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

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

Beliefs in Equality for Women and Men as Related to Economic Factors in Central and Eastern Europe and the United States

Do economic indicators predict the general level of support for gender equality? This question was investigated in a sample of countries in Central and Eastern Europe, a region that has been undergoing rapid economic changes since the early 1990s. In this overall sample of male and female college students from ten countries, including the United States as a comparison, the predicted association between stronger beliefs in gender role egalitarianism and positive economic factors was generally supported. Also, consistent with other research, women were more in support of gender equality than men were. There was no support for a predicted trend in less support for gender equality over the time period of the present study.     

Time-dependent recovery of taste aversion learning by fetal brain transplants in gustatory neocortex-lesioned rats.

We recently showed that fetal brain transplants produced a significant recovery in the ability of gustatory neocortex-lesioned rats to learn a conditioned taste aversion. In this report we assessed the capability of gustatory neocortex fetal brain transplants to produce behavioral recovery at different times. Four groups of male Wistar rats showing disrupted taste aversions due to gustatory neocortex lesions were studied. The lesioned animals received fetal cortical grafts, obtained from 16-day-old fetuses, and were retrained in the behavioral procedure after 15, 30, 45, or 60 days postgraft. Behavioral results showed a very good functional recuperation at 60 days, slight recovery at 45 and 30 days, and a poor recovery at 15 days postgraft. Results with HRP histochemistry revealed that at 30, 45, and 60 days postgrafting there were increased connections with the ventromedial nucleus of the thalamus and with the amygdala. At 15 days postgrafting there was an absence of HRP-labeled cells. In addition, behavioral recovery was correlated with increased acetylcholinesterase activity, detected histochemically, and with morphological neuronal maturation, revealed by Golgi staining. These results suggest that morphological maturity and reconnectivity between grafts and host tissue are important for behavioral recovery in gustatory neocortex-lesioned rats.     

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The Moderating Role of General Mood Between Agreeableness and Moral Maturity

The purpose of this study was to examine the moderating role of general mood on the relationship between moral maturity and agreeableness. In the present study, total of 150 administrative and academic staff (70 females and 80 males) were surveyed from the Turkish universities. Data were collected on the Big Five Personality Scale, The Scale of Moral Maturity and Bar-On Emotional Quotient Inventory. The relationship between moral maturity and agreeableness personality was found to be moderated by the general mood of employees.     

Economic,Environmental and Moral Acceptance of Renewable Energy: A Case Study—The Agricultural Biogas Plant at Pěčín

The production of renewable energy in agricultural biogas plants is being widely criticized because—among other things—most of the feedstock comes from purpose-grown crops like maize. These activities (generously subsidized in the Czech Republic) generate competitive pressure to other crops that are used for feeding or food production, worsening their affordability. Unique pretreatment technology that allows substitution of the purpose-grown crops by farming residues (such as husk or straw) was built 6 years ago on a commercial basis in Pě?ín (Czech Republic) under modest funding and without publicity. The design of the concept; financial assessment and moral viewpoint were analyzed based on practical operating data. It showed that the apparatus improves economic, environmental and moral acceptance as well. However, according to the government’s view, public funding for this type of processing was shortened, “because waste materials represent a lower cost”. The impact of such governance was analyzed as well.     

Relationships between identity domains and life satisfaction in minority and majority youth in Albania,Bulgaria, Czech Republic,Kosovo, and Romania

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine relationships between identity domains (educational and relational identity) and life satisfaction in a cross-national perspective, by targeting minority (Roma) and majority youth in Albania, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Kosovo, and Romania. Based on the three-factor identity formation model, we investigated the interplay between three identity processes (i.e., commitment, in-depth exploration, and reconsideration of commitment) and life satisfaction. Participants were 1860 adolescents aged 12–19 years from Albania (n = 350), Bulgaria (n = 398), the Czech Republic (n = 293), Kosovo (n = 542), and Romania (n = 277). They completed self-reports of the Utrecht-Management of Identity Commitments Scale (U-MICS) and the Life Satisfaction Scale (SWLS). We adopted a structural equation modelling approach to test (a) measurement invariance of identity and life satisfaction models across groups and (b) associations between identity domains (educational and relational) and life satisfaction. Findings indicated measurement invariance for identity and life satisfaction measures across cultural groups. In the total sample, life satisfaction was consistently associated with high commitment, high in-depth exploration, and low reconsideration of commitment in the educational identity domain. Sample-specific associations highlighted important cultural differences. Implications of these findings for identity and well-being in minority and mainstream youth across the countries under investigation are discussed.