Natalia Frankowska
Biography
Natalia Frankowska, Ph.D. is a social psychologist whose research focuses on social cognition, psychoacoustics, and evolutionary psychology. She is an Assistant Professor at SWPS University in Warsaw, Poland. In 2018, Dr. Frankowska completed a research fellowship at the University of California San Diego. At SWPS University, she conducts research within the Center for Research on Biological Basis of Social Behavior, examining the perceptual and cognitive mechanisms shaping interpersonal evaluation and behavior. Alongside her research, she serves as a teaching and learning advisor, supporting faculty in developing engaging, evidence-based pedagogical practices that foster high-quality student learning. She is an active member of the Human Behavior and Evolution Society (HBES), the European Human Behaviour and Evolution Association (EHBEA), and the Polish Society for Human and Evolution Studies (PTNCE).
Research Interests
Behavioral Immune System and Pathogen Avoidance: mechanisms of disgust, disease-avoidance motives, and their influence on social behavior. Dynamics of Committed Relationships: mate value, mate value discrepancy, mate retention tactics, and sexual mate retention strategies. Cross-Sex Friendships: social and evolutionary factors shaping friendships between men and women. Psychoacoustics: perceptual and physical cues influencing the perception of sounds and spatial auditory processing.
Publications
Frankowska, N., Szymkow, A., & Galbarczyk, A. (2025). Women’s Sexual Strategies in Mate Retention: Initiating Sex, Faking Orgasms, and Performing Oral Sex in Response to Mate Value Discrepancy – Evidence from a Preregistered Study. Archives of Sexual Behavior (under review).
Frankowska, N., Tolopilo, A., Olszanowski, M., Kaňková, Š., Kuczmarski, M., & Szymkow, A. Reduced Readiness for Social Interaction as a Strategy for Pathogen Avoidance by Women in Various Stages of Pregnancy and Postpartum. Evolutionary Psychology (under review).
Frankowska, N., Szymkow, A., & Galbarczyk, A. (2025). Oral Sex May Serve as Low Mate Value Compensation Among Men: Evidence from a Pre-registered Study. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 54(3), 893–903.
Olszanowski, M., Frankowska, N., & Tołopiło, A. (2023). “Rear bias” in spatial auditory perception: Attentional and affective vigilance to sounds occurring outside the visual field. Psychophysiology, 60(11), e14377.
Szymkow, A., & Frankowska, N. (2022). Moderators of Sexual Interest in Opposite-sex Friends. Evolutionary Psychology: an international journal of evolutionary approaches to psychology and behavior, 20(1), 14747049211068672.
Olszanowski, M., Lewandowska, P., Ozimek, A., & Frankowska, N. (2022). The effect of facial self-resemblance on emotional mimicry. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. Advance online publication.
Szymkow, A., Frankowska, N., & Galasinska, K. (2021). Testing the Disgust-Based Mechanism of Homonegative Attitudes in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 647881.
Szymkow, A., Frankowska, N., & Gałasińska, K. (2021). Social distancing from foreign individuals as a disease-avoidance mechanism: Testing the assumptions of the behavioral immune system theory during the COVID-19 pandemic. Social Psychological Bulletin, 16(3), 1–28.
Frankowska, N., Parzuchowski, M., Wojciszke, B., Olszanowski, M., & Winkielman, P. (2020). Rear negativity: Verbal messages coming from behind are perceived as more negative. European Journal of Social Psychology, 50(4), 889–902.
