Investing in Bonds
Re-examining relational pursuit and mate selection in online dating
Junwen Hu & David Markowitz
Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, forthcoming
Abstract:
Having too many online dating options has been theorized to hamper relational pursuit by making people choosier and ponder their options. However, daters do not make a choice just by comparing the value of their mates -- they also consider how they will be evaluated by these mates and adapt behaviors accordingly. Therefore, being exposed to a larger option set may instead enhance relational pursuit outcomes by facilitating a compatible match and altering perception of one’s own value in the market. We examined these possibilities in two preregistered experiments (NS1 = 193; NS2 = 342) where people chose a match from thirty-one (high-option) or six profiles (low-option) to go on a date with. High-option participants reported greater relational pursuit with their choice than low-option participants; match compatibility or similarity mediated this effect. The effect of option quantity appears less certain than once considered and warrants future investigation from diverse theoretical perspectives.
Managing loved ones’ emotions: The promise and pitfalls of reappraisal
Yitong Zhao et al.
Emotion, forthcoming
Abstract:
People may often attempt to support a loved one by changing how that loved one interprets a stressful situation (i.e., other-focused cognitive reappraisal). However, there are many specific ways in which a situation can be reframed, and while some reappraisal tactics may be effective, other tactics may be inert or possibly backfire -- even when used with good intentions. We propose that it is useful to distinguish between decommitment tactics that involve decommitting from a previously held perspective (e.g., reducing severity: “It is not as bad as it seems”; situational acceptance: “It is out of your hands”) and commitment tactics that involve committing to an alternative perspective (e.g., finding benefits: “This will help you grow”; enhancing controllability: “You can handle this”). Across a pilot study (N = 963, collected in 2022), a longitudinal study (N = 261, collected in 2021), and a round-robin study (N = 344, collected in 2024), we investigated how regulators’ use of different tactics to manage loved ones’ (i.e., recipients’) emotions predicted recipient and relationship outcomes in diverse samples. Across studies, people commonly used each tactic to regulate recipients’ emotions. However, only the commitment tactics (enhancing controllability and finding benefits) consistently predicted better outcomes across three studies -- improved recipient emotional experience and feelings of being supported and, in turn, better recipient well-being and relationship quality -- while both decommitment tactics (reducing severity and situational acceptance) were inert and sometimes linked to worse interpersonal outcomes. These findings highlight the complex implications of managing loved ones’ emotions using reappraisal.
Once upon a swipe: The impact of storytelling on dating profile appeal
Gurit Birnbaum & Kobi Zholtack
Psychology of Popular Media, forthcoming
Abstract:
Inspired by storytelling’s success in promoting brand–customer connections, this research investigated its potential to facilitate relationship formation in the dating market. In three studies, single participants evaluated dating profiles featuring either narrative or nonnarrative self-presentations of a potential partner. These manipulated self-presentations encompassed written texts (Study 1), pictorial representations (Study 2), and a 2 × 2 factorial design combining both modalities (Study 3). After viewing the profile, participants reported their empathy for and their romantic interest in the profiled individual. Results revealed that narrative self-presentations intensified empathy, especially when both written and pictorial self-presentations were displayed narratively. This heightened empathy, in turn, predicted greater interest in the profiled individual, including actual efforts to reconnect. These findings demonstrate that the inherent self-promotion in dating profiles, similarly to product marketing, is substantially enhanced by incorporating storytelling -- a strategy that fosters deeper initial connection and perceived closeness between potential partners even before they contact each other.
Prostitution or marriage? Evidence from the Nordic model
Huasheng Gao, Vanya Petrova & Mengfan Yin
Journal of Population Economics, February 2026
Abstract:
We provide the first empirical evidence that prostitution is a sexual substitute for marriage. Using the adoption of the Nordic model of penalizing sex buyers, we find that restraining commercial sex leads to a significant increase in marriage rates and a significant decrease in divorce rates. These results are mainly driven by marriages among young people and marriages among previously single people, compared to those who were previously in legal unions. We further show that the substitution effect of prostitution on marriage is stronger when women’s socioeconomic status is weaker and when people prefer marriage over cohabitation.
Sibling Sex Composition and Marriage Outcomes
Raymond Kim, Jose Rosa & Eujean Byun
University of California Working Paper, January 2026
Abstract:
Marriage patterns vary substantially across U.S. populations, yet family dynamics influencing these differentials remain understudied. We examine how sibling sex composition affects marriage timing and prevalence using vital statistics covering all 6.6 million births in Texas from 1976-1997 linked to marriage and divorce records through 2019. Results show that first-born individuals with same-sex younger siblings marry at rates 6.3% higher and approximately one month earlier than those with opposite-sex siblings. Twin comparisons, which eliminate birth order effects, reveal effects twice as large. However, substantial demographic heterogeneity emerges: associations concentrate almost entirely among non-Hispanic Whites and in higher-income counties, with minimal or opposite patterns for Black and Hispanic populations. These findings illuminate how family structure operates differently across cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds, contributing to understanding of demographic stratification in contemporary U.S. marriage patterns.
A cue-based approach to sociometer theory: Waist-to-hip ratio and lumbar curvature predict females' self-esteem
Sam Dale et al.
Evolution and Human Behavior, March 2026
Abstract:
Self-esteem is hypothesized to be an evolved psychological system that monitors and responds to cues to one's own relational value. Here, we employ a novel, cue-based approach to generate and test the hypothesis that self-esteem tracks specific, fitness-relevant morphological features. Specifically, we investigated whether females' self-esteem systematically varies as a function of their waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) and lumbar curvature (LC). Participants (N = 177) indicated on two body morph arrays -- one varying in WHR and one varying in LC -- the morphs that corresponded to (i) their current levels of these features, (ii) the levels they believed potential mates find most attractive, and (iii) the levels they viewed as ideal for themselves. They also completed the Body Esteem Scale and Rosenberg's Self-Esteem Scale. Results demonstrated that (1) participants internalized, as their own “ideal”, the levels of WHR and LC they perceived potential mates to desire, and (2) their self-esteem levels tracked the discrepancy between their idealized levels of WHR and LC and their own current levels of these features. These effects of WHR and LC on self-esteem were independent and fully mediated by their effects on body esteem. Discussion centers on how efforts to mitigate the negative effects of media exposure on women's self-esteem could potentially be improved by more precisely targeting the specific morphological cues to which self-esteem is sensitive.