This study validates automated emotion and action unit (AU) coding applying FaceReader 7 to a dataset of standardized facial expressions of six basic emotions (Standardized and Motivated Facial ...Expressions of Emotion). Percentages of correctly and falsely classified expressions are reported. The validity of coding AUs is provided by correlations between the automated analysis and manual Facial Action Coding System (FACS) scoring for 20 AUs. On average 80% of the emotional facial expressions are correctly classified. The overall validity of coding AUs is moderate with the highest validity indicators for AUs 1, 5, 9, 17 and 27. These results are compared to the performance of FaceReader 6 in previous research, with our results yielding comparable validity coefficients. Practical implications and limitations of the automated method are discussed.
Salivary steroid measurement is a popular way to assess endocrine hormone levels, but efficient sample collection can be challenging because the use of stimulants can interfere with valid ...measurement. The aim of this study was therefore to identify a stimulant that can be used in assessment of the steroid hormones cortisol (C), testosterone (T), progesterone (P) and estradiol (E2) without impairing their quantification by radioimmunoassay. Study 1 and 2 explored the suitability of potential stimulants in comparison to unstimulated saliva collection. Study 3 tested stimulants under standardized conditions in water. Across all three studies, Parafilm® wax foil performed best and was therefore tested once more and validated as a saliva stimulant in Study 4. No significant differences between unstimulated saliva and Parafilm®-stimulated saliva could be found for any of the four hormones assayed. Therefore, Parafilm® appears to be a suitable saliva flow stimulant for assaying the salivary steroid hormones C, T, P and E2 by radioimmunoassay.
•Efficient saliva collection is challenging due to missing saliva stimulants for valid assessment.•A suitable stimulant for measuring steroid hormones in saliva by radioimmunoassay is proposed.•Parafilm® wax foil was found to perform best for assaying cortisol, testosterone, progesterone and estradiol.
Traditionally, implicit motives (i.e., non-conscious preferences for specific classes of incentives) are assessed through semantic coding of imaginative stories. The present research tested the ...marker-word hypothesis, which states that implicit motives are reflected in the frequencies of specific words. Using Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC; Pennebaker et al., 2001), Study 1 identified word categories that converged with a content-coding measure of the implicit motives for power, achievement, and affiliation in picture stories collected in German and US student samples, showed discriminant validity with self-reported motives, and predicted well-validated criteria of implicit motives (gender difference for the affiliation motive; in interaction with personal-goal progress: emotional well-being). Study 2 demonstrated LIWC-based motive scores' causal validity by documenting their sensitivity to motive arousal.
The correlation between implicit and explicit motive measures and potential moderators of this relationship were examined meta-analytically, using Hunter and Schmidt's (2004) approach. Studies from a ...comprehensive search in PsycINFO, data sets of our research group, a literature list compiled by an expert, and the results of a request for gray literature were examined for relevance and coded. Analyses were based on 49 papers, 56 independent samples, 6151 subjects, and 167 correlations. The correlations (ρ) between implicit and explicit measures were 0.130 (CI: 0.077-0.183) for the overall relationship, 0.116 (CI: 0.050-0.182) for affiliation, 0.139 (CI: 0.080-0.198) for achievement, and 0.038 (CI: -0.055-0.131) for power. Participant age did not moderate the size of these relationships. However, a greater proportion of males in the samples and an earlier publication year were associated with larger effect sizes.
This study examined hormonal responses to competition in relation to gender, social context, and implicit motives. Participants (N = 326) were randomly assigned to win or lose in a 10-round, virtual ...face-to-face competition, in same-sex individual- and team-competition contexts. Saliva samples, taken before and twice after the competition, were assayed for testosterone (T), estradiol (E), progesterone (P), and cortisol (C). Implicit needs for power (nPower) and affiliation (nAffiliation) were assessed with a picture-story exercise before the competition. Aggression was measured via the volume at which participants set noise blasts for their opponents. Men competing individually and women competing as teams showed similar T increases after winning. C was differentially associated with outcome in the team matches, with higher post-match cortisol for winning women, and an opposite effect for male teams. Analyses including implicit motives indicated that situational variables interacted with motivational needs in shaping hormonal responses to competition: in naturally cycling women, nPower predicted T increases after winning and T and E decreases after losing. In men, nPower predicted T increases after losing and decreases after winning. In male teams, nPower predicted C increases after losing, but not after winning, whereas in individual competitions, nPower was a general negative predictor of C changes in women. nAffiliation predicted P increases for women competing as teams, and P decreases for women competing individually. Aggression was higher in men, losers, and teams than in women, winners, and individuals. High aggression was associated with high baseline C in women competing individually and with low baseline C and C decreases in women competing as teams and in men generally. Our findings suggest that while situational and gender factors play a role in hormonal responses to competition, they also depend on their interplay with motivational factors. They also suggest that while aggression is strongly affected by situational factors in the context of a competition, it has no direct association with motivational and hormonal correlates of dominance (nPower, T, E) and instead is associated with (mostly) low levels of C.
Objective: Despite evidence for an estradiol-linked sex difference in verbal fluency favoring women, recent reviews question this difference. We therefore examined the issue based on a narrative task ...that we have administered to different populations for over 20 years. Method: We meta-analyzed 98 studies (N = 11,528) conducted by our laboratories and that featured measures of biological sex and storytelling. We ran primary-data analyses (N = 797) on an overlapping subset of these studies that also included salivary hormone and digit ratio measures. Results: Women told longer stories than men, d = 0.31, 95% CI 0.24, 0.38, an effect that did not vary by geographic region but was moderated by cue type (verbal: d = 0.57, 0.44, 0.71; pictures: d = 0.29, 0.22, 0.36), response modality (oral: d = −0.04, −0.18, 0.09; handwriting: d = 0.39, 0.31, 0.47; typing: d = 0.31, 0.21, 0.42), and age (prepubertal children: d = 0.13, −0.04, 0.30; pubescents: d = 0.48, 0.23, 0.74; premenopausal adults: d = 0.36, 0.29, 0.42; postmenopausal adults: d = −0.09, −0.35, 0.16). Consistent with the age effect, estradiol, a sex-dimorphic hormone during the reproductive life stage, was a specific mediator of the sex difference in narrative-writing fluency. This mediation effect was moderated by prenatal hormone exposure, estimated via digit ratio. Conclusions: When verbal fluency is assessed through narrative writing, a robust female advantage becomes evident. It is associated with the reproductive life stage and variations in current estradiol concentrations, particularly in individuals prenatally exposed to relatively more estradiol than testosterone.
Key Points
Question: Are women verbally more fluent than men on a narrative test? If so, what are key moderators of this difference, and is it associated with hormonal differences? Findings: Using meta-analysis and primary-data analysis of studies from our laboratories, we found that women tell longer stories than men on a storytelling measure, that this effect is limited to written stories and the reproductive life stage, and that it is due to differences in estradiol, which was positively associated with narrative-writing fluency. Importance: On average, women outperform men on narrative writing, and this female advantage seems to be linked to circulating estradiol concentrations. Next Steps: Future research should examine the estradiol link more closely by, for instance, comparing populations with more extreme estradiol differences or using hormone-administration experiments.
The association between testosterone and economic risk is not well-understood and is understudied. The present study aimed to further characterize what if any relationship testosterone has with risky ...economic decisions. To do so, 154 participants (78 men) completed the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) (Bechara et al., 1994) and also provided saliva samples, which were assayed for endogenous testosterone levels using radioimmunoassay. High-levels of endogenous testosterone were associated with choosing less frequently from advantageous IGT decks of cards, indicating greater risk taking. The data showed that the effects of testosterone on IGT performance were similar for men and women. High-testosterone women and high-testosterone men made riskier choices than their low-testosterone counterparts of the same sex, and this effect was pronounced in women. Thus, high levels of testosterone are associated with willingness to incur greater risk in both sexes.
► High-testosterone individuals take greater risks than low-testosterone individuals in the Iowa Gambling Task. ► The positive association between endogenous testosterone and risk taking is similar in both genders. ► Individuals with high levels of testosterone failed to show improvements in Iowa Gambling Task performance over time, whereas low-testosterone individuals showed significant improvements over time.
Attempts to link testosterone to dominance dispositions using self-report measures of dominance have yielded inconsistent findings. Similarly, attempts to link testosterone changes to a situational ...outcome like winning or losing a dominance contest have yielded inconsistent findings. However, research has consistently shown that an indirect measure of an individual’s dominance disposition, implicit power motivation, is positively related to baseline testosterone levels and, in interaction with situational outcomes, predicts testosterone changes. We propose a hormonal model of implicit power motivation that describes how testosterone levels change as an interactive function of individuals’ implicit power motivation
and dominance situations. We also propose that estradiol, and not testosterone, plays a key role in dominance motivation in women.
Reports an error in "Evidence for a robust, estradiol-associated sex difference in narrative-writing fluency" by Oliver C. Schultheiss, Martin G. Köllner, Holger Busch and Jan Hofer ( ...Neuropsychology, 2021Mar, Vol 353, 323-333). In the original article, there was an error in Table 1. The df for “18–50 years (adult men and premenopausal women),” originally read “1, 17,” but should have read “1, 71.” The online version of this article has been corrected. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2020-71595-001). Objective: Despite evidence for an estradiol-linked sex difference in verbal fluency favoring women, recent reviews question this difference. We therefore examined the issue based on a narrative task that we have administered to different populations for over 20 years. Method: We meta-analyzed 98 studies ( N = 11,528) conducted by our laboratories and that featured measures of biological sex and storytelling. We ran primary-data analyses ( N = 797) on an overlapping subset of these studies that also included salivary hormone and digit ratio measures. Results: Women told longer stories than men, d = 0.31, 95% CI 0.24, 0.38, an effect that did not vary by geographic region but was moderated by cue type (verbal: d = 0.57, 0.44, 0.71; pictures: d = 0.29, 0.22, 0.36), response modality (oral: d = −0.04, −0.18, 0.09; handwriting: d = 0.39, 0.31, 0.47; typing: d = 0.31, 0.21, 0.42), and age (prepubertal children: d = 0.13, −0.04, 0.30; pubescents: d = 0.48, 0.23, 0.74; premenopausal adults: d = 0.36, 0.29, 0.42; postmenopausal adults: d = −0.09, −0.35, 0.16). Consistent with the age effect, estradiol, a sex-dimorphic hormone during the reproductive life stage, was a specific mediator of the sex difference in narrative-writing fluency. This mediation effect was moderated by prenatal hormone exposure, estimated via digit ratio. Conclusions: When verbal fluency is assessed through narrative writing, a robust female advantage becomes evident. It is associated with the reproductive life stage and variations in current estradiol concentrations, particularly in individuals prenatally exposed to relatively more estradiol than testosterone. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)
PDF
