Showing papers by "Vladas Griskevicius published in 2017"

Beyond risk and protective factors: An adaptation-based approach to resilience

Abstract: How does repeated or chronic childhood adversity shape social and cognitive abilities? According to the prevailing deficit model, children from high-stress backgrounds are at risk for impairments in learning and behavior, and the intervention goal is to prevent, reduce, or repair the damage. Missing from this deficit approach is an attempt to leverage the unique strengths and abilities that develop in response to high-stress environments. Evolutionary-developmental models emphasize the coherent, functional changes that occur in response to stress over the life course. Research in birds, rodents, and humans suggests that developmental exposures to stress can improve forms of attention, perception, learning, memory, and problem solving that are ecologically relevant in harsh-unpredictable environments (as per the specialization hypothesis). Many of these skills and abilities, moreover, are primarily manifest in currently stressful contexts where they would provide the greatest fitness-relevant advantages (as per the sensitization hypothesis). This perspective supports an alternative adaptation-based approach to resilience that converges on a central question: "What are the attention, learning, memory, problem-solving, and decision-making strategies that are enhanced through exposures to childhood adversity?" At an applied level, this approach focuses on how we can work with, rather than against, these strengths to promote success in education, employment, and civic life.

Stimulating Online Reviews by Combining Financial Incentives and Social Norms

Abstract: In hopes of motivating consumers to provide larger volumes of useful reviews, many retailers offer financial incentives. Here, we explore an alternative approach, social norms. We inform individuals about the volume of reviews authored by peers. We test the effectiveness of using financial incentives, social norms, and a combination of both strategies in motivating consumers. In two randomized experiments, one in the field conducted in partnership with a large online clothing retailer based in China and a second on Amazon Mechanical Turk, we compare the effectiveness of each strategy in stimulating online reviews in larger numbers and of greater length. We find that financial incentives are more effective at inducing larger volumes of reviews, but the reviews that result are not particularly lengthy, whereas social norms have a greater effect on the length of reviews. Importantly, we show that the combination of financial incentives and social norms yields the greatest overall benefit by motivating review...

The effect of predictable early childhood environments on sociosexuality in early adulthood.

Abstract: According to life history theory, sociosexual orientations in adulthood should be affected by an individual’s early childhood environment. Highly predictable (stable) environments should increase the potential fitness benefits of long-term (slow) mating strategies as well as the potential costs of short-term (fast) mating strategies. Experiencing a more predictable childhood environment, therefore, should lead individuals to enact a slower life history strategy characterized by more restricted sociosexual behaviors. We tested this hypothesis in the Minnesota Longitudinal Study of Risk and Adaptation (MLSRA), an ongoing longitudinal study that has followed individuals from before they were born into adulthood. Indicators of sociosexuality in early adulthood were assessed by trained coders based on interviews conducted with participants about their current relationship, their relationship history, and their future relationship aspirations when they were 23 years old. The findings revealed that having experienced more predictable environments during the first 4 years of life (indexed by less frequent changes in parents’ employment status, cohabitation status, and residence) prospectively predicted more restricted sociosexuality at age 23, over and above current levels of predictability (that also uniquely predicted restricted sociosexuality at age 23). This early life predictability effect was partially mediated by greater early maternal support and being securely attached at age 19. Viewed together, these findings suggest that greater predictability early in life may be partially conveyed to children through more supportive parenting, which results in secure attachment in adolescence, which in turn predicts more restricted sociosexuality in early adulthood.

The financial consequences of too many men: Sex ratio effects on saving, borrowing, and spending.

Abstract: The ratio of males to females in a population is an important factor in determining behavior in animals. We propose that sex ratio also has pervasive effects in humans, such as by influencing economic decisions. Using both historical data and experiments, we examined how sex ratio influences saving, borrowing, and spending in the United States. Findings show that male-biased sex ratios (an abundance of men) lead men to discount the future and desire immediate rewards. Male-biased sex ratios decreased men's desire to save for the future and increased their willingness to incur debt for immediate expenditures. Sex ratio appears to influence behavior by increasing the intensity of same-sex competition for mates. Accordingly, a scarcity of women led people to expect men to spend more money during courtship, such as by paying more for engagement rings. These findings demonstrate experimentally that sex ratio influences human decision making in ways consistent with evolutionary biological theory. Implications for sex ratio effects across cultures are discussed.

Socioeconomic status, unpredictability, and different perceptions of the same risk

Abstract: In this commentary, we address three questions: (1) How might outcomes be affected by the variation in the level of deprivation, rather than the average level of deprivation? (2) Could there be differences in the subjective perception of the same risk as either intrinsic or extrinsic, depending on people's socioeconomic status (SES)? (3) What other psychological mechanisms might play a role in influencing the psychology and behavior of people from deprived backgrounds?

The CLASH model in broader life history context

Abstract: In this commentary, we address two questions: (1) Is the drive in many young men to gain status and amass resources, which frequently entails direct competition with members of outgroups, one of the key variables underlying the CLASH model? (2) Why is there so much variation in reactive aggression/violence between people living in the same environment?