Mating Games
Why Are Fewer Young Adults Having Casual Sex?
Scott South & Lei Lei
Socius: Sociological Research for a Dynamic World, March 2021
Abstract:
Fewer young adults are engaging in casual sexual intercourse now than in the past, but the reasons for this decline are unknown. The authors use data from the 2007 through 2017 waves of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics Transition into Adulthood Supplement to quantify some of the proximate sources of the decline in the likelihood that unpartnered young adults ages 18 to 23 have recently had sexual intercourse. Among young women, the decline in the frequency of drinking alcohol explains about one quarter of the drop in the propensity to have casual sex. Among young men, declines in drinking frequency, an increase in computer gaming, and the growing percentage who coreside with their parents all contribute significantly to the decline in casual sex. The authors find no evidence that trends in young adults’ economic circumstances, internet use, or television watching explain the recent decline in casual sexual activity.
Patterns of Genital Sexual Arousal in Transgender Men
Jamie Raines et al.
Psychological Science, forthcoming
Abstract:
Most men show genital sexual arousal to one preferred gender. Most women show genital arousal to both genders, regardless of their sexual preferences. There is limited knowledge of whether this difference is driven by biological sex or gender identity. Transgender individuals, whose birth sex and gender identity are incongruent, provide a unique opportunity to address this question. We tested whether the genital responses of 25 (female-to-male) transgender men followed their female birth sex or male gender identity. Depending on their surgical status, arousal was assessed with penile gauges or vaginal plethysmographs. Transgender men’s sexual arousal showed both male-typical and female-typical patterns. Across measures, they responded more strongly to their preferred gender than to the other gender, similar to (but not entirely like) 145 cisgender (nontransgender) men. However, they still responded to both genders, similar to 178 cisgender women. In birth-assigned women, both gender identity and biological sex may influence sexual-arousal patterns.
Gender-Atypical Occupations and Instability of Intimate Unions: Examining the Relationship and Mechanisms
Wei-hsin Yu & Janet Chen-Lan Kuo
Socius: Sociological Research for a Dynamic World, March 2021
Abstract:
Although social scientists have long been interested in the effects of occupational gender composition on workers, previous research has rarely examined how working in a gender-atypical occupation affects people’s private lives. This study draws on 17 rounds of data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 to investigate how individuals in occupations with varying gender ratios differ in the stability of their intimate unions. The authors also consider various mechanisms that may explain the link between working in a gender-atypical occupation and union instability. Results from random-effects event-history models show that both men and women in gender-atypical occupations experience faster paces of union dissolution than their counterparts in gender-balanced or gender-typical occupations. Female-dominant occupations’ lower pay accounts for a modest portion of the effect of working in female-typed occupations on men’s union instability. By contrast, the more irregular work schedules of male-typed occupations explain a substantial part of why women in such occupations have lower union stability. The remaining associations between occupational gender composition and union instability, we suggest, reflect the tendency for men and women in gender-atypical occupations to undergo greater psychological strain, which in turn increases the difficulty of maintaining intimate relationships.
Does younger age at marriage affect divorce? Evidence from Johnson's Executive Order 11241
Martha Bailey, Emily Beam & Anna Wentz
Economic Inquiry, forthcoming
Abstract:
Before President Johnson's Executive Order 11241 in August 1965, married men received lower draft priority for military service. As the Vietnam War escalated in the summer of 1965, anecdotal evidence suggests draft‐eligible men sought marriage to lower their likelihood of serving. This paper quantifies the effects of these Vietnam‐era policies on marriage and finds that they significantly reduced the age at first marriage and altered the choice of spouse. However, younger marriages induced by the war were less likely to result in divorce 15 years later. Evidence also suggests that these younger marriages had little effect on long‐term outcomes.
This old thing? Responding to compliments depends on sex and relative status
Carin Perilloux & Jaime Cloud
Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences, forthcoming
Abstract:
The purpose of the current research was to explore responses to compliments based on participant sex and relative status. We predicted that women would respond more modestly to compliments than men would, and that women would respond more modestly to compliments from equal or lower status women as opposed to from higher status women, whereas men’s responses would be unaffected by status. In Study 1, participants read three vignettes in which they imagined being complimented by a same-sex peer and chose the reaction they would most likely give. Consistent with our prediction, women responded more modestly to a compliment than men did. In Study 2, we randomly assigned participants to one of three hypothetical scenarios in which they received a compliment from a member of the same sex whose relative status to them was either higher, lower, or equal, and participants entered their response in an open-ended format. Confirming our second prediction, women responded more modestly after receiving a compliment from a same or lower status — compared to higher status — peer, but men showed no effect of relative status. Our results converge with those of past research showing that women are more sensitive than men to same-sex peers perceiving them as potential competitors.
The point of nipple erection 1: The experience and projection of perceived emotional states while viewing women with and without erect nipples
Rebecca Burch & David Widman
Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences, forthcoming
Abstract:
To determine whether female nipple erection is perceived as a sign of sexual arousal or interest, male and female participants were asked to rate photos of real women with and without salient nipple erection on a series of 16 emotional and physiological states, including positive, negative, and sexually aroused states. Nipple erection salience was rated by independent raters, and faces in photos were obscured to prevent discerning emotional states from facial cues. Men clearly projected more sexy and positive emotions onto the stimuli when the stimuli displayed erect nipples. Whereas women did project more positive emotions with erect nipples, they did not differ in their expression of sexy. We also observed that men’s self-ratings of sexy and positive emotions were the same as their ratings of the stimuli. Women, however, reported significantly less sexy and positive emotions for themselves relative to the stimuli.
The point of nipple erection 2: The effect of nipple erection on intended and expected altruism
Rebecca Burch & David Widman
Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences, forthcoming
Abstract:
Previous research has shown that men perceive nipple erection as signaling more sexually receptive states. This study intended to determine if this perception changed male hypothetical behavior. For example, would men be more willing to assist women with nipple erection as opposed to those without? Participants were asked to rate pictures of women with and without salient nipple erection (faces were obscured to prevent discerning emotional states). Men perceived women with nipple erection as more deserving of altruism, especially if that altruism involved greater interaction with the woman, and they expected these same women to behave more altruistically toward them. They also believed the women with erect nipples should be included in their social groups. Women, on the other hand, did not perceive them as deserving of greater altruistic behaviors, did not expect greater altruistic behaviors from them, and did not want to include them into their social groups.