Sex drive, attachment style, relationship status and previous infidelity as predictors of sex differences in romantic jealousy

Recent research examining sex differences in jealousy suggests that more men than women tend to be distressed by sexual infidelity, and that more women than men tend to be distressed by emotional infidelity. The primary explanation for these findings is that evolution has shaped men’s and women’s responses to enhance their chances of reproductive success. However, within-sex differences are also found in terms of relative level of distress at sexual or emotional infidelity. This study examined the effect of alternative variables, particularly those associated with attachment and sexual motivations, on both between- and within-sex differences in relative distress at sexual and emotional infidelity. A community sample of 437 adults provided data using a self-report questionnaire. The results showed that sex drive was a significant predictor of distress at jealousy for both men and women, while attachment avoidance and previously being the victim of a sexual infidelity were significant predictors for men only, and relationship status was a significant predictor for women only. Overall, these findings support the evolutionary model of jealousy, and suggest that sex-specific evolved psychological mechanisms underpinning jealousy are influenced by attachment and sexual motivations.     

Men’s personality and women’s perception of their dance quality

Recent research shows that women judge men who show variability in their body movements as good dancers. Here we report data on women’s perception of dance quality in 48 men, aged 18-42 years, and relate them to men’s self-reported personality traits. Male participants completed a standardised personality inventory (the NEO-FFI) and then danced to a basic rhythm while their body movements were tracked with optical 3D motion-capture technology. Dance movements were applied to a featureless virtual humanoid character and judged on their dance quality by 53 women, aged 17-57 years, who viewed 15 s of the rendered video clips of each male dancer. Conscientiousness and social agreeableness was correlated positively and significantly with women’s perception of men’s dance quality. Extraversion showed a positive correlation and neuroticism and openness were associated negatively with women’s perception of men’s dance quality, though these correlations failed to reach significance. We suggest that male dance movements may convey aspects of their personality, though possible consequences in terms of female mate preferences and selection remain to be explored.     

Competition and men’s face preferences

Several studies have examined potentially adaptive shifts and sources of individual differences in women’s face preferences, but relatively few studies have looked for similar findings in men. Evidence suggests that men of higher mate-value may be better placed to compete for relationships with higher-quality women, and that contest competition may influence men’s perceptions of dominance. Here, we looked at the effects of winning/losing in male–male competition on men’s face preferences. Participants were randomly and unknowingly assigned to either win or lose the first-person shooter video game Counter-Strike: Source against an unseen male confederate who could control the outcome through game cheats. We found that, compared to men assigned to the losing condition, men assigned to the winning condition had significantly (p = 0.012) higher preferences for women’s facial femininity. Results suggest that the outcomes of male–male competition may alter men’s mate preferences.     

Women, sex, hostility, power, and suspicion: Sexually aggressive men’s cognitive associations

A sequential priming paradigm examined four theories of sexually aggressive men’s cognitive associations between women and sex, women and hostility, women and power, and women and suspicion. Men with varying histories of sexually aggressive behavior viewed female images as primes (along with male image primes and baseline primes) before rendering lexical decisions about target words associated with sex, hostility, power, and suspicion. Men with a history of committing more sexually aggressive behaviors showed stronger associations in memory between women and sex and between women and hostility. Further, more sexually aggressive men also revealed greater chronicity for sex-related concepts in general, based on free recall reports. Implications of the mental representations of women underlying men’s sexually aggressive behaviors are discussed.     

Dads or cads? Women’s strategic decisions in the mating game

We report the findings of two studies (N = 142; N = 28) investigating women’s preference for men in short- and long-term mating scenarios and perceptions of honesty of dating adverts written by men high or low in Machiavellianism. Overall, men low on Machiavellianism (viz., dads), were preferred as long-term mates; and men high on Machiavellianism (viz., cads) as short-term mates. Fertile women preferred cads for a short-term relationship and dads as a long-term partner. Higher ratings were given to all adverts when females were fertile, suggesting generally higher levels of desire for a partner when the possibility of conception is highest. In contrast to previous work suggesting traits like Machiavellianism may facilitate a deceptive or exploitative mating strategy in men, the present results suggest (1) women are attuned to differences in men’s personality as a function of fertility and (2) affirms that women prefer cads for short-term mating and dads for long-term mating.     

Perceived association between diagnostic and non-diagnostic cues of women’s sexual interest: General Recognition Theory predictors of risk for sexual coercion

Young men’s errors in sexual perception have been linked to sexual coercion. The current investigation sought to explicate the perceptual and decisional sources of these social perception errors, as well as their link to risk for sexual violence. General Recognition Theory (GRT; [Ashby, F. G., & Townsend, J. T. (1986). Varieties of perceptual independence. Psychological Review, 93, 154-179]) was used to estimate participants’ ability to discriminate between affective cues and clothing style cues and to measure illusory correlations between men’s perception of women’s clothing style and sexual interest. High-risk men were less sensitive to the distinction between women’s friendly and sexual interest cues relative to other men. In addition, they were more likely to perceive an illusory correlation between women’s diagnostic sexual interest cues (e.g., facial affect) and non-diagnostic cues (e.g., provocative clothing), which increases the probability that high-risk men will misperceive friendly women as intending to communicate sexual interest. The results provide information about the degree of risk conferred by individual differences in perceptual processing of women’s interest cues, and also illustrate how translational scientists might adapt GRT to examine research questions about individual differences in social perception.     

Women’s perception of men’s sensation seeking propensity from their dance movements

Risk-taking behaviour in men, an expression of the more general personality trait sensation seeking, has been hypothesized to be an evolved aspect of male psychology that arose through sexual selection. Sensation seeking could be seen as a costly behavioural trait that signals a man’s health and vigour and is preferred by women. This study extends knowledge about risk-taking as a cue in human mate choice by examining whether women can perceive men’s sensation seeking propensity (assessed with the Sensation Seeking Scale Form V; SSS-V) by viewing their dance movements. We videotaped 50 men’s dancing and had 60 women judge each dancer on perceived attractiveness and risk-taking. A positive and significant correlation was found between women’s attractiveness judgements and male’s SSS-V total score, thrill and adventure seeking, disinhibition and boredom susceptibility. Further, women’s risk-taking judgements were related to men’s boredom susceptibility. We conclude that (i) male sensation seeking propensity is signalled via their dance movements, and (ii) women are sensitive to these cues as they consider men who score high on sensation seeking as attractive. We discuss our results with reference to the evolutionary psychology concept of sexual selection and mate preferences.     

Perceived risk of female infidelity moderates the relationship between men’s personality and partner-directed violence

We hypothesized that men’s personality traits interact with men’s perceived risk of partner’s infidelity to predict men’s partner-directed violence. Moderation analyses of data provided by 467 men in a committed relationship indicated that: (1) men with lower emotional stability, agreeableness, and conscientiousness, and men who perceived greater risk of partner infidelity perpetrated more partner-directed violence, and (2) the relationship between men’s personality traits and partner-directed violence depends on their perceptions of the risk of partner infidelity. Simple slope analyses indicated that: (a) men’s emotional stability and agreeableness predict partner-directed violence only when perceived risk of partner infidelity is low, and (b) men’s conscientiousness predicts partner-directed violence only when perceived risk of partner infidelity is high.     

Women’s physical attractiveness and short-term mating strategies

The current study examined the relationship between women’s physical attractiveness – as rated by themselves and a set of third-party raters – and their mating strategy and sexual experience. Male (N = 105) and female (N = 113) undergraduates rated the attractiveness of face and body photographs of 93 female undergraduates. Attractiveness ratings – particularly bodily attractiveness ratings – were significantly related to women’s mating psychology and behavior. More attractive women reported more sexual experience and a less restricted sociosexual orientation. In addition, some traits better predicted women’s perception of their overall attractiveness, and this pattern was further linked to mating strategy: more sociosexually unrestricted women showed a stronger relationship between bodily traits (i.e., body mass index) and overall attractiveness than less sociosexually unrestricted women. Discussion focuses on the findings that a woman’s mating strategy is linked to both her self-perceived and objective measures of attractiveness, particularly bodily attractiveness.     

The influence of facial masculinity and voice pitch on jealousy and perceptions of intrasexual rivalry

The assessment of same-sex individuals as intrasexual competitors may depend in part on the perceived mate value of potential rivals. Men’s and women’s preferences for vocal and facial masculinity suggest that feminine women and masculine men may be perceived as more threatening intrasexual competitors. We tested the influence of men’s and women’s vocal and facial masculinity on preferences for who should accompany romantic partners on a weekend trip and on jealousy in response to imagined flirting. We found that men and women preferred their partners to be accompanied by people who had less masculine/feminine voices, and were more jealous in response to people who had relatively more masculine/feminine voices. Women, but not men, rated faces with exaggerated sex-typical characteristics as undesirable travel companions for their romantic partners and reported more jealousy in response to imagined flirting from such faces. We also found that participants who rated masculine male and feminine female stimuli as more attractive also perceived such stimuli as greater intrasexual threats, demonstrating individual differences in competition-related social perceptions. Our findings indicate that perceptions related to intrasexual competition are related to cues to underlying mate quality, which may aid in effective mate guarding.     

Niceness and Dating Success: A Further Test of the Nice Guy Stereotype

Proponents of the nice guy stereotype argue that women often say they wish to date kind, sensitive men, but, in reality, still choose to date macho men over nice guys, especially if the macho men are more physically attractive. We investigated the relationship between men’s agreeableness, physical attractiveness, and their dating success across different relationship contexts. One hundred and ninety-one male college students completed a computerized questionnaire to assess their levels of agreeableness and aspects of their dating history. Twenty college-aged women rated the men’s photographs for attractiveness. Results supported the nice guy stereotype. Lower levels of agreeableness predicted more less-committed, casual, sexual relationships.Portions of this paper were presented at the annual meeting of the Southeastern Psychological Association in Nashville, TN, April 8, 2005.     

Individual differences in pathogen disgust predict men’s,but not women’s,preferences for facial cues of weight

Previous research suggests that people who score higher on measures of pathogen disgust demonstrate (1) stronger preferences for healthy individuals when assessing their facial attractiveness and (2) stronger negative attitudes about obese individuals. The relationship between pathogen disgust and attractiveness judgments of faces differing in cues of weight has yet to be investigated, however. Here we found that men’s, but not women’s, pathogen disgust was positively correlated with their preference for facial cues of lower weight. Moreover, this effect of pathogen disgust was independent of the possible effects of moral and sexual disgust. These data implicate pathogen disgust in individual differences in preferences for facial cues of weight, at least among men, and suggest that the sex-specific effects of pathogen disgust on preferences for facial cues of weight may be different to those previously reported for general negative attitudes about obese individuals.     

Role portrayals of men and women in print ads

The study examines role portrayals of men and women in Indian magazine ads. Fourteen hundred ads of 2006–2007 were collected from men’s, women’s, and general interest magazines and were content-analyzed. Results reveal that women in Indian magazine ads are primarily portrayed in traditional roles such as concerned with physical attractiveness, housewives and sex objects. Contrarily, men are portrayed in sex appeal, authority figures, career-oriented, and outdoor roles. Men and women are also portrayed in egalitarian roles. While in most product categories, men are portrayed as sexually appealing, authority figures, in activities outside home, and as career-oriented, women are depicted as concerned with physical attractiveness, as housewives, and sex objects. Some product categories also depict women in egalitarian roles and as outdoor and adventurous. Men’s magazines portray men and women in highly traditional roles. Contrarily, women’s and general interest magazines portray women in more modern roles. Findings support an incremental change in contemporary role portrayals compared to past.     

Sex symbols: The bachelorette party as a window to change in women’s sexual expression

The bachelorette party, a women’s version of the traditional men’s bachelor party is rooted in the idea that marriage requires monogamy. This implies that women sacrifice sexual freedom when they get married in a way that was previously considered to be the case only for men. Furthermore, the bachelorette party is a means for expressing oneself sexually and acknowledging the sexual element of one’s identity. Until recently, this aspect of women’s identity was assumed to be either nonexistent or inapropriate in public. Sexual expression at the bachelorette party comes in many forms, such as the use of sexual props or objects and intimate interaction with men strangers or men exotic dancers. In this paper, I describe the changes in society that led to the development of the bachelorette party at this time in society. I then discuss the sexual element of this ritual by exploring the meaning of women’s behavior at this party, the structure of the ritual itself, and the objects used to create a hyperexualized atmosphere. I conclude that the bachelorette party symbolizes the ambivalence that is characteristic of modern women’s sexuality.     

Extraversion predicts individual differences in women’s face preferences

Extraversion is positively associated with various indices of women’s mate quality (e.g., facial symmetry and attractiveness). Since such indices are thought to predict variation in women’s preferences for masculine men, we investigated the relationships between each of the ‘Big 5’ personality factors and women’s preferences for facial masculinity. Extraversion, but not the other four personality factors, was positively correlated with women’s preferences for masculinity in men’s, but not women’s, faces. Additionally, extraversion mediated the positive relationship between women’s self-rated attractiveness and their preferences for masculinity in men’s faces, suggesting that extraversion may play a role in condition-dependent mate preferences. Unexpectedly, openness to experience was associated with women’s preferences for femininity in faces of both sexes and this association was independent of that between extraversion and women’s preferences for masculine men. This is the first study that we know of to implicate personality traits in individual differences in women’s preferences for masculine men.     

Attachment style and sexual permissiveness: The moderating role of gender

An individual difference variable that has been found to predict variation in young adults’ sexual attitudes and behaviors is attachment orientation. Although it has been argued that the association between attachment orientation and sexuality may differ for males and females, only a few studies have explored this possibility, and the results have been inconsistent. With data collected from a large sample (N = 4246) of college students at a U.S. Midwestern University, it was examined how men and women with different attachment styles may vary in sociosexuality and attitudes toward casual sex. This study found evidence that among men, and as hypothesized, a dismissive-avoidant attachment orientation was associated with higher scores on Simpson and Gangestad’s (1991) Sociosexual Orientation Inventory (sociosexuality) and on a measure of approval of sex in casual dating relationships. Among women, however, there was no support found for the hypothesis that an anxious-preoccupied attachment style was associated with greater sexual permissiveness or with approval of casual sex. As hypothesized, however, securely attached women had a lower score on sociosexuality than did women with other attachment styles.     

How to get “kissably close”: Examining how advertisers appeal to consumers’ sexual needs and desires

This paper explores the nature of sexual appelas—sex-related promises or benefits—in mainstream advertising by describing types of sex appeals and findings from a sex-benefit content analysis. Overall, our findings reveal that sex is used to appeal to women and men, although a higher proportion of sexual ads appear in men’s (12%) compared to women’s magazines (6%). In addition, a variety of sex appeals are directed toward women (attractiveness, behavior, esteem), whereas most appeals directed toward men emphasize more and better sex. Last, male-only images are relatively absent in sexual ads compared to female-only (45%) and couples (47%) images. These findings, observations, and directions for future research are discussed.     

Mate-preference drives mate-choice: Men’s self-rated masculinity predicts their female partner’s preference for masculinity

Women who rate their male partner as more masculine tend to prefer more masculine faces. However, it is unclear whether a preference for masculinity causes women to select masculine partners, or to perceive their current partner as more masculine. By incorporating multiple measures of male masculinity, we establish that women’s preference for facial masculinity in short-term partners is correlated with their rating of their partner’s masculinity and with their partner’s self-rated masculinity, but with neither independent ratings of men’s facial masculinity nor a facialmetric masculinity index. Facial masculinity preference in long-term partners is correlated with women’s rating of partner masculinity, with a similar trend for men’s self-rating. Multiple regression analyses demonstrated that these relationships were independent of age, although only for short-term preference. We conclude that women who prefer masculine men tend to have more masculine partners, and therefore that mate-preferences do drive mate-choice.     

Sexual overperception: power, mating motives, and biases in social judgment

Results from 4 experiments suggest that power motivates heightened perceptions and expectations of sexual interest from subordinates. Having power over a member of the opposite sex activated sexual concepts that persisted across a temporal delay, indicating the activation of a mating goal (Study 1). Having power increased participants' expectations of sexual interest from a subordinate (Study 2) but only when a mating goal was attainable (i.e., when the subordinate was romantically available; Study 3). In a face-to-face interaction between 2 participants, power heightened perceptions of sexual interest and sexualized behavior among participants with chronically active mating goals (i.e., sexually unrestricted individuals; Study 4). Tests of mediation demonstrated that sexual overperception mediated power's effect on sexually tinged behavior. Through its capacity to induce goal pursuit, power can activate mating goals that sexualize interactions between men and women. This research demonstrates one route through which power might lead to sexual harassment.     

The gendered nature of career development of university professors: the case of Turkey

This paper examines the gendered nature of the careers of university professors in Turkey, where 23% of professors are women. This proportion is relatively high compared to Western Europe and the United States, indicating that Turkey is an important country in which to study women and men’s professorial careers in academic institutions. The paper draws on original documentary sources and a qualitative study of Turkish professors. It demonstrates how the interplay between state policy and the dominant family ideology has enabled and constrained both women and men’s careers, but in different ways. The paper also suggests that the progress made towards women’s hierarchical equality may in the future be threatened by the current transformation of the university sector in Turkey.