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  4. The functionality of risk-taking: mating motivation, relationship status, and sex differences
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The functionality of risk-taking: mating motivation, relationship status, and sex differences

Full metadata

Description

Men may engage in financially risky behaviors when seeking mates for several reasons: Risky behaviors can signal to potential mates one's genetic fitness, may facilitate success in status competition with other men, and may be a necessary strategy for gaining sufficient resources to offer potential mates. Once in a relationship, however, the same financial riskiness may be problematic for males, potentially suggesting to partners an interest in (extra-curricular) mate-seeking and placing in jeopardy existing resources available to the partner and the relationship. In the current research, we employed guided visualization scenarios to activate either a mating motivation or no motivation in single and in attached men and women. Participants indicated their preference for either guaranteed sums of money or chances of getting significantly more money accompanied by chances of getting nothing. As predicted, mating motivation led single men to become more risky and attached men to become less risky. These findings replicated across different samples and measures. Interestingly, in all three studies, women exhibited the opposite pattern: Mating motivation led single women to become less financially risky and attached women to become more risky. Thus, two additional experiments were conducted to explore the potential causes of this effect. The results of these latter experiments support the "mate-switching" hypothesis of risk-taking in attached women. That is, women who are able (i.e. have high mate value) were more risky in order to exit an undesirable relationship and move into a better one.

Date Created
2012
Contributors
  • Li, Yexin Jessica (Author)
  • Kenrick, Douglas T. (Thesis advisor)
  • Neuberg, Steven L. (Thesis advisor)
  • Cohen, Adam B. (Committee member)
  • Ledlow, Susan (Committee member)
  • Arizona State University (Publisher)
Topical Subject
  • Social Psychology
  • evolutionary psychology
  • Motivations
  • Risk-taking
  • Risk-taking (Psychology)--Sex differences.
  • Risk-taking (Psychology)
  • Man-woman relationships--Psychological aspects.
  • Interpersonal relations--Psychological aspects.
  • Interpersonal relations
Resource Type
Text
Genre
Doctoral Dissertation
Academic theses
Extent
vii, 57 p. : ill. (some col.)
Language
eng
Copyright Statement
In Copyright
Reuse Permissions
All Rights Reserved
Primary Member of
ASU Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Peer-reviewed
No
Open Access
No
Handle
https://hdl.handle.net/2286/R.I.15062
Statement of Responsibility
Yexin Jessica Li
Description Source
Viewed on Sept. 23, 2013
Level of coding
full
Note
Partial requirement for: Ph. D., Arizona State University, 2012
Note type
thesis
Includes bibliographical references (p. 35-37)
Note type
bibliography
Field of study: Psychology
System Created
  • 2012-08-24 06:28:55
System Modified
  • 2021-08-30 01:45:50
  •     
  • 1 year 5 months ago
Additional Formats
  • OAI Dublin Core
  • MODS XML

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