Quintus, Brian Joseph, Jr.

I explored aspects of men's and women's short-term sexual psychology as a function of a potential short-term partner's relationship status. 468 subjects reported how likely they would be to pursue a casual sexual relationship with a member of the opposite sex who was (1) married, (2) not married but has casual sexual partners, (3) or not married and has no casual sexual partners. Guided by sperm competition theory, I predicted and found that men prefer short-term sex partners who are not already involved in relationships, thus presenting a lower risk of sperm competition. Because women sometimes use short-term sexual relationships to acquire long-term partners, I predicted and found that women prefer short-term sexual partners who are not already involved in relationships. Finally, across all three levels of the imagined partner's relationship status, men reported a greater likelihood than did women of pursuing a casual sexual relationship. Discussion addresses methodological limitations.