Strategic pluralism in human mating behaviors has been explored in recent years.
Women may engage in short-term and long-term mating relationships simultaneously to
reap the benefits of both strategies. However, little research testing the extent to which
the strategies are used within couples has been conducted. According to this model,
women typically should engage in long-term mating strategies. However, during
ovulation when the risk of conception is greatest, women may enact a short-term mating
strategy, particularly if their primary relationship is not perceived to be high in quality or
if their current partner is viewed as less attractive. The current study followed 45
couples for 30 consecutive days. Both partners in each couple were asked to complete
daily diaries that involved ratings of daily relationship quality, jealousy, and ovulation
cues. Additionally, saliva samples were collected from each woman to confirm her
ovulation status. Using Hierarchal Linear Modeling (HLM), the data confirmed that
women tended to be less interested in their primary relationship during ovulation, the
effect being more pronounced if women reported less relationship satisfaction or were
mated with less attractive partners. Men also reported that their partners were less
focused on the relationship and that their partner's scent was more attractive during
ovulation than at other times of the menstrual cycle. These provide some evidence that women tend to focus less on their romantic relationships during ovulation, and that men
tend to corroborate their partner' s reports.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:tamu.edu/oai:repository.tamu.edu:1969.1/4889 |
| Date | 25 April 2007 |
| Creators | Chen, Jennie Ying-Chen |
| Contributors | Rholes, W. Steve |
| Publisher | Texas A&M University |
| Source Sets | Texas A and M University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Book, Thesis, Electronic Thesis, text |
| Format | 170034 bytes, electronic, application/pdf, born digital |
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