Brains,brawn, and beauty: The complementary roles of intelligence and physical aggression in attracting sexual partners

The current study compared physical aggression to factors affecting socioeconomic status in the accumulation of sex partners over the life course. Our data sample was drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (men, n = 5,636; women, n = 6,787). Participants were examined in terms of the number of lifetime sex partners they reported, nonrelationship partners, cheating or infidelity, and concurrent relationships. Intelligence and physical violence emerged as being especially likely to boost sex partner accumulation for the number of lifetime sex partners and nonrelationship partners in men. Intelligence also interacted positively with men's violence in cross‐sectional models but not longitudinally. Women's violence was not significant regardless of the outcome or model specification. Intelligence showed less consistent effects for women's mating indicators compared to men. Analyses controlled for well‐known correlates of aggression and sexual behavior and factors associated with beauty, including interviewer reports of survey participants' physical attractiveness and maturity, as well as self‐reported attractiveness, maturity, and health. Findings are consistent with evolutionary ideas regarding costly signaling as an effective mating strategy among men.     

Moderating effects of rumination and gender on context‐specific aggression

Angry rumination has been linked previously to increased aggression. The effects of trait rumination on men and women's emotional and aggressive responses under different cueing contexts were examined. Aggressive behavior, not resulting from direct insult or provocation, was indexed by a laboratory paradigm that measured the intensity and the duration of shocks delivered to a putative “employee”. Frustration about, and cognitive focus on, the employee's poor performance was manipulated through the cover story and procedures; however, half the participants were exposed to a fearful/distracting stressor (stress focused) whereas the other half were not (confederate focused). Emotional responses and evaluations of the confederate were also assessed. Results indicated that rumination enhanced the effects of context, so that it related to greater fear and sadness in the stress‐focused context and to increased aggression and motives to aggress in the confederate‐focused context. These effects, however, were more robust for women than men. Ruminative men tended to show more hostile behaviors and motives across both conditions. Mechanisms for the effects of rumination on aggression, and gender differences in these processes, are discussed. Aggr. Behav. 00:1–17, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

A good story: Men's storytelling ability affects their attractiveness and perceived status

Three studies examined gender differences in the effect of storytelling ability on perceptions of a person's attractiveness as a short‐term and long‐term romantic partner. In Study 1, information about a potential partner's storytelling ability was provided. Study 2 participants read a good or poor story supposedly written by a potential partner. Results suggested that only women's attractiveness assessments of men as a long‐term date increased for good storytellers. Storytelling ability did not affect men's ratings of women nor did it affect ratings of short‐term partners. Study 3 suggested that the effect of storytelling ability on long‐term attractiveness for male targets may be mediated by perceived status. Storytelling ability appears to increase perceived status and thus helps men attract long‐term partners.     

Sexual‐perception processes in acquaintance‐targeted sexual aggression

This study analyzes data from seven published studies to examine whether three performance‐based indices of men's misperception of women's sexual interest (MSI), derived from a self‐report questionnaire, are associated with sexual‐aggression history, rape‐supportive attitudes, sociosexuality, problem drinking, and self‐reported MSI. Almost 2000 undergraduate men judged the justifiability of a man's increasingly unwanted advances toward a woman on the Heterosocial Perception Survey‐Revised. Participants self‐reported any sexual‐aggression history, and some completed questionnaires assessing rape‐supportive attitudes, sociosexuality, problem drinking, and self‐reported MSI. A three‐parameter logistic function was fitted to participants’ justifiability ratings within a non‐linear mixed‐effects framework, which provided precise participant‐specific estimates of three sexual‐perception processes (baseline justifiability, bias, and sensitivity). Sexual‐aggression history and rape‐supportive attitudes predicted: (a) reduced sensitivity to women's affect; (b) more liberal biases, such that the woman's affect had to be more negative before justifiability ratings dropped substantially; and (c) greater baseline justifiability of continued advances after a positive response. Sexual‐aggression history and attitudes correlated more strongly with sensitivity than baseline justifiability; remaining variables showed the opposite pattern. This work underscores the role of sexual‐perception processes in sexual aggression and illustrates the derivation of performance‐based estimates of sexual‐perception processes from questionnaire responses.

     

The effect of relational stage and intimacy on touch: An extension of Guerrero and Andersen

The effects of relational stage, intimacy, and gender on touch were examined. Participants were 270 partners from 135 couples involved in a heterosexual romantic relationship. Results indicated that touch varies as a function of relational stage. An examination of relational stage and subjects' perceptions of how much they touched their partner and how much their partner touched them generally indicated an asymptotic relationship. Specifically, men's and women's perceptions of how much they touched their partners, and women's perceptions of how much their partners touched them, increased from the casually dating to the seriously dating stage and then leveled off for seriously dating, engaged, and married couples. Men's perceptions of how much their partners touched them increased from the casually dating to the seriously dating stage then decreased from the seriously dating to the married stage. Relational intimacy was also curvilinearly related to self and partner perceptions of touch. Because there were no significant interaction effects between stage and gender, or intimacy and gender, the curvilinear effects of relational stage and intimacy on touch are generalizable to both men and women.     

The relationship between pain tolerance and trait aggression: effects of sex and gender role

The literature on pain and aggression has indicated that pain elicits aggression. However, research has generally examined pain as a situational variable and focused less on the dispositional ability of an individual to tolerate pain. The dearth of research on pain tolerance and aggression appears to contradict the existing theory on the aggression‐eliciting effect of pain, in that studies have found a positive relationship between pain tolerance and aggression. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the relationship between pain tolerance and aggression is moderated by sex and whether the positive relationship could be explained by masculine gender role conformity. A sample of 195 collegiate men and women completed trait measures and a laboratory assessment of pain tolerance. Results indicated that correlations between pain tolerance and trait aggression were significant and positive for men but not women. However, when men's conformity to masculine gender role was controlled for, the relationship between pain tolerance and trait aggression was nil and nonsignificant. Results are discussed in reference to socialization and maintenance of masculine status. Aggr. Behav. 35:422–429, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Children's beliefs about the continuity of aggression

Elementary school students (N = 139) read vignettes describing aggressive peers and rated the extent to which they believed the peers' aggression would continue over time and in different contexts. Children also rated their social and moral acceptance of aggression, and how difficult it would be to help the vignette characters desist from aggression. Teachers rated participants' aggressive and prosocial behaviors. Results indicated that aggression is generally viewed as continuous across time and context, and likely to produce little acceptance. Beliefs about continuity were positively associated with perceived difficulty of changing aggression and negatively associated with social acceptance. Gender moderated the association between continuity beliefs and moral acceptance. Teacher‐rated behavior was associated with social perceptions. Findings are discussed with regard to their implications for future research as well as their potential application to the design of interventions for youth aggression. Aggress. Behav. 00:00–00, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

A meta‐analytic review of help giving and aggression from an attributional perspective: Contributions to a general theory of motivation

The present review syntheses 64 investigations on the determinants of helping and aggression involving more than 12,000 subjects, providing empirical tests of Weiner's (1986, 1995) theory of social conduct. A meta‐analytic test of the proposed causal cognition‐emotion‐behaviour sequence reveals that judgements of responsibility determine the emotional reactions of anger and sympathy, and that these emotional reactions, in turn, directly influence help giving and aggression. Results are highly consistent across several potential moderator variables including type of culture, sample characteristics, publication year, and publication status. Moreover, the present analyses suggest that the hypothesised model holds true for real events as well as for simulated data. Exploratory comparisons between the helping versus the aggression domain suggest that comparable results are obtained for these two domains, except that perceptions of responsibility are more likely to exert an additional proximal role in aggressive retaliation as compared to help giving. The implications of these findings for a general theory of motivation in the interpersonal and the intrapersonal domains are discussed.     

Distress and aggression during dating conflict: A test of the coercion hypothesis

Research with clinically depressed and maritally discordant couples suggests that women's distressed behaviors function to suppress their partners' subsequent aggressive responses. We applied this coercion hypothesis to a nonclinical sample of dating couples (N = 288). We further examined whether these effects were gender‐specific, and whether distressed and aggressive behaviors differ within physically violent versus nonviolent relationships. Women but not men reported engaging in elevated rates of distress in response to partner aggression during past dating conflicts. However, both women and men expected distressed behavior to suppress partner aggression during future conflicts. Expectations about the functional effects of distressed behavior did not differ for participants with physically violent partners versus nonviolent partners. However, participants in violent relationships reported enacting more distressed behaviors and had greater expectations for partner verbal aggression during future conflicts than did participants in nonviolent relationships. Future research may identify the early onset of dysfunctional interaction patterns in couples and concomitant psychological distress.     

Hot Sauce,toy guns,and graffiti: A critical account of current laboratory aggression paradigms

In 1996, Tedeschi and Quigley published a review of laboratory aggression research that included many damning criticisms of the genre. This paper revisits Tedeschi and Quigley's critique, and examines the ways that subsequent researchers have addressed the weaknesses they identified. In particular, it examines three new laboratory aggression paradigms (Hot Sauce, Bungled Procedure, and Experimental Graffiti Paradigms) that have attempted to improve upon the “classic” paradigms (Teacher/Learner & Essay Evaluation Paradigms, Competitive Reaction Time Game, Point Subtraction Aggression Paradigm, and Bobo Modelling Paradigm). In each case, this review will show, that although some aspects of the new designs are indeed improvements, many of Tedeschi and Quigley's arguments still apply. In conclusion, this investigation will identify a number of factors that future laboratory aggression researchers should consider. These include: The perceptions and motivations of the aggressor; the apparent distance between the aggressor and the target; the availability of non‐aggressive response options; the problems of demand characteristics, permissive cues and agentic shift; the differences between proactive and reactive aggression, and the distinction between overt and covert forms of aggression. Aggr. Behav. 00:000–000, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

The Impact of Race‐Based Performance Differences on Perceptions of Test Legitimacy

This paper examines if perceptions of test legitimacy increase when racial differences on test performance match the racial status quo or when a perceiver's in‐group performs better than expected, relative to other groups. Study 1 assesses expected performance difference for various racial groups on a GRE‐like test. Study 2 assesses White and Asian participants' perceptions of legitimacy of a test that either favors the in‐group or an out‐group. Study 3 replicates Study 2 using individuals from high‐ and low‐status groups (Asians and Latinos, respectively). The findings suggest that the desire to benefit the in‐group trumps the desire to justify the status quo in accounting for the impact of race‐based performance differences on perceptions of test legitimacy.     

Sexualized images in professional contexts: Effects on anticipated experiences and perceived climate for women and men

Academic conferences are important settings for socialization, scholarly engagement, and networking. Two studies explore the effects of ambient cues in such settings on women's and men's climate perceptions. Participants (undergraduates in Study 1, graduate students in Study 2) viewed a flyer advertising a professional mixer that included an eroticized image or a control image. Women and men expected a sexualized atmosphere, and women in particular anticipated lower feelings of competence and greater discomfort and objectification at the event advertised with the erotic image. The negative effect of erotic flyer exposure on competence was mediated by discomfort (Study 1) and objectification (Study 2), particularly in women. Results are interpreted in light of pipeline leakage and women's success in the Academy.     

Picking Up the Gauntlet: How Individuals Respond to Status Challenges

How do people respond to status challenges? We suggest that responses depend on the relative status and genders of challenger and target. These variables affect appraisals about the status challenge (operationally defined as an act of incivility) and likely outcomes of various responses, and those appraisals proximately determine responses. Studies 1 and 2 show that male gender and high status were associated with more aggressive responses, whereas female gender and low status were associated with more avoidant responses. Study 3 shows that men's and women's responses were not perfectly antithetical: Men showed the greatest resistance toward peers, which may reflect greater sensitivity to status contests among men. Perceived legitimacy of challengers' actions and consequences affect the status–gender–response relationships.     

Gender and aggression I: Perceptions of aggression

To investigate how gender and ethnicity influence evaluation, perceptions, and stereotyping of aggression, two studies were conducted with 115 college students (56% male; 50% Anglo and 26% Hispanic) and 79 individuals (72% male; 92% Anglo) who worked on a military base. Participants were asked to respond to four scenarios depicting aggressive interactions in which the gender of the protagonists varied, give their perceptions of 25 potentially aggressive incidents, and answer questions concerning stereotypes of gender related to these incidents and personal aggressive behaviors. Consistent with previous research on gender and aggression, both studies found that the aggressor, target, and respondent all affected perceptions of aggression and likelihood of aggressive behaviors. Aggression from a male and aggression directed towards a female were particularly likely to be evaluated negatively. Age and educational level were both negatively related to tolerance for aggression, and Anglo vs. Hispanic ethnicity was also associated with perceptions of aggression.We would like to thank Angela Bennett, Gail Bliss, Kayleigh Carabajal, Julie Depree, Carmen Gonzales, Deborah Good, Scott Griffin, Gladys Herrera, George Selix, Ruth Tangman, and Jon Woodland for their assistance with the development, distribution, and coding of the questionnaire.     

Experiences of physical and relational victimization in children with ADHD: The role of social problems and aggression

The social risk factors for physical and relational peer victimization were examined within a mixed‐gender sample of children with and without attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Participants were 124 children (ages 8–12 years; 48% boys), with 47% exhibiting sub‐clinical or clinical elevations in ADHD symptoms. ADHD and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) symptom counts were assessed based on parent‐ and teacher‐reports; parents rated children's social problems and teachers rated children's use of physical and relational aggression and experiences of physical and relational victimization. A multiple mediator model was used to test whether there were indirect effects of ADHD or ODD symptoms on physical and relational victimization through social problems, physical aggression, or relational aggression. At the bivariate level, ADHD and ODD symptoms were both significantly associated with higher rates of physical and relational victimization. In the mediational model, there were significant indirect effects of ADHD symptoms on relational victimization via social problems, of ODD on relational victimization via relational aggression, and of ODD symptoms on physical victimization via physical aggression. Results suggest that there are distinct risk factors implicated in the physical and relational victimization of youth with ADHD and that the co‐occurrence of ODD symptoms is important to assess. Clinical implications for addressing victimization in children with ADHD are discussed.

     

Discriminatory peer aggression among children as a function of minority status and group proportion in school context

This study investigates discriminatory peer aggression among primary school aged children as a function of minority status (based on nationality, ethnicity, religion) of the target and the relative proportions of minority and majority children in the school. Participants were 925 8‐ to 12‐year‐olds attending schools in Britain. Children of minority status were no more likely than children of majority background to experience peer aggression in general. However, minority children were more likely to experience being the victims of discriminatory aggression. Two contrasting predictions were tested: that discriminatory aggression would be more likely when the minority group was relatively small in number or, alternatively, that as the proportions of children of minority backgrounds increased across schools, discriminatory aggression would be greater. The latter hypothesis was supported. Findings also revealed that in schools with a lower minority presence, discriminatory aggression experienced by majority children was significantly lower than that reported by minority children. When the school minority rate exceeded 81%, discriminatory aggression was more commonly experienced among majority children than among minority children. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Subjective Social Standing and Conflict Tactics Among Young Kenyan Men

Efforts to reduce intimate partner violence in sub‐Saharan Africa generally approach the issue through the lens of women's empowerment. These efforts include foci on women's relative power in the relationship, educational background, and earning potential. The social status of men has largely been ignored, reducing the potential to involve them in efforts to demote intimate partner violence. In this study we consider whether a man's perceived social status predicts conflict tactics, and whether these tactics are mediated by loneliness and collective self‐esteem from a community‐based sample in semi‐rural Kenya (n = 263). We find that men who reported lower perceived social status also reported significantly more frequent violent conflicts with their intimate partners. This association was significantly, and completely, mediated by lower collective self‐esteem and higher loneliness. There was no direct association between subjective social status and negotiation‐based conflict tactics, although there was an indirect association. Men with higher perceived social status reported higher collective self‐esteem, and men with higher collective self‐esteem reported more negotiation‐based conflict tactics. These findings inform efforts to reduce intimate partner violence by involving men, showing potential to reduce violence by building self‐esteem among men—particularly those with lower perceived social status.     

Influence of Sexually Degrading Music on Men's Perceptions of Women's Dating‐Relevant Cues

This study examined the influence of manipulated and naturalistic exposure to sexually degrading music on young men's perceptions of women's dating‐relevant affective cues. Three hundred ninety‐seven undergraduate heterosexual men completed an affect‐identification task in which they judged whether women communicated sexual interest, friendliness, sadness, or rejection. Either sexually degrading popular music, non‐sexually degrading popular music, or no music played on headphones. Participants completed questionnaires assessing music‐listening habits and rape‐supportive attitudes. Manipulated exposure to degrading music did not affect men's sensitivities to or biases for women's cues. In contrast, men who reported greater naturalistic exposure to rap and hip‐hop music and who endorsed more rape‐supportive attitudes were more likely to perceive women's positive affect as sexual interest, if the women were provocatively dressed. On balance, these findings are largely inconsistent with theoretical expectations regarding the deleterious effects of sexually degrading music on attitudes and concurrent social perception. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Cognitive changes in pregnancy: mild decline or societal stereotype?

This research compared pregnant and non‐pregnant women's perceptions of cognitive change and their performance on 13 sensitive memory and attention tasks (Study 1) and two complex driving simulation tasks (Study 2). The pregnant, but not the non‐pregnant, women rated their cognitive abilities as worse than before, but only two performance measures from Study 1 differentiated the two groups (speed of language processing and attentional switching). Study 3 examined beliefs about pregnancy‐related cognitive decline. Women and men with and without immediate experience of pregnancy rated pregnant women's cognitive abilities as slightly worse than before pregnancy. Memory ratings were worse from women and from those with immediate experience of pregnancy. It is concluded that there may be some mild effects of pregnancy on performance of some specific cognitive functions but that cultural expectations based on a stereotype of cognitive decline also contribute to pregnant women's perception of cognitive change. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.