold up well to empirical investigation. In today's blog I discuss three myths about power. We come to believe these myths based on anecdotal evidence, even though they don't seem to hold up to empirical investigation.
Read More->... Read more »
Chen, S., Lee-Chai, A., & Bargh, J. (2001) Relationship orientation as a moderator of the effects of social power. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80(2), 173-187. DOI: 10.1037//0022-3514.80.2.173
- October 23, 2011
- 03:07 PM
- 620 views
Friday Fun: The three most important questions to ask on a first date
by Psych Your Mind in Psych Your Mind
If you could ask only three questions to gauge your compatibility with a potential dating partner, what would they be? Would you ask about their religious beliefs? political orientation? career goals?
According to research conducted by OkCupid, a popular online dating service that collects data from its users and allows users to submit their own questions for others to answer, the three questions that best predict compatibility (measured as the likelihood of forming a committed relationship with another OkCupid user) are not exactly what you might expect. Users who agreed on their responses to the following three questions were more likely to form a relationship:
Read More-... Read more »
Byrne, D., Griffitt, W., & Stefaniak, D. (1967) Attraction and similarity of personality characteristics. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 5(1), 82-90. DOI: 10.1037/h0021198
- October 19, 2011
- 03:55 AM
- 441 views
There's nothing wrong with turning red: The social functions of embarrassment
by Psych Your Mind in Psych Your Mind
Embarrassment is embarrassing. The act of blushing, for example, can itself be more traumatic than whatever triggered it, prompting some to resort to blush-reducing surgery. Even if you're not a blusher, embarrassment is often hard to hide - it makes itself known in nervous laughter, sweaty palms, averted eyes, and other involuntary responses. Most of us will do whatever we can to avoid this awkward experience. But research suggests that showing embarrassment is nothing to be ashamed of, and in certain ways it might even serve us well.
Read More-... Read more »
Feinberg M, Willer R, & Keltner D. (2011) Flustered and faithful: Embarrassment as a signal of prosociality. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. PMID: 21928915
- October 17, 2011
- 12:17 PM
- 572 views
Good food, bad food: The psychology of nutrition
by Psych Your Mind in Psych Your Mind
Assume you are alone on a desert island for one year and you can have water and one other food. Pick what food you think would be best for your health (never mind what
food you would like).
Corn
Alfalfa sprouts
Hot dogs
Spinach
Peaches
Bananas
Milk chocolate
Paul Rozin, a psychology professor at the University of Pennsylvania, asked people this same question and found that 42% of people chose bananas, 27% spinach, 12% corn, 7%
alfalfa sprouts, 5% peaches, 4% hot dogs, and 3% milk chocolate. Only seven percent of people chose a food that could actually offer them enough calories and all the nutrients they needed for long term survival. No, not alfalfa sprouts
(not nearly enough calories): hot dogs and milk chocolate. These two animal products (the milk in milk chocolate) provide protein and fat, two necessary nutrients that would be deficient in the other foods. Overall, hot dogs would provide all necessary nutrients, sufficient protein, and a more optimal amino
acid balance, suggesting they would be best suited to help you survive for a year. ... Read more »
Rozin P, Ashmore M, & Markwith M. (1996) Lay American conceptions of nutrition: dose insensitivity, categorical thinking, contagion, and the monotonic mind. Health Psychology, 15(6), 438-47. PMID: 8973924
- October 12, 2011
- 12:04 PM
- 456 views
Want to become a wizard? Just read Harry Potter
by Psych Your Mind in Psych Your Mind
source
I will never forget when the final installment of the Harry Potter series came out. Myself and a few of my closest friends from college, all big HP fans, were spending the weekend at my Mom’s house. Although I hadn’t seen these friends in 6 months, although there were a ton of activities to do in that region of upstate NY, although we were twenty five years old - we could not wait to see how J.K. Rowling was going to wrap up the series. The second we picked up the Deathly Hallows, we literally did not stop. We lounged around all day, moving from the sun chairs outside, to the porch, to our beds, and back. We ate, we drank, we read. We barely talked. Parmita and I, the most determined, read straight through the night – 759 pages in total. It was a marathon, and let me tell you, it was well worth it.
Though the power of a good book is undeniable even to the lightest of readers, researchers have discovered some unexpected benefits from an engaging narrative. For example, people tend to feel less lonely after reading a familiar narrative, and even seek out comforting books after experiences of social rejection (Derrick, Gabriel, & Hugenberg, 2009). Narratives have been found to help develop social skills – they teach us rules that govern social interactions and help us to cultivate empathy (e.g. Mar & Oatley, 2008). In an interesting study published recently in Psychological Science, Shira Gabriel and Ariana Young even found that we actually feel like, or become, the characters of the book, and that this assumption of the characters’ identities makes us feel happier and more satisfied with our own lives. Here's the study...Read More->... Read more »
Gabriel S, & Young AF. (2011) Becoming a vampire without being bitten: the narrative collective-assimilation hypothesis. Psychological science, 22(8), 990-4. PMID: 21750250
- October 9, 2011
- 08:06 PM
- 554 views
Friday Fun: Breaking News! Correlation Does Not Equal Causation
by Psych Your Mind in Psych Your Mind
Man and IPhone pictured in loving embrace (source)
Right now I am teaching a personality psychology class and we are talking about research methods. Invariably, anytime I teach psychological methods I always end up talking about correlations--specifically, that a correlation is an association between two variables and nothing more. The important point is that correlations--even those that come from fancy associations between behavior and brain images--do not mean causation. Students are typically quite receptive to this information.
It's too bad that some journalists (and to be fair, even some scientists) forget this lesson.
Just for fun, I gave out extra credit this week to any student who could find a news article claiming causation from correlation. I gave my students a 6 hour time window to complete this assignment. Not surprisingly, half my class of 60 students came back with a unique example (for those keeping score at home, that's 30 news articles that inappropriately infer cause from correlations)! Below, I summarize my three favorites:
Read More->... Read more »
Veerman JL, Healy GN, Cobiac LJ, Vos T, Winkler EA, Owen N, & Dunstan DW. (2011) Television viewing time and reduced life expectancy: a life table analysis. British journal of sports medicine. PMID: 21844603
- October 9, 2011
- 08:01 PM
- 388 views
Class Warfare
by Psych Your Mind in Psych Your Mind
"I think it's dangerous, this class warfare." -- Mitt Romney (2012 presidential candidate)
In the last week or so, everyday Americans have taken to the street, Wall Street to be exact, to express their discontent with the current economic climate. In short, the bottom 99% of Americans are upset about economic inequality, and rightly so. After all, American economic inequality is worse than every other developed country (we've discussed this inequality here and here). In particular, there seems to be striking inequality in salary between average workers and corporate CEOs (262:1 and rising).
Of course, not everyone is supportive of movements like these, which seek to diminish the pay disparities between the wealthy and the less-so. For instance, Herman Cain, the godfather of pizza (now current republican presidential candidate) said this about the protestors: "Don't blame Wall Street, and don't blame the big banks. If you don't have a job and are not rich, blame yourself." Apparently, a portion of people out there believe that people have personal responsibility for the amount of money they make and that wealth is gained through hard work, ability, and talent. But who exactly are these people?
Read More->... Read more »
Kraus MW, Piff PK, & Keltner D. (2009) Social class, sense of control, and social explanation. Journal of personality and social psychology, 97(6), 992-1004. PMID: 19968415
- October 5, 2011
- 05:43 AM
- 468 views
Would you eat the worm?
by Psych Your Mind in Psych Your Mind
Imagine finding yourself in the following situation. You arrive at a psychology laboratory to participate in an experiment. The experimenter tells you that the purpose of the experiment is to understand the effects of "certain tasks" on physiological responses. On one side of a table, you see a series of covered cups, and on the other side you see a dead worm on a plate, a cup of water, a napkin, and a fork. The experimenter reminds you of your rights as a participant, saying that your participation is voluntary and you are free to terminate the study at any time.
Next, after doing a neutral task where you assess the weights of the covered cups, the experimenter tells you that you have been randomly assigned to an experimental condition where you will be asked to eat the worm. You then wait for ten minutes while the experimenter goes to do something in another room, during which time you are left to anticipate your upcoming worm-eating experience. When the experimenter returns, he or she says, "Oh, an error has been made. You weren't exactly assigned to the right condition. You actually are supposed to choose which task you will perform, between eating the worm or discriminating the weights."
What do you decide? Do you eat the worm even though you no longer have to?
Read More-... Read more »
Comer, R., & Laird, J. (1975) Choosing to suffer as a consequence of expecting to suffer: Why do people do it?. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 32(1), 92-101. DOI: 10.1037/h0076785
- October 3, 2011
- 03:32 PM
- 413 views
Experiential versus material purchases: Science says that buying new shoes won’t make me happier
by Psych Your Mind in Psych Your Mind
Last weekend I went to the mall in search of a new pair of tennis shoes since I’ve run the life out of my current pair, and while I was there, I continued my never-ending quest to find the perfect pair of boots (just ask my husband – I’ve been on this quest for years). When I arrived at the mall, the parking lot was so full that I had to circle around before I could find a spot. The stores were equally crowded inside. Apparently none of these shoppers had read Leaf Van Boven’s
2005 review article highlighting the benefits of spending money on experiences over material goods. Juli first mentioned this finding in her post on the four ways to buy happiness, and I wanted to spend some more time on the topic since I still have a bit of trouble
accepting the findings, particularly when I’m on a quest for a material good that I’m sure will change my life (spoiler alert - I did buy a pair of boots, though I’m not sure they’re “the ones”).
When
surveying various cultures to determine what makes people happy, researchers
kept stumbling upon the finding that having more didn’t equate to being
happier. And people who aspire to have more are, in fact, less satisfied. For
example, the more that people endorse the statement “Buying things gives me
pleasure” the less satisfied they are with their lives. But, it seems, this is
only true if you are spending your money to buy “things” rather than
“memories.” Whether people are asked to directly compare experiential versus
material purchases or to simply write about or reflect on a specific recent purchase,
they report that the experiential purchase made them happier, contributed more
to their overall happiness, and was “money better spent.” In the moment, Recalling
their most recent vacation seems to put people in a better mood than recalling
their last shoe purchase.
Read More-... Read more »
Van Boven, L. (2005) Experientialism, Materialism, and the Pursuit of Happiness. Review of General Psychology, 9(2), 132-142. DOI: 10.1037/1089-2680.9.2.132
- September 28, 2011
- 05:42 PM
- 385 views
Women better at judging men’s sexual orientation near to ovulation
by Psych Your Mind in Psych Your Mind
source
Living in the San Francisco Bay Area provides many benefits: good food, great activities, incredible landscape. For me, however, the Bay Area is SOO special, because it caters to a fabulously diverse array of residents. For example, each year San Franciscans can take to the streets to herald in spring during the Cherry Blossom Festival in Japantown, celebrate the beauty of leather during Folsom Street Fair, or stomp their feet and slap their thighs to the music at the completely free – Hardly, Strictly, Bluegrass. The variety of interests, cultures, traditions, and values in the Bay Area is a beautiful thing.
One interesting result of this diversity is that single, female San Franciscans are not often surprised when a man they’ve been eyeing all night, leaves the bar, with his boyfriend, not his girlfriend. San Francisco is, after all, home to The Castro - one of America’s first and arguably the best known, gay neighborhoods. Perhaps over the years women in San Franscisco have become especially adept at judging who is straight from who is gay (or who falls somewhere along the continuum). Interestingly, however, recent research has shown that women’s accuracy in judging male sexual orientation does fluctuate. Not by city (though someone should do that study) but instead by fertility (ability to conceive) across the menstrual cycle. Here’s the study…
Read More->... Read more »
Rule NO, Rosen KS, Slepian ML, & Ambady N. (2011) Mating interest improves women's accuracy in judging male sexual orientation. Psychological science, 22(7), 881-6. PMID: 21670428
topics
join us!
Do you write about peer-reviewed research in your blog? Use ResearchBlogging.org to make it easy for your readers — and others from around the world — to find your serious posts about academic research.
If you don't have a blog, you can still use our site to learn about fascinating developments in cutting-edge research from around the world.
