Female Cigarette and Alcohol Consumption as a Short-Term Mating Strategy

Abstract

In developed countries, the traditional gender gap in youth smoking and drinking is closing. As tobacco and alcohol are more harmful to women than to men, this is an alarming trend. As men are generally more short-term oriented in their sexuality than women, and given that cigarette and alcohol use are still considered masculine behaviors, we explored if female smoking and drinking can function as a short-term mating strategy. By means of a between-subjects experiment (N ¼ 218), men's perceptions of female smoking and drinking were studied. The experiment showed that young men perceive women who use cigarettes and alcohol as being more sexually unrestricted. Furthermore, tobacco and (especially) alcohol use brought some short-term attractiveness benefits to women. In short-term mating contexts, drinking enhanced women's attractiveness, whereas occasional smoking was found equally desirable as not smoking. However, in long-term mating contexts, frequent drinking and all smoking behavior harmed women's desirability. A follow-up study (N ¼ 202) confirmed men's perceptions, showing that female users of tobacco and alcohol are indeed more short-term oriented in their sexuality. Overall, results indicate that female smoking and drinking can operate as a short-term mating strategy.

Drinking High Amounts of Alcohol as a Short-Term Mating Strategy: The Impact of Short-Term Mating Motivations on Young Adults’ Drinking Behavior

“…Based on the above research, recent studies suggest that risky drinking behavior could function as a short-term mating strategy for young adults (Vincke, 2016a(Vincke, , 2016b. Accordingly, in actual mating situations, young adults following a short-term mating strategy might drink high amounts of alcohol as a signal to the opposite sex.…”

Pathways to Consensual Popularity and Mating Opportunities in Ontogenetic Perspective

“…Their powerful position may encourage classmates to follow their lead, a process that was investigated by Ali, Amialchuk and Nikaj (2014). They showed that an increase in alcohol use made adolescents more popular, and a recent study suggested that female adolescents are more sexually attracted to smoking and drinking boys as short-term mates (Vincke, 2016). Smoking appeared more present among populistic late adolescents than either social-popular or unpopular classmates.…”

“…Smoking appeared more present among populistic late adolescents than either social-popular or unpopular classmates. Vincke (2016) showed that boys who smoked were perceived by girls more as pursuers of a short-term mating than a long-term mating strategy. Smoking and drinking males were viewed as more attractive.…”

The relationship between smoking and convivial, intimate and negative coping alcohol consumption in young adults

“…In a socio‐ecological view, by frequenting bars, parties and other places that promote alcohol consumption, adolescents and young adults are also exposed to tobacco marketing, peer smoking and role‐modelling (Jiang & Ling, ). In an evolutionary perspective, smoking and alcohol cluster together because they clearly pose a threat to physical health and as risky behaviours help males accomplish short‐term mating (Vincke, ). This is supported by research in undergraduate college students, in which smoking allowed males to project a cool, fun, out‐going and risk‐taking profile to females (Nichter, Nichter, Carkoglu, & Lloyd‐Richardson, ).…”