Pamela C. Regan

Liking Some Things (in Some People) more than Others: Partner Preferences in Romantic Relationships and Friendships

The present investigation examined the degree to which various characteristics are desired in five types of relational partners. Men and women (N = 700) indicated their preferences for several attributes in either a casual sex partner, dating partner, marriage partner, same-sex friend, or opposite-sex friend (randomly assigned). Participants also indicated how important it was to obtain a partner with the desired level of each attribute. Although participants most preferred warmth and kindness, expressivity and openness, and a good sense of humor across relationship types, they clearly distinguished between romantic/sexual relationships and friendships. Specifically, participants preferred (and felt that it was more important to obtain) higher levels of many desirable characteristics - including physical attractiveness, social status attributes, and disposition or personality traits (e.g., warmth, expressiveness, humor, intelligence) - in a romantic/sexual partner than in a friend. Participants also differentiated between same-sex and opposite-sex friend- ships. In general, they preferred higher levels of and/or believed it was more important to obtain physical attractive- ness, social status, and dispositional/personality attributes from opposite-sex friends than from same-sex friends. To at least some degree, mens preferences were associated with the number of others they believed were available for a particular type of relationship; womens preferences generally were associated with perceptions of their own desirability as a partner.

What if You Can't Get What You Want? Willingness to Compromise Ideal Mate Selection Standards as a Function of Sex, Mate Value, and Relationship Context

The majority of mate selection research focuses on what people want, rather than what they will settle for, in a partner. The present study explored the extent to which sex, self perceived mate value, and relationship context moderate ideal partner preferences and the willingness to compromise ideal standards. When considering a casual sex partner, men and women emphasized and were unwilling to compromise on physical attractiveness; when considering a romantic partner, both emphasized and refused to compromise on interpersonal responsiveness. Sex differences primarily occurred in the context of short-term mating, with women ideally seeking an older more interpersonally responsive sex partner and demonstrating less willingness than men to compromise their standards on a number of dimensions. Mens mate value largely was disassociated with their selection criteria; womens mate value correlated positively with their ideal preferences across many characteristics and in both mating contexts.

Partner preferences: What characteristics do men and women desire in their short-term sexual and long-term romantic partners?

Abstract The current investigation extends recent studies that have examined the degree to which various traits are preferred in a short-term sexual relationship versus a long-term romantic relationship. College students (N = 561) expressed their preferences for 23 traits or characteristics in a “short-term sexual” or a “long-term romantic” relationship partner (randomly assigned). Across relationship types, participants preferred internal qualities (e.g., personality, intelligence) to a greater degree than external qualities (e.g., wealth, physical attractiveness). In addition, two sex differences were found. As expected, men emphasized attributes related to sexual desirability more than did women, and women valued characteristics pertaining to social status more than did men. Finally, both men and women focused upon sexual desirability (e.g., attractiveness, health, sex drive, athleticism) when evaluating a short-term sexual partner, and placed more importance on similarity and on socially appealing personality characteristics (e.g., intelligence, honesty, warmth) when considering a long-term romantic relationship.

Does expert psychological testimony inform or influence juror decision making? A social cognitive analysis

The authors examined whether expert testimony serves an educational or a persuasive function. Participants watched a simulated sexual abuse trial in which the child witness had been prepared for her testimony (i.e., she was calm, composed, and confident) or unprepared (i.e., emotional, confused, and uncertain). The trial contained different levels of expert testimony: none, standard (i.e., a summary of the research), repetitive (i.e., standard testimony plus a 2nd summary of the research), or concrete (i.e., standard testimony plus a hypothetical scenario linking the research to the case facts) testimony. Repetitive testimony bolstered the childs testimony, whereas concrete and standard testimony did not. Concrete testimony sensitized jurors to behavioral correlates of sexual victimization; standard and repetitive testimony desensitized jurors to these correlates. Implications for the use of procedural innovations in sexual abuse trials are discussed.

Unrealistic Optimism: Self-Enhancement or Person Positivity?

Researchers interested in unrealistic optimism disagree on whether the phenomenon reflects self-enhancement or person positivity. Past research in this area has used a paradigm that confounds the self/other dimension with the individual aggregate dimension, making it difficult to determine which alternative is correct. Two studies examined whether people are unrealistically optimistic only for their own futures or whether they are unrealistically optimistic for the future of any individual. Study 1 revealed that, in comparison with an aggregate of same-sex peers, participants were unrealistically optimistic for their own and a close friends futures but not for the future of a non-self-relevant other Study 2 employed unconfounded measures and demonstrated that, in comparison with other individual social objects, participants continued to be unrealistically optimistic for their own futures. These results suggest that unrealistic optimism is a form of self-enhancement rather than person positivity bias.

The Impact of Child Witness Demeanor on Perceived Credibility and Trial Outcome in Sexual Abuse Cases

We examined how child witness demeanor at the moment of courtroom confrontation with the defendant affects trial outcome and the perceived credibility of the child witness in sexual abuse cases. Phase 1 (descriptive) utilized a free response format to explore the affective and behavioral responses men and women expect a child victim of sexual assault to demonstrate upon first confronting the defendant in the courtroom. The most frequently cited responses included crying, fear, and confusion. Phase 2 (experimental) investigated the impact of presence or absence of one of these expected responses (i.e., crying) upon juror perceptions. Participants who read about a child who cries upon initially confronting the defendant perceived her as more honest, credible, and reliable than a calm child, and they were more likely to convict the defendant.

Ain't Love Grand! A Prototype Analysis of the Concept of Romantic Love

We conducted a prototype analysis to explore mens and womens cognitions (knowledge and beliefs) about the nature of romantic love. In study 1 (compilation of prototypic features), participants listed the features of romantic love in a free response format. The most commonly generated characteristics were trust, sexual attraction/desire and acceptance/tolerance. In study 2 (centrality ratings), participants provided centrality ratings for the study 1 features. As before, central features included trust, honesty and sexual attraction/desire; peripheral features included submission/obedience, deception/lies and depression. In study 3 (memory tasks), participants read statements that used an equal mix of central and peripheral features to describe a relationship between two individuals, engaged in an interference task, and were asked to recognize and recall the original statements. As expected, participants falsely recognized and incorrectly recalled a greater number of central than peripheral features. Correlational analyses revealed that the number of times a feature was incorrectly recognized was positively associated with both its frequency and its centrality. These results support the hypothesis that the concept of romantic love is prototypically organized (i.e. has an internal structure), and that sexual desire is one of the central features of this concept.

Prevalence and correlates of chronic dieting in a multi-ethnic U.S. community sample

Despite the increasing rates of obesity in the U.S. and corresponding rise in weight-related concerns among men and women in all ethnic groups, most research in the U.S. has been conducted using white female samples. This study explored the prevalence and correlates of chronic dieting (high levels of dietary restraint) among a U.S. communitybased sample of Hispanic, Asian, Black, and White women and men (N=1257). Chronic dieting was more common among women than men, and less common among Asians than other ethnic groups. Across the total sample, dietary restraint was positively correlated with weight history, disordered eating attitudes, distorted body experiences, and depression, and was negatively correlated with self-esteem. Female chronic dieters showed the highest degree of disturbance; compared with female non-dieters (and male chronic dieters), they reported lower self-esteem, higher depression, and more disordered eating attitudes. As hypothesized, they also exhibited a higher degree of acculturation to Anglo-American society. Male chronic dieters had more disordered eating attitudes and experienced greater body distortion than male non-dieters. Interestingly, these results were not moderated by ethnicity. Although the prevalence of chronic dieting differs among ethnic groups living in the U.S., the psychological characteristics related to eating and weight appear similar for individuals who diet, irrespective of ethnicity.

Parenting Styles and Academic Achievement in College Students

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between parenting styles and college academic achievement. An ethnically diverse group of college students reported their GPA and responded to the Parenting Style Index. Parenting style scores were unrelated to college GPA. Additional analyses of ethnic groups indicated differences in maternal involvement and strictness and relationship of these variables to GPA.

Frequency of Cervical and Breast Cancer Screening Rates in a Multi-Ethnic Female College Sample

This exploratory study examined frequency of self-reported cervical and breast cancer screening rates in a multiethnic sample of 331 female university students. In general, rates of lifetime screening were fairly low, with only 41% reporting having ever had a PAP examination and 44% reporting having undergone at least one clinical breast examination. Screening rates differed by ethnicity. Non-Hispanic White and African-American women had higher screening rates than Asian/Pacific Islander and Latina women. The significantly lower rate of screening among the latter groups is of particular concern given the higher cancer mortality rates typically observed in those groups.