Sex and drugs: How substance abuse affects your love life. 20 Dec 2016

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Sex and drugs: Does taking illicit substances affect your mating success? We also find out how a dose of testosterone influences what men find attractive.

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Sex & Drugs: Can Substance Use Enhance Your Love Life?

How Testosterone Affects What Men Find Attractive

Does taking drugs make you a goddamn sexual tyrannosaurus? Niyantha Shekar/Flickr

The articles covered in the show:

Richardson, G. B., Chen, C.-C., Dai, C.-L., Swoboda, C. M., Nedelec, J. L., & Chen, W.-W. (in press). Substance use and mating success. Evolution and Human Behavior. View summary

Bird, B. M., Welling, L. L. M., Ortiz, T. L., Moreau, B. J. P., Hansen, S., Emond, M., . . . Carré, J. M. (in press). Effects of exogenous testosterone and mating context on men's preferences for female facial femininity. Hormones and Behavior. View summary

Head tilt and allure, with Danielle Sulikowski. 20 Oct 2015

Head posture: Does tilting your noggin like a bobble-head doll make you more or less alluring? I talk to Danielle Sulikowski.

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Does tilting her head make this woman more attractive? Or does she just look like her bonce is about to snap off at the hinge?

The articles covered in the show:

Burke, D., & Sulikowski, D. (2010). A new viewpoint on the evolution of sexually dimorphic human faces. Evolutionary Psychology, 8(4), 147470491000800404. Read summary

Sulikowski, D., Burke, D., Havlíček, J., & Roberts, S. C. (in press). Head tilt and fertility contribute to different aspects of female facial attractiveness. Ethology. Read summary

Evidence that botox and fillers work. Feb 2014

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.

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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 paper

Valentine, 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 summary

Plant, 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

Video games get men horny. Nov 2012

This month, “it’s not you, it’s not me, it’s where we live”: how environment can influence break up decisions. Also, gender differences in sexual regret, and how video games can get a man in the mood for love.

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Cheat activated! Welling had men play a video game, but didn't tell them that the person they were playing against was cheating. Sneaky!

The articles covered in the show:

Hogerbrugge, M. J. A., Komter, A. E., & Scheepers, P. (in press). Dissolving long-term romantic relationships: Assessing the role of the social context. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships. Read summary

Galperin, A., Haselton, M. G., Frederick, D. A., Poore, J., von Hippel, W., Buss, D. M., et al. (in press). Sexual regret: Evidence for evolved sex differences. Archives of Sexual Behavior. Read summary

Welling, L. L. M., Persola, L., Wheatley, J. R., Cárdenas, R. A., & Puts, D. A. (2013). Competition and men's face preferences. Personality and Individual Differences, 54(3), 414-419. Read summary

Feminine faced women have more kids. Sept 2012

The importance of attractiveness to reproduction, and of reproduction to happiness. And how an appreciation for physical beauty may be linked to a fear of falling ill.

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Lena Pflüger found this month that women who have had lots of children tend to have a feminine, more attractive face shape.

The articles covered in the show:

Pflüger, L. S., Oberzaucher, E., Katina, S., Holzleitner, I. J., & Grammer, K. (in press). Cues to fertility: perceived attractiveness and facial shape predict reproductive success. Evolution and Human Behavior. Read summary

Onyishi, E. I., Sorokowski, P., Sorokowska, A., & Pipitone, R. N. (in press). Children and marital satisfaction in a non-Western sample: having more children increases marital satisfaction among the Igbo people of Nigeria. Evolution and Human Behavior. Read summary

Watkins, C. D., DeBruine, L. M., Little, A. C., Feinberg, D. R., & Jones, B. C. (in press). Priming concerns about pathogen threat versus resource scarcity: dissociable effects on women’s perceptions of men’s attractiveness and dominance. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. Read summary

Prokop, P., Rantala, M. J., Usak, M., & Senay, I. (in press). Is a woman's preference for chest hair in men influenced by parasite threat? Archives of Sexual Behavior. Read summary