Decoding the language of first impressions: Comparing models of first impressions of faces derived from free-text descriptions and trait ratings.

First impressions formed from facial appearance predict important social outcomes. Existing models of these impressions indicate they are underpinned by dimensions of Valence and Dominance, and are typically derived by applying data reduction methods to explicit ratings of faces for a range of traits. However, this approach is potentially problematic because the trait ratings may not fully capture the dimensions on which people spontaneously assess faces. Here, we used natural language processing to extract 'topics' directly from participants' free-text descriptions (i.e., their first impressions) of 2222 face images. Two topics emerged, reflecting first impressions related to positive emotional valence and warmth (Topic 1) and negative emotional valence and potential threat (Topic 2). Next, we investigated how these topics were related to Valence and Dominance components derived from explicit trait ratings. Collectively, these components explained only ~44% of the variance in the topics extracted from free-text descriptions and suggested that first impressions are underpinned by correlated valence dimensions that subsume the content of existing trait-rating-based models. Natural language offers a promising new avenue for understanding social cognition, and future work can examine the predictive utility of natural language and traditional data-driven models for impressions in varying social contexts.

Re-evaluating the Role of Partnership-Related Perceptions in Women's Preferences for Men with Masculine Face Shapes.

Many researchers have proposed that women perceive men with masculine face shapes to be less suitable as parents and long-term partners than men with feminine face shapes, causing women to find masculine men more attractive for short-term than long-term relationships. However, recent work shows that results obtained using the type of experimentally manipulated stimuli that were employed in studies presenting evidence for these claims are not necessarily observed when natural (i.e., unmanipulated) face stimuli were used to suggest that the evidence for these claims may need to be revaluated. Consequently, we tested for possible relationships between ratings of natural male faces for parenting- and relationship-related traits and shape masculinity (Study 1) and also tested whether women's preferences for shape masculinity were stronger when natural male faces were rated for short-term relationships than when natural male faces were rated for long-term relationships (Studies 2 and 3). We saw no evidence for either of these predictions, instead finding that men with more attractive faces were perceived to be better parents and better long-term partners. Thus, our findings do not support the widely held view that masculine men are more attractive for short-term relationships because they are perceived to be unlikely to invest time and effort in their romantic partners and offspring.

No evidence that averaging voices influences attractiveness.

Vocal attractiveness influences important social outcomes. While most research on the acoustic parameters that influence vocal attractiveness has focused on the possible roles of sexually dimorphic characteristics of voices, such as fundamental frequency (i.e., pitch) and formant frequencies (i.e., a correlate of body size), other work has reported that increasing vocal averageness increases attractiveness. Here we investigated the roles these three characteristics play in judgments of the attractiveness of male and female voices. In Study 1, we found that increasing vocal averageness significantly decreased distinctiveness ratings, demonstrating that participants could detect manipulations of vocal averageness in this stimulus set and using this testing paradigm. However, in Study 2, we found no evidence that increasing averageness significantly increased attractiveness ratings of voices. In Study 3, we found that fundamental frequency was negatively correlated with male vocal attractiveness and positively correlated with female vocal attractiveness. By contrast with these results for fundamental frequency, vocal attractiveness and formant frequencies were not significantly correlated. Collectively, our results suggest that averageness may not necessarily significantly increase attractiveness judgments of voices and are consistent with previous work reporting significant associations between attractiveness and voice pitch.

The impact of symptom clusters on endocrine therapy adherence in patients with breast cancer.

BACKGROUND: When taken as prescribed, endocrine therapy is effective in reducing risk of recurrence and mortality in the treatment of patients with breast cancer. However, treatment side effects can act as a barrier to medication adherence. Existing research has not identified any specific side effects as consistent predictors of nonadherence. Our aim was to explore the influence of symptom clusters on self-reported adherence in patients with breast cancer. METHODS: A cross-sectional online survey was conducted, including patients with breast cancer currently or previously prescribed endocrine therapy (N = 1051). This included measures of self-reported endocrine therapy adherence and common symptoms among this population (insomnia, depression, anxiety, fatigue, musculoskeletal, and vasomotor symptoms). RESULTS: Unintentional nonadherence was higher than intentional nonadherence (50.8 % vs 31.01 %). The most troublesome symptom was insomnia (73.83 % displayed probable insomnia disorder). K-means cluster analysis identified 2 symptom clusters: overall High symptoms, and overall Low symptoms. Participants in the Low symptoms cluster were significantly more likely to be classed as adherent based on unintentional and intentional items. CONCLUSIONS: Nonadherence was high in the current sample, and significantly more likely in participants reporting overall severe symptoms. Clinicians should be aware of the scale of common side effects and facilitate open conversation about potential barriers to adherence. Follow-up care should include assessment of common symptoms and signpost patients to appropriate support or treatment when required. Future research should explore potential for a central symptom to act as a target for intervention, to relieve overall side effect burden and facilitate better medication adherence.

Assessing the roles of shape prototypicality and sexual dimorphism in ratings of the trustworthiness of faces.

Perceptions of the trustworthiness of faces predict important social outcomes, including economic exchange and criminal sentencing decisions. However, the specific facial characteristics that drive trustworthiness perceptions remain poorly understood. Here we investigated this issue by exploring possible relationships between ratings of the trustworthiness of face images and objective assessments of two aspects of face shape that researchers have previously argued are important for perceptions of trustworthiness: distinctiveness and sexual dimorphism. Here we report that faces with more distinctive shapes are rated as less trustworthy, but that sexual dimorphism of face shape is not significantly correlated with trustworthiness ratings. These results suggest that distinctiveness of face shape plays a more important role in trustworthiness perceptions than does sexual dimorphism and suggest that perceptions of trustworthiness may stem, at least in part, from the 'anomalous-is-bad' stereotype.

The importance of face-shape masculinity for perceptions of male dominance depends on study design.

Dominance perceptions play an important role in social interactions. Although many researchers have proposed that shape masculinity is an important facial cue for dominance perceptions, evidence for this claim has come almost exclusively from studies that assessed perceptions of experimentally manipulated faces using forced-choice paradigms. Consequently, we investigated the role of masculine shape characteristics in perceptions of men's facial dominance (1) when shape-manipulated stimuli were presented in a forced-choice paradigm and (2) when unmanipulated face images were rated for dominance and shape masculinity was measured from face images. Although we observed large effects of masculinity on dominance perceptions when we used the forced-choice method (Cohen's ds = 2.51 and 3.28), the effect of masculinity on dominance perceptions was considerably smaller when unmanipulated face images were rated and shape masculinity measured from face images (Cohen's ds = 0.44 and 0.62). This pattern was observed when faces were rated separately for physical dominance, social dominance, and masculinity, and was seen for two different sets of stimuli. Collectively, these results suggest that shape masculinity may not be a particularly important cue for dominance perceptions when faces vary simultaneously on multiple dimensions, as is the case during everyday social interactions.

Mapping physical characteristics in face images to social judgements.

Sutherland and Young (Br. J. Psychol., 113, 2022, 1056) provide a comprehensive and timely overview of recent developments in research on social judgements of faces, emphasizing the utility of data-driven approaches. Here, we expand on this theme, focusing on how data-driven approaches can provide new insights into the physical characteristics in face images that best predict social judgements.

The role of valence, dominance, and pitch in perceptions of artificial intelligence (AI) conversational agents' voices.

There is growing concern that artificial intelligence conversational agents (e.g., Siri, Alexa) reinforce voice-based social stereotypes. Because little is known about social perceptions of conversational agents' voices, we investigated (1) the dimensions that underpin perceptions of these synthetic voices and (2) the role that acoustic parameters play in these perceptions. Study 1 (N = 504) found that perceptions of synthetic voices are underpinned by Valence and Dominance components similar to those previously reported for natural human stimuli and that the Dominance component was strongly and negatively related to voice pitch. Study 2 (N = 160) found that experimentally manipulating pitch in synthetic voices directly influenced dominance-related, but not valence-related, perceptions. Collectively, these results suggest that greater consideration of the role that voice pitch plays in dominance-related perceptions when designing conversational agents may be an effective method for controlling stereotypic perceptions of their voices and the downstream consequences of those perceptions.

Sleep reactivity predicts insomnia in patients diagnosed with breast cancer.

STUDY OBJECTIVES: To examine the role of sleep reactivity as a predictor of insomnia in patients diagnosed with breast cancer. METHODS: A total of 173 women with breast cancer participated and were followed up over a period of 9 months. At baseline, participants were assigned to a high (n = 114) or low (n = 59) sleep reactivity group, based on their responses to the Ford Insomnia Response to Stress Test (FIRST). We assessed whether these FIRST groupings (high/low sleep reactivity) predicted changes in insomnia over time using the Insomnia Severity Index. We also tested if these FIRST groupings predicted insomnia disorder (using Insomnia Severity Index cutoffs) at 3 different time points (T3, T6, and T9). RESULTS: Individuals with high sleep reactivity were more likely to experience a worsening of insomnia. Using logistic regression, we also found that FIRST grouping predicted insomnia disorder. Results remained significant after controlling for estimated premorbid sleep, age, and whether someone had chemotherapy. CONCLUSIONS: Our study shows that sleep reactivity may be a robust predictor of insomnia within breast cancer populations. Sleep reactivity should be considered in routine clinical assessments as a reliable way to identify patients at risk of developing insomnia. This would facilitate early sleep intervention for those patients who are considered high risk. CITATION: Rehman A, Drake CL, Shiramizu V, Fleming L. Sleep reactivity predicts insomnia in patients diagnosed with breast cancer. J Clin Sleep Med. 2022;18(11):2597-2604.

Hormones, ovulatory cycle phase and pathogen disgust: A longitudinal investigation of the Compensatory Prophylaxis Hypothesis.

Multiple studies have argued that disgust, especially pathogen disgust and contamination sensitivity, change across women's ovulatory cycle, with higher levels in the luteal phase due to an increase in progesterone levels. According to the Compensatory Prophylaxis Hypothesis (CPH), women have a higher disgust sensitivity to pathogen cues when in the luteal phase (or when progesterone levels are higher), because progesterone is associated with suppressed immune responses. Evidence for this hypothesis is rather mixed and uncertain, as the largest study conducted so far reported no compelling evidence for an association between progesterone levels and pathogen disgust. Further, ovulatory cycle research has been criticized for methodological shortcomings, such as invalid cycle phase estimates, no direct hormone assessments, small sample sizes or between-subjects studies. To address these issues and to contribute to the literature, we employed a large, within-subjects design (N = 257 with four sessions each), assessments of salivary hormone levels and cycle phase estimates based on luteinizing hormone tests. A variety of multilevel models suggest no compelling evidence that self-reported pathogen disgust or contamination sensitivity is upregulated in the luteal phase or tracks changes in women's hormone levels. We further found no compelling evidence for between-subjects associations of pathogen disgust or contamination sensitivity and hormone levels. Results remain robust across different analytical decisions (e.g. in a subsample of women reporting feeling sick). We discuss explanations for our results, limitations of the current study and provide directions for future research.

Does facial attractiveness really signal immunocompetence?

The dominant theory of facial attractiveness judgments is that they evolved to identify healthy individuals with strong immune systems. Here, we summarize results of recent tests of this hypothesis, concluding that it has little compelling empirical support. We then propose an alternative perspective that emphasizes the effects of lifestyle health.

Do 3D Face Images Capture Cues of Strength, Weight, and Height Better than 2D Face Images do?

OBJECTIVES: A large literature exists investigating the extent to which physical characteristics (e.g., strength, weight, and height) can be accurately assessed from face images. While most of these studies have employed two-dimensional (2D) face images as stimuli, some recent studies have used three-dimensional (3D) face images because they may contain cues not visible in 2D face images. As equipment required for 3D face images is considerably more expensive than that required for 2D face images, we here investigated how perceptual ratings of physical characteristics from 2D and 3D face images compare. METHODS: We tested whether 3D face images capture cues of strength, weight, and height better than 2D face images do by directly comparing the accuracy of strength, weight, and height ratings of 182 2D and 3D face images taken simultaneously. Strength, height and weight were rated by 66, 59 and 52 raters respectively, who viewed both 2D and 3D images. RESULTS: In line with previous studies, we found that weight and height can be judged somewhat accurately from faces; contrary to previous research, we found that people were relatively inaccurate at assessing strength. We found no evidence that physical characteristics could be judged more accurately from 3D than 2D images. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest physical characteristics are perceived with similar accuracy from 2D and 3D face images. They also suggest that the substantial costs associated with collecting 3D face scans may not be justified for research on the accuracy of facial judgments of physical characteristics.

Success of in vitro fertilization and its association with the levels of psychophysiological stress before and during the treatment.

Despite the advance of assisted reproduction, high rates of failure in treatment are still observed. Herein, we investigated how the psychophysiological stress profiles of patients can modulate the in vitro fertilization treatment (IVF) outcome. The women who had failure in IVF (n = 13; 65%) had higher baseline salivary cortisol awakening response and anxiety-state during treatment than patients who became pregnant (n = 7; 35%). Patients with major stress levels and religious coping style showed lower social support, which was correlated with higher anxiety. Therefore, we appointed stress modulators that negatively affect IVF and should be improved aiming to increase its success.

Sexual orientation predicts men's preferences for sexually dimorphic face-shape characteristics: A replication study.

Many researchers have proposed that straight men prefer women's faces displaying feminine shape characteristics at least partly because mating with such women will produce healthier offspring. Although a prediction of this adaptation-for-mate-choice hypothesis is that straight men will show stronger preferences for feminized versus masculinized versions of women's faces than will gay men, only one previous study has directly tested this prediction. Here we directly replicated that study by comparing 623 gay and 3163 straight men's preferences for feminized versus masculinized versions of faces. Consistent with the adaptation-for-mate-choice hypothesis of straight men's femininity preferences, we found that straight men showed significantly stronger preferences for feminized female faces than did gay men. Consistent with previous research suggesting that gay men place a premium on masculinity in potential romantic partners, we also found that gay men showed significantly stronger preferences for masculinized versions of male faces than did straight men. Together, these findings indicate the sexual orientation contributes to individual differences in men's face preferences.

No evidence that partnered and unpartnered gay men differ in their preferences for male facial masculinity.

Women's preferences for masculine characteristics in men's faces have been extensively studied. By contrast, little is known about how gay men respond to masculine facial characteristics. One area of disagreement in the emerging literature on this topic is the association between gay men's partnership status and masculinity preference. One study found that partnered gay men showed stronger preferences for masculine faces than did single gay men, while another study found that partnered gay men showed weaker preferences for masculine faces than did single gay men. We re-examined this issue in a sample of 618 gay men, finding no significant difference between partnered and single gay men's masculinity preferences. Together with the mixed previous findings, our null result suggests that the effect of partnership status on gay men's face preferences is not robust.

Devoted fans release more cortisol when watching live soccer matches.

Why do some sports fans experience intense emotions when watching live matches? Identity fusion is a strong form of group alignment in which personal and group identities are activated synergistically to produce a visceral sense of 'oneness' with one's team. Here we examine the role of fusion (using a three-item state measure with high internal validity) in elevating salivary cortisol levels while watching football (n = 41). Our evidence was gathered at field laboratories during the 2014 sFIFA World Cup in Natal, Brazil, with live screenings of two Brazilian victories (Colombia, 2-1; Chile, 1-1 with penalties), and the historic semi-final loss to Germany (1-7). We replicated previous studies showing that salivary cortisol concentrations fluctuate during live football events and are related to group membershipbut we also extended them by showing that identity fusion is even more strongly related to cortisol concentrations than identification. We found an interaction between match outcome and cortisol, such that watching a loss, i.e. dysphoria, was associated with particularly high cortisol concentrations. While women were more fused to the team than men, there were no other gender effects. Taken together, these findings suggest that identity fusion modulates physiological reactivity, resulting in distinct psycho-physiological profiles during stressful events.

The Socio-Communicative Development of Preterm Infants Is Resistant to the Negative Effects of Parity on Maternal Responsiveness.

Humans are born completely dependent on adult care for survival. To get the necessary support, newborns rely on socio-communicative abilities which have both innate and learned components. Maternal responsiveness (MR), as a critical aspect of mother-infant interaction, is a robust predictor of the acquisition of socio-communicative abilities. However, maternal responsiveness (MR) is influenced by parity, since mothers rely on a limited capacity of cognitive control for efficient attachment with their offspring. This fact is of particular concern for preterms, whose developing brain already faces many challenges due to their premature emergence from the womb's controlled environment and may still have to compete with siblings for mother's attention. Thus, in the present work, we aimed to understand how parity interferes with MR and whether it affects the development of socio-communicative abilities of preterm infants. We used the Social Interaction Rating Scale (SIRS) and the mother-child observation protocol in 18 dyads with gestational age <36 weeks. Dyads were separated into three groups: primiparous with twin pregnancy (TPM), primiparous (PM), and multiparous (MP). Dyadic behavior was evaluated at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months. Our results show that offspring size affects MR, but not the socio-communicative development of preterm infants during the first year, suggesting a level of resilience of brain systems supporting the attachment to caregivers.

"In x out": revisando o viés de grupo através da perspectiva biológica / "In x out": revisando el sesgo de grupo a través de la perspectiva biológica

Os fatores subjacentes ao favorecimento do endogrupo e de indiferença/hostilidade ao exogrupo são amplamente estudados pela psicologia social, onde estudos reportam que, por exemplo, indivíduos confiam mais e associam palavras positivas aos membros do mesmo grupo. O estudo desses fatores pode ajudar na compreensão de fenômenos tais como preconceito e etnocentrismo. As perspectivas evolucionista e neuroendócrina vêm sendo extremamente relevantes nos últimos anos para o estudo do favoritismo ingroup. Todavia, uma busca sistemática nas bases de dados Lilacs, Scielo, Google Scholar e Web of Science por palavras-chave relacionadas ao viés de grupo demonstrou uma carência por publicações nesse tema no Brasil. Dos trabalhos recuperados, apenas um se enquadrava na perspectiva evolucionista e nenhum abordava os mecanismos neuroendócrinos do viés de grupo. Dessa forma, o objetivo do presente estudo é discutir o viés de grupo através de uma perspectiva biológica, explicitando as hipóteses para a evolução desses comportamentos, os métodos empregados para o estudo dos mesmos e as bases neuroendócrinas e os substratos neurais que os medeiam.(AU)

Los factores subyacentes al favorecimiento del endogrupo y a la indiferencia/hostilidad al exogrupo son ampliamente estudiados por la psicología social, donde estudios informan, por ejemplo, que los indivíduos confian más y asocian palabras positivas a los miembros del mismo grupo. El estúdio de esos factores puede ayudar en la comprensíon de fenómenos tales como el prejuicio y el etnocentrismo. Las perspectivas evolucionista y neuroendócrina han sido extremadamente relevantes en los últimos años para el estúdio del favoritismo ingroup. Sin embargo, una búsqueda sistemática en las bases de datos Lilacs, Scielo, Web of Science y Google Scholar por palabras claves relacionadas al sesgo de grupo demostró una carencia de publicaciones sobre ese tema en Brasil. De los trabajos recuperados sólo uno se ajustaba a la perspectiva evolucionista y ninguno abordaba los mecanismos neuroendocrino del sesgo de grupo. De esta manera, el objetivo del presente estudio es discutir el sesgo de grupo a través de una perspectiva biológica, explicando las hipótesis para la evolución de esos comportamientos, los métodos utilizados para el estúdio de ellos, las bases neuroendocrinas y los sustratos neurales que los median.(AU)

"In x Out": Revisando o Viés de Grupo através da Perspectiva Biológica / "In x Out": Revisando el Sesgo de Grupo a través de la Perspectiva Biológica / "In x Out": Reviewing the Group Bias through the Biological Perspective

Os fatores subjacentes ao favorecimento do endogrupo e de indiferença/hostilidade ao exogrupo são amplamente estudados pela psicologia social, onde estudos reportam que, por exemplo, indivíduos confiam mais e associam palavras positivas aos membros do mesmo grupo. O estudo desses fatores pode ajudar na compreensão de fenômenos tais como preconceito e etnocentrismo. As perspectivas evolucionista e neuroendócrina vêm sendo extremamente relevantes nos últimos anos para o estudo do favoritismo ingroup. Todavia, uma busca sistemática nas bases de dados Lilacs, Scielo, Google Scholar e Web of Science por palavras-chave relacionadas ao viés de grupo demonstrou uma carência por publicações nesse tema no Brasil. Dos trabalhos recuperados, apenas um se enquadrava na perspectiva evolucionista e nenhum abordava os mecanismos neuroendócrinos do viés de grupo. Dessa forma, o objetivo do presente estudo é discutir o viés de grupo através de uma perspectiva biológica, explicitando as hipóteses para a evolução desses comportamentos, os métodos empregados para o estudo dos mesmos e as bases neuroendócrinas e os substratos neurais que os medeiam.

Los factores subyacentes al favorecimiento del endogrupo y a la indiferencia/hostilidad al exogrupo son ampliamente estudiados por la psicología social, donde estudios informan, por ejemplo, que los indivíduos confian más y asocian palabras positivas a los miembros del mismo grupo. El estúdio de esos factores puede ayudar en la comprensíon de fenómenos tales como el prejuicio y el etnocentrismo. Las perspectivas evolucionista y neuroendócrina han sido extremadamente relevantes en los últimos años para el estúdio del favoritismo ingroup. Sin embargo, una búsqueda sistemática en las bases de datos Lilacs, Scielo, Web of Science y Google Scholar por palabras claves relacionadas al sesgo de grupo demostró una carencia de publicaciones sobre ese tema en Brasil. De los trabajos recuperados sólo uno se ajustaba a la perspectiva evolucionista y ninguno abordaba los mecanismos neuroendocrino del sesgo de grupo. De esta manera, el objetivo del presente estudio es discutir el sesgo de grupo a través de una perspectiva biológica, explicando las hipótesis para la evolución de esos comportamientos, los métodos utilizados para el estúdio de ellos, las bases neuroendocrinas y los sustratos neurales que los median.

The factors underlying to the ingroup favoritism and outgroup indifference/hostility are broadly studied by social psychology, where studies report that, for example, individuals trust more and associate positive words to members of the same group. The study of these factors can help in understand phenomena such as prejudice and ethonocentrism. However, a systematic search in the databases Web of Science, Google Scholar, Scielo, and Lilacs for the keywords related to group bias showed a studies shortage for this topic in Brazil. Besides, in the studies retrieved, just one fitted into evolutionary perspective and no study has approached the neuroendocrine mechanisms of the group bias. Therefore, the objective of this study was to discuss the group bias through the biological perspective, explaining the evolutionary hypothesis to the evolution of these behaviors, the methods applied to study this topic, and the neuroendocrine basis and neural substrates mediating them.