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Activities and Exercises
The
Pairing Game - From
the following source comes this in-class activity to illustrate
the matching phenomenon:
Ellis,
Bruce J; Kelley, Harold H. (1999). The pairing game: A classroom
demonstration of the matching phenomenon. Teaching of Psychology,
26, 118-121. Abstract: Describes 2 versions of an in-class simulation
that allows students to directly experience the matching phenomenon
and explore issues concerning mate selection, social exchange,
and related psychological concepts. Students are randomly assigned
a value (either a numerical value or a list of adjectives),
which they place on their forehead so others can see it but
the student cannot. The goal is to pair off with another student
with as high a value as possible. The simulation, called the
Pairing Game, illustrates how matching on similarity can occur,
even in the absence of knowledge of one's own value and merely
by seeking the highest value possible in a partner.
Jim
Friedrich reports that he uses this activity and adds: "I simply
have my pairs that have emerged from the game arbitrarily designate
a "Partner A" and a "Partner B"; then each pair gets to plot
their coordinates with Partner A on the X asis and Partner B
on the Y. There's always a very nice scatterplot, as the demo
itself produces pretty good matching. Even medium size correlations
of r = .5 tend to look pretty vague in small-N scatterplots,
but the patterns jump right out whenever I do this (with or
without the actual statstistical calculation)." He adds: "The
article mentioned might go nicely with a recent finding reported
in the Journal of Family Psychology (I believe) showing that
heterosexual relationships in which the man is slightly less
attractive than the woman exhibit better interpersonal relationships.
The interpretation - or at last one of them - is that one of
the things that less attractive men offer to attract more attractive
woman with a broader range of choices is greater attentiveness,
willingness to listen, etc. I've only read a summary and haven't
been able to get the original yet, so don't quote me on this.
For a more formal and comprehensive treatment of using market
and economic principles in an attempt to understand key elements
of heterosexual relationships, I regularly assign the following
article by Roy Baumeister and Kathleen Vohs. [Baumeister, Roy
F; Vohs, Kathleen D. (2004). Sexual Economics: Sex as Female
Resource for Social Exchange in Heterosexual Interactions. Personality
and Social Psychology Review, 8, 339-363.] It always generates
lots of reactions (ranging from amused to heated) and provides
a good opportunity for talking about what one looks for or doesn't
in good theory -- ability to parsimoniously explain a range
of existing phenomena, ability to generate new testable predictions,
use of principles that are "independently motivated" (developed
for purposes other than for explaining the phenomena in question),
etc. It also provides opportunities to talk about things like
naturalistic fallacy errors and the temptation to evaluate psychological
theories (provisional and testable descriptions of nature) by
the way they make us feel or the social ends they might or might
not serve." Here's
a link to a related article. [added 5/3/08]
Can
romance be rational? - a few good activities from Myers and
DeWall [added 2/12/15]
The
Similarity Project - In one version of this activity, starting
in groups of four, students are asked to identify as many similarities
as they can between their different groups. Then they join larger
and larger groups to see if they can identify even more similarities.
[added
12/29/11]
Playing
a Facebook game - Dan Ariely has created a Facebook activity
that he can use as a research tool and your students can use to
learn about different social psychological phenomena. Of course,
none of your students may be on Facebook... [added
4/1/11]
Creating
an "average" face - Interesting site lets you create an average
face from images provided. The site also explains how these average
faces are created. "You can also average your own uploaded faces!"
[added 4/4/08]
Face
Filter - fun site where one can morph a face to fit several
emotional responses and types of attractiveness [added
4/06/04]
Multimedia
Resources (Audio / Video)
Audio
Consensual nonmonogamy (19:43) - "Consensually nonmonogamous relationships are defined by explicit mutual agreements to have multiple emotional, romantic, and/or sexual relationships." A podcast from APS
Is cheating just a symptom (and not the cause) of declining relationships? (14:31) - - Podcast from Under the Cortex at APS
The impact of being “ghosted” (16:27) - This podcast discusses the phenomenon and some research on the topic.
Ghosted: An unexplained and unexpected termination of communication from someone online
The power of vitamin S (24:36) - This podcast is a conversation with Paul van Lange about his recent research on the importance of social contact (vitamin S).
The psychology of attractiveness podcast
- I just stumbled across this series of podcasts that ended in 2019. You may find something of interest here.
“Swiping me off my feet on Tinder” (13:35) - a podcast from Science of Relationships (now Luvze)
Anticipating change in the relationship and relationship quality
- a podcast from Science of Relationships (now Luvze)
Facial contrast and Kim Kardashian's ... - a podcast
Coalitional mate retention - If you want to prevent your partner from cheater, here's what you need to know. A podcast
"How parents meddle in their children's love lives" - a podcast
"Stress
and resolving disagreements immediately" - a podcast from Relationship Matters - [added 2/17/15]
"The
link between relationship quality and oxytocin" - a podcast
from Science of Relationships [added 2/17/15]
"Can
we keep passion alive?" - a Relationship Matters podcast
[added 2/12/15]
"Transcending
shame and seeking forgiveness" - a podcast from Science
of Relationships [added 2/18/14]
The
secret of pronouns - NPR interviews James Pennebaker about his
fascinating research on the use of pronouns and their relationship
to dating. [added
6/26/12]
Am
I Normal (Sexually)? - interesting, 30-minute episode in BBC radio's
Am I Normal series [added
1/20/12]
Video
Russell
Brand's take on the Renee Zellweger kurfaffle - (7:40)
[added
2/17/15]
Miss
America pageants - (15:24) John
Oliver takes them on in this segment from his show, Last Week
Tonight. [added 2/17/15]
"The
economic benefits of physical attractiveness" - (1:49)
[added 2/17/15]
Does
more effort equal a better relationship? - (6:06)
Dubbed the Benjamin Franklin effect, this video describes a study
investigating what happens when one partner puts a lot of effort
into a relationship. Via Wikipedia, the Benjamin Franklin effect
is illustrated when "a person who has done someone a favor
is more likely to do that person another favor than they would be
if they had received a favor from that person. Similarly, one who
harms another is more willing to harm them again than the victim
is to retaliate." As Ben himself told me, "He that has
once done you a kindness will be more ready to do you another, than
he whom you yourself have obliged." [added 2/12/15]
Why
are babies so cute? - (2:12) [added 2/12/15]
Medley
of men's breakup songs - (5:24) [added
2/12/15]
How
the ideal female body has changed in the last 100 years - (1:58)
[added 2/12/15]
Is
loneliness lethal? - (18:45) A
TED talk from John Cacioppo [added 2/12/15]
"It's
NOT about the nail" - (1:42)
You have to see this one -- a great take on male/female communication.
[added 2/12/15]
The
science of kissing - (5:51) [added 2/12/15]
Why
we don't want to be alone - (2:49)
[added 2/18/14]
Bad
first date - (2:44)
Fun video. Maybe you can ask your students if they have been the
giver or receiver of such persistence? How would they respond? [added
8/5/13]
Passionate
love - (41:35) presentation
by Elaine Hatfield at the 2012 APS convention [added
8/5/13]
An
amusing ad - (0:45)
That's all I can say. I don't want to give it away. Like some people.
[added
12/07/12]
Expedia
creates dramatic ad for marriage equality - (3:20)
[added 12/07/12]
Why
your soulmate isn't that special (mathematically, that is) -
(3:59) A great song by
Tim Minchin -- thank you Science of Relationships (http://www.scienceofrelationships.com/)
for making me aware of it! [added
6/27/12]
"Love
in a backward world" - (5:01)
for your entertainment [added
6/26/12]
Third
date = sex? - (1:44)
A clip from the show The Big Bang Theory raises the question
of whether "the idea that the third date is the 'sex date,' the
date when it is deemed appropriate for a new couple to have sex"
is a social norm or just a myth. [added
1/21/12]
Mating
and loss aversion - (4:21)
Steven Neuberg and his colleagues Yexin Jessica Li and Douglas Kenrick
"discuss their research on how evolutionary motives such as mating
and self-protection influence individuals' sensitivity to loss aversion."
[added 1/21/12]
Technology
and relationships - (2:47)
Psychologist discusses research on our heavy consumption of technology
and its link to relationship happiness/success. When you are done
reading this issue at your computer or phone make sure that you
go share it with a partner or kid or Juggalo. [added
1/21/12]
What
is French kissing called in France? - (1:52)
Here's a cute little video montage of kissing accompanied by some
facts including the answer to the above question. [added
1/20/12]
Does
spousal conflict impair the immune system? - (6:14)
video and text describing an interesting study testing this question
[added
1/20/12]
Extreme photo
retouching - (2:29)
This video illustrates how many of the images we see are often modified
to eliminate blemishes and make more appealing. [added
8/14/11]
Why
online dating is so unsatisfying - (7:41)
Watch an interview with Dan Ariely discussing the topic. [added
12/16/10]
Hikikomori
in Japan - (9:35)
This form of social isolation, Hikikomori, in which, typically,
young boys and men lock themselves in their rooms for years in some
cases, appears to be fairly unique to Japan. This link takes you
to Part 1 of the video. You can find Part 2 on the video page. [added
1/15/10]
Propinquity
- (3:54) That's physical
proximity to you young whippersnappers. Here's a song ("Somebody")
from Reba McEntire that captures well our tendency to choose from
those nearby. [added
12/12/07]
Class
Assignments
Exam Questions
Here is an excellent pandemic-related essay question from Molly Metz:
Here is an essay question I used on my final exam for my close relationships course -
Read this article and watch these videos: Part1 / Part 2 / Part 3.
Using concepts from multiple lectures and the textbook/readings, develop an analysis of this relationship. What are the factors that contributed to the initiation of this relationship? What is the current state of the relationship? In your opinion, is this relationship likely to persist for the duration of isolation? How about longer? Your analysis should be fully developed and should draw on content across multiple course topics. Make sure all key terms and theories are fully defined and applied.
PANDEMIC
Projects
Attraction
and Relationships - Now that the excellent Science of Relationships
site has been around a bit (at least in Internet time), it has accumulated
a number of good resources for teaching. The site creators have graciously
compiled some of those resources and assignments at the link above.
[added
12/12/12]
Paper
Assignments
Variety
from an Intimate Relationships course - Gary Lewandowski lets
students choose from a variety of assignments including comparing
popular press claims versus the research and creating a "how to" guide
for relationship success. [added 3/1/05]
Examples
Attraction
Hindsight bias and relationships? - “Half of Americans say they knew their partner was ‘the one’ right away.”
Evolutionary
Factors - Seinfeld Episode: Evolutionary factors in mate selection
can be seen in the episode in which they try to fix up George with
a date. He asks questions about his potential date's physical attributes
and she asks questions about George's status, power and resources.
Contributed by Steve Fein. [added 4/28/02]
Physical
attractiveness - Physical attractiveness plays a big role
in how we think of and respond to people. I've worked as a summer
camp counselor for the past two years and you have to try and treat
each kid the same but it is inevitable that you will have favorites.
I remember one year there were two really bad kids in particular who
were always getting into trouble. One was a little girl who was so
cute. She always had a cute little outfit on, here little ears were
pierced, and was hilarious. But she was always getting herself into
trouble or not listening. The other kid was a little overweight and
not so attractive boy who also knew just how to muster up trouble.
But when it came to punishing the two it was hard to be equal and
fair and generally what tended to happen is the cute girl would get
away with a lot more. She could somehow get us to forget or be less
mad about the trouble she had caused and distract us with her humor
or by other tactics. And the little boy would often get in more trouble
and get a lot less positive attention....Thinking back, my favorite
kids have never really been unattractive, and I even feel horrible
admitting that, but it's true. [added 4/16/08]
Physical
Attractiveness - Something funny came to mind while I was looking
over the section on physical attractiveness. Specifically, I was looking
at the idea that attractive children are given the benefit of the
doubt more often than less attractive children. This is so true!
I work with two three-year-old boys that can look at me with their
respective sets of baby blues and browns and melt me to the ground.
It is so difficult to discipline a child that looks so cute when they
look at you. In these situations, I consciously have to think about
what I'm doing in order to discipline the gorgeous kids the same way
I treat the other children.
Physical
Attractiveness - North Central College uses the "attractive"
idea to persuade people to attend the college. While going to class
on a couple of days, I remember seeing a photographer on campus taking
pictures of two or three attractive young students. I instantly thought
of the course catalogue. The young people on the cover will help emphasize
the stereotype of the student's physical appearance: happy,
intelligent, kind, sociable and successful.
Physical proximity (propinquity) - Why do co-stars fall in love, this blog entry asks?
Propinquity
(Physical Proximity) - When we discussed the idea that we make
friends with those close to us this made me think of the floor that
I live on now. Last year when we saw who was going to live on our
floor we were very upset. Our end of the hall was all football players
but the other end was all soccer players. Normally football hates
soccer. At first things were a little tense but after a while some
friendships developed. Because they were close it was easy to see
if they wanted to go eat or go out or something and we found out they
aren't as bad as we thought. If they didn't live close we would probably
hate them still.
Relationships
Equity
-- there's a common source of argument. Does one person doing garbage
equate to the other ironing? Does one person doing laundry equate
to the other vacuuming? Early on in our marriage these issues cropped
up frequently. Now as I look at it, 16 years later, these just aren't
issues anymore. Each does what has to be done as it needs doing. Sometimes
one of us has more time than the other. Consideration of the other's
needs creates the equity anymore -- not the amount of equal effort.
That's where the twist builds from because you know the other person
will be there for you.
Equity
- When we first married, I worked full-time while my husband finished
college (before my liberated days). This was out of concern for his
and our welfare. I did not expect anything in return. Now sixteen
years and a family later, I am going to finish school. It is not easy.
My personality takes a real nose dive during semesters. My energy
level is good for squat. My husband does 75% of the housework. (The
other 25% doesn't get done.) My level of patience will never get me
a mother-of-the-year award. Yet in one of my reflective, depressive
moods last year, I asked my husband why he put up with it. His response
was "you put me through school years ago; it's the least I can do
now." That is love.
Topic
Resources
"When should you end a conversation? Probably sooner than you think."
Lonely? 9 ways to socialize safely during the pandemic PANDEMIC
Are we moving from social distancing to social bubbles? -
An interesting sociological take on how the pandemic might shape our new social contacts and social groups PANDEMIC
"Social distancing prevents infections, but it can have unintended consequences" - PANDEMIC
"'Being fun' is an important marker of social status among children"
Why do we laugh? The same reason other species do… - social bonding, and survival.
Most popular teens? Those that are aggressive AND nice
Are we really that awkward at conversations? - “’We not only find that people report feeling under confident in their ability to engage in casual conversations,’ says Boothby, ‘they also tend to attribute the worst moments of the conversations - awkward pauses, conversational missteps - to themselves as opposed to their conversation partner.’ The reality, suggests Boothby, is that things are not as bad as they seem; people are very forgiving in conversations.”
What makes you feel loved? - Researchers presented 60 different scenarios to people (e.g., a child snuggling up to you; someone paying you a compliment) and asked them whether or not most people would feel loved in that situation.
The ovulation “crisis” - Here is a fascinating article about the rise and fall and rebirth of the evolutionary field of research related to changes in perceptions of women and by women as they move through their ovulation cycle. When women move into their more fertile phase, are they rated as more attractive? Are they more likely to wear red or pink? Do they prefer a more manly body type? What research findings have held up and which have fallen in the face of more careful examination?
Sexual posing (not baring skin) leads to automatic objectification
“Why playing hard to get won’t get you anywhere” - Science.
“The IQ score people say is most attractive” - 120, according to this research. I’ve got to shave off a few points.
Men and women interpret sexual intent very differently
"Loneliness and self-centeredness appear to be mutually reinforcing"
"15 common social quirks that make you less likeable"
The psychology of eye contact - a good review of some of the research
Sexual arousal increased risk-taking in men and women equally
What do you share on Facebook? - Interesting research reveals some relationships between postings, motivations, and personality.
How a perfume company convinced scientists of human pheromones
Flower
power! - "But can the mere presence of flowers influence
actual relationship behavior? To test this question, a French researcher
randomly assigned female participants to watch a video of a male discussing
food while participants were either (a) sitting in a room decorated
with three vases full of flowers (roses, marigolds, and daisies),
or (b) sitting in a room decorated with empty vases. Women who sat
in the room with flowers rated the male in the video as sexier and
more attractive, and they were more willing to date him." Read
also about the two very cool follow-up studies. [added
2/12/15]
Those
liked face-to-face are also liked online - [added
7/11/09]
Small
world research on instant messaging - Answer: 6.6 degrees of separation
[added 10/11/08]
The
paradox of poygamy - "Contrary to popular belief, most women benefit
from polygynous society, and most men benefit from monogamous society.
This is because polygynous society allows some women to share a resourceful
man of high status." [added
4/13/08]
Subliminal
smells and likeability - story of research finding that in humans
consciously undetectable odors alter social preferences [added
3/21/08]
Laughter
is the way we connect - an article about research on the role
laughter plays in our social world [added 11/17/07]
"Subliminal
nude pictures focus attention" - research interpreted to suggest
an evolutionary benefit for attending to sexual stimuli [added
12/30/06]
"Beast
buddies: Do animals have friends?" - an intriguing question and
article from ScienceNews [added 6/9/04]
Like
Those Who Like Us
“People like you more than you know” - Most of the time we have an exaggerated perception of ourselves, but we often don’t think others do. And remember the recent research that found that we think others’ social lives are much more exciting than our own.
We
like those who like us - [added 2/12/15]
Propinquity
(Physical Proximity)
The power of eye contact - Some interesting research
It’s a small world - No, I’m not going to start singing. But I would recommend this essay about our social networks, and how technology has affected them.
Propinquity matters - That’s what I just told my class. My online class.
Long-distance
relationships cartoon - Ahh, propinquity. [added
1/29/12]
"18-year-old
miraculously finds soulmate in hometown" - an amusing article
from the satirical online newspaper The Onion -- ahh, propinquity!
[added 12/30/06]
Similarity
“People prefer strangers who share their political views to friends who don’t” - We are becoming more and more polarized.
Similarity promotes friendship; friendship promotes similarity - For years I have asked an exam question in which students must explain how propinquity (physical proximity) perpetuates similarity and how similarity perpetuates propinquity. Here’s an interesting variation on that bidirectional causality.
“Why we love people, places, things that resemble us” - Look at me – is that so hard to believe?
“No, opposites do not attract” - I can’t wait until we get this replication failure.
Ahh, the name game - This blog entry looks at implicit egotism in our desire for people (and things) that share the initials of our own names. Even Prince Harry.
"Your
first date: Make sure your genes fit" - "People can
now check that their genes fit. Yep, genes -- as in our DNA -- before
going on a first date." [added 2/17/15]
More
attracted to body odor of those who vote like us - Seriously.
Wow. [added 2/17/15]
"Shared
pain brings people together" - [added 2/17/15]
"Likes
attract, but do they last?" - The answer is what I tell my students
to write on psych exams if they have no clue to the answer: It depends!
In this case the research suggests that it depends on the partners'
levels of self-control. [added 8/5/13]
Similar
music tastes indicate similar values which foretells attraction
- [added
7/2/12]
Interpersonal
Relationships
Romantic Relationships
Love
Across cultures, men say 'I love you' first
People can tell when you are in love
Researchers discuss the study of love and attraction - "In a nod to Valentine’s Day, the Observer asked APS Fellows Lisa Diamond (University of Utah), Eli Finkel (Northwestern University), Nickola Overall (University of Auckland), and Harry Reis (University of Rochester) and psychological scientists Jessica Maxwell (Florida State University) and Meredith Chivers (Queen’s University) about the discoveries, challenges, and new directions in the study of love, desire, dating, and commitment."
Love - The APS Observer has several good articles on the topic in its February (2019) issue.
Love and marriage - a number of good articles from APS on the topic
The science of love - a series of articles about current research on relationships
"10 comics that show what polyamorous love is really like"
Reduced grey matter when falling in love - What?? According to this research, those early in a romantic relationship have less grey matter in a specific region in the brain. So, if you have that area lesioned, will you fall in love with the first person you see after the operation?
"Why
love literally hurts" - an APS Observer article looking
at the neural link between social and physical pain [added
8/5/13]
New
love - interesting New York Times article on the research
of new love [added 8/5/13]
"Who
says 'I love you' first in a relationship?" - [added
7/2/12]
"Love
is blind. Your friends aren't." - Blog entry describes research
on whether you can predict your own relationship's breakup better
than your friends can. [added
1/29/12]
"Love
is abstract, but sex is concrete" - Here is some interesting research
on how generating abstract versus concrete construals can affect how
we think about relationships. If you have some difficulty explaining
the concept of construals to your students, this example provides
a nice way of describing the concept. [added
1/29/12]
"Does
falling in love make us more creative?" - "A new study demonstrates
that thinking about love--but not about sex--causes us to think more
'globally,' making it easier to come up with new ideas." [added
1/18/10]
What
does new love look like? - a New York Times article describing
some research in which brain scans were conducted of newly-in-love
individuals while they were looking at pictures of their beloved [added
7/06/07]
Sex
How can couples maintain sexual desire?
The orgasm gap - Interesting series of studies find that both men and women believe that men are more entitled to experience an orgasm than are women.
The hookup culture in college
“Sex comes before romance in relationships” - See, social psychology really IS the study of the obvious.
Does more sex go with a better relationship? - It may depend if you ask explicitly or implicitly.
It's the cuddling, stupid - Research has attempted to identify the primary reasons why more sex is correlated with greater happiness.
Why
the sexual double standard? - Interesting discussion of why promiscuous
men are studs while promiscuous women are sluts [added
8/5/13]
"Love
is abstract, but sex is concrete" - Here is some interesting research
on how generating abstract versus concrete construals can affect how
we think about relationships. If you have some difficulty explaining
the concept of construals to your students, this example provides
a nice way of describing the concept. [added
1/29/12]
Sexual
infidelity - "Research has documented that most men become much
more jealous about sexual infidelity than they do about emotional
infidelity. Women are the opposite, and this is true all over the
world." The prevailing theory is an evolutionary one: "Men learned
over eons to be hyper-vigilant about sex because they can never be
absolutely certain they are the father of a child, while women are
much more concerned about having a partner who is committed to raising
a family." This new research, however, suggests a different explanation. [added
2/7/10]
95%
of Americans have had pre-marital sex - An extensive review of
data from the Guttmacher Institute finds that "by age 20, 77% of respondents
had had sex, 75% had had premarital sex, and 12% had married; by age44,
95% of respondents (94% of women, 96% of men, and 97% of those who
had ever had sex) had had premarital sex. Even among those who abstained
until at least age 20, 81% had had premarital sex by age 44. Among
cohorts of women turning 15 between 1964 and 1993, at least 91% had
had premarital sex by age 30. Among those turning 15 between 1954
and 1963, 82% had had premarital sex by age 30, and 88% had done so
by age 44." [added 12/30/06]
Dating
What are the most effective flirting techniques? - I almost did not share this link. Read the next entry to see why.
Should you keep or delete online material after you break up? - "In surveying over 200 adults in the United States, we found that people who held onto digital items from their previous relationship struggled more to adjust to the end of their relationship. But some people found themselves keeping quite a few items while simultaneously deleting a trove of digital content. These individuals were also less adjusted. Moreover, people who were nostalgic reported being more likely to hold onto digital items, which in turn led them to adjust less well to the end of their relationship."
"Phone calls create stronger bonds than text-based communications"
"Your
first date: Make sure your genes fit" - "People can
now check that their genes fit. Yep, genes -- as in our DNA -- before
going on a first date." [added 2/17/15]
Could
you date a Democrat/Republican/Libertarian...?[added
1/29/12]
Dating
equation: half your age + 7 years - "A common rule of thumb, at
least on the internet, is that it’s okay to be interested in
someone 'half your age plus seven' years. According to this rule,
it would not be creepy for a 30 year old to date a 22 year-old, but
an 18 year-old would be off-limits. Although this is a fun rule of
thumb, what does research say about age preferences for potential
mates?" [added
1/29/12]
Mimicry
during speed dating - "Women hoping to appeal to speed-dating
partners should try subtly mimicking the words and body-language of
their dates. That's according to Nicholas Gueguen whose new study
shows that women who mimic are rated by men as more sexually attractive." [added 1/18/10]
Speed
dating - good article describing how the phenomenon of speed dating
has provided a wealth of opportunities for research [added
7/11/09]
Online Dating
Online dating is changing the nature of society
Dating apps are changing
“Online dating is heaven — and hell” - “Having many options to choose from is appealing to anyone who is searching for something, and even more so if you are trying to find something—or someone—special. Not surprisingly, online dating platforms are exceptionally popular. One out of three adults in the U.S. has used an online dating site or app, and more people are finding their partners online than through any of the ‘traditional’ pathways to love such as meeting people through friends or at work or school. So, online dating clearly works. However, if it is so easy to find love on dating sites and apps, why are there more single people in the Western world today than ever before? And why do users of the dating platforms often report feelings of ‘Tinder fatigue’ and ‘dating burnout’?"
How Tinder changed dating - an interesting essay on how dating was quite different not so long ago
Too many fish in the sea - Sometimes too much choice is overwhelming, particularly with online dating. Maybe rekindling is the way to go.
"Dating apps linked to rise in interracial marriages" (1:52)
"Why do people swipe right (or left) on Tinder" - a nice infographic describing some research on the question
Who seeks out whom on dating sites? - Does my own perceived social mate value affect it? Does the matching hypothesis hold?
Couples increasingly meet online - David Myers addresses a number of issues related to how the Internet has changed our lives, but I put it here because I really like the graph he included on this topic.
We don't trust the "perfect" online dating profile - a little too perfect
"The
science behind 3 popular dating apps" - [added
8/5/13]
Online
dating - Review research about dealing with all the choices [added
1/12/13]
Online
dating - This blog entry provides a good compilation of research
on online dating. [added 10/30/10]
Online
dating - interesting blog entry about how online dating has been
frustrating, leading to some new approaches [added
6/6/08]
Marriage and Divorce
Happy wife, happy life OR happy spouse, happy house?
"What if friendship, not marriage, was at the center of life?"
Funny tweets about living with a spouse
28 humorous tweets about marriage
"Dating apps linked to rise in interracial marriages" (1:52)
"How self _expression_ replaced love as the most important part of a marriage" - interesting historical essay by Eli Finkel about the evolution of marriage in the U.S.
"What's it like to be engaged in the 21st century?" - The fine folks (researchers) at Science of Relationships in collaboration with the Loving Lab (awww) at the University of Texas at Austin are studying this underinvestigated question. They will be releasing results on the Science of Relationships site in the coming days, but they offer a nice infographic with their main questions and a sneak peak at some of their results at the above link.
Can a good marriage make you healthier? - "As the scientists report in a forthcoming issue of the journal Psychological Science. Perceived responsiveness was associated with both steeper cortisol slope and higher wakeup cortisol level. Importantly, this link between responsiveness and healthy cortisol was driven, at least in part, by diminishing negative emotions over the decade. In other words, believing that one’s partner cares—this perception leads to a decline in negative emotions, which in turn affects cortisol—and ultimately health."
Negative effects of emotional suppression - "The team found marital quality decreased over the study period to the extent that husbands suppressed their emotions during that time."
How
to handle divorce - Two researchers at Science of Relationships bravely discuss their impending divorce and what research suggests
are the best ways for them to deal with it. [added
2/17/15]
"Marriage
approval versus legal status" - a great graph from xkcd
comics [added 2/17/15]
Heredity
and marital satisfaction - I always thought my wife looked cute
in those genes. [added 2/12/15]
Unconscious,
rather than conscious, evaluations good predictors of marriage satisfaction - Or as the author of this article, Ben Le, states, "our unconscious
feelings about our partners might be the Magic 8-Ball when it comes
to future marriage satisfaction." [added 2/18/14]
When
husbands provide sensitive support - ... it benefits the relationship [added 8/5/13]
"Lack
of matching between partners predicts divorce" - [added
1/12/13]
Is
cohabitation detrimental to marriage? - Dylan Selterman, at
Science of Relationships, provides a nice review of the controversy
and what the research actually says. [added
7/2/12]
"The
states of marriage and divorce" - This Pew Research Center report
is a state-by-state analysis of the current status of marriage and
divorce. [added 1/18/10]
Precursor
of healthy adult marriages? - A report from the Rand Corporation
looks at adolescent romantic relationships as precursors of healthy
adult marriages. [added 12/1/07]
Has the Barbie movie led to relationship break-ups?
What makes singles happy?
- Good discussion of the stereotypes of singles
Couples feel closer after indulging in unhealthy behaviors together
- Yes, we can definitely bond over shared "negative" experiences.
Enjoying solitude
- Who does it? Why do they do it? How do they do it? If you just broke up, you might want to read this article.
The challenges of breaking up in the social media world we live in
Which type of person is most likely to try and steal your romantic partner?
- You're welcome. Now you know.
Same-sex married couples handle stress better than different-sex couples
The impact of optimism on romantic relationships
How do you end a relationship?
- Saying goodbye to loved ones, ghosting someone, etc.
Appreciation may offset unequal chores for couples
- Interesting. I wonder how far appreciation will go?
Romantic partners are fairly accurate judges of partner's abilities
If you could ask someone about one thing that motivates them
- which motive might you ask about? This interesting research surveyed people about this question. The motive that people most wanted to know about was caring for family members, with maintaining a long-lasting romantic relationship as a close second.
Relationship dealbenders, not dealbreakers, perhaps
- Romantic dealbreakers, like laziness and living too far away, may be "dealbenders" when it comes to committed relationships. In the study, participants viewed a series of story scenarios about a new relationship. Dealbreakers were randomly assigned to be present or not, and participants were given the option to end the relationship or proceed after each scenario. The result: it usually took several potential dealbreakers before participants were willing to leave.
Facebook and your relationships - This infographic can be a good discussion starter in class.
People who move a lot attach more importance to their romantic relationships - The team finds that those who have moved away from their place of birth or who have frequently moved throughout their life are more likely to see their partners as central to their lives.
Your conversation partner is reflecting on your conversation longer than you think
Is warmth a safety signal? - Perhaps warm people make us feel safe. Apparently, these clever studies suggest that physical warmth may have the same effect.
Family relationships - Here are a number of articles on different aspects of family relationships, from APS.
The hookup culture in college
A shared reality is a key component to relationships
What does making eye contact mean in a conversation? - “In the new study, by using pupil dilation as a measure of synchrony during unstructured conversation, psychologist Thalia Wheatley and graduate student Sophie Wohltjen found that the moment of making eye contact marks a peak in shared attention—and not the beginning of a sustained period of locked gazes. Synchrony, in fact, drops sharply after looking into the eyes of your interlocutor and only begins to recover when you and that person look away from each other. “Eye contact is not eliciting synchrony; it’s disrupting it,” says Wheatley, senior author of the paper.”
Did (does) the pandemic lockdown affect relationship intimacy? - “In a study of dating and married couples in India who were surveyed before and after India's COVID-19 lockdown, relationship satisfaction, love, intimacy, and passion were significantly lower post-lockdown compared with pre-lockdown.” PANDEMIC
"Couples remain committed to relationship after becoming new parents"
We're not that picky - It is just much easier to continue progressing a relationship than ending it. "Increasing investment and commitment to a romantic partner feels relatively easy and effortless, whereas decisions that halt or end relationships feel difficult and painful. That is, it feels easier to commit than to pull back from a relationship, at least in the short term. This progression bias may help people work through challenges in relationships, but it may also leave people in relationships that are not ideal."
"_expression_ of affection through touch across cultures" - "Do people all over the world kiss their partners and hug their friends? Is it common to stroke children? Presumably, culture influences our touch behaviors but how? And if there are differences between cultures, why do these exist?"
Dunbar’s number deconstructed - “The Oxford evolutionary psychologist Robin Dunbar is best known for his namesake “Dunbar’s number,” which he defines as the number of stable relationships people are cognitively able to maintain at once.” That number was originally 150. The first link is to some research that analyzes the accuracy of that number. Here is a link to a recent interview of Dunbar about his number.
"Resolving arguments can prevent bad feelings from lingering" - So, why won't my wife just admit I'm right? Apparently, she would feel a lot better.
The value of connecting - "The moral of the story: 'Prosociality' doesn’t just brighten others’ days, it brightens one’s own. When the pandemic ends, and our facial expressions are no longer masked, we will surely savor our renewed connections—even our micro connections." PANDEMIC
"How not to tank your relationship during quarantine" - PANDEMIC
Articles on family relationships - from APS
“In romantic relationships, people do indeed have a ‘type’” - “Researchers show that people do indeed have a 'type' when it comes to dating, and that despite best intentions to date outside that type -- for example, after a bad relationship -- some will gravitate to similar partners.”
“I, you, or we: Pronouns provide hints to romantic attachment styles”
Include your partner in social media posts - “Self-disclosure on social media can bring more harm than good to romantic relationships, causing intimacy and satisfaction to drop, a new study published in PLOS ONE has found. But there’s also a simple remedy: include your partner in your posts.”
Does “the internet know you better than your spouse”? - After reading the article, go ask your spouse that question.
“Commitment readiness predicts relationship success”
“Having poor quality relationships is associated with greater distress than having too few”
“Sex comes before romance in relationships” - See, social psychology really IS the study of the obvious.
Surprise reason why some people are reluctant to break up - Nope, I’m not telling you. It’s a surprise.
Do you have “monogamy maintenance strategies”? Are they working? - This blog entry discusses research investigating which strategies might be successful in avoiding infidelity and which may not.
Couples who diet (or don’t) together… - … can still see a benefit for the partner even if the other partner is not trying to diet.
To rekindle or not to rekindle - This brief blog entry reviews some research on whether it is a good choice to try and revive an earlier relationship.
Most effective ways to make up - probably easier than rekindling
15 questions to evaluate your current relationship - Research-based questions! Maybe no rekindling is necessary!
“People with low self-esteem really do have less responsive partners”
“Do romantic partners help or hurt goal pursuit?” - “When it comes to supporting a (female) partner, actions speak louder than words. Try thinking of concrete ways that others have helped you pursue your goals, and do what you can to help others pursue their goals as well.”
The importance of interdependence in relationship success
Pumpkin Spice Latte! - What's its connection to relationships? Grab a warm one and have a read.
Can classical conditioning help long-distance relationships? - Interesting study of military marriages which endure long deployments of one member of the marriage
Does more sex go with a better relationship? - It may depend if you ask explicitly or implicitly.
Attractive people have shorter relationships, more interest in alternative partners
How to feel authentic in a relationship
It's the cuddling, stupid - Research has attempted to identify the primary reasons why more sex is correlated with greater happiness.
"How our partners make us great" - This research identifies some variables in our partners which might predict our well being.
Men can apparently be trained to be better judges of women's sexual interest
One perspective on the modern single woman through comics
How your brain responds to rejection - "Immediately after we've been shunned, a new study shows our brains engage a subtle mechanism that alters our sense of whether other people are making eye contact with us, so that we think it is more likely that they are looking our way."
"Psychology predicts where your relationship is headed!" - Just send me $25.00 and I will....
"Does frequent sex lead to better relationships?" - Newlywed couples who have a lot of sex don't report any greater happiness explicitly, but implicitly they do. I think the lesson here is if you are going to get married, marry a newlywed!
"Responsive partners show two kinds of empathy"
More subtle forms of relationship aggression - Who is more likely to spread negative rumors about their partner, or exclude them from social circles, or withhold affection, and what effect does it have?
When is conflict in a relationship not a problem? - Wait, seriously, there is an answer to that question? Apparently, yes. If you feel understood by your partner you can weather conflicts much more easily. Oh, that sounds easy.
"Women copy other women's mate-choices" - "It is one of life's great secrets: women don't look for handsome men, they look for men with beautiful women."
Top 10 relationship dealbreakers - Research with college students found the most significant dealbreakers when it comes to forming a short-term or long-term relationship. Additionally, dealbreakers appear to be more important than dealmakers. Do your students agree?
Relationship styles in the movie Frozen - Jana Lembke of Science of Relationships analyzes the attachment styles of the two sisters in Frozen.
No Girlfriend Comics - A series of comic strips of a character who just broke up with his girlfriend captures some relatable moments.
Phubbing! - Have you ever done it with your loved one? You know what I'm talking about. Snubbing him/her with your cellphone. Examples of "phubbing" include "My partner places his or her cellphone where they can see it when we are together." "My partner keeps his/her cellphone in their hand when he or she is with me." Phubbed again!
Can earthquakes also crumble relationships? - Sound weird, but this fascinating research suggests it is plausible. If you were standing on one leg you thought your relationship was as well. Got to love that embodied cognition.
"What do people do on Facebook when they are breaking up?"
"Do your preferences for a romantic partner influence your actual choice?"
Redefining self-concept after a break-up - Research found that "taken together, these findings suggest that the failure to redefine the self post-break-up contributes to greater breakup related distress."
Texting, sexting and avoidant attachment - "In short, if you’re with an avoidant person, they might not text you much. But when they do send messages, they are more likely to be sexual."
Commitment in relationships often requires executive control
"Motivational distortion" in relationships - "At least that’s the theory offered by psychological scientist Edward Lemay of the University of Maryland, who has been studying what he calls “motivational distortion” in relationships. According to Lemay, our desire to bond to another person in a close, committed relationship is so strong that it can bias our thinking—distorting attention and memory and interpretation so that we see and believe what we want to be true. At the first International Convention of Psychological Science, this week in Amsterdam, Lemay discussed his and others’ work on this powerful cognitive bias."
Individual
goal-minded pursuit and your relationship - "The implemental
mindset that you’re in once you’ve chosen to pursue a goal
makes you more single-minded and less inclined to pursue other goals,
especially if focusing on those goals could conflict with your chosen
goal. So goals to improve or maintain your relationship will take
a backseat to the pursuit of the personal goal. If the relationship
seems good, then you’ll just let it be and not try to work on
it because you assume your relationship will be fine. In contrast,
if the relationship seems bad, then you’ll also let it be and
not work on it because it’s hopeless. The authors conducted three
additional studies to test their hypothesis that this one-sided view
makes people less inclined to work on their relationships." [added
2/17/15]
"Cold-shouldering
a partner's successes leaves relationships on ice" - [added
2/17/15]
"Relationship
visibility on Facebook?" - Can you tell when someone on Facebook
is in a relationship? [added 2/17/15]
Gender
differences in flirting motivation - "Big surprise: men’s
flirting is more motivated by sex, while women’s flirting is
more motivated by having fun or becoming closer to another person." [added 2/17/15]
I
don't like you, but... - This research suggests that we sometimes
end up with incompatible partners in relationships because it is just
too hard to reject others. [added 2/17/15]
The
importance of buffering to relationships - In one study, "Anxious
partners felt more negative emotions and were less accommodating,
but their partners displayed more accommodating strategies if they
were themselves more committed to the relationship. And these accommodations
led the anxious partner to become more accepting and positive during
the tense conversation. In other words, buffering had immediate benefits,
allaying fears and creating a more constructive emotional dynamic." [added 2/12/15]
Who's
more likely to be unfaithful? Avoidant people - Nathan DeWall
reports on research he and his colleagues conducted: "1. Avoidant
people—those who keep others at arm’s length, prefer to
depend on themselves instead of others, and feel uncomfortable getting
emotionally close to their partners—are more likely to engage
infidelity. In one set of studies, my colleagues and I recruited people
in relationships, measured their level of avoidance, and showed:
Their eyes gravitate toward attractive alternatives to their romantic
partner.
They report more positive attitudes toward infidelity
They report more intentions to engage infidelity
They report engaging in infidelity more often than others
This effect is true for both men and women.
2.
A lack of commitment explains why avoidant people engage in more infidelity.
Avoidant people dislike getting close to others. Hence, they have
a tough time feeling strong relationship commitment. Their lack of
commitment might make avoidant people feel safe and secure. But it
also weakens the commitment that often keeps urges to engage in infidelity
at bay." [added 2/12/15]
Who's
consensually non-monogamous? Avoidant people - What is consensually
non-monogamous? "This is a psychological term researchers use
to describe people who engage in more than one romantic relationships
simultaneously, and whose relationship partners know and approve."
4-5% of people report being in that category. So, do avoidant people
in monogamous relationships believe that they are really being unfaithful
when they are unfaithful? [added 2/12/15]
Using
humor during an argument - can be helpful [added 2/12/15]
Breakup
cartoons - In case you need one - Would sending a breakup cartoon
count as a good way to break up with someone? Would they get it? [added
2/12/15]
Fear
of being single - good blog entry on the topic [added
2/12/15]
Do
you want a happy or sad breakup song? - After a non-interpersonal
loss people prefer listening to happy music, but prefer sad music
after an interpersonal loss. [added 8/5/13]
Why
the sexual double standard? - Interesting discussion of why promiscuous
men are studs while promiscuous women are sluts [added
8/5/13]
"Chemistry
+ Timing = Relationship Success" - a good discussion of these
elements in a Science of Relationships blog entry [added
8/5/13]
Relationship
humor - [added 8/5/13]
"Catfishing"
and relationships - Don't know yet what "catfishing" is? Read
all about it in this blog entry. [added 8/5/13]
Seven
ways to improve your relationship - A good infographic summarizing
research on the topic -- clicking on the image takes you to an article
that elaborates on it. Surprisingly, "don't get catfished" is not
one of the seven. [added 8/5/13]
"What
implicit processes tell us about romantic attachment" - another
good APS Observer article [added 8/5/13]
Relationship
humor - more
here; more
here; more
here - When I want my dose of relationship humor I always turn
to Science of Relationships. Unlike relationships, it never
disappoints. [added 8/5/13]
What
makes a "jealous type"? - good blog entry on jealousy [added
8/5/13]
A
drum-off - interesting little video of some relationship conversation
through drumming [added 8/5/13]
Consensual
non-monogamy - [added 8/5/13]
Does
gift giving undermine relationships? - [added 1/12/13]
"T-Rex
did not evolve for romance" [added 1/12/13]
Do
we like funny in possible mates? - good discussion of some research
on what men and women find attractive in the opposite sex in terms
of humor [added
1/12/13]
Invited
over for "muffins" - Ahh, what did we do before Science of
Relationships? [added 1/12/13]
Some
relationship humor - and more,
and more - from Science of Relationships [added 1/12/13]
How
to make "couples friends" - Here's an interesting blog entry about
how couples can improve the quality of their life and their relationship
if they find other couples with which to be friends. [added
7/2/12]
A
little relationship humor - Along with thoughtful and interesting
blog entries like the above, Science of Relationships also throws
in a good does of relationship humor as well. Just like any good relationship
should. And here's a little more humor. [added
7/2/12]
"Is
watching The Bachelorette bad for your relationship?" - interesting
blog post from Science of Relationships [added
7/2/12]
Relationship
humor - Okay, I found it amusing. [added
7/2/12]
Valentine's
Day humor - [added
7/2/12]
"Language
style predicts relationship longevity" - "Recently, researchers
have found that similarity in communication patterns predicts mutual
romantic interest and relationship stability 3 months down the road.
And we’re not even talking about similar use of big fancy words.
Rather, it’s the small words that we would generally consider
“fillers”, such as pronouns (I, her, that), articles (a,
an, the), conjunctions (and, but, because), and the like that matter.
In what researchers call “language style matching’”
(or LSM, for short), individuals’ conversations may begin to
subtly become synchronous. Sometimes our conversations are high in
LSM, which means there is a lot of matching in language use, whereas
other conversations are low in LSM, which means we are speaking to
one another in quite different styles. In the researchers’ first
study, 40 speed-dating couples had their 4-minute interaction recorded,
and transcriptions of these interactions were entered into a language
analysis computer program. Couples who had higher LSM (again, they
matched in their use of pronouns, articles, conjunctions, etc.) were
more likely to show mutual romantic interest in one another. This
effect was not due to the total number of words being spoken in the
conversation (that is, it’s not because two “Chatty Cathys”
were paired up and talking each other’s ears off)." [added
1/29/12]
Happiness
vs. Time in relationships - another good cartoon/graph [added
1/29/12]
More
committed couples use more plural nouns - Warning: Scary picture. [added
1/29/12]
"Twilight"
and relationship violence - Another good blog entry from the Science
of Relationships site -- what effect might all these teenage vampire
movies/shows/stories have on relationship abuse? [added
1/29/12]
Attachment
style and long-lasting relationships - Does a more secure attachment
style lead to better success in maintaining long-term relationships?
Like relationships themselves, it's complicated. [added
1/29/12]
Top
15 sources of conflict in relationships - From the excellent blog
Science of Relationships, created by Ben Le, Gary Lewandowski, and
Tim Loving. That's right, Dr. Loving. [added
1/29/12]
"The
complicated psychology of revenge" - from the APS Observer [added
1/29/12]
Relationship
humor! - Some amusing cartoons found at the excellent blog Science
of Relationships; a second
one, and a third. [added
1/29/12]
Most
romantic U.S. city? - I always like to see interesting ways of
measuring things. Most romantic city? The one that rented the highest
percentage of romantic comedies through Redbox (a kiosk often located
in front of or inside stores from which someone can rent a movie).
Follow the link to find out if it is your city... [added
1/29/12]
Humor
and attraction - "A recent study indicates that men are more likely
than women to use humor when getting to know potential romantic partners,
and that women use sense of humor as a criteria for evaluating partners
more than men. In addition, when analyzing online personal ads, researchers
found that men tended to mention their own sense of humor, while women
stated a preference for a funny partner. Finally, a woman’s
rating of a man’s sense of humor predicts her romantic interest
in him. However, a man's perception of a woman’s sense of humor
is unimportant for his desire to get to know her." [added
1/29/12]
A
couple good relationship cartoons - first
one; second
one - I added the new site Science
of Relationships to the front page of this site. The site has
already produced a lot of good blog entries commenting on the topic.
They also occasionally include some good cartoons like those above. [added
8/18/11]
"Are
the men of the African Aka tribe the best fathers in the world?" - [added 5/30/11]
"Which
is worse.... - your partner having a heterosexual or a homosexual
affair?" Men and women answer differently. [added 12/24/10]
Providing
"invisible" support to a loved one - "Recipients whose partners
provided more invisible emotional support such as reassurance or expressions
of concern, but believed they had received less emotional support,
experienced greater declines in anger and anxiety. This was also true
for invisible practical support such as advice or direct offers of
assistance. Additionally, in the case of invisible practical support,
recipients experienced increases in self-efficacy." [added
12/24/10]
"Romantic
songs make women more open to dates" - [added 7/21/10]
Sexual
infidelity - "Research has documented that most men become much
more jealous about sexual infidelity than they do about emotional
infidelity. Women are the opposite, and this is true all over the
world." The prevailing theory is an evolutionary one: "Men learned
over eons to be hyper-vigilant about sex because they can never be
absolutely certain they are the father of a child, while women are
much more concerned about having a partner who is committed to raising
a family." This new research, however, suggests a different explanation. [added
2/7/10]
"The
hidden purpose of chat-up lines" - Why do men use pick-up lines?
One study investigates that "chat-up lines may be a way for men to
select for a particular type of woman." [10/13/07]
The
quest for romance - An interesting essay in the Feb. 2007 issue
of the APS Observer summarizes some research. [added
7/7/07]
95%
of Americans have had pre-marital sex - An extensive review of
data from the Guttmacher Institute finds that "by age 20, 77% of respondents
had had sex, 75% had had premarital sex, and 12% had married; by age44,
95% of respondents (94% of women, 96% of men, and 97% of those who
had ever had sex) had had premarital sex. Even among those who abstained
until at least age 20, 81% had had premarital sex by age 44. Among
cohorts of women turning 15 between 1964 and 1993, at least 91% had
had premarital sex by age 30. Among those turning 15 between 1954
and 1963, 82% had had premarital sex by age 30, and 88% had done so
by age 44." [added 12/30/06]
MySpace - Confused about how MySpace and other social networking sites work?
Here's one explanation of MySpace from the How Stuff Works web site. [added 7/6/06]
"Romance
in America" - The first report is a
summary of survey data of young singles collected by the Pew Research
Center. [added 7/6/06]
Alcohol
in relationships - "Alcohol problems in intimate relationships:
Identification and intervention" is a guide from the National Institute
on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. [added 1/8/06]
Friendships
Frenemies and toxic relationships
“1 in 7 people have dumped their friends over Covid-19 vaccine stance” PANDEMIC
Coming out of the pandemic gives us the change to rearrange our friendships - Whom do you want to see less/more of? PANDEMIC
"The pandemic has erased entire categories of friendship" PANDEMIC
"What if friendship, not marriage, was at the center of life?"
So, your friend commits an immoral act… - Do you turn them in or protect them? Apparently, we most often would protect them. What about a subscriber? I’ll get back to you on that.
“Female – but not male – friends are increasingly derogated … - … as the number of their sexual partners increases”
Status symbols may repel rather than attract friends
"To please your friends tell them what they already know"
"Two key factors that influence adolescent girls' relationships"
We laugh differently with friends than with strangers
"An
unexpected key to kids' popularity" - Nope, not being a psychology
teacher's kid. You'll have to read it. [added 2/17/15]
When
do we offer versus request support? - Casual friends offer support;
close friends offer and request support. [added 8/5/13]
Disclosing
to downers - "Have you ever wanted to share good news with friends
but were afraid they would rain on your parade because they’re
downers? Researchers recently discovered that people avoid disclosing
positive information to low self-esteem friends and romantic partners
in order to avoid a negative interaction (e.g., the 'downer' pointing
out the downside). Interestingly, we don’t keep the good news
to ourselves to protect our close others’ feelings – we
primarily focus on our own outcomes!" [added
1/29/12]
Hug
is the new handshake - Interesting New York Times article
describes an apparent trend in which teenagers regular hug each other
as greetings, including between males. [added
7/11/09]
Who is more likely to be estranged from a parent? - Compared to heterosexual respondents, gay, lesbian, and bisexual respondents were more likely to be estranged from fathers. White respondents were more likely than participants of other races to be estranged from their mothers but less likely to be estranged from their fathers.
We can distinguish between touches meant to convey attention, sadness, love, and more
"Can sharing bad news strengthen social ties?"
The orgasm gap - Interesting series of studies find that both men and women believe that men are more entitled to experience an orgasm than are women.
When people click they respond faster to each other - When two people are on the same page in a conversation, sometimes their minds just 'click.' A new study demonstrates that clicking isn't just a figure of speech but is predicted by 'response times' in a conversation or the amount of time between when one person stops talking and the other person starts.
Are we moving from social distancing to social bubbles? - An interesting sociological take on how the pandemic might shape our new social contacts and social groups PANDEMIC
"Social distancing prevents infections, but it can have unintended consequences" PANDEMIC
Physical
Attraction
Faces
How to make your face look younger - Contrast! Our brains love it. How to make it look older? Have kids.
The most attractive facial feature on women... - Besides contrast. The lips! According to this research they are a big winner. That's where our eyes go most.
We prefer brands with faces, especially if we are lonely - Would we be more willing to read the journal articles in which the authors' faces were included?
Chicago Face Database - a large, normed, freely-available database of faces for research use
"Familiar faces look happier than unfamiliar ones"
"Women find this much facial hair most attractive" - Check your face and then check out this research.
The handsome son effect - "Women rated men's faces as more attractive when they were shown alongside a good-looking son."
Mothers'
caregiving and later romantic success - interesting long-term
study using a novel measure [added 2/17/15]
Mr.
Right or Mr. Right Now (nice line, Nathan) - Your eye gaze tells
whether your mind is thinking romance (face) or sex (body). [added
2/17/15]
"The
10 most interesting dating studies of 2014" - an infographic
[added 2/17/15]
FaceResearch.org
- Whoa! This is a cool site. Created by a couple researchers, this
site provides access to a lot of studies readers can participate
in, cool demos in which you can average different faces or transform
faces by criterion such as age, and more. Here
are the results of one of the researchers' studies in which they
created an average woman's face for every country. Here
is a story about this research. H/T to Marianne Miserandino. [added
2/18/14]
Battle
of the titans: Familiarity vs. Averageness - It's cool when
researchers come up with ways to pit two powerful phenomena against
each other. Who wins this cage match? [added 8/5/13]
The
U.K.'s most beautiful female face? - [added
7/2/12]
What
determines female facial beauty? - A "new golden ratio" is purportedly
found in this study: "Female faces were judged more attractive when
the vertical distance between their eyes and the mouth was approximately
36 percent of the face's length, and the horizontal distance between
their eyes was approximately 46 percent of the face's width. Interestingly,
these proportions correspond with those of an average face." [added
1/18/10]
Face
databases - If you are doing research on faces, or want to use
the stimuli for other purposes [added 1/18/10]
With
or without makeup - Marianne Miserandino passed along this interesting
reminder of how carefully the famous and beautiful guard the perception
of their beauty. The French version of Elle magazine has released
covers of famous stars with and without makeup. [added
1/18/10]
Symmetry
versus averageness - A summary of some good research continuing
to look at these two factors in our perception of attractiveness
-- the question addressed here is, how do you tease out these two
factors independently? [added 7/11/09]
"Is
it really impossible to ignore an attractive face?" - [added
7/11/09]
Can
the next president have asymmetrical eyebrows? - amusing article
from The Onion [added
4/20/08]
Cultural ideals predict judgments of attractiveness - That's from the neck down. From the neck up, biology plays a greater role.
Beauty enhancing is universal across cultures - Although, its form varies quite a bit across cultures, according to this large study.
“Why women feel pressured to shave” - a good review of some of the history of women and hair removal
Do cats make men more attractive? - an interesting study and one that raises some methodological questions you can discuss with your students
“No, not everyone is beautiful” - Interesting essay: “The knee-jerk response to jump in with ‘you’re beautiful’ when someone’s attractiveness is questioned bothers me because it ends up reinforcing the idea that if someone isn’t physically beautiful, they aren’t valuable. This, of course, was not the intention of those who were being supportive but, unfortunately, it unwittingly perpetuates that belief.”
“Your flaws are probably more attractive than you think they are”
Are women more attracted to dominant men when fertile? - New research brings this accepted finding into question.
High heels, attraction, and helping - Men are more attracted to and more likely to help women the higher their heels.
Attractiveness and income - Interesting study found an income disadvantage for those rated unattractive, but an income advantage for those rated VERY unattractive.
Why do attractive individuals earn more? - Perhaps not because they are attractive. "Physically more attractive workers may earn more, not necessarily because they are more beautiful, but because they are healthier, more intelligent, and have better personality traits conducive to higher earnings, such as being more Conscientious, more Extraverted, and less Neurotic."
Attractive people have shorter relationships, more interest in alternative partners
"What make a person in uniform more attractive?"
Sorry men, tattoos don't make you more attractive to women - According to a study in Poland, men thought that tattooed men were more attractive, but women said no. Women thought the tattooed men were worse prospects as partners or paents. But women did think the tattooed men were healthier.
Replication failure: The red effect - Are men more attracted to women wearing red? Previous research suggested so. These recent replications found no such evidence. But were the data in a red font when they looked at them?
Good storytelling males seen as more attractive, higher status - It's like that time I...
For women, benefits of attractiveness at work primarily depending on good grooming - according to this study
"What the 'ideal' man's body looks like in 19 countries" - Plenty of examples like this of women's bodies -- now it's men's turn.
Physical
appearance is, in part, socially constructed - Blog entry discusses
gender differences in our never-ending efforts to display beauty.
[added 2/17/15]
"Do
women perceive other women in red as more sexually receptive?"
- Men do. Do women do? [added 2/17/15]
Women
in red seen as more sexually interested - "To understand why,
Pazda and his colleagues conducted a simple experiment. They showed
25 men a photo of a single woman doctored to look, in different
cases, like she was wearing either a red or white T-shirt. The researchers
then asked the volunteers to gauge, on a scale from 1 to 9, how
keen the model seemed to be on romance. In other words, the men
answered the question: 'Is she interested in sex?' Men interpreted
the red outfit as a signal that the woman was indeed more open to
sexual advances. In fact, the guys tended to grade the woman's disposition
to sex about 1 to 1.5 points higher when she was wearing a red rather
than a white tee, Pazda and colleagues report online this month
in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology." [added
7/2/12]
Attractive
students get better grades - Unfortunately this article confuses
correlation and causation, but the results are interesting. [added
2/18/14]
Show
some skin and others will think... - some significant and surprising
things about you. Read about the interesting studies. [added
2/18/14]
The
beer goggles effect - Do people appear more attractive after you
have been drinking? Do you think you are more attractive? [added
2/18/14]
Are
you more or less attractive than you think? - This blog entry
describes a clever way of finding out, and the answer is..... [added
8/5/13]
What
pickup lines work? - It depends! If the man is attractive and
the woman is looking for a short-term relationship, the type of line
didn't matter. But for a long-term relationship, women preferred direct
and innocuous lines over cute or flippant lines. Men who use the more
direct and innocuous lines are perceived as more trustworthy and intelligent.
What do they mean by a cute pickup line? See here.
[added 8/5/13]
Do
men prefer butts or boobs? - I'm not going to say "It depends."
I'm not going to say anything. I'll just let you read the research.
[added 8/5/13]
And
do women prefer.... - a full beard, heavy stubble, light stubble,
or a cleanly shaven face? [added 8/5/13]
Or,
he can just carry around a guitar case - very interesting study
[added 8/5/13]
Humor
and attractiveness - If you were asked which two items (from chocolate,
hair spray, or a plastic bag) you would take to a deserted island
and explain why, would you give a humorous response? Would that make
you more attractive? [added 8/5/13]
Physical
attractiveness, personality, and values - Sam Sommers reviews
research finding that we believe physically attractive individuals
are more conscientious, extraverted, and open to experience. Not true.
However, the researchers found that physically attractive people did
differ in their values. Specifically, they were more traditional and
conformed more to societal expectations. [added 1/12/13]
Attractive?
Depends on the context - Sam Sommers reviews some research that
suggests whether we find someone attractive is also tied to the context
in which we view that person. Hey, Sam, we get it: Situations Matter.
Why don't you just write a book or something? [added
7/2/12]
One
downside of attractiveness - Same-sex others reviewing your job
application may respond more negatively to your attractiveness. Here's
another link on the topic. [added
1/29/12]
Similarity
and attraction - Sam Sommers provides a good summary of some research
on how we are attracted (and want to sit by) similar others.
[added
1/29/12]
Oxytocin
boosts trust, and attractiveness in more masculine male faces
- Interesting study -- more masculine males can be seen as more dangerous.
But a shot of oxytocin up the nose caused both males and females to
view the more masculine males as more attractive. [added
1/29/12]
Women
rate happy men less attractive than proud men; opposite for women
- I'm embarrassed to say that male shame was even more attractive
than happy, smiling men to women. [added
8/18/11]
"Beauty
is in the mind of the beholder" - a good article in the APS Observer
reviewing research on what we find attractive and the benefits of
beauty [added
8/18/11]
The
medicalization of beauty - Using the new TV show, Bridalplasty,
in which brides-to-be compete for cosmetic surgery, this blog entry
explores how beauty, along with other phenomena, has become "medicalized."
[added 5/30/11]
Attractiveness
of leg length - Yes, we've measured eye width, cheekbone height,
and all sorts of facial features in determining what we find attractive.
Now we learn that "male and female silhouettes with short and excessively
long legs were perceived as less attractive across all nations." [added
12/24/10]
Do
Disney characters promote "beauty is good" stereotype? - abstract
of article that suggests they just might [added
12/24/10]
Are
we attracted to our relatives (and ourselves)? - Here is an interesting
blog entry describing research suggesting that we are attracted to
faces that look like ours and our relatives, perhaps suggesting that
an incest taboo is "necessary" for that reason. [added
10/30/10]
Men on top, women on the bottom
- "If you're hoping to increase your online appeal to the opposite
sex, you might want to consider where on the screen you place your
photo. A study that's in press at Social Cognition has shown that
women rate men's photos as more attractive when they're placed near
the top of the screen. By contrast, men rate women's photos as more
attractive when they're located near the bottom of the screen." [added
1/18/10]
"Importance of attractiveness
depends on where you live" - Urban? It matters. Rural? Not so
much. [added 1/18/10]
"An
unwanted kiss from a moral man" - This study asks would you rather
receive an unwanted kiss from a moral man or a consensual kiss from
an immoral one. [added 1/18/10]
"Chicks
dig men in flashy cars" - "Previous studies have shown that male
attractiveness can be enhanced by manipulation of status through,
for example, the medium of costume. The present study experimentally
manipulated status by seating the same target model (male and female
matched for attractiveness) expressing identical facial expressions
and posture in either a 'high status' (Silver Bentley Continental
GT) or a 'neutral status' (Red Ford Fiesta ST) motor-car." [added
7/11/09]
Susan
Boyle - Lots of good social psych in the Susan Boyle story. If
you are not familiar with it read the above. More here.
[added
7/11/09]
"Ugly
girl killed: Nation unshaken by not-so-tragic death" - An amusing
article from the satirical online newspaper The Onion [added
12/30/06]
Beauty
in the election process - a study "The looks of a winner: Beauty,
gender, and electoral success" looks at the role of attractiveness
in Finland's politics. [added 12/30/06]
Jamaican
Symmetry Project - This is a very interesting project in which
researchers "focus on the possibility that dancing ability may correlate
with the dancer's degree of bodily symmetry, commonly used in evolutionary
studies to measure developmental stability and hence genetic quality."
Read what they found, and watch some of the dance video as well. Also
read a related research
article published in Nature. [added 2/22/06]
What
is sexy? - A columnist notes that U.S. Patrick Fitzgerald showed
up on a sexiest man list despite lacking "conventional" physically
attractive traits. The columnist asks, "Is there a female equivalent
to a 'sexy' Patrick Fitzgerald?" In other words, it raises the question
of differences between what men and women find attractive. [added
1/14/06]
"Fertile
women rate other women as uglier" - interesting article describing
research about possible hormonal influences on attractiveness ratings
[added 4/05/04]
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