Posted on 06/24/2009 10:18:44 AM PDT by greatdefender
WASHINGTON – Puzzling new research suggests women have a harder time than men looking at babies with facial birth defects. It's a surprise finding. Psychiatrists from the Harvard-affiliated McLean Hospital, who were studying perceptions of beauty, had expected women to spend more time than men cooing over pictures of extra-cute babies. Nope.
Instead, the small study being published Wednesday raises more questions than it can answer.
First the background: The McLean team already had studied men and women looking at photos of adults' faces on a computer screen. They rated facial beauty, and could do various keystrokes to watch the photos longer. A keystroke count showed men put three times more effort into watching beautiful women as women put into watching handsome men.
Lead researcher Dr. Igor Elman wondered what else might motivate women. Enter the new baby study.
This time 13 men and 14 women were shown 80 photos of babies, 30 of whom had abnormal facial features such as a cleft palate, Down syndrome or crossed eyes. Participants rated each baby's attractiveness on a scale of zero to 100, and used keystrokes to make the photo stay on the screen longer or disappear faster.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
I suppose that this survey was conducted only with ugly democrat women..I do not turn my head away from any little baby.
A woman puts herself in the mother's position when she sees an abnormal baby and can't bear the thought. A man, OTOH, see the child as much more of an object, with much less emotional attachment. Just like when a man sees a great 1957 restored Chevrolet convertible involved in a collision!
I never cease to be amazed at how much money is spent coming to conclusions that are a surprise to educated people but ho-hum to old guys like me!
Years ago as a kid, I used to visit a wheelchair-bound parapeligic man (diabetes) on weekends to play chess and other games with him. One of the first things he did when I started doing this was sit me down to look at his stumps. He wiggled them for me and answered every question that I had about his condition.
It really helped me get comfortable and get over any handicap phobia that I may have had.
The man is passed away, but I will always remember what he did for me.
Gee, maybe women are more emotional than men.
There’s no photo of me prior to my third day—so ugly the camera kept breaking (true story)—but I don’t recall my mother avoiding me any more than my father.
Dr. Elman’s hypothesis is possible, but I think that Dr. Grant is right thast it’s overreaching as a conclusion. There are MANY other possibilities, such as longer residual visual memory ability in women...thus, men need to keep looking at images longer.
And if we just jump to the “empathy” conclusion, etc., then we’re acting rather arrogant about our supposed knowledge. That mindset would have kept Orville and Wilbur working on bicycles.
Why would that explain women looking less at cute babies?!
I hacve a cousin who was born in the late 60’s who had a double clift lip and cleft palate. I remember what he looked like for the first year and I know his Mother who was 19 when he was born had a very hard time with it. I was I think 8yo when he was born and remember Mom talking with us for days before we went to visit getting us ready for what we were going to see. I thought he had the blueist eyes I’d ever seen but I have to be honest and say that first glance it was hard not to gasp.
A million reasons: Women know the pain of looking different, mother’s worry about having 6-toed babies, what did the mother do wrong, will the father blame the mother, will the mother-in-law be mean, will the baby suffer medically . . .
Babies are a bundle of every emotion a woman can have - good and bad. I can feel the angst just talking about it! I’m going to cry now.
There are places in the world where the mother can be abandoned or the child killed for looking wrong, or just for being the wrong gender.
Thus not looking at a child with a deformity is the least of the child’s concerns in most of the world - being allowed to live and being provided for are.
Carol: Isn't he gorgeous? (Elaine looks at baby, only to be frightened and turn away)
Elaine: Ugghh.
Carol: Is she gorgeous? (Elaine + Jerry looking away)
You didn’t answer the question.
I asked about the ones rated as attractive, not deformed.
He look like Mr. Bean
Maybe because they do not want to appear rude by staring.
Oh, I thought you meant all babies are cute.
Didn’t the men and women spend the same time looking at the attractive babies? I don’t understand your question.
One of the many reasons. :-)
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