Do Environmental Cues to Discovery Influence the Likelihood to Rape?

Research on men's sexual exploitation of women has documented that men's psychology tracks cues associated with the ease of women's exploitability. In the current studies, we examined a different class of cues hypothesized to aid men's use of sexually exploitative strategies: environmental cues to the likelihood of discovery. We defined likelihood of discovery as the perceived probability of identification when engaging in exploitative behavior (e.g., presence of others). We test the hypothesis that men's likelihood to rape increases when their perception of the likelihood of discovery is low in three studies. In Study 1, we conducted a content analysis of individuals' responses (N = 1,881) when asked what one would do if they could stop time or be invisible. Besides the "other" category whereby there were no specific category for nominated behaviors, the most nominated category included sexually exploitative behavior-representing 15.3% of reported behaviors. Both Studies 2 (N = 672) and 3 (N = 614) were preregistered manipulations of likelihood of discovery surreptitiously testing men's rape likelihood to rape across varying levels of discovery. We found men, compared to women, reported a statistically higher likelihood to rape in both Studies 2 and 3: 48% compared to 39.7% and 19% compared to 6.8%, respectively. Across Studies 2 and 3, we found no statistical effect of the likelihood of discovery on participants' likelihood to rape. We discuss how the presence of one's peers may provide social protection against the costs of using an exploitative sexual strategy if a perpetrator is caught.

Evolutionary Mismatch in Mating.

Evolutionary mismatch concepts are being fruitfully employed in a number of research domains, including medicine, health, and human cognition and behavior to generate novel hypotheses and better understand existing findings. We contend that research on human mating will benefit from explicitly addressing both the evolutionary mismatch of the people we study and the evolutionary mismatch of people conducting the research. We identified nine mismatch characteristics important to the study of human mating and reviewed the literature related to each of these characteristics. Many of the people we study are: exposed to social media, in temporary relationships, relocatable, autonomous in their mating decisions, nulliparous, in groups that are socially segmented, in an educational setting, confronted with lots of options, and young. We applied mismatch concepts to each characteristic to illustrate the importance of incorporating mismatch into this research area. Our aim in this paper is not to identify all potential mismatch effects in mating research, nor to challenge or disqualify existing data. Rather, we demonstrate principled ways of thinking about evolutionary mismatch in order to propel progress in mating research. We show how attending to the potential effects of mismatch can help us refine our theoretical and methodological approaches and deepen our understanding of existing patterns in the empirical record. We conclude with specific recommendations about how to include consideration of evolutionary mismatch into research on human mating.

Mate value discrepancies, the Dark Triad and relationship satisfaction: A Euclidean distances approach.

We used a Euclidean algorithmic method of calculating mate value discrepancies to test the hypothesis that mate value discrepancies would mediate a negative association between the Dark Triad and relationship satisfaction. Participants (N = 211) rated themselves, their partner, and their ideal partner on a set of traits known to be important in mate selection. They also completed Dark Triad and relationship satisfaction measures. We found an indirect, negative association between the Dark Triad and relationship satisfaction mediated by the Partner-Potential Partner mate value discrepancy. The higher on the Dark Triad, the more alternative partners there were that were closer to the participant's ideal mate preferences than their current partner, which was associated with decreased relationship satisfaction. This study contributes to our understanding of how the Dark Triad relates to mating psychology. These findings also highlight the utility of employing a Euclidean algorithm to understand associations between individual differences and relationship outcomes.

Women's perceptions of sexual exploitability cues and their link to sexual attractiveness.

Two studies examined women's perception of the relationship between sexual exploitability and sexual attractiveness and women's use of cues to sexual exploitability to signal sexual accessibility. Study 1 (N = 77) found that women accurately assessed other women displaying cues to sexual exploitability both as sexually exploitable and sexually attractive to men. Study 2 (N = 74) tested the predictions that women who were dispositionally inclined toward short-term mating, who were not in a committed relationship, and who perceived themselves to be low in mate value would be more likely to display cues to sexual exploitability as a mate attraction tactic. Results supported the first prediction. These results suggest that a subset of women, those dispositionally inclined toward a short-term mating strategy, employ the risky strategy of signaling sexual accessibility using cues to exploitability to advance their mating goals.

What do women's advertised mate preferences reveal? An analysis of video dating profiles.

This study examined women's video dating profiles to determine what their advertised mate preferences revealed about their mate value and relationship interests. Women created a one-minute long video dating profile for a hypothetical dating website. The videos were content analyzed into four categories of stated mate preferences: 1) "good genes" indicators 2) good resource investment potential indicators 3) good parenting indicators and 4) good partner indicators. Long-term mating interest was positively correlated with describing good partner indicators and self-perceived mate value was positively correlated with describing good genes indicators. Short-term mating interest was negatively correlated with describing any mate preferences while attractiveness was positively correlated with doing so. Results suggest that women's advertised mate preferences provide clues to their underlying relationship interests and mate value.

Trade-offs, individual differences, and misunderstandings about evolutionary psychology.

Replies to comments on Evolutionary psychology: Controversies, questions, prospects, and limitations (see record 2010-02208-001) by Confer et al. The purpose of which was to clarify the logic of evolutionary psychology and clear up some of the more common misunderstandings about it. In this response, we address the key points raised by the commentators.

Evolutionary psychology. Controversies, questions, prospects, and limitations.

Evolutionary psychology has emerged over the past 15 years as a major theoretical perspective, generating an increasing volume of empirical studies and assuming a larger presence within psychological science. At the same time, it has generated critiques and remains controversial among some psychologists. Some of the controversy stems from hypotheses that go against traditional psychological theories; some from empirical findings that may have disturbing implications; some from misunderstandings about the logic of evolutionary psychology; and some from reasonable scientific concerns about its underlying framework. This article identifies some of the most common concerns and attempts to elucidate evolutionary psychology's stance pertaining to them. These include issues of testability and falsifiability; the domain specificity versus domain generality of psychological mechanisms; the role of novel environments as they interact with evolved psychological circuits; the role of genes in the conceptual structure of evolutionary psychology; the roles of learning, socialization, and culture in evolutionary psychology; and the practical value of applied evolutionary psychology. The article concludes with a discussion of the limitations of current evolutionary psychology.