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Some Rights Reserved

Summary: The Psychology of Attractiveness Podcast focuses on the scientific study of human attraction. Every month Dr. Rob Burriss shines a light on the most fascinating new research on attraction, jealousy, lust and love. Recent topics include: what is the evolutionary purpose of oral sex? Why do 75% of ovulating women wear red? And how do tattoos attract men, and guitars attract women? Join Rob to find out the answers to all these questions and more! Episodes last 10-15 minutes and sometimes feature interviews with researchers.

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  • Artist: www.robertburriss.com
  • Copyright: Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported

Podcasts:

 Criminals have more kids. July 2014 | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: Unknown

This month, crime pays: we discover the link between criminal behaviour and reproduction, and find out why it makes sense to judge your criminal accomplices on their beauty. We also learn what a woman’s bank balance says about her attitude to promiscuity. Download the MP3Rate me! Rate, review, or listen in iTunes or in Stitcher. New research shows that criminal offending might be part of an alternative reproductive strategy. That explains why the Godfather was the head of such a huge family, then.The articles covered in the show:Yao, S., Långström, N., Temrin, H., & Walum, H. (in press). Criminal offending as part of an alternative reproductive strategy: Investigating evolutionary hypotheses using Swedish total population data. Evolution and Human Behavior. Read summaryShinada, M., & Yamagishi, T. (in press). Physical attractiveness and cooperation in a prisoner's dilemma game. Evolution and Human Behavior. Read summaryPrice, M. E., Pound, N., & Scott, I. M. (in press). Female economic dependence and the morality of promiscuity. Archives of Sexual Behavior. Read summary

 How to get your sperm swimming like Michael Phelps. June 2014 | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: Unknown

How to get a man’s sperm swimming like a shoal of miniature Michael Phelpses, and why expensive handbags are a weapon of war. We also find out what time of the month the idea of incest is most likely to make you throw up. Download the MP3Rate me! Rate, review, or listen in iTunes or in Stitcher. New research shows that it's not just men who get excited by attractive women: their sperm do too.The articles covered in the show:Antfolk, J., Lieberman, D., Albrecht, A., & Santtila, P. (2014). The self-regulation effect of fertility status on inbreeding aversion: When fertile, disgust increases more in response to descriptions of one’s own than of other’s inbreeding. Evolutionary Psychology, 12(3), 621-631. Read paperHudders, L., De Backer, C., Fisher, M., & Vyncke, P. (2014). The rival wears Prada: Luxury consumption as a female competition strategy. Evolutionary Psychology. Read paperLeivers, S., Rhodes, G., & Simmons, L. W. (in press). Context-dependent relationship between a composite measure of men’s mate value and ejaculate quality. Behavioral Ecology. Read summary And here's that TED talk I mentioned in the podcast. Kristina Durante talks about how women's interest in mating, consumerism, and female-female competition vary over their ovulatory cycle.

 Vocal fry, and why Kim Kardashian will never get a proper job. May 2014 | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: Unknown

Why Kim Kardashian would struggle finding a job outside showbiz, and how beauty is in the nose as well as the eye of the beholder. We also discover how male height impacts upon family size. Download the MP3Rate me! Rate, review, or listen in iTunes or in Stitcher. Kanye must see something in Kim, but it's probably not her creaky, croaky voice: her "vocal fry".The articles covered in the show:Anderson, R. C., Klofstad, C. A., Mayew, W. J., & Venkatachalam, M. (2014). Vocal fry may undermine the success of young women in the labor market. PLoS One, 9(5), e97506. Read paperStulp, G., Mills, M., Pollet, T. V., & Barrett, L. (in press). Non-linear associations between stature and mate choice characteristics for American men and their spouses. American Journal of Human Biology. Read summarySeubert, J., Gregory, K. M., Chamberland, J., Dessirier, J.-M., & Lundström, J. M. (2014). Odor valence linearly modulates attractiveness, but not age assessment, of invariant facial features in a memory-based rating task. PLoS One, 9(5), e98347. Read paper

 Male testosterone, with Melissa Fales. April 2014 | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: Unknown

This month, in our fifth anniversary episode (WUHOO!), I speak to Melissa Fales of UCLA about her new research on men’s hormone levels and how they vary over the course of their girlfriend’s menstrual cycle. We’ll also look at two other experiments on ovulation and attraction out this month: one on relationship conflict, and another on the sexual allure of musicians. Download the MP3Rate me! Rate, review, or listen in iTunes or in Stitcher. We're 5 years old this month! Good Lord, I'm old...The articles covered in the show:Fales, M. R., Gildersleeve, K. A., & Haselton, M. G. (in press). Exposure to perceived male rivals raises men’s testosterone on fertile relative to nonfertile days of their partner’s ovulatory cycle. Hormones and Behavior. Read summaryGangestad, S. W., Garver-Apgar, C. E., Cousins, A. J., & Thornhill, R. (in press). Intersexual conflict across women’s ovulatory cycle. Evolution and Human Behavior. Read summaryCharlton, B. D. (2014). Menstrual cycle phase alters women's sexual preferences for composers of more complex music. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B, 281(1784), 20140403. Read summary

 Beautiful people live in beautiful homes. March 2014 | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: Unknown

Is our attractiveness influenced by the rugs on our floors or the art on our walls? Are we more jealous when we're surrounded by people of the same or opposite sex? And we discover why younger fathers have better looking kids. Download the MP3Rate me! Rate, review, or listen in iTunes or in Stitcher. Are people more attractive if they are photographed in a luxury apartment, rather than a standard $40 a week rat-hole with no functioning internet? New research by Michael Dunn of Cardiff Metropolitan University suggests the answer is yes: but only if you're a man.The articles covered in the show:Arnocky, S., Ribout, A., Mirza, R. S., & Knack, J. M. (2014). Perceived mate availability influences intrasexual competition, jealousy and mate-guarding behavior. Journal of Evolutionary Psychology, 12(1), 45-64. Read summaryDunn, M. J., & Hill, A. (2014). Manipulated luxury-apartment ownership enhances opposite-sex attraction in females but not males. Journal of Evolutionary Psychology, 12(1), 1-17. Read summaryHuber, S., & Fielder, M. (in press). Advanced paternal age is associated with lower facial attractiveness. Evolution and Human Behavior. Read summary

 Evidence that botox and fillers work. Feb 2014 | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: Unknown

This month, does Botox really make you appear younger, healthier and more attractive? Can we predict whether a woman will fall in love or lust with a man at first sight? And why Vladimir Putin is the world’s most confusing homophobe. Download the MP3Rate me! Rate, review, or listen in iTunes or in Stitcher. A graph illustrating Plant's finding that people who are especially worried about being perceived as gay (high contagion) and who undergo a mating prime (being made to think about romantic partners) are more likely to express anti-gay attitudes. Note that warmth is lower amongst both the high contagion group and the mating prime group, but that it is only very low amongst those who are high contagion AND mating primed.The articles covered in the show:Fink, B., & Prager, M. (2014). The effect of incobotulinumtoxin A and dermal filler treatment on perception of age, health, and attractiveness of female faces. Journal of Clinical & Aesthetic Dermatology, 7(1), 36-40. Read paperValentine, K. A., Li, N. P., Penke, L., & Perrett, D. I. (in press). Judging a man by the width of his face: The role of facial ratios and dominance in mate choice at speed-dating events. Psychological Science. Read summaryPlant, E. A., Zielaskowski, K., & Buck, D. M. (in press). Mating motives and concerns about being misidentified as gay or lesbian: Implications for the avoidance and derogation of sexual minorities. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. Read summary

 Islamic veiling (hijab) and attractiveness. Jan 2014 | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: Unknown

Do Muslim men find women more attractive when they wear a hijab, burqa, or none of the above? How does sexuality influence our preferences for tall or short partners? And what are the best things to look for in a partner if you’re planning to take them home to meet the parents? Download the MP3Rate me! Rate, review, or listen in iTunes or in Stitcher. Pazhoohi and Hosseinchari reported this month that men find women who wear a full veil (chador) are less attractive than women who wear clothes that don't conceal the body. But does the effect depend on the body shape of the wearer, or whether men judge women's attractiveness for a long- or short-term relationship? The articles covered in the show:Pazhoohi, F., & Hosseinchari, M. (in press). Effects of religious veiling on muslim men’s attractiveness ratings of muslim women. Archives of Sexual Behavior. Read summaryValentova, J. V., Stulp, G., Třebický, V., & Havlíček, J. (2014). Preferred and actual relative height among homosexual male partners vary with preferred dominance and sex role. PLoS One, 9(1), e86534. Read paperApostelou, M. (2014). Parental choice: Exploring in-law preferences and their contingencies in the Greek-Cypriot culture. Evolutionary Psychology, 12(1), 54-72. Read paper

 Female competition special. Dec 2013 | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: Unknown

Fight fight fight! It’s a female competition special! We all know men duke it out in the name of love, honour and occasionally plain boredom, but do women also seek to outcompete members of their own sex? And is this question so controversial we shouldn’t even be asking it? Download the MP3 Rate me! Rate, review, or listen in iTunes or in Stitcher. Women knocking seven bells out of each other. Boxing AIBA/FlickrThe articles covered in the show: Durante, K. M., Griskevicius, V., Cantú, S. M., & Simpson, J. A. (in press). Money, status, and the ovulatory cycle. Journal of Marketing Research. Read summaryFink, B. (2014). Female physical characteristics and intra-sexual competition in women. Personality and Individual Differences, 58, 138-141. Read summaryMuñoz-Reyes, J. A., Pita, M., Arjona, M., Sanchez-Pages, S., & Turiegano, E. (in press). Who is the fairest of them all? The independent effect of attractive features and self-perceived attractiveness on cooperation among women. Evolution and Human Behavior. Read summaryPiccoli, V., Foroni, F., & Carnaghi, A. (2013). Comparing group dehumanization and intra-sexual competition among normally ovulating women and hormonal contraceptive users. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 39(12), 1600-1609. Read summaryVaillancourt, T. (2013). Do human females use indirect aggression as an intrasexual competition strategy? Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, B, 368, 20130080. Read summary

 Dog owners are more attractive. Nov 2013 | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: Unknown

This month, we take a leisurely perambulation through the science of attraction, and discover how our relationship status can affect how we walk. We also investigate how pet ownership influences attractiveness, and tackle a controversial question: do women act easy as a tactic to snare men? Download the MP3 Rate me! Rate, review, or listen in iTunes or in Stitcher. New research shows that dog owners are more attractive, especially for long term relationships. freestocks.org The articles covered in the show: Tifferet, S., Kruger, D. J., Bar-Lev, O., & Zeller, S. (2013). Dog ownership increases attractiveness and attenuates perceptions of short-term mating strategy in cad-like men. Journal of Evolutionary Psychology, 11(3), 121-139. Read summaryGoetz, C. D., Easton, J. A., & Buss, D. M. (in press). Women’s perceptions of sexual exploitability cues and their link to sexual attractiveness. Archives of Sexual Behavior. Read summaryWagnild, J., & Wall-Scheffler, C. M. (2013). Energetic consequences of human sociality: Walking speed choices among friendly dyads. PLoS One, 8(10), e76576. Read paper

 Menstrual cycle special. Oct 2013 | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: Unknown

This month, it’s a menstrual cycle special. We find out how changes in your hormone levels can influence your attitudes to kissing and dancing, make you flirt more, and even affect the psychology of your partner. I've covered cyclic effects on mating psychology many, many times before on the podcast. If you want to hear more, click on the label for "human oestrus". Download the MP3 Rate me! Rate, review, or listen in iTunes or in Stitcher. Yep, it's that time of the month again. Time for another Psychology of Attractiveness Podcast, that is! Ho ho ho. Shane Taremi/Flickr The articles covered in the show: Cappelle, T., & Fink, B. (2013). Changes in women’s attractiveness perception of masculine men’s dances across the ovulatory cycle: Preliminary data. Evolutionary Psychology, 11(5), 965-972. Read paper Cantú, S. M., Simpson, J. A., Griskevicius, V., Weisberg, Y. J., Durante, K. M., & Beal, D. J. (in press). Fertile and selectively flirty: Women’s behavior toward men changes across the ovulatory cycle. Psychological Science. Read paper [pdf] Wlodarski, R., & Dunbar, R. I. M. (in press). Menstrual cycle effects on attitudes to kissing. Human Nature. Read summary Cobey, K. D., Buunk, A. P., Pollet, T. V., Klipping, C., & Roberts, S. C. (in press). Men perceive their female partners, and themselves, as more attractive around ovulation. Biological Psychology. Read summary

 Baby-making special. Sept 2013 | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: Unknown

This month, it’s a baby-making special. We take a closer look at the psychology of family planning, from the link between personality and fertility, to the motivational value of baby photographs, and even condom sabotage! Download the MP3 Rate me! Rate, review, or listen in iTunes or in Stitcher. The articles covered in the show: Skirbekk, V., & Blekesaune, M. (in press). Personality traits increasingly important for male fertility: Evidence from Norway. European Journal of Personality. Read summary Davis, K. C., Schraufnagel, T. J., Kajumulo, K. F., Gilmore, A. K., Norris, J., & George, W. H. (in press). A qualitative examination of men's condom use attitudes and resistance: "It's just part of the game". Archives of Sexual Behavior. Read summary Charles, N. E., Alexander, G. M., & Saenz, J. (2013). Motivational value and salience of images of infants. Evolution and Human Behavior, 34(5), 373-381. Read summary

 Sexual selection in humans. Aug 2013 | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: Unknown

In this special episode we have an extended interview about sexual selection in humans. Download the MP3 Rate me! Rate, review, or listen in iTunes or in Stitcher. Are all those muscles going to be more handy for attracting women, or beating up other men? How has sexual selection acted on male physicality? The articles covered in the show:Hill, A. K., Hunt, J., Welling, L. L. M., Cárdenas, R. A., Rotella, M. A., Wheatley, J. R., et al. (in press). Quantifying the strength and form of sexual selection on men's traits. Evolution and Human Behavior. Read summary

 Smiling and beauty. July 2013 | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: Unknown

Why we prefer our partners to be more like us, and why we want to be more like our rivals. Also, new research on emotional expression and beauty that gives us all something to smile about. Download the MP3Rate me! Rate, review, or listen in iTunes or in Stitcher. New research shows that smiling makes you more attractive than a grumpy beauty. So turn that frown upside down! Johnny Silvercloud/FlickrThe articles covered in the show:Laeng, B., Vermeer, O., & Sulutvedt, U. (2013). Is beauty in the face of the beholder? PLoS One, 8(7), e68395. Read summarySlotter, E. B., Lucas, G. M., Jakubiak, B., & Lasslett, H. (in press). Changing me to keep you: State jealousy promotes perceiving similarity between the self and a romantic rival. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. Read summaryGolle, J., Mast, F. W., & Lobmaier, J. S. (in press). Something to smile about: The interrelationship between attractiveness and emotional expression. Cognition & Emotion. Read summary

 Musicians are more alluring than firemen. June 2013 | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: Unknown

This month we find out what a woman wants in a man can tell us about the type of relationship she desires, and why seeing red puts men in the mood for love. Also, finding it difficult to convince women to give you their phone number? We discover a simple method of doubling your success rate: buy a guitar! Download the MP3Rate me! Rate, review, or listen in iTunes or in Stitcher. Would you give your phone number to this man? Nicolas Gueguen has found that women are more likely to give their digits to a fireman or to a man with a guitar.The articles covered in the show:Goetz, C. D. (2013). What do women’s advertised mate preferences reveal? An analysis of video dating profiles. Evolutionary Psychology, 11(2), 383-391. Read paperProkop, P., & Hromada, M. (in press). Women use red in order to attract mates. Ethology. Read summaryGuéguen, N., Meineri, S., & Fischer-Lokou, J. (in press). Men’s music ability and attractiveness to women in a real-life courtship context. Psychology of Music. Read summary

 Oral sex, with Michael Pham. May 2013 | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: Unknown

What is the point of oral sex? I talk to Michael Pham of Oakland University to find out. Also, do tattoos make women more or less attractive? Quick answer: it depends. Download the MP3Rate me! Rate, review, or listen in iTunes or in Stitcher. Michael Douglas revealed today that he thinks his throat cancer might have been caused by cunnilingus. If he's right, that's one downside of oral sex. But are there other costs to weigh against the (obvious) benefits of oral sex? I speak to Michael Pham, who researches the link between oral sex and jealousy-motivated mate retention behaviours. The articles covered in the show:Pham, M. N., & Shackelford, T. K. (2013). Oral sex as mate retention behavior. Personality and Individual Differences, 55(2), 185-188. Read summaryPham, M. N., Shackelford, T. K., Sela, Y., & Welling, L. L. M. (2013). Is cunnilingus-assisted orgasm a male sperm-retention strategy? Evolutionary Psychology, 11(2), 405-414. Read paperGuéguen, N. (in press). Effects of a tattoo on men’s behavior and attitudes towards women: An experimental field study. Archives of Sexual Behavior. Read summary

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