Transcript Men`s Facial Hair as a Mate Signal: An Evolutionary Perspective.

National Communication
Association
Chicago, November 11-14, 2009
Interpersonal Communication
Social allergens are defined as
characteristics or behaviors that
irritate another person (Cunningham,
Barbee, & Druen, 1997).
"The 'How' and 'Why' of Flirtatious
Communication Between Marital Partners.”
Brandi Frisby, West Virginia University; Melanie Booth-Butterfield,
West Virginia University
Married participants’ flirting was
motivated by a desire:
• for an exclusive relationship,
• to encourage sex,
• and to maintain the marriage.
Women engaged in maintenance
behaviors more than men and were
more driven by exclusive relationship
motives.
"Men's Facial Hair as a Mate Signal: An
Evolutionary Perspective.” Amy Ebesu Hubbard,
Univ of Hawaii, Manoa; et al.
The findings revealed that men with
facial hair:
• were seen as less trustworthy than
clean-shaven men.
• With an increase in perceptions of
men's social status, physical
attractiveness, and social
attractiveness increased, judgments
about the likelihood of relationship
development increased.
• There was also evidence which
suggested that men’s facial hair,
particularly beards, were used as a
mating signal.
"Hurt Feelings in Same-Sex Friendships:
An Interpersonal Script Analysis.“ Alexa
Hampel, University of Texas, Austin; James Roberts, University of
Missouri, Columbia
• Results provided evidence of an
interpersonal script for hurt.
• Men expected the perpetrating friend
to reciprocate their anger and
avoidance, while women expected the
friend to ask for an explanation in
response to both situations.
• Women anticipated that responding
critically would lead the perpetrating
friend to disclose hurt feelings in
response.
• Conversely, men expected the same
initial response to result in the partner
asking for an explanation.
"The Experience of Major Depressive
Disorder and Relational Uncertainty
within Intimate Relationships.” Kristen
Satterlee, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
• Level of depressive symptoms was
found to be a stronger predictor than
was a professional diagnosis of MDD.
depression seems to predict both:
• heightened levels of relational uncertainty
• and reliance on communication strategies
that are negatively valenced and/or
avoidant.
"Writing Affectionate Letters Reduces
Stress: Replication and Extension.” Kory Floyd,
Arizona State University; Colin Hesse, Arizona State University;
Perry Pauley, Arizona State University
The present experiment examined the
ability of writing an affectionate letter to a
loved one to accelerate stress recovery.
• Trait expressed affection buffered cortisol
reactivity to stress for both women and
men.
• Writing affectionate letters accelerated
cortisol recovery for women but not for
men.
"Modeling Dyadic Effects in the Associations between
Relational Uncertainty, Sexual Communication, and Sexual
Satisfaction for Husbands and Wives."Jennifer Theiss, Rutgers
University; Mary Nagy, Rutgers University
relational uncertainty is positively
associated with indirect sexual
communication, which is negatively
associated with sexual satisfaction.
• Dyadic associations revealed that
husbands’ indirectness was negatively
associated with wives’ sexual
satisfaction,
• wives’ indirectness was positively
associated with husbands’ sexual
satisfaction.
"I'm Just Not That Into Him: A Qualitative Exploration of College
Students' Friends with Benefits Relationships.” Kendra Knight,
Arizona State University
(FWBs) as relationships in which friends engage in sexual interaction on repeated
occasions.
Analyses indicate that FWB partners
frequently do not have a platonic friendship
prior to engaging in sexual interaction.
Rather, participants describe engaging in
sexual interaction with an acquaintance
first, then potentially developing a friendship
afterwards.
• FWBs is an alternative to a romantic
relationship because people don’t want to
expend the physical and emotional
resources required in a romantic
relationship,
• and/or they view their FWB partner as a
non-ideal romantic partner.
"Perceived Benefits of the Friends with Benefits Relationship.”
Mark Morman, Baylor University; Katie Green, Baylor University
opposite-sex friendships in particular, may be an “evolved
strategy” in which men provide physical protection for women;
women provide sex for men; and both sexes gain more beneficial
information about the opposite-sex that presumably, they may use
in their pursuit of a long-term, more traditional romantic partner.
Bisson & Levine found that convenience
and opportunity were listed by 30% of
the respondents as the primary reasons
for engaging in an FWB).
"A Comparison of Maintenance Strategies in the Friendships of
Young Adults, Middle Age Adults, and Older Adults.” Sandra Metts,
Illinois State University; Amy Beverly, Illinois State University;
Bryan Asbury, Illinois State University
• Young adult and older adult friends used more
routine contact and activity than middle age adult
friends.
• Young adult friends also used more social
networking and instrumental support than the
other age cohort groups.
• Older adult friends used more avoidance of
negativity than the other age cohort groups.
"The Cyber Factor: An Analysis of Relational Maintenance through
the use of Computer-Mediated Communication.” Christina
Fleuriet, Texas State University, San Marcos; et al.
• overwhelmingly, females use more strategies to
maintain their relationships through CMC than do
males.
• Additionally, women continue to maintain relationships
more than men, regardless of the type of relationship
maintained.
• Relational maintenance strategies have remained
consistent even through the advent of new technology
as we continue to adapt to diverse channels of
communication.
"Friendship Maintenance Expectations: Who I Am, Who You Are,
and What We Do Together.” Jeffrey Hall, University of Kansas;
Kiley Larson, University of Kansas
• women are much more likely to put forth greater
effort in maintaining and developing intimacy with
their same-sex friends and have friends who fulfill
their expectations
• It is not that men cannot or do not want to have close
and satisfying friendships, it is that the patterns of
behavior reinforced within men’s same sex
environments require less maintenance effort to
achieve satisfying results.
"Relational Maintenance Strategies on Facebook.” Erin Bryant,
Arizona State University; Jennifer Marmo, Arizona State University
list of maintenance strategies: positivity, openness, assurances,
social networks, shared tasks, joint activities, cards, letters, and
calls, avoidance, antisocial behavior, and humor. Canary, et
al.(1993)
Facebook users reported maintaining their relationships using all
10 strategies, + surveillance.
• Facebook is thought to be an adequate tool to
maintain casual or acquaintance relationships
yet lack the intimacy necessary to maintain
close relationships.
• Participants perceive that close friends and
romantic partners need to put for extra effort to
maintain their relationship through additional
communication media such as text messaging,
phone calls, and face-to-face interaction.
"Modeling Everyday Talk: Differences Across Communication
Media and Sex Composition of Friendship Dyads.” Andrew
Ledbetter, Ohio University; Melissa Broeckelman-Post, Ohio
University; Adam M. Krawsczyn, University of Maryland
“the American Dream is a mythic story which
posits that with effort, hard work, optimism, and
egalitarian cooperation, anyone in America can
morally achieve material success and enjoy the
freedom, leisure, and religious and social
independence that attend wealthy economic
status”
• “The grand promise of the American Dream
has always been that those willing to learn,
work, save, persevere, and play by the rules
would have a better chance to grow and
prosper in America than virtually anywhere
else on the earth”
• This speaks to the fact that the American
Dream is mythic and the narrative is bound
by political ideology. The American Dream
has a distinct form and function.
"Topic Avoidance and Psychological Well-Being during a Health
Stressor: The Mediating Role of Coping.” Erin Donovan-Kicken,
University of Texas, Austin
greater levels of patient topic avoidance and
perceived partner topic avoidance were
associated with higher levels of patient
depression and anxiety.
couples’ topic avoidance may engender
dysfunctional coping behaviors (selfblame) or
inhibit functional coping behaviors (acceptance
and accessing emotional support), which then
may lead to higher levels of psychological
distress.
"Family Communication and the Military Veteran: Relational
Maintenance Strategies of Veterans Returning Home from Military
Service.” Richard Murphy, University of Nebraska, Lincoln;
Melissa Lynn Murphy, Nebraska Department of Health and
Human Services
communication strategies emerged that military
families use to maintain their relationships
included
(1) Small Talk,
(2) Task Sharing,
(3) Information Spinning,
"Explicating the Role of Cognitive Responses (Thoughts) in
Upward Influence Message Production.” Xiaowei Shi, Purdue
University; Steven Wilson, Purdue University
A practical implication of the current findings is
that having time to plan, not rushing to respond,
and generating future-oriented caution thoughts
are proved to help improve message qualities.
"Communicative Responses to Jealousy: The Effect of Antecedent
Factors of Romantic Jealousy.” Malynnda Ann Johnson, University
of Wisconsin, Milwaukee; Lindsay Timmerman, University of
Wisconsin, Milwaukee
Findings indicated a negative correlation
between relationship length and jealousy
experience.
The study also observed significant
correlations between relationship length
and
• negative affect expression,
• active distancing,
• derogating competitors,
• and manipulation attempts.
(4) Joint Activities,
(5) Family Supportiveness,
(6) Colleague Supportiveness,
(7) Affection, and
(8) Isolation.
"Having 'The Talk': Examining the Initiation and Construction
Themes Associated with the Discussion of Exclusivity in
Romantic Relationships.” Mike Anderson, University of Kansas
three consistent themes for initiating the
conversation of exclusivity:
a) the private nature of the initiation,
b) the spontaneity of the initiation, and
c) the interjection of the initiation into a casual
conversation,
and three consistent themes for
constructing the discussion:
a) the explanation of readiness,
b) the need for a commitment, and
c) the reaction of third parties.
End of NCA
Convention Learnings
2009