Psychology of Relationship Maintenance

Strategies used to keep a romantic relationship strong and healthy.

Conscious decisions made to maintain a relationship, like actively devaluing attractive alternatives (e.g., skipping a tempting party when your partner is out of town).

Maintaining a relationship by controlling attention and memory (e.g., less likely to check out attractive people when with a partner).

The theory that the sex investing more in offspring will be more selective in mate choice, while the sex investing less will be more competitive.

Evolved psychological mechanisms that direct mate selection behavior.

Both men and women value loving, dependable, emotionally stable, and kind partners.

Differences in what men and women look for in long-term mates, especially regarding investment.

Women prioritize economic resources, status, ambition, stability, and a willingness to invest in the relationship.

Women, facing resource limitations, seek partners with resources and power.

Women are more likely to find a man attractive if he is seen as attractive to other women.

Strategies men use to choose mates for long-term relationships, focusing on potential reproductive value.

A person's potential to have children in the future; essentially, their fertility.

A woman's physical ability to get pregnant

The likelihood of a woman conceiving on a particular cycle, based on her ovulatory cycle.

Specific characteristics men look for in long-term mates, different from women's preferences (e.g., youth, beauty, low WHR).

Men tend to prefer younger mates as they age.

Men are drawn to physical attractiveness and behaviors that signal reproductive fitness.

A low waist-to-hip ratio is a desirable characteristic for potential partners for men.

Features like full lips, large eyes, and high cheekbones, often associated with higher estrogen levels.

Average facial features tend to be perceived as more attractive.

Facial symmetry is considered attractive and is associated with developmental stability.

Slight deviations from perfect symmetry in the face and body, considered an indicator of developmental stability.

A man's mating behaviour can be influenced by the environment, like exposure to attractive women potentially affecting his satisfaction with his partner.

Women's risk-taking behavior decreases during ovulation to reduce the likelihood of sexual assault.

Strategies used by partners to prevent infidelity by their mates, often displaying jealousy and possessiveness.

In regions with high parasite loads, focusing on physical attractiveness as a proxy for good health becomes more important.

Men's strategies prioritize maximizing sexual access to multiple partners, without the commitment of long-term relationships.

Men's strategies for securing sexual access without unnecessary time constraints or resource expenditures.

Men's strategic pursuit of short-term mates with high fertility as a signal for reproductive success.

The adaptive problem for a man of diversifying sexual partners to maximize genetic variability.

Men's need to avoid long-term commitments when pursuing short-term mating strategies.

Partner's sexual activity outside the relationship.

Desire for sexual abstinence before marriage.

Desire for sexual exclusivity within marriage.

Study showing men are more likely than women to accept casual sex proposals.

Risks men face engaging in short-term mating (e.g., STIs, reputation damage, violence).

Women's preferences for masculine traits (e.g., facial, body) mid-cycle.

Women's desire for traits in short-term partners, even if already in a relationship.

Women's infidelity, often tied to ovulation.

Signs of ovulation (e.g., scent, facial attractiveness).

Evolutionary clash in mating interests between sexes.

Strategies women employ to minimize risk of rape.

Emotional distress resulting from a sexual assault.

Men misinterpreting a woman's friendliness or smile as sexual interest.

Women's tendency to doubt the sincerity of men's emotional commitment.

A complex human emotion involving a threat to a valued relationship.

Men and women experience jealousy differently, with men more concerned with sexual infidelity and women concerned with emotional infidelity.

A man's fear of unknowingly raising another man's child.

Sexual attraction to the same sex.

A hypothetical model suggesting that multiple alleles can contribute to male homosexuality.

The proportion of men to women in a population.

Societal structure where there are more women than men.

Societal structure where there are more men than women.

A problem in relationships where one partner avoids committing, potentially caused by a perceived lack of investment.

The idea that women choose mates based on genetic quality to improve offspring's health and fertility.

Women seek long-term relationships for stability and resources for their offspring.

A period of heightened sexual receptivity and excitement in animals, particularly mammals.

Woman's fertile phase, exhibiting sexual preference changes, not always characterized by overall sexual motivation or desire.

The tendency to misinterpret social cues as sexual interest.

The tendency to underestimate the commitment levels of a potential mate.

Holding back from sex—more often by women—as a conflict strategy.

A theory suggesting that rape is an evolved strategy for male reproductive success.

The theory that rape is a consequence of other evolved male traits, like aggression or sexual variety, rather than a directly selected adaptation.

Women's heightened fear of rape during ovulation, a reproductive strategy.

Shifting preferences for mates according to a woman's ovulatory cycle.