CMU Psychology Department

352ep · Member

Short-term mating strategies

samuel barton · Member

I'm skeptical of the +3 to -3 rating system used in pretty much all of these experiments. I've been skeptical about this for a while but this reading is when i really paid attention to it. Admittedly, I don't have any bright ideas for a better way to operationalize stuff like how attractive a person finds another person. Admittedly, I see how these studies fit together with all the other studies/discoveries from other fields of psychology to provide holistic evidence for a theory [following the framework we read about in the first week]. But ultimately i can't fully accept results of studies on things like interpersonal attraction when they're presented as "(r = +0.29)."

I also wish more focus had been put on the Dark Triad stuff they touched on at the end of the chapter, including more extensive descriptions of what exploitative short-term mating strategies are.

chichidonguyen · Member

The book talked about the absence of a father and presence of a step father affecting a woman through her menstrual cycle and her short-term mating strategies. Why does it affect woman if it said that paternal investment was geared more towards teaching men social alliances? What effect does this have on men's mating strategies?

mwiltsie · Member

I'm still a bit fuzzy on why men would lower their standards for mates in a short-term relationship. Wouldn't a child born with a less ideal mate have less chance of surviving, thus to making it less likely for the father's tendency towards short term mating be passed on? I understand that "taking what you can get" allows for more potential offspring. But if those offspring are conceived with a less desirable mate (most likely a genetically inferior mate) AND those offspring don't have the father around to provide additional resources, how do these offspring live long enough to pass on genes that encourage short term mating with lower valued mates? I suppose one could argue that the sheer number of offspring produced via these short term matings was enough to counteract the produced offspring's reduced likelihood of reproduction. However, I still don't buy that argument.

JenniferElkin · Member

I understand the factors that many females look for in a male for short-term mating, as well as the factors that many males look for in a female. However, I feel like each generation brings more and more diversity to the population. As a result, I feel like there are people finding a variety of different things attractive in a mate. For example, personally, I really do not have a preference in terms of looks. I also know many people who agree that they look for a nice personality above all else. However, evolutionary psychology has suggested that females look for good-looking men with potential financial success. Although I'll admit that I'm not in the majority on this one, I do know that there are plenty of people who feel the same way that I do. That is why I am wondering if evolutionary psychologists have considered researching how different types of females or males vary in terms of their preferences in a mate. In other words, do female athletes tend to find certain characteristics attractive in a male mate versus female artists?

adam · Member

After reading the section in the book on short term mating, I see that Buss made a great generalization of what I already knew about short term sexual strategies. I think that the most important argument that Buss does not say exactly is that short-term mating really is not about good quality relationships or offspring, but rather short-term mating is all about a numbers game. Buss did not argue that short-term mating is a numbers game, but I see it as such, because there is substantial risk in having a short term mate and the outcomes for them (especially in the EEA where this trait was formed) are not very positive. So short term mating is all about increasing the number of offspring had and not focusing in on how things will turn out in the long term. My question is there an evolved mechanism for bridging a short term relationship into a long term one?

KenWang · Member

This chapter states that high-mate value men are more inclined to pursue a short-term mating strategy, and also that the so-called "dark triad" of personality - the traits of narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism - predict exploitative short-term mating strategies in men. Could these two ideas be combined to formulate the conclusion that men of high-mate value are more likely to display the "dark triad" of personality traits compared to their lower mate-value counterparts? If this were true, it would be very disconcerting because we've learned that higher-mate value men are more likely to successfully mate and thus pass on their "dark triad" genes to the next generation of offspring. This cycle would continue to repeat in the subsequent generations leading to a theoretical future population of deceptive, self-centered men. This is all speculation of course and it also is based off of the assumption that acquired genes are predictive of certain personality traits (let's not get into a nature vs. nurture debate please).

asdinard · Member

The readings mentioned self-esteem a few times, and how it seems to have the opposite effect with regards to each sex. That is, why do men with high self-esteem engage more in short-term mating whereas women with lower self-esteem engage in more short-term mating?

Laine · Member

I agree with mwiltsie that the offspring a man has from a short term mating will not be as likely to survive and thrive, but what cost is the man paying? A half hour and some sperm he will have replenished by the next day? Yes, a man's the benefit from a shot term mating is low, but what matters is that the cost is even lower.

Kimberly · Member

The text mentions that although short term mating has costs for both genders, it has significant benefits as well, and seems to suggests that humans were designed for short term mating as well as long term mating. So, why is having an open marriage so taboo?

Laine · Member

To asdinard, on self esteem and mating strategies.

I would guess that men with high self-esteem engage in more short-term mating because they believe that many high value females will agree to mate with them, even without an offer of commitment. One reason for a male to engage in a long-term strategy is to acquire a higher value female, but this would not be as necessary for a very high value male. A long-term strategy would still provide his offspring with a better chance of surviving and thriving, but to a high value male, this would be in exchange for many possible children from short-term matings.

A female with low self esteem may not believe themselves valuable enough to secure commitment from a quality male, and so not believe following a long-term mating strategy to be productive.

aubreyh · Member

I am curious about the progression from short term mating to long term mating, as we have discussed that finding a new long term mate (or mate switching) is a legitimate reason that humans (especially females?) will engage in short term mating. What about that interim time? Are there mechanisms that affect how or why we move from short term relationships to long term ones?

Laurel · Member

The chapter discusses men and women's preferences and adaptations with regard to short term mating, however there is little detail with regard to how men and women actually initiate/pursue short term mates. How might men go about initiating these relationships? Do women ever initiate short term mate-ships? Is there a difference between people who are seeking extra-marital affairs vs. people seeking "hookups"?

What counts as cheating/having an extra-marital affair? Is it just a kiss (which is not likely to result in pregnancy for the women, but could be a gateway to more)? Or is it only cheating when it is full on sex, where a women might get pregnant with another man's child or a man might get a woman pregnant and divert resources from his wife?

rhiatt · Member

I took issue with Buss' statement "casual sex typically requires the consent of both sexes." Even if men have higher preference than women to engage in short term mating strategies, both parties need to agree to casual sex. Consent is always required in any sexual encounter, including short term mating, otherwise it would be classified as rape.

Additionally, it was interesting to me that most of the emphasis on women's short term strategies was on women cheating. Most of the discussion for why women would want a short term partner is because their long term partner is not satisfying them. I feel that their was a lack of discussion on women pursuing short term mating strategies before marriage.

bflatley · Member

I wonder if women's attraction to short term mating could be more of a by product of us as a species enjoying sex. There does not seem to be a ton of evolutionary advantages to women taking part in short term mating and a lot of women report that they do it because they are sexually unsatisfied.

Also if we seem to be incompatible to monogamous relationships why does our society hold to it so much? It's loosening now and there have always been extramarital affairs but they are so socially stigmatized despite our evolutionary drives.

jsokolos · Member

If women are interested in short-term mating in order to find a long-term mate, why aren't men as well? Based on the premise that for every male short-term mating, there is also a female short-term mating, it would also follow that for every female long-term mating there is a male long-term mating. So to some extent aren't men engaging in short-term mating as a way to find a long-term mate? Or are they just being "sucked into" a long-term mating by the woman they are with?

AshleyChen · Member

Short-term mating ends in two ways: a long term relationship, or a break-up. The common consensus seems to be that women typically are the ones that want to turn a short term hookup or affair to a long term relationship. Is there a threshold for men? For example, do men ever end up wanting to have a relationship with a prostitute, the ideal short term mate? At what point do men want to turn a hook up into a relationship?

WyattIsMyName · Member

I think, anecdotally, that when a guy goes around looking for a short term mates, at least a small part of him hopes for such a mating to turn into a long term. Based off stories friends have told me of guys who get with a lot of girls then are sad when none of these end up a relationship, I'd say that a guy goes into some short term mating scenarios looking for a potential long term mate, making the short term strategies even more complicated.

JackieRoss · Member

I find it interesting that men settle when engaging in short-term mating strategies. I would understand if they were only settling in terms of intelligence and personality, but I don't understand why they settle for physical attractiveness. It seems to me that both men and women would prefer physically attractive mates for short-term because physical attraction is more instant and carnal.

amanday · Member

I wonder at what point short-term mating becomes long-term mating, and what kinds of cues indicate a turn of preference from short to long-term mating. A lot of long-term relationships stem from short-term encounters, so how easy is it to differentiate between the two strategies? What causes the shift and what kind of transitional cues do people give off consciously and subconsciously to hint at this shift?