This paper explores self-perceived mate value (SPMV), and its association with self-esteem, in eight cultures. 1066 participants, from 8 cultural groups in 7 countries, rated themselves on 24 SPMVs and completed a measure of self-esteem. Consistent with evolutionary theory, women were more likely to emphasise their caring and passionate romantic nature. In line with previous cross-cultural research, characteristics indicating passion and romance and social attractiveness were stressed more by respondents from individualistic cultures, and those higher on self-expression (rather than survival) values; characteristics indicative of maturity and confidence were more likely to be mentioned by those from Traditional, rather than Secular, cultures. Contrary to gender role theory, societal equality had only limited interactions with sex and SPMV, with honesty of greater significance for male self-esteem in societies with unequal gender roles. These results point to the importance of cultural and environmental factors in influencing self-perceived mate qualities, and are discussed in relation to broader debates about the impact of gender role equality on sex differences in personality and mating strategies.

Research conducted at the outset of the pandemic shows that people are vulnerable to unrealistic optimism (UO). However, the Weinstein model suggests that this tendency may not persist as the pandemic progresses. Our research aimed at verifying whether UO persists during the second (Study 1) and the third wave (Study 2) of the pandemic in Poland, whether it concerns the assessment of the chances of COVID-19 infection (Study 1 and Study 2), the chances of severe course of the disease and adverse vaccine reactions (Study 2). We show that UO towards contracting COVID-19 persists throughout the pandemic. However, in situations where we have little influence on the occurrence of the event, the participants do not show UO. The exceptions are those who have known personally someone who has died from a coronavirus infection. These results are discussed in terms of self-esteem protection and the psychological threat reduction mechanism.

This study aims to fill the knowledge gap related to the role of the preference for consistency in understanding the effectiveness of sequential social influence techniques. Previous research has shown, at least in part, that these effects are moderated by the preference for consistency. For those who prefer consistency in their beliefs and behaviors, the foot-in-the-door technique will be a more effective tool of inducing compliance while people with a low preference for consistency, who value unpredictability, are more susceptible to the door-in-the-face technique. So far, there has been no research on the role of preference for consistency in the effectiveness of the third sequential request technique—low-ball. Our results suggest that, indeed, the preference for consistency is a strong moderator of the latter mentioned technique. While the low-ball technique was generally successful in inducing compliance, the strongest effect was noticed among people with a high preference for consistency.