ataraxia
5th January 2010, 17:48
Leuk onderzoekje over menselijke paarrituelen (heb er wat stukjes uitgepikt, lees de rest hier (http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20427392.700-sex-and-shopping--its-a-guy-thing.html?page=2)) :
In the first experiment the team, led by Vladas Griskevicius from Arizona State University in Tempe and Josh Tybur from the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, invited college students to the lab in small groups. Each was randomly assigned to one of two conditions: "mating" or "non-mating". The mating subjects looked at three photographs of people of the opposite-sex on a computer screen, picked which one they thought most desirable, and spent a few minutes writing about an ideal first date with that person. The non-mating subjects looked at a street scene photograph and spent the same amount of time writing about the ideal weather for walking around and looking at the buildings it featured.
Then, all subjects were asked to imagine that they had a modest windfall of money, such as a lottery win of a few thousand dollars, and must choose how much they wanted to spend on a variety of conspicuous luxuries - such as a new watch, European vacation or new car - and how much they would save in a bank account. They were then asked to imagine that they had some extra time available per week, and were asked to choose how many hours they would spend volunteering - such as working at a homeless shelter or helping at a children's hospital.
The results were dramatic: men in the mating condition said they would spend much more money than men in the non-mating condition - for example, they might take the European vacation rather than saving that money - but there was no mating effect on women's consumption decisions. On the other hand, women in the mating condition said they would spend much more time volunteering than women in the non-mating condition. There was no mating effect on men's volunteering. This study confirmed that conspicuous consumption (for men) and conspicuous charity (for women) can be increased by thinking about mating opportunities, and so can function strategically as a form of mating display.
Men in the mating condition, compared with the non-mating condition, said they would spend more money on the conspicuous luxuries, and that they would actually spend less on the inconspicuous necessities; there was no effect on female consumption decisions. In contrast, women in the mating condition, compared with those in the non-mating condition, said they would spend more time on conspicuous pro-social volunteering, but no more time on the inconspicuous pro-social activities. Again, there was no effect on male volunteering. So, thinking about mating does not simply increase overall consumer spending or pro-social volunteering; it only increases conspicuous consumption or conspicuous charity - the behaviours that work best as public, costly displays.
En last but not least:
Women rated a man driving a Porsche Boxster as more attractive for a short-term sexual relationship than a man driving a Honda Civic. But the Porsche did not make the man more attractive as a possible marriage partner. Men rating women were uninfluenced by the type of car she drove. This last study is especially intriguing since it suggests that women are attracted to conspicuously consuming men for their good genes (which can be obtained from a single copulation) rather than their good resources.
In the first experiment the team, led by Vladas Griskevicius from Arizona State University in Tempe and Josh Tybur from the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, invited college students to the lab in small groups. Each was randomly assigned to one of two conditions: "mating" or "non-mating". The mating subjects looked at three photographs of people of the opposite-sex on a computer screen, picked which one they thought most desirable, and spent a few minutes writing about an ideal first date with that person. The non-mating subjects looked at a street scene photograph and spent the same amount of time writing about the ideal weather for walking around and looking at the buildings it featured.
Then, all subjects were asked to imagine that they had a modest windfall of money, such as a lottery win of a few thousand dollars, and must choose how much they wanted to spend on a variety of conspicuous luxuries - such as a new watch, European vacation or new car - and how much they would save in a bank account. They were then asked to imagine that they had some extra time available per week, and were asked to choose how many hours they would spend volunteering - such as working at a homeless shelter or helping at a children's hospital.
The results were dramatic: men in the mating condition said they would spend much more money than men in the non-mating condition - for example, they might take the European vacation rather than saving that money - but there was no mating effect on women's consumption decisions. On the other hand, women in the mating condition said they would spend much more time volunteering than women in the non-mating condition. There was no mating effect on men's volunteering. This study confirmed that conspicuous consumption (for men) and conspicuous charity (for women) can be increased by thinking about mating opportunities, and so can function strategically as a form of mating display.
Men in the mating condition, compared with the non-mating condition, said they would spend more money on the conspicuous luxuries, and that they would actually spend less on the inconspicuous necessities; there was no effect on female consumption decisions. In contrast, women in the mating condition, compared with those in the non-mating condition, said they would spend more time on conspicuous pro-social volunteering, but no more time on the inconspicuous pro-social activities. Again, there was no effect on male volunteering. So, thinking about mating does not simply increase overall consumer spending or pro-social volunteering; it only increases conspicuous consumption or conspicuous charity - the behaviours that work best as public, costly displays.
En last but not least:
Women rated a man driving a Porsche Boxster as more attractive for a short-term sexual relationship than a man driving a Honda Civic. But the Porsche did not make the man more attractive as a possible marriage partner. Men rating women were uninfluenced by the type of car she drove. This last study is especially intriguing since it suggests that women are attracted to conspicuously consuming men for their good genes (which can be obtained from a single copulation) rather than their good resources.