Alec studies evolutionary psychology with a special interest in human sexual attraction and mating behavior. He is funded by a Canada Graduate Doctoral Scholarship from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and is co-supervised by Dr. Jessica Tracy and Dr. Mark Schaller. Supervisors: Mark Schaller and Jessica L. Tracy
Longitudinal analyses of pre-election polling data tested whether (and how) an Ebola outbreak pre... more Longitudinal analyses of pre-election polling data tested whether (and how) an Ebola outbreak predicted voting intentions preceding the 2014 U.S. federal elections. Analyses were conducted on nationwide polls pertaining to all House of Representatives elections, and on state-specific polls pertaining to 34 Senate elections. Analyses compared voting intentions expressed before vs. after the initial Ebola outbreak, and assessed correlations between internet search activity and voting intentions. Results revealed (a) the psychological salience of Ebola was associated with increased intention to vote for Republican Party candidates, and (b) this effect occurred primarily within states characterized by norms favoring Republican candidates (the effect was reversed in states with opposing norms). Ancillary analyses addressed several interpretational issues. Overall, these results suggest that disease outbreaks may influence voter behavior in two psychologically distinct ways: Increased inclination to vote for politically conservative candidates, and increased inclination to conform to popular opinion.
Two studies examined the mechanisms underlying North American women’s previously documented attra... more Two studies examined the mechanisms underlying North American women’s previously documented attraction to men displaying the nonverbal expression of shame (Tracy and Beall, 2011). In Study 1, American women at high-conception risk were found to be less attracted to men displaying shame compared to women at low-conception risk, suggesting that male shame displays indicate poor genetic fitness. In Study 2, Indian women were found to be less attracted to men displaying shame than American women, suggesting that American women’s tendency to find shame-displaying men attractive is likely due to local socio-cultural factors rather than to universal genetically encoded predispositions. Together, findings suggest that the attractiveness of male shame displays, previously documented in several North American samples, is best explained by cultural rather than biological factors.
We report on the development, validation, and utility of a measure assessing individual differenc... more We report on the development, validation, and utility of a measure assessing individual differences in
activation of the parental care motivational system: The Parental Care and Tenderness (PCAT)
questionnaire. Results from 1608 adults (including parents and non-parents) show that the 25-item PCAT
measure has high internal consistency, high test-retest reliability, high construct validity, and unique
predictive utility. Among parents, it predicted self/child identity overlap and caring child-rearing attitudes;
among non-parents, it predicted desire to have children. PCAT predicted the intensity of tender emotions
aroused by infants, and also predicted the amount of time individuals chose look at infant (but not adult)
faces. PCAT also uniquely predicted additional outcomes in the realm of social perception, including mate
preferences, moral judgments, and trait inferences about baby-faced adults. Practical and conceptual
implications are discussed.
Drawing on life-history theory, it is predicted that individuals’ attitudinal orientation toward ... more Drawing on life-history theory, it is predicted that individuals’ attitudinal orientation toward unrestricted
short-term mating behavior, as well as their ability to engage in such behavior, are inversely related to
nurturant emotional responses (tenderness) to infants. To test these hypotheses, participants (N = 305)
completed measures assessing individual differences in short-term mating orientation, self-perceived
physical attractiveness, dispositional tendency to experience tenderness, and their affective responses
to photographs of human infants. Results revealed that (when controlling for other relevant individual
difference variables) men’s short-term mating orientation and self-perceived attractiveness were inversely
associated with dispositional tenderness. Also, among men only, short-term mating orientation and
self-perceived attractiveness predicted less intense tenderness responses to infants.
Recent research in the U.S. and Europe indicates that viewing red enhances men’s attraction to wo... more Recent research in the U.S. and Europe indicates that viewing red enhances men’s attraction to women. This red effect may reflect a basic predisposition shared across cultures, and may thus represent a functional human universal – that is, a psychological process that carries the same meaning in all human societies (Norenzayan & Heine, 2005). We conducted a first test of this universality hypothesis by examining the influence of red on attraction among men living in an isolated traditional small-scale society in Burkina Faso where red carries explicitly negative associations. The results indicated that the red effect is present in Burkina, and that it emerges in culturally appropriate expressions of attraction. These findings represent first evidence suggesting that red may operate as something of a linga franca in the human mating game.
Longitudinal analyses of pre-election polling data tested whether (and how) an Ebola outbreak pre... more Longitudinal analyses of pre-election polling data tested whether (and how) an Ebola outbreak predicted voting intentions preceding the 2014 U.S. federal elections. Analyses were conducted on nationwide polls pertaining to all House of Representatives elections, and on state-specific polls pertaining to 34 Senate elections. Analyses compared voting intentions expressed before vs. after the initial Ebola outbreak, and assessed correlations between internet search activity and voting intentions. Results revealed (a) the psychological salience of Ebola was associated with increased intention to vote for Republican Party candidates, and (b) this effect occurred primarily within states characterized by norms favoring Republican candidates (the effect was reversed in states with opposing norms). Ancillary analyses addressed several interpretational issues. Overall, these results suggest that disease outbreaks may influence voter behavior in two psychologically distinct ways: Increased inclination to vote for politically conservative candidates, and increased inclination to conform to popular opinion.
Two studies examined the mechanisms underlying North American women’s previously documented attra... more Two studies examined the mechanisms underlying North American women’s previously documented attraction to men displaying the nonverbal expression of shame (Tracy and Beall, 2011). In Study 1, American women at high-conception risk were found to be less attracted to men displaying shame compared to women at low-conception risk, suggesting that male shame displays indicate poor genetic fitness. In Study 2, Indian women were found to be less attracted to men displaying shame than American women, suggesting that American women’s tendency to find shame-displaying men attractive is likely due to local socio-cultural factors rather than to universal genetically encoded predispositions. Together, findings suggest that the attractiveness of male shame displays, previously documented in several North American samples, is best explained by cultural rather than biological factors.
We report on the development, validation, and utility of a measure assessing individual differenc... more We report on the development, validation, and utility of a measure assessing individual differences in
activation of the parental care motivational system: The Parental Care and Tenderness (PCAT)
questionnaire. Results from 1608 adults (including parents and non-parents) show that the 25-item PCAT
measure has high internal consistency, high test-retest reliability, high construct validity, and unique
predictive utility. Among parents, it predicted self/child identity overlap and caring child-rearing attitudes;
among non-parents, it predicted desire to have children. PCAT predicted the intensity of tender emotions
aroused by infants, and also predicted the amount of time individuals chose look at infant (but not adult)
faces. PCAT also uniquely predicted additional outcomes in the realm of social perception, including mate
preferences, moral judgments, and trait inferences about baby-faced adults. Practical and conceptual
implications are discussed.
Drawing on life-history theory, it is predicted that individuals’ attitudinal orientation toward ... more Drawing on life-history theory, it is predicted that individuals’ attitudinal orientation toward unrestricted
short-term mating behavior, as well as their ability to engage in such behavior, are inversely related to
nurturant emotional responses (tenderness) to infants. To test these hypotheses, participants (N = 305)
completed measures assessing individual differences in short-term mating orientation, self-perceived
physical attractiveness, dispositional tendency to experience tenderness, and their affective responses
to photographs of human infants. Results revealed that (when controlling for other relevant individual
difference variables) men’s short-term mating orientation and self-perceived attractiveness were inversely
associated with dispositional tenderness. Also, among men only, short-term mating orientation and
self-perceived attractiveness predicted less intense tenderness responses to infants.
Recent research in the U.S. and Europe indicates that viewing red enhances men’s attraction to wo... more Recent research in the U.S. and Europe indicates that viewing red enhances men’s attraction to women. This red effect may reflect a basic predisposition shared across cultures, and may thus represent a functional human universal – that is, a psychological process that carries the same meaning in all human societies (Norenzayan & Heine, 2005). We conducted a first test of this universality hypothesis by examining the influence of red on attraction among men living in an isolated traditional small-scale society in Burkina Faso where red carries explicitly negative associations. The results indicated that the red effect is present in Burkina, and that it emerges in culturally appropriate expressions of attraction. These findings represent first evidence suggesting that red may operate as something of a linga franca in the human mating game.
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Papers by Alec Beall
activation of the parental care motivational system: The Parental Care and Tenderness (PCAT)
questionnaire. Results from 1608 adults (including parents and non-parents) show that the 25-item PCAT
measure has high internal consistency, high test-retest reliability, high construct validity, and unique
predictive utility. Among parents, it predicted self/child identity overlap and caring child-rearing attitudes;
among non-parents, it predicted desire to have children. PCAT predicted the intensity of tender emotions
aroused by infants, and also predicted the amount of time individuals chose look at infant (but not adult)
faces. PCAT also uniquely predicted additional outcomes in the realm of social perception, including mate
preferences, moral judgments, and trait inferences about baby-faced adults. Practical and conceptual
implications are discussed.
short-term mating behavior, as well as their ability to engage in such behavior, are inversely related to
nurturant emotional responses (tenderness) to infants. To test these hypotheses, participants (N = 305)
completed measures assessing individual differences in short-term mating orientation, self-perceived
physical attractiveness, dispositional tendency to experience tenderness, and their affective responses
to photographs of human infants. Results revealed that (when controlling for other relevant individual
difference variables) men’s short-term mating orientation and self-perceived attractiveness were inversely
associated with dispositional tenderness. Also, among men only, short-term mating orientation and
self-perceived attractiveness predicted less intense tenderness responses to infants.
activation of the parental care motivational system: The Parental Care and Tenderness (PCAT)
questionnaire. Results from 1608 adults (including parents and non-parents) show that the 25-item PCAT
measure has high internal consistency, high test-retest reliability, high construct validity, and unique
predictive utility. Among parents, it predicted self/child identity overlap and caring child-rearing attitudes;
among non-parents, it predicted desire to have children. PCAT predicted the intensity of tender emotions
aroused by infants, and also predicted the amount of time individuals chose look at infant (but not adult)
faces. PCAT also uniquely predicted additional outcomes in the realm of social perception, including mate
preferences, moral judgments, and trait inferences about baby-faced adults. Practical and conceptual
implications are discussed.
short-term mating behavior, as well as their ability to engage in such behavior, are inversely related to
nurturant emotional responses (tenderness) to infants. To test these hypotheses, participants (N = 305)
completed measures assessing individual differences in short-term mating orientation, self-perceived
physical attractiveness, dispositional tendency to experience tenderness, and their affective responses
to photographs of human infants. Results revealed that (when controlling for other relevant individual
difference variables) men’s short-term mating orientation and self-perceived attractiveness were inversely
associated with dispositional tenderness. Also, among men only, short-term mating orientation and
self-perceived attractiveness predicted less intense tenderness responses to infants.