Mate Poaching By: Jill Clark, Heather Thomas, Brian Manning

Are women more interested in men who are already in a relationship? LLZRo

Who’s chasing whom? The impact of gender and relationship status on mate poaching.  Jessica Parker, Melissa Burkley  Mate Poaching: tendency to pursue someone who is already in a romantic relationship Parker, J., & Burkley, M. (2009). Who’s chasing whom? The impact of gender and relationship status on mate poaching. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 45(4), doi: /j.jesp

Methods Results  184 participants  2 X 2 X 2 factorial design  Surveyed personal preferences  Photographs of opposite-sex target  Rate target  Men more interested in target regardless of target relationship status  Single women more interested in poaching attached target  Attached women less interested in pursuing attached target Parker, J., & Burkley, M. (2009). Who’s chasing whom? The impact of gender and relationship status on mate poaching. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 45(4), doi: /j.jesp

Future Implications  Females may possibly become reproductively disenfranchised  Lifelong monogamy threatened Parker, J., & Burkley, M. (2009). Who’s chasing whom? The impact of gender and relationship status on mate poaching. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 45(4), doi: /j.jesp

Informative/Interesting  Those who mate poach are more likely to score low in agreeableness and conscientiousness than those who did not on The Big Five Inventory  Women are more attracted to attached men but this effect is heavily influenced by the female’s ovulation cycle  Men find women attractive regardless if attached or single Parker, J., & Burkley, M. (2009). Who’s chasing whom? The impact of gender and relationship status on mate poaching. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 45(4), doi: /j.jesp

Weaknesses  For target photo, participants saw only one photograph of opposite sex  Photographs were of “moderately attractive” individuals, but asked to rate on a scale of -3 (very unattractive) to 3 (very attractive)  Participants had no communication with the target Parker, J., & Burkley, M. (2009). Who’s chasing whom? The impact of gender and relationship status on mate poaching. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 45(4), doi: /j.jesp

QUIZ TIME! 1. Results demonstrated single women were more interested in poaching an attached target. Which theory does this emulate?  Good Catch Hypothesis  Darwin’s Theory of Natural Selection  Sexy Son Hypothesis 2. True/False: Men rate women as less desirable when they are surrounded by other men 3. True/False: Are women more likely than men to prefer an already taken individual 4. Women are more attracted to single men when their fertility is:  Low  High  Fertility has no effect 5. The reasons for women preferring an attached male mate are:  He has established a willingness to commit  He has demonstrated availability of resources  He is attractive to other females  All of the above 6. True/False: Mate poaching is a specific activity of US and Europe inhabitants