Mark S. Allen’s research while affiliated with Institute for Social Neuroscience and other places

This study sought to test actor and partner effects of rejection sensitivity on romantic relationship outcomes. In total, 200 participants (100 mixed-sex couples; mean age = 36.17 ± 11.11 years) completed questionnaire measures at a single timepoint. After controlling for participant age and relationship duration, results showed that personal rejection sensitivity, but not partner rejection sensitivity, predicted self-report relationship outcomes for both men and women. Higher levels of rejection sensitivity were associated with lower levels of relationship satisfaction and relationship commitment, and higher levels of jealousy and self-silencing behaviour. Rejection sensitivity was unrelated to relationship investment. Multiple mediation models further demonstrated that anxious and avoidant attachment styles mediated associations between rejection sensitivity and relationship outcomes. Analyses of couple similarity in rejection sensitivity showed that couples report worse relationship outcomes when both partners score high on rejection sensitivity. Overall, the study provides evidence that rejection sensitivity has an important role in relationship outcomes among couples. Creating awareness of the role of rejection sensitivity in relationship outcomes might be a useful approach to improving relationship quality.

Arnocky et al. (2023) have used new methods to further explore the research of Judd et al. (2022). By transforming the data, recoding the data, and/or deleting some of the data, the authors were able to find some significant effects (at p < .05) among the many effects they are using to consider the costly signaling hypothesis supported. A more detailed exploration of the data indicates that the conclusions reached by Judd et al. (2022) are a much more accurate representation of findings. Across the four main effects in Arnocky et al. (2017), there was an average effect size β = .21. A reanalysis of Judd et al. (2022) shows an average effect size β = .06. There were no significant sex moderation effects across any method of data transformation (failure to replicate). Whether statistical analyses directly align with those of Arnocky et al. is unknown as the authors declined to share their data. Our data are available on the Open Science Framework and I encourage researchers to explore the data further and reach their own conclusions about whether findings have indeed been replicated. Further direct replications and alternative assessment methods are needed to help establish whether altruism has a role in mating success in humans. I conclude by providing a more general discussion regarding the importance of considering effect sizes in replication research.

Erectile dysfunction is a major chronic condition affecting hundreds of millions of individuals worldwide. This review provides a concise overview of research on the psychological experience of erectile dysfunction. There is evidence that psychological factors such as personality, depression, stress, and cognitive interference (e.g., performance worry, shifts in attentional focus) contribute to erectile problems. There is also evidence that the experience of erectile dysfunction can have negative psychological effects, including feelings of emasculation and humiliation, decreases in self-confidence and feelings of self-worth, feelings of isolation and loneliness, increases in depression, and decreases in subjective well-being. Effects on the affected individuals’ sexual partner include feelings of being unattractive, feelings of rejection, feeling unloved, decreases in self-esteem, and frustration. Psychological interventions (particularly multimodal interventions) show promise for treating erectile dysfunction, but more research is needed to help establish their effectiveness. We present a brief research agenda of critical areas in need of further study. This review should be of interest to the general public and also researchers looking to develop a program of research in sexual health psychology that focuses on the psychological experience of erectile dysfunction.

This research sought to test the face, construct and criterion validity, and test-retest reliability of the Adult Rejection Sensitivity Questionnaire (ARSQ). In Study 1, participants ( n = 45) completed the ARSQ and questions assessing scale item relevancy, clarity, difficulty, and sensitivity. In Study 2, participants ( n = 513) completed the ARSQ and demographic questions. In Study 3, participants ( n = 244) completed the ARSQ and returned 2 weeks later to complete the ARSQ and measures of depression, anxiety, and self-silencing behavior. Study 1 provided strong support for face validity with all items deemed relevant, clear, easy to answer, and neither distressing nor judgmental. Study 2 provided adequate support for the factor structure of the ARSQ (single-factor model and two-factor model) but suggested modifications could be made to improve scale validity. Study 3 provided further support for an adequate (but not good) factor structure, and evidence for criterion validity established through medium-large effect size correlations with depression, anxiety, and self-silencing behavior. However, the 2-week scale stability appeared poor ( r = .45) in a subsample of participants. Overall, the ARSQ showed sufficient validity to recommend its continued use, but we recommend further tests of scale reliability and potential modifications to increase construct validity.

Introduction Parental personality traits are predicted to influence offspring outcomes through parenting behavior and offspring personality traits. This study explored whether mother and father personality traits relate to offspring behavior problems in mid‐late adolescence Method In total, 3089 Australian adolescents (1576 boys, 1513 girls; Mage = 16.46 ± 0.50 years) and their parents completed questionnaires assessing personality, conduct problems, emotional and social functioning, antisocial and criminal behavior, cigarette smoking and drug use, at a single time‐point. Results After controlling for sociodemographic factors, results showed that problem behaviors in adolescence were most consistently related to mothers' scores on neuroticism and conscientiousness, and fathers' scores on neuroticism. Father personality traits were most important for antisocial and criminal behavior, whereas mother personality traits were most important for social and emotional functioning. Moderation analysis showed that associations between fathers' personality traits and some adolescent outcomes (cigarette smoking and drug use) were stronger for adolescent boys than for adolescent girls. Mediation models further demonstrated that adolescent personality traits mediated associations between parent personality and adolescent outcomes in almost all cases. Indirect effects expressed as a percentage showed that between 1.4% and 33.3% of the variance in the association between parent personality and adolescent outcomes was shared with the corresponding adolescent personality trait. Conclusions Overall, the findings of this study provide evidence that traits inherited (directly or indirectly) from parents might have an important role in shaping problem behavior in adolescence.