What First Time Moms Expect From Pregnancy

A recent study conducted by the University of Haifa by Ora Gazit under the supervision of Dr. Miri Scharf, looked at how personal experiences affected thoughts on relationships with a newborn. Read more

When Discrimination Appears in the Medical Profession

The Human Immunodeficiency Virus has been a part of modern society for at least the last 25 years. In that time, numerous reports have emerged detailing how a non-infected person can not obtain the virus simply by coming into general contact with an infected person. Still the discriminating treatment of HIV patients continues to occur. Read more

Women More In Tune With Feelings Than Men

Recent research done in the United States with 97 married and unmarried couples between the ages of 18 and 46 indicates that women are better at describing their feelings and those of their romantic counterparts than men.

The study was conducted by graduate student Dana Atzil Slonim and Dr. Orya Tishby of the Paul Baerwald School of Social Work and Social Welfare at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, in cooperation with Prof. Jacques Barber and Dr. Carol Foltz from the University of Pennsylvania.

Some results of the questionnaire that the couples answered indicated that many couples, especially married ones, were on the same page when it comes to the desire to avoid conflict and they shared similar attitudes toward love and caring for one another. However, there was a low-level of agreement on other issues. For instance, men rated women as being much more apprehensive about being abandoned than the women rated themselves and women rated the men as being less apprehensive about being abandoned than the men rated themselves. Another difference is that the women rated the men as more independent than the men felt about themselves, while the men rated the women as more fearful and less interested in sex than the women rated themselves.


“Both sexes tend to lean on stereotypes in those areas that are more emotional, such as independence, the fear of being abandoned, fears in general and sexuality. In these areas, it would seem, the partners are not aware of the true thoughts and desires of the other,” the researchers say, who conclude on this basis that “this shows the great importance of open communication — especially in emotionally-laden topics — as a tool for reducing conflicts and improving the quality of couples’ lives.”

Men and Women Share Preferences in Partner Choice

Breaking the stereotypical mold that men want an attractive mate and women want an ambitious mate, a study conducted by two Northwestern University psychologists found that both men and women typically desire both in a mate.

“In other words good looks was the primary stimulus of attraction for both men and women, and a person with good earning prospects or ambition tended to be liked as well,” said Eli Finkel, assistant professor of psychology at Northwestern. “Most noteworthy, the earning-power effect as well as the good-looks effect didn’t differ for men and women.”
For a month, the romantic lives of study participants were studied, including their prospects within and outside of a speed-dating event.

Speed-dating gave the researchers an added advantage over previous researchers to compare stated romantic preferences with actual choices participants made about a series of potential partners. However, this provided discrepancies in what people actually said they wanted and whom they actually chose.

“If you were to tell me that you prefer physically attractive romantic partners, I would expect to see that you indeed are more attracted to physically attractive partners,” said Paul Eastwick, lead author of the study and graduate student in psychology in the Weinberg School of Arts and Sciences at Northwestern. “But our participants didn’t pursue their ideal in this way. This leads us to question whether people know what they initially value in a romantic partner.”


Results of the study, “Sex Differences in Mate Preferences Revisited: Do People Know What They Initially Desire in a Romantic Partner”” was published in the February issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

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