Fantasy sports
Jingjing Ma & David Gal
Journal of Marketing Research, forthcoming
Abstract:
Sex is ubiquitous in advertising, yet the effect of exposure to sexual imagery on preferences is little explored. Although sex and romance tend to go together in real world relationships, the authors find that exposure to sex-based ads decreases preference for romantically-linked products and services in men. Furthermore, the authors find that the effect is one-directional, such that exposure to romantic imagery in ads does not decrease men's preference for sex-related products. Finally, the authors find that exposure to sex-based ads does not lead to a decreased preference for romantically-linked products in women. The authors explain this pattern of results through the relatively opportunistic nature of the sex drive in men. Implications for theories of fundamental motives and for the effect of sex-based advertisements on dating and relationships are discussed.
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Documenting Pornography Use in America: A Comparative Analysis of Methodological Approaches
Mark Regnerus, David Gordon & Joseph Price
Journal of Sex Research, forthcoming
Abstract:
Estimates of pornography use in the United States range widely. We explore the reasons for the variation in such estimates among U.S. adults using data from four different recent nationally representative samples - each of which asked a different type of question about pornography use. We attribute the notable variation in estimates to differences in question wording and answer options, and assert that a survey question asking respondents about their most recent use of pornography minimizes recall bias and is better poised to assess the overall prevalence of pornography in a population than is the more common approach of asking respondents about their historical general-use pattern. When we privileged the most-recent-use approach, survey data from 2014 reveal that 46% of men and 16% of women between the ages of 18 and 39 intentionally viewed pornography in a given week. These numbers are notably higher than most previous population estimates employing different types of questions. The results have ramifications for methods of surveying sensitive self-reported behaviors and for contextualizing scholars' claims as well as popular conversations about the reach and implications of pornography use in the United States.
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Zheng Wu, Christoph Schimmele & Feng Hou
Journal of Social Issues, December 2015, Pages 733-754
Abstract:
This study examines the reasons for differences in the prevalence of intermarriage with Whites between racial minorities in 283 U.S. metropolitan areas. The analysis demonstrates that Asians have the highest and Blacks the lowest rate of intermarriage with Whites, with Hispanics falling in between. We tested two theories for these group differences. First, the structural explanation, which posits that differences in the relative size of each racial group in marriage markets affects their chances for intermarriage. Second, the assimilation explanation, which suggests that differences in social distance with Whites influences the propensity for intermarriage. The decomposition analysis shows that the cultural assimilation explanation is the primary reason for the Hispanic-Black gap in intermarriage. However, both explanations predict Black-Asian and Asian-Hispanic differences in intermarriage with Whites.
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Edward Paul Lemay & Noah Wolf
Social Psychological and Personality Science, forthcoming
Abstract:
Mate poaching refers to efforts to attract people who are already involved in committed relationships. The current dyadic, 5-week prospective study examined mate poaching behaviors in the context of opposite-sex friendships. Actors' mate poaching behaviors predicted decreases in their friend's commitment to their romantic partners, increases in their friend's perceptions of actors' mate value, and increases in their friend's romantic desire for actors over time. These results are the first to suggest an interpersonal process in which mate poaching behaviors elicit psychological changes in targets that facilitate actors' mate poaching goals. Furthermore, these results are the first to demonstrate the effectiveness of mate poaching tactics in friendships.
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Joshua Hart & Rhea Howard
Personality and Individual Differences, April 2016, Pages 97-103
Abstract:
Heterosexual men consistently overperceive women's sexual interest. Past studies have related overperception to individual and situational factors such as alcohol intoxication, but nobody has yet investigated personality factors that may contribute to sexual misperception. The present research takes a first step in that direction by examining the relation between attachment style and sexual misperception. Two studies revealed that men's romantic attachment anxiety and avoidance predicted the extent to which men estimated the sexual interest of a hypothetical woman in a nightclub scenario. Mediation analyses suggest that this is due to both motivated social perception and cognitive bias. Specifically, men's attachment anxiety predicts increased desire for intimacy, which predicts their hope that a woman will be sexually interested; consequently, men imagine themselves as more flirtatious in the scenario, which biases them toward imagining the woman as more flirtatious, too. A similar process occurred for attachment avoidance, but in the opposite direction.
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Alyson Blanchard, Minna Lyons & Luna Centifanti
Personality and Individual Differences, April 2016, Pages 128-134
Abstract:
Despite their reputation for taking advantage of other people, previous research shows that psychopathic individuals are attractive for short-term relationships. Furthermore, individuals with psychopathic traits have been found to be attracted to other psychopathic persons in both short and long-term relationships. The current study (N = 258), is the first to extend the investigation further by examining whether these findings pertain to the affective (i.e., primary) or behavioural (i.e., secondary) aspects of psychopathy, and if this varies according to sex. Using a series of personality profiles, we found that men and women evaluated individuals higher in primary or secondary psychopathic traits unattractive for both short and long-term relationships. However, those individuals higher in primary and secondary psychopathic traits found similar partners attractive in short and long-term relationships, and this was strongest in women higher in primary psychopathic traits for long-term relationships, and in women higher in secondary psychopathic traits for short and long-term relationships. Results are discussed from an evolutionary theoretical perspective.