Pairing
Jean Twenge, Ryne Sherman & Brooke Wells
Archives of Sexual Behavior, forthcoming
Abstract:
Examining age, time period, and cohort/generational changes in sexual experience is key to better understanding sociocultural influences on sexuality and relationships. Americans born in the 1980s and 1990s (commonly known as Millennials and iGen) were more likely to report having no sexual partners as adults compared to GenX’ers born in the 1960s and 1970s in the General Social Survey, a nationally representative sample of American adults (N = 26,707). Among those aged 20–24, more than twice as many Millennials born in the 1990s (15 %) had no sexual partners since age 18 compared to GenX’ers born in the 1960s (6 %). Higher rates of sexual inactivity among Millennials and iGen also appeared in analyses using a generalized hierarchical linear modeling technique known as age–period–cohort analysis to control for age and time period effects among adults of all ages. Americans born early in the 20th century also showed elevated rates of adult sexual inactivity. The shift toward higher rates of sexual inactivity among Millennials and iGen’ers was more pronounced among women and absent among Black Americans and those with a college education. Contrary to popular media conceptions of a “hookup generation” more likely to engage in frequent casual sex, a higher percentage of Americans in recent cohorts, particularly Millennials and iGen’ers born in the 1990s, had no sexual partners after age 18.
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Altruism predicts mating success in humans
Steven Arnocky et al.
British Journal of Psychology, forthcoming
Abstract:
In order for non-kin altruism to evolve, altruists must receive fitness benefits for their actions that outweigh the costs. Several researchers have suggested that altruism is a costly signal of desirable qualities, such that it could have evolved by sexual selection. In two studies, we show that altruism is broadly linked with mating success. In Study 1, participants who scored higher on a self-report altruism measure reported they were more desirable to the opposite sex, as well as reported having more sex partners, more casual sex partners, and having sex more often within relationships. Sex moderated some of these relationships, such that altruism mattered more for men's number of lifetime and casual sex partners. In Study 2, participants who were willing to donate potential monetary winnings (in a modified dictator dilemma) reported having more lifetime sex partners, more casual sex partners, and more sex partners over the past year. Men who were willing to donate also reported having more lifetime dating partners. Furthermore, these patterns persisted, even when controlling for narcissism, Big Five personality traits, and socially desirable responding. These results suggest that altruists have higher mating success than non-altruists and support the hypothesis that altruism is a sexually selected costly signal of difficult-to-observe qualities.
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Does the internet affect assortative mating? Evidence from the U.S. and Germany
Gina Potarca
Social Science Research, forthcoming
Abstract:
The Internet has now become a habitual channel for finding a partner, but little is known about the impact of this recent partnership market on mate selection patterns. This study revisits the supply side perspective on assortative mating by exploring the role played by online venues in breeding educational, racial/ethnic and religious endogamy. It compares couples that met online (through either online dating platforms, Internet social networking, Internet gaming website, Internet chat, Internet community, etc.) to those that met through various offline contexts of interaction. Using unique data from the U.S. for the year 2009 and data from Germany collected between 2008 and 2014, I run log-multiplicative models that allow for the strength of partners’ association to vary along meeting settings. Results reveal that the Internet promotes weaker couple endogamy compared to conventional contexts typically known to foster endogamy, such as school, family, friends, or religious venues.
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What Makes Jessica Rabbit Sexy? Contrasting Roles of Waist and Hip Size
William Lassek & Steven Gaulin
Evolutionary Psychology, April 2016
Abstract:
While waist/hip ratio (WHR) and body mass index (BMI) have been the most studied putative determinants of female bodily attractiveness, BMI is not directly observable, and few studies have considered the independent roles of waist and hip size. The range of attractiveness in many studies is also quite limited, with none of the stimuli rated as highly attractive. To explore the relationships of these anthropometric parameters with attractiveness across a much broader spectrum of attractiveness, we employ three quite different samples: a large sample of college women, a larger sample of Playboy Playmates of the Month than that has been previously examined, and a large pool of imaginary women (e.g., cartoon, video game, graphic novel characters) chosen as the “most attractive” by university students. Within-sample and between-sample comparisons agree in indicating that waist size is the key determinant of female bodily attractiveness and accounts for the relationship of both BMI and WHR with attractiveness, with between-sample effect sizes of 2.4–3.2. In contrast, hip size is much more similar across attractiveness groups and is unrelated to attractiveness when BMI or waist size is controlled.
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Not Just Black and White: How Race/Ethnicity and Gender Intersect in Hookup Culture
Sarah Spell
Sociology of Race and Ethnicity, forthcoming
Abstract:
The increasing interest in research on hookups (i.e., noncommittal unions focused on sexual acts ranging from kissing to intercourse) often highlights individual-level predictors (e.g., alcohol use, attitudes) or gender/class differences. Racial/ethnic comparisons are often portrayed as White/non-White, despite literature on differing experiences within race by gender due to institutional-level differences, standards of beauty, and sexual stereotypes. Using the Online College Social Life Survey data set (n = 18,347), this article explores participation in hookup culture by race/ethnicity and gender. Additionally, interviews with undergraduates at the University of Pennsylvania (n = 60) reveal students’ expectations of, and barriers to, participation in hookup culture. Asian men report on average almost half the hookup partners than do other men, while White women report almost double the hookup partners on average than do other women. This article concludes that arguing a White/non-White dichotomy ignores important gender differences: Asian men and non-White women face additional barriers to participation in hookup culture. Finally, this article asserts that research must incorporate intersectionality to study hookups.
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Is women's sociosexual orientation related to their physical attractiveness?
Claire Fisher et al.
Personality and Individual Differences, October 2016, Pages 396–399
Abstract:
Although many researchers have suggested that more physically attractive women report less restricted sociosexual orientations (i.e., report being more willing to engage in short-term, uncommitted sexual relationships), evidence for this association is equivocal. Consequently, we tested for possible relationships between women's scores on the revised version of the Sociosexual Orientation Inventory (SOI-R) and women's body mass index (N = 212), waist-hip ratio (N = 213), ratings of their facial attractiveness (N = 226), and a composite attractiveness measure derived from these three intercorrelated measures. Our analyses suggest that more attractive women report less restricted sociosexual orientations. Moreover, we show that this link between attractiveness and sociosexual orientation is not simply a consequence of women's scores on the behavior subscale of the SOI-R. Importantly, however, the correlations between measures of women's physical attractiveness and their reported sociosexual orientation were very weak, suggesting that perceptions of these potential cues of women's sociosexual orientation are unlikely to provide accurate, socially relevant information about others during social interactions.
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Megan Williams & Amy Jacobson
Evolutionary Psychology, April 2016
Abstract:
Olfaction and chemical signaling play an important role in the mating behaviors of many taxa, yet there is minimal empirical research on human putative pheromones. A mixture of five volatile fatty acids secreted vaginally, identified and named “copulins,” significantly increase in concentration during the follicular phase and decrease in concentration during the luteal phase in nonpill using women. Men exposed to copulins exhibit an increase in testosterone, are inhibited in discriminating the attractiveness of women’s faces, and behave less cooperatively. According to Anisogamy, Sexual Selection and Parental Investment Theory, mammalian males, having low cost and high benefit from any copulatory interaction, may adaptively utilize any useful cues to identifying ovulating females and adjust their behavior accordingly in order to maximize their potential reproductive success. In the current study, we attempted a replication of Jütte and Grammer’s finding indicating copulins inhibit the ability of men to discriminate attractiveness of women’s faces, and we examined the role of copulins in self-reported mate-guarding behaviors and self-perceived sexual desirability. We utilized a randomized placebo-controlled design and as predicted, results indicated men exposed to copulins were more likely to rate themselves as sexually desirable to women and, on average, the copulin group rated women’s faces as more attractive than controls. There were no significant findings with mate guarding.