Explorations in Creepiness: Tolerance for Ambiguity and Susceptibility to "Not Just Right Experiences" Predict the Ease of Getting "Creeped Out".

This study was designed to explore the role played by ambiguity in the experience of creepiness, as well as the relevance of personality traits for predicting individual differences in susceptibility to getting "creeped out," In an online study, a mixed sample of 278 college undergraduates and adults (60 males, 206 females, 12 nonbinary or chose not to report; Mean age = 31.43, range 18-68) recruited through social network platforms filled out scales measuring their tolerance for ambiguity and their susceptibility to having "Not Just Right Experiences." They then rated 25 images (12 normal, 13 prejudged to be creepy or confusing) on creepiness and several other adjective dimensions.

Perceptions of the Personalities of Namesaked Children as a Function of Their Sex and Birth Order.

One-hundred-seventeen participants rated hypothetical individuals on the "Big Five" personality traits, narcissism, intelligence, and creativity. Hypothetical individuals differed according to namesake status (named after a parent/relative or not), sex, and birth order. Namesaking interacted with both sex and birth order on ratings of many personality traits, but sex and birth order were stronger predictors of personality stereotypes than was namesaking.

The selfish hero: a study of the individual benefits of self-sacrificial prosocial behavior.

Twenty-four same-sex, three-person groups (a confederate plus two naive participants) completed a "group decision-making study" in which the success of the group depended upon the willingness of one of its members (the confederate) to endure pain and inconvenience. The ordeal that the altruistic confederate endured was judged to be more difficult and costly than the experience of other group members, and the altruists were ultimately awarded more money and accorded higher status. In a second study, 334 undergraduates read a description of the procedures used in Study 1 and made judgments and monetary allocations to the hypothetical people described in the scenario.

Is self-sacrificial competitive altruism primarily a male activity?

This study explored the basis of self-sacrificial prosocial behavior in small groups. Seventy-eight undergraduates (39M, 39F) filled out a thirty-item personality scale and then participated in a "group problem-solving study" in which the monetary success of a three-person group depended upon one of its members volunteering to endure pain (a cold stressor test) and inconvenience (being soaked in a dunk tank). There were 13 groups consisting of two females and one male, and 13 groups consisting of two males and one female.

Celebrities: From Teachers to Friends : A Test of Two Hypotheses on the Adaptiveness of Celebrity Gossip.

In this paper we present two compatible hypotheses to explain interest in celebrity gossip. The Learning Hypothesis explains interest in celebrity gossip as a by-product of an evolved mechanism useful for acquiring fitness-relevant survival information. The Parasocial Hypothesis sees celebrity gossip as a diversion of this mechanism, which leads individuals to misperceive celebrities as people who are part of their social network.

Guns, testosterone, and aggression: an experimental test of a mediational hypothesis.

We tested whether interacting with a gun increased testosterone levels and later aggressive behavior. Thirty male college students provided a saliva sample (for testosterone assay), interacted with either a gun or a children's toy for 15 min, and then provided another saliva sample. Next, subjects added as much hot sauce as they wanted to a cup of water they believed another subject would have to drink.

How do we decide whom our friends are? Defining levels of friendship in Poland and the United States.

Participants were 57 U.S. college students and 56 Polish university students and copper mine workers who judged the intimacy of 9 hypothetical relationships and also rated the intensity of their relationships with a best friend, a friend, and an acquaintance on the Friendship Intensity Measurement Scale (FIMS; T.

Body shape ideals and perceptions of body shape in Spanish and American college students.

108 Spanish university students (55 men, 53 women) from the University of Barcelona and 111 American college students (51 men, 60 women) from a midwestern liberal arts college responded to Fallon and Rozin's 1985 figure drawings used to measure perceptions of body image. All students were between the ages of 18 and 24 years. Women viewed themselves as being significantly larger than men perceived themselves to be, and women also desired a significantly thinner body for themselves than did men.