Publication Type
Journal Article
Version
acceptedVersion
Publication Date
8-2012
Abstract
Why do some women pursue relationships with men who are attractive, dominant, and charming but who do not want to be in relationships—the prototypical sexy cad? Previous research shows that women have an increased desire for such men when they are ovulating, but it is unclear why ovulating women would think it is wise to pursue men who may be unfaithful and could desert them. Using both college-age and community-based samples, in 3 studies we show that ovulating women perceive charismatic and physically attractive men, but not reliable and nice men, as more committed partners and more devoted future fathers. Ovulating women perceive that sexy cads would be good fathers to their own children but not to the children of other women. This ovulatory-induced perceptual shift is driven by women who experienced early onset of puberty. Taken together, the current research identifies a novel proximate reason why ovulating women pursue relationships with sexy cads, complementing existing research that identifies the ultimate, evolutionary reasons for this behavior.
Keywords
evolutionary psychology, fertility, mate selection, mating, ovulation, relationships, good fathers
Discipline
Gender and Sexuality | Personality and Social Contexts | Social Psychology
Research Areas
Psychology
Publication
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
Volume
103
Issue
2
First Page
292
Last Page
305
ISSN
0022-3514
Identifier
10.1037/a0028498
Publisher
American Psychological Association
Citation
DURANTE, Kristina M., GRISKEVICIUS, Vladas, SIMPSON, Jeffry A., CANFU, Stephanie M., & LI, Norman P..(2012). Ovulation Leads Women to Perceive Sexy Cads as Good Dads. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 103(2), 292-305.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/1120
Copyright Owner and License
Authors
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Additional URL
https://doi.org/10.1037/a0028498
Included in
Gender and Sexuality Commons, Personality and Social Contexts Commons, Social Psychology Commons