Sperm Competition and Short-Term Mating Quiz
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Questions and Answers

What did 75 percent of the men in the study mentioned in the text do?

  • Asked for more information before responding
  • Agreed to have sex with the person who approached them (correct)
  • Rejected the person who approached them
  • Expressed offense or confusion

    • What is one of the adaptive problems men must solve when pursuing short-term mating?

  • Balancing work and personal life
  • Building a long-term relationship
  • Avoiding commitment
  • Ensuring reproductive success (correct)

    • What did 100 percent of the women in the study mentioned do?

  • Expressed confusion
  • Asked for more information before responding
  • Emphatically refused the request for sex (correct)
  • Agreed to have sex

    • According to Charles Darwin, what can women do in relation to marriage?

    <p>Temper the men they prefer and reject those they dislike</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did Charles Darwin suggest about the state of women in relation to marriage?

    <p>They are not in quite so abject a state as often supposed</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did the study mentioned reveal about women's response to a direct request for sex?

    <p>All women emphatically refused the request</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is one of the requirements for the proper evolved function of short-term mating?

    <p>Recurrent selection pressure over human evolutionary history</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is one of the predictions for men seeking short-term mates?

    <p>They are predicted to prefer women displaying cues correlated with fertility</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What supports the recurrent opportunities for short-term mating?

    <p>Infidelity in plays and novels</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is a consequence of intense sperm competition?

    <p>Large testes typically evolve as a consequence of intense sperm competition</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is one of the adaptations for solving the problem of sexual accessibility?

    <p>Preferring sexually accessible women and disfavoring those unlikely to consent to sex</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is a factor that must outweigh the costs of pursuing short-term mating?

    <p>Benefits</p> Signup and view all the answers

    In a cross-cultural study of 16,288 people, men expressed a desire for a larger number of sex partners than women did in how many world regions?

    <p>10 major world regions, including six continents, 13 islands, 27 languages, and 52 nations</p> Signup and view all the answers

    In a study analyzing 48 'private wishes', the largest sex difference was found for which wish?

    <p>'to have sex with anyone I choose'</p> Signup and view all the answers

    On average, how many times per week did the average man estimate experiencing sexual desire in a study involving 676 individuals?

    <p>37 times per week</p> Signup and view all the answers

    In the next 30 years, how many sex partners do Norwegian women desire on average?

    <p>Roughly 5 sex partners</p> Signup and view all the answers

    According to some psychologists, what should increased gender equality result in?

    <p>Reduction or elimination of sex differences</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is another psychological solution to the problem of gaining sexual access to a variety of partners?

    <p>Let little time elapse between meeting a desired potential partner</p> Signup and view all the answers

    According to Trivers's theory of parental investment and sexual selection, why do men have a greater desire for casual sex compared to women?

    <p>Men have minimal investment in reproduction compared to women</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did a study in Denmark reveal about the likelihood of men in relationships engaging in sexual activity?

    <p>Men in relationships were less likely to engage in sexual activity</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is a significant factor for both men and women in their willingness to engage in sexual encounters?

    <p>Attractiveness</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What potential costs do men face in pursuing short-term mating strategies?

    <p>Risk of sexually transmitted diseases, acquiring a reputation as a 'womanizer,' and lack of paternal investment in offspring</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did theories in evolutionary psychology indicate about the gender difference in reactions to casual sex?

    <p>The gender difference in reactions to casual sex is extremely large and universal across cultures</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did ancestral men who managed multiple short-term sexual encounters with fertile women potentially achieve?

    <p>Causing many pregnancies and increasing reproductive success</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the significance of human males having relatively large testes, accounting for 0.079% of body weight?

    <p>It indicates sperm competition and short-term mating</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What does the smaller testicular volume in humans compared to highly promiscuous chimpanzees suggest?

    <p>Lower levels of indiscriminate mating</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What does the estimated 1.1 male sex partners per birth in human females indicate?

    <p>Moderate levels of sperm competition</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What does the increase in sperm count when couples are apart suggest?

    <p>Adaptation for sperm competition</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What does the desire for sexual variety and the motivating force of lust in men indicate?

    <p>Psychological evidence for sperm competition and short-term mating</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What do the findings about men's increased sperm count and insemination when separated from their partners suggest?

    <p>Adaptation for potential extramarital sex and sperm competition</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What do men's sexual fantasies more often include?

    <p>Strangers, multiple partners, or anonymous partners</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the closing time phenomenon attributed to?

    <p>A psychological mechanism sensitive to decreasing opportunities for casual sex</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did men aim to maintain when using a short-term mating strategy?

    <p>The ability to mate with others</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What do both men and women use tactics to avoid in short-term sexual encounters?

    <p>Entangling commitments</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What do men view women as, as closing time at a bar approaches?

    <p>Increasingly attractive</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the 'beer goggles' phenomenon attributed to?

    <p>A psychological mechanism sensitive to decreasing opportunities for casual sex</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What might ancestral feasts or celebrations have provided opportunities for?

    <p>Short-term mating</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the age range for acceptable partners for short-term mating among college men?

    <p>16 to 28</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What do men prioritize in short-term sex partners?

    <p>Cues to fertility</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What effect do men with a short-term mating strategy experience immediately following intercourse?

    <p>Sharp decline in finding their partner sexually attractive</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What do men aim to achieve by relaxing their standards for acceptable partners in short-term mating?

    <p>Gain access to a variety of sex partners</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What do men prioritize in short-term sex partners, shifting significantly towards this preference?

    <p>Body information over facial information</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the motivation for men to minimize investment in any one woman after sex within the context of short-term mating?

    <p>Promote the success of a casual sexual strategy</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What do men judge to be far more desirable than women in the context of short-term mating?

    <p>Targets displaying cues to 'easy sexual access'</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What percentage of American women tend to focus on someone they are already involved with romantically and sexually in their sexual fantasies?

    <p>59%</p> Signup and view all the answers

    In a study involving more than 200,000 individuals from 53 nations, what did the study reveal about men's reported sex drive compared to women's?

    <p>Men reported a higher sex drive than women in every nation</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What do men oriented toward short-term mating tend to be sensitive to in women?

    <p>Sexually attractive women displaying cues of vulnerability to being sexually seduced</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What do men, more than women, tend to regret according to the text?

    <p>Missed sexual opportunities</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did studies across cultures show about men's pursuit of short-term mating compared to women's?

    <p>Men across cultures pursue short-term mating more than women do</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did the text suggest about men's sexual psychology and evolved features?

    <p>Men's sexual psychology may have evolved to facilitate acting on future sexual opportunities and avoid entangling commitments through feelings of regret and sensitivity to sexually attractive women displaying cues of vulnerability</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is a key factor in potentially leading to a reduction in sexual exploitation according to the text?

    <p>Understanding men's sexual psychology</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did the study's findings reveal about the sex difference in sex drive across nations with varying levels of gender equality?

    <p>The sex difference in sex drive remained consistent across nations with varying levels of gender equality</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did the text suggest about the significance of individual differences within each gender in relation to sexual fantasies?

    <p>There are large individual differences within each gender in sexual fantasies</p> Signup and view all the answers

    In a study by Buss & Schmitt (1993), at what point did both men and women report they would probably have sex with a desirable potential mate?

    <p>After knowing the person for 5 years</p> Signup and view all the answers

    In the study by Schmitt, Shackelford, & Buss (2001), what was extensively replicated in samples of varying ages and geographical locations within the United States and Norway?

    <p>Men's greater likelihood of consenting to sexual intercourse after little time has elapsed</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did evolutionary psychologists Michele Surbey and Colette Conohan find when exploring 'willingness to engage in casual sex' across a variety of conditions?

    <p>Men reported a greater anticipated willingness to engage in sexual intercourse across all conditions compared with women</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did Surbey & Conohan (2000) conclude based on their exploration of 'willingness to engage in casual sex'?

    <p>Men reported a greater anticipated willingness to engage in sexual intercourse across all conditions compared with women</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did the study by Kennair et al. (2009) in Norway find about men's anticipated willingness to engage in sexual intercourse?

    <p>Men reported a greater anticipated willingness to engage in sexual intercourse compared to women</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did the study by Kennair et al. (2009) in Norway replicate from previous findings?

    <p>Men's greater likelihood of consenting to sexual intercourse after little time has elapsed</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did the study by Surbey & Conohan (2000) conclude about men's anticipated willingness to engage in sexual intercourse across a variety of conditions?

    <p>Men reported a greater anticipated willingness to engage in sexual intercourse compared to women</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is a key finding about women who engage in short-term mating?

    <p>They place a premium on the man's physical attractiveness</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What do women desire in a short-term mate based on the resource accrual hypothesis?

    <p>A mate with an extravagant lifestyle and who spends a lot of money on them</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is a greater risk for women than for men in short-term mating?

    <p>Contracting sexually transmitted diseases</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What do women prioritize in the short-term mating context according to the text?

    <p>Immediate resources</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What do women place a premium on when engaging in short-term mating, according to the text?

    <p>Man's physical attractiveness</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is a significant risk for women in short-term mating, as highlighted in the text?

    <p>Contracting sexually transmitted diseases</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did the Kinsey study estimate about extramarital affairs?

    <p>50 percent of men and 26 percent of women had them</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did Thomas Gregor note about sexual feelings of Amazonian Mehinaku men?

    <p>Sex with spouses is 'mana' and sex with lovers is 'awirintyapa'</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did Kinsey suggest about the human male and female in terms of sexual partners?

    <p>Male would be promiscuous, female less interested in variety</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did Symons' study indicate about prostitution?

    <p>It reflects men's greater desire for casual sex</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did the study reveal about the number of active prostitutes within the United States?

    <p>Estimates range from 100,000 to 500,000</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did Gregor describe as the variation in women's sexual attractiveness among Amazonian Mehinaku men?

    <p>From 'favorless' (mana) to the 'delicious' (awirintya)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the primary function of a woman's orgasm according to evolutionary perspectives?

    <p>To draw sperm into the cervical canal and uterus</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What factor is associated with women being more likely to experience sexual orgasm with men in short-term mating?

    <p>Masculinity and physical attractiveness</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What are the proposed classes of benefits for women engaging in short-term mating?

    <p>Mate switching, short-term for long-term mating goals, and mate manipulation</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is one of the genetic benefit hypotheses for women engaging in short-term mating?

    <p>Enhanced fertility</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What behavior do women engage in to increase the likelihood of conception with their lovers?

    <p>Timing copulations to coincide with ovulation</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the potential selection pressure over evolutionary time related to women's sexual behavior?

    <p>Retaining 70% of sperm if they have an orgasm</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did Kinsey find about American men and prostitution?

    <p>69% of American men had solicited a prostitute, and 15% used prostitution regularly</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What does 'hooking up' refer to?

    <p>Spontaneous sexual interactions without a promise of future intimacy</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Who is more likely to initiate 'hooking up' and report having at least one friend with benefits?

    <p>Men</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What does the physiology of women's orgasm provide a clue to?

    <p>An evolutionary history of short-term mating</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What does the text suggest about the number of short-term matings for men and women?

    <p>The number of short-term matings must be identical, on average, for men and women</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What does the text suggest about men's evolved desire for sexual variety?

    <p>It is powerful and may be linked to ancestral women's engagement in short-term mating</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the potential benefit for women engaging in short-term mating according to the text?

    <p>Enhancing genetic diversity in their children</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is a potential risk for unmarried women pursuing casual sex according to the text?

    <p>Physical and sexual abuse</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is a potential consequence for an unfaithful married woman engaging in short-term mating according to the text?

    <p>Resource withdrawal by her husband</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is a potential risk for women adopting an exclusively short-term sexual strategy according to the text?

    <p>Impairing desirability as long-term mates</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is a potential consequence for women developing reputations for promiscuity according to the text?

    <p>Severe costs</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is a potential benefit for women using short-term mating according to the text?

    <p>Assessing and evaluating prospective long-term mates</p> Signup and view all the answers

    According to Glass and Wright (1992), what did women rate as the most compelling justification for an affair?

    <p>Emotional intimacy</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What percentage of women viewed love as a compelling justification for an affair, according to the text?

    <p>77 percent</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did Greiling and Buss (2000) examine in relation to women and affairs?

    <p>The benefits women perceive as likely to come from affairs</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did Greiling and Buss (2000) find about the perceived benefits of affairs for women?

    <p>Women perceive emotional intimacy as the main benefit</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did 43 percent of the men view as a compelling justification for an affair?

    <p>Emotional intimacy</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did Glass and Wright (1985) find about the happiness of women who have affairs?

    <p>They are significantly less happy with their current partner</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did Glass and Wright (1992) examine in relation to extramarital affairs?

    <p>The justifications for extramarital affairs</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What do women prioritize for casual sex, according to the text?

    <p>Physical attractiveness, desirability to other women, and confident, daring, successful men</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What do studies show about women's preferences around ovulation?

    <p>Increased attraction to symmetrical features, facial and body masculinity, tallness, and social dominance</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is a potential reason for women pursuing short-term mating, according to the text?

    <p>Seeking good genes for offspring</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is a key aspect of female short-term mating psychology mentioned in the text?

    <p>Assessing long-term prospects, acquiring resources, and securing better genes</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is a potential reason for women using short-term mating, as mentioned in the text?

    <p>Exchanging or converting female sexuality into other resources</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is a factor that plays a role in women's subjective perceptions of pursuing short-term mating?

    <p>Context effects and individual differences</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is a potential adaptive benefit of women engaging in short-term mating, according to the text?

    <p>Securing better genes</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did Greiling and Buss study in 2000?

    <p>Women's perceptions of the benefits of short-term mating</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What do women pursuing short-term mating view as more beneficial?

    <p>Sexual resources and material resources</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did the study find about women pursuing short-term mating and their willingness to have sex?

    <p>They were considerably more willing to have sex without requiring signs of commitment</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What do sexually unrestricted women tend to show more dramatic shifts in during ovulation?

    <p>Dress provocativeness</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the perceived association of men with tattoos according to the text?

    <p>They are perceived to have had a larger number of sex partners</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What do people perceive about men who smoke and drink alcohol a lot?

    <p>They are inclined to short-term mating</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What can judges reasonably accurately predict about women's sexual strategy based on specific cues?

    <p>Their sexual strategy</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What do women and men with tattoos tend to be perceived as?

    <p>More sexually experienced</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What do women pursuing short-term mating view as less likely to occur?

    <p>Reputational damage</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the good genes hypothesis related to women's short-term mating?

    <p>Women seek partners with good genes to secure genetic benefits for their offspring.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the mate switching hypothesis of short-term mating?

    <p>Women engage in short-term mating to test a man's compatibility for a long-term relationship.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What might prompt a woman to have an affair, according to the text?

    <p>All of the above</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is a potential reason for women using short-term mating, as mentioned in the text?

    <p>To test a man as a potential long-term mate</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is a key aspect of female short-term mating psychology mentioned in the text?

    <p>Women engage in short-term mating to secure genetic benefits for their offspring</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What do women desire in a short-term mate based on the resource accrual hypothesis?

    <p>Women aim to secure resources from short-term partners</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did the actual adaptive benefits leading to the evolution of women's short-term mating psychology suggest?

    <p>The benefits may be outside women's awareness</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did father absence during upbringing correlate with in men?

    <p>Expressing unwillingness to commit to long-term relationships</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is linked to daughters reaching puberty earlier and engaging in sexual activity sooner?

    <p>Father absence</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is linked to early puberty and early sexual activity among girls?

    <p>Childhood sexual abuse</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is linked to promoting early sexual maturation in girls?

    <p>Stepfather presence</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is linked to sexual promiscuity for both sexes?

    <p>Poor attachment to parents</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What do adolescents in many cultures use temporary mating for?

    <p>To assess their value on the mating market</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What influences the likelihood of pursuing a short-term sexual strategy?

    <p>The sex ratio in the relevant mating pool</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did the study by Sevi, Aral, & Eskenazi (2017) find about women and men pursuing short-term mating?

    <p>They were more motivated to use the dating app Tinder for seeking casual sex partners</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did the study by Campbell et al. (2009) find about sexually unrestricted women?

    <p>They tended to have a more masculine facial appearance</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did the study by Mikach & Bailey (1999) find about unrestricted women?

    <p>They tended to have higher scores on interviewer-rated physical masculinity and behavioral masculinity</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did the study by Boothroyd et al. (2008) find about facial masculinity and short-term mating strategy?

    <p>Facial masculinity was linked with a short-term mating strategy only in men, not in women</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the link between sexual disgust and short-term mating strategy according to the text?

    <p>High levels of sexual disgust would interfere with a strategy of casual sex with multiple partners</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did Al-Shawaf, Lewis, & Buss (2015) find about people pursuing a short-term mating strategy?

    <p>They tend to have lower thresholds for sexual disgust</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the potential cue to sexual strategy mentioned in the text?

    <p>Mate preferences of those who pursue short-term mating</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What does Trivers's theory of parental investment and sexual selection suggest about ancestral men?

    <p>They benefited reproductively from short-term mating through increased offspring</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What does empirical evidence strongly support regarding men's desire for short-term mating compared to women?

    <p>Men's greater desire for short-term mating</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is a key influence on the inclination towards short-term mating in both men and women?

    <p>Contextual factors like sex ratio and mate value</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What personality characteristics predict an inclination towards short-term mating?

    <p>Extraversion and low agreeableness</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What does the text emphasize the importance of understanding regarding short-term mating strategies in men and women?

    <p>The evolutionary and psychological factors driving these strategies</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is a potential consequence for women developing reputations for promiscuity according to the text?

    <p>Social stigma and negative judgment</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the significance of human males having relatively large testes, accounting for 0.079% of body weight?

    <p>It suggests increased sperm competition in short-term mating</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What do men prioritize in short-term sex partners, shifting significantly towards this preference?

    <p>Youth and physical attractiveness</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is a potential risk for unmarried women pursuing casual sex according to the text?

    <p>Negative impact on reputation and social judgment</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the 'Dark Triad' of personality associated with?

    <p>Exploitative short-term mating strategies</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is linked to women following a more unrestricted (short-term) mating strategy?

    <p>Low waist-to-hip ratio</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is a male indicator of mate value linked with success at short-term mating?

    <p>Social dominance</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What does a surplus of women predict?

    <p>Increased endorsement of short-term mating strategies</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is a potential cue to sexual strategy mentioned in the text?

    <p>Waist-to-hip ratio</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the effect of experiments creating a surplus of women?

    <p>Increased desire for short-term mating and infidelity</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the impact of the increasing imbalance of enrolling in colleges in North America and Western Europe?

    <p>Linked to the rise of hook-up culture</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Study Notes

    Evidence for Sperm Competition and Short-Term Mating in Humans

    • Sperm competition pressures males to produce large ejaculates with numerous sperm for a reproductive advantage.
    • Human males have relatively large testes, accounting for 0.079% of body weight, indicating sperm competition and short-term mating.
    • Human testicular volume is smaller than the highly promiscuous chimpanzee, suggesting lower levels of indiscriminate mating.
    • Human females have an estimated 1.1 male sex partners per birth, indicating moderate levels of sperm competition.
    • Variations in sperm production and insemination indicate increased sperm count when couples are apart, suggesting adaptation for sperm competition.
    • Psychological evidence shows the desire for sexual variety and the motivating force of lust in men.
    • Research shows that a substantially larger percentage of men desire more than one sex partner over the next month in various cultures.
    • Norwegian culture, with high gender equality, still shows men desiring seven sex partners over the next year, while women desire roughly 2.
    • The desire for sexual variety is evident in psychological factors such as the nature and frequency of sexual fantasies and the "closing time phenomenon."
    • Men's sperm count increases when separated from their partners, indicating adaptation for potential extramarital sex and sperm competition.
    • Men inseminate more sperm upon being reunited with their partners after prolonged separation, to increase their chances in the race to the egg.
    • The increase in sperm insemination by husbands after prolonged separation ensures their sperm's competitive advantage in the reproductive tract.

    Sexual Psychology and Behavior Differences Between Men and Women

    • Women's sexual fantasies tend to involve familiar partners, with 59% of American women focusing on someone they are already involved with romantically and sexually, compared to 28% of men.
    • Emotions and personality are crucial for women in their sexual fantasies, with 41% of women focusing on the personal and emotional characteristics of their fantasized partner, compared to 16% of men.
    • Women are more likely to emphasize tenderness, romance, and personal involvement in their sexual fantasies, but there are large individual differences within each gender.
    • Men, on average, report having a higher sex drive than women in every nation, as shown in a study involving more than 200,000 individuals from 53 nations.
    • The sex difference in sex drive remains consistent across nations with varying levels of gender equality, contradicting the notion that these differences are caused by economic gender inequality.
    • Men oriented toward short-term mating are sensitive to detecting sexually attractive women who display cues of vulnerability to being sexually seduced or deceived.
    • Men found women displaying cues to sexual exploitability to be sexually attractive for short-term mateship but unattractive for a long-term mate.
    • Men, more than women, regret missed sexual opportunities, while women are more likely to regret acts of sexual commission, wishing they had not had sex with someone they did have sex with.
    • These gender differences in sexual regret have been replicated in Norway, a sexually egalitarian country, suggesting an evolved feature in men to facilitate acting on future sexual opportunities and avoid entangling commitments.
    • Studies have shown that men across cultures pursue short-term mating more than women do, providing behavioral evidence to support the long evolutionary history of men seeking short-term mating with a variety of women.
    • Men's sexual psychology may have evolved to facilitate acting on future sexual opportunities and avoid entangling commitments through feelings of regret and sensitivity to sexually attractive women displaying cues of vulnerability.
    • Understanding men's sexual psychology can potentially lead to a reduction in sexual exploitation and a deeper understanding of men's behavior in short-term mating.

    Evolutionary Psychology of Short-Term Mating in Women

    • Short-term mates may provide superior genes compared to a woman's regular mate, potentially giving her offspring better chances for survival or reproduction
    • The sexy son hypothesis suggests that a woman mating with an attractive man may bear a son who is more attractive to women in the next generation
    • Short-term mates can enhance genetic diversity in a woman's children, serving as a hedge against environmental change or high pathogen levels
    • Women may benefit from short-term mating to cope with a declining long-term mate, leading to variants like the mate expulsion and trading up hypotheses
    • Short-term mating can be used by women to assess and evaluate prospective long-term mates, revealing qualities and hidden costs
    • Engaging in short-term mating allows women to clarify the qualities desired in a long-term mate and hone their skills of attraction and seduction
    • Women might engage in short-term mating to manipulate their long-term mate, potentially gaining revenge or increasing commitment
    • Women risk impairing their desirability as long-term mates if they develop reputations for promiscuity, leading to severe costs
    • Women adopting an exclusively short-term sexual strategy are at greater risk of physical and sexual abuse
    • Unmarried women pursuing casual sex risk pregnancy and bearing children without the support of an investing man, leading to higher risks for the children
    • An unfaithful married woman risks resource withdrawal by her husband and increasing sibling competition among her children
    • Women suffer more damage to their status and reputation as a consequence of short-term sex compared to men

    Women's Short-Term Mating Psychology

    • Women's beliefs about the benefits of short-term mating may not contribute to the evolutionary selection pressure for women's short-term mating psychology.
    • The actual adaptive benefits leading to the evolution of women's short-term mating psychology may be outside women's awareness.
    • Women's actual benefits from short-term mating in modern contexts may not reflect the adaptive benefits received by ancestral women.
    • Women reported that engaging in an extra-pair mating made it easier for a woman to break up with her current partner and find a more desirable partner.
    • Sexual gratification was not central to the investigated hypotheses on the benefits of engaging in extra-pair mating.
    • Contexts that might prompt a woman to have an affair include discovering that a partner was having an affair, having a partner unwilling to engage in sexual relations, and having an abusive partner.
    • The mate switching hypothesis of short-term mating received support from various studies, suggesting that women may switch partners to find someone more compatible or with better financial prospects.
    • Women were judged to be highly likely to receive resources in exchange for sex, such as free dinners, money, jewelry, or clothing.
    • Women's decision to have an extra-pair sexual liaison may be influenced by access to resources and a long-term interest in having a mate with resources.
    • Women use short-term mating as a means to evaluate a man as a long-term mate, finding promiscuity and a man already in an existing relationship as undesirable traits in a short-term mate.
    • Women engage in short-term sexual encounters with the hope of turning them into long-term romantic relationships, supporting the short-term for long-term goals hypothesis.
    • The good genes hypothesis suggests that women can secure genes from a short-term affair partner that are superior to those of her regular partner. This hypothesis has been tested through measuring genetic quality and physical symmetry.

    The Evolution of Short-Term Sexual Strategies

    • The scientific study of mating has historically focused on marriage, but human anatomy and psychology suggest a history of affairs and short-term mating.
    • Trivers's theory of parental investment and sexual selection suggests ancestral men benefited reproductively from short-term mating through increased offspring.
    • Empirical evidence strongly supports men's greater desire for short-term mating compared to women, evidenced by various behaviors and psychological differences.
    • Short-term mating requires the participation of willing women, and there is evidence that women historically engaged in short-term mating.
    • Women engaging in short-term mating may have reaped adaptive benefits, including economic resources, genetic benefits, mate switching, and short-term goals.
    • There are detectable individual differences in inclination towards short-term or long-term mating strategies, with specific physical and behavioral cues.
    • Contextual factors, such as sex ratio and mate value, influence the inclination towards short-term mating in both men and women.
    • Men with high mate value, indicated by various factors, are more likely to pursue short-term mating, while the link between women's mate value and sexual strategy is more mixed.
    • Personality characteristics, such as extraversion and low agreeableness, predict an inclination towards short-term mating.
    • The chapter raises critical thinking questions about how men's psychological proclivities facilitate the success of a short-term mating strategy.
    • The text emphasizes the importance of understanding the evolutionary and psychological factors that drive short-term mating strategies in men and women.
    • Future research is expected to provide more insights into the circumstances and personal qualities that cause individuals to shift to short-term or long-term mating strategies.

    Short-Term Mating Strategies and Sex Ratios

    • Surplus of males predicts polyandry, a form of mating where one woman marries more than one man
    • In cultures with a surplus of women, people are more likely to endorse short-term mating strategies
    • Experiments creating a surplus of women cause men to desire short-term mating and infidelity
    • Scarcity of women is linked to lower inclinations for short-term mating
    • The increasing imbalance of enrolling in colleges in North America and Western Europe is affecting sex ratios
    • The rise of hook-up culture on college campuses may be linked to a surplus of women
    • Mate value, one’s overall desirability to the opposite sex, affects short-term mating
    • High-mate-value men tend to have more sexual partners and pursue short-term mating strategies
    • Male indicators of mate value linked with success at short-term mating include status, resources, social dominance, body attractiveness, and athleticism
    • Women with a low waist-to-hip ratio tend to follow a more unrestricted (short-term) mating strategy
    • Personality traits, including high extraversion, low agreeableness, and low conscientiousness, predict an interest in short-term mating
    • The "Dark Triad" of personality—narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism—predict exploitative short-term mating strategies

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    Test your knowledge on the evidence for sperm competition and short-term mating in humans with this quiz. Explore topics such as testicular size, sperm production, psychological factors, and cultural influences on mating desires.

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