Journal of Evolutionary Psychology 

About: Journal of Evolutionary Psychology is an academic journal. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Attractiveness & Poison control. Over the lifetime, 210 publications have been published receiving 2856 citations.

Individual differences in intrasexual competition

Abstract: Intrasexual competition implies viewing the confrontation with same-sex individuals, especially in the context of contact with the opposite-sex, in competitive terms. After constructing the items for the preliminary scale and after conducting a pilot study, in two studies with a total of 706 participants from The Netherlands and Canada, a 12-item scale for individual differences in intrasexual competition was developed that was sex neutral, and that had a high degree of cross- national equivalence. In The Netherlands, sociosexuality, sex drive and social comparison orien- tation were independently related to intrasexual competition. In Canada, intrasexual competition was strongly, and independently of the Big Five, related to social comparison orientation, but only among women. There was no effect of birth order, but sibling rivalry did correlate with intrasex- ual competition. Among men, intrasexual competition was more strongly, and differently, related to the Big Five than among women. Among women, intrasexual competition was predicted by a lack of agreeableness, and among men by a high level of neuroticism and extraversion.

The influence of female attractiveness on competitor derogation

Abstract: Female competitor derogation has been found to involve evaluations of facial attrac- tiveness, such that women are more likely to derogate other women when they are most fertile (FISHER 2004). However, the ultimate purpose of this derogation remains unknown. In this article, we explore the possibility that women's derogations of rivals will influence potential mates, such that derogatory comments cause men to lower their attractiveness judgments of the rivals. More- over, given that attractive women should be more preferred as mates by men, we investigate how a woman's facial attractiveness can affect her ability to influence men's perceptions. Our results indicate that the type of statements one makes significantly influences ratings of attractiveness, and that derogations by an attractive woman are more effective in their ability to influence men's evaluations of female facial attractiveness than are derogations by an unattractive woman. These effects do not hold for women, who are not significantly swayed by the attractiveness of the de- rogator. Several directions for future research are presented.

Critical points in current theory of conformist social learning

Abstract: Existing mathematical models suggest that gene-culture coevolution favours a conformist bias in social learning, that is, a psychological mechanism to preferentially acquire the most common cultural variants. Here we show that this conclusion relies on specific assumptions that seem unrealistic, such as that all cultural variants are known to every individual. We present two models that remove these assumptions, showing that: 1) the rate of cultural evolution and the adaptive value of culture are higher in a population in which individuals pick cultural variants at random (Random strategy) rather than picking the most common one (Conform strategy); 2) in genetic evolution the Random strategy out-competes the Conform strategy, unless cultural evolution is very slow, in which case Conform and Random usually coexist; 3) the individuals’ ability to evaluate cultural variants is a more important determinant of the adaptive value of culture than frequency-based choice strategies. We also review existin...

Perceived mate availability influences intrasexual competition, jealousy and mate-guarding behavior

Abstract: Mate availability has been shown to influence intrasexual competition and mate- guarding behavior across a variety of species. Nevertheless, little is known about how perceived mate scarcity affects such behavior in humans. The purpose of this study was to examine the ef- fects of experimentally induced perceptions of mate availability upon intrasexual competition, jealousy and aggressive mate guarding behavior. Heterosexual undergraduate students (N = 124, 60 women, 64 men) were primed with perceptions of either mate scarcity or mate abundance and subsequently completed measures of intrasexually competitive attitude, jealousy and willingness to aggress against a mate-poacher (either directly or indirectly). For both men and women, results showed that individuals who were exposed to the mate scarcity condition reported significantly more intrasexual competition, jealousy and willingness to aggress indirectly against a mate- poacher compared to those exposed to the mate abundance condition. Results provide evidence of an attitudinal and behavioral shift toward sexual conflict when individuals perceive mates to be a scarce resource.

Duchenne smiles and the perception of generosity and sociability in faces

Abstract: Although Duchenne smiles have been shown to have a social signal value, there is limited evidence as to whether this effect generalises to most positive attributes, or whether it is restricted to a particular social domain. As opposed to non-Duchenne smiles, Duchenne smiles involve the activity of facial muscles in the eye region (orbicularis oculi). The hypothesis that Duchenne and non-Duchenne smiles produce different responses in receivers was tested in a face perception experiment. People were asked to rate neutral and smiling faces on ten attributes: attractiveness, generosity, trustworthiness, competitiveness, health, agreeableness, conscien- tiousness, extroversion, neuroticism, and openness to experience. Results showed that the type of smile had a stronger impact on the ratings of generosity and extroversion. The difference between neutral and smiling was larger when faces showed a Duchenne than a non-Duchenne smile, though the effect of smile type on attributions of generosity appeared to be restricted to male faces. Therefore the Duchenne marker shows some specificity to judgements of altruism and sociability.