Does viewing pornography damage your relationship? In this episode we look at two recent research studies that seek to answer this question using very different methods. Also, does Trump’s red “power tie” really make him appear more dominant?
Does viewing pornography have adverse effects on your relationship? Caden Crawford/Flickr
The articles covered in the show:
Kohut, T., Fisher, W. A., & Campbell, L. (in press). Perceived effects of pornography on the couple relationship: Initial findings of open-ended, participant-informed, “bottom-up” research. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 1-18. View summary
Kramer, R. S. S. (2016). The red power(less) tie: Perceptions of political leaders wearing red. Evolutionary Psychology, 14(2). View summary
Perry, S. L. (in press). Does viewing pornography reduce marital quality over time? Evidence from longitudinal data. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 1-11. View summary
Tuesday, September 27, 2016
Download the MP3 Men are more attractive if they are intelligent, but what do smarts do for feminine appeal? We also find out whether p...
Men are more attractive if they are intelligent, but what do smarts do for feminine appeal? We also find out whether physically attractive women are more interested in short-term flings or serious long-term relationships.
Karbowski, A., Deja, D., & Zawisza, M. (2016). Perceived female intelligence as economic bad in partner choice. Personality and Individual Differences, 102, 217-222. View summary
Fisher, C. I., Hahn, A. C., DeBruine, L. M., & Jones, B. C. (2016). Is women's sociosexual orientation related to their physical attractiveness? Personality and Individual Differences, 101, 396-399. View summary
Tuesday, August 30, 2016
Download the MP3 Do opposites attract? We look at two studies of couples who are different in some way. Are couple who don't match i...
Do opposites attract? We look at two studies of couples who are different in some way. Are couple who don't match in attractiveness less trusting of another? And do couples who have different body shapes attract prejudice and discrimination?
Is your partner bigger or smaller than you, and what does this mean for your relationship? bingham30069/Flickr
The articles covered in the show:
Collisson, B., Howell, J. L., Rusbasan, D., & Rosenfeld, E. (in press). “Date someone your own size”: Prejudice and discrimination toward mixed-weight relationships. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships. Read summary
Oltmanns, J. R., Markey, P. M., & French, J. E. (in press). Dissimilarity in physical attractiveness within romantic dyads and mate retention behaviors. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships. Read summary
Just after I posted this episode, I read about this new study by Sela and colleagues which was also really interesting: it's like the Oltmanns' mate retention study except with self-ratings of attractiveness.
Tuesday, July 26, 2016
Download the MP3 Something more than friends. We look at three new studies on attraction to opposite-sex friends. How do men and women ...
Something more than friends. We look at three new studies on attraction to opposite-sex friends. How do men and women differ in their attraction to friends? And can you make a friend fall in love with you by falling in love with them first?
What a sickeningly cheerful bunch of friends. No doubt they are having lots of sex with each other, and we can only hope that the group will soon implode in a spiral of jealousy.Miguel Angel/Flickr
The articles covered in the show:
Bleske-Rechek, A., Joseph, W. E., Williquette, H., & Donovan, B. (in press). Sex differences in young adults' attraction to opposite-sex friends: Natural sampling versus mental concepts. Evolutionary Psychological Science. Read paper
Lemay Jr., E. P., & Wolf, N. R. (2016). Projection of romantic and sexual desire in opposite-sex friendships: How wishful thinking creates a self-fulfilling prophecy. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 42(7), 864-878. Read summary
Mogilski, J. K. & L. L. M. Welling (in press). Staying friends with an ex: Sex and dark personality traits predict motivations for post-relationship friendship. Personality and Individual Differences. Read summary
Tuesday, June 28, 2016
In this episode, how do our genitals affect the psychology of attraction and sex? We look at new research on female genital mutilation and i...
In this episode, how do our genitals affect the psychology of attraction and sex? We look at new research on female genital mutilation and its effects on women's sexuality, and find out whether a woman is more likely to experience an orgasm if her man has a longer than average penis.
Watch out, mate. You’ll have someone’s eye out. Enrique Lin/Flickr
The articles covered in the show:
Booksmythe, I., Head, M. L., Keogh, J. S., & Jennions, M. D. (in press). Fitness consequences of artificial selection on relative male genital size. Nature Communications, 7, 11597. Read summary
Drasa Jr., K. M., & Vasili, V. (2016). Which female prefer longer penises? International Journal of Science and Research, 5(5), 108-111.
Onyishi, I. E., Prokop, P., Okafor, C. O., & Pham, M. N. (2016). Female genital cutting restricts sociosexuality among the Igbo people of Southeast Nigeria. Evolutionary Psychology, 14(2). Read summary
Tuesday, May 31, 2016
We discover why beauty is in the nose of the beholder in this odor special. We'll find out whether spraying scented deodorant all over y...
We discover why beauty is in the nose of the beholder in this odor special. We'll find out whether spraying scented deodorant all over your body can make your smell more masculine or feminine, and we'll also learn if a man's whole mating psychology is turned topsy turvy when he catches a whiff of female pheromones.
Also, this is episode 100 of the podcast so if you want to send me lots of gifts then go right ahead.
Scents -- whether natural or artificial -- can influence what we find attractive and even how we see ourselves. J. Sibiga/Flickr
The articles covered in the show:
Allen, C., Cobey, K. D., Havlíček, J., & Roberts, S. C. (in press). The impact of artificial fragrances on the assessment of mate quality cues in body odor. Evolution and Human Behavior. Read summary
Williams, M. N., & Jacobson, A. (2016). Effect of copulins on rating of female attractiveness, mate-guarding, and self-perceived sexual desirability. Evolutionary Psychology, 14(2). Read summary
Wednesday, May 11, 2016
Fertility and fairness: We look at how the menstrual cycle influences women's sharing behaviour, and find out why your hormones (and the...
Fertility and fairness: We look at how the menstrual cycle influences women's sharing behaviour, and find out why your hormones (and the hormones of other women) have an impact on what you feel is fair.
New research suggests that, when women are most fertile, they demand more from their exchanges with other women. Dwayne Bent/Flickr
The articles covered in the show:
Eisenbruch, A. B., & Roney, J. R. (2016). Conception risk and the ultimatum game: When fertility is high, women demand more. Personality and Individual Differences, 98, 272-274. Read summary
Necka, E. A., Puts, D. A., Dimitroff, S. J., & Norman, G. J. (in press). Other women’s fertility moderates female resource distribution across the menstrual cycle. Evolution and Human Behavior. Read summary
Tuesday, April 05, 2016
Are you sick of how you smell? We investigate the link between susceptibility to disease and attraction to the body odour of others and ours...
Are you sick of how you smell? We investigate the link between susceptibility to disease and attraction to the body odour of others and ourselves. Also, how do women choose to wear red clothes?
Our natural perfume can attract, or repel, potential mates: and sometimes ourselves! wackystuff/Flickr
The articles covered in the show:
Muggleton, N. K., & Fincher, C. L. (in press). The effects of disease vulnerability on preferences for self-similar scent. Evolutionary Psychological Science. Read paper
Niesta Kayser, D., Agthe, M., & Maner, J. K. (2016). Strategic sexual signals: Women's display versus avoidance of the color red depends on the attractiveness of an anticipated interaction partner. PLoS One, 11(3), e0148501. Read paper
Wednesday, March 09, 2016
The perils of dating your boss: do workplace romances have a positive or negative effect on your job prospects? And predicting the sex of yo...
The perils of dating your boss: do workplace romances have a positive or negative effect on your job prospects? And predicting the sex of your child: do women who prefer a certain type of man think they're more likely to give birth to boys or girls?
I don't think donning a giant shower cap is going to attract anyone, but OK... Gwendal Uguen/Flickr
The articles covered in the show:
Chan-Serafin, S., Teo, L., Minbashian, A., Cheng, D., & Wang, L. (in press). The perils of dating your boss: The role of hierarchical workplace romance and sex on evaluators’ career advancement decisions for lower status romance participants. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships. Read summary
Palmer-Hague, J. L., & Watson, N. V. (2016). Predicted offspring sex is related to women’s preferences for dominance in men. Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences, 10(1), 10-28. Read summary
Tuesday, February 09, 2016
Let's take a walk on the wild side as we discover how a preference for macho men might be related to where we like to take an evening st...
Let's take a walk on the wild side as we discover how a preference for macho men might be related to where we like to take an evening stroll. We'll also find out why sisters agree—and disagree—over what constitutes an attractive partner.
Women may prefer dominant men because they make good bodyguards. Warner Bros Entertainment
The articles covered in the show:
Ryder, H., Maltby, J., Rai, L., Jones, P., & Flowe, H. D. (in press). Women's fear of crime and preference for formidable mates: How specific are the underlying psychological mechanisms? Evolution and Human Behavior. Read summary
Biegler, R., & Kennair, L. E. O. (2016). Sisterly love: Within-generation differences in ideal partner for sister and self. Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences, 10(1), 29-42. Read summary
Thursday, January 14, 2016
What women want: we investigate whether women's preference for taller men leads to a lifetime of happiness, and find out if it's mor...
What women want: we investigate whether women's preference for taller men leads to a lifetime of happiness, and find out if it's more important for a man to be generous than handsome.
"Oh, FJ-2547, you really shouldn't have!" Is it more important for a man to be generous than handsome? Kristina Alexanderson / Flickr
The articles covered in the show:
Farrelly, D., Clemson, P., & Guthrie, M. (2016). Are women’s mate preferences for altruism also influenced by physical attractiveness? Evolutionary Psychology, 14(1). Read summary
Sohn, K. (2016). Does a taller husband make his wife happier? Personality and Individual Differences, 91, 14-21. Read summary
Tuesday, December 29, 2015
I recently attended the Galton Institute's conference on mate choice, and was lucky to grab an interview with Prof. Melinda Mills, head ...
I recently attended the Galton Institute's conference on mate choice, and was lucky to grab an interview with Prof. Melinda Mills, head of The University of Oxford's Department of Sociology. We spoke about Melinda's research on ethnicity and internet dating, why attitudes to migration shape who we are willing to date, and discussed some of the difficulties inherent in studying dating preferences on the web. I also talk about some new research on selfies and who takes them.
Potârcă, G., & Mills, M. (2015). Racial preferences in online dating across European countries. European Sociological Review, 31(3), 326-341. Read summary
Sorakowska, A., Oleszkiewicz, A., Frackowiak, T., Pisanski, K., Chmiel, A., & Sorokowski, P. (2016). Selfies and personality: Who posts self-portrait photographs? Personality and Individual Differences, 90, 119-123. Read summary
This is the archive for the Psychology of Attractiveness Podcast, a science show covering the most interesting and cutting edge research on the psychology of attraction and relationships. The podcast was active between 2009 and 2019. All episodes remain available.
The podcast was produced by Dr Robert Burriss, a psychologist who has held research posts at universities in the UK, USA, and Switzerland.
