William Costello
Person
William Costello is a psychology researcher and PhD student at the University of Texas at Austin, specialising in individual differences and evolutionary psychology. He is known for research on human mating preferences and the information people use to assess mating-related risks.
What William Costello has said on podcasts
22 statements
Sexualized advertising helps sell products, especially to young male audiences.
“sex sells”
Open the episode · Why Sydney Sweeney Has Two Big Targets On Her Chest - William Costello - #1152Listen at 3:02
Sydney Sweeney’s advertisement does not undo Katie Taylor’s sporting achievements.
“I don't think her achievements are undone now by Sydney Sweeney. Like, that's just a preposterous claim.”
Open the episode · Why Sydney Sweeney Has Two Big Targets On Her Chest - William Costello - #1152Listen at 10:21
Sweeney’s overt appeal to male attention signals a threat to other women.
“that just cues a threat to other women”
Open the episode · Why Sydney Sweeney Has Two Big Targets On Her Chest - William Costello - #1152Listen at 15:31
Women collectively police sexual norms and influence the social cost of sex.
“women kind of as a group they're kind of like the cartel with the cost of sex”
Open the episode · Why Sydney Sweeney Has Two Big Targets On Her Chest - William Costello - #1152Listen at 19:42
Male scarcity is associated with more promiscuous short-term mating strategies.
“When men are scarce, men and women shift to a more promiscuous short-term mating strategy.”
Open the episode · Why Sydney Sweeney Has Two Big Targets On Her Chest - William Costello - #1152Listen at 21:51
Female scarcity increases women’s mating-market bargaining power and encourages male commitment.
“When women are scarce and they're the rare commodity, they have greater bargaining power in that sex ratio mating ecology, then men become more commitment-oriented.”
Open the episode · Why Sydney Sweeney Has Two Big Targets On Her Chest - William Costello - #1152Listen at 21:57
Women tend to downplay achievements and avoid taking individual credit.
“Women are uneasy about taking credit for a victory. They prefer to play down their achievements”
Open the episode · Why Sydney Sweeney Has Two Big Targets On Her Chest - William Costello - #1152Listen at 23:30
Female coalitions tend to punish members who violate group norms.
“They don't like norm violators, and that's what you're seeing here.”
Open the episode · Why Sydney Sweeney Has Two Big Targets On Her Chest - William Costello - #1152Listen at 30:43
Heterosexual male sexuality is judged more morally suspicious than other sexualities.
“Anything that celebrates heterosexual male sexuality is morally suspect in a way that other sexuality isn't.”
Open the episode · Why Sydney Sweeney Has Two Big Targets On Her Chest - William Costello - #1152Listen at 33:46
Men generally experience sexualization as less problematic than women do.
“being sexualized is not as big of a problem to men as it is for women”
Open the episode · Why Sydney Sweeney Has Two Big Targets On Her Chest - William Costello - #1152Listen at 36:36
Men may interpret sexualized male physiques as motivating rather than demeaning.
“Men see it as kind of motivating”
Open the episode · Why Sydney Sweeney Has Two Big Targets On Her Chest - William Costello - #1152Listen at 36:59
Women mistrust women with predominantly male friendships because motives may seem mating-related.
“women mistrust her because they doubt the reasons for her doing that”
Open the episode · Why Sydney Sweeney Has Two Big Targets On Her Chest - William Costello - #1152Listen at 37:28
Mate poachers commonly enter relationships by first establishing friendship.
“one of the top tactics that mate poachers use is to infiltrate the relationship through friendship first”
Open the episode · Why Sydney Sweeney Has Two Big Targets On Her Chest - William Costello - #1152Listen at 38:27
Research has mixed findings about the breast size considered optimal by men.
“very mixed evidence for the size that's deemed optimal”
Open the episode · Why Sydney Sweeney Has Two Big Targets On Her Chest - William Costello - #1152Listen at 42:06
Short-term-mating-oriented men tend to prioritize larger breasts.
“short-term mating-oriented men prioritize big boobs”
Open the episode · Why Sydney Sweeney Has Two Big Targets On Her Chest - William Costello - #1152Listen at 43:12
Women derogate large-breasted women more often than small-breasted women.
“women derogate big-boobed women as well, a lot more than small-boobed women”
Open the episode · Why Sydney Sweeney Has Two Big Targets On Her Chest - William Costello - #1152Listen at 43:21
Men’s physical attractiveness is generally more attainable through effort than women’s beauty.
“men's attractiveness on most metrics is attainable”
Open the episode · Why Sydney Sweeney Has Two Big Targets On Her Chest - William Costello - #1152Listen at 50:25
Women’s beauty has a more time-limited reproductive-value window than men’s attractiveness.
“women's Beauty is on a much more tight time clock”
Open the episode · Why Sydney Sweeney Has Two Big Targets On Her Chest - William Costello - #1152Listen at 51:50
Legalizing online gambling increases bankruptcy and debt among young men.
“Bankruptcy among young men goes way up and they go into way more debt”
Open the episode · Why Sydney Sweeney Has Two Big Targets On Her Chest - William Costello - #1152Listen at 57:33
Gambling problems are associated with suicidal thoughts and attempts among young men.
“30% of people who have a gambling problem, of men, young men who have gambling problems, have felt suicidal. And I think something like 13% have attempted suicide”
Open the episode · Why Sydney Sweeney Has Two Big Targets On Her Chest - William Costello - #1152Listen at 58:03
Modern institutions reward indirect female aggression more than direct male aggression.
“it actually kind of rewards the female style of aggression, uh, way more than the male style”
Open the episode · Why Sydney Sweeney Has Two Big Targets On Her Chest - William Costello - #1152Listen at 1:02:57
Gender comparisons should be evaluated by specific domain rather than globally.
“the more appropriate level of analysis is find the domains or the specific context in which each sex has it bad or good”
Open the episode · Why Sydney Sweeney Has Two Big Targets On Her Chest - William Costello - #1152Listen at 1:06:30
Statements are attributed to the speaker as said on the episode and reflect their view at the time, not PodLume's. They are not advice.
