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CHAPTER 6: SHORT-TERM SEXUAL STRATEGIES
Chapter Summary
The scientific study of mating over the course of the twentieth century has focused nearly exclusively on
marriage. Human anatomy, physiology, and psychology, however, betray an ancestral past filled with
affairs and short-term mating. The obvious reproductive advantages of short-term mating to men may
have blinded scientists to their benefits to women.
In this chapter, we first considered men’s short-term mating. According to Trivers’s theory of parental
investment and sexual selection, the reproductive benefits to ancestral men as a consequence of short-
term mating would have been direct—an increase in the number of children produced as a function of the
number of women successfully inseminated. The empirical evidence is strong that men do have a greater
desire for short-term mating than do women. Compared to women, men express a greater desire for a
variety of sex partners, let less time elapse before seeking sexual intercourse, lower their standards
dramatically when pursuing short-term mating, have more sexual fantasies and more fantasies involving a
variety of sex partners, report having a higher sex drive, find cues to sexual exploitability to be attractive
for short-term mating, experience more sexual regret over missed sexual opportunities, have a larger
number of extramarital affairs, are more likely to seek hook-ups and friends with benefits, and visit
prostitutes more often. Although a few psychologists continue to deny these fundamental sex differences
(e.g., Miller & Fishkin, 1997), the difference between men and women in the desire for sexual variety is
one of the largest, most replicable, and most cross-culturally robust psychological sex differences ever
documented (Schmitt et al., 2003; Petersen & Hyde, 2010).
There are potentially five classes of adaptive benefits to women: economic or material resources, genetic
benefits, mate switching benefits, short-term for long-term goals, and mate manipulation benefits. Based
on the studies that have been conducted, the empirical evidence supports the hypothesized functions of
mate switching, resource acquisition, short-term for long-term mating goals, and access to good genes or
sexy son genes, and does not at all support status enhancement or mate manipulation benefits. Individuals
differ in whether they tend to pursue short-term or long-term mating strategies. Interestingly, these
individual differences can be detected, at least partially. Women with a short-term mating inclination
show more eyebrow flashes and glances when interacting with men; dress more provocatively at
ovulation; are perceived to be somewhat masculine in appearance, and are attracted to men who have
especially masculine
faces and bodies. Men who prioritize short-term mating tune their attention to attractive women more than
their long-term oriented peers, and also show a stronger preference for women with a low WHR—a well-
established cue to fertility.
The final section of this chapter examined various context effects on short-term mating. Sex ratio is one
context—a surplus of women tends to promote short-term mating in both sexes. Another important
context is mate value, one’s desirability to members of the opposite sex. Men high in mate value, as
Suggested Readings
Campbell, A. (2008). The morning after the night before: Affective reactions to one-night stands among
mated and unmated women and men. Human Nature, 19, 157–173.
Gangestad, R. W., Thornhill, R., & Garver-Apgar, C. E. (2005). Adaptations to ovulation. In D.M. Buss
(Ed.), The handbook of evolutionary psychology (pp. 344–371). New York: Wiley.
Greiling, H., & Buss, D. M. (2000). Women’s sexual strategies: The hidden dimension of extra-pair
mating. Personality and Individual Differences, 28, 929–963.
Gildersleeve, K., Haselton, M.G., & Fales, M.R. (in press). Do women’s mate preferences change
across the ovulatory cycle? A meta-analytic review. Psychological Bulletin.
Lippa, R. A. (2009). Sex differences in sex drive, sociosexuality, and height across 53 nations: Testing
Multiple Choice Questions
(a) the benefit had to be the same for both men and women who engaged in short-term mating
(b) the benefit had to be recurrently reaped by those who engaged in short-term mating under
certain conditions
(c) the fitness costs of short-term mating had to outweigh the benefit
(d) the benefit must be present universally today as a result of modern short-term mating
2. Which of the following adaptive problems did ancestral men NOT face when pursuing a short-term
(a) identifying which women were sexually accessible
(b) identifying which women were fertile
(c) avoiding commitment
(d) retribution from the man’s own kin
3. Men’s preferences for a short-term partner are _________ relative to men’s preferences for a long-term
(a) more stringent
(b) less stringent
(c) absent
(d) less masculine
4. Relative to men who pursue a long-term mating strategy, men pursuing a short-term mating strategy are
predicted to ___________ women who might demand commitment or investment prior to consenting to
(a) avoid
(b) find sexually attractive
(c) pursue
(d) find repulsive
5. If _______ women had mated monogamously, psychological mechanisms guiding a short-term mating
(a) some
(b) most
(c) few
(d) all
6. Men’s relatively large testes size provides one line of evidence that ancestral women _____________.
(b) would have benefited by maximizing the likelihood of conception from any one copulation
(c) sometimes simultaneously had sperm from two or males in their reproductive tract
(d) were faithful to their partners most of the time
7. Baker and Bellis found that men’s sperm count ___________ as a function of the amount of time the
(a) decreased
(b) increased
(c) remained roughly the same
(d) decreased slightly
8. Buss and Schmitt found that, compared to women, men are __________ willing to have sexual
(a) much more
(b) slightly less
(c) equally
(d) much less
9. Clarke and Hatfield found that _______ percent of men agreed to have sexual intercourse after being
propositioned by an attractive woman, whereas ________ percent of women agreed to have sexual
(a) 50; 25
(b) 60; 10
(c) 70; 0
(d) 75; 0
10. Compared to when they are seeking a long-term mate, men seeking a short-term mate tend to
(a) kindness
(b) body information
(c) facial information
(d) age
11. Men exhibit shifting standards even over the course of a single night. One study showed that men
tended to rate women as more attractive at midnight than at 9:00 p.m. This is referred to as __________.
(b) Contrast Effect
(c) Closing Time Phenomenon
(d) Beer Goggles
12. Men relax their standards across several attributes in pursuit of a short-term mate to solve the problem
(a) gaining access to a greater variety of sexual partners
(b) increasing the opportunity of coming across women who are attracted to them
(c) more easily identifying women who seek a long-term partner
(d) decreasing the chances of gaining sexual access to a woman who is already mated
13. Men with more sex partners, relative to men with fewer sex partners, experience a(n) __________
(a) increase in attractiveness towards the partner
(b) decrease in attractiveness towards the partner
(c) increase in commitment towards the partner
(d) longer refractory period
14. Men’s ratings of women’s attractiveness ___________ following short-term casual sex, and women’s
(a) decrease; decrease
(b) decrease; increase
(c) increase; increase
(d) increase; decrease
(a) older partners
(b) more sex partners
(c) more intense emotional content
(d) more romantic content
(a) switching sexual partners
(b) smooth skin of a partner
(c) visual elements of the partner’s body
(d) a current romantic partner
17. Researchers examined the types of sexual regret experienced by men and women and found that
(a) men tended to have regrets of sexual omission while women had regrets of sexual commission
(b) men tended to have regrets of sexual commission while women had regrets of sexual omission
(c) women had almost no sexual regrets
(d) men had almost no sexual regrets
(a) being too intoxicated and that the woman was “out of his league”
(b) whether birth control was used and that the woman wanted a relationship
(c) that the woman had a mate and whether birth control was used
(d) that the woman wanted a more serious relationship
19. Kinsey estimated that _________ percent of married men had extramarital affairs, whereas
(a) 50; 26
(b) 35; 15
(c) 20; 10
(d) 80; 35
(a) men’s desire for casual sex
(b) women’s desire for casual sex
(c) men’s desire for a partner’s sexual exclusivity
(d) women’s tendency to test males for long-term relationships
(a) the same amount of
(b) better quality
(c) fewer
(d) more
22. Baker and Bellis found that women are more likely to have extra-pair sex during the ________ phase
(a) luteal
(b) postovulatory
(c) ovulatory
(d) infertile
23. Mated women are ___________ to have an orgasm with their extra-pair partner than/as they are with
(a) not as likely
(b) equally likely
(c) less
(d) more
(a) engage in short-term mating with multiple men; investment from each man in subsequent
offspring
(b) advertise sexual receptiveness to multiple men; investment from each man in her existing
children
(c) both (a) and (b)
(d) neither (a) nor (b)
25. Genetic benefit hypotheses of women’s short-term mating predict all of the following benefits of
(a) enhanced fertility
(b) superior genes
(c) enhanced social standing
(d) different genes
26. Which of the following is NOT a hypothesized class of functions related to the benefits women gain
(a) mate switching
(b) short-term for long-term goals
(c) mate manipulation
(d) mate denial
(a) married women
(b) unmarried women
(c) older women
(d) high-status women
28. Mated women’s reports of having extramarital affairs to fall in love or for emotional intimacy support
(a) resource accrual hypothesis
(b) mate switching hypothesis
(c) good genes hypothesis
(d) sexy sons hypothesis
29. Greiling and Buss found that the benefit judged most likely to be received by women through short-
(a) finding a better-looking partner
(b) finding a more desirable partner
(c) sexual gratification
(d) increased attention from a long-term partner
30. Which of the following is NOT a context likely to elicit a mated woman’s pursuit of a short-term
(a) Her long-term partner is high on conscientiousness.
(b) Her long-term partner cannot hold a job.
(c) Her long-term partner has poor job prospects.
(d) Her partner is low on emotional stability.
31. Research supporting the “good genes” theory of women’s short-term mating has documented that
(a) men with symmetrical features
(b) men who are socially dominant
(c) men who show interest in infants
(d) men with masculine faces
32. _________ symmetrical men are more likely to have sexual intercourse with women who are
(a) Less; more symmetrical
(b) Less; not involved in other relationships
(c) More; already in relationships
(d) More; less symmetrical
33. Ratings of the costs of reputational damage associated with a woman’s pursuit of short-term sex are
(a) positively
(b) negatively
(c) not
(d) significantly
(a) lose their virginity later
(b) lose their virginity earlier
(c) reach puberty later
(d) have sexier sons
35. Men pursue a _______ strategy when the sex ratio (number of males to females) is low and a
(a) short-term; long-term
(b) short-term; short-term
(c) long-term; long-term
(d) long-term; short-term
36. Mikach and Bailey found that _________ is a significant predictor of pursuit of a short-term mating
(a) mate value
(b) self-esteem
(c) waist-to-hip ratio
(d) facial symmetry
(a) social dominance
(b) athletic skill
(c) shoulder-to-hip ratio
(d) all of the above
38. One study investigated sex differences in willingness to have sex with a partner at various levels of
physical attractiveness. Which of the following accurately depicts the percentages of men and women
(a) Men: 14 percent slightly unattractive, 70 percent extremely attractive; Women: 5 percent slightly
unattractive, 24 percent extremely attractive
(b) Men: 14 percent slightly unattractive, 70 percent extremely attractive; Women: 0 percent slightly
unattractive, 12 percent extremely attractive
(c) Men: 65 percent slightly unattractive, 82 percent extremely attractive; Women: 5 percent slightly
unattractive, 24 percent extremely attractive
(d) Men: 75 percent slightly unattractive, 98 percent extremely attractive; Women: 0 percent slightly
unattractive, 12 percent extremely attractive
39. Some theorists argue that sex differences in mating strategies are caused by societal gender
inequalities. Countries such as Norway, that are extremely egalitarian, should show an attenuation of sex
differences in mating motivation and behaviors. What are men’s and women’s mating strategies like in
(a) Men and women desire nearly the same number of sex partners over the next thirty years.
(b) Men desire five times as many sex partners over the next thirty years compared to women.
(c) Some mate preferences actually reversed: women preferred attractive mates more than men who
preferred mates with resources.
(d) Men engage in less short-term mating than women.
40. Two recent studies attempted to separate the contributions of facial and bodily information to overall
attractiveness or desirability judgments. Both studies documented the same sex-by-mating-strategy
(a) Men glean information about a woman’s reproductive value more from her body than from her
face.
(b) Men glean information about a woman’s immediate fertility more from her body than from her
face.
(c) Women signal their sexual receptivity in their face more than in their body.
(d) Women possess bodily cues to long-term mating interest.
41. Men report that their ideal outcome of a “hookup” is ____________; women report that their ideal
(a) more hookups; a long-term romantic relationship
(b) becoming friends with benefits; more hookups
(c) a long-term romantic relationship; a long-term romantic relationship
(d) more hookups; more hookups
42. What explanation was offered for the fact that men report more “friends with benefits” relationships
(a) There are more sexually active men than women among college undergraduates.
(b) There are more sexually active women than men among college undergraduates.
(c) Men construe sexual access as “friends with benefits” while women perceive it as the beginning of
a committed relationship.
(d) Women construe sexual access as “friends with benefits” while men perceive it as the beginning
of a committed relationship.
43. One study asked participants to guess the mating strategy of videotaped female participants and
documented a large correlation between their guesses and the actual strategies the participants reported.
When asked which cues they used to gauge the mating strategy, they listed several. Which of the
(a) smiling
(b) laughing
(c) eyebrow flashes
(d) all of the above
44. Evolutionary psychologists have begun to study women’s social behavior as it varies across the
(a) women pursuing a short-term mating strategy wear more revealing clothing when ovulating
(b) women pursuing a long-term mating strategy wear more revealing clothing when ovulating
(c) more attractive women wear more revealing clothing when ovulating
(d) less attractive women wear more revealing clothing when ovulating
45. Which of the following characterizes most women who pursue short-term mating strategies compared
(a) more feminine
(b) more masculine
(c) lower preferences for facial masculinity in mates
(d) none of the above
44. Sexually unrestricted men tend to prefer mates with lower waist-to-hip ratios than sexually restricted
(a) Men interested in casual sex consciously prefer mates who are currently able to conceive
offspring.
(b) Short-term oriented men are more physically attractive than long-term oriented men.
(c) Men who prefer short-term sexual relationships find ovulating women less attractive than non-
ovulating women.
(d) Men oriented toward short-term mating prioritize cues to immediate fertility.
45. When girls experience sexual abuse during childhood, their menarche begins earlier and they engage
(a) females shift their reproductive strategy to a slow, high-investment style after experiencing harsh
early environments
(b) men who are absent parents pass this tendency toward a fast, low-investment reproductive style
onto their daughters genetically
(c) childhood sexual abuse increases the probability of reproduction
(d) all of the above
46. Which of the following is true of the relationship between women’s attractiveness and their preferred
(a) Women with lower WHRs pursue short-term mating strategies.
(b) Women with more feminine facial features pursue short-term mating strategies.
(c) Women who are less attractive are perceived by others to be more promiscuous.
(d) all of the above
47. Particularly among men, the Dark Triad of personality traits is associated with pursuing a short-term
(a) narcissism, extraversion, and self-monitoring
(b) self-monitoring, psychopathy, and extraversion
(c) narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism
(d) Machiavellianism, extraversion, and self-monitoring
