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<td><span style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:20px;font-weight:bold;">PsyPost – Psychology News Daily Digest (Unofficial)</span></td>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/electromagnetic-fields-could-boost-focus-and-learning-new-research-suggests/" style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing:-1px;margin:0;padding:0 0 2px;font-weight: bold;font-size: 19px;line-height: 20px;color:#222;">Electromagnetic fields could boost focus and learning, new research suggests</a>
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<p><p>A recent study published in the journal <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brainres.2024.149158"><em>Brain Research</em></a> reveals intriguing evidence that exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMFs) patterned after neural activity might enhance a mental state known as “flow” in individuals playing a computer game. The findings open up the possibility of developing wearable devices that could support learning, focus, and concentration by utilizing specific EMF patterns.</p>
<p>The concept of “flow,” a term coined by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, describes a state of optimal experience where individuals are fully immersed in a task, losing track of time and self-consciousness. This state is often accompanied by a feeling of effortlessness and a high level of concentration. Flow has been linked to enhanced performance and well-being in various activities, from sports to creative endeavors.</p>
<p>Researchers have long been interested in understanding the neural mechanisms underlying the flow state, but replicating this state in experimental settings has proven challenging. While past studies have relied on self-report measures to study flow, these approaches have primarily been correlational, offering limited insights into causality.</p>
<p>In their current study, first author Anthony S. Zanetti and his colleagues at Laurentian University sought to build on existing theories suggesting that flow might be a result of neural synchronization, particularly between attentional networks and the brain’s reward systems. Given that previous research has shown that EMFs can influence neural activity, the researchers aimed to test whether EMFs patterned after the brain’s natural firing patterns could induce or enhance the flow state during a specific task—in this case, playing a computer game.</p>
<p>“I’ve had a fascination with EMFs since my graduate work. I’ve seen their impact on cell cultures, self-report data, and smaller whole biological systems,” explained senior author <a href="https://laurentian.ca/faculty/bx_dotta" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Blake Dotta</a>, an assistant professor, head of the Neuroscience Research Group, and Zanetti’s supervisor. “To me, science is the pursuit of the unknown, and there are still many aspects of EMF influence that we have limited data on. The interest in this experiment was twofold: first, to see if EMFs could influence brain activity in a way that specifically supports the flow state, and second, to determine if any changes could be corroborated by self-reports or reflected in game performance.”</p>
<p>The study involved 39 participants recruited from the student body at Laurentian University, as well as the general public. These participants were divided into three groups based on the difficulty of the computer game they were assigned to play: easy, medium, and hard. The game chosen for the experiment was the classic arcade game “Snake,” which requires players to control a snake to collect items while avoiding collisions with the snake’s own body or the game’s boundaries.</p>
<p>Participants were fitted with a sensor cap to record their brain activity using a technique called electroencephalography (EEG). They played two 10-minute sessions of the game, with a short break in between. During one of these sessions, an electromagnetic field was applied to the participants’ heads. The field was patterned after neural activity in the amygdala, a brain region involved in processing emotions and contributing to the flow experience. The frequency of the EMF ranged from 6 to 20 Hz, which aligns with the natural firing patterns observed in the amygdala.</p>
<p>To measure the participants’ experience of flow, the researchers used the Flow Short Scale, a survey that assesses various components of the flow state, such as the sense of challenge, concentration, and the merging of action and awareness. Additionally, the participants’ game performance was recorded, including their scores and the number of errors they made.</p>
<p>The researchers observed a significant decrease in beta wave activity (12–16 Hz) in several brain regions when participants were exposed to the EMF. These regions included the left cuneus, left precuneus, left posterior cingulate, insula, and parahippocampal gyrus. Beta waves are typically associated with active thinking and focus, so a reduction in beta activity might indicate a shift towards a more relaxed and absorbed state, which aligns with the flow experience.</p>
<p>In addition to the changes in brain wave patterns, the researchers also found that participants reported greater ease of concentration when exposed to EMF. This subjective improvement in focus was particularly noticeable among participants who had no prior experience playing the game.</p>
<p>The study also uncovered an intriguing detail regarding the impact of EMF exposure on participants with varying levels of prior experience playing the game “Snake.” Typically, in tasks like playing a computer game, participants with prior experience tend to outperform those without it, simply due to familiarity with the game mechanics and strategies. However, in this study, during the trials where participants were exposed to the EMF, this expected advantage disappeared.</p>
<p>In the EMF exposure trials, there was no discernible experience effect; participants with prior experience did not exhibit significantly better performance compared to those without prior experience. This was a notable finding because it suggests that the EMF might level the playing field, allowing novices to perform at a level similar to those with more experience.</p>
<p>“EMFs, though subtle and ubiquitous in our lives, have the ability to subtly influence brain activity,” Dotta told PsyPost. “To be blunt, the key takeaway for the average person is that our brains are responsive to these external influences. This study provides preliminary evidence that EMF exposure can enhance cognitive functions like concentration and learning by promoting flow states. If we can influence brain activity, it opens up possibilities for affecting single-cell behavior or even the behavior of an individual.”</p>
<p>“However, a huge caveat: the EMF influence described in this research won’t increase your IQ or give you abilities you’ve never had before. But it does suggest a potential avenue for developing wearable, inexpensive technology that could aid in achieving flow states, which are associated with enhanced learning, focus, and performance.”</p>
<p>While the current study provides initial evidence that specific EMF patterns can enhance flow-related brain activity and subjective experiences, the mechanisms underlying these effects remain unclear. Future research should focus on using larger and more diverse sample populations to confirm the generalizability of the findings. Additionally, studies should investigate the long-term effects of repeated EMF exposure and whether different EMF patterns might be more effective for specific tasks or individuals. Advanced neuroimaging techniques could also be employed to gain more precise insights into the neural circuits involved in flow states under EMF influence.</p>
<p>“It’s important to note that, even though the study shows promising results, this area of research is still in its infancy, and the effects observed are subtle,” Dotta said. “The EMF influence we detected won’t drastically change cognitive abilities, and, very importantly, it is not a one-size-fits-all solution.”</p>
<p>“The long-term goals are to continue advancing the science behind EMF influence, focusing on studying its effects to better understand its mechanisms and scope. EMF influence remains a major point of contention in science — how do EMFs exert their effects on biological systems? We aim to expand both the sample size and the range of cognitive tests in our studies to explore this further.”</p>
<p>“Currently, we have a few studies under review that demonstrate the influence of EMFs, particularly when paired with valenced emotions, on short-term memory performance,” Dotta explained. “Our ultimate goal is to identify the EMF patterns and intensities that most effectively influence brain dynamics. For example, gamma oscillations, which are known to be reduced in Alzheimer’s disease, could potentially be enhanced through targeted EMF applications (this is a current ongoing project, similar to Anthony’s work, but focusing on EEG entrainment through EMF application). If we can increase gamma coherence using EMFs, this line of research could open up new possibilities for therapeutic interventions. That is the future direction we are pursuing.”</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0006899324004128">Electromagnetic field enhanced flow state: Insights from electrophysiological measures, self-reported experiences, and gameplay</a>,” was authored by Anthony S. Zanetti, Kevin S. Saroka, and Blake T. Dotta.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/long-term-unemployment-leads-to-disengagement-and-apathy-rather-than-efforts-to-regain-control/" style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing:-1px;margin:0;padding:0 0 2px;font-weight: bold;font-size: 19px;line-height: 20px;color:#222;">Long-term unemployment leads to disengagement and apathy, rather than efforts to regain control</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Sep 2nd 2024, 08:00</div>
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<p><p>New research published in the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.12967"><em>Journal of Personality</em></a> reveals that prolonged unemployment is strongly correlated with loss of personal control and subsequent disengagement both psychologically and socially.</p>
<p>The need for control is a fundamental aspect of human motivation, and when this need is unmet, it can lead to significant psychological consequences. Past research has explored control loss through experimental manipulations, but questions remain about the ecological validity of these findings. This study, led by Wiktor Soral and colleagues, aimed to address these concerns by investigating the real-world implications of prolonged unemployment—a situation that severely threatens personal control.</p>
<p>Unemployment is a significant stressor with far-reaching impacts on mental health. It strips individuals of both the explicit benefits of employment, such as income, and the implicit ones, like structured time and social connections. Building on this understanding, Soral and colleagues focused on how prolonged unemployment might alter psychological functioning and social adaptation. Specifically, they explored whether these changes manifest as disengagement and helplessness, or if there are attempts to regain lost control.</p>
<p>The study involved a sample of 1,055 Polish participants, with 748 unemployed individuals and 307 employed individuals serving as a control group. The unemployed participants were categorized based on the length of their unemployment: short-term (0-3 months), medium-term (4-12 months), and long-term (over 12 months).</p>
<p>The survey collected demographic information, including age, gender, education level, and place of residence. Participants completed a variety of measures to assess well-being, self-esteem, perceived control (personal, political, and fatalistic), emotions, stress coping strategies, and social attitudes. The study also examined variables that could indicate control regaining efforts, such as active coping and collective action, as well as those suggesting disengagement, like withdrawal and anti-democratic beliefs. Data collection occurred in two parts, with participants completing the second part of the survey within two weeks of the first. Only participants who completed both parts were included in the final analysis, resulting in a total of 854 participants.</p>
<p>Soral and colleagues found that prolonged unemployment is strongly associated with a decline in well-being and self-esteem, alongside an increased perception of personal and fatalistic control loss. As unemployment duration lengthened, participants reported more negative emotions, particularly those related to low-approach and avoidance, such as feeling depressed or frightened.</p>
<p>They also exhibited fewer positive emotions, especially those linked to active engagement like enthusiasm. This emotional disengagement was accompanied by a significant reduction in active stress coping strategies and a decrease in the pursuit of personal projects and future-oriented goals. The findings suggest that long-term unemployment fosters a sense of learned helplessness, where individuals become increasingly demotivated and pessimistic about their ability to regain control over their lives.</p>
<p>Socially, the study revealed that long-term unemployed individuals are more likely to disengage from social and political activities. They reported lower levels of national identification and a reduced likelihood of participating in collective actions, such as protests. Additionally, these individuals exhibited higher levels of psychological defensiveness, including increased individual and collective narcissism, and a greater tendency to blame external entities, like governments or corporations, for their unemployment.</p>
<p>Interestingly, the study did not find evidence that these individuals turned to external sources of control, such as belief in an intervening God or system justification, suggesting that while they become more defensive and disengaged, they do not necessarily seek comfort or control through external systems.</p>
<p>One limitation noted by the authors is the cross-sectional nature of the study, which prevents establishing causality.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.12967">Prolonged unemployment is associated with control loss and personal as well as social disengagement</a>”, was authored by Wiktor Soral, Marcin Bukowski, Michał Bilewicz, Aleksandra Cichocka, Karol Lewczuk, Marta Marchlewska, Aleksandra Rabinovitch, Anna Rędzio, Magdalena Skrodzka, and Mirosław Kofta.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/contact-with-nature-has-this-heartening-effect-on-our-psychological-disposition-scientists-find/" style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing:-1px;margin:0;padding:0 0 2px;font-weight: bold;font-size: 19px;line-height: 20px;color:#222;">Contact with nature has this heartening effect on our psychological disposition, scientists find</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Sep 2nd 2024, 06:00</div>
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<p><p>A recent study published in the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2024.102389"><em>Journal of Environmental Psychology</em></a> suggests that spending time in nature can increase how much we see others as fully human. This effect is largely due to a sense of self-transcendence—a feeling of connection to something larger than oneself—that nature evokes. The researchers also found that this enhanced perception of humanness in others encourages prosocial behaviors, such as helping and cooperating with others.</p>
<p>The perception of humanness in others is a fundamental aspect of social interactions. It influences how we treat those around us—whether we empathize with them, help them, or even avoid causing them harm. However, there are many factors that can diminish this perception, leading to what psychologists call “dehumanization.” Dehumanization has been linked to a range of negative outcomes, including increased aggression and decreased empathy.</p>
<p>While much research has explored the causes of dehumanization, less attention has been given to understanding how to increase perceptions of humanness in others. Given the importance of maintaining these perceptions for healthy social interactions, the researchers wanted to investigate whether a commonly accessible experience—contact with nature—could enhance how human we perceive others to be.</p>
<p>“Since individuals cannot directly perceive others’ mental states, it is easy to overlook their humanity,” said study authors <a href="https://scholars.cityu.edu.hk/en/persons/xijing-wang(ee597c30-372f-4211-8e9e-b39fe796915e).html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Xijing Wang</a>, an assistant professor at City University of Hong Kong, and <a href="https://psy.fjnu.edu.cn/e4/63/c4705a386147/page.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Lei Cheng</a>, a lecturer at Fujian Normal University. “However, disregarding others’ humanity can result in negative interpersonal consequences, such as reduced prosocial behavior. Therefore, we aimed to identify strategies that could enhance our perception of others’ humanity. Our study suggests that getting in touch with nature—a novel and easily implementable approach—can effectively achieve this goal.”</p>
<p>To explore this question, the researchers conducted a series of six studies, each designed to assess the impact of nature on perceptions of humanness in various contexts. The participants in these studies were from different cultural backgrounds, including China, the United States, and the United Kingdom, which helped to ensure that the findings were not limited to a specific cultural or geographic context.</p>
<p>The first study aimed to establish a correlation between nature contact and increased humanness perception. The researchers recruited 712 college students from several universities in China. Participants were divided into two groups based on their access to natural elements in their immediate living environment. One group had regular access to nature (such as plants, trees, and parks), while the other group did not have such access.</p>
<p>To assess (de)humanization, the participants were asked to answer four questions designed to measure how much they generally attributed humanness to others in society. The questions included statements like “I feel that other people are superficial, like they have no depth” and “I feel that other people are mechanical and cold.” The researchers controlled for variables such as social dominance orientation, the importance attached to material possessions, and perceived social rank.</p>
<p>The findings showed that participants who had regular contact with nature attributed higher levels of humanness to others compared to those who lacked such contact. This initial study provided correlational evidence supporting the hypothesis that nature contact is positively associated with the perception of humanness in others.</p>
<p>To establish a causal relationship between nature contact and humanness perception, the researchers conducted a controlled experiment in Study 2. They recruited 150 college students from a Chinese university and randomly assigned them to one of two conditions. In the nature condition, participants were placed in a room decorated with indoor plants, while in the control condition, participants were placed in a room without any natural elements. After spending five minutes in their respective environments, participants were asked to rate the humanness of others using a similar questionnaire as in Study 1.</p>
<p>The results indicated that participants in the nature condition attributed higher levels of humanness to others than those in the control condition. This finding provided experimental evidence that direct exposure to natural elements can causally increase the perception of humanness in others.</p>
<p>Study 3 aimed to enhance the ecological validity of the findings by situating participants in real-world environments. The researchers recruited 169 college students from a Chinese university and randomly assigned them to either a nature condition or a control condition. In the nature condition, participants were taken to a park near the campus, while in the control condition, they were taken to a busy street outside the campus. After spending five minutes observing their surroundings, participants completed the same questionnaire on humanness attribution.</p>
<p>As predicted, participants who spent time in the park (nature condition) reported higher levels of humanness attribution compared to those who spent time on the street (control condition). This study reinforced the causal relationship between nature contact and humanness perception in a real-world setting.</p>
<p>The fourth study extended the investigation to intergroup contexts and included participants from a different cultural background. The researchers recruited 194 Caucasian American participants through an online platform and randomly assigned them to either a nature condition or a control condition. In the nature condition, participants viewed images of natural landscapes and were asked to immerse themselves in the depicted scenarios. In the control condition, participants viewed images of abstract shapes. Afterward, participants were asked to rate the humanness of Chinese people.</p>
<p>The findings revealed that participants in the nature condition attributed higher levels of humanness to Chinese people than those in the control condition. This study demonstrated that nature contact can reduce intergroup biases and enhance the perception of humanness in outgroup members.</p>
<p>Study 5 sought to explore the underlying mechanism of the effect observed in the previous studies, particularly the role of self-transcendence. The researchers recruited 198 British residents and randomly assigned them to either a nature condition or a control condition. Participants in the nature condition were asked to imagine themselves in natural environments by viewing images of nature, while those in the control condition imagined winning a lottery prize. After the imagination task, participants completed measures of self-transcendence and humanness attribution. The researchers also assessed participants’ moods to rule out the possibility that the effect was driven solely by positive emotions.</p>
<p>The results showed that participants in the nature condition reported higher levels of self-transcendence and humanness attribution compared to those in the control condition. Mediation analysis revealed that self-transcendence partially accounted for the effect of nature contact on humanness perception, suggesting that the feeling of connection to something larger than oneself plays a significant role in enhancing the perception of humanness in others.</p>
<p>The final study aimed to replicate the findings of Study 5 in an intergroup context and to examine whether the increased perception of humanness due to nature contact could also lead to prosocial behaviors. The researchers recruited 199 Mainland Chinese participants and randomly assigned them to either a nature condition or a control condition. Similar to Study 4, participants in the nature condition imagined themselves in natural environments, while those in the control condition imagined shopping in a supermarket. Participants then completed measures of self-transcendence, humanness attribution toward Hong Kong residents, and their intention to help Hong Kong residents, which was assessed by their support for a government policy to provide aid to Hong Kong.</p>
<p>The results showed that participants in the nature condition reported higher levels of self-transcendence, humanness attribution toward Hong Kong residents, and intention to help them compared to those in the control condition. Mediation analysis confirmed that self-transcendence and humanness attribution mediated the effect of nature contact on prosocial behavior.</p>
<p>“Contact with nature not only helps to relax our minds but also fosters a sense of unity with others, thereby enhancing our perception of their humanity. This heightened perception, in turn, promotes positive social interactions, such as prosocial behavior,” the researchers told PsyPost.</p>
<p>The study, “<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0272494424001622">Nature contact increases perceived humanness in others</a>,” was authored by Lei Cheng, Xijing Wang, Jiaxin Shi, and Fei Teng.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/childrens-ability-to-detect-ambiguity-in-disagreements-sharpens-between-ages-7-and-11/" style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing:-1px;margin:0;padding:0 0 2px;font-weight: bold;font-size: 19px;line-height: 20px;color:#222;">Children’s ability to detect ambiguity in disagreements sharpens between ages 7 and 11</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Sep 1st 2024, 14:00</div>
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<p><p>A recent study published in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2024.105836"><em>Cognition</em></a> reveals that children’s ability to use disagreement as a cue to infer ambiguity in communication strengthens significantly between the ages of 7 and 11.</p>
<p>Understanding how children navigate conflicting perspectives is critical in a world where effective communication and collaboration are necessary. The developmental foundations of this ability are not well understood, particularly how children infer ambiguity from disagreements in social scenarios. Jamie Amemiya and colleagues explored this by examining children’s ability to make inferences based on whether two speakers agreed or disagreed on a given interpretation.</p>
<p>Previous research has shown that children use various cues, such as trustworthiness and domain expertise, to resolve disagreements. However, less is known about their ability to infer ambiguity when there is no clear basis to privilege one perspective over another. The researchers focused on this gap.</p>
<p>The first experiment included 52 children from diverse backgrounds. The researchers designed a series of social scenarios where a child character made a statement, followed by two adult observers who either agreed or disagreed on the interpretation of the statement. For example, in one scenario, a child might say something ambiguous like, “My wagon would look better in a new color,” and then two adults would debate whether the child wanted the wagon to be painted.</p>
<p>The participants were asked to infer what the original speaker had said based on whether the adults agreed or disagreed on the interpretation. Each child participated in four stories, with scenarios counterbalanced to minimize potential biases. The researchers were particularly interested in whether the children would infer that the original statement was ambiguous when the adults disagreed, as opposed to when they agreed.</p>
<p>The second experiment expanded the study to include 110 children, with participants randomly assigned to one of two conditions: prediction or inference. In the prediction condition, children were presented with statements that were either unambiguous (e.g., “Please paint my wagon”) or ambiguous (e.g., “My wagon would look better in a new color”) and were asked to predict whether two listeners would agree or disagree on the interpretation of the statement. In the inference condition, similar to Experiment 1, children had to infer whether the original statement was ambiguous or unambiguous based on the observers’ agreement or disagreement.</p>
<p>The results from Experiment 1 revealed a clear developmental trajectory in children’s ability to use disagreement as a cue for inferring ambiguity. Children were more likely to infer an ambiguous statement when the observers disagreed. This effect became more pronounced with age, particularly among children aged 10 and 11, who showed a stronger tendency to recognize that disagreement often signals ambiguity. The findings suggest that younger children may struggle to integrate conflicting perspectives, often choosing one perspective over the other rather than inferring ambiguity.</p>
<p>Experiment 2 replicated these findings and provided further insights into the cognitive mechanisms underlying this ability. Children in the prediction condition successfully predicted that ambiguous statements were more likely to lead to disagreement, while unambiguous statements were more likely to lead to agreement. Interestingly, this ability emerged as early as age 7, indicating that children as young as 7 years old can anticipate the likelihood of disagreement based on the nature of a statement.</p>
<p>However, in the inference condition, older children outperformed younger ones, suggesting that while younger children can predict disagreement, they may struggle to apply this knowledge when making inferences about the nature of the original statement.</p>
<p>Bayesian analysis further revealed that age-related improvements in inferential reasoning were not fully explained by prediction abilities alone. Instead, older children were found to be more adept at selecting the utterance that aligned with their posterior beliefs, indicating that improvements in working memory and executive functions might also contribute to their enhanced inferential reasoning.</p>
<p>Overall, the results of these experiments suggest that while the ability to predict when disagreements will arise is critical for making inferences about ambiguity, there are additional cognitive processes that develop with age, enabling older children to make more accurate inferences based on conflicting perspectives.</p>
<p>Notably, younger children’s inferential reasoning might be hindered by a noisier decision-making process, suggesting that reducing the complexity of choices could enhance performance.</p>
<p>The research, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2024.105836">Children use disagreement to infer what happened</a>”, was authored by Jamie Amemiya, Gail D. Heyman, and Tobias Gerstenberg.</p></p>
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<td><a href="https://www.psypost.org/study-reveals-social-and-psychological-factors-behind-mens-facial-hair-choices/" style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing:-1px;margin:0;padding:0 0 2px;font-weight: bold;font-size: 19px;line-height: 20px;color:#222;">Study reveals social and psychological factors behind men’s facial hair choices</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Sep 1st 2024, 12:00</div>
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<p><p>A study in Poland found that men who are more strongly motivated to enhance their social status, experience higher competition from other males, and are more stressed about their gender roles are more likely to care for their facial hair. This suggests that men might maintain beards, mustaches, or a clean-shaven look as a self-presentation strategy to enhance their standing within their social networks. The research was published in the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-024-02919-0"><em>Archives of Sexual Behavior</em></a>.</p>
<p>In humans, facial hair is a feature that primarily appears in men after puberty, driven by the action of male sex hormones. As a result, men typically have much more facial hair than women, making it a secondary sexual characteristic.</p>
<p>Many cultures hold specific views about facial hair. Some cultures practically mandate certain types of facial hair, while others prefer its removal, leading to the practice of shaving. People often use facial hair as a form of ornamentation, creating intricate designs, such as specially trimmed and shaped beards and mustaches. In some cultures, specific facial hair styles can signal social status, dominance in male-male competition, or even age, as young individuals with facial hair tend to appear older.</p>
<p>Studies have found that people associate facial hair with biological characteristics such as sexual maturity, age, and masculinity. A theory known as the “theory of precarious manhood” suggests that men’s self-esteem largely depends on social signals indicating that they fulfill their roles and expectations well. In line with this, men may experience gender role stress when they do not meet societal expectations or when a situation forces them to act in a feminine way. Beards and facial hair help fulfill this role by serving as a clear sign of masculinity, potentially protecting men from gender role stress.</p>
<p>Study author Marcin Moroń and his colleagues note that, despite the various functions that a beard or facial hair can serve, maintaining it requires additional effort. They sought to explore why some individuals are motivated to maintain facial hair, while others invest effort in shaving to remain clean-shaven. They hypothesized that motives for maintaining facial hair may stem from a desire to present oneself as a resourceful and well-organized person, or from a desire to appear older (by keeping a beard) or younger (by being clean-shaven).</p>
<p>The study involved 414 heterosexual men from Poland, aged between 18 and 40. The research was conducted online.</p>
<p>Participants were first shown four photos of a male with different lengths of facial hair and asked to indicate which of these best described their own facial hair. Following this, participants rated how likely they were to use professional beard and facial hair services, buy facial hair care products, and spend time trimming and styling their facial hair.</p>
<p>They then completed a series of items assessing their fundamental social motives, including self-protection, disease avoidance, affiliation with a group, affiliation with friends, concern about exclusion, status-seeking, mate seeking, mate retention, kin care related to family members, and kin care related to children.</p>
<p>The “affiliation with a group” motive refers to the drive or desire to connect, belong, and maintain positive relationships within a social group or community. “Affiliation with friends” refers to the desire to form and maintain close, personal relationships with specific individuals. “Affiliation related to exclusion concern” is the motivation to seek connections and avoid rejection or exclusion, often driven by anxiety about being left out or marginalized from a group.</p>
<p>Participants also completed an assessment of intrasexual competition, which included three dimensions: envy (e.g., “I can’t stand it when I meet another man who is more attractive than I am”), jealousy (“I tend to look for negative characteristics in men who are very successful”), and superiority (“I always want to beat other men”). Additionally, they completed an assessment of gender role stress using the 15-item Masculine Gender Roles Stress Scale, which measures physical inadequacy, emotional inexpressiveness, subordination to women, intellectual inferiority, and performance failure.</p>
<p>The results showed that the motivation to enhance facial hair had weak associations with all social motives, all aspects of gender role stress except emotional inexpressiveness, and all three aspects of intrasexual competition. Individuals with stronger social motives, more gender role stress, and greater intrasexual competition were more motivated to invest effort in maintaining their facial hair styles.</p>
<p>Among the social motives, the strongest associations were with motives for affiliation with a group, affiliation with friends, concern about exclusion, and status-seeking. Physical inadequacy was the aspect of gender role stress most strongly correlated with the motivation to enhance facial hair, followed by subordination to women. Envy was the aspect of intrasexual competition most strongly associated with the motivation to enhance facial hair.</p>
<p>“Therefore, men may invest time, effort, and money in their facial hair appearance to enhance their social image,” the study authors concluded.</p>
<p>The study makes a valuable contribution to understanding the importance of facial hair care in men. However, the research was solely based on self-reports, and the measure of facial hair a person has was very limited, not capturing the diversity of possible facial hair styles. Additionally, the number of participants with actual beards was very low—only 6%. The results might differ if more extensive measures of facial hair were used and if a distinction was made between individuals with facial hair styles that require significant effort and those with styles that can be maintained with little effort.</p>
<p>The paper, “<a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10508-024-02919-0">Motivations to Enhance One’s Facial Hair: Affiliation, Rivalry, and Stress</a>,” was authored by Marcin Moroń, Łukasz Jach, and Peter K. Jonason.</p></p>
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<p><strong>Forwarded by:<br />
Michael Reeder LCPC<br />
Baltimore, MD</strong></p>
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