Lars Penke
Currently, I am studying the neurostructural and genetic foundations of intelligence and cognitive aging in the Disconnected Mind Project (PI: Ian Deary) at the University of Edinburgh.
For my dissertation, I worked on the evolutionary genetics of personality traits and general intelligence, as well as on the construct of sociosexuality and its effects on courtship behavior and romantic relationships. As part of the latter research, I developed a revised version of the Sociosexual Orientation Inventory (SOI). I also studied human mate choice in the context of speed-dating events.
I have also worked on attractiveness, jealousy, creativity, the sociometer theory of self-esteem, and Implicit Association Tests.
Primary Interests:
- Close Relationships
- Evolution and Genetics
- Gender Psychology
- Interpersonal Processes
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Neuroscience, Psychophysiology
- Nonverbal Behavior
- Person Perception
- Personality, Individual Differences
- Sexuality, Sexual Orientation
- Social Cognition
Research Group or Laboratory:
Online Studies:
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Journal Articles:
- Asendorpf, J. B., & Penke, L. (2005). A mature evolutionary psychology demands careful conclusions about sex differences. A commentary to D. P. Schmitt. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 28, 275-276.
- DeBruine, L. M., Jones, B. C., Little, A. C., Boothroyd, L. G., Perrett, D. I., Penton-Voak, I. S., Cooper, P. A., Penke, L., Feinberg, D. R., & Tiddeman, B. P. (2006). Correlated preferences for facial masculinity and ideal or actual partner's masculinity. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B, 273, 1355-1360.
- Deary, I. J., Corley, J., Gow, A. J., Harris, S. E., Houlihan, L. M., Marioni, R. E., Penke, L., Rafnsson, S. B., & Starr, J. M. (in press). Age-associated cognitive decline. British Medical Bulletin.
- Denissen, J. J. A., Penke, L., Schmitt, D. P., & van Aken, M. A. G. (2008). Self-esteem reactions to social interactions: Evidence for sociometer mechanisms across days, people, and nations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95, 181-196.
- Miller, G. F., & Penke, L. (2007). The evolution of human intelligence and the coefficient of additive genetic variance in human brain size. Intelligence, 32, 97-114.
- Penke, L., & Asendorpf, J. B. (2008). Beyond global sociosexual orientations: A more differentiated look at sociosexuality and its effects on courtship and romantic relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95, 1113-1135.
- Penke, L., & Asendorpf, J. B. (2008). Evidence for conditional sex differences in emotional but not in sexual jealousy at the automatic level of cognitive processing. European Journal of Personality, 22, 3-30.
- Penke, L., Bates, T. C., Gow, A. J., Pattie, A., Starr, J. M., Jones, B. C., Perrett, D. I., & Deary, I. J. (2009). Symmetric faces are a sign of successful cognitive aging. Evolution and Human Behavior, 30, 429-437.
- Penke, L. & Deary, I. J. (in press). Some guidelines for structural equation modelling in cognitive neuroscience: The case of Charlton et al.'s study on white matter integrity and cognitive ageing. Neurobiology of Aging.
- Penke, L., Denissen, J. J. A., & Miller, G. F. (2007). Evolution, genes, and inter-disciplinary personality research (authors' reply). European Journal of Personality, 21, 639-665.
- Penke, L., Denissen, J. J. A., & Miller, G. F. (2007). The evolutionary genetics of personality (target article). European Journal of Personality, 21, 549-587.
- Penke, L., Eichstaedt, J., & Asendorpf, J. B. (2006). Single attribute implicit association tests (SA-IAT) for the assessment of unipolar constructs: The case of sociosexuality. Experimental Psychology, 53, 283-291.
- Penke, L., Muñoz Maniega, S., Houlihan, L. M., Murray, C., Gow, A. J., Clayden, J. D., Bastin, M. E., Wardlaw, J. M., & Deary, I. J. (in press).White matter integrity in the splenium of the corpus callosum is related to successful cognitive aging and partly mediates the protective effect of an ancestral polymorphism in ADRB2. Behavior Genetics.
- Place, S. S., Todd, P. M., Penke, L., & Asendorpf, J. B. (2009). The ability to judge the romantic interest of others. Psychological Science, 20, 22-26.
- Todd, P. M., Penke, L., Fasolo, B., & Lenton, A. P. (2007). Different cognitive processes underlie human mate choices and mate preferences. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, 104, 15011-15016.
Courses Taught:
- Advanced Factor Analysis
- Evolutionary Psychology
- Personality and Sexuality
Lars Penke
Georg Elias Müller Institute of Psychology
University of Göttingen
Goßlerstr. 14
37073 Göttingen
Germany
- Phone: +49-(0)551-39 20701
- Fax: +49-(0)551-39 20709