Martin Voracek

Why can't a man be more like a woman? Sex differences in Big Five personality traits across 55 cultures.

Previous research suggested that sex differences in personality traits are larger in prosperous, healthy, and egalitarian cultures in which women have more opportunities equal with those of men. In this article, the authors report cross-cultural findings in which this unintuitive result was replicated across samples from 55 nations (N = 17,637). On responses to the Big Five Inventory, women reported higher levels of neuroticism, extraversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness than did men across most nations. These findings converge with previous studies in which different Big Five measures and more limited samples of nations were used. Overall, higher levels of human development--including long and healthy life, equal access to knowledge and education, and economic wealth--were the main nation-level predictors of larger sex differences in personality. Changes in mens personality traits appeared to be the primary cause of sex difference variation across cultures. It is proposed that heightened levels of sexual dimorphism result from personality traits of men and women being less constrained and more able to naturally diverge in developed nations. In less fortunate social and economic conditions, innate personality differences between men and women may be attenuated.

The Attractive Female Body Weight and Female Body Dissatisfaction in 26 Countries Across 10 World Regions: Results of the International Body Project I

This study reports results from the first International Body Project (IBP-I), which surveyed 7,434 individuals in 10 major world regions about body weight ideals and body dissatisfaction. Participants completed the female Contour Drawing Figure Rating Scale (CDFRS) and self-reported their exposure to Western and local media. Results indicated there were significant cross-regional differences in the ideal female figure and body dissatisfaction, but effect sizes were small across high-socioeconomic-status (SES) sites. Within cultures, heavier bodies were preferred in low-SES sites compared to high-SES sites in Malaysia and South Africa (ds = 1.94-2.49) but not in Austria. Participant age, body mass index (BMI), and Western media exposure predicted body weight ideals. BMI and Western media exposure predicted body dissatisfaction among women. Our results show that body dissatisfaction and desire for thinness is commonplace in high-SES settings across world regions, highlighting the need for international attention to this problem.

Role of media reports in completed and prevented suicide: Werther v. Papageno effects

BACKGROUND Media reporting of suicide has repeatedly been shown to trigger suicidal behaviour. Few studies have investigated the associations between specific media content and suicide rates. Even less is known about the possible preventive effects of suicide-related media content. AIMS To test the hypotheses that certain media content is associated with an increase in suicide, suggesting a so-called Werther effect, and that other content is associated with a decrease in suicide, conceptualised as a Papageno effect. Further, to identify classes of media articles with similar reporting profiles and to test for associations between these classes and suicide. METHOD Content analysis and latent class analysis (LCA) of 497 suicide-related print media reports published in Austria between 1 January and 30 June 2005. Ecological study to identify associations between media item content and short-term changes in suicide rates. RESULTS Repetitive reporting of the same suicide and the reporting of suicide myths were positively associated with suicide rates. Coverage of individual suicidal ideation not accompanied by suicidal behaviour was negatively associated with suicide rates. The LCA yielded four classes of media reports, of which the mastery of crisis class (articles on individuals who adopted coping strategies other than suicidal behaviour in adverse circumstances) was negatively associated with suicide, whereas the expert opinion class and the epidemiological facts class were positively associated with suicide. CONCLUSIONS The impact of suicide reporting may not be restricted to harmful effects; rather, coverage of positive coping in adverse circumstances, as covered in media items about suicidal ideation, may have protective effects.

Genetics of suicide: a systematic review of twin studies.

ZusammenfassungHINTERGRUND: Übereinstimmende Befunde aus einer Vielzahl von Forschungsdesigns (Adoptions-, Familien-, Migranten- und Zwillingsstudien sowie Genom-Scans, familiennamenbasierte, geografische und molekulargenetische Studien) weisen auf eine Beteiligung genetischer Risikofaktoren für Suizid hin. Dieser Beitrag bietet einen ausführlichen und aktuellen Überblick über die zu diesem Thema vorhandenen Zwillingsstudien. METHODEN: Über extensive Literatursuche wurden insgesamt 32 Studien (19 Fallberichte, 5 zwillingsregisterbasierte Studien, 4 populationsbasierte epidemiologische Studien, 4 Studien überlebender Ko-Zwillinge) eruiert, die hier zusammengefasst und diskutiert werden. Dieses Literaturkorpus wurde zwischen 1812 und 2006 in 6 verschiedenen Sprachen publiziert und enthält Daten aus 13 Ländern. ERGEBNISSE: Eine Meta-Analyse aller zwillingsregisterbasierten Studien und aller Fallberichte aggregiert zeigt, dass eineiige Zwillinge signifikant häufiger für Suizid konkordant sind als zweieiige Zwillinge. Ausschließlich psychosoziale Erklärungen für diesen Befund werden durch die Ergebnisse von Ko-Zwillingsstudien ausgeschlossen. Populationsbasierte epidemiologische Studien zeigen einen signifikanten Beitrag genetischer Faktoren (geschätzte Heritabilität: 30–55%) für den weitergefassten Phänotyp suizidalen Verhaltens (Suizidgedanken, Suizidpläne, Suizidversuche), der für die verschiedenen Typen suizidalen Verhaltens weitgehend überlappt und von der Vererbung psychiatrischer Erkrankungen weitgehend unabhängig ist. Effekte nicht-geteilter Umwelt (persönliche Lebenserfahrungen) tragen ebenfalls substantiell zum Risiko für suizidales Verhalten bei, nicht jedoch Effekte geteilter Umwelt (Familie). SCHLUSSFOLGERUNG: Die Gesamtheit der Befunde aus Zwillingsstudien zu Suizid legt sehr deutlich eine Beteiligung genetischer Faktoren an der Anfälligkeit zu suizidalem Verhalten nahe. Beschränkungen der Zwillings-Methode, Mängel der Literatur und weitere Punkte werden zur Förderung des Forschungsfortschritts in diesem Bereich ausführlich diskutiert (u.a.: Bias-Quellen und Leerstellen in der Literatur, Fehler in früheren Überblicksarbeiten, Alters- und Geschlechtseffekte sowie Zwillingsbesonderheiten bezüglich Suizidrisiko, wissenschaftsgeschichtlicher Kommentar).SummaryOBJECTIVES: Convergent evidence from a multitude of research designs (adoption, family, genomescan, geographical, immigrant, molecular genetic, surname, and twin studies of suicide) suggests genetic contributions to suicide risk. The present account provides a comprehensive and up-to-date review of the twin studies on this topic. METHODS: A total of 32 studies (19 case reports, 5 twin register-based studies, 4 population-based epidemiological studies, 4 studies of surviving co-twins) located through extensive literature search strategies are summarized and discussed here. This literature corpus was published between 1812 and 2006 in six languages and reports data from 13 countries. RESULTS: A meta-analysis of all register-based studies and all case reports aggregated shows that concordance for completed suicide is significantly more frequent among monozygotic than dizygotic twin pairs. The results of co-twin studies rule out exclusively psychosocially based explanations of this pattern. Population-based epidemiological studies demonstrate a significant contribution of additive genetic factors (heritability estimates: 30–55%) to the broader phenotype of suicidal behavior (suicide thoughts, plans and attempts) that largely overlaps for different types of suicidal behavior and is largely independent of the inheritance of psychiatric disorders. Nonshared environmental effects (i.e. personal experiences) also contribute substantially to the risk of suicidal behavior, whereas effects of shared (family) environment do not. CONCLUSIONS: The totality of evidence from twin studies of suicide strongly suggests genetic contributions to liability for suicidal behavior. To further research progress in this area, an extensive discussion of design limitations, shortcomings of the literature and further points is provided, including sources of bias, gaps in the literature, errors in previous reviews, age and sex effects and twin-singleton differences in suicide risk, and notes from a history-of-science view.

Conspiracist ideation in Britain and Austria: Evidence of a monological belief system and associations between individual psychological differences and real-world and fictitious conspiracy theories

Despite evidence of widespread belief in conspiracy theories, there remains a dearth of research on the individual difference correlates of conspiracist ideation. In two studies, we sought to overcome this limitation by examining correlations between conspiracist ideation and a range of individual psychological factors. In Study 1, 817 Britons indicated their agreement with conspiracist ideation concerning the July 7, 2005 (7/7), London bombings, and completed a battery of individual difference scales. Results showed that stronger belief in 7/7 conspiracy theories was predicted by stronger belief in other real-world conspiracy theories, greater exposure to conspiracist ideation, higher political cynicism, greater support for democratic principles, more negative attitudes to authority, lower self-esteem, and lower Agreeableness. In Study 2, 281 Austrians indicated their agreement with an entirely fictitious conspiracy theory and completed a battery of individual difference measures not examined in Study 1. Results showed that belief in the entirely fictitious conspiracy theory was significantly associated with stronger belief in other real-world conspiracy theories, stronger paranormal beliefs, and lower crystallized intelligence. These results are discussed in terms of the potential of identifying individual difference constellations among conspiracy theorists.

Scientometric Analysis and Bibliography of Digit Ratio (2D:4D) Research, 1998–2008

A scientometric analysis of modern research on the second-to-fourth digit ratio (2D:4D), a widely studied putative marker for prenatal androgen action, is presented. In early 2009, this literature totalled more than 300 publications and, since its initiation in 1998, has grown at a rate slightly faster than linear. Key findings included evidence of publication bias and citation bias, incomplete coverage and outdatedness of existing reviews, and a dearth of meta-analyses in this field. 2D:4D research clusters noticeably in terms of researchers, institutions, countries, and journals involved. Although 2D:4D is an anthropometric trait, most of the research has been conducted at psychology departments, not anthropology departments. However, 2D:4D research has not been predominantly published in core and specialized journals of psychology, but rather in more broadly scoped journals of the behavioral sciences, biomedical social sciences, and neurosciences. Total citation numbers of 2D:4D papers for the most part were not larger than their citation counts within 2D:4D research, indicating that until now, only a few 2D:4D studies have attained broader interest outside this specific field. Comparative citation analyses show that 2D:4D research presently is commensurate in size and importance to evolutionary psychological jealousy research, but has grown faster than the latter field. In contrast, it is much smaller and has spread more slowly than research about the Implicit Association Test. Fifteen conjectures about anticipated trends in 2D:4D research are outlined, appendixed by a first-time bibliography of the entirety of the published 2D:4D literature.

Shapely centrefolds? Temporal change in body measures: trend analysis

Body mass index (weight (kg)/(height (m)2) and waist:hip ratio in women are linked to fertility, endocrine status, risk of major diseases, and longevity.1–3 Health related optimums for body mass index (20 or slightly lower2) and waist:hip ratio (0.7 or slightly lower3) are also maximally sexually attractive to men. 1 3 According to evolutionary research, these attractiveness optimums reflect evolved optimal design and thus should not be subject to temporal change.3 This assumption is not consonant with the decline in the optimally attractive body mass index that has occurred in the past few decades, as exemplified by fashion models depicted in the media. With …

Declining Autopsy Rates and Suicide Misclassification A Cross-national Analysis of 35 Countries

CONTEXT Suicides are prone to misclassification during death ascertainment procedures. This problem has generated frequent criticism of the validity of suicide mortality statistics. OBJECTIVE To employ an external measure of the validity of cause-of-death statistics (ie, national autopsy rates) and to examine potential misclassification of suicide across countries from Europe to Central and Northern Asia. DESIGN Cross-national analysis. SETTING Thirty-five countries. PARTICIPANTS Aggregated mortality data. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Data from 35 countries during the period from 1979 to 2007 were used to analyze the association of suicide rates with autopsy rates and death rates of undetermined and ill-defined causes, respectively. Analyses were cross-sectional and longitudinal. RESULTS Cross-sectionally, a 1% difference in autopsy rates among nations was associated with a suicide rate difference of 0.49 per 100,000 population. Longitudinally, a 1% decrease in the autopsy rate aligned with a decrease of 0.42 per 100,000 population in the suicide rate. These cross-sectional and longitudinal associations were robust after adjustment for unemployment, degree of urbanization, and prevalence of undetermined or ill-defined deaths. Associations strengthened when analyses were confined to 19 European Union member countries. CONCLUSION Autopsy rates may spatially and temporally affect the validity of suicide mortality statistics. Caution should be exercised in comparing international suicide rates and evaluating interventions that target suicide rate reduction.

German translation and psychometric evaluation of the Body Appreciation Scale.

This paper examined the psychometric properties of the German version of the Body Appreciation Scale (BAS), a novel scale for the assessment of positive body image. Based on a community sample of 156 women and 144 men in Austria, results showed good internal reliability and construct validity for the BAS scores, as well as a unidimensional factor structure for both women and men. Specifically, Cronbachs alpha was high for both women (alpha=.90) and men (alpha=.85), and the BAS was correlated with the body esteem scale and self-esteem. In addition, women with lower BMIs reported greater body appreciation, but no such association was found for men. Finally, there were small sex differences in BAS scores, with men scoring more positively than women (Cohens d=0.26). The German BAS, a useful indicator of positive body image among Austrian adults, should prove valuable for the assessment of body image in German-speaking countries.

One Century of Global IQ Gains A Formal Meta-Analysis of the Flynn Effect (1909–2013)

The Flynn effect (rising intelligence test performance in the general population over time and generations) varies enigmatically across countries and intelligence domains; its substantive meaning and causes remain elusive. This first formal meta-analysis on the topic revealed worldwide IQ gains across more than one century (1909–2013), based on 271 independent samples, totaling almost 4 million participants, from 31 countries. Key findings include that IQ gains vary according to domain (estimated 0.41, 0.30, 0.28, and 0.21 IQ points annually for fluid, spatial, full-scale, and crystallized IQ test performance, respectively), are stronger for adults than children, and have decreased in more recent decades. Altogether, these findings narrow down proposed theories and candidate factors presumably accounting for the Flynn effect. Factors associated with life history speed seem mainly responsible for the Flynn effect’s general trajectory, whereas favorable social multiplier effects and effects related to economic prosperity appear to be responsible for observed differences of the Flynn effect across intelligence domains.