Publication Type
Journal Article
Version
acceptedVersion
Publication Date
12-2015
Abstract
Mate preference research has focused on traits people desire in partners (i.e., dealmakers) rather than what traits they avoid (i.e., dealbreakers), but mate preferences calibrate to both maximize benefits and minimize costs. Across six studies (N > 6,500), we identified and examined relationship dealbreakers, and how they function across relationship contexts. Dealbreakers were associated with undesirable personality traits; unhealthy lifestyles in sexual, romantic, and friendship contexts; and divergent mating strategies in sexual and romantic contexts. Dealbreakers were stronger in long-term (vs. short-term) relationship contexts, and stronger in women (vs. men) in short-term contexts. People with higher mate value reported more dealbreakers; people with less-restricted mating strategies reported fewer dealbreakers. Consistent with prospect and error management theories, people weighed dealbreakers more negatively than they weighed dealmakers positively; this effect was stronger for women (vs. men) and people in committed relationships. These findings support adaptive attentional biases in human social cognition.
Keywords
error management theory, individual differences, mate preferences, prospect theory, sex differences
Discipline
Psychology | Social Psychology
Research Areas
Psychology
Publication
Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin
Volume
41
Issue
12
First Page
1697
Last Page
1711
ISSN
0146-1672
Identifier
10.1177/0146167215609064
Publisher
SAGE Publications (UK and US)
Citation
JONASON, Peter K., GARCIA, Justin R., WEBSTER, Gregory D., LI, Norman P., & FISHER, Helen E..(2015). Relationship dealbreakers: Traits people avoid in potential mates. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 41(12), 1697-1711.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/2125
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/10.1177/0146167215609064