Pavol Prokop
A5060543155- Animal and Plant Science Education
- Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior
- Plant and animal studies
- Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment
- Olfactory and Sensory Function Studies
- Animal Behavior and Reproduction
- Insect Utilization and Effects
- Insect and Arachnid Ecology and Behavior
- Science Education and Pedagogy
- Cultural Differences and Values
- Avian ecology and behavior
- Environmental Education and Sustainability
- Human-Animal Interaction Studies
- Science Education and Perceptions
- Species Distribution and Climate Change
- Climate Change Communication and Perception
- Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies
- Sexuality, Behavior, and Technology
- Diverse Educational Innovations Studies
- Consumer Behavior in Brand Consumption and Identification
- Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
- Eating Disorders and Behaviors
- Insect-Plant Interactions and Control
- Plant Parasitism and Resistance
- Urban Green Space and Health
Comenius University Bratislava
2013-2025
Institute of Zoology of the Slovak Academy of Sciences
2016-2025
Slovak Academy of Sciences
2016-2025
Institute of Chemistry of the Slovak Academy of Sciences
2009-2025
Anglia Ruskin University
2023
Google (United States)
2023
University of Pavol Jozef Šafárik
2007-2022
Turku University of Applied Sciences
2022
University of Turku
2022
SUNY Fredonia
2022
Abstract Humans express a wide array of ideal mate preferences. Around the world, people desire romantic partners who are intelligent, healthy, kind, physically attractive, wealthy, and more. In order for these preferences to guide choice actual partners, human mating psychology must possess means integrate information across many preference dimensions into summaries overall value their potential mates. Here we explore computational design this integration process using large sample n =...
Considerable research has examined human mate preferences across cultures, finding universal sex differences in for attractiveness and resources as well sources of systematic cultural variation. Two competing perspectives-an evolutionary psychological perspective a biosocial role perspective-offer alternative explanations these findings. However, the original data on which each relies are decades old, literature is fraught with conflicting methods, analyses, results, conclusions. Using new...
People who are more avoidant of pathogens politically conservative, as nations with greater parasite stress. In the current research, we test two prominent hypotheses that have been proposed explanations for these relationships. The first, which is an intragroup account, holds relationships between and politics based on motivations to adhere local norms, sometimes shaped by cultural evolution pathogen-neutralizing properties. second, intergroup same avoid contact outgroups, might pose...
Knowledge of animals may influence children"s beliefs and behaviour toward them, thus building positive attitudes is one main goals environmental education programmes. Although keeping contributes to the increase wild animals, pet owners show similar negative less popular such as insects, bats or rats than non-pet owners. Moreover, some these are emblazoned with various myths (hereafter alternative conceptions) which have a impact on them. We used novel approach two questionnaires nearly...
Having pets at home provides various social, health, and educational benefits to children. The question of how keeping affects the attitudes children toward wild animals still has not been answered, due methodological issues, such as ignorance some attitude dimensions and/or questionnaires that include items focused on very different animals. We conducted three independent research surveys (using samples) Slovakian primary school aged 10 15 years (n = 1297). These effects towards, knowledge...
Abstract Outdoor educational programmes are generally believed to be a suitable alternative conventional biology settings that improve participants' environmental attitudes and knowledge. Here we examine whether outdoor focused solely on practical work with plants influence knowledge of towards plants. It was found mean scores significantly increased after the programme. These effects remained significant even three months' post‐testing. No similar patterns were in control group....
The study examines the interests and attitudes of school students toward biology: through their interest in out-of-school activities attitude towards lessons as measured by interest, importance difficulty. Biology were relatively popular with greatest preference found among learning zoology. Girls showed significantly greater biology than boys. This difference was highest grade five (age 10–11) when botany. assessed more important less difficult Biology-related hobbies, films books received...
Abstract There is an increasing amount of research focusing on the origin human fear animals. However, other dimensions views frightening animals have been largely neglected. This study investigated attitudes toward snakes. The Snake Attitude Questionnaire (SAQ), which consisted 58 Likert-type items (Cronbach's α = 0.91), was administered in a sample students from two countries (Turkey and Slovakia). Students showed negative snakes, especially within Negativistic Naturalistic dimensions....
Animals that pose a threat of disease are often in conflict with human appreciation them, despite they may be endangered nature. This study examined undergraduate students' knowledge of, attitudes toward, and belief myths about, bats, controversial animals well known both from mythology movies. Factor analysis was applied to 46 Likert-type items (Bat Attitude Questionnaire) five dimensions high reliability (α = 0.93) were derived. It found the level significantly influenced to, bats....
Abstract The perceived popularity of animals plays a crucial role in their support by the general public and consequently success conservation efforts. We experimentally investigated with Slovak schoolchildren animal coloration basic human emotions willingness to protect animals. Both unaltered manipulated pictures aposematic increased danger. Spiders snakes were as more dangerous/disgusting than other taxa, particularly birds mammals. Children showed significantly stronger over...
Abstract Disgust and fear are basic emotions that protect humans against pathogens and/or predators. Natural selection favored individuals who successfully escaped or avoided harmful animals; thus animals pose a disease threat activate aversive responses in humans. However, all these generally disliked have rights to their own existence play important roles ecosystems. Here, we used three unpopular live (wood louse, snail, mouse) practical biology work with 11-13-year-old children...
Significance Human cooperation requires reliable communication about social intentions and alliances. Although laughter is a phylogenetically conserved vocalization linked to affiliative behavior in nonhuman primates, its functions modern humans are not well understood. We show that judges all around the world, hearing only brief instances of colaughter produced by pairs American English speakers real conversations, able reliably identify friends strangers. Participants’ judgments friendship...
Abstract The strength of sexual selection on secondary traits varies depending prevailing economic and ecological conditions. In humans, cross-cultural evidence suggests women’s preferences for men’s testosterone dependent masculine facial are stronger under conditions where health is compromised, male mortality rates higher development higher. Here we use a sample 4483 exclusively heterosexual women from 34 countries employ mixed effects modelling to test how social, variables predict...
Both attractiveness judgements and mate preferences vary considerably cross-culturally. We investigated whether men's preference for femininity in women's faces varies between 28 countries with diverse health conditions by analysing responses of 1972 heterosexual participants. Although men all preferred feminized over masculinized female faces, we found substantial differences the magnitude preferences. Using an average each country, facial correlated positively nation, which explained 50.4%...
Interpersonal touch behavior differs across cultures, yet no study to date has systematically tested for cultural variation in affective touch, nor examined the factors that might account this variability. Here, over 14,000 individuals from 45 countries were asked whether they embraced, stroked, kissed, or hugged their partner, friends, and youngest child during week preceding study. We then a range of hypothesized individual-level (sex, age, parasitic history, conservatism, religiosity,...
Abstract Recent cross-cultural and neuro-hormonal investigations have suggested that love is a near universal phenomenon has biological background. Therefore, the remaining important question not whether exists worldwide but which cultural, social, or environmental factors influence experiences expressions of love. In present study, we explored countries’ modernization indexes are related to measured by three subscales (passion, intimacy, commitment) Triangular Love Scale. Analyzing data...
Students' attitudes toward science significantly alter their achievement in science. Therefore, identification and influence of became to be an essential part educational research. This study has been initiated by the idea that; research students' often involves general, but particular disciplines like biology or chemistry have overlooked. Thus, this is about Slovak attitude through six dimensions; interest, career, importance, teacher, equipment difficulty. The used a 30-item Biology...
Looking after pets provides several benefits in terms of children's social interactions, and factual conceptual knowledge about these animals. In this study we investigated effects rearing experiences on alternative conceptions Data obtained from 1,541 children 7,705 drawings showed very strong bias towards vertebrates a general ignorance invertebrates. Experiences with animals significantly contributed to animal's internal organs. Children who reported keeping two or more acquired better...
Abstract This study examined university students' knowledge of and attitudes (n = 378) toward biotechnology in Slovakia, a conservative country where the distribution genetically engineered products are banned by law. We found significant positive correlation between level knowledge; however, although students enrolled biology courses have better biotechnology, their genetic engineering were similar than those who do not biology. Females showed poorer lower acceptance did males. Overall,...
The Triangular Theory of Love (measured with Sternberg's Scale – STLS) is a prominent theoretical concept in empirical research on love. To expand the culturally homogeneous body previous psychometric regarding STLS, we conducted large-scale cross-cultural study use this scale. In total, examined more than 11,000 respondents, but as result applied exclusion criteria, final analyses were based sample 7332 participants from 25 countries (from all inhabited continents). We tested configural...
Laughter is a nonverbal vocalization occurring in every known culture, ubiquitous across all forms of human social interaction. Here, we examined whether listeners around the world, irrespective their own native language and can distinguish between spontaneous laughter volitional laughter—laugh types likely generated by different vocal-production systems. Using set 36 recorded laughs produced female English speakers tests involving 884 participants from 21 societies six regions asked to...
People across the world and throughout history have gone to great lengths enhance their physical appearance. Evolutionary psychologists ethologists largely attempted explain this phenomenon via mating preferences strategies. Here, we test one of most popular evolutionary hypotheses for beauty-enhancing behaviors, drawn from market parasite stress perspectives, in a large cross-cultural sample. We also other influential non-mutually exclusive theoretical frameworks, biosocial role theory...