Mate-poaching and mating success in humans

British J of Psychology

Piché

Albert

et al. 2016

Self Cite

In order for non-kin altruism to evolve, altruists must receive fitness benefits for their actions that outweigh the costs. Several researchers have suggested that altruism is a costly signal of desirable qualities, such that it could have evolved by sexual selection. In two studies, we show that altruism is broadly linked with mating success. In Study 1, participants who scored higher on a self-report altruism measure reported they were more desirable to the opposite sex, as well as reported having more sex partners, more casual sex partners, and having sex more often within relationships. Sex moderated some of these relationships, such that altruism mattered more for men's number of lifetime and casual sex partners. In Study 2, participants who were willing to donate potential monetary winnings (in a modified dictator dilemma) reported having more lifetime sex partners, more casual sex partners, and more sex partners over the past year. Men who were willing to donate also reported having more lifetime dating partners. Furthermore, these patterns persisted, even when controlling for narcissism, Big Five personality traits, and socially desirable responding. These results suggest that altruists have higher mating success than non-altruists and support the hypothesis that altruism is a sexually selected costly signal of difficult-to-observe qualities.

Section: Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Mating Success Indices (Sexual History Variables)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Altruism predicts mating success in humans

British J of Psychology

Piché

Albert

et al. 2016

Self Cite

“…Monogamy and paternal investment increase sexual selectivity among men (CAMPBELL 2004;FERNANDEZ-DUQUE and HUCK 2013). In turn, women have also been shown to compete intrasexually in order to attain and guard desirable mates (e.g., ARNOCKY, SUNDERANI and VAILLANCOURT 2013;ARNOCKY et al 2012;ARNOCKY and VAILLANCOURT 2012;BUSS and SHACKELFORD 1997;CAMPBELL 1995;CLUTTON-BROCK 2007;SUNDERANI, ARNOCKY and VAILLAN-COURT 2013;VAILLANCOURT 2005). Recent evidence suggests that individuals vary in the competitive attitudes they hold toward members of the same sex (BUUNK and FISHER 2009).…”

Section: Human Intrasexual Competitionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perceived mate availability influences intrasexual competition, jealousy and mate-guarding behavior

Journal of Evolutionary Psychology

Ribout

Mirza

et al. 2014

140

Mate availability has been shown to influence intrasexual competition and mateguarding behavior across a variety of species. Nevertheless, little is known about how perceived mate scarcity affects such behavior in humans. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of experimentally induced perceptions of mate availability upon intrasexual competition, jealousy and aggressive mate guarding behavior. Heterosexual undergraduate students (N = 124, 60 women, 64 men) were primed with perceptions of either mate scarcity or mate abundance and subsequently completed measures of intrasexually competitive attitude, jealousy and willingness to aggress against a mate-poacher (either directly or indirectly). For both men and women, results showed that individuals who were exposed to the mate scarcity condition reported significantly more intrasexual competition, jealousy and willingness to aggress indirectly against a matepoacher compared to those exposed to the mate abundance condition. Results provide evidence of an attitudinal and behavioral shift toward sexual conflict when individuals perceive mates to be a scarce resource.

“…First, it is possible that the effects of mate scarcity promote a domain‐general response of valuing and conserving scarce resources more greatly than abundant resources (in this case, mates), which has been observed to occur in high‐socioeconomic samples (see Griskevicius et al, , for review of various strategies employed under conditions of scarce resources). Second, researchers have begun to show that contrary to traditional parental investment models, females of many species can benefit from mating multiply and have been observed to engage in intrasexual competition for mating opportunities (Ah‐King, ; Rosvall, ) and that women can also benefit from competing for mates (Arnocky & Piché, ; Arnocky, Sunderani, Miller, & Vaillancourt, ; Arnocky & Vaillancourt, ) and from mating with multiple partners (see Arnocky, Sunderani, & Vaillancourt, , for review). Extant correlational research suggests that sociosexuality is stronger among women when men are scarce rather than abundant (Schmitt, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Men's sociosexuality is sensitive to changes in mate availability

Woodruff

Schmitt

2016

Personal Relationships

Self Cite

Correlational research has linked mate availability to human sexual behavior, whereby unrestricted sociosexuality seems to be most common under conditions of female abundance. In this study, 71 heterosexual men were randomly assigned to one of two mate availability priming conditions, mate scarcity or mate abundance, and subsequently completed measures of sociosexuality as well as infidelity intentions. Results indicated that men in the mate abundance condition reported stronger sociosexual attitudes and desires, and among those currently in relationships, stronger infidelity intentions. These findings were contrasted with those from a separate sample of 66 heterosexual undergraduate women. Mate scarcity had no effects on women's sociosexuality or infidelity intentions. Findings suggest that when mates are scarce, men will adopt a sociosexual orientation aimed at maintaining a single partner.