Mons Bendixen | NTNU - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Mons Bendixen
Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science
Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science
Military Psychology
Few studies have investigated what soldiers find meaningful after being exposed to highly stressf... more Few studies have investigated what soldiers find meaningful after being exposed to highly stressful events and what positive effects they might have in the aftermath. This study reports the psychometric properties of a newly developed questionnaire, Meaning of Service (MoS), and its application to the study of how strongly meaning-making processes are associated with psychological growth. One hundred eighty-four Norwegian Air Force Veterans who have participated in various missions abroad in different branches of the military completed the MoS questionnaire along with other scales reflecting psychological growth, hardiness, resilience, stress, and exposure, as well as personal and mission characteristics. The principal component analysis mainly identified three major meaning themes as expected from previous qualitative research (Confirmation of ability, Cohesion of peers, and Significance of effort). The hierarchical regression analysis showed that all three meaning themes and two coping strategies were associated with psychological growth, and that Confirmation of ability (coping and recognition of coping) seems particularly important to enhance Veterans' prospects of psychological growth. Future research directions are proposed including suggestions for minor modifications of the questionnaire.
Journal of Scandinavian Studies in Criminology and Crime Prevention
Norway is one of the countries with the most progressive criminal justice systems in the Western ... more Norway is one of the countries with the most progressive criminal justice systems in the Western world. Traditionally, the Norwegian criminal justice system has been mainly based on treatment and deterrence perspectives. While it is believed that criminal justice practices should be in accordance with public attitudes, few studies in Scandinavia have investigated public attitudes towards criminal justice sanctions in a methodologically sound manner. The current study is the first to investigate the attitudes of the Norwegian public towards punishment of rapists. In a Norwegian community sample (N = 475) from 2005, participants found the typical sentencing severity of a convicted rapist too lenient. The participants did report that as a global sentencing orientation, they preferred incapacitation. When presented with a specific rape case, their sentencing judgments were oriented towards both incapacitation and retribution, but their global orientation were not related to their specific judgments. Aggravating circumstances (e.g. violence was used) were found to influence the participants' judgments more than when no aggravating circumstances were present (e.g. no violence was used). Few gender or educational differences were found, which indicates that these attitudes toward punishment of rapists are quite consistent across demographical groups.
Personality and Individual Differences
Journal of Relationships Research
Infidelity represents a major threat to relationships, often resulting in dissolution of couples.... more Infidelity represents a major threat to relationships, often resulting in dissolution of couples. The process from infidelity to potential breakup was studied in 92 couples using questionnaires concerning hypothetical scenarios of sexual and emotional infidelity. Structural equation model analyses using couple data for both infidelity types suggest that the level of perceived threat to the relationship was the main predictor of likelihood of breakup for men and women. Following each type of imagined infidelity, this effect was partly mediated by forgiveness. For emotional infidelity, level of blame was associated with forgiveness and breakup. The effect of blame on breakup was fully mediated by keeping less distance. The mechanisms involved in these processes were highly similar for women and men.
Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences
Psychological Science
Considerable research has examined human mate preferences across cultures, finding universal sex ... more Considerable research has examined human mate preferences across cultures, finding universal sex differences in preferences for attractiveness and resources as well as sources of systematic cultural variation. Two competing perspectives—an evolutionary psychological perspective and a biosocial role perspective—offer alternative explanations for these findings. However, the original data on which each perspective relies are decades old, and the literature is fraught with conflicting methods, analyses, results, and conclusions. Using a new 45-country sample ( N = 14,399), we attempted to replicate classic studies and test both the evolutionary and biosocial role perspectives. Support for universal sex differences in preferences remains robust: Men, more than women, prefer attractive, young mates, and women, more than men, prefer older mates with financial prospects. Cross-culturally, both sexes have mates closer to their own ages as gender equality increases. Beyond age of partner, ne...
Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences
The frequency of sexual intercourse within couples is associated with a variety of factors, such ... more The frequency of sexual intercourse within couples is associated with a variety of factors, such as relationship length, sexual and relationship satisfaction, and perceived quality of the relationship. Love, as a commitment device, might reduce interest in extra-pair sex. One can therefore expect a negative association between measures of passion and sociosexual desire. Further, we wish to explore the effects of decoupling love and sex as measured by sociosexual attitudes on sexual frequency; as there might be a greater willingness to compromise on frequency of sex if sex is less related to expression of emotions and relational quality. We examined how men and women's sociosexuality, relationship length and various dimensions of relationship quality impact couples' intercourse frequency. Structural Equation Modelling analyses were performed on data from 92 romantically involved, heterosexual couples recruited at a Norwegian university. Participants' age ranged from 19 to 30 years. The current relationship length ranged from one month to nine years (M = 21 months). Intercourse frequency decreased with increased length of relationship. Both men and women's ratings of relationship passion were strongly associated with frequency of having sex, but negatively associated with desire for extra-pair sex. Intercourse was more frequent in couples where women reported less restricted attitudes, while men's level of sociosexuality had no effect on intercourse frequency in any of the models. These novel findings suggest that while men in general might desire sex more, in this sample from a highly egalitarian nation, men might be compromising more than women do.
Scientific Reports
Humans express a wide array of ideal mate preferences. Around the world, people desire romantic p... more Humans express a wide array of ideal mate preferences. Around the world, people desire romantic partners who are intelligent, healthy, kind, physically attractive, wealthy, and more. In order for these ideal preferences to guide the choice of actual romantic partners, human mating psychology must possess a means to integrate information across these many preference dimensions into summaries of the overall mate value of their potential mates. Here we explore the computational design of this mate preference integration process using a large sample of n = 14,487 people from 45 countries around the world. We combine this large cross-cultural sample with agent-based models to compare eight hypothesized models of human mating markets. Across cultures, people higher in mate value appear to experience greater power of choice on the mating market in that they set higher ideal standards, better fulfill their preferences in choice, and pair with higher mate value partners. Furthermore, we find...
Personality and Individual Differences
Evolution and Human Behavior
Mate choice lies close to differential reproduction, the engine of evolution. Patterns of mate ch... more Mate choice lies close to differential reproduction, the engine of evolution. Patterns of mate choice consequently have power to direct the course of evolution. Here we provide evidence suggesting one pattern of human mate choice—the tendency for mates to be similar in overall desirability—caused the evolution of a structure of correlations that we call the d factor. We use agent-based models to demonstrate that assortative mating causes the evolution of a positive manifold of desirability, d, such that an individual who is desirable as a mate along any one dimension tends to be desirable across all other dimensions. Further, we use a large cross-cultural sample with n= 14,478 from 45 countries around the world to show that this d-factor emerges in human samples, is a cross-cultural universal, and is patterned in a way consistent with an evolutionary history of assortative mating. Our results suggest that assortative mating can explain the evolution of a broad structure of human trait covariation.
Personality and Individual Differences
Health Psychology and Behavioral Medicine
Objective: Scant research exists on the gender-specific association between physical activity, in... more Objective: Scant research exists on the gender-specific association between physical activity, insomnia symptoms and depressive symptoms among adolescents. The present study investigates the direct and indirect association of insomnia and physical activity with symptoms of depression. Design: In a community-based sample (N = 1485) we investigated factors associated with symptoms of depression focusing on insomnia. The study also included measures of physical activity and controlled for parental work-and sexual minority status. Body mass Index (BMI) was calculated for a sub-sample (n = 617) reporting weight and height. Results: The results showed that self-reported insomnia was highly prevalent, and the association between insomnia and depression was strong. The association between insomnia and depression was significantly stronger for girls than for boys. The effect of physical activity was substantially weaker compared to insomnia. Insomnia mediated the relationship between physical activity and depression for both boys and girls. Despite expectation based on the existing literature, BMI showed no association with symptoms of depression or physical activity. Conclusion: The results address the importance of a gender-specific approach when investigating mental health among adolescents. Given the high prevalence, interventions aimed at reducing insomnia is important in the prevention of mental illness, especially among girls.
Journal of Military Studies
This qualitative study explores the meaning-making process of veterans to address the positive as... more This qualitative study explores the meaning-making process of veterans to address the positive aspects of military service in international operations. Thirteen veterans from a Force Protection Unit in Norway were interviewed about their deployment to Afghanistan. A thematic analysis revealed three main themes reflecting meaningful aspects of the service. “Confirmation of ability” refers to finding meaning by coping with stressful situations and being recognized for it. “Cohesion of peers” refers to finding meaning by belonging to a team and giving mutual support within the team, such as backing up each other and caring. “Significance of effort” refers to finding meaning by seeing their efforts as a contribution, as well as by receiving recognition and gaining status for their efforts. The analysis also revealed accompanying themes of inconsistencies, which in turn activated different coping strategies. The findings have been substantiated through a functional exposition of meaning:...
Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science, 2017
Tidsskrift for den Norske lægeforening : tidsskrift for praktisk medicin, ny række, Jan 10, 1994
Few studies of the prevalence and incidence of sexual abuse have been conducted in the Nordic cou... more Few studies of the prevalence and incidence of sexual abuse have been conducted in the Nordic countries. The aim of the present study was to estimate the prevalence of accounts of sexual abuse and to calculate the incidence of rape and attempted rape among students. A questionnaire was handed out to a random sample of 1,322 students in Trondheim. The response rate was 77%. Among the 510 women, a total of 99 (19%) had experienced some kind of sexual abuse before 18 years of age. 23 (5%) had experienced at least one episode of very severe sexual abuse (attempted or completed coitus). The equivalent numbers among the 486 males were 17 (4%) and 3 (1%). Based on information on reported events during the year prior to the study, the yearly incidence of rape/attempted rape among women was 12 per 1,000. Only attempted rape was reported in the same time interval among men, giving a yearly incidence of two per 1,000. Applied to the total population of students in Trondheim, 87 female and 16 m...
Nordic Psychology, 2014
The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with p... more The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content. This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden.
Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science
Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science
Military Psychology
Few studies have investigated what soldiers find meaningful after being exposed to highly stressf... more Few studies have investigated what soldiers find meaningful after being exposed to highly stressful events and what positive effects they might have in the aftermath. This study reports the psychometric properties of a newly developed questionnaire, Meaning of Service (MoS), and its application to the study of how strongly meaning-making processes are associated with psychological growth. One hundred eighty-four Norwegian Air Force Veterans who have participated in various missions abroad in different branches of the military completed the MoS questionnaire along with other scales reflecting psychological growth, hardiness, resilience, stress, and exposure, as well as personal and mission characteristics. The principal component analysis mainly identified three major meaning themes as expected from previous qualitative research (Confirmation of ability, Cohesion of peers, and Significance of effort). The hierarchical regression analysis showed that all three meaning themes and two coping strategies were associated with psychological growth, and that Confirmation of ability (coping and recognition of coping) seems particularly important to enhance Veterans' prospects of psychological growth. Future research directions are proposed including suggestions for minor modifications of the questionnaire.
Journal of Scandinavian Studies in Criminology and Crime Prevention
Norway is one of the countries with the most progressive criminal justice systems in the Western ... more Norway is one of the countries with the most progressive criminal justice systems in the Western world. Traditionally, the Norwegian criminal justice system has been mainly based on treatment and deterrence perspectives. While it is believed that criminal justice practices should be in accordance with public attitudes, few studies in Scandinavia have investigated public attitudes towards criminal justice sanctions in a methodologically sound manner. The current study is the first to investigate the attitudes of the Norwegian public towards punishment of rapists. In a Norwegian community sample (N = 475) from 2005, participants found the typical sentencing severity of a convicted rapist too lenient. The participants did report that as a global sentencing orientation, they preferred incapacitation. When presented with a specific rape case, their sentencing judgments were oriented towards both incapacitation and retribution, but their global orientation were not related to their specific judgments. Aggravating circumstances (e.g. violence was used) were found to influence the participants' judgments more than when no aggravating circumstances were present (e.g. no violence was used). Few gender or educational differences were found, which indicates that these attitudes toward punishment of rapists are quite consistent across demographical groups.
Personality and Individual Differences
Journal of Relationships Research
Infidelity represents a major threat to relationships, often resulting in dissolution of couples.... more Infidelity represents a major threat to relationships, often resulting in dissolution of couples. The process from infidelity to potential breakup was studied in 92 couples using questionnaires concerning hypothetical scenarios of sexual and emotional infidelity. Structural equation model analyses using couple data for both infidelity types suggest that the level of perceived threat to the relationship was the main predictor of likelihood of breakup for men and women. Following each type of imagined infidelity, this effect was partly mediated by forgiveness. For emotional infidelity, level of blame was associated with forgiveness and breakup. The effect of blame on breakup was fully mediated by keeping less distance. The mechanisms involved in these processes were highly similar for women and men.
Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences
Psychological Science
Considerable research has examined human mate preferences across cultures, finding universal sex ... more Considerable research has examined human mate preferences across cultures, finding universal sex differences in preferences for attractiveness and resources as well as sources of systematic cultural variation. Two competing perspectives—an evolutionary psychological perspective and a biosocial role perspective—offer alternative explanations for these findings. However, the original data on which each perspective relies are decades old, and the literature is fraught with conflicting methods, analyses, results, and conclusions. Using a new 45-country sample ( N = 14,399), we attempted to replicate classic studies and test both the evolutionary and biosocial role perspectives. Support for universal sex differences in preferences remains robust: Men, more than women, prefer attractive, young mates, and women, more than men, prefer older mates with financial prospects. Cross-culturally, both sexes have mates closer to their own ages as gender equality increases. Beyond age of partner, ne...
Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences
The frequency of sexual intercourse within couples is associated with a variety of factors, such ... more The frequency of sexual intercourse within couples is associated with a variety of factors, such as relationship length, sexual and relationship satisfaction, and perceived quality of the relationship. Love, as a commitment device, might reduce interest in extra-pair sex. One can therefore expect a negative association between measures of passion and sociosexual desire. Further, we wish to explore the effects of decoupling love and sex as measured by sociosexual attitudes on sexual frequency; as there might be a greater willingness to compromise on frequency of sex if sex is less related to expression of emotions and relational quality. We examined how men and women's sociosexuality, relationship length and various dimensions of relationship quality impact couples' intercourse frequency. Structural Equation Modelling analyses were performed on data from 92 romantically involved, heterosexual couples recruited at a Norwegian university. Participants' age ranged from 19 to 30 years. The current relationship length ranged from one month to nine years (M = 21 months). Intercourse frequency decreased with increased length of relationship. Both men and women's ratings of relationship passion were strongly associated with frequency of having sex, but negatively associated with desire for extra-pair sex. Intercourse was more frequent in couples where women reported less restricted attitudes, while men's level of sociosexuality had no effect on intercourse frequency in any of the models. These novel findings suggest that while men in general might desire sex more, in this sample from a highly egalitarian nation, men might be compromising more than women do.
Scientific Reports
Humans express a wide array of ideal mate preferences. Around the world, people desire romantic p... more Humans express a wide array of ideal mate preferences. Around the world, people desire romantic partners who are intelligent, healthy, kind, physically attractive, wealthy, and more. In order for these ideal preferences to guide the choice of actual romantic partners, human mating psychology must possess a means to integrate information across these many preference dimensions into summaries of the overall mate value of their potential mates. Here we explore the computational design of this mate preference integration process using a large sample of n = 14,487 people from 45 countries around the world. We combine this large cross-cultural sample with agent-based models to compare eight hypothesized models of human mating markets. Across cultures, people higher in mate value appear to experience greater power of choice on the mating market in that they set higher ideal standards, better fulfill their preferences in choice, and pair with higher mate value partners. Furthermore, we find...
Personality and Individual Differences
Evolution and Human Behavior
Mate choice lies close to differential reproduction, the engine of evolution. Patterns of mate ch... more Mate choice lies close to differential reproduction, the engine of evolution. Patterns of mate choice consequently have power to direct the course of evolution. Here we provide evidence suggesting one pattern of human mate choice—the tendency for mates to be similar in overall desirability—caused the evolution of a structure of correlations that we call the d factor. We use agent-based models to demonstrate that assortative mating causes the evolution of a positive manifold of desirability, d, such that an individual who is desirable as a mate along any one dimension tends to be desirable across all other dimensions. Further, we use a large cross-cultural sample with n= 14,478 from 45 countries around the world to show that this d-factor emerges in human samples, is a cross-cultural universal, and is patterned in a way consistent with an evolutionary history of assortative mating. Our results suggest that assortative mating can explain the evolution of a broad structure of human trait covariation.
Personality and Individual Differences
Health Psychology and Behavioral Medicine
Objective: Scant research exists on the gender-specific association between physical activity, in... more Objective: Scant research exists on the gender-specific association between physical activity, insomnia symptoms and depressive symptoms among adolescents. The present study investigates the direct and indirect association of insomnia and physical activity with symptoms of depression. Design: In a community-based sample (N = 1485) we investigated factors associated with symptoms of depression focusing on insomnia. The study also included measures of physical activity and controlled for parental work-and sexual minority status. Body mass Index (BMI) was calculated for a sub-sample (n = 617) reporting weight and height. Results: The results showed that self-reported insomnia was highly prevalent, and the association between insomnia and depression was strong. The association between insomnia and depression was significantly stronger for girls than for boys. The effect of physical activity was substantially weaker compared to insomnia. Insomnia mediated the relationship between physical activity and depression for both boys and girls. Despite expectation based on the existing literature, BMI showed no association with symptoms of depression or physical activity. Conclusion: The results address the importance of a gender-specific approach when investigating mental health among adolescents. Given the high prevalence, interventions aimed at reducing insomnia is important in the prevention of mental illness, especially among girls.
Journal of Military Studies
This qualitative study explores the meaning-making process of veterans to address the positive as... more This qualitative study explores the meaning-making process of veterans to address the positive aspects of military service in international operations. Thirteen veterans from a Force Protection Unit in Norway were interviewed about their deployment to Afghanistan. A thematic analysis revealed three main themes reflecting meaningful aspects of the service. “Confirmation of ability” refers to finding meaning by coping with stressful situations and being recognized for it. “Cohesion of peers” refers to finding meaning by belonging to a team and giving mutual support within the team, such as backing up each other and caring. “Significance of effort” refers to finding meaning by seeing their efforts as a contribution, as well as by receiving recognition and gaining status for their efforts. The analysis also revealed accompanying themes of inconsistencies, which in turn activated different coping strategies. The findings have been substantiated through a functional exposition of meaning:...
Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science, 2017
Tidsskrift for den Norske lægeforening : tidsskrift for praktisk medicin, ny række, Jan 10, 1994
Few studies of the prevalence and incidence of sexual abuse have been conducted in the Nordic cou... more Few studies of the prevalence and incidence of sexual abuse have been conducted in the Nordic countries. The aim of the present study was to estimate the prevalence of accounts of sexual abuse and to calculate the incidence of rape and attempted rape among students. A questionnaire was handed out to a random sample of 1,322 students in Trondheim. The response rate was 77%. Among the 510 women, a total of 99 (19%) had experienced some kind of sexual abuse before 18 years of age. 23 (5%) had experienced at least one episode of very severe sexual abuse (attempted or completed coitus). The equivalent numbers among the 486 males were 17 (4%) and 3 (1%). Based on information on reported events during the year prior to the study, the yearly incidence of rape/attempted rape among women was 12 per 1,000. Only attempted rape was reported in the same time interval among men, giving a yearly incidence of two per 1,000. Applied to the total population of students in Trondheim, 87 female and 16 m...
Nordic Psychology, 2014
The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with p... more The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content. This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden.