Sex Differences in Sexual Psychology Produce Sex-Similar Preferences for a Short-Term Mate

Abstract

We explored aspects of men's and women's short-term sexual psychology as a function of a potential short-term partner's relationship status. A total of 209 men and 288 women reported how likely they would be to pursue a casual sexual relationship with an attractive member of the opposite sex who was (1) married, (2) not married but has casual sexual partners, or (3) not married and has no casual sexual partners. Guided by sperm competition theory, we predicted and found that men prefer short-term sex partners who are not already involved in relationships and hence present a relatively low risk of sperm competition. Because women sometimes use short-term sexual relationships to acquire long-term partners, we predicted and found that women prefer short-term sexual partners who are not already involved in relationships and hence present relatively greater promise as a potential long-term partner. Finally, across each of the three levels of the imagined partner's relationship status, men reported a greater likelihood than did women of pursuing a casual sexual relationship. Discussion addressed methodological limitations and directions for future work.

Sexual coercion and forced in-pair copulation as sperm competition tactics in humans

“…To assess men's sexual coercion in the current relationship, the last section of the survey included the male version of the Sexual Coercion in Intimate Relationships Scale (SCIRS; Shackelford and Goetz 2004). The SCIRS asked how often the participant performed 34 sexually coercive acts in the past month.…”

“…Psychological, behavioral, physiological, anatomical, and genetic evidence reveals that ancestral women sometimes mated with multiple men within sufficiently short time periods so that sperm from two or more males simultaneously occupied the reproductive tract of one woman (Baker and Bellis 1993;Gallup et al 2003;Kilgallon and Simmons 2005;Pound 2002;Shackelford et al 2002Shackelford et al , 2004Shackelford, Pound, and Goetz 2005;Smith 1984;Wyckoff, Wang, and Wu 2000). This adaptive problem led to the evolution of adaptive solutions to sperm competition.…”

“…FIPC is just one aspect of a constellation of behaviors that comprise sexual coercion in intimate relationships (Koss and Oros 1982;Shackelford and Goetz 2004;Weis and Borges 1973), but the explicit use of force to obtain sexual intercourse is likely the most costly, to both the victims and perpetrators. The severity of FIPC is demonstrated in the finding that physically abused women who experience FIPC have significantly more negative health symptoms and gynecological problems than women who are physically abused but not raped by their partner (e.g., Campbell and Soeken 1999).…”

“…Given the potentially devastating costs associated with FIPC, sexual coercion is likely to take more subtle forms. Shackelford and Goetz (2004), for example, documented that men sexually coerce their partner by hinting about withholding benefits, threatening relationship defection, and manipulating their partner's commitment to the relationship (e.g., "If you love me, you'll have sex with me"). By using more discreet forms of sexual coercion (as opposed to using explicit force), men may avoid inflicting on their partner some of the costs associated with FIPC and they may avoid their partner's defection from the relationship.…”

With or without you: does partner satisfaction and partner-directed violence influence the presence of a partner on women’s Facebook cover profile photographs?

“…We are not aware of any study examining this association, but deception in cyberspace does exist (Toma & Hancock, 2010). Furthermore, if a woman presents herself as not being explicitly involved in a romantic relationship, her attractiveness for men is higher than when involvement in a romantic relationship is shown (Shackelford et al, 2004).…”