Are Beards Honest Signals of Male Dominance and Testosterone?

Author(s):  
Marta Kowal ◽  
Piotr Sorokowski ◽  
Agnieszka Żelaźniewicz ◽  
Judyta Nowak ◽  
Sylwester Orzechowski ◽  
...  
2010 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 177-185 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Glick ◽  
Jessica Whitehead

Two studies examined how ambivalent gender ideologies, measured by the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (ASI) and Ambivalence Toward Men Inventory (AMI), relate to the perceived legitimacy and stability of gender hierarchy. Study 1 showed simple correlations of each ASI and AMI subscale with the perceived legitimacy of gender hierarchy, but only Hostility Toward Men (HM: A traditional, but unflattering view of men as domineering) predicted the perceived stability of gender hierarchy. In Study 2, experimentally priming HM (but not other gender ideologies) increased perceptions of the stability of gender hierarchy. Although HM derides men for acting in a domineering manner, it characterizes men as designed for dominance. By reinforcing the perceived stability of gender hierarchy, HM may undermine women’s motivation to seek change.


Background: Immunoglobulin A (IgA) is considered the most frequently dealt primary glomerulonephritis, worldwide. The Berger’s disease or IgA nephropathy is a mesangial proliferative glomerulonephritis characterized by deposition of immunoglobulin A in kidneys. The aim of the study was to report the prevalence of IgA nephropathy and the associated parameters (age, gender, and body mass index) in our population. Methods: This was a retrospective study, accomplished at Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, Karachi, Pakistan, from June 2009-May 2019. The histopathology and immunofluorescence of renal biopsies of 519 patients were studied and the prevalence of biopsy proven IgA nephropathy was determined. The Chi-square test was used for association of biopsy proven IgA nephropathy with age, gender, and body mass index. A p-value of 0.05 or less was considered statistically significant. Results: A total of 519 biopsies were studied, out of those, only 4 (0.8%) had IgA nephropathy with male dominance in the last 10 years at Karachi, Pakistan. Male to female ratio was found to be 3:1. The most common clinical indication for renal biopsy was isolated hematuria in 50% of the cases followed by acute kidney injury and nephritic syndrome with 25% each respectively. Most of the patients suffering from proteinuria (> 3.5gm/24 hours), microscopic hematuria in 80% cases, high blood pressure in 50% cases, with other associated symptoms including edema, gastrointestinal, and skin-related symptoms reported. Conclusion: Immunoglobulin A (IgA) nephropathy is not a commonly diagnosed glomerular lesion. Further large-scale cohorts can aid in determining the other factors associated with a low frequency of IgA nephropathy. Keywords: Biopsy; Glomerulonephritis; Immunoglobulin A; Nephropathy.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 362
Author(s):  
Dominika Jamioł-Milc ◽  
Mirosława Bloch ◽  
Magdalena Liput ◽  
Laura Stachowska ◽  
Karolina Skonieczna-Żydecka

Individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) commonly experience problems with the processing of tactile stimuli and poor quality of sleep. The aim of the present study was to analyze whether tactile stimuli modulation (TSM) disorders might be linked to insomnia prevalence in ASD individuals. We hypothesized that sleep disorders in children with ASD may result from improper tactile under/over responsivity. The study included 27 children diagnosed with ASD, aged 6.8 (±2.9 years) with male dominance (n = 22, 81.5%). To evaluate the pattern of TSM we used a clinical interview with a parent, and guided and spontaneous observation of the patients. Sleep disorders were diagnosed using the Athens Insomnia Scale. Of all the children diagnosed with TSM, 20 patients (74.1%) had an over-responsivity pattern and 7 children (25.9%) had an under-responsivity pattern. Of the patients, 11 children (40.7%) met the diagnostic criteria for insomnia. The data indicated a statistical tendency for higher prevalence of insomnia in individuals diagnosed with tactile under-responsivity (p = 0.051). We concluded that under-responsivity toward tactile stimuli may be partly responsible for poor sleep quality in ASD. There is an urgent need to treat sleep and sensory disruptions which may intensify behavioral difficulties in ASD.


2021 ◽  
pp. 174569162095983
Author(s):  
Kennon M. Sheldon ◽  
Mike Corcoran ◽  
Melanie Sheldon

Chronic positive mood (CPM) has been shown to confer a wide variety of social, functional, and health benefits. Some researchers have argued that humans evolved to feel CPM, which explains why most people report better than neutral mood (the “positivity offset bias”) and why particularly happy people have particularly good outcomes. Here, we argue that the Duchenne smile evolved as an honest signal of high levels of CPM, alerting others to the psychological fitness of the smiler. Duchenne smiles are honest because they express felt positive emotion, making it difficult for unhappy people to produce them. Duchenne smiles enable happy people to signal and cooperate with one another, boosting their advantages. In our literature review, we found (a) that not all Duchenne smiles are “honest,” although producing them in the absence of positive emotion is difficult and often detectable, and (b) that the ability to produce and recognize Duchenne smiles may vary somewhat by a person’s cultural origin. In the final section of the article, we consider behavioral influences on CPM, reviewing research showing that engaging in eudaimonic activity reliably produces CPM, as posited by the eudaimonic-activity model. This research suggests that frequent Duchenne smiling may ultimately signal eudaimonic personality as well as CPM.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
James P. Higham ◽  
Michael Heistermann ◽  
Muhammad Agil ◽  
Dyah Perwitasari-Farajallah ◽  
Anja Widdig ◽  
...  

AbstractHigh social status is the primary determinant of reproductive success among group-living male mammals. Primates living in multimale–multifemale groups show the greatest variation in the strength of this link, with marked variation in reproductive skew by male dominance among species, dependent on the degree of female fertile phase synchrony, and the number of competing males. Here, we present data on two groups of wild crested macaques (Macaca nigra), living in the Tangkoko Reserve, Sulawesi, Indonesia. We investigated male monopolization of fertile females in 31 cycles of 19 females, and genetic paternity of 14 offspring conceived during the study period. We show that female fertile phase synchrony was low, that females had few mating partners in their fertile phase, and that dominant males monopolized a high proportion of consortships and matings, resulting in marked and steep mating and reproductive skew. We conclude that female cycle asynchrony provides the opportunity for strong direct male–male competition in crested macaques, resulting in monopolization of females by dominant males, consistent with their marked sexual dimorphism. Our study provides a test of the underlying factors that determine the relative occurrence and strength of different mechanisms of sexual selection, and the phenotypes that evolve as a result.


Mnemosyne ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 65 (2) ◽  
pp. 219-237
Author(s):  
Christoph Pieper

Abstract The article analyses how Ovid in the 10th letter of his Heroides experiments with the concept of a female voice within Roman literature. Ovid constructs Ariadne as a literary speaker against the background of (1) the Augustan elegiac tradition with its mostly male speakers, (2) the earlier phases of the Ariadne-myth in which Ariadne’s fate is determined by men (Theseus and Bacchus), and (3) the reception of this myth in Catullus’ famous ecphrasis in carmen 64. In the beginning of Heroides 10, Ovid shows how Ariadne develops consciousness of her own ability to speak. She develops from a heterodiegetic (epic) narrator to a homodiegetic (elegiac) speaker. In a second step, however, Ovid demonstrates that Ariadne is not only generally inexperienced in the field of literature, but that her attempt to re-shape her own story from a female perspective must necessarily fail. Her literary character cannot be separated from the previous (male) myth. At the end of the letter, she accepts her own literary immaturity when she asks Theseus to be the future narrator of her own fate. By showing that Ovid in his Ariadne-letter actually stages the failure of his protagonist’s attempt to free herself from a male literary tradition, I suggest that the Heroides should not be read as female literature, but as texts which reaffirm male dominance within Roman literary society.


1999 ◽  
Vol 56 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey A Hutchings ◽  
Todd D Bishop ◽  
Carolyn R McGregor-Shaw

We quantified individual differences in Atlantic cod, Gadus morhua, reproductive behaviour at a field-reported spawning density under experimental conditions. Marked individuals (nine females, seven males) were observed twice daily and videotaped continuously for 9 weeks at ambient photoperiod and temperature in a large tank (60 m3). Agonistic interactions appeared to maintain a size-based dominance hierarchy among males. Multiple paternity per spawning bout, revealed by microsatellite DNA analysis, suggested a link between dominance and fertilization success. Interactions between sexes were dominated by the circling of females by males. Predicated by vertical separation from males, and after descending to the bottom, a motionless female would be circled up to 17 times, often by one male per circling bout but by several males throughout the spawning period. Although circling frequency increased with male dominance and male body size, initiation and termination of this behaviour appeared to be under female control. Circling provides opportunities for males to gain individual access to reproductive females and for females to assess the quality of potential mates. Our evidence for nonrandom mate choice and for male-male competition and display has implications for Atlantic cod mating systems and effects of fishing on their reproductive success.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (13) ◽  
pp. 6990
Author(s):  
Shinsuke Yasuda ◽  
Risa Kobayashi ◽  
Toshiro Ito ◽  
Yuko Wada ◽  
Seiji Takayama

Self-incompatibility (SI) is conserved among members of the Brassicaceae plant family. This trait is controlled epigenetically by the dominance hierarchy of the male determinant alleles. We previously demonstrated that a single small RNA (sRNA) gene is sufficient to control the linear dominance hierarchy in Brassica rapa and proposed a model in which a homology-based interaction between sRNAs and target sites controls the complicated dominance hierarchy of male SI determinants. In Arabidopsis halleri, male dominance hierarchy is reported to have arisen from multiple networks of sRNA target gains and losses. Despite these findings, it remains unknown whether the molecular mechanism underlying the dominance hierarchy is conserved among Brassicaceae. Here, we identified sRNAs and their target sites that can explain the linear dominance hierarchy of Arabidopsis lyrata, a species closely related to A. halleri. We tested the model that we established in Brassica to explain the linear dominance hierarchy in A. lyrata. Our results suggest that the dominance hierarchy of A. lyrata is also controlled by a homology-based interaction between sRNAs and their targets.


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