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Sexual strategies theory: an evolutionary perspective on human mating
Abstract
This article proposes a contextual-evolutionary theory of human mating strategies. Both men and women are hypothesized to have evolved distinct psychological mechanisms that underlie short-term and long-term strategies. Men and women confront different adaptive problems in short-term as opposed to long-term mating contexts. Consequently, different mate preferences become activated from their strategic repertoires. Nine key hypotheses and 22 predictions from Sexual Strategies Theory are outlined and tested empirically. Adaptive problems sensitive to context include sexual accessibility, fertility assessment, commitment seeking and avoidance, immediate and enduring resource procurement, paternity certainty, assessment of mate value, and parental investment. Discussion summarizes 6 additional sources of behavioral data, outlines adaptive problems common to both sexes, and suggests additional contexts likely to cause shifts in mating strategy.
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“Women have evolved to be the “choosier sex” when selecting a mating partner, as there is a greater investment of resources in offspring [37,38].”
From Does Relationship-Contingent Self-Esteem Play a Role in the Stress to Impaired Control Pathway to Alcohol-Related Problems in a College Student Sample? (2023) · cites this paper as [37]
In the citing paper
“Evolutionary theory suggests a biological basis for sex differences in partnering preferences, indicating women may be more likely to prefer long-term relationships because they will have a greater personal investment in children resulting from sexual encounters due to the long-term commitment of pregnancy and nursing, while men also prefer long-term relationships but may be more interested than”
From The role of culture in explaining college students’ selection into hookups, dates, and long-term romantic relationships (2016) · cites this paper as Buss & Schmitt, 1993
In the citing paper
“Social norms can shape desired partnership types, desired types of partners, and interact with market forces to shape structural opportunities to meet potential partners with complementary preferences in contexts that facilitate romantic and/or sexual partnering (Buss & Schmitt, 1993).”
From The role of culture in explaining college students’ selection into hookups, dates, and long-term romantic relationships (2016) · cites this paper as Buss & Schmitt, 1993
In the citing paper
“However, unlike prairie voles, which display a consistently strong partner preference, marmosets display a flexible pattern of sociosexual preferences (Smith et al., 2010; Cavanaugh et al., 2014), similar to those displayed by humans (Buss and Schmitt, 1993).”
From Marmosets treated with oxytocin are more socially attractive to their long-term mate (2015) · cites this paper as Buss and Schmitt, 1993
In the citing paper
“However, unlike prairie voles, which display consistently strong sociosexual preferences for a long-term partner over an opposite-sex stranger (Wang and Aragona, 2004), marmosets display a flexible pattern of sociosexual preferences, similar to those displayed by humans (Buss and Schmitt, 1993), including a willingness to interact with a potential mate in the absence of a pair-mate (Evans, 1983;”
From Oxytocin facilitates fidelity in well-established marmoset pairs by reducing sociosexual behavior toward opposite-sex strangers (2014) · cites this paper as Buss and Schmitt, 1993
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Metadata
- Authors
- Buss, D. M., & Schmitt, D. P.
- Affiliations
- University of Michigan (US)
- Venue
- Psychological Review
- Published
- 1993
- Volume
- 100
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 204-232
- ISSN
- 0033-295X (ISSN-L)
- 1939-1471
- OpenAlex
- W1971871412
- Cited by
- 4,253
- References
- 87
- Citations by year
- 2026: 98 · 2025: 97 · 2024: 127 · 2023: 210 · 2022: 178 · 2021: 240 · 2020: 323 · 2019: 221 · 2018: 216 · 2017: 172 · 2016: 195 · 2015: 234 · 2014: 197 · 2013: 179 · 2012: 182
- FWCI
- 63.75
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Psychological Review (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health (5r01mh044206-03)
- National Institute of Mental Health (MH44206)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics › Animal Behavior and Reproduction
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Evolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation
- Keywords
- sexual strategies theory, human mating strategies, short-term mating, long-term mating, mate preferences, fertility assessment, commitment, resource procurement, paternity certainty, mate value, parental investment, sex differences, evolutionary psychology
- MeSH terms
- Biological Evolution, Female, Gender Identity, Humans, Male, Problem Solving, Sexual Behavior, Social Environment, Social Values, Parenting
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