Andrea L. Meltzer

Though They May Be Unaware, Newlyweds Implicitly Know Whether Their Marriage Will Be Satisfying

Newlywed Game? The extent to which our “gut” feelings influence our social interactions has been a matter of debate. Social psychologists have sometimes been criticized for their reliance on short-term analyses of undergraduates as test subjects. McNulty et al. (p. 1119) measured explicit and implicit attitudes of newlywed couples toward one another twice a year for 4 years. Over time, the implicit or unaware evaluations of the relationship predicted changes of marital satisfaction, whereas the explicit or conscious evaluations did not. Relationship satisfaction is captured by implicit measures of spousal attitudes. For decades, social psychological theories have posited that the automatic processes captured by implicit measures have implications for social outcomes. Yet few studies have demonstrated any long-term implications of automatic processes, and some scholars have begun to question the relevance and even the validity of these theories. At baseline of our longitudinal study, 135 newlywed couples (270 individuals) completed an explicit measure of their conscious attitudes toward their relationship and an implicit measure of their automatic attitudes toward their partner. They then reported their marital satisfaction every 6 months for the next 4 years. We found no correlation between spouses’ automatic and conscious attitudes, which suggests that spouses were unaware of their automatic attitudes. Further, spouses’ automatic attitudes, not their conscious ones, predicted changes in their marital satisfaction, such that spouses with more positive automatic attitudes were less likely to experience declines in marital satisfaction over time.

Marital satisfaction predicts weight gain in early marriage.

OBJECTIVE Prior research makes competing predictions regarding whether marital satisfaction is positively or negatively associated with weight gain. The health regulation model suggests that satisfying relationships facilitate the functions of marriage that promote health. Thus, spouses should be most likely to gain weight when either partner is less satisfied because marital strain causes stress that interferes with self-regulatory behaviors. The mating market model, in contrast, suggests that weight maintenance is motivated primarily by the desire to attract a mate. Thus, spouses should be least likely to gain weight when either partner is less satisfied because they should feel an increased need to attract a new mate. This longitudinal study of 169 newlywed couples evaluated each possibility. METHODS Spouses completed measures of height, weight, marital satisfaction, stress, steps toward divorce, and several covariates biannually for 4 years. RESULTS Supporting the mating market model, own and partner satisfaction were positively associated with changes in weight, and this association was mediated by steps toward divorce: Spouses who were less satisfied than usual or had partners who were less satisfied than usual were more likely to consider divorce and thus less likely to gain weight. CONCLUSIONS These findings challenge the idea that quality relationships always benefit health, suggesting instead that spouses in satisfying relationships relax their efforts to maintain their weight because they are no longer motivated to attract a mate. Interventions to prevent weight gain in early marriage may therefore benefit from encouraging spouses to think about their weight in terms of health rather than appearance.

Capturing the Interpersonal Implications of Evolved Preferences? Frequency of Sex Shapes Automatic, but Not Explicit, Partner Evaluations:

A strong predisposition to engage in sexual intercourse likely evolved in humans because sex is crucial to reproduction. Given that meeting interpersonal preferences tends to promote positive relationship evaluations, sex within a relationship should be positively associated with relationship satisfaction. Nevertheless, prior research has been inconclusive in demonstrating such a link, with longitudinal and experimental studies showing no association between sexual frequency and relationship satisfaction. Crucially, though, all prior research has utilized explicit reports of satisfaction, which reflect deliberative processes that may override the more automatic implications of phylogenetically older evolved preferences. Accordingly, capturing the implications of sexual frequency for relationship evaluations may require implicit measurements that bypass deliberative reasoning. Consistent with this idea, one cross-sectional and one 3-year study of newlywed couples revealed a positive association between sexual frequency and automatic partner evaluations but not explicit satisfaction. These findings highlight the importance of automatic measurements to understanding interpersonal relationships.

Men still value physical attractiveness in a long-term mate more than women: rejoinder to Eastwick, Neff, Finkel, Luchies, and Hunt (2014).

Sexual selection theory and parental investment theory suggest that partner physical attractiveness should more strongly affect mens relationship outcomes than womens relationship outcomes. Nevertheless, the contextual nature of this prediction makes serious methodological demands on studies designed to evaluate it. Given these theories suggest that men value observable aspects of partner attractiveness more than women do only in the context of long-term and reproductively viable relationships, they require that studies testing this sex difference involve (a) participants in long-term relationships, (b) women of child-bearing age, and (c) measures of physical attractiveness that assess observable aspects of appearance. In our original article (Meltzer, McNulty, Jackson, & Karney, 2014), we applied 7 methodological standards that allowed us to meet these 3 criteria and demonstrated that partner physical attractiveness is more strongly associated with mens long-term relationship satisfaction than womens long-term relationship satisfaction. Eastwick, Neff, Finkel, Luchies, and Hunt (2014), in contrast, described an unfocused meta-analysis, a refocused meta-analysis, and new data that all failed to meet these criteria and, not surprisingly, failed to demonstrate such a sex difference. We continue to believe that men value physical attractiveness more than women do, that such preferences have implications for their evaluations of long-term relationships, and that studies properly calibrated to detect such differences will do so.

The association between discontinuing hormonal contraceptives and wives’ marital satisfaction depends on husbands’ facial attractiveness

Significance Hormonal contraceptives (HCs) are believed to suppress biological processes associated with women’s preferences for cues of partner genetic fitness, cues that may be summarized by men’s facial attractiveness. Two longitudinal studies of marriage demonstrate that wives who used HCs at relationship formation became less satisfied when they discontinued HCs if their husband had a relatively less attractive face, but more satisfied if their husband had a relatively more attractive face. Incongruency between HC use at relationship formation and current HC use was negatively associated with sexual satisfaction, regardless of husbands’ facial attractiveness. Practically, these findings suggest that discontinuing HCs may have critical unintended effects on women’s relationships. Theoretically, they indicate that evolved mating processes have implications for established relationships. How are hormonal contraceptives (HCs) related to marital well-being? Some work suggests HCs suppress biological processes associated with women’s preferences for partner qualities reflective of genetic fitness, qualities that may be summarized by facial attractiveness. Given that realizing such interpersonal preferences positively predicts relationship satisfaction, any changes in women’s preferences associated with changes in their HC use may interact with partner facial attractiveness to predict women’s relationship satisfaction. We tested this possibility using two longitudinal studies of 118 newlywed couples. Trained observers objectively rated husbands’ facial attractiveness in both studies. In study 1, wives reported their marital satisfaction every 6 mo for 4 y and then reported the history of their HC use for their relationship. In study 2, wives reported whether they were using HCs when they met their husbands and then their marital satisfaction and HC use every 4 mo for up to three waves. In both studies, and in an analysis that combined the data from both studies, wives who were using HCs when they formed their relationship with their husband were less satisfied with their marriage when they discontinued HCs if their husband had a relatively less attractive face, but more satisfied if their husband had a relatively more attractive face. Beginning HCs demonstrated no consistent associations with marital satisfaction. Incongruency between HC use at relationship formation and current HC use was negatively associated with sexual satisfaction, regardless of husbands’ facial attractiveness. These findings suggest that HC use may have unintended implications for women’s close relationships.

Gender and Health-Care Utilization

There are three compelling reasons to understand the utilization of health care. First, understanding the full range of factors that shape the utilization of health care is important for determining the health-care needs of individuals, for developing health resources and the training of care providers, as well as for planning programs aimed at the prevention, promotion, or protection of health. Second, access to care, the availability of care, and the quality and efficacy of care are essential components of social justice. Disparities in care associated with gender, ethnicity, age, education, or income are alarming and erode the fundamental trust in fairness on which democracy is based. Third, both the structure and the utilization of health care have a massive impact on the economic stability of nations. For example, data from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) indicate that the United States spends about 15.3% of its gross domestic product on health care, whereas European countries with esteemed health-care systems spend far less: Spain 8.1%, United Kingdom 8.1%, Sweden 9.1%, Germany 10.6%, Switzerland 11.6% (National Center for Health Statistics, 2007).

Quantifying the Sexual Afterglow: The Lingering Benefits of Sex and Their Implications for Pair-Bonded Relationships:

Sex presumably facilitates pair bonding, but how do partners remain pair-bonded between sexual acts? Evolutionary perspectives suggest that sexual afterglow serves this purpose. We explored how long sexual satisfaction would remain elevated following sex and predicted that stronger sexual afterglow would characterize more satisfying partnerships. We pooled the data from two independent, longitudinal studies of newlywed couples to examine these issues. Spouses reported their daily sexual activity and sexual satisfaction for 14 days and their marital satisfaction at baseline and 4 or 6 months later. Results demonstrated that sexual satisfaction remained elevated approximately 48 hr after sex, and spouses experiencing a stronger afterglow reported higher levels of marital satisfaction both at baseline and over time. We interpret these findings as evidence that sexual afterglow is a proximal cognitive mechanism through which sex promotes pair bonding.

Contrast Effects of Stereotypes: “Nurturing” Male Professors are Evaluated More Positively Than “Nurturing” Female Professors:

The stereotype that men are less nurturing than women frequently leads people to evaluate men less favorably than they evaluate equivalent women in situations that require nurturance and care. Nevertheless, theories of expectancy-violation suggest that such stereotypes may lead people to evaluate men who are unambiguously nurturing in such situations more positively than they evaluate equivalent women. Consistent with predictions, participants evaluated a hypothetical male professor who was described as “particularly nurturing” more favorably than they evaluated an equivalent female professor. This finding suggests that negative stereotypes do not always lead to less favorable evaluations; rather, negative stereotypes that are violated by unambiguous information can lead to more favorable evaluations through contrast effects.

Implications of life-history strategies for obesity

Significance The prevalence of obesity reflects a major public health challenge in the United States and many other parts of the world. The current studies adopt a life history theory (LHT) perspective to explain in part the root causes of obesity. This research identifies exposure to unpredictable environments during childhood as a distal factor that contributes to obesity in adulthood. Exposure to childhood unpredictability is linked to the development of a fast life-history strategy, one marked by impulsivity and a focus on short-term goals. LHT provides a valuable conceptual framework for understanding the behavioral mechanisms that underlie dysregulated patterns of eating and, ultimately, the development of weight-management problems in adulthood. This research also provides insight into pathways for obesity prevention. The association between low socioeconomic status (SES) and obesity is well documented. In the current research, a life history theory (LHT) framework provided an explanation for this association. Derived from evolutionary behavioral science, LHT emphasizes how variability in exposure to unpredictability during childhood gives rise to individual differences in a range of social psychological processes across the life course. Consistent with previous LHT research, the current findings suggest that exposure to unpredictability during childhood (a characteristic common to low SES environments) is associated with the adoption of a fast life-history strategy, one marked by impulsivity and a focus on short-term goals. We demonstrate that a fast life-history strategy, in turn, was associated with dysregulated weight-management behaviors (i.e., eating even in the absence of hunger), which were predictive of having a high body mass index (BMI) and being obese. In both studies, findings held while controlling for participants’ current socioeconomic status, suggesting that obesity is rooted in childhood experiences. A serial mediation model in study 2 confirmed that effects of childhood SES on adult BMI and obesity can be explained in part by exposure to unpredictability, the adoption of a fast life-history strategy, and dysregulated-eating behaviors. These findings suggest that weight problems in adulthood may be rooted partially in early childhood exposure to unpredictable events and environments. LHT provides a valuable explanatory framework for understanding the root causes of obesity.

Men’s perceived partner commitment and mate guarding: The moderating role of partner’s hormonal contraceptive use.

Male jealousy is an adaptive interpersonal process that functions to maintain relationships by reducing the likelihood of partner sexual infidelity. Ancestral men would have been most reproductively successful to the extent that they responded to signs of low partner commitment with increased jealousy and mate guarding. The current research showed that, indeed, newlywed husbands who perceived relatively low commitment in their new wives displayed relatively high levels of mate guarding. However, this relationship was moderated by wives’ use of hormonal contraceptives (HCs). HCs can unconsciously reduce women’s sexual signaling behaviors and, therefore, may eliminate the extra-pair sexual signaling likely to promote male mate guarding. Consistent with predictions, among husbands with wives not using HCs, relatively low levels of perceived partner commitment were associated with relatively high levels of husbands’ mate guarding. Among husbands with wives using HCs, in contrast, husbands’ perceived partner commitment was unassociated with husbands’ mate guarding. This finding joins others in suggesting that the use of HCs, often used in the context of long-term committed relationships, can unknowingly interrupt evolved relationship processes.