Man-woman relationships

Sperm competition theory states that in species 111 which females mate with
multiple males within a short period of time, not only will males have to compete
for mates, but they will have to compete for fertilizations and will subsequently
evolve tactics associated with competition for fertilization. It has been
hypothesized that sexual coercion in the context of an intimate relationship may
function as a sperm competition tactic, with its occurrence related to a man's
suspicions of his pmtner' s sexual infidelity. Sexual coercion in response to cues
of his partner's sexual infidelity might function to introduce a male's sperm into
his partner's reproductive tract at a time when there is a high risk of cuckoldry.
Four studies are presented which lend support to the sperm competition
hypothesis and encourage others to consider sperm competition theory when
studying men's sexual coercion in intimate relationships.

Over human evolutionary history, men faced the adaptive problem of cuckoldry, or
the unwitting investment in genetically unrelated offspring. As cuckoldry is
potentially so reproductively costly, men may have evolved anti-cuckoldry
psychological adaptations. Sexual coercion has been hypothesized as one class of
anti-cuckoldry behaviors. By sexually coercing an intimate partner, a man may
reduce the risk of cuckoldry by placing his sperm in competition with a rival male's
spenn, should his partner have been sexually unfaithful. I will present three studies
that investigate the role of female infidelity, an assessment of risk of spenn
competition and subsequent cuckoldry, in predicting male sexual coercion in the
context of an intimate relationship.

Men sometimes insult their intimate partners and these insults predict intimate
partner violence. No research has investigated the function of men's partner-directed
insults. I hypothesize that men's partner-directed insults are designed to retain their longterm
mate and, therefore, that men's use of partner-directed insults will covary with other
mate retention behaviors. Using the Mate Retention Inventory and the Partner-Directed
Insults Scale, I conducted two studies to test this hypothesis. Study 1 included 245 men
who reported their mate retention behaviors and partner-directed insults. Correlations and
multiple regression analyses documented the predicted relationships between men's
partner-directed insults and mate retention behaviors. Study 2 included 372 women who
reported their partner's mate retention behaviors and insults that their partner directed at
them. The results replicated the results of Study 1. Discussion highlights future directions
for investigating the relationships between men's partner-directed insults and mate
retention behaviors.

The present study was designed to examine the effects of gender and relationship on the quantity and quality of daily social interaction for senior citizens. Eighty-two women and 32 men (mean age 71 years) used the Rochester Interaction Record to record quantitative and qualitative information about every interaction which lasted more than 10 minutes for 2 weeks. Gender analyses revealed that same-gender interaction was most common for all participants (spouse excluded). Males and females reported that interactions with females only were more intimate than interactions with males only or with mixed-gender others. Spousal analyses showed that participants interacted with spouse as much as with same-gender others, however, spousal interactions were reported to be more intimate than same or opposite-gender interactions. Participants reported interacting with nonfamily more than with family. In addition, interactions with family were reported to be qualitatively equal to interactions with nonfamily. For future research it will be important to consider how these quantitative and qualitative characteristics of interaction relate to well-being.

Given the negative psychological and health-related consequences of sexual coercion, recent research has focused on predicting sexual coercion. In two studies, I investigated the relationships between men's partner-directed sexually coercive behaviors and their use of partner-directed insults in the context of intimate relationships. Study 1 secured self-reports from 247 men on the Partner-Directed Insults Scale and the Sexual Coercion in Intimate Relationships Scale. Study 2 secured partner-reports from 378 women on the same measures. Across both studies, the results indicate that men's use of sexually coercive behaviors can be predicted by the frequency or content of the insults that men direct at their intimate partner. Insults involving accusations of a partner's infidelity were most useful in predicting sexual coercion, for example. Discussion addresses limitations of the current research and highlights important directions for future research in the area.

Guarding oneself from cuckoldry can be a challenging task for males of socially monogamous species. Accordingly, human males may possess evolved psychological mechanisms designed to prevent their partner's infidelity, and to "correct" that infidelity if it occurs. Because preventative tactics are not failsafe, I hypothesized that men's reports of their mate-retention behaviors and copulation frequency would function as complimentary tactics (Study 1). Research has suggested that men's reports of their own anti-cuckoldry behaviors can be flawed, and that women may be more accurate. Therefore, Study 2 analyzed reports made by women of copulation frequency and their partner's mate-retention behaviors. In the two studies, the hypotheses that (1) men's reports of copulation frequency and their own mate-retention behaviors and (2) women's reports of copulation frequency and their partner's mate-retention behaviors would show positive correlations was supported. Discussion focuses on the use of copulation frequency and mate-retention behaviors as complimentary tactics in solving the adaptive problems of sperm competition and cuckoldry.

Mate poaching occurs when an individual has sexual relations with the romantic partner of another. In Study A, I investigated the prevalence of mate poaching by presenting participants with questions whose devising was informed by a stricter definition of mate poaching than that employed by earlier studies. As expected, relative to participants in earlier studies, the current participants reported fewer experiences of mate poaching. In Study B, I investigated the likelihood that the benefits and costs of mate poaching will, respectively, motivate participants to poach or will deter them from doing so. Results indicated that for males and females to be motivated to poach, the attached individual must be more attractive than the unattached individual.

Mate-retention behaviors are designed to solve several adaptive problems, such as deterring a partner's infidelity and preventing defection from the relationship. Although many mate-retention behaviors appear to be innocuous romantic gestures (e.g., giving flowers), some may be harbingers of violence. Here, the relationship between men's mate-retention and violence against women was investigated. In Study 1, men reported their use of mate-retention behaviors and violence in their relationships. Study 2 assessed women's reports of their partners' mate-retention behaviors and their partners' violence against them. Study 3 secured husbands' reports of their mate retention and wives' reports of their husbands' violence. As predicted, and across all studies, men's mate-retention behaviors predicted violence against romantic partners.

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.

This study examined sex differences in jealousy over sexual and emotional infidelity. I was interested in replicating Buss et al. (1992, 1999), testing the double-shot hypothesis, and investigating a potential trigger for within-sex differences in jealousy. It was hypothesized that males will be more distressed by sexual infidelity and females will be more distressed by emotional infidelity and that relationship experience will trigger males and females to respond in predictable ways. This study replicated Buss et al. (1992/1999) original findings, found no support for the double shot hypothesis, and found that relationship experience plays a partial role in the impact it has on predicting upset over infidelity, with males reliably becoming more distressed over sexual infidelity and females being more variable in there responses to jealousy.