Publication Type

Journal Article

Version

acceptedVersion

Publication Date

2-2020

Abstract

Although much work on mating psychology has focused on mate preferences and responses to desirable sexual and romantic offers, less is known about what happens when individuals face a lack of mating options. We present 2 studies on (hypothetical) compensatory mating tactics. In Study 1 (N = 299), participants were asked to imagine they were struggling to find long-term and short-term mates and we revealed sex differences and context-specific effects consistent with parental investment theory. In Study 2 (N = 282), participants were asked to imagine they had been incapable of finding a short-term and long-term mate for 6 months despite actively trying to find one and then report the likelihood of abstaining, lowering their standards, and traveling farther to find a satisfactory partner; results largely (and conceptually) replicated those from Study 1 but document the role of attachment and (self-reported) mate value in accounting for individual differences in adopting the 3 mating tactics. We frame our results in terms of how people might solve mate shortages.

Keywords

Mating strategies, Evolutionary psychology, Sex differences, Personality

Discipline

Gender and Sexuality | Personality and Social Contexts | Social Psychology

Research Areas

Psychology

Publication

Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences

Volume

14

Issue

2

First Page

160

Last Page

172

ISSN

2330-2925

Identifier

10.1037/ebs0000174

Publisher

American Psychological Association

Copyright Owner and License

Authors

Additional URL

https://doi.org/10.1037/ebs0000174

Download

Share

COinS