Gift-Giving as a Courtship or Mate-Retention Tactic?: Insights from Non-Human Models

Abstract

Biology and social science research has studied gift-giving, but the former has been more concerned with courtship and the latter has come from either a cultural-relativistic perspective or a handicap principle perspective. We argue that our understanding of gift-giving in humans can be enhanced by examining animal models as long as the model-species shares the appropriate behavior: monogamy. Thus, the gibbon might be a more appropriate model. Monogamy encourages pairs to expend effort in mate-retention. In Study 1 (N = 120), we show that gift-giving in courtship is localized to long-term mates: most strongly in men. In Study 2 (N = 100), we demonstrate that gift-giving is a tactic used by men to both court and retain mates: most commonly for retention. In line with traditional models of helping, women planned to provide gifts to friends and family more than men. We also demonstrate that sociosexuality predicts planned expenditure on gifts to different individuals and that these correlations are moderated by the sex of the participant.

Evolutionary consumption

“…How might gift giving be studied from an evolutionary perspective (cf. Jonason, Cetrulo, Madrid, & Morrison, 2009; Mysterud, Drevon, & Slagsvold, 2006)? Saad and Gill (2003) tackled the evolutionary roots of gift giving both as an integral part of the mating ritual (see also Cronk & Dunham, 2007, for an evolutionary analysis of engagement rings), and as an instantiation of kin‐based and non‐kin‐based investments (see also Saad, 2007a, 2011b).…”

Sex differences and personality correlates of spontaneously generated reasons to give gifts.

“…Items reflected results from previous research. For instance, items expressed special occasion (Goldberg, 1995), mate searching (Iredale, Van Vugt, & Dunbar, 2008), and mate-retention (Jonason et al, 2009).…”

“…In the West, where most of the psychological research on gift-giving has been done, the exchange of gifts is most pronounced during the holidays. For instance, individuals spend money on gifts for a variety of other people during the Christmas season (Jonason et al, 2009). In tribal societies, gift-giving might be done in order to gain status and to forge alliances with other tribes (Hawkes & Bliege-Bird, 2002).…”

“…In contrast, men may use gifts more strategically, specifically, as a means to reach their reproductive goals more than women do (Jonason et al, 2009) and give gifts almost exclusively to potential or present mates (Clark, Shaver, & Abrahams, 1999; Greer & Buss, 1994; Saad & Gill, 2003). For instance, when asked how much money men spent on different individuals over a holiday season, men reported allocating their money to present and future mates whereas women spread their budget across broad categories of individuals like co-workers and family (Jonason et al, 2009). Therefore, we expect that men will be more likely than women are to report gift-giving reasons related to mate-retention (e.g., to keep the relationship from breaking up) and relationship escalation (e.g., to get the person to go on a date with me).…”

Sex, mutations and marketing

“…Men living in towns with a scarcity of women compete harder to acquire luxuries and accumulate more consumer debt [39]. Romantic gift‐giving is an important tactic in human courtship and mate retention, especially for men who might be signalling commitment [40]. Green consumerism—preferring eco‐friendly products—is an effective form of conspicuous conservation, signalling both status and altruism [41].…”