Topic:
Attraction
= new link as of June 1, 2008
The paradox of polygamy - "Contrary to popular belief, most women benefit from polygynous society, and most men benefit from monogamous society. This is because polygynous society allows some women to share a resourceful man of high status." [added 4/13/08]
Subliminal smells and likeability - story of research finding that in humans consciously undetectable odors alter social preferences [added 3/21/08]
Laughter is the way we connect - an article about research on the role laughter plays in our social world [added 11/17/07]
"Subliminal nude pictures focus attention" - research interpreted to suggest an evolutionary benefit for attending to sexual stimuli [added 12/30/06]
"Beast buddies: Do animals have friends?" - an intriguing question and article from ScienceNews [added 6/9/04]
Small World Research Project - Remember Stanley Milgram's study to see how many "links" connect us? Well, these researchers are trying to test the notion of "six degrees of separation," or as they ask it "Can anyone in the world reach anyone else through a chain of only 6 friends?" You, your students, or anyone can become a participant, a "sender," at this site. [added 3/6/02]
Small World update - a replication coming out of the above project was recently published in Science; click the link here to read the article. [added 11/18/03]
Propinquity (Physical Proximity)
"18-year-old miraculously finds soulmate in hometown" - an amusing article from the satirical online newspaper The Onion -- ahh, propinquity! [added 12/30/06]
Interpersonal Relationships
The National Marriage Project - You can find a lot of good reports and data from this project with the mission "to provide research and analysis on the state of marriage in America and to educate the public on the social, economic and cultural conditions affecting marital success and child wellbeing." [added 12/1/07]
Precursor of healthy adult marriages? - A report from the Rand Corporation looks at adolescent romantic relationships as precursors of healthy adult marriages. [added 12/1/07]
Realistic female dolls for men - "Thousands of men are shelling out $6,500 for hyper-realistic dolls that answer all their needs -- and don't talk back." No mention in the article of women buying men dolls. What would a male doll that answered all of women's needs be like? [added 12/1/07]"The hidden purpose of chat-up lines" - Why do men use pick-up lines? One study investigates that "chat-up lines may be a way for men to select for a particular type of woman." [10/13/07]
The social regulation of emotion - In the latest issue of the APS Observer, there were a number of excellent articles reporting on some interesting talks at the 2007 APS convention that should be good reads for your students. [10/13/07]Prior relationships shape how we interpret new ones - interesting article summarizing some research on this topic [added 8/05/07]
The quest for romance - An interesting essay in the most recent (Feb. 2007) issue of the APS Observer summarizes some recent research. [added 7/7/07]
What does new love look like? - a New York Times article describing some research in which brain scans were conducted of newly-in-love individuals while they were looking at pictures of their beloved [added 7/06/07]
95% of Americans have had pre-marital sex - An extensive review of data from the Guttmacher Institute finds that "by age 20, 77% of respondents had had sex, 75% had had premarital sex, and 12% had married; by age44, 95% of respondents (94% of women, 96% of men, and 97% of those who had ever had sex) had had premarital sex. Even among those who abstained until at least age 20, 81% had had premarital sex by age 44. Among cohorts of women turning 15 between 1964 and 1993, at least 91% had had premarital sex by age 30. Among those turning 15 between 1954 and 1963, 82% had had premarital sex by age 30, and 88% had done so by age 44." [added 12/30/06]
Our shrinking social network - This recent (2006) research was frequently mentioned in the U.S. press. Apparently the number of our closest confidants has shrunk from 3 to 2 over the last 20 years. [added 7/6/06]
MySpace - Confused about how MySpace and other social networking sites work? Here's one explanation of MySpace from the How Stuff Works web site. [added 7/6/06]
"Romance in America" - The first report is a summary of recent survey data of young singles collected by the Pew Research Center. Not to be outdone, AOL conducted its own 2006 Dating Trends Survey. [added 7/6/06]
"To know you is to love you" - an article on the role of compassion in marriage, from The Center for the Development of Peace and Well-being [added 1/15/06]
Alcohol in relationships - "Alcohol problems in intimate relationships: Identification and intervention" is a guide from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. [added 1/8/06]
The science of love: BBC / PBS - two different sites addressing this question [added 4/05/04]
Adult attachment lab - links, articles and measures of adult attachment
Sexual orientation - research site by authors
"Isolation Increases with Internet Use" - article from APA Monitor
"Social Behavior Transformed With One New Gene" - report from ScienceDaily (1999)
Physical Attraction
Can the next president have asymmetrical eyebrows? - amusing article from The Onion [added 4/20/08]
Personality and physical attractiveness - description of research in which the manipulation of personality influenced the perception of physical attractiveness [added 3/21/08]
Is there a "beauty premium" on TV game shows? - interesting study [added 7/7/07]
"Ugly girl killed: Nation unshaken by not-so-tragic death" - An amusing article from the satirical online newspaper The Onion [added 12/30/06]
Beauty in the election process - a study "The looks of a winner: Beauty, gender, and electoral success" looks at the role of attractiveness in Finland's politics. [added 12/30/06]
Jamaican Symmetry Project - This is a very interesting project in which researchers "focus on the possibility that dancing ability may correlate with the dancer's degree of bodily symmetry, commonly used in evolutionary studies to measure developmental stability and hence genetic quality." Read what they found, and watch some of the dance video as well. Also read a related research article published in Nature. [added 2/22/06]
What is sexy? - A columnist notes that U.S. Patrick Fitzgerald showed up on a sexiest man list despite lacking "conventional" physically attractive traits. The columnist asks, "Is there a female equivalent to a 'sexy' Patrick Fitzgerald?" In other words, it raises the question of differences between what men and women find attractive. [added 1/14/06]
The Face of Tomorrow - Very interesting site in which a photographer creates a composite photo from many faces he has taken in a certain community. He claims that the composite photo may represent what people in that community will look like in the future -- the face of tomorrow. [added 12/1/04]"Fertile women rate other women as uglier" - interesting article describing research about possible hormonal influences on attractiveness ratings [added 4/05/04]
Research on effects of attractiveness on "discounting the future" - Here is a public press summary of interesting research which found that "male students, when shown pictures of pretty women, were
Resources for the Teaching of Social Psychology is a part of the CROW Project, Course Resources on the Web. CROW is sponsored by the Associated Colleges of Illinois and generously supported by UPS. This site was created by Jon Mueller, Professor of Psychology at North Central College, Naperville, IL. Send comments to Jon.