All's Fair in Love
The function of love: A signaling-to-alternatives account of the commitment device hypothesis
Benjamin Gelbart et al.
Evolution and Human Behavior, March 2025
Abstract:
Love is commonly hypothesized to function as an evolved commitment device, disincentivizing the pursuit of romantic alternatives and signaling this motivational shift to a partner. Here, we test this possibility against a novel signaling-to-alternatives account, in which love instead operates by dissuading alternatives from pursuing oneself. Overall, we find stronger support for the latter account. In Studies 1 and 2, we find that partner quality relative to alternatives positively predicts feelings of love, and love fails to mitigate the negative effects of desirable alternatives on relationship satisfaction -- contradicting the classic commitment device account. In Study 3, using a longitudinal design, we replicate these effects and find that changes in partner quality relative to alternatives predict changes in love over time. In Study 4, we replicate the relationship between love and relative partner quality across 44 countries. In Study 5, we find a nearly one-to-one correspondence between the extent to which partner-directed actions are diagnostic of love and reductions in romantic alternatives' attraction to the actor. These results suggest that love may not act as a commitment device in the classic sense by disincentivizing the pursuit of alternatives but by disincentivizing alternatives from pursuing oneself.
The Effect of Unilateral Divorce Laws on Marriage Outcomes
Kunwon Ahn
Journal of Family Issues, forthcoming
Abstract:
This study examines the impact of unilateral divorce laws on marriage outcomes using microdata from the 1960–1980 U.S. decennial censuses. We exploit the staggered state-level adoption of the laws and apply a difference-in-differences design that accounts for heterogeneous adoption timing to estimate their effects on marriage patterns. The findings provide evidence that the introduction of unilateral divorce laws lowers the likelihood of being married in certain age groups, but the effect is not uniform across age and gender. College-educated men are less likely to marry while college-educated women experience no significant change. The results indicate that the impact of unilateral divorce laws differs among racial groups. The effects are more pronounced for White individuals, whereas non-White individuals are barely affected across all age groups. These findings highlight the effects of unilateral divorce laws on marriage probabilities across demographic strata, emphasizing the importance of considering educational attainment and other population characteristics.
Far Right Normalization & Centrifugal Affect. Evidence from the Dating Market
Stuart James Turnbull-Dugarte & Alberto López Ortega
Journal of Politics, forthcoming
Abstract:
Are radical right supporters penalized by a social norm against the radical right on the dating market? This paper investigates this question by leveraging diverse empirical sources, including a unique and behavioral visual conjoint experiment conducted in Britain and Spain. Theoretically, we argue that the radical right is accommodated within the dating market as a result of the affective spillovers among those on the center-right who view dating those from the opposing ideological bloc as more socially costly than dating their own in-bloc partners. Empirically, we test this by examining the behavior of center-right partisans and assessing whether they follow a polity-based norm which places a premium on ostracizing stigmatized parties, or a bloc-logic norm which incentivizes the rejection of out-bloc partisans. The results demonstrate that center-right partisans accommodate the radical right and are actively expected to do so by fellow in-group partisans. Any dating market penalty for radical right partisans is based on the composition of those on the dating market rather than any polity-level norm enforcement. An accommodating bloc-logic in dating preferences among the mainstream right has large normative implications as it suggests that affective polarization and out-bloc rejection between overarching political camps contributes to facilitating the social normalization of radical right supporters who often hold preferences incompatible with liberal democracy.
Men (but not women) prefer to live in economically equal societies when it comes to mating: A five-study investigation
Xijing Wang, Hao Chen & Khandis Blake
Evolution and Human Behavior, November 2024
Abstract:
It is generally believed that people prefer societies with economic equality. No studies thus far have systematically examined sex differences in this preference specifically concerning mating -- an important life stage. Building upon theoretical frameworks of mating strategies (i.e., hypergyny), we hypothesized that men, in comparison to women, are less inclined to prefer and reside in a highly unequal society when it comes to mating. This could be because economically unequal environments lead men to expect poorer life quality after marriage than women. These hypotheses were confirmed across five studies using a mixed-method approach. In particular, we first provided evidence by focusing on fertile age populations and employing the panel data across 50 states of the USA from 2006 to 2019 (Study 1A), the most recent cross-sectional data at the county level of the USA (Study 1B), and a large-scale survey data on the individual migration records of American residents (N = 4,746,718, Study 2). In addition, we conducted two controlled experiments by manipulating mating motivation (Study 3) and economic inequality level (high versus low, Studies 3 and 4, N = 812, N = 418). Our studies, employing both archival data high in ecological validity and experimental evidence allowing causal inferences, show that men exhibit a stronger aversion than women toward economic inequality. Our findings contribute to a deeper understanding of how evolutionary mating strategies and sex differences jointly influence the economic inequality preference.
It is not what you weigh, it is how you present it: Body size, attractiveness, physical functioning, and access to partnership and sexuality for older men and women
Yiang Li & Linda Waite
Social Forces, forthcoming
Abstract:
Physical attractiveness has been linked to better economic, dyadic, and health outcomes but is understudied. We focus here on the gendered implications of attractiveness for one component of social well-being, access to intimate partnership and sexuality, among older adults. In addition, we examine the role of body size, as measured and rated by an observer, in evaluating attractiveness and the diverging consequences for women and men. We use data from Rounds 1 (2005–2006) and 2 (2010–2011) of the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (N = 2,144) to explore the association of two measures of body size, weight relative to height (body mass index [BMI]) and interviewer assessments of body size, with sexual behavior that requires a partner and sexual behavior that does not. We find that at larger body sizes as reflected in both the BMI and rated body shape, women -- but not men -- face a lower probability of having a partner and engaging in partnered sex, and a lower frequency of vaginal intercourse and receiving sexual touch. These associations are mediated by physical functioning for the BMI and by attractiveness as rated by the interviewer for rated body shape. We also find that women -- but not men -- are more likely to report finding sex not pleasurable at a higher BMI, which partly operates through the mechanism of functional limitations. We suggest that these findings reflect different attractiveness standards for men and women, which reduce women’s access to partners and partnered sex but not solitary sex, such as masturbation.