Why do we vent?

Now online @EvolHumBehav: Venting about one mutual friend (the target) to another (the listener) can make the people we vent to prefer--and also preferentially support--us over the people we vent about

A🧵on friends + Freud being wrong

👇 sciencedirect.com/science/articl…




In 6 experiments, we asked participants to take on the role of listener (someone who's friends with both the speaker + the target)

Across experiments, listeners heard speakers vent about or overtly derogate the target. The only difference between venting + derog was the framing.

According to work in my field, attitudes toward abortion are not necessarily driven by what we say they are (on the left or the right).

They're not (solely) driven by abstract political ideologies or religion.

At the heart of the debate is a conflict over sexual strategies... Moreover, if you think about it, it's pretty wild that people in Tempe would care about what strangers in Pensacola are up to in the bedroom.

On this view, THAT is a mystery to think on. Why should I care whether someone I'll never know--with no effect on me--follows my morals?

Our paper is out in Psych Science!

In 6 experiments, we detail a stereotype at odds w narratives of progress toward gender equality: Americans believe women (but not men) who have casual sex have low self-esteem. It is pervasive, robust, unfounded.

A🧵
doi.org/10.1177/095679… Big whoop, who cares (Part I)?

People perc'd to have low self-esteem are less likely to get hired for jobs, sought as friends, asked on dates + elected to office. This stereotype has economic + social consequences.

Women perc'd to have lowSE might also be targeted by predators