Meri Tadinac

International Preferences in Selecting Mates: A Study of 37 Cultures

This study sought to identify the effects of culture and sex on mate preferences using samples drawn world-wide. Thirty-seven samples were obtained from 33 countries located on six continents and five islands (N = 9,474). Hierarchical multiple regressions revealed strong effects of both culture and sex, moderated by specific mate characteristics. Chastity proved to be the mate characteristic on which cultures varied the most. The preference ordering of each sample was contrasted with an international complement. Each culture displayed a unique preference ordering, but there were some similarities among all cultures as reflected in a positive manifold of the cross-country correlation matrix. Multidimensional scaling of the cultures yielded a five dimensional solution, the first two of which were interpreted. The first dimension was interpreted as Traditional versus Modern, with China, India, Iran, and Nigeria anchoring one end and the Netherlands, Great Britain, Finland, and Sweden anchoring the other. The second dimension involved valuation of education, intelligence, and refinement. Consistent sex differences in value attached to eaming potential and physical attractiveness supported evolution-based hypotheses about the importance of resources and reproductive value in mates. Discussion emphasizes the importance of psychological mate preferences for scientific disciplines ranging from evolutionary biology to sociology.

A multivariate analysis of clinical severity, psychological distress and psychopathological traits in psoriatic patients.

Psoriasis is a chronic skin disease associated with problems in body image and self-esteem and feelings of stigma and shame. The aim of this study was to analyse the clinical extent of psoriasis and its association with psychological distress, and to compare the psychopathological traits in early-onset (type I: age of onset < 40 years) vs. late-onset (type II: age of onset > 40 years) psoriasis. A total of 140 patients participated in the study; 70 patients with confirmed diagnosis of psoriasis vulgaris and 70 patients as a comparative group. A battery of psychological instruments was used together with an Inventory of life stress events. The severity of psoriasis was assessed by standardized Psoriasis Area and Severity Index measure. The Psoriasis Life Stress Inventory showed the significant correlation with clinical extent of psoriasis and other measures of psychological distress. Patients with late-onset psoriasis had more prominent symptoms of depression compared with the group with early-onset psoriasis and the comparative group. The results of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-201 for the patient group with late-onset psoriasis showed a specific configuration of neurotic triad.

Subclinical Neurocognitive Dysfunction After Carotid Endarterectomy—The Impact of Shunting

Background Subclinical neurocognitive deficit after carotid endarterectomy (CEA) has been reported in 25% of patients. The influence of the type of anesthesia and shunting on early postoperative neurocognitive function remains unclear. Therefore, we analyzed the cognitive function after CEA using a battery of psychometric tests before surgery and on the first postoperative day. Methods Twenty nine patients under regional and 28 under general anesthesia were included in the study. Regional anesthesia was administered inducing a superficial cervical block, and the general anesthesia was induced using a standardized manner. Then cognitive function was tested using a battery of psychometric tests before and 24 hours after surgery. S 100 β was determined at the same time points. Results A statistical difference was found between the results of the testing before and after CEA: decline in digit symbol test (9%), perceptual speed (6%), and spatial working memory (44%) and improvement in verbal fluency (6%) and attention (5%). The only intraoperative factor that correlated with the cognitive dysfunction was shunt insertion; patients with a shunt had a lower perceptual speed (P=0.005) and worse spatial working memory (P=0.004). No correlation was found between the type of anesthesia or S 100 β level and any psychometric test, but these results might be influenced by the small sample size in our study. Conclusions Shunt insertion was the only parameter correlated with cognitive decline on the first day after CEA. Regional anesthesia might offer indirect benefit because of a reduced need of shunting in wakeful patients. Larger studies are required to clarify the role of shunting and type of anesthesia in early neurocognitive deficit after CEA and its impact on the quality of life.

Attractiveness of Leg Length: Report From 27 Nations

The leg-to-body ratio (LBR) is a morphological index that has been shown to influence a person’s attractiveness. In our research, 3,103 participants from 27 nations rated the physical attractiveness of seven male and seven female silhouettes varying in LBR. We found that male and female silhouettes with short and excessively long legs were perceived as less attractive across all nations. Hence, the LBR may significantly influence perceptions of physical attractiveness across nations.

Preferred Interpersonal Distances: A Global Comparison

Human spatial behavior has been the focus of hundreds of previous research studies. However, the conclusions and generalizability of previous studies on interpersonal distance preferences were limited by some important methodological and sampling issues. The objective of the present study was to compare preferred interpersonal distances across the world and to overcome the problems observed in previous studies. We present an extensive analysis of interpersonal distances over a large data set (N = 8,943 participants from 42 countries). We attempted to relate the preferred social, personal, and intimate distances observed in each country to a set of individual characteristics of the participants, and some attributes of their cultures. Our study indicates that individual characteristics (age and gender) influence interpersonal space preferences and that some variation in results can be explained by temperature in a given region. We also present objective values of preferred interpersonal distances in different regions, which might be used as a reference data point in future studies.

The relationship of neuroticism, psychoticism and depression with visual evoked potentials

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between visual evoked potentials (N1, P2, N2, P3 and Sw) and levels of neuroticism, psychoticism and depression. Based on previous research, longer EP-latencies were expected in more depressed subjects, and smaller EP-amplitudes in subjects with higher levels of neuroticism and psychoticism. The sample consisted of female psychology students (N=54), age 19-23, all right-handed. After measuring Eysenck’s personality dimensions with EPQ/R, and depression with D-92, evoked potentials were measured in two trials by means of the EMG/EP device Medelec/TECA SapphireII, 4E. Significantly lower P2-amplitudes, reflecting early stimuli processing, and lower N2-amplitudes, reflecting stimuli characteristic assignment, were found in subjects with higher neuroticism. The most stable relation, determined in both trials, was the one between P2-amplitude and neuroticism. Higher amplitudes of N2 and P3, representing attention allocation and memory updating, were significantly correlated with higher psychoticism. Finally, as expected, slow wave latency was significantly prolonged in more depressed subjects. Eysencks’ personality theory and over-arousal hypothesis are used as theoretical frames for discussing the results and future research guidelines. The research findings significantly contribute to the understanding of biological determination within rarely explored personality traits, such as neuroticism, psychoticism and depression. However, since the research has some limitations, concrete guidelines for future electrophysiological studies in the field of human personality have been recommended.

Determinants of Relationship Quality: A Cross-Cultural Study

It has been suggested that the cross-cultural universality of pair-bonding reflects its adaptive function. Along with this line of reasoning, we hypothesised that partners’ perceptions of the relationship quality should also be determined by a cross-culturally universal mechanism of cost-benefit analysis. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare the predictors of relationship quality in two different cultures and explore whose features of a relationship might be considered as universal predictors of its quality. Ninety nine Iranian married and 99 Croatian married or cohabiting couples were included in a dyadic assessment. The highest between-culture similarities were found for the “frequency of positive interactions” and the “profit in mate value” (difference in own and partner’s perceived mate value). Sexual satisfaction proved to be a significant predictor only in the Croatian sample, while the number of children predicted the relationship quality in Iranian couples only. Other variables, such as difference in partners’ age, income and education showed a more complex culture- and gender-dependent pattern. The results are in accordance with the notion that while the cost-benefit analysis itself is a universal process, the perception of certain costs and benefits is culturally specific.

Marital Satisfaction, Sex, Age, Marriage Duration, Religion, Number of Children, Economic Status, Education, and Collectivistic Values: Data from 33 Countries

Forms of committed relationships, including formal marriage arrangements between men and women, exist in almost every culture (Bell, 1997). Yet, similarly to many other psychological constructs (Henrich et al., 2010), marital satisfaction and its correlates have been investigated almost exclusively in Western countries (e.g., Bradbury et al., 2000). Meanwhile, marital relationships are heavily guided by culturally determined norms, customs, and expectations (for review see Berscheid, 1995; Fiske et al., 1998). While we acknowledge the differences existing both between- and within-cultures, we measured marital satisfaction and several factors that might potentially correlate with it based on self-report data from individuals across 33 countries. The purpose of this paper is to introduce the raw data available for anybody interested in further examining any relations between them and other country-level scores obtained elsewhere. Below, we review the central variables that are likely to be related to marital satisfaction. Gender Gender has long been identified in the literature as a predictor of marital satisfaction (Bernard, 1972). Specifically, early works suggested that men report being more satisfied with their marriages compared to women in both Western (e.g., Schumm et al., 1998) and non-Western (e.g., Rostami et al., 2014) cultures. However, sex differences in marital satisfaction may differ across cultures due to traditional sex roles (Pardo et al., 2012) and larger-scale cultural variables, such as sex egalitarianism (Taniguchi and Kaufman, 2013).

Is the Predictability of New-Onset Postpartum Depression Better During Pregnancy or in the Early Postpartum Period? A Prospective Study in Croatian Women

The researchers’ aim was to examine whether it was better to predict new-onset postpartum depression (PPD) during pregnancy or immediately after childbirth. A prospective study conducted in Croatia followed women (N = 272) from the third trimester of pregnancy through the early postpartum period (within the first 3 postpartum days), to 6 weeks postpartum. Questionnaires on depression, anxiety, stress, coping, self-esteem, and social support were administered. Through regression analyses we showed that PPD symptoms could be equally predicted by variables from pregnancy (30.3%) and the early postpartum period (34.0%), with a small advantage of PPD prediction in the early postpartum period.

Intelligence, music preferences, and uses of music from the perspective of evolutionary psychology.

Music is a component of human culture of a historically universal presence. Enjoyed by many and irrelevant to few, music continuously receives interest from academia and the public alike. Capable of uniting, as well as dividing, music is often in a focus of individual comparisons. In this study, we combine the approaches of evolutionary and social psychology to investigate the relationship between intelligence, music preferences, and uses of music. We collected data from 467 high school students. We used the Nonverbal Sequence Test, the Uses of Music Questionnaire, and the Scale of Music Preferences. Confirming our expectations based on the Savanna-IQ interaction hypothesis, we found intelligence to be a significant predictor of the preference for instrumental music, but not of the preference for vocal-instrumental music. Furthermore, we revealed the significant role of cognitive use of music as a predictor of the preference for instrumental music. We conducted factor analysis of the Scale of Music Preferences, and revealed five factors: reflective, popular, conservative, intense, and sophisticated. We also found the cognitive use of music to be significantly correlated with the preference for instrumental music, as well as music of reflexive, intense and sophisticated factors. Taken together, our findings support the Savanna-IQ interaction hypothesis.