An Evolutionary Explanation for Sex Differences in Nonmarital Breakup Experiences

Abstract

Previous research has extensively studied sex differences in mating strategies such as mate preferences and degree of choosiness and how these affect relationship initiation. Very little research, however, has examined these sex differences and how they may play a role in nonmarital relationship dissolution. The existing literature that does examine nonmarital breakups tends to do so from a clinical perspective and neglects the evolutionary approach. The current study uses self-report data gathered from 392 participants through Mechanical Turk to expand upon the sparse existing literature on nonmarital relationship dissolution from an evolutionary perspective to investigate how sex differences in mating strategies affect breakup processes such as the coping period, emotions experienced, and post-breakup behaviors. Results revealed that women require a longer time period to get over an ex-partner with a good sense of humor and are more likely to make in-person contact with such an ex-partner. For postbreakup emotions, women were significantly more likely to report feeling happy which likely is a reflection of the finding that they were more likely to initiate breakups. Men, on the other hand, were more likely to report feeling sexually frustrated following relationship dissolution. Post-breakup behaviors were predicted by breakup initiator rather than participant gender. Overall, these findings support sexual dimorphism in the value of humor and greater female choosiness even after initial mate selection.

Romantic Relationship Dissolution, Microbiota, and Fibers

“…Secondly, instead of stress-provoking, romantic relationship dissolution can sometimes be stressrelieving and not-applicable for this hypothesis. Thirdly, despite potential biases in participant recruitment and study design, sex differences in emotional responsiveness (36) and resilience (37) to romantic relationship dissolution are suggested. A significant sex difference in depression prevalence is also wellacknowledged (38).…”

Love Is Not an Emotion

“…In marriages not motivated by love, but by the cultural creation of love, through the passage of time and with the same partner, in both sexes a process of tolerance or routine is developed which diminishes the pleasure of sex, in the same way as does the increasing sensitivity and growing intolerance towards the more unbearable aspects of the sexual partner. The same applies to other types of matching (De Lecce & Weisfeld, 2016). These physiological changes, extensively described in neuroscience (Nestler, 1993;Engelke et al, 2016), pharmacology (Skupio et al, 2016) and psychology amongst other sciences, are those directly responsible for the failure of marriages not based on the motivation of love but rather on sexual motivation.…”

Testing the ability of the benefit-provisioning and cost-inflicting mate retention domains to predict initiator of relationship dissolution

“…Two main instruments were used for this study. The first was the Relationship Dissolution Questionnaire (RDQ), which is a self-report measure that inquires about emotions and behaviors experienced because of a non-marital breakup as well as items on mate value of the self and the ex-partner based on characteristics such as physical attractiveness, intelligence, and sense of humor (see DeLecce & Weisfeld, 2016). The RDQ is largely based on a questionnaire used by Perilloux and Buss (2008) in terms of items on emotions and behaviors, but was expanded to include a subscale measuring mate value (of both the participant completing the survey and the ex-partner as reported by the participant) and other items related to the process of the breakup itself (e.g., who initiated it, relationship length before breakup).…”