Strength of Sexual Selection and Sex Roles Vary between Social Groups in a Coral Reef Cardinalfish.

AbstractThe strength and direction of sexual selection can vary among populations. However, spatial variability is rarely explored at the level of the social group. Here we investigate sexual selection and sex roles in the paternally mouthbrooding, socially monogamous, and site-attached pajama cardinalfish, Sphaeramia nematoptera. Females were larger and more aggressive and had a longer dorsal fin filament, indicating reversed sex roles. At the scale of social groups, we show that the Bateman gradient and reproductive variance depend on the sex ratio and size of groups. In small and medium-sized groups with balanced or male-biased sex ratios, Bateman gradients were steeper for females, whereas gradients were equally steep for both sexes in large groups or when the sex ratio was female biased. For both sexes, reproductive variance increased with group size and with a higher male-to-female sex ratio. In S. nematoptera, mating opportunities outside the socially monogamous pair appear to impact sexual selection. We conclude that strength and direction of sexual selection can be masked by social dynamics in group-living species when considering only population and large-scale demographic processes.

Ecological and genetic variables co-vary with social group identity to shape the gut microbiome of a pair-living primate.

Primates exhibit diverse social systems that are intricately linked to their biology, behavior, and evolution, all of which influence the acquisition and maintenance of their gut microbiomes (GMs). However, most studies of wild primate populations focus on taxa with relatively large group sizes, and few consider pair-living species. To address this gap, we investigate how a primate's social system interacts with key environmental, social, and genetic variables to shape the GM in pair-living, red-bellied lemurs (Eulemur rubriventer). Previous research on this species suggests that social interactions within groups influence interindividual microbiome similarity; however, the impacts of other nonsocial variables and their relative contributions to gut microbial variation remain unclear. We sequenced the 16S ribosomal RNA hypervariable V4-V5 region to characterize the GM from 26 genotyped individuals across 11 social groups residing in Ranomafana National Park, Madagascar. We estimated the degree to which sex, social group identity, genetic relatedness, dietary diversity, and home range proximity were associated with variation in the gut microbial communities residing in red-bellied lemurs. All variables except sex played a significant role in predicting GM composition. Our model had high levels of variance inflation, inhibiting our ability to determine which variables were most predictive of gut microbial composition. This inflation is likely due to red-bellied lemurs' pair-living, pair-bonded social system that leads to covariation among environmental, social, and genetic variables. Our findings highlight some of the factors that predict GM composition in a tightly bonded, pair-living species and identify variables that require further study. We propose that future primate microbiome studies should simultaneously consider environmental, social, and genetic factors to improve our understanding of the relationships among sociality, the microbiome, and primate ecology and evolution.

Preregistered Replication and Extension of "Moral Hypocrisy: Social Groups and the Flexibility of Virtue".

The tendency for people to consider themselves morally good while behaving selfishly is known as moral hypocrisy. Influential work by Valdesolo and DeSteno (2007) found evidence for intergroup moral hypocrisy such that people were more forgiving of transgressions when they were committed by an in-group member than an out-group member. We conducted two experiments to examine moral hypocrisy and group membership in an online paradigm with Prolific workers from the United States: a direct replication of the original work with minimal groups (N = 610; nationally representative) and a conceptual replication with political groups (N = 606; 50% Democrats and 50% Republicans). Although the results did not replicate the original findings, we observed evidence of in-group favoritism in minimal groups and out-group derogation in political groups. The current research finds mixed evidence of intergroup moral hypocrisy and has implications for understanding the contextual dependencies of intergroup bias and partisanship.

[Assessing experiences with discrimination in multiple social groups: invariance analysis of the Explicit Discrimination Scale in university students]. / Aferindo experiências com discriminação em múltiplos grupos sociais: análise de invariância da Escala de Discriminação Explícita em estudantes universitários.

This study evaluated the ability of the Explicit Discrimination Scale (EDS) to produce comparable estimates among respondents according to gender, color/race, and socioeconomic status. Analysis was based on data from two studies with students from Brazilian public universities. An abridged version of the EDS with eight items was evaluated by the alignment method. Findings indicated violation of invariance between color/race and gender groups. Reports of discriminatory experiences had better comparability between socioeconomic status strata. This study showed that EDS should be used with caution, especially to compare discrimination estimates between respondents of different colors/races and genders. The observed violation of invariance reinforces the need for additional research examining whether such a scenario persists in larger and more diverse samples from Brazil.

O objetivo foi avaliar a capacidade da Escala de Discriminação Explícita (EDE) de produzir estimativas comparáveis entre grupos de gênero, cor/raça e posição socioeconômica. A análise se baseou em dados de dois estudos, realizados com estudantes de universidades públicas brasileiras. Uma versão abreviada da EDE com oito itens foi avaliada, utilizando o método alignment (alinhamento). Nossos achados indicaram violação de invariância entre grupos de cor/raça e gênero. Os relatos de experiências discriminatórias tiveram melhor comparabilidade entre estratos de posição socioeconômica. Este estudo demonstrou que a EDE deve ser utilizada com cautela, especialmente para fazer comparações de estimativas de discriminação entre respondentes de cor/raça e gênero distintos. A violação de invariância observada reforça a necessidade de pesquisas adicionais, examinando se tal cenário se mantém em amostras mais amplas e diversas do país.

El objetivo fue evaluar la capacidad de la Escala de Discriminación Explícita (EDE) para producir estimaciones comparables entre grupos de género, color/raza y posición socioeconómica. El análisis se basó en los datos de dos estudios, realizados con estudiantes de universidades públicas brasileñas. Se evaluó una versión abreviada de la EDE con 8 ítems, utilizando el método alignment (alineación). Nuestros hallazgos indicaron una violación de la invariancia entre los grupos de color/raza y género. Los informes de experiencias discriminatorias fueron más comparables entre los estratos de posición socioeconómica. Este estudio demostró que la EDE debe usarse con precaución, especialmente para hacer comparaciones de estimaciones de discriminación entre encuestados distintos de color/raza y género. La violación de la invariancia observada refuerza la necesidad de investigaciones adicionales, examinando si tal escenario se mantiene muestras más amplias y diversas del país.

Conversational AI and equity through assessing GPT-3's communication with diverse social groups on contentious topics.

Autoregressive language models, which use deep learning to produce human-like texts, have surged in prevalence. Despite advances in these models, concerns arise about their equity across diverse populations. While AI fairness is discussed widely, metrics to measure equity in dialogue systems are lacking. This paper presents a framework, rooted in deliberative democracy and science communication studies, to evaluate equity in human-AI communication. Using it, we conducted an algorithm auditing study to examine how GPT-3 responded to different populations who vary in sociodemographic backgrounds and viewpoints on crucial science and social issues: climate change and the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement. We analyzed 20,000 dialogues with 3290 participants differing in gender, race, education, and opinions. We found a substantively worse user experience among the opinion minority groups (e.g., climate deniers, racists) and the education minority groups; however, these groups changed attitudes toward supporting BLM and climate change efforts much more compared to other social groups after the chat. GPT-3 used more negative expressions when responding to the education and opinion minority groups. We discuss the social-technological implications of our findings for a conversational AI system that centralizes diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Social groups and polarization of aesthetic values from symmetry and complexity.

When deciding what images we prefer, our brain must weigh many aesthetic variables, such as symmetry and complexity. To date, aesthetic research has mainly focused on investigating one variable at a time. In this article, we use symmetry and complexity to study the problem of multi aesthetic-variable interactions. For symmetry and complexity, there are two simple interaction hypotheses. The independence hypothesis proposes that the evaluation of aesthetic variables is mutually independent. Meanwhile, Birkhoff's aesthetic-measure hypothesis predicts that people prefer images high in symmetry and low in complexity, and dislike the opposite. To test these hypotheses, we generated images that systematically varied in levels of symmetry and complexity. We then compared the subjects' preference maps to identify regions of likes and dislikes. Unlike the predictions from these hypotheses, we found that most, but not all subjects, formed two distinct natural clusters, termed "islands," in terms of likes and dislikes. We also found that people with more art exposure were less likely to belong to an island. If someone did belong to an island, their gender influenced which cluster they belonged to. We discuss alternate hypotheses, possible mechanisms for the occurrence of islands, and their possible social implications.

The interaction between cortisol and testosterone predicts leadership within rock hyrax social groups.

Group movement leadership is associated with higher risks for those in the front. Leaders are the first to explore new areas and may be exposed to predation. Individual differences in risk-taking behavior may be related to hormonal differences. In challenging circumstances, such as risk-taking leadership that may pose a cost to the leader, cortisol is secreted both to increase the likelihood of survival by restoring homeostasis, and to mediate cooperative behavior. Testosterone too has a well-established role in risk-taking behavior, and the dual-hormone hypothesis posits that the interaction of testosterone and cortisol can predict social behavior. Based on the dual-hormone hypothesis, we investigated here whether the interaction between testosterone and cortisol can predict risk-taking leadership behavior in wild rock hyraxes (Procavia capensis). We used proximity loggers, observations, and playback trials to characterize hyrax leaders in three different leadership contexts that varied in their risk levels. In support of the dual-hormone hypothesis, we found that cortisol and testosterone interactions predict leadership that involves risk. Across different circumstances that involved low or high levels of risk, testosterone was positively related to leadership, but only in individuals (both males and females) with low levels of cortisol. We also found an interaction between these hormone levels and age at the low-risk scenarios. We suggest that the close social interactions and affiliative behavior among hyrax females within small egalitarian groups may make female leadership less risky, and therefore less stressful, and allow female leaders to influence group activities.

Study on the equity of urban green space: Origin, progress, and enlightenment.

Urban green space equity focuses on whether different social groups can equally share the well-being from green space, which is an important issue in the realm of environmental justice. We systematically introduced the origin and development of green space equity, explored its multidimensional progress in conceptual connotation, measurement methodology, phenomenon, mechanism, and regulation, and proposed the enlightenment for deepening the related studies. The green space equity originated from environmental social movement and environmental justice studies, and experienced multilevel evolution in topic constriction and theoretical interpretation. Although the connotation of green space equity was interpreted from various perspectives, its core idea was distributional equality. There was a frequently-used framework for measurement methodology of green space equity, whose spatial scale issue was critical. Due to the differences of characteristics, developmental stages, and institutional backgrounds between Chinese and Western cities, the phenomena and driving mechanisms of green space equity were different. The regulation strategies of green space equity could be summarized into three types, including green distributional equitable strategy, social recognitional justice strategy, and procedural justice orientated strategy. Future studies should deepen the research from the hierarchical logics for practice management, the fine-scale measurement methodology, the interpretation of mechanism for green space inequity in Chinese context, and simulation of differentiated regulation strategies. Social development endows green space equity with more practical tasks and theoretical logics, which is urgent to clarify the research progress to support the future research.

Behavioural individuality determines infection risk in clonal ant colonies.

In social groups, infection risk is not distributed evenly across individuals. Individual behaviour is a key source of variation in infection risk, yet its effects are difficult to separate from other factors (e.g., age). Here, we combine epidemiological experiments with chemical, transcriptomic, and automated behavioural analyses in clonal ant colonies, where behavioural individuality emerges among identical workers. We find that: (1) Caenorhabditis-related nematodes parasitise ant heads and affect their survival and physiology, (2) differences in infection emerge from behavioural variation alone, and reflect spatially-organised division of labour, (3) infections affect colony social organisation by causing infected workers to stay in the nest. By disproportionately infecting some workers and shifting their spatial distribution, infections reduce division of labour and increase spatial overlap between hosts, which should facilitate parasite transmission. Thus, division of labour, a defining feature of societies, not only shapes infection risk and distribution but is also modulated by parasites.

Trialling an optimised social groups intervention in services to enhance social connectedness and mental health in vulnerable young people (TOGETHER): Study protocol for a feasibility randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Calls have been made to rethink the mental health support currently available for young people. This study aims to help re-focus and reduce the inaccessibility of mental health services by offering an adapted version of a theoretically-driven, evidence-based, guided psychosocial intervention known as 'Groups 4 Health' (G4H). To date, the G4H intervention has mainly been trialled in Australia, with promising positive effects on social connection, mental health and well-being. The present study examines the feasibility of running a randomised controlled trial when delivering the G4H intervention for young people in the UK. METHODS: The TOGETHER study is a feasibility randomised controlled trial of an adapted version of the G4H intervention. Participants are aged 16-25, currently experiencing mental health difficulties and recruited from mental health services. The target sample size is 30, with 15 in each trial arm. Participants are randomly allocated to either G4H plus treatment as usual, or treatment as usual alone. The primary outcomes of interest are the feasibility of recruitment, randomisation, data collection and retention to the study at 10 and 14 week follow up, as well as the acceptability, and accessibility of the study protocol and G4H intervention. DISCUSSION: The results of this study will indicate if further optimisation is required to improve the feasibility, acceptability and accessibility of the intervention and study protocol procedures as perceived by end users and practitioners. This offers a significant opportunity to support the local and national demand for accessible, innovative, and effective psychosocial youth mental health support. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN registry (ISRCTN12505807). Registration date: 11/04/2022.

Determination of different social groups' level of knowledge about malaria in a multicultural Amazonian cross-border context.

BACKGROUND: A steady decline in the number of cases of malaria was observed in the 2000s in French Guiana. This enabled regional health policies to shift their public health goal from control to elimination. To include inhabitants in this strategy, the main objective of this study was to describe knowledge about malaria, and related attitudes and practices in persons living in the French Guiana border. METHODS: We conducted a survey in people over 15 years old living in the twelve neighbourhoods of Saint-Georges de l'Oyapock with the highest malaria incidence. It comprised a 147-item questionnaire which collected data on socio-demographic characteristics and included a Knowledge Attitude and Practices survey on malaria. Knowledge-related data were studied using exploratory statistical methods to derive summary variables. A binary variable assessing level of knowledge was proposed and then assessed using exploratory approaches. RESULTS: The mean age of the 844 participants was 37.2 years [15.8], the male/female sex ratio was 0.8. In terms of nationality, 485 (57.5%) participants were Brazilian and 352 (41.7%) French. One third (305, 36.1%) spoke Brazilian Portuguese as their native language, 295 (34.9%) the Amerindian language Palikur, 36 (4.3%) French. The symptoms of malaria and prevention means were poorly known by 213 (25.2%) and 378 (44.8%) respondents, respectively. A quarter (206, 24.4%) did not know that malaria can be fatal. Overall, 251 people (29.7%) had an overall poor level of knowledge about malaria. Being under 25 years old, living in a native Amerindian neighbourhood, having an Amerindian mother tongue language, having risk behaviours related to gold mining were significantly associated with a poor level of knowledge. CONCLUSIONS: This study is the first to describe the poor level of knowledge about malaria in populations living in the malaria endemic border area along the Oyapock river in French Guiana. Results will allow to reinforce, to diversify and to culturally adapt prevention messages and health promotion to increase their effectiveness with a view to quickly reaching the goal of malaria elimination through empowerment.

The development of pressure scale toward marriage and fertility in social structure.

In some cultures, giving birth and marriage adds value to women, while being single can cause women to be exposed to social and individual pressures. There are currently no instruments available in the literature for assessing how pressure women feel to be married and have children. This study aimed to develop the Marriage and Fertility Pressure Scale (PSMF) by measuring the marriage and fertility pressure on single women. The study contacted 360 single women via women's health and social groups on social networking sites. Cronbach's alpha values of the marriage pressure and fertility pressure were 0.94 and 0.82, respectively. The factor analysis of the marriage and fertility pressure subscales revealed a six-dimensional structure explaining 59.26 percent and 60.54 percent of the total variance, respectively. In conclusion, this study was important in developing a highly reliable and valid PSMF measurement tool to measure the pressure on women in terms of marriage and fertility. The widespread use of the scale in public health research will increase the sensitivity and awareness of the people about the pressure on single women. Moreover, this scale will contribute to the evaluation of the social and individual pressure differences in the research to be carried out on marriage and childbirth between societies.

Proceedings of the Collaborative Research Network Meeting at the GRAPPA 2022 Annual Meeting.

At the Group for Research and Assessment of Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis (GRAPPA) 2022 annual meeting, the Collaborative Research Network (CRN) met to present updates on several projects. These included the GRAPPA-Industry biomarker projects, Axial Psoriatic Arthritis Molecular and Clinical Characterisation Study, Axial Involvement in Psoriatic Arthritis Cohort (AXIS) study, and the Health Initiatives in Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis Consortium European States (HIPPOCRATES). The meeting concluded with a discussion on pathways to further academia-industry collaboration.

Social group composition modulates the role of last male sperm precedence in post-copulatory sexual selection.

In many species, the order in which males mate with a female explains much of the variation in paternity arising from post-copulatory sexual selection. Research in Drosophila suggests that mating order may account for the majority of the variance in male reproductive success. However, the effects of mating order on paternity bias might not be static but could potentially vary with social or environmental factors. To test this idea, we used an existing dataset, collated from an experiment we previously published (Morimoto et al., PLoS One, 11, 2016, e0154468), with the addition of unpublished data from the same experiment. These previous experiments manipulated larval density in Drosophila melanogaster which generated variation in male and female body size, assembled groups of individuals of different sizes, and measured the mating success and paternity share of focal males. The data presented here provides information on each focal male's mating order and the frequency in which focal males remated with same females ('repetitive matings'). We combined this information with our previously reported focal male reproductive success to partition variance in paternity into male mating order and repetitive matings across groups that differed in the body size composition of males and females. We found, as expected, that male mating order explained a considerable portion of the variance in male paternity. However, we also found that the impact of male mating order on male paternity was influenced by the body size composition of groups. Specifically, males that tended to mate last had a greater paternity advantage, and displayed lower variance, in groups containing a heterogenous mixture male body sizes than in groups with a single male body size. Repetitive mating only had a minor contribution to the variance in male paternity share across all experiments. Overall, our findings contribute to the growing body of research showing that post-copulatory sexual selection is subject to socio-ecological influences.

Epidemic control in networks with cliques.

Social units, such as households and schools, can play an important role in controlling epidemic outbreaks. In this work, we study an epidemic model with a prompt quarantine measure on networks with cliques (a clique is a fully connected subgraph representing a social unit). According to this strategy, newly infected individuals are detected and quarantined (along with their close contacts) with probability f. Numerical simulations reveal that epidemic outbreaks in networks with cliques are abruptly suppressed at a transition point f_{c}. However, small outbreaks show features of a second-order phase transition around f_{c}. Therefore, our model can exhibit properties of both discontinuous and continuous phase transitions. Next, we show analytically that the probability of small outbreaks goes continuously to 1 at f_{c} in the thermodynamic limit. Finally, we find that our model exhibits a backward bifurcation phenomenon.

Shared social groups or shared experiences? The effect of shared knowledge on children's perspective-taking.

Although the ability to consider others' visual perspectives to interpret ambiguous communication emerges during childhood, people sometimes fail to attend to their partner's perspective. Two studies investigated whether 4- to 6-year-olds show a "closeness-communication bias" in their consideration of a partner's perspective in a communication task. Participants played a game that required them to take their partner's visual perspective in order to interpret an ambiguous instruction. If children, like adults, perform worse when they overestimate the extent to which their perspective is aligned with that of a partner, then they should make more perspective-taking errors when interacting with a socially close partner compared with a more socially distant partner. In Study 1, social closeness was based on belonging to the same social group. In Study 2, social closeness was based on caregiving, a long-standing social relationship with a close kinship bond. Although social group membership did not affect children's consideration of their partner's perspective, children did make more perspective-taking errors when interacting with a close caregiver compared with a novel experimenter. These findings suggest that close personal relationships may be more likely to lead children to overestimate perspective alignment and hinder children's perspective-taking than shared social group membership, and they highlight important questions about the mechanisms underlying the effects of partner characteristics in perspective-taking tasks.