A recent line of research grounded in evolutionary theory has shown that exposure to women's fertility cues affects men's mating cognition and behavior. This area of research has not yet been examined in relation to alcohol. As alcohol has also been shown to facilitate the formation of sexual connections for males, establishing the intersection between these two lines of research seems necessary to understand the impetus behind human behavior. Ninety-eight male participants were primed with either the scent of a fertile woman or the scent of nonfertile woman and then completed measures assessing their level of attraction to pictures of women, beer consumption, approach behavior, and alcohol expectancies. Results of the study indicated that males' mating behaviors are affected by women's ovulatory cues, as men exposed to an ovulation prime drank significantly more and exhibited significantly more approach behavior than men exposed to a control prime. Furthermore, an interaction was found between sexual enhancement expectancies and prime condition on beer consumption, which indicated that there was no effect for sexual enhancement expectancies for those in the control prime condition, but for those in the ovulation prime condition, increased drinking was associated with higher sexual facilitation expectancies. These findings were consistent with previous research and support evolutionary theories of mating behavior while taking an integrative approach in trying to explain factors behind human behavior.

abstract: Researchers who have previously explored the relation of broad-based temperamental approach constructs, such as surgency/extraversion, exuberance, or behavioral approach sensitivity, to academic competence (AC) in early elementary school have often found conflicting results. Moreover, few researchers have examined the interaction between these approach reactivity constructs and effortful control (EC) in the prediction of AC. The goal of the current study was to examine the fine-tuned relations of different aspects of temperamental approach reactivity in early childhood (42 and 54 months; N=223), such as impulsivity, frustration, and positive affect, as well as EC, to AC during early elementary school (72 and 84 months). Examining the complex relations may clarify the literature using broad-based approach reactivity constructs. Temperament was observed in the laboratory when children were 54 months of age. Mothers and caregivers also reported on children's impulsivity at 42 and 54 months. School-related behavioral adjustment was reported by children, mothers, and teachers, and GPA was reported by teachers at 72 and 84 months. The results of the study indicated that positive affect, EC, and receptive language ability were the only unique direct predictors of school adjustment and/or GPA. Without EC in the model, only positive affect and vocabulary predicted AC. Frustration, positive affect, and impulsivity each interacted with EC to predict AC outcomes, such EC was only related to higher AC for children with high impulsivity or anger, or low positive affect. Additionally, positive affect and impulsivity interacted to predict GPA, such that impulsivity was positively related to GPA for children with high positive affect, but it was negatively, albeit nonsignificantly, associated with GPA for children with low positive affect. These results were found to be similar for boys and girls. Finding are discussed in terms of the developmental importance of early EC for academic competence for children who have high approach reactivity, as well as the interactive effects of dimensions of approach reactivity on academic achievement. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Psychology 2014