“Many moral codes place a special emphasis on bodily purity, and manipulations that directly target bodily purity have been shown to influence a variety of moral judgments. Across two studies, we demonstrated that reminders of physical purity influence specific moral judgments regarding behaviors in the sexual domain as well as broad political attitudes. (more…)

I 5683 you: dialing phone numbers on cell phones activates key-concordant concepts.

“When people perform actions, effects associated with the actions are activated mentally, even if those effects are not apparent. This study tested whether sequences of simulations of virtual action effects can be integrated into a meaning of their own. Cell phones were used to test this hypothesis because pressing a key on a phone is habitually associated with both digits (dialing numbers) and letters (typing text messages). In Experiment 1, dialing digit sequences induced the meaning of words that share the same key sequence (e.g., 5683, LOVE). (more…)

“Analysis of the behavioral traits of 56 breeds of dog produced three factors with some similarities to the popular five-factor model of human personality: (a) reactivity–surgency, (b) aggression–disagreeableness, and (c) trainability–openness. Canine and human personality similarities are argued to have their origin in biogenetic factors stemming from common evolutionary sources and from canine breeding for human compatibility and assistance with human tasks. (more…)

Expressions of positive emotion in women’s college yearbook pictures and their relationship to personality and life outcomes across adulthood.

“To test hypotheses about positive emotion, the authors examined the relationship of positive emotional expression in women’s college pictures to personality, observer ratings, and life outcomes. (more…)

It’s booze week on NCBI ROFL! All this week we’ll be featuring articles about ethanol, ethyl alcohol, and even CH₃CH₂OH. Enjoy!

The Big, the Bad, and the Boozed-Up: Weight Moderates the Effect of Alcohol on Aggression.

“Most people avoid the “big, drunk guy” in bars because they don’t want to get assaulted. Is this stereotype supported by empirical evidence? Unfortunately, no scientific work has investigated this topic. (more…)

Male organ and economic growth: does size matter?

“This paper explores the link between economic development and penile length between 1960 and 1985. It estimates an augmented Solow model utilizing the Mankiw-Romer-Weil 121 country dataset. The size of male organ is found to have an inverse U-shaped relationship with the level of GDP in 1985. (more…)

On the perception of religious group membership from faces.

“BACKROUND:
The study of social categorization has largely been confined to examining groups distinguished by perceptually obvious cues. Yet many ecologically important group distinctions are less clear, permitting insights into the general processes involved in person perception. Although religious group membership is thought to be perceptually ambiguous, folk beliefs suggest that Mormons and non-Mormons can be categorized from their appearance. We tested whether Mormons could be distinguished from non-Mormons and investigated the basis for this effect to gain insight to how subtle perceptual cues can support complex social categorizations.
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Vaginal orgasm is more prevalent among women with a prominent tubercle of the upper lip.

“Introduction.  Recent studies have uncovered multiple markers of vaginal orgasm history (unblocked pelvic movement during walking, less use of immature psychological defense mechanisms, greater urethrovaginal space). Other markers (perhaps of prenatal origin) even without obvious mechanistic roles in vaginal orgasm might exist, and a clinical observation led to the novel hypothesis that a prominent tubercle of the upper lip is such a marker. Aims.  To examine the hypothesis that a prominent tubercle of the upper lip is associated specifically with greater likelihood of experiencing vaginal orgasm (orgasm elicited by penile-vaginal intercourse [PVI] without concurrent masturbation). (more…)

Female Orgasm Rates are Largely Independent of Other Traits: Implications for “Female Orgasmic Disorder” and Evolutionary Theories of Orgasm.

“Introduction.  The criteria for “female orgasmic disorder” (FOD) assume that low rates of orgasm are dysfunctional, implying that high rates are functional. Evolutionary theories about the function of female orgasm predict correlations of orgasm rates with sexual attitudes and behavior and other fitness-related traits. Aim.  To test hypothesized evolutionary functions of the female orgasm. Methods.  We examined such correlations in a community sample of 2,914 adult female Australian twins who reported their orgasm rates during masturbation, intercourse, and other sexual activities, and who completed demographic, personality, and sexuality questionnaires. (more…)

“The present study examines whether the use of humor in scientific article titles is associated with the number of citations an article receives. Four judges rated the degree of amusement and pleasantness of titles of articles published over 10 years (from 1985 to 1994) in two of the most prestigious journals in psychology, Psychological Bulletin and Psychological Review. We then examined the association between the levels of amusement and pleasantness and the article’s monthly citation average.

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