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Previous research has demonstrated that men’s lower mate value predicts increased perpetration of mate retention, especially with respect to cost inflicting behaviors. It is less clear if lower mate value women, including those who perceive themselves as being less physically attractive than their intrasexual rivals, also perpetrate more mate retention. Moreover, it is presently unclear whether romantic jealousy, which has been proposed to motivate compensatory behavior in response to evidence that a valued mating relationship is threatened, might mediate this link. The present study addressed this gap in knowledge by examining whether women’s overall self-perceived mate value and upward physical appearance comparisons predicted their cost inflicting and benefit provisioning mate retention, as well as whether jealousy mediated these relationships. In a sample of 167 heterosexual undergraduate women, results found self-perceived mate value predicted greater benefit provisioning mate retention, but not romantic jealousy. In contrast, jealousy mediated the relationship between women’s upward physical appearance comparisons and both their cost-inflicting and benefit-provisioning mate retention, supporting the hypothesis that jealousy in the face of unfavorable social comparisons on important mate value traits can promote action aimed at retaining a mate.

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Infidelity is one of the greatest adaptive challenges of our reproductive lives. A partner’s infidelity can lead to their defection from the relationship and offspring, loss of important resources, and for men, cuckoldry. It is unsurprising, then, that humans have evolved adaptations meant to prevent, curtail, and punish a partner’s infidelity. Among the most devastating of these are the perpetration of intimate partner violence, homicide, uxoricide, and filicide. This chapter reviews theory and supporting evidence that aggression has evolved, in part, as an adaptive set of behavior meant to prevent and respond to infidelity. It begins by describing the particular reproductive challenges posed by infidelity for men and women. Next, it reviews the available evidence that violence and killing is an abhorrent, yet predictable response to real or suspected infidelity, with attention paid to sex differences in these acts. The putative adaptive functions of different types of aggression toward an intimate partner, a sexual rival, and toward offspring are discussed. It then highlights the important role of perceptual biases surrounding infidelity and negative affect, including jealousy and anxiety, in mediating aggressive responses to infidelity. Finally, adaptive explanations of individual differences, cultural contexts, and environmental factors in predicting violent responses to infidelity are discussed and future directions are offered in order to highlight the pressing need for continued research on the adaptive functions of violence occurring in the shadow of infidelity.