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We tested predictions derived from the psychic pain hypothesis according to which depressive symptoms after delivery signal to a mother that she is suffering or has suffered a fitness loss. The predictions were tested on a range of mild emotional states, that is, moods, which allowed us to assess whether the consequences of unfavorable maternal conditions are limited to depressive mood or include other negative and positive moods. In a longitudinal study of 150 women, we measured positive and negative moods twice: during the last trimester of pregnancy and 1–3 months after delivery. As an index of infant quality, we used the mean of Apgar scores measured at 1 and 5 min after delivery, and as an index of maternal circumstances, we used perceived family social support. Supporting the psychic pain hypothesis, after controlling for mothers’ moods before delivery, Apgar score and perceived family social support as well as their interaction predicted mothers’ negative moods after delivery, especially depressive mood and rejection. Additionally, mothers’ depressive mood was sensitive to subtle signs of lower infant health. Perceived family social support and Apgar score were weaker predictors of mothers’ positive moods after delivery. Theoretical and practical implication of these results are discussed.

The present studies investigated the relationships between men's perceived risk of experiencing sperm competition (i.e., when the ejaculates of two or more men simultaneously occupy the reproductive tract of a single woman), and their use of strategies to detect, prevent, and correct their partner's sexual infidelity. We investigated these associations using self-reports provided by men (Study 1, n = 113), partner-reports provided by women (Study 2, n = 136), and dyadic reports (Study 3, n = 103 couples). The results of these studies indicated that the attractiveness of women was consistently associated with men's use of benefit-provisioning mate retention behaviors (e.g., buying expensive gifts for one's partner, showing signs of physical affection) and semen-displacing behaviors (e.g., deeper copulatory thrusting, more thrusts during copulation), whereas the infidelity risk of women was often associated with men's use of cost-inflicting mate retention behaviors (e.g., threatening to end the relationship, monopolization of partner's free time). Discussion addresses the evolutionary implications of these results, including the possibility that men use both benefit-provisioning mate retention behaviors and semen-displacing behaviors when they perceive their partner to be more attractive, ostensibly as a way to mitigate their risk of sperm competition. Discussion also explores the extent to which these results extend those of previous studies concerning sperm competition risk.

Conceptually driven by life history theory, the current study investigated a hypothesized hierarchy of behaviors leading to men's perpetration of violence in intimate relationships. Using a series of hierarchical regressions, we tested a causal cascade model on data provided by 114 men in a committed romantic relationship. The results supported the hypothesized hierarchy of sociodevelopmental events: (1) men's childhood experiences with their parents’ parental effort predicted men's life history strategies; (2) men's life history strategies predicted men's behavioral self-regulation; (3) men's self-regulation predicted men's perceptions of partner infidelity risk; (4) perceptions of infidelity risk predicted men's frequency of engagement in nonviolent mate retention behaviors; (5) men's mate retention behaviors predicted men's frequency of partner-directed violence. The overall cascade model explained 36% of variance in men's partner-directed violence.

We investigated cross-trait assortative mating for the traits of physical attractiveness and intelligence using data from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study. It was hypothesized that more physically attractive individuals would have a spouse that was more intelligent, but that this association would be moderated by sex. Specifically, we predicted that more physically attractive women would have more intelligent husbands, but that a man’s physical attractiveness would not predict his wife’s intelligence. The results of correlation and regression analyses were consistent with these predictions, although the effect sizes were small. Additionally, we identified an interaction in which women’s physical attractiveness was more strongly associated with their husbands’ intelligence for more intelligent women than for less intelligent women. We conclude with suggestions for further research addressing cross-trait assortative mating for physical attractiveness and intelligence.

We investigated the relationship between Brazilian women’s reported reasons for pretending orgasm, their performance of mate retention behaviors, and their relationship satisfaction. Additionally, we secured evidence of the validity and reliability of a Brazilian-Portuguese adaptation of the Reasons to Pretend Orgasm Inventory (RPOI). Participants were 295 Brazilian women in a heterosexual relationship ( Mage = 24.9 years, SDage = 5.4 years). Participants completed a Brazilian-Portuguese adaptation of the Mate Retention Inventory-Short Form, and the translated RPOI (the Escala de Razões para Fingir Orgasmo; ERFO). The resulting 47-item ERFO represents well the original 63-item RPOI. The frequency with which Brazilian women pretend orgasm was negatively associated with their relationship satisfaction. Our sample size may not be sufficient to detect small effects. In addition, due to the exploratory nature of the study, the results should be interpreted with caution and future research may attempt to replicate these findings with larger samples and in other countries.

Genetic quality may be expressed through many traits simultaneously, and this would suggest a phenotype-wide fitness factor. In humans, intelligence has been positively associated with several potential indicators of genetic quality, including ejaculate quality. We conducted a conceptual replication of one such study by investigating the relationship between intelligence (assessed by the Raven Advanced Progressive Matrices Test–Short Form) and ejaculate quality (indexed by sperm count, sperm concentration, and sperm motility) in a sample of 41 men (ages ranging 18 to 33 years; M = 23.33; SD = 3.60). By self-report, participants had not had a vasectomy, and had never sought infertility treatment. We controlled for several covariates known to affect ejaculate quality (e.g., abstinence duration before providing an ejaculate) and found no statistically significant relationship between intelligence and ejaculate quality; our findings, therefore, do not match those of Arden, Gottfredson, Miller et al. or those of previous studies. We discuss limitations of this study and the general research area and highlight the need for future research in this area, especially the need for larger data sets to address questions around phenotypic quality and ejaculate quality.

Research in nonhuman animals (including insects, birds, and primates) suggests a trade-off in males between investment in competitive traits and investment in ejaculate quality. Previous research reported a negative association between perceived strength and ejaculate quality, suggesting that this trade-off also applies to human males. We conducted novel analyses of data secured as part of a larger project to assess the relationship between competitive traits (shoulder-to-hip ratio, handgrip strength, and height) and ejaculate quality (indexed by sperm morphology, sperm motility, and sperm concentration) in a sample of 45 men (ages ranging 18–33 years; M = 23.30, SD = 3.60). By self-report, participants had not had a vasectomy and had never sought treatment for infertility. We controlled for several covariates known to affect ejaculate quality (e.g., abstinence duration before providing an ejaculate) and found no statistically significant relationships between competitive traits and ejaculate quality; our findings therefore do not accord with previous research on humans. We highlight the need for additional research to clarify whether there is a trade-off between investment in competitive traits and investment in ejaculate quality in humans.

[Correction Notice: An Erratum for this article was reported online in Journal of Personality and Social Psychology on Sep 7 2020 (see record 2020-68801-001). In the original article, the third sentence in the Content level subsection in the Status Criteria More Central to Women section of the Results should appear instead as Fidelity, chastity/purity, and long-term mating success increase women’s status more than men’s. A coding error in Figure 7 for Dishonoring Family appeared. The corrected Figure 7 now appears.] Social status is a central and universal feature of our highly social species. Reproductively relevant resources, including food, territory, mating opportunities, powerful coalitional alliances, and group-provided health care, flow to those high in status and trickle only slowly to those low in status. Despite its importance and centrality to human social group living, the scientific understanding of status contains a large gap in knowledge—the precise criteria by which individuals are accorded high or low status in the eyes of their group members. It is not known whether there exist universal status criteria, nor the degree to which status criteria vary across cultures. Also unknown is whether status criteria are sex differentiated, and the degree of cross-cultural variability and consistency of sex-differentiated status criteria. The current article investigates status criteria across 14 countries (N = 2,751). Results provide the first systematic documentation of potentially universal and sex-differentiated status criteria. Discussion outlines important next steps in understanding the psychology of status. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved)

Previous research indicates that men can accurately assess women’s mating orientation from facial photographs (DeLecce et al. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 43, 319–327, 2014). The current study investigated whether this ability is moderated by men’s own mating orientation. To that end, 89 men completed the Sociosexual Orientation Inventory (SOI)—an assessment of mating orientation—and rated the perceived faithfulness of 55 women (who also completed the SOI) depicted in facial photographs. Although men were indeed accurate in their faithfulness perceptions of the female targets, men’s mating orientation did not moderate the negative association between their faithfulness ratings and the self-reported mating orientation of the female targets. Limitations of the current study and directions for future research are addressed in the discussion.

Within the context of a long-term intimate relationship, men engage in a wide variety of behaviors that function to maintain a partner's investment in and reduce the risks associated with a partner's defection from that relationship. Some of these behaviors entice a partner's continued investment through the provision of benefits, while others inflict costs for defection. These cost-inflicting behaviors, while potentially valuable, are also risky, as they may ultimately increase the odds of a romantic partner's defection or retaliation. Given the riskiness of cost-inflicting behaviors, we hypothesize that men's use of these behaviors can be predicted by men's tendency toward risk-taking behavior more generally, but only when that risk-taking is indicative of lower mate value or relationship investment. To test this hypothesis, we investigated whether and how performance of behaviors within five risk-taking domains (ethical, financial, recreational, health/safety, and social) predict men's use of cost-inflicting behaviors. Using path analysis and data from partner-reports from 122 female undergraduate students in a committed, heterosexual, sexual relationship, we confirmed that men's performance of cost-inflicting behavior is predicted by men's unethical risky behavior and, to a lesser extent, financial and recreational risky behavior.

Purpose Flynn's argument for academic freedom on the topic of race differences in IQ makes little reference to the real world consequences of publishing race differences in IQ. We provide a brief assessment of these consequences and consider their moral significance. Methods Adopting a utilitarian perspective, we summarize positive and negative consequences of publishing data that shows that the races differ in intelligence, assuming this finding is valid. Results We should expect both positive and negative consequences, and these consequences can be weighed against one another to determine the path with the greatest utility. In our estimation, the foreseeable scientific and social gains of knowing more about variance in intelligence outweighs the social costs of identifying populations with lower average intelligence. Importantly, we admit that different risk estimations will defensibly arrive at the opposite conclusion. Conclusions Principled arguments for and against academic censorship oversimplify a complex set of circumstances and provide no grounds for compromise or even hypothesis testing. When the most important and controversial topics provoke partisanship we have failed to temper our outrage and approach a challenge judiciously.

Belief in supernatural agents is ubiquitous, as evidenced by its prevalence in religion, folklore, and cultural practices. It is theorized that, given recurrent ancestral risks of predation and fre...

Mate retention behaviors are designed to reduce the risk of partner infidelity or relationship defection. In the current research, we used k-means cluster analysis to identify distinct strategies of mate retention behaviors. Participants were 637 individuals (56.3% male) in a romantic relationship with an opposite-sex individual for at least 3 months ( M = 78.7; SD = 95.8) and aged between 18 and 70 years ( M = 29.3, SD = 10.5). Participants completed the Mate Retention Inventory–Short Form. The results suggested three distinct mate retention clusters or strategies: (1) Disengaged (infrequent use of both benefit-provisioning and cost-inflicting behaviors), (2) Exhaustive (frequent use of both benefit-provisioning and cost-inflicting behaviors), and (3) Benevolent (frequent use of benefit-provisioning and infrequent use of cost-inflicting behaviors). The results also indicated, for example, that men more than women use a benevolent strategy, women more than men use a disengaged strategy, and men using an exhaustive strategy report being less physically intimate with their partners than men using a benevolent strategy. We discuss the results with reference to evolutionary hypotheses of mate retention, and we highlight limitations of the current research and important directions for future research.

Female sexual orientation has received less theoretical and empirical attention than male sexual orientation and few reviews are devoted to female sexual orientation. Moreover, research investigating female sexual orientation often underappreciates insights afforded by evolutionary theory. This review begins with an overview of the literature on female sexual identification, sexual perception, sexual fluidity, sexual expression, and the biology of female sexual orientation. Female same-sex sexual behaviors in the non-human apes are then described, providing a comparative context for the following discussion of hypotheses for the evolution of human female same-sex sexual attractions and behaviors. These hypotheses are organized as byproduct hypotheses or adaptation hypotheses and we include discussions of dysfunction, heterosis, sexual antagonism, epigenetics, weak selection, self-domestication, sexual frustration, mate attraction, alloparenting, polygyny, and other topics. We conclude by highlighting the challenges posed by evolutionary studies of human psychology.

Romantic relationships with a large age difference between partners are judged to be less acceptable, more disgusting, and less likely to succeed than age-similar relationships. We investigated the role of strategic moralization in condemnation of man-older age-discrepant relationships. We hypothesized that (1) this condemnation promotes self-serving interests of those who stand to lose from violation of age-based assortative mating, and (2) endorsement of prostitution mediates the association between participant's age and condemnation of man-older age-discrepant relationships because these relationships make the exchange of sex for resources explicit and acceptable. Using self-reports from 430 participants, we documented that endorsement of prostitution mediates the association between age and condemnation of man-older age-discrepant relationships for women but not men.

Schmitt and Buss' (2001) seminal definition of poaching labelled it as “behavior intended to attract someone who is already in a romantic relationship.” Davies, Shackelford, and Hass' (2007) definition stated that to be considered a poach, the targeted individual's relationship must be exclusive and the pursuer must be aware of this at the time. Davies et al. found percentages reporting experience with poaching among their participants were lower than percentages found by Schmitt and Buss among their participants. To investigate whether these differences in percentages were due to differences between the two samples, the current study was the first to compare percentages reporting experience with poaching secured through the different definitions in a single sample. Findings indicated no differences in percentages secured through the different definitions. Discussion argues, however, that as Schmitt and Buss' definition may be perceived as denoting the form of attraction denoted by Davies et al.'s definition as well as two other forms of attraction, findings may be reliable only if researchers secure individual findings for each form of attraction denoted by Schmitt and Buss' definition. In addition, researchers should reach a consensus regarding which of the forms of attraction denoted by Schmitt and Buss' definition constitutes poaching.

Research has documented sex differences in risk-taking behavior, and young men in particular are more prone than women to engage in activities associated with physical risks. Evolutionary scientists have proposed that this sex difference is a consequence of male competition over mating opportunities. Thus, mating motives promote risk-taking in men more than in women. Here, we report analyses of assessments of male physical risk-taking in a Russian sample (n = 546). Men and women judged vignettes describing men who differed in risk-taking propensity for short- and long-term attractiveness, provisioning quality, and aggression. Risk-taking propensity had an effect on all attributes. Occasional (but not high) risk-takers received the highest ratings on short-term attractiveness. Low risk-takers were judged highest on long-term attractiveness and provisioning quality. High risk-takers were judged as more aggressive than occasional and low risk-takers. Thus, male risk-taking behavior affects assessments of male quality, but high risk-taking is not regarded as positive. We discuss the results with reference to evolutionary investigations of risk-taking behavior and cultural characteristics of masculinity ideology.

Previous research indicates that the romantic attachment dimensions of anxiety and avoidance are associated with performance frequency of Benefit-Provisioning and Cost-Inflicting domains of mate retention. The current research aimed to replicate previous findings in a non-Western sample (Iran, Study 1) and to extend this research by investigating the mediating role of perceived risk of partner infidelity (Study 2). Studies 1 and 2 tested the hypotheses that attachment anxiety is positively associated with mate retention and that attachment avoidance is negatively associated with mate retention. Study 2 tested the hypothesis perceived risk of partner infidelity mediate the association between attachment dimensions and mate retention domains. Results of Studies 1 and 2 replicated previous research and also revealed that perceived risk of partner infidelity mediated the association between attachment anxiety, specifically, and mate retention. The current research advances our understanding of romantic attachment from an evolutionary psychological perspective.

Childhood religious experiences with peers are important in the development of religiosity. However, peers' influence on these experiences has not been properly operationalized and measured. We addressed this limitation by developing the Childhood Religious Experiences with a Peer Inventory (CREPI). In Study 1 (n = 254), an act nomination procedure generated 106 items describing childhood religious experiences with a same-sex peer. These experiences were specific things that the peer said to, did to, or did with a participant during their childhood. In Study 2 (n = 458), participants indicated how frequently each item occurred in their childhood. Factor analysis yielded 27 items organized into three factors: Peer Proselytization, Shared Activities, and Peer Dialogue. The CREPI allows researchers to quantify peer influence on childhood religious experiences, enabling future investigation of whether and how these influences predict adult religiosity.

People employ mate retention behaviors in response to a perceived threat of partner infidelity, in both offline and online contexts. Previous research has documented sex differences in the use of several mate retention behaviors. In the current study, we investigate sex differences in the performance frequency of mate retention behaviors in an online context. Participants (n = 234, 56% male) were Facebook users 20 to 63 years old (M = 33.1; SD = 8.5), each in a committed, heterosexual, romantic relationship of at least three months. Participants completed the Facebook Mate Retention Tactic Inventory (FMRTI) and the Mate Retention Inventory – Short Form (MRI-SF), which assess performance frequencies of mate retention behaviors in online and offline contexts, respectively. The results indicate that women perform some online mate retention behaviors more frequently than men. Additionally, the results provided evidence of convergent validity for the FMRTI and the MRI-SF.

Values guide behaviors and cognitively represent needs. Expressed values may provide relevant cues that affect mate selection. In particular, individuals endorsing excitement values (e.g., emotion, pleasure, sexuality) are more likely to commit infidelity. Therefore, a person's desirability as a long-term partner may be negatively affected by that person's endorsement of excitement values. To test this hypothesis, we conducted a 2 (sex) × 2 (ascribed values) × 2 (facial attractiveness) factorial design experiment. Participants were 80 individuals, aged between 17 and 48 years (M = 24.1, SD = 5.61), mostly heterosexual (93.8%). Participants rated how desirable the person depicted in the factorial scenarios is as a long-term partner, on a 6-point Likert scale (undesirable–very desirable). Attractive men's desirability as a long-term partner decreased when associated with excitement values, providing some support for evolutionarily informed hypotheses. We discuss results in light of evolutionary hypotheses of mate selection, highlighting limitations and identifying directions for future research.

“Mate poaching” occurs when individuals knowingly attract someone who is already in a relationship with someone else. The current study was the first to investigate whether, to successfully attract an attached individual, the greater the degree of commitment in the individual's relationship, the greater the extent to which a poacher would need to embody desired attributes more than they are embodied by the targeted individual's partner. As predicted, 125 men and 90 women, reported that if they were to be successfully poached, the amount of wealth and attractiveness more than their current partner that a poacher would require was greater the greater the degree of commitment in their relationship. Discussion argues that relationships in which partners are of differing mate-values may be susceptible to the partner with the higher mate-value being poached by individuals who are of a higher matevalue than the other partner. Also discussed, is how the current findings might inform relationship counsellors.

Coalitional mate retention (CMR) occurs when individuals request assistance from a friend to minimize the risk of partner infidelity. We secured reports from men and women in a committed, heterosexual relationship to investigate associations between CMR requests and the sex and personality traits of individuals who request CMR and the sex of their friends. Consistent with our hypothesis, individuals scoring higher in Honesty–Humility requested CMR less frequently. We also documented that individuals higher in Extraversion and lower in Conscientiousness requested CMR more frequently. We address limitations of the research and future research directions, including tests of the hypothesis that CMR involves duplicitous behaviors that are less typical of individual mate retention.

Non-human males attend to the presence of potential sexual rivals in the local environment to assess sperm competition risk, and adjust accordingly the deployment of sperm competition tactics (e.g., performing semen-displacing copulatory behaviors). We extend this research to humans using data from 45 married couples who completed questionnaires in a laboratory. We found that husbands whose wife spent more time with her male coworkers and male friends (i.e., potential sexual rivals) performed more semen-displacing copulatory behaviors at the couple's most recent copulation. We also found that performance of semen-displacing copulatory behaviors correlated with a novel cue to sperm competition risk: the discrepancy between the husband's sexual interest in his wife and her sexual interest in him. We also tested and refuted an alternative hypothesis that men adjust their copulatory thrusting to facilitate their partner's orgasm. Discussion highlights the novel contributions of the current research and notes limitations that can be addressed by future research.

As a socially monogamous species, humans generally have one committed romantic partner at a time, but sometimes engage in infidelity. Previous research has related infidelity to individual difference traits, including global assessments of “mate value” (relative value as a romantic partner on the “mating market”). We explored the extent to which one's intention to commit an infidelity is uniquely predicted by different components of mate value. The results confirm a negative relationship between one's overall mate value and one's intention to commit an infidelity, and also identify four distinct mate value components (agreeableness/commitment, surgency, emotional stability, and physical attractiveness) that uniquely predict infidelity intention. Two of these factors, surgency (for women) and agreeableness/commitment (for men), positively predict anticipated infidelity. Additionally, the results indicate that men's but not women's infidelity intention is better predicted by the combination of their own and their partner's mate value. Discussion includes interpretations of the results in terms of potential social or personal advancement.

Male-perpetrated female-directed violence (FDV) may be associated with greater sexual access to a female. Accordingly, FDV is expected to be associated with greater copulation frequency. Research on nonhuman primates affirms this hypothesis, but no previous research has investigated this relationship in humans (Homo sapiens). The current research tests the hypothesis that FDV is associated with in-pair copulation frequency and, thus, may function as a form of sexual coercion. It was predicted that men who perpetrate FDV will secure more in-pair copulations than men who do not perpetrate violence (Prediction 1a), and that average monthly rates of FDV would positively correlate with in-pair copulation frequency (Prediction 1b). Male participants (n = 355) completed a survey, reporting limited demographic information (e.g., age, relationship length), in-pair copulation frequency, and history of physical violence perpetration. As predicted, violent men secured more in-pair copulations, on average, than nonviolent men, and monthly rates of violence positively correlated with in-pair copulation frequency. In humans, as in nonhuman primates, FDV by males may facilitate greater sexual access to a female. We discuss the implications of the current research for an evolutionary perspective on partner violence, and draw on research on nonhuman primates to highlight profitable avenues of research on FDV in humans. (PsycINFO Database Record

Objective: To investigate the relationship between perceived mate value discrepancy (i.e., the difference between an individual's mate value and their partner's mate value) and perceived frequency of mate retention performed by an individual relative to their partner. Method: In two studies, participants in long-term, exclusive, sexual, heterosexual relationships reported their own, and partner's, mate value and mate retention. Samples included 899 community members (Study 1) and 941 students and community members (Study 2). Results: In Study 1, we documented that individuals with higher self-perceived short-term mate value, and who perceive their partner to have lower (vs. higher) short-term mate value, perform less frequent Benefit-Provisioning mate retention, controlling for the partner's Benefit-Provisioning mate retention. In Study 2, we documented that individuals who perceive that they could less easily replace their partner, and who perceive their partner could more (vs. less) easily replace them, perform more frequent mate retention (Benefit-Provisioning and Cost-Inflicting), controlling for the partner's mate retention. Conclusions: These results highlight the importance of assessing perceived discrepancies in mate value (notably regarding the replaceability of self and partner with another long-term mate), and perceived mate retention behaviors of self, relative to partner, between men and women in long-term relationships. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Humans perform copulatory behaviors that do not contribute directly to reproduction (e.g., cunnilingus, prolonged copulation). We conducted a content analysis of pornography to investigate whether such behaviors might contribute indirectly to reproduction by influencing ejaculate volume—an indicator of ejaculate quality. We coded 100 professional pornography scenes depicting the same male actor copulating with 100 different females, affording control for between-male differences in estimated ejaculate volume. Coders visually estimated ejaculate volume and recorded the time the actor spent engaged in cunnilingus, penile-vaginal penetration, and in any physical contact with his partner. We found support for the hypothesis that a man who spends more time performing cunnilingus produces an ejaculate with greater estimated volume, even after controlling statistically for the age and attractiveness of the actress, and time spent in physical contact with his partner. Additionally, we tested the ejaculate adjustment hypothesis for prolonged copulation and found no support. Prolonged copulation does not facilitate production of an ejaculate with greater estimated volume, even after controlling statistically for time spent in physical contact with a partner. This research is the first to use content analysis to document that pre-ejaculatory copulatory behavior predicts estimated ejaculate volume and also is the first to document a relationship between the time spent performing cunnilingus and ejaculate quality.

People deploy mate retention behaviors to thwart a long-term romantic partner's infidelity. Cost-Inflicting mate retention behaviors (e.g., inducing a partner's jealousy) are riskier than Benefit-Provisioning mate retention behaviors (e.g., showing love and care for a partner), because the former increase the odds of a partner's defection or retaliation. Individual differences in endorsement of Existence values—i.e., valuing Personal Stability, Health, and Survival—may be associated with the type of mate retention behaviors people perform. We hypothesized that individuals who endorse Existence values more (versus less), would perform less frequent Cost-Inflicting mate retention behaviors (controlling for performance of Benefit-Provisioning mate retention behaviors; Hypothesis 1), and more frequent Benefit-Provisioning mate retention behaviors (controlling for performance of Cost-Inflicting mate retention behaviors; Hypothesis 2). Participants (n = 164), each in a heterosexual, romantic relationship of at least three months duration, completed a survey that included the Mate Retention Inventory-Short Form and the Basic Values Survey. Endorsement of Existence values was negatively associated with performance of Cost-Inflicting mate retention behaviors (supporting Hypothesis 1), and positively associated with performance of Benefit-Provisioning mate retention behaviors (supporting Hypothesis 2). We situate these results within an evolutionary framework on mate retention, and discuss their theoretical and applied utility.

Reports an error in "Human status criteria: Sex differences and similarities across 14 nations" by David M. Buss, Patrick K. Durkee, Todd K. Shackelford, Brian F. Bowdle, David P. Schmitt, Gary L. Brase, Jae C. Choe and Irina Trofimova (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Advanced Online Publication, May 28, 2020, np). In the article, the third sentence in the Content level subsection in the Status Criteria More Central to Women section of the Results should appear instead as Fidelity, chastity/purity, and long-term mating success increase women's status more than men's. A coding error in Figure 7 for Dishonoring Family appeared. The corrected Figure 7 now appears. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2020-35662-001). Social status is a central and universal feature of our highly social species. Reproductively relevant resources, including food, territory, mating opportunities, powerful coalitional alliances, and group-provided health care, flow to those high in status and trickle only slowly to those low in status. Despite its importance and centrality to human social group living, the scientific understanding of status contains a large gap in knowledge-the precise criteria by which individuals are accorded high or low status in the eyes of their group members. It is not known whether there exist universal status criteria, nor the degree to which status criteria vary across cultures. Also unknown is whether status criteria are sex differentiated, and the degree of cross-cultural variability and consistency of sex-differentiated status criteria. The current article investigates status criteria across 14 countries (N = 2,751). Results provide the first systematic documentation of potentially universal and sex-differentiated status criteria. Discussion outlines important next steps in understanding the psychology of status. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

We investigated sex differences in cognitive and moral appraisals of sexual infidelity using the case of General David Petraeus as an example. Because visual stimulation may impact psychological evaluations of other people's behavior, including infidelity, participants were randomly assigned to view either a photograph (n = 127) of General Petraeus with his wife plus a photograph of him with his mistress, or a photograph (n = 195) of General Petraeus alone. Both conditions included an identical brief description of the scandal following his affair with his biographer. Participants provided their moral appraisal and cognitive appraisal of infidelity after viewing the visual stimuli. As predicted, men more than women reported lower scores of moral appraisal (“condemnation”) and higher scores of cognitive appraisal (“understanding”) across both conditions. Men who viewed photographs of General Petraeus with his wife and with his mistress reported higher cognitive appraisal than did men who viewed a photograph depicting General Petraeus alone. These results suggest sex differences in appraisals of infidelity, which are particularly salient when participants are presented with visual stimuli contrasting the wife and the more attractive mistress of the unfaithful man.

Intra- and intergroup conflict are likely to have been recurrent features of human evolutionary history; however, little research has investigated the factors that affect men’s combat alliance decisions. The current study investigated whether features of previous one-on-one combat with an opponent affect men’s interest in allying with that opponent for future group combat. Fifty-eight undergraduate men recruited from a psychology department subject pool participated in a one-on-one laboratory fight simulation. We manipulated fight outcome (between-subjects), perceived fighter health asymmetry (within-subjects), and the presence of a witness (within-subjects) over six sets of five rounds of fighting. Following each set, we asked men how interested they would be in allying with their opponent for future group combat. We found that men were more interested in allying with their opponent for future group combat if their opponent won the fight or if a witness was present, but perceived fighter-health asymmetry did not affect men’s decision to ally with their opponent. Exploratory analyses revealed a two-way interaction between fight outcome and the presence of a witness, such that winners without a witness present expressed less interest in allying with their opponent for future group combat. Our findings suggest that men attend to the benefits of allying with a man who has demonstrated relatively superior fighting ability. Alliance with a previous opponent for group combat may vary with the relationship value of the opponent and the utility of demonstrating cooperativeness to third-party observers. These findings inform our understanding of coalition formation.

A given man's phenotype embodies cues of his ancestral ability to effectively defend himself and his kin from harm, to survive adverse conditions, and to acquire status and mating opportunities. In this review, we explore the hypothesis that a man's phenotype also embodies cues to fertility or the probability that an ejaculate will fertilize ova. Female mate choice depends on the ability to discern the quality of a male reproductive partner through his phenotype, and male fertility may be among the traits that females have evolved to detect. A female who selects as mates males that deliver higher quality ejaculates will, on average, be more fecund than her competitors. Data on several non-human species demonstrate correlations between ejaculate quality and secondary sexual characteristics that inform female mate choice, suggesting that females may select mates in part on the basis of fertility. While the non-human literature on this topic has advanced, the human literature remains limited in scope and there is no clear consensus on appropriate methodologies or theoretical positions. We provide a comprehensive review and meta-analysis of this literature, and conclude by proposing solutions to the many issues that impede progress in the field. In the process, we hope to encourage interest and insight from investigators in other areas of human mating and reproductive biology. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 28:318-329, 2016. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

We investigated the influence of mating context and sociosexual orientation (interest in sex without emotional involvement) on men's perceptions of women's dance movements. One hundred men aged 18 to 33 ( M = 23.5, SD = 3.5) years viewed brief videos of five “high attractive” and five “low attractive” female dancers (aged 18 to 22 years; M = 19.8, SD = 1.2) from a sample of 84 motion-captured dancers, and judged them on promiscuity and movement harmony. Additionally, half the participants judged the dancers on attractiveness as a long-term mate and the other half on attractiveness as a short-term mate. Men were more attracted to high attractive dancers than to low attractive dancers and judged them higher on attractiveness when choosing as a potential short-term mate. In addition, high attractive dancers were rated higher than low attractive dancers on promiscuity and movement harmony. Specifically, promiscuity judgments predicted men's short-term attractiveness ratings, whereas movement harmony judgments predicted long-term attractiveness ratings. Men's sociosexual orientation did not influence perceptions of female dance movements. Results are discussed with reference to trade-offs in time and energy expenditure on child rearing in men's mate preferences, corroborating the hypothesis that women's body movements inform on these qualities.

Mate poaching occurs when individuals knowingly steal someone else’s mate for sex. Attempts to poach present challenges additional to those associated with non-poaching or general attraction. However, of Schmitt and Buss’ (2001) 24 comparisons of the effectiveness of mate- attraction tactics, only one indicated tactics to be less effective in poaching than in general attraction. In the current research, 215 participants (125 men and 90 women) were instructed to imagine they were in different relationship contexts. For the poaching context, participants imagined they were dating, living with a mate, or married. For the general attraction context, participants imagined they were not in a monogamous relationship. They reported how wealthy or attractive an individual would need to be to attract them as a short-mate sexual partner, long-term sexual partner, and monogamous relationship. As hypothesized, for all contexts, participants reported that the wealth and attractiveness required was greater if they were dating, living with a mate, and married than if they were not in a monogamous relationship. Comparisons across dating, living with a mate, and married indicated that the greater the level of commitment, the greater the wealth and attractiveness required to attract participants from it.

Humans deploy various strategies to solve adaptive problems associated with a long-term partner’s infidelity. We investigated the relationships among three such strategies: individual mate retention, coalitional mate retention (i.e., mate retention with assistance from allies), and in-pair copulation frequency. Participants (n = 387; 176 women) in a committed, heterosexual relationship reported how often they (1) perform individual mate retention, (2) request coalitional mate retention, and (3) had sexual intercourse with their partner. The results indicate that women’s individual mate retention and men’s coalitional mate retention are positively associated with in-pair copulation frequency. The discussion notes limitations of this research and highlights the diversity of strategies humans deploy to address the adaptive problems of partner infidelity.

Friendship solved adaptive problems over human evolutionary history, including cooperative hunting and alloparenting. Pham, Barbaro, and Shackelford (in press) investigated another potential function of friendship: the provision of coalitional mate retention, whereby individuals ask an ally to assist with thwarting their romantic partner’s infidelity. In the current research, 387 participants (176 women) reported how often they requested or received coalitional mate retention from a male friend and from a female friend and reported on the quality of each friendship. The results indicate that the deployment of coalitional mate retention is positively associated with the quality of friendships with women (female–female friendships, male–female friendships, female–male friendships), but negatively associated with the quality of male–male friendships.

Joiner, Hom, Hagan, and Silva (Psychological Review, 123, 235–254, 2016) argue that human suicidal behavior is an evolutionarily maladaptive byproduct of eusociality. We believe that Joiner et al. are committing the moralistic fallacy in their analysis of human suicidal behavior, which may have led to a number of unexamined assumptions and possible errors in their discussion. Specifically, it is because of the moralistic fallacy—i.e., the conflation between that which is socially desirable and that which is in keeping with inclusive fitness concerns—that Joiner et al. dismiss the possibility that suicide may sometimes bring reproductive benefits to individuals via its effect on suicidal individuals’ family members.

Sexual selection may have shaped male visual sensitivity to characteristics that provide information about female mate quality. Indeed, men judge certain facial and bodily configurations of women to be attractive, possibly because those configurations signal health and fertility. Most of this evidence derives from the study of women's facial and body photographs. We tested the hypothesis that attractive female dancers receive greater visual attention from men than do unattractive dancers. Twenty-nine men viewed video pairs of pre-categorized high and low attractive female dancers. Their eye gaze was tracked and they also provided ratings of attractiveness, femininity, and dance movement harmony. High attractive dancers received greater visual attention than did low attractive dancers and men's visual attention correlated positively with their judgments of attractiveness, femininity, and dance movement harmony. We discuss our findings in the context of the ‘beauty captures the mind of the beholder’ hypothesis and the role of dance movements in human mate selection.

The Dark Triad is a cluster of aversive traits that includes Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and narcissism. Individuals who score higher on these traits also report more sexual partners, suggesting that the Dark Triad may provide advantages to attracting short-term partners. We investigated the associations between the Dark Triad traits and self-promotion mate attraction tactics in a short-term mating context. We hypothesized that, in this mating context, psychopathy would predict the performance frequency of self-promotion behaviors in men (Hypothesis 1), narcissism would predict these behaviors in both men (Hypothesis 2) and women (Hypothesis 3), and that the relationship between narcissism and the performance frequency of self-promotion behaviors would be stronger in women than in men (Hypothesis 4). Participants were 225 Brazilian undergraduate students, aged between 18 and 45 years (M = 21.8; SD = 4.80; 58.2% women). Supporting Hypothesis 1, psychopathy positively predicted the performance frequency of self-promotion behaviors in men. Narcissism was positively associated with the performance frequency of self-promotion behaviors in both men (supporting Hypothesis 2) and women (supporting Hypothesis 3), but with similar strength (inconsistent with Hypothesis 4). We situate these results concerning mate attraction within an evolutionary framework and discuss their theoretical and applied utility.

A prospective romantic partner’s desirability as a long-term partner may be affected by the values that he or she endorses. However, few studies have examined the effects of “values” on a person’s desirability as a long-term partner. We hypothesized that individuals who endorse social values (vs. personal values) will be perceived as more desirable long-term partners (Hypothesis 1) and that the endorsement of social values will be especially desirable in a male (vs. female) long-term partner (Hypothesis 2). The current study employed a 2 (sex of prospective partner: male vs. female) × 2 (values of prospective partner: personal vs. social) × 2 (physical attractiveness of prospective partner: unattractive vs. highly attractive) mixed-model design. Participants were 339 undergraduates (174 men, 165 women), with ages varying between 18 and 33 years ( M = 19.9, SD = 3.6), and mostly in a romantic relationship (53.7%). Participants reported interest in a long-term relationship with prospective partners depicted in four scenarios (within subjects), each varying along the dimensions of values (personal vs. social) and physical attractiveness (unattractive vs. highly attractive). Individuals endorsing personal values (vs. social values) and men (vs. women) endorsing personal values were rated as less desirable as long-term partners. The current research adds to the partner preferences literature by demonstrating that an individual’s ascribed values influence others’ perceptions of desirability as a long-term partner and that these effects are consistently sex differentiated, as predicted by an evolutionary perspective on romantic partner preferences.

The current research explores whether humans process inputs about combat (e.g., assessments of formidability) that produce outputs of post-fight respect (e.g., shaking an opponent’s hand when the fight ends). Using an online questionnaire (Study 1, n = 132), an in-person questionnaire (Study 2, n = 131), and an in-lab fight simulation (Study 3, n = 58), we investigated whether participants were more likely to receive (Studies 1 and 3) and display (Studies 2 and 3) post-fight respect as a function of the fight outcome (Hypothesis 1), use of fight tactics (Hypothesis 2), fighter asymmetries (Hypothesis 3), fighter ranking (Hypothesis 4), and the presence of witnesses (Hypothesis 5). The results support Hypotheses 1 to 4 concerning expectations of receiving post-fight respect, and support only Hypotheses 2 and 3 concerning displays of post-fight respect. We suggest that post-fight respect signals positive valuations of fighting performance that may function to maintain valuable relationships within the social group.