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  • A Study Finds Women’s Breast Tissue Ages Faster Than the Rest of the Body

    By Elaine Schmidt

    Biological clock

    Everyone grows older, but scientists don’t really understand why. Now a UCLA study has uncovered a biological clock embedded in our genomes that may shed light on why our bodies age and how we can slow the process. Published in the Oct. 21 edition of the journal Genome Biology, the findings could offer valuable insights to benefit cancer and stem cell research.

    While earlier biological clocks have been linked to saliva, hormones and telomeres, the new research is the first to result in the development of an age-predictive tool that uses a previously unknown time-keeping mechanism in the body to accurately gauge the age of diverse human organs, tissues and cell types. Unexpectedly, this new tool demonstrated that some parts of the anatomy, like a woman’s breast tissue, age faster than the rest of the body.

  • Teens and Adults Who Care for Them: Finding Answers to Drug Abuse and Addiction More Easily

    At the end of October, it is the 20th anniversary of actor River Phoenix’s death; he was 23 when he died*. Cause of death was a heroin and cocaine overdose.River Phoenix

    Teens — and adults who care for them — can now find answers to questions about drug abuse and addiction more easily, and through smartphones and tablets. Spanish language versions of easy to understand resources on drug abuse and addiction are now also available. The updates, announced by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health, are being launched as part of National Substance Abuse Prevention Month External Web Site Policy events in October.

    For teens, their parents and teachers, NIDA has upgraded its popular teen website to a “responsive design” model that automatically adjusts to fit the viewer’s screen for better viewing through smartphones and tablets. The new design is also more engaging, with larger, more vibrant buttons that link directly to resources that provide answers to questions and concerns related to drug abuse in adolescents. The teen site continues to house free, interactive resources such as its teen blog and PEERx, an online educational initiative to discourage abuse of prescription drugs among teens.

    In addition to the redesigned teen site, NIDA’s improved Parents and Educators page makes it easier for caregivers and teachers to find free, scientifically based prevention and education resources. Examples include Family Checkup — a tool for talking with children about drugs — as well as the latest science-based information on the health effects and consequences of drug abuse. Teachers can also find free resources for elementary, middle and high school students, including examples of classroom-based science experiments from the NIH Lab Challenge.

    To reach adults with limited literacy skills, NIDA’s Easy-to-Read website now includes Spanish-language versions of its Drug Facts pages; its What is Addiction? section; as well as two easy to understand videos explaining the science behind drug addiction.

    In October, parents, youth, schools, businesses and community leaders across the country join together in recognizing the role that substance abuse prevention plays in promoting safe and healthy communities. National Substance Abuse Prevention Month, which began in 2011, is organized by the White House’s Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP).

    “By using improved Web and handheld device strategies to distribute research findings, we can reach a broader audience,” said NIDA Director Dr. Nora D. Volkow. “NIDA is launching these tools during National Substance Abuse Prevention Month and will continue to translate the science to guide effective prevention and education efforts in homes and communities.”

    For more information on drug prevention, see NIDA’s Preventing Drug Abuse among Children and Adolescents at www.drugabuse.gov/publications/preventing-drug-abuse-among-children-adolescents.  To find out how to get involved in National Substance Abuse Prevention Month, visit www.whitehouse.gov/ondcp/prevention-intro/prevention-month External Web Site Policy.

     If you’re too old or too young to remember River Phoenix, consult IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000203/

    From Wikipedia: Phoenix began acting at age 10 in television commercials. He appeared in diverse roles, making his first notable appearance in the 1986 film Stand by Me, a hugely popular coming-of-age film based on a novella by Stephen King. Phoenix made a transition into more adult-oriented roles with Running on Empty (1988), playing the son of fugitive parents in a well-received performance that earned him a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, and My Own Private Idaho (1991), playing a gay hustler in search of his estranged mother. For his performance in the latter, Phoenix garnered enormous praise and won a Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival, along with Best Actor from the National Society of Film Critics.

  • Culture Watch Book Reviews: The Smartest Kids in the World & Shut Up, You’re Welcome

    In This Issue

    Amanda Ripley gives us a detailed, separate report on the  experiences of each American child she followed who had studied abroad, including each one’s take on what made school in those countries so successful. The youngster’s comparisons are forthright and fascinating. So are Ms. Ripley’s conclusions and descriptions in The Smartest Kids in the World. Annie Choi’s wit is pointed but not savage. She uses humor in Shut Up You’re Welcome to underscore the essential, sustained importance of family, the collective umbilical cord that binds.

    The Smartest Kids in the World
    by Amanda Ripley, © 2013
    Published by Simon & Schuster
    Hardcover: 198 pp plus another 90 pp of Notes, Bibliography, Appendices and an Author’s note

    Reviewed by Julia Sneden

    As indicated above, this book has been thoroughly researched and annotated in impressive, if lengthy, fashion. Do not let the many pages of documentation put you off: the book is anything but dull or pedantic.Amanda Ripley

    Photograph of author Amanda Ripley by Brooke Bready

    Ms. Ripley, a journalist, may be familiar to Sr. Women Web’s readers through her articles in both Time magazine and The Atlantic Monthly. However, as she tells us in her Prologue, “For most of my career … I worked hard to avoid education stories … I didn’t say so out loud, but education stories seemed, well, kind of soft.”

    However, when asked to write a story about a controversial educator, Ripley delved into research concerning the general subject of education. She discovered that far beyond the story about the individual educator, there was a more intricate problem in the field. As she succinctly puts it: “Why were some kids learning so much — and others so very little?” Despite the fact that a lot was known about the problems of disparity, there was no consistent approach as to how to solve it.

    Further research indicated that despite programs sponsored by government, (“No Child Left Behind” or “Race to the Top,” for example) our test scores and evaluations have remained depressingly the same, or close to it. “Our elementary students did fine on international tests… especially in reading. The problems arose in math and science…”By their teenage years, American kids scored twenty-sixth on a test of critical thinking in math, below average for the developed world.”

    And then Ms. Ripley saw a chart, one that indicated that the right kind of concerted effort could make a huge difference in a country’s efforts to improve education. While the United States and others had test scores that varied little over a 50-year period, the scores for Finland had risen from mid-point to the very top. Korea, which had been the top, was still right up there, just a shade below Finland. And Canada, which had first been charted a bit below the US, had managed, in a 30-year drive, to emerge in fourth place, just a shade below Japan.

    Photograph by Brooke Bready

    In the process of trying to discover which steps work when a country tries to improve its educational test scores, Ms. Ripley hit on a fortuitous idea: she would track students, American students, who were going to study abroad. She picked three high school youngsters: one was about to attend school in Finland; one went to Korea; and one went to Poland.

    Following a short biography of each youngster, Ripley gives us a detailed, separate report on the  experiences of each, including each one’s “take” on what made school in those countries so successful. The youngster’s comparisons are forthright and fascinating. So are Ms. Ripley’s conclusions and descriptions.

    In amidst the myriad small details, charts, and interviews, Ripley often refers to the PISA, a test first introduced in 2000. It is a test designed to “measure the kind of advanced thinking and communication skills” that people need in order to thrive in the modern world. It does not test what kids have memorized, or learned from classroom drill. “Those [other] tests,” she says, “usually quantified students’ preparedness for more schooling, not their preparedness for life. None measured teenagers’ ability to think critically and solve new problems in math, reading, and science. The promise of PISA was that it would reveal which countries were teaching kids to think for themselves.”

  • Red-light Cameras Open Question: Safety Device or Backdoor Tax Increase?

    By Maggie Clark, Staff Writer, Pew Charitable Trust’s Stateline

     Red Light Camera Florida drivers who were caught by red-light cameras paid more than $100 million in traffic fines last year. But whether the cameras made Florida’s roads safer — or just swelled state and city coffers — is an open question.

    Red light camera system at the Springfield, Ohio intersection of Limestone and Leffels. Wikimedia Commons, 2006

    ‘Three years ago, these red-light cameras were pitched as safety devices,” said state Sen. Jeff Brandes, a St. Petersburg Republican who has proposed a state ban on the cameras. “Instead, they’ve been a backdoor tax increase.”

    A 2012 audit in St. Petersburg showed the number of dangerous side-impact collisions did decrease at intersections where the red-light cameras had been installed. However, rear-end collisions actually increased at those intersections, as more drivers stopped short to avoid violations.

    In addition to identifying drivers who run through a red light, the cameras tag those who fail to come to a full and complete stop before turning right on red.  

    Communities in 24 states and the District of Columbia have at least one red-light camera, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association.  The Insurance Institute of Highway Safety recently counted more than 500 communities with the cameras.

    Overall, people like them: In a 2011 pollconducted by the insurance institute, two-thirds of drivers in 14 big cities with cameras expressed support for them.  And last November, voters in Longview, Wash., and Pohatcong, NJ, rejected ballot measures to remove the cameras.

    Cameras that catch drivers who violate red-light laws are far more popular than cameras that catch speeders. Only eight states and the District of Columbia use speeding cameras, and a dozen states have enacted laws banning them.

    Nevertheless, resistance to red-light cameras may be growing. Nine states already prohibit them, and lawmakers in Ohio are considering a ban, even though the cameras generated $16 million for Ohio cities last year.

    Lawmakers in Iowa, New Jersey and Colorado also considered turning off the cameras this year, though those efforts fell short.

    “The state shouldn’t be counting on people to violate laws in order to pad their budgets,” Brandes said.

  • Battle of Ganjgal: Medal of Honor Winner Recounts the Taliban Ambush and a Greeting of Machine Gun, RPGs and AK-47 Fire

    By J.D. Leipold, Army News ServiceCapt William D. Swenson

    Capt. William D. Swenson (far right) talks with Soldiers while in support of the 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) in Afghanistan. Swenson served as an embedded trainer and mentor for the Afghan Border Police. He has received the Medal of Honor, Oct. 15, 2013, for his actions Sept. 8, 2009, in the Battle of Ganjgal, in eastern Afghanistan.

     Just before dawn Sept. 8, 2009 and under a full moon, Capt. William D. Swenson and a contingent of Afghan forces made their way slowly on foot, crunching the gravel under their boots through a mountain valley in Kunar Province, Afghanistan, not far from the Pakistan border.

    With one tour in Iraq and on his second deployment to Afghanistan, Swenson was serving as an embedded advisor for the Afghan Border Police. He points out that as an advisor, he wasn’t there to lead the Afghan police or the Afghan National Army soldiers, known as the ANA.

    “With the Afghans, one cannot overtly lead — they are their own military, independently run by their own leadership, but you can also influence them with advice and your presence,” Swenson said. “Show your professionalism to them, then you exhibit leadership when they don’t even know it’s there. They’ll follow your example, your character, so was I leading anyone? No. Was I offering an example for them to follow, yes.”

    Swenson, in support of the 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry), was leading an Afghan Border Police, or ABP, Mentor Team, working directly with just one other American Soldier, colleague and friend Sgt. 1st Class Kenneth Westbrook. Together the two were mentoring along with a US Marine embedded training team, or ETT, under a different chain of command. Even so, Swenson said the Soldiers and Marines worked very closely together, harmonizing and collaborating on similar objectives.

    This was a routine mission — Operation Buri Booza II — one like the Afghan soldiers and police as well as the Americans had done dozens of times before. The column of 106 troops moved from the Observational Rally Point towards the village. The road they trekked melded into a boulder-ridden, gravel-strewn washout which led directly to the hillside village made up of thick-walled mud buildings with mud-thatched roofs. Swenson recalled the village structures had the appearance of World War II pillboxes with small, narrow, slit openings.

    At the washout, about half the coalition and Afghan National Security Forces, known as ANSF, split off to the north and south to establish support positions. Swenson and Westbrook continued toward the valley with the remaining troops.

    At the front of the column approaching the village were four ETTs — three Marines and a Navy Corpsman — and their ANA counterpart. Behind them was the command element, or Tactical Action Center, referred to as the TAC, led by Maj. Kevin Williams and consisting of 1st Lt. Ademola D. Fabayo, a Marine ETT operations officer; First Sgt. Christopher Garza, ETT first sergeant; an ANA radio telephone operator, or RTO; and Jonathan Landay, an embedded reporter with the Marine ETT. To the rear of the TAC and their ANA counterparts were Swenson and Westbrook, with their ABP counterparts.

  • Shingles Belong on the Roof, Not on My Skin

    By Roberta McReynolds

    Sitting in the examination room and feeling absolutely wretched, I glumly listened as the16th century nurse doctor explained, “Chicken pox is the ‘gift’ that just keeps giving.”

    It was bad enough when I became infected with this childhood disease at the age of 25. While I was suffering through that humiliation to my self-image, I had no inkling that in the remote future it could rear its nefarious head again as shingles. That was a malady that I, still an innocent youth, knew nothing about.

    Nurse, 16th Century portrayed by the Swiss illustrator, Warja Honegger-Lavater, from authentic costume reproductions in the University of Rome’s Institute of Medical History. Wikimedia Commons

    Until recently, I was also unaware that a person could get shingles on the face. It usually occurs on, but is not limited to: the back, shoulder, side, stomach and/or thigh. By the way, if you notice any typos as you are reading, please be gentle and forgiving; my right eye is nearly swollen shut. Those of you who happen to be fans of ‘reality television’ may appreciate the fact that I am documenting my experience in real time.

    Just in case anyone considers this topic is not relatable, keep this in mind. Over 95% of the population in this country will be infected with the varicella zoster virus (VZV) during their lifetime, meaning that they are at risk of getting shingles. 

    There are several reliable websites that provide information pertaining to shingles, including photographs (caution: they are quite graphic and not for those prone to fainting). I’ll leave the medical details and advice to the experts, aside from the fact that the virus which causes chicken pox resides in your body forever. It remains dormant until something triggers it, and then it reactivates in the form of shingles. Stress and/or a weakened immune system are often thought to be possible culprits in the process. Since aging tends to go hand-in-hand with a gradually fading resistance to illness, it makes sense that the likelihood of getting shingles tends to strike people age 60 and over.

    In a cruel twist of fate, I developed the first symptoms of shingles just 23 days after my 60th birthday; merely weeks after I became old enough to obtain the shingles vaccine. I knew about this vaccine, because my husband got it a few years ago. It was on my radar to ask for it at my next annual physical. What an insult to injury! Did my warranty just expire?

  • Kissing a Frog, A Math Problem for the Princess

    Editor’s Note:  We found this 2008 maths essay again when trying to find something unique for Halloween … we had purchased a witch doll kissing a frog*, if you must know. In fact, in a post centering on the Scout Report, we ran their recommendation of +Plus Magazine. 

    Kissing the frog: A mathematician’s guide to mating by John Billingham, a Professor of Theoretical Mechanics in the School of Mathematical Sciences at the University of Nottingham: 

    After introducing the original fairytale, Professor Billingham posits another way to play the selection game. The paragraphs and link that follow are from a 2008 +Plus Magazine:

    How attractive is my frog? Kissed Too Soon?The Frog Prince

    I’m told that when men meet women, they sometimes rate each other on a scale of 1 to 10. Of course, mathematicians are far too intelligent and sophisticated do this. We rate people on a scale of 0 to 1. In our original mathematical model, all we could do was compare one possible frog with another. The numbers didn’t mean anything in themselves; they just told the princess whether one frog was “better” than another. Let’s change the fairytale slightly so that the 100 frogs are now labelled with numbers drawn randomly from those that lie between 0 and 1, with the handsome prince having the highest number. What’s the princess’s best strategy now?

    The Frog Prince by Paul Meyerheim, 1889; illustration for the fairy tale The Frog Prince. Wikipedia

    Well, the princess now has much more information to use. There is a highest and a lowest number (0 and 1), and the frogs’ numbers are uniformly, but randomly, distributed between the two. If the first frog to hop out is numbered, for example, 0.99, then she knows it’s a top quality frog, and could well be worth a peck on the cheek. What if the first frog is numbered 0.8? Is that good enough to kiss? It turns out that the best strategy is, as anyone aged over 25 knows, to start with high standards, and then lower them as the frogs keep on coming. We’re meant to be doing some maths here, so by “standards” I mean that for each frog there is a number, called a decision number, below which the princess shouldn’t kiss it (here’s how to calculate the decision number). If the frog is numbered above the appropriate decision number, and is the best frog so far, she should kiss it. This strategy nets her the handsome prince a whopping 58% of the time. In fact, if the first frog is numbered 0.99, she shouldn’t kiss it, because the first decision number for 100 frogs is about 0.992. She’s more likely to find Mr. Right by holding out for a more attractive frog.

    The best-looking frog … but he doesn’t fancy me .. and I don’t know why not!

    There are lots of other things that we could add to our mathematical model to make it more realistic. For example, in real life, if you kiss the second best frog, you don’t have to stay in the enchanted forest. Unless you’re an incurable romantic who thinks that there’s just one perfect person out there for you, you can be very happy with frog number 2. Maybe you’re more interested in avoiding a very bad frog. What’s more important, making sure you bag frog number 1 or avoiding frogs 51 to 100? The strategy you should choose depends upon what you’re trying to achieve.

    Read the rest of Prof. Billingham’s math essay at the +Plus Magazine site

    *A catalog appeared at our house during this Halloween season that might supply another frog kissing witch doll: Olive & Cocoa

  • The Scout Report This Week, Research, Education and the “Front Porch of the Lowcountry”

    For the first time, we’re reproduced the entire Scout Report for this particular week. Previously, we would highlight one or two of their selections, but this time nothing less than all of it would do.  Senior Women Web was singled out by the Scout Report in 1999, when we first began.

    Research and EducationClemson Cooperative Extension

    One of the historical photos from Colleton County; Colleton Museum & Farmers Market, 506 E. Washington St., Walterboro, SC  — “Front Porch of the Lowcountry”

    Clemson Cooperative Extension  ·http://www.clemson.edu/extension/

    Every state has an extension office that works out of their respective public university to deliver key information on agriculture, natural resources, food safety and nutrition, economic and community development, and agriculture. Clemson University’s Cooperative Education office works to deliver such materials to the residents of South Carolina. On this website, visitors can explore the Programs area to learn about specific action programs in the areas listed above. The Services section is a real gem as it includes information for home and garden fans or persons involved with pesticide control and related matters. Moving along, the Resources area contains mobile apps, livestock and poultry fact sheets, and information on urban pests. Visitors can also follow the cooperative’s activities via Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and their RSS feed. [KMG]

    Modeling And Simulation Tools For Education Reform ·http://www.shodor.org/master/

    Created by the Shodor Education Foundation, Inc., the Modeling And Simulation Tools for Education Reform (MASTER) provide useful educational tools that help students and teachers learn through observation and modeling activities. The Shodor Foundation worked in tandem with the National Center for Supercomputing Applications, George Mason University, and other educational organizations to craft these tools and visitors can access all eight of them here. The Fractal Modeling Tools are a good place to start as visitors can download the required software or take in some instructional materials, such as the interactive fractal microscope and the snowflake fractal generator. Other notable areas here include The Pit and the Pendulum, which offers the work of Edgar Allan Poe as a way to learn about better reading through computation. [KMG]

    PBS Learning Media ·http://www.pbslearningmedia.org/

    The PBS LearningMedia site is a fun resource for educators with materials covering everything from women’s literature to current events. Visitors can click on the Browse PBS Learning Media area to look around for resources by grade levels, subjects, standards, and collections. Returning visitors should peruse the New Features area where they can find helpful fact sheets, activities, and instructional resources that deal with cyberlearning in STEM disciplines, the art and science of growing food, or middle school literacy. As a side note, visitors will need to create a free account after viewing three resources. One great highlight here is the Daily News Story section. This timely news collection offers daily resources from PBS’s NewsHour program designed specifically for students. [KMG]

    Vicos: A Virtual Tour ·https://instruct1.cit.cornell.edu/courses/vicosperu/vicos-site/

    Do you want to take a trip to Peru? And are you fascinated by history, archaeology and geography? Then you simply must take a look at this site, which offers all three in rare form. Created as part of a collaboration between Cornell University, The Mountain Institute, and the people of Vicos, the project offers a look at the legacy of the Cornell-Peru Project, an international development project in the 1960s and 1970s. After looking over the Introduction area, visitors can click on the Local Voices to learn more about how local people reacted to the project then and now. The other sections here cover biodiversity in the area, ecotourism, and water management. [KMG]

    Plus Magazine  ·http://plus.maths.org/content/

    The mission of Plus magazine is elegant and wonderful: “to introduce readers to the beauty and the practical applications of mathematics.” The magazine offers up a hearty dose of articles and podcasts on a diverse set of topics including algebra, geometry, mathematics in sports, and so on. The website has a number of fun features, including Dark Energy Say Cheese! and a fun sudoku-esque puzzle, Pandemonion! The sections here include Articles, Packages, Podcasts, and Reviews among others. The Podcasts are a delight and a short list of recent offerings includes “Do infinities exist in nature?” and “How many dimensions are there?” The Articles area is similarly rich and visitors can search through their archive, which includes several hundred items. [KMG]

  • Another Reason to Visit New York City: Wedding Bed Covers, Tapestries, Quilts and Period Clothing

    By Jill Norgren

    As daylight dwindles and the vivid colors of nature recede, what could be more pleasurable this autumn than a museum exhibit packed with vibrant color?Jacket

    In New York City the Metropolitan Museum of Art has opened a stunningly beautiful exhibition, Interwoven Globe: The Worldwide Textile Trade, 1500-1800. According to curators, the show surveys “the international transmittal of design from the 16th to the early 19th century through the medium of textiles.” Trade in textiles followed the search for spice routes to the east. Textiles, sometimes used as currency for spices and other goods, shipped out on various types of vessels from India and other parts of Asia to Europe, as well as making their way between India and East and Southeast Asia, Europe to the east, and later west to North and South America.

    Jacket  second half of 18th century. Dutch, cotton, lenth: 26 in. (66cm). The pattern of the cotton textile from which this jacket, known as a caraco, is made is nearly identical to another cotton with a pink ground in the Metropolitan’s collection, made by the French firm of J. R. Wetter. This Indian chintz is probably a copy of that French textile. By the late eighteenth century, Indian cotton manufacturers were increasingly producing patterns closely based on Western prototypes and fewer of the exotic hybrid florals that had seduced Europeans since the seventeenth century.

    Interwoven Globe employs ten galleries to exhibit 134 works, two-thirds drawn from the museum’s permanent collection. The central role played by the world’s oceans to the development of a global trade in textiles is underscored in the first gallery where a unique 17th quilt depicts a three mast ship. The artist must have hoped to express man’s belief in his mastery of the seas. But the exhibition does not dwell on the dangers of maritime life. Rather, the visitor encounters beautiful wedding bed covers; tapestries appear in many of the galleries along with other quilts and hangings. Among the most fascinating pieces in the show is one illustrating armed European conflict in South India.

    The exhibition galleries are organized according to geography and themes. Interwoven Globe begins with the textile trade that Portugal developed with China and India and concludes with a gallery devoted to colonial North American showing textiles imported from China and India. Thematically, one of the most interesting rooms displays objects made for religious observance including chasubles, a Torah ark curtain, and a temple hanging produced for Hindu devotees in Ceylon.Triumph of Espana

    18th century, Spanish culture. Cotton, block printed. Gift of Estate of James Hazen Hyde, 1959. In this Spanish printed cotton, “America” is a Native American female supported on a litter by two young men in a stylized tropical environment. In the sixteenth century, Europeans began personifying the Americas as an exotic native woman. The phrase Triumfa España en las Americas suggests that the designer was attempting to reassure viewers of Spain’s dominance in its American colonies.

    Interwoven Globe is a large exhibition begging hours of a visitor’s attention. Walk through it first without reading the explanatory signs. Enjoy the diversity of the objects as well as their beauty without distraction. Once familiar visually with all that the exhibition has to offer, begin again, studying the signs and considering the objects as expressions of the global artistic exchanges made possible by the golden age of European maritime navigation.

    This exhibition runs until January 5. 2014. Illustration captions from the Met.

    ©2013 Jill Norgren for SeniorWomen.com

  • When Your Partner Succeeds, How Do You Feel?

    Men’s subconscious self-esteem related to female partner’s successes and failures

    Deep down, men may not bask in the glory of their successful wives or girlfriends. While this is not true of women, men’s subconscious self-esteem may be bruised when their spouse or girlfriend excels, says a study published by the American Psychological Association.

    It didn’t matter if their significant other was an excellent hostess or intelligent, men were more likely to feel subconsciously worse about themselves when their female partner succeeded than when she failed, according to the study published online in the APA Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. However, women’s self-esteem was not affected by their male partners’ successes or failures, according to the research, which looked at heterosexual Americans and Dutch.Kate Ratliff, PhD, lead author

    Kate Ratliff, PhD, lead author of study

    “It makes sense that a man might feel threatened if his girlfriend outperforms him in something they’re doing together, such as trying to lose weight,” said the study’s lead author, Kate Ratliff, PhD, of the University of Florida. “But this research found evidence that men automatically interpret a partner’s success as their own failure, even when they’re not in direct competition.”

    Men subconsciously felt worse about themselves when they thought about a time when their female partner thrived in a situation in which they had failed, according to the findings. The researchers studied 896 people in five experiments. 

    In one experiment, 32 couples from the University of Virginia were given what was described as a test of problem solving and social intelligence” and then told that their partner scored either in the top or bottom 12 percent of all university students. Hearing that their partner scored high or low on the test did not affect what the researchers called participants’ explicit self-esteem — i.e., how they said they felt. 

    Participants were also given a test to determine how they felt subconsciously about their partners’ performance, which the researchers called implicit self-esteem. In this test, a computer tracks how quickly people associate good and bad words with themselves. For example, participants with high implicit self-esteem who see the word “me” on a computer screen are more likely to associate it with words such as “excellent” or “good” rather than “bad” or “dreadful.” Visit the Project Implicit website to see a sample of the test.