Science Matters – Episode #2

By now, we are all aware that the current economic recession has major impacts on nearly everything in our lives. From what we study to where we study, from what our job is to if what our job will be, we seem to be losing more and more control. But what is perhaps not quite as obvious is that an economic crisis can also affect an aspect of your life you thought you had complete emotional control over: yup, it’s your love life! Recently, Grace Lau, a PhD student in the department of psychology at the University of Waterloo, conducted research on the different kinds of men that women find attractive given a political, economic, or personal crisis precedence. Lau found that under “system threat”, women tended to be less attracted to the stereotypical “macho”, dominating, and ambitious men. The title of Lau’s talk at UW’s 9th annual Graduate Student Research Conference: “Why Women Find Caring, Nurturing Men More Attractive During an Economic, Political Crisis”.

**Note: At 9min49sec, a brief music clip plays instead of what is supposed to be me saying a line that segueways into Lau’s actual presentation at the GSRC last month. I am currently away from my Sennheiser MD-42 and cannot record the line. I promise to update the version once I am back home. Somehow my incredible distaste for going backwards has superseded my willingness to re-record and re-export mp3’s.  These terrible habits will change when they need to.

Click here to listen to the full podcast.

Related Links:

• 9th annual Graduate Student Research Conference at the University of Waterloo
• My story on Lau’s research, UW student newspaper Imprint