Goal-Driven Cognition and Functional Behavior: The Fundamental-Motives Framework

Fundamental motives have direct implications for evolutionary fitness and orchestrate attention, memory, and social inference in functionally specific ways. Motivational states linked to self-protection and mating offer illustrative examples. When self-protective motives are aroused, people show enhanced attention to, and memory for, angry male strangers; they also perceive out-group members as especially dangerous. In contrast, when mating motives are aroused, men show enhanced attention to and memory for attractive members of the opposite sex; mating motives also lead men (but not women) to perceive sexual arousal in attractive members of the opposite sex. There are further functionally specific consequences for social behavior. For example, self-protective motives increase conformity among both men and women, whereas mating motives lead men (but not women) to engage in anticonformist behavior. Other motivational systems trigger different adaptive patterns of cognitive and behavioral responses. This body of research illustrates the highly specific consequences of fitness-relevant motivational states for cognition and behavior, and highlights the value of studying human motivation and cognition within an evolutionary framework.     

Moderating Loss Aversion: Loss Aversion Has Moderators,But Reports of its Death are Greatly Exaggerated

Loss aversion, the principle that losses impact decision making more than equivalent gains, is a fundamental idea in consumer behavior and decision making, though its existence has recently been called into question. Across five unique samples (N_total = 17,720), we tested several moderators of loss aversion, which supported a preference construction account. Across studies, more domain knowledge and experience were associated with lower loss aversion, though people of all knowledge and experience levels were loss averse. Among car buyers, those who knew more about a particular car attribute (e.g., fuel economy) were less loss averse for that attribute but not other attributes (e.g., comfort), consistent with the idea that people with less attribute knowledge are more likely to construct preferences, thereby increasing loss aversion. Additionally, older consumers were more loss averse across different loss aversion measures and studies. We discuss implications for several accounts of loss aversion, including accounts rooted in status quo bias, emotion, or ownership. In addition to discovering loss aversion moderators, we cast doubt on recent claims that loss aversion is a fallacy or is fully explained by status quo bias, risk aversion, or the educated laboratory samples often used to study loss aversion.     

The influence of involvement on the endowment effect: The moveable value function

The endowment effect is based on the loss aversion built into Prospect Theory's asymmetric value function. This paper posits that the level of consumer involvement with a decision is a moderator of the endowment effect. It is proposed that high involvement increases the slope differential between the loss and gain regions of the value function, enhancing loss aversion. The research further posits that higher involvement is accompanied by higher arousal and cognitive processing which produces stronger negativity in thoughts. The argument for these effects is discussed in the context of evolutionary theory. We conclude that consumers are more loss averse in high versus low involvement conditions.     

拿破仑情结的进化：相对身高劣势和求偶动机对男性冒险行为的影响

研究以性选择理论为基础, 探讨了与同性竞争者的相对身高劣势和求偶动机对男性冒险行为的影响。4个研究一致显示, 与同性竞争者存在的身高劣势会导致男性提高自身冒险性; 且高求偶动机水平的男性, 会更多地表现出这种补偿性行为。这些结果提示, 拿破仑情结具有进化的基础, 男性在自身身高与竞争者相比处于劣势时, 采用冒险行为进行补偿是男性用以解决性内竞争和性间竞争问题的一种适应器。     

Going along versus going alone: when fundamental motives facilitate strategic (non)conformity

Three experiments examined how 2 fundamental social motives--self-protection and mate attraction--influenced conformity. A self-protective goal increased conformity for both men and women. In contrast, the effects of a romantic goal depended on sex, causing women to conform more to others' preferences while engendering nonconformity in men. Men motivated to attract a mate were particularly likely to nonconform when (a) nonconformity made them unique (but not merely a member of a small minority) and when (b) the topic was subjective versus objective, meaning that nonconformists could not be revealed to be incorrect. These findings fit with a functional evolutionary model of motivation and behavior, and they indicate that fundamental motives such as self-protection and mate attraction can stimulate specific forms of conformity or nonconformity for strategic self-presentation.     

Low- and high-testosterone individuals exhibit decreased aversion to economic risk

Testosterone is positively associated with risk-taking behavior in social domains (e.g., crime, physical aggression). However, the scant research linking testosterone to economic risk preferences presents inconsistent findings. We examined the relationship between endogenous testosterone and individuals' economic preferences (i.e., risk preference, ambiguity preference, and loss aversion) in a large sample (N = 298) of men and women. We found that endogenous testosterone levels have a significant U-shaped association with individuals' risk and ambiguity preferences, but not loss aversion. Specifically, individuals with low or high levels of testosterone (more than 1.5 SD from the mean for their gender) were risk and ambiguity neutral, whereas individuals with intermediate levels of testosterone were risk and ambiguity averse. This relationship was highly similar in men and women. In contrast to received wisdom regarding testosterone and risk, the present data provide the first robust evidence for a nonlinear association between economic preferences and levels of endogenous testosterone.     

澳门人少涉赌是规避风险还是规避后悔？

是风险规避还是后悔规避左右人们的冒险行为？基于风险行为跨领域特殊性,本研究假设：决策者是规避风险还是规避后悔具有领域特异性。本研究选取有涉赌经验的澳门居民为样本,以其参与13种博彩的次数为指标考察其真实风险行为。结果验证了上述假设,风险规避说或后悔规避说都不能单独解释个体的风险倾向,个体是风险规避、后悔规避,或二者皆有,取决于其所处的具体风险情境类别。该发现有助于加深对风险行为特征的认识,亦可为预防及应对问题赌博提供启发和指导。     

人类“性交往”的进化

性交往是人类繁衍出现差异的进化“引擎”。现代人继承了祖先成功繁衍后代的性交往策略。这些策略涵盖长期守诺的性交往（如婚姻）、短期性交往（如短暂的外遇）、婚姻外的性交往（如不忠）、私通他人配偶（引诱别人的配偶）以及配偶维持（与单一配偶性交往）等。两性在性交往过程中面临不同的适应问题,性交往问题的进化机制存在极大的性别差异。配偶偏好不同、短期性交往的愿望不同以及性嫉妒的诱因不同等都是性交往具有性别差异的表现。很多实证研究都证实了性交往策略的存在,人类性交往研究是进化心理学研究中较为成熟的一个研究领域     

Perspectives,Perceptions, and Risk-Taking Behavior

Several organizational researchers have recently argued that the propositions of Kahneman and Tversky's (1979) prospect theory are in conflict with commonly held notions of risk taking for opportunities and risk aversion for threats. This investigation was an attempt to empirically separate threat and opportunity perceptions from loss and gain perspectives. Experiment 1 (N= 244) revealed that most decision makers, faced with a traditional framing problem, perceived the risky alternative as an opportunity when they were in the loss domain, but perceived it as a threat when they were in the gain domain. Experiment 2 showed that framing the same (loss and gain) problems as threats versus opportunities influenced risk taking, such that management students (N= 84) were more risk taking for opportunity-framed problems and risk averse for threat-framed problems. At the same time, the students took more risks for the loss problem than for the gain problem. We conclude that threat and opportunity perceptions are theoretically and empirically distinguishable from loss and gain perspectives.     

Is short-term mating the maladaptive result of insecure attachment? A test of competing evolutionary perspectives

Different evolutionary perspectives offer competing views on short-term mating and attachment. Some theories argue that short-term mating results from insecure attachment, particularly the maladaptive attachment features of low self-esteem, interpersonal distrust, social avoidance, and emotional instability. Other theories posit that short-term mating is adaptive, having evolved as an ecologically contingent reproductive strategy. In this view, short-term mating has multiple origins-developmental, heritable, and situational-and may not be associated with the maladaptive traits of insecure attachment. Across several different cultures, short-term mating was moderately associated with insecure attachment, and insecure attachment was strongly related to maladaptive personality. However, short-term mating was largely independent of maladaptive personality. In some cases, especially among young men, short-term mating was associated with adaptive personality traits, especially higher self-esteem. It is argued that although insecure romantic attachment is somewhat associated with short-term mating, the causal links between early parent-child attachment and short-term mating are rather limited.     

Motivated social categorization: fundamental motives enhance people's sensitivity to basic social categories

This article presents an evolutionary framework for identifying the characteristics people use to categorize members of their social world. Findings suggest that fundamental social motives lead people to implicitly categorize social targets based on whether those targets display goal-relevant phenotypic traits. A mate-search prime caused participants to categorize opposite-sex targets (but not same-sex targets) based on their level of physical attractiveness (Experiment 1). A mate-guarding prime interacted with relationship investment, causing participants to categorize same-sex targets (but not opposite-sex targets) based on their physical attractiveness (Experiment 2). A self-protection prime interacted with chronic beliefs about danger, increasing participants' tendency to categorize targets based on their racial group membership (Black or White; Experiment 3). This work demonstrates that people categorize others based on whether they display goal-relevant characteristics reflecting high levels of perceived desirability or threat. Social categorization is guided by fundamental evolved motives designed to enhance adaptive social outcomes.     

Health-Related Risk Perception and Decision-Making: Lessons from the Study of Motives in Social Psychology

Much research in the decision sciences has shown that risk perception and decision-making are influenced not only by cognitive processes – such as the use of statistical 'rules of thumb'– but also by motives such as loss aversion, ambiguity aversion, and regret aversion. The field of social psychology has long been interested in a variety of motives that influence self-judgment, social perception, and interpersonal relations. These include, among others, self-enhancement, social comparison, predictability/control, favorable self-presentation, effective resource management, preparedness for bad news, goal attainment, and existential meaning. We suggest that more attention to these motives would greatly strengthen our understanding of how people think about risk and how they make decisions. In this article, we consider the influence of motives on risk perception and decision-making in the context of health outcomes. We argue that theories relating to these various motives (e.g., social comparison theory) can be greatly enhanced by testing them in the context of health-related risk perception and decision-making.     

君子不夺人所好？择偶动机启动下的男性择偶复制

考察择偶动机启动下男女的择偶复制发生情况,及目标面孔吸引力对男性择偶复制的调节作用。结果：(1)女性易发生择偶复制;(2)男性的择偶复制会受择偶动机启动的影响,但这种影响仅限于目标面孔吸引力处于中、低水平时。结论：男性在特定情景中可发生择偶复制,这是更为复杂的、经多种信息评估的结果。     

Power and loss aversion

Four experiments tested the prediction that power reduces loss aversion by increasing the anticipated value of gains and shrinking the negative anticipated value of losses. Experiment 1 provided initial support for the prediction that those in power are less loss averse by replicating a classic paradigm of loss aversion in riskless choice and demonstrating moderation by power. Experiments 2 and 3 expanded on this finding by breaking apart the components of loss aversion to determine how power may reduce it: via gains, losses, or both. Across two scenarios and two different measures of anticipated value, power reduced the anticipated threat associated with a loss. However, the prediction that power increases the anticipated value of gains was not supported. Finally, Experiment 4 replicated the results of Experiments 2 and 3 in the context of a choice with real consequences for the participants. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

Selective attention to signs of success: social dominance and early stage interpersonal perception

Results from two experiments suggest that observers selectively attend to male, but not female, targets displaying signs of social dominance. Participants overestimated the frequency of dominant men in rapidly presented stimulus arrays (Study 1) and visually fixated on dominant men in an eyetracking experiment (Study 2). When viewing female targets, participants attended to signs of physical attractiveness rather than social dominance. Findings fit with evolutionary models of mating, which imply that dominance and physical attractiveness sometimes tend to be prioritized preferentially in judgments of men versus women, respectively. Findings suggest that sex differences in human mating are observed not only at the level of overt mating preferences and choices but also at early stages of interpersonal perception. This research demonstrates the utility of examining early-in-the-stream social cognition through the functionalist lens of adaptive thinking.     

Peacocks, Porsches, and Thorstein Veblen: conspicuous consumption as a sexual signaling system

Conspicuous consumption is a form of economic behavior in which self-presentational concerns override desires to obtain goods at bargain prices. Showy spending may be a social signal directed at potential mates. We investigated such signals by examining (a) which individuals send them, (b) which contexts trigger them, and (c) how observers interpret them. Three experiments demonstrated that conspicuous consumption is driven by men who are following a lower investment (vs. higher investment) mating strategy and is triggered specifically by short-term (vs. long-term) mating motives. A fourth experiment showed that observers interpret such signals accurately, with women perceiving men who conspicuously consume as being interested in short-term mating. Furthermore, conspicuous purchasing enhanced men's desirability as a short-term (but not as a long-term) mate. Overall, these findings suggest that flaunting status-linked goods to potential mates is not simply about displaying economic resources. Instead, conspicuous consumption appears to be part of a more precise signaling system focused on short-term mating. These findings contribute to an emerging literature on human life-history strategies.     

Blatant benevolence and conspicuous consumption: when romantic motives elicit strategic costly signals

Conspicuous displays of consumption and benevolence might serve as "costly signals" of desirable mate qualities. If so, they should vary strategically with manipulations of mating-related motives. The authors examined this possibility in 4 experiments. Inducing mating goals in men increased their willingness to spend on conspicuous luxuries but not on basic necessities. In women, mating goals boosted public--but not private--helping. Although mating motivation did not generally inspire helping in men, it did induce more helpfulness in contexts in which they could display heroism or dominance. Conversely, although mating motivation did not lead women to conspicuously consume, it did lead women to spend more publicly on helpful causes. Overall, romantic motives seem to produce highly strategic and sex-specific self-presentations best understood within a costly signaling framework.     

The dark triad: Facilitating a short‐term mating strategy in men

This survey (N = 224) found that characteristics collectively known as the Dark Triad (i.e. narcissism, psychopathy and Machiavellianism) were correlated with various dimensions of short‐term mating but not long‐term mating. The link between the Dark Triad and short‐term mating was stronger for men than for women. The Dark Triad partially mediated the sex difference in short‐term mating behaviour. Findings are consistent with a view that the Dark Triad facilitates an exploitative, short‐term mating strategy in men. Possible implications, including that Dark Triad traits represent a bundle of individual differences that promote a reproductively adaptive strategy are discussed. Findings are discussed in the broad context of how an evolutionary approach to personality psychology can enhance our understanding of individual differences. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Peacocks, Picasso, and parental investment: The effects of romantic motives on creativity

Four experiments explored the effects of mating motivation on creativity. Even without other incentives to be creative, romantic motives enhanced creativity on subjective and objective measures. For men, any cue designed to activate a short-term or a long-term mating goal increased creative displays; however, women displayed more creativity only when primed to attract a high-quality long-term mate. These creative boosts were unrelated to increased effort on creative tasks or to changes in mood or arousal. Furthermore, results were unaffected by the application of monetary incentives for creativity. These findings align with the view that creative displays in both sexes may be linked to sexual selection, qualified by unique exigencies of human parental investment.     

Sex differences and lifestyle-dependent shifts in the attunement of self-esteem to self-perceived mate value: Hints to an adaptive mechanism?

It has been suggested that self-esteem is reactive to signs of social rejection, and that this “sociometer” mechanism becomes attuned to those personal attributes that affect social acceptance by significant others. Based on evolutionary models of human mating, we predicted that self-esteem should be more attuned to self-perceived mate value in men (when compared to women) who pursue short-term mating tactics, especially if they are unsuccessful therein. In a web-based study (N = 2670), we found that mate value self-perceptions had a stronger effect on self-esteem on those who had less short-term mating success in the past. However, being in a committed relationship or parenthood reduced the impact of mate value self-perceptions. As expected, these effects were specific to men. These results are suggestive of a psychological mechanism based on adaptive sociometer attunements that could help men to choose their optimal mating tactic and might thus partly explain intrasexual differences in sociosexuality.