Mating Intelligence, Self-Esteem, Self-Perceived Attractiveness, And Partner Choice

The present research was conducted in two studies. The first study examined how mating intelligence, self-esteem, and self-perceived attractiveness are related to each other. The second study examined how these three constructs relate to partner choice. It was hypothesized that participants who score high on mating intelligence will also score high on self-esteem and self-perceived attractiveness. Furthermore, those that score high on self-esteem will also score high on self-perceived attractiveness. It was expected that the results would be more significant for women than for men. For the second study, it was hypothesized that participants who score high on all three constructs will be more likely to select the attractive partner. The results did not show a significant interaction between mating intelligence, self-esteem, and self-perceived attractiveness. They also did not indicate higher significance levels for women. However, there were significant effects between the constructs. Additionally, participants with an average or a high score on mating intelligence were more likely to select the attractive partner.

Composition of Extrafloral Nectar Influences Interactions between the Myrmecophyte Humboldtia brunonis and its Ant Associates

Ant-plant interactions often are mediated by extrafloral nectar (EFN) composition that may influence plant visitation by ants. Over a 300 km range in the Indian Western Ghats, we investigated the correlation between the EFN composition of the myrmecophytic ant-plant Humboldtia brunonis (Fabaceae) and the number and species of ants visiting EFN. EFN composition varied among H. brunonis populations and between plant organs (floral bud vs. young leaf EFN). In general, EFN was rich in sugars with small quantities of amino acids, especially essential amino acids, and had moderate invertase activity. In experiments at the study sites with sugar and amino acid solutions and with leaf or floral bud EFN mimics, dominant EFN-feeding ants differentiated between solutions as well as between mimics. The castration parasite Crematogaster dohrni (northern study site) was the least selective and did not exhibit any clear feeding preferences, while the largely trophobiont-tending non-protective Myrmicaria brunnea (middle study site) preferred higher sucrose concentrations and certain essential/non-essential amino acid mixtures. The mutualistic Technomyrmex albipes (southern study site) preferred sucrose over glucose or fructose solutions and consumed the leaf EFN mimic to a greater extent than the floral bud EFN mimic. This young leaf EFN mimic had low sugar concentrations, the lowest viscosity and sugar: amino acid ratio, was rich in essential amino acids, and appeared ideally suited to the digestive physiology of T. albipes. This preference for young leaf EFN may explain the greater protection afforded to young leaves than to floral buds by T. albipes, and may also help to resolve ant-pollinator conflicts. The differential response of dominant ants to sugar, amino acids, or solution viscosity suggests that plants can fine-tune their interactions with local ants via EFN composition. Thus, EFN can mediate local partner-choice mechanisms in ant-plant interactions.

Critérios utilizados na seleção de parceiras amorosas em relacionamentos de curto e longo prazo entre mulheres de orientação homossexual em idade reprodutiva

Diferentes critérios utilizados para a escolha de parceiros entre homens e mulheres têm sido identificados. Essa diferença, provavelmente, origina-se pelos diferentes graus de investimento parental entre gêneros. Mulheres parecem ter predisposição a selecionar parceiros com características de investimento emocional, material e com bons indicativos de saúde. Já homens podem utilizar os mesmos critérios que as mulheres, porém dão mais importância que estas à aparência física e juventude. Em relacionamentos de curto e longo prazo a literatura indica que há uma diferença nas escolhas entre mulheres. No primeiro caso, elas têm demonstrando preferir características relacionadas à saúde física, comparado ao segundo tipo de relacionamento, no qual a ênfase tem sido voltada à parceiros bons provedores de recursos e com alto nível de investimento emocional. Há poucas pesquisas que investigaram os critérios que mulheres homossexuais utilizam na escolha de suas parceiras amorosas. Estudos que investigaram a origem da homossexualidade apontaram a possibilidade de influências biológicas. Em termos evolutivos, a homossexualidade poderia ter surgido, em parte, como subproduto da evolução do prazer característico das atividades sexuais. Se esta hipótese estiver correta, o potencial para o desenvolvimento de uma orientação homo, hetero ou bissexual pode ser potencializado por ambientes característicos dos indivíduos em particular. Tal hipótese pode sugerir que os mecanismos psicológicos para escolha de parceiros sejam semelhantes entre as mulheres de variadas orientações sexuais. Para testar esta hipótese, investigou-se as preferências na escolha de parceiras de 100 mulheres em período reprodutivo, entre 18 e 40 anos, que se auto-classificaram como “homossexual exclusivo” ou “homossexual, e às vezes heterossexual”. Para a coleta de dados foram utilizados dois instrumentos, um para seleção das participantes e outro para a coleta de informações. O instrumento de coleta de dados foi dividido em: 1) Dados Demográficos; 2) Dados da parceira; 3) Critérios valorizados na escolha de uma parceira; 4) Critérios valorizados na escolha de uma parceira de curto e longo prazo; 5) Variáveis relacionadas ao desempenho sexual. As participantes foram contatadas pelo método a) “snow ball”, b) bares frequentados por grupos homossexuais e c) associações GLBT. Especificamente, investigou-se as variáveis envolvidas na escolha de parceiras de curto e longo prazo e comparou-se os resultados com os dados coletados por Cruz (2009), com mulheres heterossexuais em período reprodutivo. Os resultados indicaram que há maior preferência por atributos físicos em relacionamentos de curto prazo entre mulheres homo e heterossexuais. Atributos referentes à formação de vínculo foram mais solicitados em relacionamentos de longo prazo, possivelmente porque 75,6% dessas mulheres têm renda e não dependem do parceiro(a) para o provimento na relação, diminuindo a necessidade de parceiro(a)s que invistam recursos materiais. Mulheres homossexuais parecem ter os mesmos padrões de escolha de parceiros que heterossexuais.

Realidade ou ficção? A influência da autopercepção como parceiro romântico e da autoestima na escolha e preferência de parceiros românticos

In general, men and women look for characteristics that can indicate improvement of their reproductive success in their romantic partners. However, partner choice is not only based on what the individual want in a partner, but he/she also takes into consideration how they perceive themselves in a determined environment, in a way that self-perception can change according to the context where the individual is inserted in. Besides the environment, self-esteem can be a factor that modifies romantic partner preferences and the way that people choose these partners for being able to influence how people evaluate themselves. Most of the studies that originate today’s universal standards in the study of romantic partner were conducted with undergraduate students, which may limit the coverage of the conclusions for contemplating people of the same educational level and probably also socioeconomic status (SES). The present research, held in Brazil, where the social inequality rate is high, and part in Canada, country with low social inequality, had as goal verifying romantic partners preferences and choices and self-evaluation as romantic partners in different educational level and SES. Men, mainly of low SES, tend to prioritize social status when looking for a romantic partner while the universal pattern is the preference for physical attractiveness, and women of low SES seem to be aware of this preference when expressing that social status is important for their self-perception. In addition, the results corroborate the influence of the context, selfesteem, and SES in the self-perception as a romantic partner, though the latter two appear to modulate how the is the influence of the context on participants’ perception. Moreover, this research also indicated that the preferences appear to represent the choices for the most important characteristics for each sex, being the other characteristics probably modulated by the quantity of available participants in the environment.

Características preferidas por hombres y mujeres que buscan pareja estable de su mismo sexo

Las preferencias en elección de pareja de hombres y mujeres interesados en establecer relaciones a largo plazo con personas de su mismo sexo biológico ha sido un tema de interés para el análisis evolucionista, ya que existe debate frente a los resultados de las investigaciones y los planteamientos de las teorías de inversión parental y estrategias sexuales. Con el objetivo de identificar qué características son preferidas por hombres y mujeres interesados en establecer una relación a largo plazo con personas de su mismo sexo biológico y contribuir a esta discusión, se llevó a cabo un estudio descriptivo en el que analizamos el contenido de 732 perfiles de hombres y mujeres (H=491; M=241) que buscaban una relación estable con parejas de su mismo sexo biológico. Las categorías analizadas fueron: edad, atractivo físico (apariencia, contextura, estatura y peso), estatus socioeconómico (situación laboral, nivel educativo y zona de residencia buscada), estado civil, número de hijos y hábitos saludables (fumar y beber). Los resultados encontrados muestran que los hombres presentan rangos amplios en las características deseadas en una pareja (edad=16.87; estatura=11.37; peso=15.23) y además buscan personas menores a la edad ofrecida (M=-4.17 años). En las mujeres se encontró que los rangos son más restringidos (edad=13.85; estatura=9.83; peso=12.77) y además prefieren parejas mayores (M=2.89 años). A nivel general, se evidencia que los resultados encontrados en la mayoría de las variables podrían indicar congruencia con los planteamientos de la teoría de inversión parental y estrategias sexuales; sin embargo, en otras variables los resultados no son claros.

Context-dependent mate choice in the sand goby, Pomatoschistus minutus

The results presented in this thesis show that all females of a given population do not necessarily choose similar mating partners. Specifically, partner preferences of a fish, the sand goby (Pomatoschistus minutus), varied among individual females and depended on the social context at the time of choice. I also show that females assess multiple mate choice cues simultaneously; partner preferences were based more strongly on an interaction effect between different choice cues than on any individual cue. Furthermore, I found that preferred matings involved fitness benefits in the form of increased offspring success, but these benefits were not significantly affected by mate compatibility. Hence, mate choice for partner compatibility does not appear to be an important determinant of the observed variation in female mate preferences in this species. The context-dependency of female mating preferences revealed is relevant to how genetic variation in sexually selected traits might be maintained: as the mating success of a certain male type varies according to the choice context, directional sexual selection on male traits is shown to be less intense than generally thought making for a slower loss of genetic variation in these traits. Mating preferences of sand gobies were assessed by giving females a binary choice between males that differed in body size and/or other focus traits. These association preferences were found to be sexually motivated, repeatable and to correspond to actual mating decisions.

Experimental Economics Meets Language Choice

Roughly one half of World's languages are in danger of extinction. The endangered languages, spoken by minorities, typically compete with powerful languages such as En- glish or Spanish. Consequently, the speakers of minority languages have to consider that not everybody can speak their language, converting the language choice into strategic,coordination-like situation. We show experimentally that the displacement of minority languages may be partially explained by the imperfect information about the linguistic type of the partner, leading to frequent failure to coordinate on the minority language even between two speakers who can and prefer to use it. The extent of miscoordination correlates with how minoritarian a language is and with the real-life linguistic condition of subjects: the more endangered a language the harder it is to coordinate on its use, and people on whom the language survival relies the most acquire behavioral strategies that lower its use. Our game-theoretical treatment of the issue provides a new perspective for linguistic policies.

Same-sex gaze attraction influences mate-choice copying in humans.

Mate-choice copying occurs when animals rely on the mating choices of others to inform their own mating decisions. The proximate mechanisms underlying mate-choice copying remain unknown. To address this question, we tracked the gaze of men and women as they viewed a series of photographs in which a potential mate was pictured beside an opposite-sex partner; the participants then indicated their willingness to engage in a long-term relationship with each potential mate. We found that both men and women expressed more interest in engaging in a relationship with a potential mate if that mate was paired with an attractive partner. Men and women's attention to partners varied with partner attractiveness and this gaze attraction influenced their subsequent mate choices. These results highlight the prevalence of non-independent mate choice in humans and implicate social attention and reward circuitry in these decisions.

Female choice in the red mason bee, Osmia rufa (L.) (Megachilidae)

Females are often thought to use several cues and more than one modality in selection of a mate, possibly because they offer complementary information on a mate's suitability. In the red mason bee, Osmia rufa, we investigated the criteria a female uses to choose a mating partner. We hypothesized that the female uses male thorax vibrations and size as signs of male viability and male odor for kin discrimination and assessment of genetic relatedness. We therefore compared males that had been accepted by a female for copulation with those rejected, in terms of their size, their immediate precopulatory vibrations (using laser vibrometry), the genetic relatedness of unmated and mated pairs (using microsatellite markers) and emitted volatiles (using chemical analyses). Females showed a preference for intermediate-sized males that were slightly larger than the modal male size. Furthermore, male precopulatory vibration burst duration was significantly longer in males accepted for copulation compared with rejected males. Vibrations may indicate vigor and assure that males selected by females are metabolically active and healthy. Females preferentially copulated with males that were genetically more closely related, possibly to avoid outbreeding depression. Volatiles of the cuticular surface differed significantly between accepted and rejected males in the relative amounts of certain hydrocarbons, although the relationship between male odor and female preference was complex. Females may therefore also use differences in odor bouquet to select among males. Our investigations show that O. rufa females appear to use multiple cues in selecting a male. Future investigations are needed to demonstrate whether odor plays a role in kin recognition and how the multiple cues are integrated in mate choice by females.

Medical students' personal choice for mode of delivery in Santa Catarina, Brazil: a cross-sectional, quantitative study

Background: The increase in overall rates of cesarean sections (CS) in Brazil causes concern and it appears that multiple factors are involved in this fact. In 2009, undergraduate students in the first and final years of medical school at the University of Santa Catarina answered questionnaires regarding their choice of mode of delivery. The aim of the study was to evaluate whether the education process affects decision-making regarding the waay of childbirth preferred by medical students.Methods: A cross-sectional, quantitative study was conducted based on data obtained from questionnaires applied to medical students. The questions addressed four different scenarios in childbirth, as follows: under an uneventful pregnancy; the mode of delivery for a pregnant woman under their care; the best choice as a healthcare manager and lastly, choosing the birth of their own child. For each circumstance, there was an open question to explain their choice.Results: A total of 189 students answered the questionnaires. For any uneventful pregnancy and for a pregnant woman under their care, 8.46% of the students would opt for CS. As a healthcare manager, only 2.64% of the students would recommend CS. For these three scenarios, the answers of the students in the first year did not differ from those given by students in the sixth year. In the case of the student's own or a partner's pregnancy, 41.4% of those in the sixth year and 16.8% of those in the first year would choose a CS. A positive association was found between being a sixth year student and a personal preference for CS according to logistic regression (OR = 2.91; 95%CI: 1.03-8.30). Pain associated with vaginal delivery was usually the reason for choosing a CS.Conclusions: A higher number of sixth year students preferred a CS for their own pregnancy (or their partner's) compared to first year students. Pain associated with vaginal delivery was the most common reason given for haven chosen a CS. The students' preference for childbirth changed over time during their graduation in favor of cesarean sections. This finding deserves considerable attention when structuring medical education in Obstetrics.

No other choice but co-operation. The background of Lithuania's and Latvia's relations with Belarus. OSW Commentary No. 99, 2013-01-04

For years now Belarus has been a key economic partner for Lithuania and Latvia. These two Baltic states have well-developed port infrastructure and thus provide what are the geographically closest and also the cheapest exit to international outlets for Belarusia’s petrochemical and chemical industries, both of which are export-oriented. As a result, the transit of Belarusian goods is one of the major sources of income for the state budgets of the two countries. This economic interdependence has affected the stance Riga and Vilnius take on Minsk at the EU forum. When in February and March 2012 the Council of the European Union was resolving the issue of imposing economic sanction on selected Belarusian companies which backed Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s regime, this triggered a discussion on what the point of such measures is and on possible economic losses in Lithuania and Latvia. As a result of firm resistance from Latvia (which was backed by Slovenia), the Council removed those companies which were most strongly engaged in co-operation with Latvian partners from the list of those to be covered with economic sanctions. Lithuania, which is more critical of the political situation in Belarus, did not express its official opposition to the sanctions. Despite some differences in the policies adopted by Riga and Vilnius, it turned out that Minsk could count on strong support from local business groups in both of these countries, as these groups fear impediments in this highly profitable co-operation and also retaliation from the Belarusian government. The existing economic bonds mean that neither Vilnius nor Riga have any other choice but to co-operate with Belarus. They must therefore adopt a carefully balanced policy towards Minsk. At the same time, being EU member states, they do not officially deny that a problem exists with the violation of human rights by Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s regime. It is for this reason that the governments of Latvia and Lithuania will be interested in maintaining the status quo in relations with Minsk. On the other hand, Belarus in a way also has no other choice but to use the ports in Lithuania and Latvia, and this will prevent it from excessively escalating tension in relations with these two countries.

The European Union and global security: is the EU becoming the indispensable partner? EU Centre Singapore Background Brief No. 11, April 2014

The European Union has developed new capacity as a security actor in third countries, in particular in the area of crisis management. Over the past two decades the EU has deployed numerous missions, both of a civilian and military nature. Moreover the EU has defined its ability to intervene all along the ‘crisis cycle’, (from prevention to mediation, from peace-keeping to post-conflict reconstruction) and using all tools at its disposal (taking a ‘comprehensive approach’). However the EU is still not perceived as a major security provider globally and interventions remain limited to some geographic areas, mostly in its neighbourhood and Africa, with just a few examples further afield. The EU also tends to avoid taking direct action and seems to prefer partnership arrangements with other players. How can we explain the growing activism and number of EU’s intervention with the low impact and lack of visibility? Can we expect the EU to become more active in the future, taking on more responsibility and leading roles in addressing conflict situations? This paper will argue that the main reason for the EU’s hesitant role in crisis management is to be found in the weak decision-making provisions for EU’s security interventions, as one of the few policy areas still subject to consensus amongst 28 European Union Member States. Lack of a clearer delegation of competence or stronger coordination structures is closely linked to low legitimacy for the EU to take more robust action as a security actor. In order to overcome this legitimacy problem, and in order to facilitate consensus amongst Member States, the EU thus privileges partnership arrangements with other actors who can provide legitimacy and know-how, such as the UN or the African Union. As there is no political desire in the EU for tighter decision-making in this area, we can expect that the EU will continue to play a supporting rather than leading role in crisis management, becoming the partner of choice as it deepens its experience. However this does not mean that the EU is playing just a secondary role in the wider area of security, in particular when looking at nontraditional security. Looking at the role of the EU in Asia, where the EU has deployed just two missions, this paper will offer a broader assessment of the EU as a partner in the area of security taking into account different types of actions. The paper will argue that in order to strengthen cooperation with Asian partners in the area of crisis management, the EU will need to define better what it is able to offer, present its actions as part of an overall strategy rather than ad-hoc and piecemeal, and enter into partnership arrangements with different players in the region.

Mate choice in the brown thornbill (Acanthiza pusilla): are settlement decisions, divorce and extrapair mating complementary strategies?

In socially monogamous birds, females may express mate preferences when they first select a breeding partner, through divorce and subsequent breeding dispersal to a new partner and through extrapair mating. We examined settlement patterns, divorce and breeding dispersal in a sedentary Australian passerine, the brown thornbill (Acanthiza pusilla), in relation to two traits known to influence extrapair paternity (male age and male size). Settlement decisions, divorce and territory switching behaviour were all female strategies that reduced their likelihood of breeding with 1-year-old males. Females preferred to settle in territories with 2+ -year-old males, were more likely to divorce 1-year-old males, and only switched territories if they had an opportunity to form a new pair bond with an old male. In contrast, female settlement and divorce decisions were not influenced by male size. Female thornbills obtain a direct benefit from preferring older males as social mates because breeding success improves with male age in brown thornbills. Nevertheless, divorce rates in this species were low (14% of pair bonds were terminated by divorce), and individuals rarely switched territories following the death of a mate. Both of these mating strategies appeared to be primarily constrained by the distance adults moved to initiate a new pair bond (1-2 territories) and by the limited availability of unpaired older males in the immediate neighbourhood.

Grafisk profilering i HRbranschen : Processen bakom skapandet av logotyp och grafisk profil till Dala HR Partner

Föreliggande undersökning genomförs i samarbete med uppdragsgivaren och HR-företaget Dala HR Partner. Syftet med undersökningen är att ta reda på hur logotyp och grafisk profil bör se ut för att på bästa sätt förmedla företagets mål och värderingar, seriös, kompetent, effektiv och trygg. En visuell innehållsanalys utfördes med syftet att få en bättre förståelse för hur andra HR-företag profilerar sig. Semi-strukturerade intervjuer utfördes med Dala HR Partners målgrupp samt en kompletterande enkätundersökning med personer med erfarenhet inom grafisk design för att få åsikter både från lekmän och yrkeserfarna. De olika materialinsamlingsmetoderna gav oss bra underlag till framtagningen av logotyp och grafisk profil som på bästa sätt skulle förmedla Dala HR Partners mål och värderingar, samt uppfylla de komponenter som utgör en fullständig grafisk identitet. Från undersökningen har det framgått att det är viktigt med en tanke bakom det visuella materialet för att egenskaperna ska förmedlas på bästa sätt. Valet av exempelvis färg och form har betydelse i hur företagets värderingar kommuniceras. Resultat av den slutgiltiga logotypen och grafiska profilen visar att de i stor utsträckning förmedlar Dala HR Partners värderingar och mål, seriös, kompetent, effektiv och trygg, vilket var målet med den här undersökningen och vårt examensarbete.