How Big is His…Wallet?

When do men flaunt expensive watches and exotic cars to attract mates? Do these displays work? It turns out men display luxury items when motivated by short-term mating strategies (i.e., hooking-up), and women seeking short-term mates prefer men displaying these items. However, women looking for a long-term mate (i.e., marriage material) are not impressed by the bling.

So guys, driving that Porsche signals you’re looking for a short-term mate, and that’s exactly who you’ll attract.

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Summer Lovin' or Summer Leavin'? Two Ways to Predict Break-up

Summer is here…the beach, the pool, the mountains, picnics, fireworks, sitting around reading trashy novels, or perhaps just a little rest and relaxation. You might also consider adding a little summer romance to that list. Now, if you're already in a relationship, this might pose some problems, but hear me out. Whether you and your partner are graduating and heading off to different colleges, or just have different summer vacation plans, the summer may be a good time to take a break. Blasphemy! Well, maybe you would never consider it…but would your partner?

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Choose Your Own (Romantic) Adventure: A New Way to Study Relationship Choices

"To continue down the long, well-lit path, turn to page 63. To take a shortcut through the dark alleyway, turn to page 107."

Those of us who were kids in the 1980s and 1990s have fond memories of these interactive, second-person narratives, in which you, the reader, get to choose the protagonist’s fate. But as fun as these stories are, it turns out that they aren’t just for playin’. Researchers have found a way to harness the power of "choose your own adventure" stories to study how people make important decisions about their relationships.

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Paula Abdul Straight Up Lied

Click here for our past article on this topic. Interested in learning more about relationships? Click here for other topics on Science of Relationships. Like us on Facebook to get our articles delivered directly to your NewsFeed.

The 51-Year-Old Who Married The 16-Year-Old: Can Relationships With Large Age-Gaps Work?

There was big news last week when 51-year-old actor Doug Hutchison, a former star of television’s Lost, married 16-year-old Courtney Alexis Stodden, an aspiring country music artist. In case math isn’t your strong suit, that’s a 35 year age difference. And yes, you did read that correctly: she’s only 16.

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Ovulation and “Gaydar” Accuracy

Although we may not like to admit it, we form impressions about others based on physical appearance, especially when it comes to identifying potential mates. But what factors make those impressions more accurate? It turns out that women’s impressions of men's sexual orientation are affected by where they are in their menstrual cycles. 

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How Do I Equalize Power in My Relationship?

A reader recently posted a question asking how they can better equalize the power in their relationship.

To paraphrase Bertrand Russell, power is fundamental in the social sciences, much like energy is for physics. Despite its importance, psychologists still grapple with what power really is and how exactly it functions in intimate relationships. Perceptions of power inequality in relationships have been linked to a number of negative emotions, including depression.¹ 

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Is Science Knowledge Stuck in Libraries and Labs?

Image source: rothamsted.bbsrc.ac.ukMuch like a falling tree, if research is published in a journal that nobody reads, does it have much of an impact on people’s lives? A recent study reveals that whereas the amount of scientific research published in academic journals has increased dramatically over the past 10 years, very little (and I mean VERY little— e.g., less than .005% of publications in psychology) makes its way from the halls of academia into the mass media. Not surprisingly, most people don’t have the time to read scientific journals (this is even true of many academics), don't have the background to wade through all the technical jargon, or don't have access to the actual articles. 

As this story points out, there is a real need for an effective system that disseminates quality science to a wider audience. This is exactly the mission we’ve embarked upon here at ScienceofRelationships; we’re apparently on the cutting edge of this trend by bringing relationships research to the masses in a manner that makes it useful to people in the real world.

Interested in learning more about relationships? Click here for other topics on Science of Relationships. Like us on Facebook to get our articles delivered directly to your NewsFeed.

I Learned It By Watching You

Have you ever felt like others’ negative moods are contagious? If you feel a connection to them, you may be right. Participants who were led to feel a connection to a confederate based on shared interests (e.g., favorite movies, music, travel destinations) felt more stress when the confederate exhibited greater stress and anxiety while preparing for a speech. Similarly, participants experienced increased heart rate and blood pressure when watching the confederate engage in strenuous exercise. 

Cwir, D., Carr, P. B., Walton, G. M., & Spencer, S. J. (2011). Your heart makes my heart move: Cues of social connectedness cause shared emotions and physiological states among strangers. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 47(3), 661-664.

Forbidden Fruit: Do We Want Who We Can’t Have?

Rejecting attractive alternatives (as Homer and Marge Simpson have done over the years) is one factor that predicts longevity and commitment in relationships. In committed relationships, choosing to limit attention to other attractive partners is beneficial for the relationship. What happens though if you impose limitations on a partner’s attention to attractive alternatives?

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How’d They Do That?: The Nuts & Bolts of Relationship Research

One thing that distinguishes ScienceOfRelationships.com from other sites is the fact that we base all of our articles on published research. But, have you ever wondered “how’d they do that” when reading one of the research findings we’ve reported on? Sometimes learning how things are made, like hot dogs, can make them less enjoyable. However, in the case of relationships, learning how scientists go about studying relationships will give you greater appreciation for how research-based conclusions are drawn (and why they are more informative than others' advice based on their own idosyncratic observations).  (For a recap of the importance of research compared to anecdotes and opinion, check out “What is Relationship Science?” and a post on Psychology Today by SofR contributor Dr. Bjarne Holmes on “Setting a Higher Standard for Relationship Advice.”) Basically, learning a bit about the research process will make you a better consumer of the information we discuss on this site. 

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Interracial Homosexual Couples: A Double Whammy?

Image source: ZazzleGrace, from Amsterdam, the Netherlands asked:

My question concerns interracial (or intercultural) couples. Research has already shown that there is no significant difference between interracial and intraracial couples when it comes down to 'what makes them click'. However, from my own experience I know that these couples face a lot more resistance from their social environment than intraracial couples do. I was wondering, is this the same for interracial homosexual couples? Since they already belong to a minority, do they  suffer more than interracial heterosexual couples do?

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Dads Influence Who Their Daughters Find Attractive

Fathers’ Day is all about honoring dads. Thus, we’ve decided to showcase research that demonstrates just how influential a good dad can be. A recent study published in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior looked at the types of male and female faces young adult women find more attractive as a function of their relationships with their parents.1

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To Snoop or Not to Snoop, That is the Question (Part 1)

Have you ever found yourself glancing at your partner’s email, searching his or her browser history, reading your partner's texts, or even checking his or her pockets? I confess, I am notorious for checking my partner’s email just to see what’s going on that he might have neglected to tell me or as a quick way to get updates on what is happening in his life. Importantly, he gave me his password and knows that I do this.  Often, however, people invade a partner's privacy without his or her knowledge and for less innocent reasons. 

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Why Do People Have Different Sexual Orientations?

A reader submitted the following question: I'd (selfishly) be interested in hearing more about the current research on the emotional/biological/psychological basis of homosexual relationships.

Dear Reader,

You are not alone in wanting to know more about this subject. Students in my Human Sexuality course ask about it every semester!

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Power in Relationships: Predictors and Outcomes

Having "hand" (a.k.a., power) and being the person with least interest in a relationship was recently discussed in one of our recent posts ("Who has the upper hand? Power, Sex, and Seinfeld"). Why is it that some people have power? Does it mean that the fate of the relationship is dictated by the person who has the power? 

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Can't Help Falling in Love?

Amanda asked “Elvis once sang, ‘I can't help falling in love with you.’ So... is love a conscious, rational choice or is it a chemical addiction that is uncontrollable?"

Dear Amanda,

Good question, and perhaps the answer depends on how you view “love.”  If you conceptualize love like Brick Tamland, San Diego’s favorite weatherman, then perhaps the answer is that love is rather conscious and only requires looking at objects and declaring your love for them. In that case, I love Science of Relationships!

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Science "OR" Relationships?

As most people know, there are persistent barriers and biases that women face in scientific disciplines. But could their relationships be one of them? New research that will be appearing in the journal Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin highlights the conflict between the pursuit of romantic relationships and science/math for women.

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Are Romance Novels "Addictive"?

One of the things we like to do here at Science of Relationships is to let you know when we see relationship “mis-information” being pushed out there in media-land. Here’s a good one!

Recently, a major national newspaper contacted us for our views on an op-ed piece written by Kimberly Sayer-Giles, who recently was named one of the top 20 “Advice Gurus” by Good Morning America (ABC News). 

The article, Romance Novels Can Be As Addictive As Pornography, makes some profound claims and got a few of us lusting to answer back!

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How Can You Mend A Broken Heart?

We can't answer all of the questions our readers submit, so we outsourced this one:

From savagechickens.com