Investigating the link between television viewing and men's preferences for female body size and shape in rural Nicaragua
Publication date: September 2018Source: Evolution and Human Behavior, Volume 39, Issue 5Author(s): Tracey Thornborrow, Jean-Luc Jucker, Lynda G. Boothroyd, Martin J. TovéeAbstractThe different levels of media access in otherwise very similar villages in rural Nicaragua provided a natural laboratory to explore the effect of television (TV) access on men's preferences for female body size and shape. In study 1 we compared the female body ideals of men from three discrete villages who experienced different levels of TV but otherwise inhabited a similar ecological and sociocultural environment. 3D modelling software enabled p...
Source: Evolution and Human Behavior - July 5, 2018 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
The true trigger of shame: social devaluation is sufficient, wrongdoing is unnecessary
Publication date: September 2018Source: Evolution and Human Behavior, Volume 39, Issue 5Author(s): Theresa E. Robertson, Daniel Sznycer, Andrew W. Delton, John Tooby, Leda CosmidesAbstractWhat is the trigger of shame? The information threat theory holds that shame is an evolved adaptation that is designed to limit the likelihood and costs of others forming negative beliefs about the self. By contrast, attributional theories posit that concerns over others' evaluations are irrelevant to shame. Instead, shame is triggered when a person attributes a negative outcome to their self, rather than to a particular act or circumstan...
Source: Evolution and Human Behavior - July 5, 2018 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Is birth attendance a uniquely human feature? New evidence suggests that Bonobo females protect and support the parturient
Publication date: September 2018Source: Evolution and Human Behavior, Volume 39, Issue 5Author(s): Elisa Demuru, Pier Francesco Ferrari, Elisabetta PalagiAbstractBirth attendance has been proposed as a distinguishing feature of humans (Homo sapiens) and it has been linked to the difficulty of the delivery process in our species. Here, we provide the first quantitative study based on video-recordings of the social dynamics around three births in captive bonobos (Pan paniscus), human closest living relative along with the chimpanzee. We show that the general features defining traditional birth attendance in humans can also b...
Source: Evolution and Human Behavior - July 5, 2018 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Is there a link between paternity concern and female genital cutting in West Africa?
Publication date: Available online 2 July 2018 Source:Evolution and Human Behavior Author(s): Janet A. Howard, Mhairi A. Gibson Here we explore the relationship between female genital cutting (FGC), sexual behaviour, and marriage opportunities in five West African countries. Using large demographic datasets (n 72,438 women, 12,704 men, 10,695 couples) we explore key (but untested) assumptions of an evolutionary proposal that FGC persists because it provides evolutionary fitness benefits for men by reducing non-paternity rates. We identify and test three assumptions implicit in this proposal. We test whether cut women h...
Source: Evolution and Human Behavior - July 2, 2018 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
You ’re Not My Type: Do Conservatives Have a Bias for Seeing Long-Term Mates?
Publication date: Available online 26 June 2018 Source:Evolution and Human Behavior Author(s): Naomi K. Muggleton, Corey L. Fincher When choosing a mate, humans favour genetic traits (attractiveness, high sex drive) for short-term relationships and parental traits (warmth, high status) for long-term relationships. These preferences serve to maximise fitness of future offspring. But this model neglects the role of social norms in shaping evolved mating strategies. In conservative cultures, individuals are likely to face costs such as punishment for short-term mating. Here we show that conservatives over-perceive some ma...
Source: Evolution and Human Behavior - June 26, 2018 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
