Abstract
The costs imposed by a romantic partner’s mixed reproductive strategy (MRS) generate selection pressures for anticipatory responses to mitigate or avoid those costs. People will differ in their vulnerability to those costs, based in part on the qualities of their romantic rivals. Thus, we predicted that individuals at high risk of a partner’s MRS—women with many sexually accessible rivals and men with many rivals more physically attractive than themselves—would be more attentive to cues that an MRS was being employed than those at lower risk. Based on similarity judgments derived from a successive-pile-sort method, this prediction was supported in a study involving over 1,300 students and community members. These results complement a growing body of research on selection pressures generated by romantic rivals.
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Notes
For example, the candidate exemplars “I caught my boyfriend kissing another girl” and “My boyfriend made out with someone else at a party” were considered redundant. Conversely, the candidate exemplars “My boyfriend mentioned an ex-girlfriend and that they had a strong connection” and “My boyfriend compares me to his ex” were considered distinct threats and were further evaluated.
The candidate exemplars listed below occupied a similar space in the preliminary CA. The first two exemplars were retained because they were most distant within the cluster; the last four were omitted from subsequent analyses: “You find out from a friend that your partner had dinner with an ex-girlfriend,” “Your partner mentions an ex-girlfriend and that they had a strong connection,” “Your partner compares you to an ex,” “Your partner calls you by her ex-boyfriend’s name,” “Your partner discusses past relationships with unnecessary detail,” “Your partner tells you she considered marrying her last boyfriend.” Other exemplars were retained or omitted in a similar fashion.
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Appendix
Appendix
Jealousy-inducing exemplars, men’s version.
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A
You say “I love you” and your partner does not respond
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B
Your partner cancels a date with you to spend time with another man
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C
You find out from a friend that your partner had dinner with an ex-boyfriend
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D
Your partner starts loaning her favorite books and music to another man
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E
Your partner talks about casual flings she has had with men she didn’t know
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F
Your partner remembers ex-boyfriends’ birthdays but always forgets yours
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G
Your partner says she would rather be in a relationship with someone else
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H
Your partner has told you she’s not certain if she will stay with you or find another partner
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I
Your partner helped care for another man when he was ill
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J
Your partner talks about how much she values certain traits in other men; traits she knows that you don’t have
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K
Your partner talks about other men she knows that make her laugh
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L
Your partner flirts with other men when she thinks you aren’t looking
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M
Your partner obviously enjoyed when another man pursued a relationship with her
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N
Your partner does not make physical contact with you when there are other men around
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O
Your partner spends the night at another man’s house
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P
Your partner begins working late nights with a male co-worker
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Q
Your partner gives another man a very expensive gift for no reason
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R
Your partner has a very close relationship with another man but won’t let you spend time with the two of them
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S
Your partner gets drunk at a party, leaves for a while, and refuses to tell you where she was
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T
You catch your partner kissing another man
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U
Your partner tells you she has been having sex with another man
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V
Your partner initiates physical contact with another man while talking with him
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W
Your partner mentions an ex-boyfriend and that they had a strong connection
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X
Your partner dances with another man
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Hanson Sobraske, K.N., Gaulin, S.J.C. & Boster, J.S. Functional Variation in Sensitivity to Cues that a Partner is Cheating with a Rival. Arch Sex Behav 43, 1267–1279 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-014-0283-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-014-0283-5