Do cosmetics enhance female Caucasian facial attractiveness?

This study sought to investigate whether cosmetics do improve female facial attractiveness, and to determine whether the contribution of different cosmetic products are separable, or whether they function synergistically to enhance female beauty. Ten volunteers were made up by a beautician under five cosmetics conditions: (i) no make-up; (ii) foundation only; (iii) eye make-up only; (iv) lip make-up only; and (v) full facial make-up. Male and female participants were asked to view the 10 sets of five photographs, and rank each set from most attractive to least attractive.

Kinship and altruism: a cross-cultural experimental study.

Humans are characterized by an unusual level of prosociality. Despite this, considerable indirect evidence suggests that biological kinship plays an important role in altruistic behaviour. All previous reports of the influence of kin selection on human altruism have, however, used correlational (rather than experimental) designs, or imposed only a hypothetical or negligible time cost on participants.

The effect on ambulatory blood pressure of working under favourably and unfavourably perceived supervisors.

Aims: To investigate the role played by employees' perceptions of their supervisors' interactional styles as a possible source of workplace stress that may be associated with increased morbidity and mortality rates from cardiovascular disorders in workers in the lower strata of organisational hierarchies.

Methods: A controlled, quasi-experimental, field study of female healthcare assistants. Allocation to the experimental and control groups was based on participants' responses to a supervisor interactional style questionnaire.

Perceptions of control over work: psychophysiological responses to self-paced and externally-paced tasks in an adult population sample.

This experiment tested the hypothesis that perceptions of control over work pace would modulate cardiovascular reactions to mental stress tests. One hundred and thirty two adults aged 30-65 years (64 men and 68 women) were randomized to self-paced and externally-paced task conditions. The self-paced group carried out visual matrix problem solving and mirror tracing tasks at their own pace.

Cigarette smoking and psychophysiological stress responsiveness: effects of recent smoking and temporary abstinence.

Studies comparing the cardiovascular function and stress responsiveness of regular smokers and non-smokers have produced mixed results, possibly because of variable intervals between stress tests and recency of smoking. This experiment compared the cardiovascular, cortisol and affective responses to a problem solving task of non-smoking young men (n = 16) and regular smokers randomised to overnight abstinence (n = 14) and smoking 30 min prior to testing (n = 19). Smoking status was validated biochemically.