Husband's Esteem Predicts his Mate Retention Tactics

Abstract

delity or prevent their defection from the relationship. These tactics include low-risk acts that render the current relationship more attractive by bestowing benefits on the woman, as well as cost-inflicting acts that render defection from the relationship risky or dangerous for her. Previous research has linked men's mate retention behavior with men's mate value (value as a current or potential partner) using women's reports. The current research addresses limitations of that research using self-reports and cross-spousal reports from 107 married couples concerning their self-esteem and their esteem for their partner. The results indicate that the level of esteem that wives have for their husbands is positively associated with their perception of their husband's use of positive inducements and negatively associated with their husband's self-reported use of cost-inflicting mate retention behaviors (i.e., Direct Guarding, Intersexual Negative Inducements, and Intrasexual Negative Inducements). The level of self-esteem reported by men was negatively associated with their self-reported direct guarding behavior. Discussion explores the possibility that esteem—both self-esteem and esteem from one's partner—functions as an internal gauge of relative mate value.

The impact of relationship‐contingent self‐esteem on mate retention and reactions to threat

“…In addition, contingent self‐esteem often drives self‐esteem level in that successes and failures in the domain of contingency (e.g., relationships) lead to fluctuations in self‐esteem level (Crocker & Wolfe, ). Thus, RCSE may moderate the association between self‐esteem level and mate retention behavior that has been observed in previous work (Holden, Shackelford, et al, ).…”

“…The results of Study 1 showed that self‐esteem level was positively associated with benefit‐provisioning behaviors and negatively associated with cost‐inflicting behaviors (see also Holden, Shackelford, et al, ). Consistent with our hypotheses, RCSE was positively associated with both benefit‐provisioning and cost‐inflicting behaviors.…”

“…Finally, self‐esteem level has also been found to be associated with mate retention behaviors. Specifically, individuals with high levels of self‐esteem report engaging in more benefit‐provisioning behaviors, avoiding cost‐inflicting behaviors (Holden, Shackelford, et al, ). This suggests that individuals who have relatively positive views of themselves may be more likely to focus the attention of their partners on the benefits that can be derived from the relationship, whereas individuals who have relatively negative evaluations (i.e., low self‐esteem)—or are uncertain about how they see themselves—may be more likely to resort to the imposition of costs to keep their partners investing in the relationship.…”

Mate Value Discrepancy and Attachment Anxiety Predict the Perpetration of Digital Dating Abuse

“…Mate retention behaviours are often performed to reduce the likelihood of partner infidelity and relationship termination (Buss and Shackelford 1997), which can vary between sexes. For example, in research exploring men's use of mate retention behaviour in marriages, it has been found that a husband's self-esteem predicts likelihood of engaging in mate retention tactics (see Holden et al 2014). Furthermore, recent evidence suggests that those who have anxious attachment styles often engage in mate retention behaviours (Barbaro et al in press).…”

Normas y Creencias de la Permanencia Relacional: Diseño y Validación de una Medida

“…En el caso de los hombres las categorías iden ficadas sólo en ellos fueron: pasión y porque su pareja le es significa va, mismas que vistas desde la perspec va de las Teorías del Refuerzo, remarcan las atracciones, las recompensas, las sa sfacciones o los refuerzos que ob enen de la relación, es decir aquello percibido como un beneficio y que fomentan la sa sfacción con la relación (Maner, Gailliot, & Miller, 2009), así mismo se ha observado, en estudios anteriores, que para el sexo masculino la sa sfacción con su pareja, el interés y la pasión que despiertan su pareja, son fuertes predictores para la permanencia relacional (Holden et al, 2014). Las mujeres, sin embargo, mencionaron que se debe permanecer para para ser plenas, esta dimensión esta mazada por el ideal cultural de la relación de pareja, en la que la que se considera que cada individuo necesita a "su media naranja" para complementarse y/o realizarse a través del establecimiento de una familia propia, especialmente esta premisa ene un importante peso cultural para las mujeres, en las que el paradigma de la maternidad es visto como el ideal de realización personal (Díaz Guerrero, 2003).…”