Pacific Standard March-April 2013 Cover

Iceland: Stop Sleeping With Your Family Members

April 17, 2013 • By • Leave a Comment
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I ... I don't even. I just. What is ... are they? Huhhhhhh? From the News of Iceland (which also boasts most-read stories with headlines of "Iceland Is the Coolest Place to Go on Vacation" and "Ben Stiller Walking Around in Icelandic Nature"): The Icelandic population is very small and all Icelanders are related. But yet, it is big enough so everyone doesn't know one another. This means that each and every Icelander that is in a relationship, is dating a relative. In most cases those relations are distant. But not always. But how can they know? Yes, the population is tiny: 321,857 people ... Read More

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The Loneliness of TMI

February 25, 2013 • By • Leave a Comment

Lust If you indulge in Facebook, you know them: the over-sharers. The ones who post a photo for every meal, complain about the morning’s traffic, and shout into the social media abyss for someone to please, please comment on their new haircut. If you find yourself falling into a different sin at the sight of your newsfeed (ahem, wrath) then you may find comfort in a new theory—those who overshare via social media are less likely to have satisfying romantic relationships. (If you identify with the eager-to-post, it may be time to delete that last status.) Juwon Lee, a doctoral student ... Read More

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Who’s Happier on Valentine’s Day? The Single or the Hitched?

February 14, 2013 • By • Leave a Comment
(PHOTO: OLARU RADIAN-ALEXANDRU/SHUTTERSTOCK)

It’s Valentine’s Day, which means you’re either nibbling on a chocolate truffle—nothing says “I love you” and “I forgot to make us dinner reservations” like a Godiva gift box—or spooning Ben and Jerry’s straight from the carton. And chances are, you wouldn’t have it any other way. Coupled? You wish your friends would hurry up and find Mr. Right, already. (After all, they’re not getting any younger.) Single? You don’t see a diamond ring—you see an iron ball and chain. “We often become evangelists for our own lifestyles,” writes a trio of psychologists in a ... Read More

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Contemplating Crushes: A Scholarly Look at Love

February 13, 2013 • By • Leave a Comment
(PHOTO: MMX/SHUTTERSTOCK)

You’re The One That I Want The idea that opposites attract is a long-time movie standby: Just think of Danny and Sandy from Grease (well, at least before she bought leather pants and got a perm). Sadly, this may be misleading to romantic hopefuls. A study published in Personality and Individual Differences reveals that similarities in personality may help predict longevity in relationships. Close to 5,000 couples were tracked over a five-year period, their personalities assessed at the beginning and end of this time. The results revealed that initial evidence of personality congruence ... Read More

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I Now Pronounce You FBO: Facebook Official

January 8, 2013 • By • Leave a Comment

A budding romance tends to follow a prescribed pattern, with dating leading to an engagement and ultimately marriage. But in further evidence that Facebook is changing the rhythms and rituals of our lives, researchers report that, at least among college students, a new marker has been added on the bumpy road of building relationships: Updating your social-network status. Or, as it is commonly called, becoming Facebook Official, or FBO. “This status is a new milestone for couples,” writes a research team led by Jesse Fox of The Ohio State University. Occurring sometime after an ... Read More

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R.I.P. Traditional Marriage

April 30, 2012 • By • Leave a Comment
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The idea of Government-managed marriage — the institution that dates from the 1600s and has long been considered one of the foundations of the social structure of civilization — is rumored to have passed away, quietly, in 2011. It has been widely reported that the institution died of complications from a progressive disease. The causes include growing equality in the workforce, social acceptance of licenseless sex, and the dissolving of the stigma of being either single or gay. In its prime, marriage offered economic structure and support to women who didn’t work outside the home, ... Read More

More like this: Culture, May-June 2012
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Oxytocin Levels Predict Longevity of Love Affairs

February 13, 2012 • By • Leave a Comment
Oxytocin Levels Predict Longevity of Love Affairs

There’s nothing like the bliss of a new romance. And yet, many experiencing such rapture find it disrupted by a nagging question: How do we know our love will last? Newly published research suggests a possible answer: Get your oxytocin levels checked. A team of researchers led by Ruth Feldman of the Gonda Brain Sciences Center of Israel’s Bar-Ilan University have just published a study examining the role oxytocin, commonly called the “cuddle hormone,” plays in the early stages of romantic relationships. While differentiating cause and effect is tricky, the researchers find a ... Read More

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Valentine Presents Cause Anxiety at the Gift Counter

February 12, 2011 • By • Leave a Comment

Have you bought that special someone a Valentine's Day gift yet? If so, was the process of picking out a present joyful, or stressful? If you chose the latter, you are far from alone. According to newly published research, "at least half of the population perceives gifting their romantic partners as more of an obligation, and less of a pleasure." Writing in the Journal of Business Research, Hieu Nguyen of California State University, Long Beach, and James Munch of Wright State University describe the psychological factors that underlie this discomfort, and they provide provocative advice ... Read More

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College Guys Will Remember the Pretty Ones

December 30, 2010 • By • Leave a Comment

From the "Studies That Should Surprise No One" file: A new study in Applied Cognitive Psychology found that college-aged men were more likely to remember whether a woman showed sexual interest in them when she was deemed attractive, dressed provocatively and expressed her attraction toward them. Who'da thunk it? The guys were shown full-body photographs of collegiate women who were signaling either attraction or rejection — for instance, a frown of rejection versus a pleasant smile. The researchers found that the average young man demonstrated an excellent memory of the women's initial ... Read More

More like this: Culture, Culture & Society, January-February 2011, The Cocktail Napkin
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Uncertainty Heightens Romantic Attraction

December 28, 2010 • By • Leave a Comment

With the ultimate date night fast approaching, men and women alike are attempting to decipher the seemingly random rules of romantic attraction. What combination of factors impels one person to think of another as potential mate material? Newly published research suggests one potent element in the mix is mystery. “Keeping people in the dark about how much we like them will increase how much they think about us and will pique their interest,” a research team reports in the journal Psychological Science. University of Virginia psychologists Erin Witchurch and Timothy Wilson, and ... Read More

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