Loving Context
Is Love (Skin Color) Blind?: Skin Color and Interdating across Ethnoracial Groups
Emilce Santana
Sociological Inquiry, forthcoming
Abstract:
The role skin color plays in shaping cross-ethnoracial relationships is not well understood despite its implications for the trajectory of U.S. ethnoracial relations. Using the National Longitudinal Study of Freshmen, I investigate two questions: Among ethnoracial minorities, how does a person's skin color relate to the likelihood of dating individuals from another ethnoracial group? Does this relationship vary by the combination of ethnoracial backgrounds of the individuals who are dating? The results indicate that the influence of skin color on interdating may depend on the status levels of partners' ethnoracial groups. A person from a lower status group with a darker skin color -- relative to other similar group members with lighter skin color -- is less likely to date someone from a higher status group, but darker skin color is associated with a greater likelihood of interdating when a darker-skinned member of a higher status group dates a member of a lower status group. Further, the results point to a complex relationship between two intermediate groups, Asians and Latinos, which seems dependent on Latino respondents' gender.
The supply and demand of marital contracts: The case of same-sex marriage
Clara Piano, Rachael Behr & Kacey Reeves West
Public Choice, forthcoming
Abstract:
Each state offers a standard marital contract and controls access to it. Married couples enjoy many benefits under U.S. federal and state laws, such as veteran and military pensions, immigration preference, Social Security payments, and tax deductions. Although many of these benefits were introduced for other purposes, we argue that the growth in welfare programs indirectly increased the value of the marital contract over time. In 2015, the Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples could now access marital contracts -- and consequently the benefits tied to marital status -- in all 50 U.S. states. We view the legalization of same-sex marriage as the predictable supply response to an increase in the demand for access to the marital contract, which followed from an increase in its value over time. We test this hypothesis at both state and federal levels. Using cross-sectional data at the state level, we show that variation in state spending on benefits can explain variation in the length of years that same-sex marriage was legalized in a state prior to Obergefell. At the federal level, we show how federal expansions of benefits over time corresponded to increased expenditures on lobbying for same-sex marriage.
Male androphilia, fraternal birth order, and female fecundity in Samoa: A 10-y retrospective
Scott Semenyna et al.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 12 December 2023
Abstract:
Two separate but related literatures have examined familial correlates of male androphilia (i.e., sexual attraction and arousal to masculine adult males). The fraternal birth order effect (FBOE) is a widely established finding that each biological older brother a male has increased the probability of androphilia 20–35% above baseline rates. Other family demographic variables, such as reproduction by mothers, maternal aunts, and grandmothers, have been used to test evolutionary hypotheses that sexually antagonistic genes lead to androphilia among males, lowering or eliminating reproduction, which is offset by greater reproductive output among their female relatives. These proposed female fecundity effects (FFEs), and the FBOE, have historically been treated as separate yet complementary ways to understand the development and evolution of male androphilia. However, this approach ignores a vital confound within the data. The high overall reproductive output indicative of an FFE results in similar statistical patterns as the FBOE, wherein women with high reproductive output subsequently produce later-born androphilic sons. Thus, examination of the FBOE requires analytic approaches capable of controlling for the FFE, and vice-versa. Here, we present data simultaneously examining the FBOE and FFE for male androphilia in a large dataset collected in Samoa across 10 y of fieldwork, which only shows evidence of the FBOE.
A Slim Majority: The Influence of Sex Ratio on Women’s Body Dissatisfaction and Weight Loss Motivations
Tania Reynolds et al.
Archives of Sexual Behavior, October 2023, Pages 3043–3062
Abstract:
The current investigation examined whether women’s perceptions of the sex ratio (ratio of women to men) in the local population influence their body dissatisfaction and weight loss motivations. A higher ratio of women to men in a given population signifies a relative abundance of same-sex mating competitors, intensifying female intrasexual competition. Five studies (N = 1,776) tested the hypotheses that women’s perceptions of a female-skewed sex ratio would correspond to increased feelings of intrasexual competitiveness and perceptions of unfavorable mating prospects, which would, in turn, be associated with heightened body dissatisfaction and weight loss motivations. Among university and community women (Studies 1and 2), perceptions of a female-skewed sex ratio corresponded to greater intrasexual competitiveness, increased body dissatisfaction, and increased dieting inclinations. Among single women, assessments of a female-skewed sex ratio corresponded to perceptions of unfavorable mating prospects, increased romantic pressure to alter their appearance, and higher body dissatisfaction (Study 3). Studies 4 and 5 experimentally manipulated perceived sex ratio. Women in the female-skewed condition felt less satisfied with their weights and shapes, but only if they believed the manipulation (Study 4). In Study 5, using a within-subjects design, women who evaluated a male-skewed (vs. female-skewed) dating profile array subsequently desired to lose less weight. Findings suggest women’s perceptions of their social environments may contribute to body image and dieting motivations.
Effect of menstrual cycle on rewarding properties of alcohol cues in women
Annie Griffith, Michelle Martel & Mark Fillmore
Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, forthcoming
Objective: Compared with men, women are disproportionately affected by alcohol, including greater risks of behavioral impairment and relapse from abstinence-based treatments. One potential mechanism underlying this disparity is ovarian hormone fluctuations across menstrual cycle phases, particularly estradiol (E2). Preclinical and clinical studies have shown that E2 levels positively correlate with alcohol consumption, suggesting E2 modulates drinking. Rewarding properties of alcohol are thought to mediate this relationship. The present study tested the degree to which women report increased rewarding effects from alcohol and heightened attention to alcohol-related cues when E2 was elevated during the late follicular phase of the menstrual cycle.
Method: Fifty women aged 21–29 participated in a within-subjects placebo-controlled study examining how menstrual cycle phase alters the rewarding properties of alcohol and alcohol-associated cues when sober and intoxicated, as measured by their attentional bias toward alcohol-associated cues and subjective reports. Measures were obtained following 0.60 g/kg alcohol and placebo during the early follicular phase when E2 was low and the late follicular phase (i.e., ovulation) when E2 was elevated.
Results: Attentional bias to alcohol-associated cues was greater during the late follicular phase in both sober and intoxicated states. Women reported rewarding effects from alcohol, but no effects of phase were observed.
Feeling known predicts relationship satisfaction
Juliana Schroeder & Ayelet Fishbach
Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, March 2024
Abstract:
Two forms of subjective relationship knowledge -- the belief that one is known and knows one's partner -- have separately been shown to positively predict relationship satisfaction, but which is more important for relational wellbeing? Seven studies show that believing one is known by their partner (i.e., “feeling known”) predicts relationship satisfaction more than believing that one knows their partner (i.e., “felt knowing”). In Studies 1a-c, feeling known predicted relationship satisfaction more than felt knowing among family, romantic partners, and friends. Feeling known also causally influenced expected relationship satisfaction more than felt knowing in Studies 2a-b. Study 3 suggests a potential reason why feeling known is more closely associated with relationship satisfaction – because people value receiving support in their relationships. Finally, the desire to feel known may lead people to “undersell” themselves to potential partners. In Study 4, when people wrote dating profiles to attract potential romantic partners, they more strongly expressed their desire to be known than to know their potential future partner. Yet, readers of these profiles were more attracted to those who professed interest in knowing them. Overall, this research suggests that feeling known is an important ingredient in the recipe for relationship joy.