Do People Agree on What Makes One Feel Loved? A Cognitive Psychometric Approach to the Consensus on Felt Love

This pragmatic study examines love as a mode of communication. Our focus is on the receiver side: what makes an individual feel loved and how felt love is defined through daily interactions. 

Our aim is to explore everyday life scenarios in which people might experience love, and to consider people’s converging and diverging judgments about which scenarios indicate felt love. We apply a cognitive psychometric approach to quantify a receiver’s ability to detect, understand, and know that they are loved. 

Through crowd-sourcing, we surveyed lay participants about whether various scenarios were indicators of felt love. We thus quantify these responses to make inference about consensus judgments of felt love, measure individual levels of agreement with consensus, and assess individual response styles. More specifically, we 

1. derive consensus judgments on felt love; 
2. describe its characteristics in qualitative and quantitative terms, 
3. explore individual differences in both 
1. participant agreement with consensus, and
2. participant judgment when uncertain about shared knowledge, and 
4. test whether individual differences can be meaningfully linked to explanatory variables. 

Results indicate that people converge towards a shared cognitive model of felt love. Conversely, respondents showed heterogeneity in knowledge of consensus, and in dealing with uncertainty. We found that, when facing uncertainty, female respondents and people in relationships more frequently judge scenarios as indicators of felt love. Moreover, respondents from smaller households tend to know more about consensus judgments of felt love, while respondents from larger households are more willing to guess when unsure of consensus.

Below:  Raw data means and model based estimates on selected felt love items.

The second columns shows the mean of the answers for the item with ‘True’ coded as 1 and ‘False’ as 0. The posterior distribution on the consensus parameters for each item is summarized in columns 3 and 4, in terms of posterior median estimate, labeled as ‘True’ for 1 and ‘False’ for 0 and posterior standard deviation (abbreviated as ‘psd’). It quantifies standard error around the point estimate. The last column shows the item difficulty rank of the item in ascending order. 

Full article at:   https://goo.gl/kv3TUC

By:  

Zita Oravecz, Chelsea Muth 
Human Development and Family Studies, The Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA, United States of America

Joachim Vandekerckhove 

Cognitive Sciences, University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA, United States of America

More at:  https://twitter.com/hiv insight

And: https://twitter.com/Prison Health

The Mediating Role of Romantic Desolation and Dating Anxiety in the Association Between Interpersonal Competence and Life Satisfaction among Polish Young Adults

This study investigates the role of romantic desolation on life satisfaction in young adulthood. 

Using data from a Polish sample of 330 (205 females and 125 males) young adults aged 20–30, who completed Polish versions of the Satisfaction With Life Scale, Dating Anxiety Scale, Interpersonal Competence Questionnaire-Revised, and Social and Emotional Loneliness Scale for Adults-Short Form, romantic desolation (romantic loneliness and lack of a romantic partner) and dating anxiety were tested as mediators of the association between interpersonal competence and life satisfaction. 

Results revealed that single individuals reported lower life satisfaction and higher romantic loneliness than did partnered individuals. At the same time, no differences emerged between single and partnered individuals in dating anxiety or interpersonal competence. Structural equation modeling results showed that low interpersonal competence has an indirect effect on romantic desolation through higher levels of dating anxiety. Also, dating anxiety had an indirect effect on lower life satisfaction through increased romantic desolation. 

These results highlight the important role of dating anxiety and romantic desolation for explaining why low interpersonal competence is associated with diminished life satisfaction in young adults.

Below:  Structural model of interpersonal competence, dating anxiety, romantic desolation, and life satisfication. Note For ease of presentation, error terms have omitted from the model. *p < .05; **p < .01; ***p < .001

Full article at:   https://goo.gl/1VcHhg

By:  Katarzyna Adamczyk and Chris Segrin

Institute of Psychology, Adam Mickiewicz University, ul. A. Szamarzewskiego 89/AB, 60-568 Poznan, Poland

Department of Communication, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721 USA

Katarzyna Adamczyk, Phone: 48 61 829 23 11, Email: [email protected].

More at:  https://twitter.com/hiv insight

And: https://twitter.com/Prison Health

Similarity in Relationships as Niche Construction: Choice, Stability, and Influence Within Dyads in a Free Choice Environment

A series of field studies focused on the role of similarity as niche construction in friendships. Using a free-range dyad harvest method, we collected 11 independent samples with 1,523 interacting pairs, and compared dyad members' personality traits, attitudes, values, recreational activities, and alcohol and drug use. Within-dyad similarity was statistically significant on 86% of variables measured. 

To determine whether similarity was primarily attributable to niche construction (i.e., selection) or social influence, we tested whether similarity increased as closeness, intimacy, discussion, length of relationship, and importance of the attitude increased. There were no effects on similarity of closeness, relationship length, or discussion of the attitude. There were quite modest effects of intimacy, and a reliable effect of the shared importance of the attitude. 

Because relationship length, intimacy, closeness, and discussion can all serve as markers of opportunity for, or potency of social influence, these data are consistent with the "niche construction" account of similarity. In 2 follow-up controlled longitudinal field studies, participants interacted with people they did not know from their large lecture classes, and at a later time completed a survey of attitudes, values, and personality traits. Interacting pairs were not more similar than chance, but for the 23% of dyads that interacted beyond the first meeting, there was significant similarity within dyad members. 

These 2 lines of inquiry converge to suggest that similarity is mainly due to niche construction, and is most important in the early stages of a relationship; its importance to further relationship development wanes.

Purchase full article at:   https://goo.gl/ZQSvJS

By:  Bahns AJ, Crandall CS, Gillath O, Preacher KJ.

J Pers Soc Psychol. 2016 Feb 1

More at:  https://twitter.com/hiv insight

And: https://twitter.com/Prison Health

The Medicalization of Love

Pharmaceuticals or other emerging technologies could be used to enhance (or diminish) feelings of lust, attraction, and attachment in adult romantic partnerships. Although such interventions could conceivably be used to promote individual (and couple) well-being, their widespread development and/or adoption might lead to the ‘medicalization’ of human love and heartache—for some, a source of a serious concern. In this essay, we argue that the medicalization of love need not necessarily be problematic, on balance, but could plausibly be expected to have either good or bad consequences depending upon how it unfolds. By anticipating some of the specific ways in which these technologies could yield unwanted outcomes, bioethicists and others can help to direct the course of love’s medicalization—should it happen to occur—more toward the ‘good’ side than the ‘bad.’

• Worry 1: The Pathologization of Everything. Medicalization can transform ‘ordinary’ human differences and experiences into ‘pathologies,’ redefining what is “normal, expected, and acceptable in life” through the ever-expanding application of disease categories and labels.⁵¹
• Worry 2: The Expansion of Medical Social Control. Medicalization can expand the scope of medical surveillance and thus medical social control over so-called deviance.⁵² It can also create openings for pharmaceutical companies and other ‘medical entrepreneurs’ to sell us drugs we don’t need for diseases we don’t have (or that have been simply invented out of whole cloth), thereby expanding the power of Big Pharma to meddle in our lives.⁵³
• Worry 3: The Narrow Focus on Individuals Rather Than the Social Context. Medicalization can lead to the “individualization of social problems,” taking resources and attention away from the wider social and contextual factors that may be creating the need for ‘treatment’ in the first place.⁵⁴ This concern has been summarized by Barbara Wootton: “Always it is easier to put up a clinic than to pull down a slum.”⁵⁵

Full article at:   https://goo.gl/EloFEH

By:  Brian D. Earp,* Anders Sandberg,* And Julian Savulescu*

Thanks are due to Marion Godman, Andrew Buskell, Alessa Colaianni, Tomi Kushner, and members of the HPS Philosophy Workshop at the University of Cambridge for helpful feedback on earlier drafts of this manuscript. Please note that this work was supported in part by a Wellcome Trust grant, #086041/Z/08/Z.

More at:  https://twitter.com/hiv insight

And: https://twitter.com/Prison Health

Gender Differences in Liking & Wanting Sex: Examining the Role of Motivational Context & Implicit vs Explicit Processing

The present study investigated the specificity of sexual appraisal processes by making a distinction between implicit and explicit appraisals and between the affective (liking) and motivational (wanting) valence of sexual stimuli. These appraisals are assumed to diverge between men and women, depending on the context in which the sexual stimulus is encountered. 

Using an Implicit Association Test, explicit ratings, and film clips to prime a sexual, romantic or neutral motivational context, we investigated whether liking and wanting of sexual stimuli differed at the implicit and explicit level, differed between men and women, and were differentially sensitive to context manipulations. 

Results showed that, at the implicit level, women wanted more sex after being primed with romantic mood whereas men showed the least wanting of sex in the romantic condition. At the explicit level, men reported greater liking and wanting of sex than women, independently of context. 

We also found that women's (self-reported) sexual behavior was best predicted by the incentive salience of sexual stimuli whereas men's sexual behavior was more closely related to the hedonic qualities of sexual stimuli. 

Results were discussed in relation to an emotion-motivational account of sexual functioning.

Purchase full article at:  https://goo.gl/dIIKTo

By:  Dewitte M1.

• 1Department of Experimental, Clinical, and Health Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium, [email protected]. 

More at:  https://twitter.com/hiv_insight

And: https://twitter.com/Prison_Health

"Get drunk. Smoke weed. Have fun.": A Content Analysis of Tweets About Marijuana and Alcohol

Purpose: To explore the sentiment and themes of Twitter chatter that mentions both alcohol and marijuana. 

Design: Cross-sectional analysis of tweets mentioning both alcohol and marijuana during 1 month was performed. 

Setting: The study setting was Twitter. 

Participants: Tweets sent from February 4 to March 5, 2014, were studied. 

Method: A random sample (n = 5000) of tweets that mentioned alcohol and marijuana were qualitatively coded as normalizing both substances, preferring one substance over the other, or discouraging both substances. Other common themes were identified. 

Results: More than half (54%) of the tweets normalized marijuana and alcohol (without preferring one substance over the other), and 24% preferred marijuana over alcohol. Only 2% expressed a preference for alcohol over marijuana, 7% discouraged the use of both substances, and the sentiment was unknown for 13% of the tweets. Common themes among tweets that normalized both substances included using the substances with friends (17%) and mentioning substance use in the context of sex or romance (14%). Common themes among tweets that preferred marijuana over alcohol were the beliefs that marijuana is safer than alcohol (46%) and preferences for effects of marijuana over alcohol (40%). 

Conclusion: Tweets normalizing polysubstance use or encouraging marijuana use over alcohol use are common. Both online and offline prevention efforts are needed to increase awareness of the risks associated with polysubstance use and marijuana use.

Purchase full article at:  https://goo.gl/wBY6QP

By:  Krauss MJ, Grucza RA, Bierut LJ, Cavazos-Rehg PA.

Melissa J. Krauss, MPH; Richard A. Grucza, PhD, MPE; Laura J. Bierut, MD; and Patricia A. Cavazos-Rehg, PhD, are with the Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri.

Send reprint requests to Melissa J. Krauss, MPH, Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, 660 South Euclid Avenue, Box 8134, St. Louis, MO 63110; kraussm@psychiatry.wustl.edu.

 

More at:  https://twitter.com/hiv_insight

And: https://twitter.com/Prison_Health

“Enjoy Your Sexuality, but Do it in Secret” - Exploring Undergraduate Women’s Reports of Friends’ Sexual Communications

...Explore the messages that undergraduate women (n = 415) reported receiving from their male and female friends regarding sex and romantic relationships. Reports of friends’ messages varied widely and entailed both support for and criticism of sexual gatekeeping and sex positivity (e.g., sexual agency) and advice regarding sex and romantic relationships. 

Response patterns illustrate that reports of female friends’ messages were typically longer and more nuanced than reports of male friends’ messages. Sex-positive messages and sexual gatekeeping messages were frequently reported simultaneously, and this pattern of co-occurrence illustrates the tensions between diverse discourses regarding women’s sexuality. 

The diversity in reports of friends’ messages challenges popular notions that friends’ influences are wholly problematic and highlights a need for more gender-focused sex education curricula.

Full article available for purchase at: https://ht.ly/Sdqgg

By: Sarah L. Trinh1

1. ¹Center for Developmental Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

Online Dating among Australian Gay & Bisexual Men: Romance or Hooking Up?

Via https://ht.ly/KD4yx HT @KirbyInstitute 

From pen pals to chat rooms: the impact of social media on Middle Eastern Society

In this article, we will discuss what is known about a surprisingly popular phenomenon in the Middle East—the use of social media to communicate. We will begin with a discussion of what “social media” sites are (sites such as Facebook, Your Middle East, YouTube, Flickr, Muslima.com, chat rooms, and instant messaging) and point out how common they are in the Middle East. Next, we will discuss the reasons why men and women are currently using Internet and social media. Finally, we will discuss what impact social media have had on politics, political dissent, education, and men’s and women’s relationships—and the impact they might be expected to have in future years. Finally, we will focus on the impact of such media on men’s and women’s relationships—including cross-gender friendships, romantic relationships, and sexual relationships.

Below: Percentage of men and women subscribing to Muslima.com by country of residence. Courtesy of Diminescu and Renault

Via: https://ht.ly/OzL4F  HT @CSS_UHManoa

What’s in a Kiss? The Effect of Romantic Kissing on Mate Desirability

Via: https://ht.ly/PaEk3  HT @UniofOxford

Past research suggests that various courtship rituals, such as romantic kissing, may convey useful mate quality information. Two studies were carried out to examine how purported romantic kissing abilities, as a potential cue to some form of mate information, affect appraisals of potential mating partners. In Experiment 1, 724 participants were presented with vignette descriptions of potential mating partners and were asked to rate partner desirability for various mating-related situations. The primary result of this experiment was that purported kissing ability increased mate desirability in “casual sex” mating situations for women to a greater extent than for men. Experiment 2 repeated the same procedure with another 178 participants, this time including visual information alongside vignette descriptions containing kissing-related information to examine the relative effects of these two modalities. It was found that the presence of a picture alongside a descriptive vignette negated the effect of kissing-related information only when rating potential partners on attractiveness or desirability for further courtship, though not when evaluating partners for casual sex or long-term relationship scenarios. Visual information containing “attractive” photos of potential partners was also found to have a greater effect on men’s ratings of partner desirability than on women’s ratings of partner desirability. The results are discussed in light of romantic kissing’s potential function of conveying important mate quality and desirability information, and its relative role in the presence of additional visual mate cues.

Below:  Effect of sex and kissing condition on interest in casual sex

Menstrual Cycle Effects on Attitudes toward Romantic Kissing

Via:   https://ht.ly/PaELB  HT @UniofOxford

Hormonal changes associated with the human menstrual cycle have been previously found to affect female mate preference, whereby women in the late follicular phase of their cycle (i.e., at higher risk of conception) prefer males displaying putative signals of underlying genetic fitness. Past research also suggests that romantic kissing is utilized in human mating contexts to assess potential mating partners. The current study examined whether women in their late follicular cycle phase place greater value on kissing at times when it might help serve mate assessment functions. Using an international online questionnaire, results showed that women in the follicular phase of their menstrual cycle felt that kissing was more important at initial stages of a relationship than women in the luteal phase of their cycle. Furthermore, it was found that estimated progesterone levels were a significant negative predictor for these ratings.

Below:  Importance of kissing during initial relationship stages (grey markers, dashed line) versus established relationship phases (black markers, solid line) across the menstrual cycle. Day 0 represents reverse-day-count estimated day of ovulation, trend curves fitted using Loess curve estimation, 65% points fit, Epanechnikov kernel