4.1 Genes & Psychosocial Environment 2

Question 1

What did male Ps have to do in the wet t-shirt study (WTS)?

Answer 1

Ps asked to wear the same T shirt for 48 hours without showering
Took the T shirts and bagged them

Question 2

What did females Ps have to do in the WTS?

Answer 2

Invited women to take part in the study, open the bags and smell them
Had to tell the researchers what they thought about the attractiveness of the person who wore the T shirt

Question 3

What was the idea behind the WTS?

Answer 3

Idea is that if ovulatory cycle plays a role in women’s mating strategies, the men who more likely have good genes will be more attractive to these women

Question 4

How did they evaluate good genes for these men?

Answer 4

Used symmetry - supposed to indicate less mutation

Question 5

What were the results of the WTS?

Answer 5

Women not at peak of fertility: there was no relationship between the symmetry index and the attractiveness reported by the women of the scent

When women are at peak of fertility, the less symmetrical male scent is evaluated as less attractive than the more symmetrical male scent

Question 6

How do women at higher fertility phase seek to poach better genes?

Answer 6

More mate search and socializing, less eating and staying home
Avoid rape and incest more effectively
Less satisfied with long-term partner if he’s of lower fitness
More fantasies, flirtation, dancing, and short-term affairs with higher-fitness men

The pill eliminates all this

Question 7

What were the 3 conditions in the “fat gene” study?

Answer 7

Genetic explanation of obesity = Genes cause you to be fat

Social explanation of obesity = Friends gain weight, we gain weight

Control condition = Told something related to food but not about obesity

Question 8

What was the “fat gene” study investigating?

Answer 8

Want to understand what Ps understand from media articles about food

Question 9

What did P’s do in the “fat gene” study?

Answer 9

Taste test - want to get feedback on which cookies are good or bad
Room had the yummy smell of baked goods
Given a bowl of broken choc chip cookies in front of them with a paper to fill out how much they liked them
Experimenter left the room so they wouldn’t feel self conscious about it

What they were actually measuring was how many cookies they actually ate:
Does learning about obesity affect how much Ps eat afterwards?

Question 10

What were the results of the “fat gene” study?

Answer 10

Social compared to control had no signif diff - consumed an equivalent amount of cookies

Genetic condition ate more than 50% more than the control condition
Lowered the consciousness of how they felt about eating because it was down to “genes”

Question 11

What is psychological essentialism?

Answer 11

The idea that we all have a basic understanding that there is an essence in everyone

Essence is what defines us rather than we define our essence
We are the outcome of that essence
It is innate, stable cause of who we are

Question 12

What are the genetic essentialist biases?

Answer 12

Immutability and determinism
Specific etiology
Homogeneity and discreteness
Naturalness

Question 13

Discuss immutability and determinism

Answer 13

There is an increased likelihood that Ps see the outcome as predetermined and unchangeable

Question 14

Discuss specific etiology

Answer 14

Increase the likelihood that the outcome looks to me as the outcome of that sole genetic process
Look for a single good explanation and disregard any other contributing explanation for the same thing

Question 15

Discuss homogeneity and discreteness

Answer 15

Increase likelihood that the groups themselves will be more similar to one another or the group is viewed as more diff

Question 16

Discuss naturalness

Answer 16

Outcome viewed as a natural outcome - genes are a natural thing
When we see something as natural we often see it as a “good thing”

Question 17

What is the diff between artefacts and living things?

Answer 17

Living organisms are things where we find there is an essence behind them
Artefacts you can change the essence (stool -> table)
You cannot change the essence of a living organism

Question 18

Are social groups artefacts or natural categories?

Answer 18

Rothbary & Taylor argued social groups are socially constructed - therefore, they are human artefacts
We made these categories and decided what was what - they are not there because of underlying physiology

Despite that, we treat them in a similar way as we treat living organisms
We see social groups as having an essence

Question 19

What does the BGD scale measure?

Answer 19

How much a gene determined a variety of elements

Question 20

What did the BGD scale find?

Answer 20

Found that Ps who believed more in genetic determinism are more likely to be sexist, nationalist, authoritarian, social dominance orientation

Question 21

Discuss the newspaper study discussing the geography of genes etc

Answer 21

German Ps read a newspaper article discussing the geography of genes and how genes are distributed in diff manner depending on the regional area

Can predict where someone has come from through looking at their genes if there is an algorithm in place

1/2 Ps read about this, 1/2 Ps read about control (oil production)
Wanted to see their evaluations of outgroup members - asked about Polish people

Found that when they evaluated Western European, they showed more liking to ingroup members
Found that when evaluated Eastern European, they showed less liking to outgroup members

Question 22

What happens when Ps are made to think mental illness comes from genes?

Answer 22

They are less punitive and want more social distance

Question 23

How was the “drunk gene” study conducted?

Answer 23

Ps encountered a serious white coat researcher
Gave a saliva sample that was reported to be analysed for alcoholism and sleeping disorders
Took a questionnaire on how they felt
Found out that they either have the gene for alcoholism or not
Completed few more questionnaires on how they felt etc

Question 24

What did the “drunk gene” study find?

Answer 24

Found that Ps who found they had the gene associated with alcoholism felt worse and vice versa
Ps who learnt that they have the gene (was random and not true) felt that they had less control over their own drinking
Ps told to have the gene were more willing to participate in responsible drinking workshop
No diffs in intentions to drink in the near future

Question 25

What happens when P’s are told depression is in their genes?

Answer 25

If people learnt they had the gene they were more likely to say I’m probably gonna have depression in my life compared to the ones who were told they didn’t have the gene
○ Risk of self-fulfilling prophecy

Gene present condition thought they had already experienced major depression in their life