Reconsidering “Best Practices” for Testing the Ideal Standards Model: A Response to Eastwick, Finkel, and Simpson (2018)

Eastwick, Finkel, and Simpson (2018) advanced recommendations for “best practices” in testing the predictive validity of individual differences in the extent to which perceptions of partners match ideal standards (ideal-partner matching). We respond to their article evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of different tests, presenting new analyses of existing data, and setting out conclusions that differ from Eastwick et al. We (a) argue that correlations between ideal standards for attributes in partners and corresponding partner perceptions are relevant to the ideal standards model (ISM), (b) show that important methodological and statistical issues qualify their interpretations of prior research, (c) illustrate a new analytic approach used in the accuracy literature that tests (and controls for) confounds highlighted by Eastwick et al., and (d) provide evidence that the direct-estimation measure of ideal-partner matching is a valid and useful method. We conclude with a cautionary note on the concept of best practices.

Staff Rotation as an Anti-Corruption Policy in China and in Germany: An Experimental Comparison

We conducted bribery experiments in China and in Germany to analyze the effect of staff rotation on corruption. After being bribed, Chinese and German subjects in the role of public officials less often reciprocated and instead behaved more often opportunistically when matched to strangers compared to partners. Thus, staff rotation reduced the public officials´ propensity to behave corruptly in our experiment. German subjects in the role of firms anticipated this behavior: In stranger matching, their frequency of bribe-giving was lower than in partner matching, and if they bribed, the bribe value was significantly lower when staff rotation was introduced. For Chinese subjects in the role of firms, this effect of our anti-corruption policy was not significant. We discuss the role of social norms, such as reciprocity and trust, to explain our results.

Men and Monsters: Hunting for Love Online in Japan

This paper presents the results of initial fieldwork on Online dating (netto-jô konkatsu, koikatsu) and other types of internet-based partner matching options in Japan, focusing on the possibilities for textual and interactional self-representation on different sites and apps available to single Japanese. This includes widespread international apps like Tinder and Grindr, along with local apps like 9 Monsters, a popular gay app that also incorporates light gaming functions, or Zexy En-Musubi, a revolutionarily egalitarian site aimed at heterosexual singles specifically seeking marriage. I approach this question by looking at the different technological affordances for profile creation using these services, and the ways users engage with those affordances to create profiles and to search for partners, based on examinations of websites, apps, and public profiles; interviews with website producers; and ethnographic interviews with past and current users of Online dating services. I primarily argue that self-presentation in Japanese Online dating hinges on the use of polite speech forms towards unknown readers, which have the power to flatten out gendered speech differences that are characteristic of language ideologies in Japan (Nakamura 2007). However, dominant cultural ideas about gender, sexuality, and marriage—such as patriarchal marriage structures—may still be “baked into” the structure of apps (Dalton and Dales 2016). Studying Online dating in Japan is critical because of its growing social acceptance. While in 2008 the only “respectable” site was a Japanese version of Match.com, in 2018 there are numerous sites and apps created by local companies for local sensibilities. Where Online dating was already established, in the West, there was little sociological study of it while it was becoming popular, in part because research on the internet also lacked respectability. By looking at Japan, where acceptance is growing but Online dating has not yet been normalized, we can gain a deeper understanding of its gender, sexuality, romance, and marriage practices. Japan’s experiences can also potentially provide a model for understanding how Online dating practices might develop elsewhere. In the US, Online dating faced many of the stigmas that it continues to face in Japan—such as that it was “sleazy,” “sketchy,” or desperate. In spite of these stigmas, however, Online dating grew slowly until it suddenly exploded (Orr 2004). Will it explode in Japan? By looking at how people use these sites, this paper also hopes to shed light on the uptake of Online partner matching practices.

The Tenets of Teneurin: Conserved Mechanisms Regulate Diverse Developmental Processes in the Drosophila Nervous System

To successfully integrate a neuron into a circuit, a myriad of developmental events must occur correctly and in the correct order. Neurons must be born and grow out towards a destination, responding to guidance cues to direct their path. Once arrived, each neuron must segregate to the correct sub-region before sorting through a milieu of incorrect partners to identify the correct partner with which they can connect. Finally, the neuron must make a synaptic connection with their correct partner; a connection that needs to be broadly maintained throughout the life of the animal while remaining responsive to modes of plasticity and pruning. Though many intricate molecular mechanisms have been discovered to regulate each step, recent work showed that a single family of proteins, the Teneurins, regulates a host of these developmental steps in Drosophila - an example of biological adaptive reuse. Teneurins first influence axon guidance during early development. Once neurons arrive in their target regions, Teneurins enable partner matching and synapse formation in both the central and peripheral nervous systems. Despite these diverse processes and systems, the Teneurins use conserved mechanisms to achieve these goals, as defined by two tenets: 1) transsynaptic interactions with each other and 2) membrane stabilization via an interaction and regulation of the cytoskeleton. These processes are further distinguished by 1) the nature of the transsynaptic interaction - homophilic interactions (between the same Teneurins) to engage partner matching and heterophilic interactions (between different Teneurins) to enable synaptic connectivity and the proper apposition of pre- and postsynaptic sites and 2) the location of cytoskeletal regulation (presynaptic cytoskeletal regulation in the CNS and postsynaptic regulation of the cytoskeleton at the NMJ). Thus, both the roles and the mechanisms governing them are conserved across processes and synapses. In this review, we will highlight the contributions of Drosophila synaptic biology to our understanding of the Teneurins and discuss the mechanistic conservation that allows the Teneurins to achieve common neurodevelopmental goals. Finally, we will posit the next steps for understanding how this remarkably versatile family of proteins functions to control multiple distinct events in the creation of a nervous system.

Reconsidering the “Best Practices” for Testing the Predictive Validity of Ideal Standards: A Critique of Eastwick, Finkel, and Simpson (2018)

Eastwick, Finkel, and Simpson (2018) advanced recommendations for “best practices” in testing the predictive validity of ideal-partner matching. We respond to their article, including new analyses of existing data, to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of different tests, and set out conclusions that differ from those offered by Eastwick et al. We (a) argue that correlations between ideal standards and partner perceptions are relevant to the Ideal Standards Model (ISM), (b) show that important methodological and statistical issues qualify their interpretations of prior research, (c) illustrate a new analytic approach used in the accuracy literature that tests (and controls for) confounds highlighted by Eastwick et al., and (d) provide evidence that the direct-estimation measure of ideal-partner matching is a valid and useful method. We conclude with a cautionary note on the concept of best practices.

Belief Heterogeneity and the Restart Effect in a Public Goods Game

We explore how subjects with heterogeneous beliefs respond to a surprise restart in a linear public goods game played for 20 rounds using either a “partners” or a “strangers” protocol. There are two restarts: one prior to Round 11 and another prior to Round 16. We elicit subject beliefs at the outset and classify subjects into three groups—Top, Middle, and Bottom—depending on their prior beliefs about their peers’ contributions to the public good. Then, we look at how these three groups respond, in terms of their beliefs and contributions, before and after the restart. We replicate the restart effect, but find that (i) it is much more pronounced for partner matching than for stranger matching and (ii) it is less pronounced in treatments with belief elicitation compared to control treatments where beliefs are not elicited. We also find that the restart has the effect of regenerating a sense of optimism among the subjects, which is reflected in increased contributions subsequently. This increase in contribution is driven mostly by those subjects who started the game with relatively more optimistic beliefs. Our results have implications for sustaining cooperation in social dilemma games.