(Press-News.org) Why do straight women and gay men form close relationships with one another? A new psychology study from The University of Texas at Austin suggests the glue that cements these unique relationships is honest, unbiased relationship advice.
The study, published online in the February issue of Evolutionary Psychology, is the first to provide empirical evidence that the emotional closeness shared by straight women and gay men is rooted in the absence of deceptive mating motivations.
"Friendships between straight women and gay men are free of hidden mating agendas," says Eric Russell, lead author of the study and visiting psychology researcher at The University of Texas at Austin. "They may be able to develop a deeper level of honesty because their relationship isn't complicated by sexual attraction or mating competition."
As part of the study, Russell and his colleagues from Texas Christian University presented 88 heterosexual women, and 58 homosexual men with the Facebook profile of a person named Jordan.
The profiles were identical, except for Jordan's gender and sexual orientation. During the time of the study, the respondents believed the researchers were examining how online profiles influence friendships.
Participants were told to imagine they were at a party with Jordan, and he/she gave them romance-related advice. They then assessed the degree to which they would trust this advice.
According to the results, straight women perceived advice offered by a gay man to be more trustworthy than advice offered by a heterosexual man or woman.
Similarly, the gay male participants perceived a straight woman's love advice to be more trustworthy than the same advice offered by a homosexual man or woman.
The researchers theorize that women may have conflicts of interests with other women and straight men. Other women are potential competitors, and straight men may discourage relationships with other men and steer women toward themselves. Gay men, however, don't have these conflicts with straight women, so they may be uniquely positioned to provide mating-relevant advice and support that is not tainted with ulterior motives from sexual rivalry or sexual attraction.
### END
Trustworthy mating advice deepens bond between straight women and gay men
A new psychology study suggests the glue that cements these unique relationships is honest, unbiased relationship advice
2013-02-20
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Preclinical study shows potential of new technologies to detect response to cancer therapy earlier
2013-02-20
The research was published early in the January issue of the journal Technology in Cancer Research and Treatment. The article describes experiments using ultrasonic molecular imaging (USMI) and Dynamic Contrast Enhanced-Perfusion Imaging (DCE-PI) to measure response to therapy for pancreatic cancer.
Paul Dayton, PhD, senior author says, "What we found is that using two non-invasive technologies, we can detect response to therapy earlier than by relying on tumor volume changes. Having new non-invasive, inexpensive technologies available to measure response to therapy earlier ...
Pitt study examines cost-effectiveness of medicare drug plans in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder
2013-02-20
PITTSBURGH, Feb. 19, 2013 – A new study published online today in the American Journal of Managed Care found that in Medicare Part D, generic drug coverage was cost-saving compared to no coverage in bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, while also improving health outcomes. Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, the Pitt Graduate School of Public Health, and Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic of UPMC note that policymakers and insurers should consider generic-only coverage, rather than no gap coverage, to both conserve health care resources ...
Using millions of gigs of data to improve human health
2013-02-20
With biomedical scientists struggling to collect and analyze millions of gigabytes of data in their efforts to improve human health, the National Institutes of Health has launched a $700 million project to develop a common data-sharing framework and start training future scientists to tap that gold mine of information. That's the topic of a story in the current edition of Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), the weekly newsmagazine of the American Chemical Society, the world's largest scientific society.
Britt E. Erickson, C&EN senior editor, explains that biomedical researchers ...
Little did we know about beetle diversity: Astonishing 138 new species in a single genus
2013-02-20
The tropics are home to an extraordinary diversity of insect species. How great is it, exactly? We do not know, but today, researchers at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History published a study on tropical beetles that can help us progress towards an answer to this question. The paper was published in the open access, peer-reviewed journal Zookeys.
Entomologists Michael Caterino and Alexey Tishechkin have named 138 new species within the genus Operclipygus (the name refers to their clamshell-like rear end), thereby increasing the size of the genus over six times. ...
Potential benefits of inertial fusion energy justify continued R&D
2013-02-20
WASHINGTON -- The potential benefits of successful development of an inertial confinement fusion-based energy technology justify investment in fusion energy research and development as part of the long-term U.S. energy R&D portfolio, says a new report from the National Research Council. Although ignition of the fusion fuel has not yet been achieved, scientific and technological progress in inertial confinement fusion over the past decade has been substantial. Developing inertial fusion energy would require establishment of a national, coordinated, broad-based program, ...
Molecules assemble in water, hint at origins of life
2013-02-20
The base pairs that hold together two pieces of RNA, the older cousin of DNA, are some of the most important molecular interactions in living cells. Many scientists believe that these base pairs were part of life from the very beginning and that RNA was one of the first polymers of life. But there is a problem. The RNA bases don't form base pairs in water unless they are connected to a polymer backbone, a trait that has baffled origin-of-life scientists for decades. If the bases don't pair before they are part of polymers, how would the bases have been selected out from ...
Being stoic for the spouse's sake comes at a high cost
2013-02-20
Among life's many tragedies, the death of a child is one that is perhaps the greatest for parents. No matter what the age of the child or the cause of death, the irrefutable fact of the loss is one that shatters the normal cycle of life, leaving parents traumatized and often incapacitated by grief.
Research on coping with bereavement has focused primarily on the individual, despite the fact that family and married relationships are all profoundly disrupted by the loss. But in the wealth of studies about parental grief, little attention has been paid to precisely how couples ...
Study: Resveratrol shows promise to protect hearing, cognition
2013-02-20
DETROIT – Resveratrol, a substance found in red grapes and red wine, may have the potential to protect against hearing and cognitive decline, according to a published laboratory study from Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit.
The study shows that healthy rats are less likely to suffer the long-term effects of noise-induced hearing loss when given resveratrol before being exposed to loud noise for a long period of time.
"Our latest study focuses on resveratrol and its effect on bioinflammation, the body's response to injury and something that is believed to be the cause of ...
Children with brain lesions able to use gestures important to language learning
2013-02-20
ATLANTA – Children with brain lesions suffered before or around the time of birth are able to use gestures – an important aspect of the language learning process– to convey simple sentences, a Georgia State University researcher has found.
Şeyda Özçalışkan, assistant professor of psychology, and fellow researchers at the University of Chicago, looked at children who suffered lesions to one side of the brain to see whether they used gestures similar to typically developing children. She examined gestures such as pointing to a cookie while saying "eat" to ...
The ethics of access: Comparing 2 federal health care reform efforts
2013-02-20
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Two major health reform laws, enacted 25 years apart, both try to meet an ethical standard to provide broad access to basic health care. Neither quite gets there -- but it's not too late for modern health care reform to bring the nation closer to a goal of comprehensive and coordinated care for all.
That's the conclusion of a commentary published in the new issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association by a team of University of Michigan Health System physicians.
The authors – a family physician, an emergency physician and a primary care ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
Study offers new hope for babies born with opioid withdrawal syndrome
UT, Volkswagen Group of America celebrate research partnership
New Medicare program could dramatically improve affordability for cancer drugs – if patients enroll
Are ‘zombie’ skin cells harmful or helpful? The answer may be in their shapes
University of Cincinnati Cancer Center presents research at AACR 2025
Head and neck, breast, lung and survivorship studies headline Dana-Farber research at AACR Annual Meeting 2025
AACR: Researchers share promising results from MD Anderson clinical trials
New research explains why our waistlines expand in middle age
Advancements in muon detection: Taishan Antineutrino Observatory's innovative top veto tracker
Chips off the old block
Microvascular decompression combined with nerve combing for atypical trigeminal neuralgia
Cutting the complexity from digital carpentry
Lung immune cell type “quietly” controls inflammation in COVID-19
Fiscal impact of expanded Medicare coverage for GLP-1 receptor agonists to treat obesity
State and sociodemographic trends in US cigarette smoking with future projections
Young adults drive historic decline in smoking
NFCR congratulates Dr. Robert C. Bast, Jr. on receiving the AACR-Daniel D. Von Hoff Award for Outstanding Contributions to Education and Training in Cancer Research
Chimpanzee stem cells offer new insights into early embryonic development
This injected protein-like polymer helps tissues heal after a heart attack
FlexTech inaugural issue launches, pioneering interdisciplinary innovation in flexible technology
In Down syndrome mice, 40Hz light and sound improve cognition, neurogenesis, connectivity
Methyl eugenol: potential to inhibit oxidative stress, address related diseases, and its toxicological effects
A vascularized multilayer chip reveals shear stress-induced angiogenesis in diverse fluid conditions
AI helps unravel a cause of Alzheimer's disease and identify a therapeutic candidate
Coalition of Autism Scientists critiques US Department of Health and Human Services Autism Research Initiative
Structure dictates effectiveness, safety in nanomedicine
Mission accomplished for the “T2T” Hong Kong Bauhinia Genome Project
Study identifies how malaria can lead to childhood cancer
An earth-abundant mineral for sustainable spintronics
What makes successful learners? How Minecraft can helps us understand social learning
[Press-News.org] Trustworthy mating advice deepens bond between straight women and gay menA new psychology study suggests the glue that cements these unique relationships is honest, unbiased relationship advice