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Psychology News Round-Up: ICYMI August 24, 2018

This week: Two different perspectives on growth mindset interventions and more coverage of the bot hoopla. See what else you may have missed online.

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Psychology News Round-Up: ICYMI August 17, 2018

This week's round-up includes a look at the recent problem with bots completing online surveys. See what else you may have missed online.

Recently in the news, written a post, or have selections you'd like us to consider? Email us, use the hashtag #SPSPblog, or tweet us directly @spspnews.

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The Relationship Implications of Rejecting a Partner for Sex Kindly Versus Having Sex Reluctantly

Image of woman sitting on the edge of the bed, upset/thinking, with man frustrated laying in bed

Romantic couples often find themselves in situations in which partners have discrepant levels of sexual desire, and research shows that conflicts of interest about sex predict negative relationship outcomes and are among the most difficult types of relationship issues to resolve.

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Gendered Beliefs May Make People Assume Sexual Consent

Image of a man and a woman sitting on a bench together in front of a sunset

The sexual double standard (SDS) is a belief that access to sexuality varies by gender. According to SDS, women are expected to be passive “gatekeepers” of sexual activity; men the “initiators.” Women are socially punished for having sex; men are rewarded. In a set of two experiments, Dr. Yuliana Zaikman examined how these gendered stereotypes might influence the way people think about sexual consent.

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Gender and Sexuality in Two Non-Western Cultures

Image of intertwined interracial feet on a bed

Dr. Paul Vasey has spent much of his life studying sexual behavior across species and across cultures. For two decades, he observed Japanese macaques—a species of monkey—in mountains outside of Kyoto. During his time in Japan, Dr. Vasey consistently observed female macaques sexual mounting other females. If fact, he estimates that only 20% of these female monkeys are exclusively heterosexual. This results in an intersexual mate competition, whereby males must compete with both female and male members of their species to find a female mate. Fascinated, Dr.

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A Meta-Analysis of Peer Norms and Their Relation to Adolescent Sexual Behavior

Researchers at Utrecht University and the New York State Psychiatric Institute collaborated on a meta-analysis of research on adolescent sexual behavior. The goal was to analyze how this behavior is related to adolescents' perceptions of three types of sexual peer norms, including how sexually active their peers are, how much their peers would approve of being sexually active, or how much they feel pressured by their peers to have sex.

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Why Do Men Prefer Nice Women?: Responsiveness and Desire

People's emotional reactions and desires in initial romantic encounters determine the fate of a potential relationship. Responsiveness may be one of those initial "sparks" necessary to fuel sexual desire and land a second date. However, it may not be a desirable trait for both men and women on a first date. Does responsiveness increase sexual desire in the other person? Do men perceive responsive women as more attractive, and does the same hold true for women's perceptions of men? A study published in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin seeks to answer those questions.

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Do Women Perceive Other Women in Red as More Sexually Receptive?

Previous research has shown that men perceive the color red on a woman to be a signal of sexual receptivity. Women are more likely to wear a red shirt when they are expecting to meet an attractive man, relative to an unattractive man or a woman. But do women view other women in red as being more sexually receptive? And would that result in a woman guarding her mate against a woman in red? A study published in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin sought to answer these questions.

Perceptions of Sexual Receptivity

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