The value of pro-environmental behaviour in mate choice

Farrelly, Daniel; Bhogal, Manpal Singh

doi:10.1016/j.paid.2021.110964

Cited by 18 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…As hypothesised, women rated highly altruistic men as more desirable than low altruistic men for long-term relationships only, which supports the findings of previous ALTRUISM AND RESOURCE POTENTIAL IN MATE CHOICE 8 research (Farrelly, 2013;Farrelly et al, 2016;Farrelly & Bhogal, 2021;Farrelly & King, 2019). Furthermore, there was clear evidence to support Hypothesis 2 as altruism was rated more desirable than resource potential and this was greater for long-term relationships.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 83%

Examining the interaction between altruism and perceived resource potential in heterosexual women’s mate preferences

Farrelly¹,

Skilton²

2022

Preprint

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Previous research has shown that altruism is an important trait in romantic relationships, particularly longer relationships were it can signal underlying characteristics (e.g. kindness) that are valued in good partners/parents. Further evidence of this has been observed when comparing the interaction between altruism and other traits (e.g. physical attractiveness) that may signal other qualities (e.g. good genes), where altruism was preferred by heterosexual women in long-term partners. To further explore the role of altruism in relationships and its interaction with other mate choice traits, the current study examined heterosexual women’s preferences for altruism and a trait signalling good investment, that of resource potential. Here we found that, as predicted, women preferred altruistic male partners for long-term relationships, and that altruism was a more desired trait than resource potential in potential long-term partners. These findings support the view that altruism is a high valued trait in relationship formation due to it signalling good partner/parent indicators., and is more important than resource potential when women choose long-term partners.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 83%

Examining the interaction between altruism and perceived resource potential in heterosexual women’s mate preferences

Farrelly¹,

Skilton²

2022

Preprint

Self Cite

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“…Previous research has used images of men and women of varying attractiveness and found that participants respond in the manner predicted (e.g. Farrelly & Bhogal, 2021;Farrelly et al, 2007;Bhogal et al, 2019b), suggesting that the lack of such stimuli used here may have affected the findings. However recent research has shown that the use of gendered names alone is enough to influence altruistic behavior (Farmer & Farrelly, 2021).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 68%

“…There is wide support for this idea, with several studies linking altruistic behavior with the desirability and/or attractiveness of a potential mate, for both female and male mate choice (See Bhogal et al, 2019a for a recent review of the literature). This is typified by the variety of types of altruistic behaviors, which are all viewed as desirable within a mate such as heroism (Margana et al, 2019) and trustworthiness (Ehlebracht et al, 2018) and proenvironmentalism (Borau et al, 2021;Farrelly & Bhogal, 2021;Palomo-Vélez et al, 2021).…”

Section: Mating Motives and Online Altruismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evidence of mating-motivated altruistic behaviour in time spent on a shared online task

HibbertGreaves¹,

Farrelly²

2022

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Previous research suggests that altruistic behavior increases the desirability of a potential mate for both sexes, but mainly for males. This study explores the expression of altruism, in a mating-motivated context using a non-financial task to replicate the findings in this area. An online charitable giving site (www.freerice.com) was used to compare differences between the expression of altruism in both men and women when playing with the same and opposite gender player profiles. In this study participants were asked hypothetically how much time they would dedicate to a task (collecting rice in the freerice game) as part of a shared effort with each imagined player. Overall, no evidence was found of mating-motivated behavior by either men or women in the study, including when looking at participants’ behavior with just the first player they interacted with. These findings contradict the vast majority of research in this area, and possible explanations for this are discussed including the strength of the mating prime used and the novel group setting for altruistic displays. To conclude this study shows the importance of attempts at replicating established findings in psychology, and help broaden our understanding of how mate choice may play a role in human altruistic behaviors.

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“…Acting sustainably as a consumer has emerged as a social norm, and sustainable consumption can reward people with heightened social status and communicate desired qualities on the mating market (Farrelly & Bhogal, 2021;Griskevicius et al, 2010;Palomo-Vélez et al, 2021;Van de Grint et al, 2021). Securely attached individuals should seek contact with others (Ainsworth et al, 2015); thus, they are likely to comply with social norms more than those who have one of the two insecure attachment styles.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Secure and sustainable but not as prominent among the ambivalent: Attachment style and green consumption

Folwarczny¹,

Otterbring²

2021

Preprint

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Human activity in recent decades has degraded the environment and contributed to numerous public health hazards. Thus, the United Nations recently made an urgent call to develop sustainable consumption practices. Although existing literature has acknowledged attachment style as a potential predictor of certain consumption responses, its influence on pro-environmental consumption has not yet been examined. We tested this possibility in a largesampled study (N = 1,397) and found securely attached individuals to report the highest scores on the GREEN consumption scale measuring consumers’ propensity to buy and use goods and services sustainably. Although we did not find that people with an anxious/ambivalent attachment style differed significantly from those with an avoidant attachment style, we observed a trend in this direction, with the former demonstrating directionally less favorable values toward pro-environmental consumption. Our findings provide preliminary evidence for the notion that attachment styles may meaningfully predict pro-environmental consumption. Given that modern psychometric tools can predict Big Five personality traits from digital behavioral footprints, these tools may also predict a person’s attachment style and thus facilitate more effective, tailor-made pro-environmental communication campaigns aimed at mitigating climate change.

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The value of pro-environmental behaviour in mate choice

Cited by 18 publications

References 36 publications

Examining the interaction between altruism and perceived resource potential in heterosexual women’s mate preferences

Examining the interaction between altruism and perceived resource potential in heterosexual women’s mate preferences

Evidence of mating-motivated altruistic behaviour in time spent on a shared online task

Secure and sustainable but not as prominent among the ambivalent: Attachment style and green consumption

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