Steven Arnocky

Places to Avoid: Population-Based Study of Student Reports of Unsafe and High Bullying Areas at School

Students’ perceptions of school safety and experiences with bullying were examined in a large Canadian cohort of 5,493 girls and 5,659 boys in Grades 4 to 12. Results indicate notable differences in when and where students felt safe based on their own perceptions of safety and their own experiences with bullying, particularly across elementary and secondary schools. For elementary students, especially those involved in bullying, the playground/school yard and outside recess/break time were particularly hazardous, whereas for secondary students involved in bullying, the hallways, school lunchroom/cafeteria, and outside recess/break were considered especially dangerous. The commonality across student-identified unsafe areas is that they tend to not be well supervised by school personnel. Accordingly, the present results underscore the need to increase adult supervision in areas in which an overwhelming majority of students report feeling unsafe. Une analyse de la perception des élèves vis-à-vis de la sécurité à l’école et des expériences en rapport avec l’intimidation a été effectuée dans une cohorte d’étudiants canadiens de la 4e à la 12e année, qui comporte 5493 filles et 5659 garçons. Les résultats ont montré des différences remarquables en ce qui a trait aux lieux et aux moments où les étudiants se sentent en sécurité. Ces derniers se basent sur leurs propres perceptions de la sécurité ainsi que sur leurs expériences en rapport avec l’intimidation, principalement à travers les écoles élémentaires et secondaires. Selon les élèves qui fréquentent les niveaux élémentaires (en particulier ceux qui sont impliqués dans l’intimidation), la cour de récréation et les périodes de pause à l’extérieur du bâtiment scolaire sont particulièrement risquées. Les élèves impliqués dans l’intimidation et qui fréquentent les niveaux secondaires, quant à eux, considèrent que les couloirs, la salle de déjeuner/cafétéria à l’école et les périodes de pause à l’extérieur du bâtiment scolaire, sont dangereux. Le point commun entre tous les secteurs décrits par les élèves comme peu sécuritaires, est le manque de supervision par le personnel de l’école. En conséquence, les résultats actuels soulignent la nécessité d’augmenter la surveillance adulte dans les secteurs où une la grande majorité des élèves éprouvent le sentiment d’insécurité.

Time Perspective and Sustainable Behavior Evidence for the Distinction Between Consideration of Immediate and Future Consequences

The authors examined the efficacy of a two-factor model of consideration of future consequences (CFC) in understanding environmentally sustainable behaviors. In Study 1, individual differences in CFC-Immediate and CFC-Future were examined as predictors of environmental concern (EC) and behavior motivation (EB), controlling for values and sociodemographic variables. Results showed that low scores on the CFC-Immediate predicted EC and EB, with nonsignificant effects for CFC-Future. A prospect-concept priming task was used in Study 2 to implicitly activate future thinking which resulted in increases in ECs and behaviors, and these links were partially mediated by CFC-Immediate but not CFC-Future. The findings show that the associations between future time perspective and sustainable behaviors are driven by reduced immediate concerns. Implications for the role of time perspective in understanding and affecting sustainability efforts are discussed.

A multi-informant longitudinal study on the relationship between aggression, peer victimization, and dating status in adolescence

Adolescent peer-aggression has recently been considered from the evolutionary perspective of intrasexual competition for mates. We tested the hypothesis that peer-nominated physical aggression, indirect aggression, along with self-reported bullying behaviors at Time 1 would predict Time 2 dating status (one year later), and that Time 1 peer- and self-reported peer victimization would negatively predict Time 2 dating status. Participants were 310 adolescents who were in grades 6 through 9 (ages 11–14) at Time 1. Results showed that for both boys and girls, peer-nominated indirect aggression was predictive of dating one year later even when controlling for age, peer-rated attractiveness, and peer-perceived popularity, as well as initial dating status. For both sexes, self-reported peer victimization was negatively related to having a dating partner at Time 2. Findings are discussed within the framework of intrasexual competition.

Variation in Environmentalism Among University Students: Majoring in Outdoor Recreation, Parks, and Tourism Predicts Environmental Concerns and Behaviors

In a survey of Canadian university students (N = 205), the relationship between majoring in an outdoor recreation university program and environmental concern, cooperation, and behavior were examined. Stepwise linear regression indicated that enrollment in outdoor recreation was predictive of environmental behavior and ecological cooperation; and these results held independently of age and gender. We then examined the possibility that environmental concern may mediate these relationships. Inclusion of ecocentrism as a mediating variable indicated that environmental concern partially accounted for the relation between outdoor recreation and self-reported environmental behavior, and fully mediated (reduced to nonsignificance) the relationship between outdoor recreation and ecological cooperation. Results are discussed in the context of education, and more specifically experiential outdoor education as promoting environmental behavior through greater concern for the ecosystem.

Individual Differences in Mate Poaching: An Examination of Hormonal, Dispositional, and Behavioral Mate-Value Traits

The personality and hormonal correlates of mate poaching (attempting to steal another person’s partner away) and of the target of the seducer (the mate poached) were examined in a sample 154 undergraduate university students (91 females; 63 males). Thirteen variables were modeled into two regression equations to predict and profile mate poachers and the mate poached. Findings revealed that (1) male mate poachers were better looking and had higher cortisol levels, lower levels of testosterone, and reported being higher on self-esteem, cold affect, and criminal tendencies and (2) female mate poachers and targets of mate poachers reported being more physically attractive, as did male targets of mate poachers. Sex differences in the context of mate poaching attraction as well as the characteristics of those who are successful in their attempts to lure away another person’s romantic partner were discussed.

Sex Differences in Response to Victimization by an Intimate Partner: More Stigmatization and Less Help-Seeking among Males

Little is known about the unique challenges faced by male victims of intimate partner violence. We explored sex differences in perception of male versus female victims, as well as in one’s willingness to identify as a victim, to minimize or conceal victimization, and to seek help for perceived victimization in a sample of 166 (89 female, 77 male) undergraduates. Results indicated that participants held more negative attitudes toward male versus female victims. Males were less likely than females to consider hypothetical aggressive acts perpetrated against them as abusive. When asked to think about how they would respond if they felt “abused” by their partner, male participants reported being more likely to minimize and less likely to disclose and seek help compared to females. Results are discussed in terms of the social emphasis on male dominance and highlight the need to consider the unique challenges faced by male victims.

Commentary: Facial Width-to-Height Ratio (fWHR) Is Not Associated with Adolescent Testosterone Levels

Facial width-to-height ratio (fWHR), the ratio of the distance between the left and right zygomatic bones to the distance between the upper lip and brow, predicts many traits, displays, and behaviors, including male aggression, trustworthiness, risk-taking, and physical formidability (e.g., Carre et al., 2009; Stirrat and Perrett, 2010; Welker et al., 2015; Zilioli et al., 2015). One theorized mechanism for linking fWHR to these behavioral traits and displays is pubertal exposure to testosterone, which may reflect androgenic organizational effects on neural circuitry related to these behaviors (Carre and McCormick, 2008). Lending support to this possibility, some work suggests that low-dose administrations of testosterone modulate craniofacial growth in boys with delayed puberty (Verdonck et al., 1999), but until now, research has not examined this association.

Mate-poaching and mating success in humans

Abstract It has been suggested that mate-poaching behavior is an evolutionarily-adaptive mating tactic. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between lifetime number of mate-poaching attempts and mating success in a sample of 271 (147 women and124 men) heterosexual undergraduate students. Results indicated that for both men and women, the number of mate-poaching attempts predicted having more lifetime sex partners, more lifetime casual sex partners, and more lifetime dating partners. Mate-poaching attempts did not however, predict differences in the attractiveness and social dominance of ones most recent partner. These results provide evidence of the efficacy of mate-poaching in predicting mating success.

Altruism predicts mating success in humans.

In order for non-kin altruism to evolve, altruists must receive fitness benefits for their actions that outweigh the costs. Several researchers have suggested that altruism is a costly signal of desirable qualities, such that it could have evolved by sexual selection. In two studies, we show that altruism is broadly linked with mating success. In Study 1, participants who scored higher on a self-report altruism measure reported they were more desirable to the opposite sex, as well as reported having more sex partners, more casual sex partners, and having sex more often within relationships. Sex moderated some of these relationships, such that altruism mattered more for mens number of lifetime and casual sex partners. In Study 2, participants who were willing to donate potential monetary winnings (in a modified dictator dilemma) reported having more lifetime sex partners, more casual sex partners, and more sex partners over the past year. Men who were willing to donate also reported having more lifetime dating partners. Furthermore, these patterns persisted, even when controlling for narcissism, Big Five personality traits, and socially desirable responding. These results suggest that altruists have higher mating success than non-altruists and support the hypothesis that altruism is a sexually selected costly signal of difficult-to-observe qualities.

Intrasexual competition mediates the relationship between men's testosterone and mate retention behavior

Previous research has established a link between testosterone concentrations in males and their mating effort as it relates to their mate seeking behaviors. However, very little research has analyzed how variability in basal testosterone concentration of males affects their mating effort once they have secured a romantic partner. In a sample of undergraduate men, the relationship between testosterone, intrasexual competitiveness, and mate retention behavior was examined. Results showed that higher basal testosterone predicted more self-reported mate retention effort. This relationship was mediated by intrasexual competitiveness, such that high T men reported more intrasexual competitiveness, which when included in the model predicted mate retention, and reduced the initial T - mate retention relationship to statistical non-significance. When examined separately, this mediation effect applied specifically to cost-inflicting, rather than benefit-provisioning, mate retention behavior. These are the first findings to link T to mate retention effort and to identify intrasexual competitiveness as a mechanism which might account for this relationship.