Don S. Christensen Intra-American Studies & Social Sciences

Don S. Christensen Intra-American Studies & Social Sciences

Psychology 209 Shoreline Community College

HOMEWORK #2: JEALOUSY ASSIGNMENT (26 Points):

DUE DATE: Monday October 31st

Purpose: This assignment provides experience in analyzing and summarizing original research reports, illustrates the process of scientific debate, and enables you to see how original research reports are "translated" into articles for the popular press.

Materials: You will be asked to read four different articles for this assignment:

#1. Buunk et al.: Sex differences in jealousy in evolutionary and cultural perspective.

#2. Harris & Christenfeld: Gender, jealousy, and reason.

#3. Buss et al.: Sex differences in Jealousy: Not gone, not forgotten, and not explained by alternative hypotheses.

#4. Harris & Christenfeld: Jealousy and rational responses to infidelity across gender and culture.

A newspaper article on jealousy, a handout on APA format, and two handouts from the Psychology Writing Center at the UW will be distributed with the assignment as well.

Background Information: In 1992 Buss and his colleagues published research indicating that women typically find emotional infidelity to be more distressing than sexual infidelity, whereas men are bothered more than women by sexual infidelity. The authors used "evolutionary psychology" to explain this phenomenon. In the November 1996 issue of Psychological Science, six articles on this topic were published. The first article, by Buunk, Angleitner, Oubaid and Buss, extended the original 1992 research by examining whether this gender difference could be replicated in different cultures. The second and third articles, by Harris and Christenfeld (HC) and by DeSteno and Salovey (DS), criticized the evolutionary psychology analysis and proposed a cognitive explanation for the gender difference in jealousy. In the next article, Buss and his colleagues defended their evolutionary psychology viewpoint and attacked the cognitive viewpoint of HC and DS. In the final two articles, DS and HC defended their viewpoint and offered further criticisms of the evolutionary explanation. A month later, a nationally syndicated newspaper article summarizing this debate appeared in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. In this homework assignment you are asked to read four of these journal articles. The method and data analyses are relatively simple. I have eliminated the two DS articles because of their statistical complexity and conceptual redundancy with the HC articles.

Section 1. Applying Scientific Concepts (8 Points Total)

Read articles #1 and #2. (Note: Article #1 presents three studies. They all use the same basic research procedure. Therefore, the questions below apply equally well to any of the studies.)

a) In the article by Buunk et al. (Article #1) what is the independent variable and what is the dependent variable. Provide your answer on a conceptual level (i.e., give a one or two word name or "label" for each of these variables). (2 points)

b) In Article #1, how is the dependent variable operationally defined? (Describe in a sentence or two). (2 points)

c) The studies by Buunk et al. all use the same general research method. Does this method represent a true experiment or a natural groups design? Explain your answer in one or two sentences (i.e., what are the critical factors that indicate it is a true experiment or natural groups design). Note: see page 235 of your text. (2 points)

d) The research study presented by Harris & Christenfeld (HC) in Article #2 measures one new variable that is central to their theoretical viewpoint. Identify this variable conceptually (give it a short name or label) and then describe how it is operationally defined. (2 points)

Section 2. Summarizing Harris and Christenfeld's Research: Article #2 (8 Points Total)

The newspaper article by Ritter interviews Buss and summarizes his research (this includes the Buunk et al. article). It also interviews Salovey and discusses his research (the DeSteno and Salovey articles, which I deleted from your assignment). The newspaper article does not mention the work by HC. So, suppose that I am a newspaper editor and I give you the following assignment:

Assignment: Write a one-page, double-spaced summary describing the HC research (Article #2) and identify how it contributes to the debate about gender differences in jealousy. You need to write your article in plain English; avoid using psychological jargon. If you use jargon, you will need to define what you mean. Terms such as "emotional infidelity," "sexual jealousy," or "evolutionary theory" would not be jargon since they are part of everyday language. Terms such as “independent variable” or “confound” would constitute jargon and thus would need to be explained. Begin this assignment on a separate page. (8 points)

Some Suggestions: The newspaper article by Ritter probably is the equivalent of three to five double spaced typewritten pages. Because you only have one page for your summary your writing will need to be right to the point and less "chatty." Therefore, focus on the most central points of the HC article. One good way to conceptually organize your summary is to parallel the "Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion" structure of the research article itself. (You should NOT actually type these headings in your summary, which should be one or at most two continuous paragraphs.) What is the historical background leading up to the HC study? What question or hypothesis is being tested and why is this issue important? What was the research procedure (what did participants do)? What were the most important results? Why were these results important? What were their implications for the authors' viewpoint and the overall jealousy debate?

The summary should be in your own words. Do not quote or merely paraphrase the article. Use your own words to describe the study. Read the "Reading and Summarizing a Research Article" and "Plagiarism and Student Writing" handouts that were distributed in class along with the newspaper article. (The first handout suggests that a good summary will have approximately five to nine sentences, but it is likely you will have room for a few more sentences.) Remember that your summary should be double-spaced. Writing good summaries is an important skill in science, academia, and many nonacademic jobs.

OPTIONAL (but strongly recommended by your professor who loves good laugh!): If you are feeling creative, develop a "newspaper headline" or title for your summary. I will select the two most creative or witty headlines and award a small prize to each of the students who wrote them.

Section 3. Discussing the Rebuttals: Articles #3 and #4 (8 Points Total)

Allow yourself one page, total, for answering questions "a" through "d."

a) In the rebuttal by Buss et al., (Article #3) pick either "Problem 1, 2, or 3" and, in your own words, summarize Buss's criticism of the "logical belief"/"double-shot" hypothesis. (2 point)

b) What is Buss's criticism of HC regarding correlation and causation? (1 point) In a few sentences, take this same criticism and explain how it applies to Buss's own work! (1 point)

c) In your own words, summarize the alternative explanation that HC (Article #4) give for the cross-cultural consistency noted by Buunk et al. (in Article #1). (2 point)

d) Describe one other argument that HC give against the evolutionary explanation of jealousy. (2 point)

e) OPTIONAL: This will not be graded, but if you would like to, feel free to write a paragraph expressing why you agree more with Buss's or HC's viewpoint and criticisms, or why you disagree with both. If you do this, make it the last page of your assignment.

Section 4. References (2 Points Total)

Pick any one of the four articles used in this assignment and reference it using APA style. Please realize that this journal, Psychological Science, numbers its pages consecutively from one issue to the next, within any given year. This will affect how you reference it for APA style. See the APA format handout for more details (2 points).

Writing & Formatting Your Paper

a) Type or Print Neatly: I encourage you to type your paper. If you use a word processor, use a 10- or 12-point font. If you write longhand, please print clearly. If I can't understand your writing I’ll have to return the paper to you and ask you to rewrite it.

b) Length: 4 pages. At the top of the first page write your name and basic course information. Use the rest of the first page to answer Section 1 of this assignment. Section 2 and Section 3 of the assignment each should be written on a separate page. Section 3e (if you do it) and Section 4 should appear on page 4.

c) Submit your original paper to me and keep a copy for yourself as a backup.