Gorelik, Gregory

In addition to the reproductive benefits associated with outcompeting sexual rivals and being seen as an attractive mating prospect by women, research suggests that competition adaptively regulates men's sexual interest and behavior in preparation for mating opportunities following competitive outcomes, with victory leading to an increase in sexual interest and loss leading to a decrease in sexual interest. One hundred fifteen undergraduate men engaged in a contrived competitive task in which a third were led to believe that they won, a third were led to believe that they lost, and a third were led to believe that they neither won nor lost. Participants completed the Rape Attitudes and Beliefs Scale (RABS), which was used to test whether the effects of competition extend to men's proneness to sexual aggression. In addition, the current study attempted to replicate Gorelik and Bjorklund's (2015) finding that only single men's sexual interest is affected by competition. Results did not reveal an effect of competition on men's rape proclivity, although there were effects in the predicted direction on two of the RABS items. Gorelik and Bjorklund's (2015) effect of competition on men's sexual interest was not replicated. Limitations, implications for the understanding of the biology of sexual aggression, and directions for future research are discussed.

Evidence in humans suggests that men are especially competitive with other men over resources and, if successful, are valued as attractive mating prospects by women. Previous studies also show that men experience an increase in testosterone following a win and a decrease in testosterone following a loss. If an increase in testosterone following a victory is an evolved physiological response aimed at readying a man for an increase in mating opportunities, then experimentally manipulating competitive outcomes should differentially affect men’s sex-drive. One-hundred thirteen men were randomly assigned to experience a win, a loss, or no competitive feedback. Participants’ sex-drive was gauged by their responses to photographs of women of differential attractiveness. Results showed that only single men exhibited a higher sex-drive in the winning condition, followed by the control and losing conditions, respectively. Limitations and practical applications to decreasing instances of rape and sexual coercion are discussed.