Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Individual Differences in Mate Poaching: An Examination of Hormonal, Dispositional, and Behavioral Mate-Value Traits

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Archives of Sexual Behavior Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The personality and hormonal correlates of mate poaching (attempting to steal another person’s partner away) and of the target of the seducer (the mate poached) were examined in a sample 154 undergraduate university students (91 females; 63 males). Thirteen variables were modeled into two regression equations to predict and profile mate poachers and the mate poached. Findings revealed that (1) male mate poachers were better looking and had higher cortisol levels, lower levels of testosterone, and reported being higher on self-esteem, cold affect, and criminal tendencies and (2) female mate poachers and targets of mate poachers reported being more physically attractive, as did male targets of mate poachers. Sex differences in the context of mate poaching attraction as well as the characteristics of those who are successful in their attempts to lure away another person’s romantic partner were discussed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. We recognize there is a third-party (the “poachee”) involved directly or indirectly in the mate poaching attraction process. Specifically, the “poachee” is defined as the individual whose mate is lured away from them (Schmitt & Buss, 2001). Details pertaining to the “poachee” are beyond the scope of the present study. We recommend future studies investigate the nature of the “poachee” in relation to the poacher-poached dynamic.

References

  • Allan, S., & Gilbert, P. (1997). Submissive behavior and psychopathology. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 36, 467–488.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Baumeister, R. F. (1993). Self-presentation: Motivational, cognitive, and interpersonal patterns. In G. L. Van Heck, P. Bonaiuto, I. J. Deary, & W. Nowack (Eds.), Personality psychology in Europe (Vol. 4, pp. 257–279). Tillburg, Netherlands: Tillburg University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baumeister, R. F., Catanese, K. R., & Vohs, K. D. (2001). Is there a gender difference in strength of sex drive? Theoretical views, conceptual distinctions, and a review of relevant evidence. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 5, 242–273.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bernhardt, P. C., Dabbs, J. M. Jr., Fielden, J. A., & Lutter, C. D. (1998). Testosterone changes during vicarious experiences of winning and losing events. Physiology & Behavior, 65, 59–62.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berscheid, E., & Walster, E. (1974). Physical attractiveness. In L. Berkowitz (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 7, pp. 157–215). London: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bogaert, A. F., & Fisher, W. A. (1995). Predictors of university men’s number of sexual partners. Journal of Sex Research, 32, 119–130.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Booth, A., Shelley, G., Mazur, Tharp, G., & Kittock, R. (1989). Testosterone, and winning and losing in human competition. Hormones and Behavior, 23, 556–571.

  • Brase, G. L., & Guy, E. C. (2004). The demographics of mate value and self-esteem. Personality and Individual Differences, 36, 471–484.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burnham, T. C., Flynn Chapman, J., Gray, J. B., McIntyre, M. H., Lipson, S. F., & Ellison, P. T. (2003). Men in committed, relationships have lower testosterone. Hormones and Behavior, 44, 119–122.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Buss, D. M. (1988). The evolution of human intrasexual competition: Tactics of mate attraction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54, 616–628.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Buss, D. M. (1994). The evolution of desire. New York: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Buss, D. M. (2005). The murderer next door: Why the mind is designed to kill. New York: Penguin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Buss, D. M., & Barnes, M. (1986). Preferences in human mate selection. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 50, 559–570.

    Google Scholar 

  • Buss, D. M., Larsen, R. J., Westen, D., & Semmelroth, J. (1992). Sex differences in jealousy: Evolution, physiology, and psychology. Psychological Science, 3, 251–255.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buss, D. M., & Schmitt, D. P. (1993). Sexual strategies theory: An evolutionary perspective on human mating. Psychological Review, 100, 204–232.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Buss, D. M., & Shackelford, T. K. (1997). From vigilance to violence: Mate retention tactics in married couples. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 72, 346–361.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Buunk, A. P., Pollet, T. V., Klavina, L., Figuerdo, A. J., & Dijikstra, P. (2009). Height among women is curvilinearly related to life history strategy. Evolutionary Psychology, 4, 545–559.

    Google Scholar 

  • Buunk, B. P., & Van Driel, B. (1989). Variant lifestyles and relationships. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dabbs, J. M. (1990). Salivary testosterone measurements: Reliability across hours, days, and weeks. Physiology & Behavior, 48, 83–86.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dabbs, J. M. (2000). Heroes, rogues, and lovers: Testosterone and behavior. New York: McGraw-Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Daly, M., & Wilson, M. (1988). Homicide. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davies, A. P., Shackelford, T. K., & Hass, R. G. (2007). When a “poach” is not a poach: Re-defining human mate poaching and re-estimating its frequency. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 36, 702–716.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Davies, A. P., Shackelford, T. K., & Hass, R. G. (2010). Sex differences in the perceptions of benefits and costs of mate poaching. Personality and Individual Differences, 49, 441–445.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dawkins, R., & Krebs, J. R. (1978). Animal signals: Information or manipulation. In J. R. Krebs & N. B. Davies (Eds.), Behavioral ecology (pp. 282–309). Oxford: Blackwell Scientific.

    Google Scholar 

  • de Waal, F. (1986). Deception in the natural communication of chimpanzees. In R. W. Mitchell & N. S. Thompson (Eds.), Deception (pp. 221–244). Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fisher, R. A. (1958). The genetical theory of natural selection (2nd ed.). New York: Dover.

    Google Scholar 

  • Forrest, S., Eatough, V., & Shevlin, M. (2004). Measuring adult indirect aggression: The development and psychometric assessment of the indirect aggression scales. Aggressive Behavior, 31, 84–97.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gottman, J. M. (1994). What predicts divorce? The relationship between marital processes and marital outcomes. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hodges-Simeon, C. R., Gaulin, S. J., & Puts, D. A. (2010). Voice correlates of mating success in men: Examining “contests” versus “mate choice” modes of sexual selection. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 40, 551–557.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Honekopp, J., Voracek, M., & Manning, J. T. (2006). 2nd to 4th digit ratio (2D:4D) and number of sex partners: Evidence for effects of prenatal testosterone in men. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 31, 30–37.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jonason, P. K., Li, N. P., & Buss, D. M. (2010). The costs and benefits of the dark triad: Implications for mate poaching and mate retention tactics. Personality and Individual Differences, 48, 373–378.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jonason, P. K., Li, N. P., Webster, G. W., & Schmitt, D. P. (2009). The dark triad: Facilitating short-term mating mates: What, whether, and why. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 90, 468–489.

    Google Scholar 

  • Keller, J. F., Elliot, S. S., & Gunberg, E. (1982). Premarital sexual intercourse among single college students: A discriminant analysis. Sex Roles, 8, 21–32.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • King, R. J., Jones, J., Scheuer, J. W., Curtis, D., & Zarcone, V. P. (1990). Plasma cortisol correlates of impulsivity and substance abuse. Personality and Individual Differences, 11, 287–291.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kirkpatrick, L. A., & Ellis, B. J. (2001). An evolutionary-psychological approach to self-esteem: Multiple domains and multiple functions. In G. J. Fletcher & M. S. Clark (Eds.), Blackwell handbook of social psychology: Interpersonal processes (pp. 411–436). Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kurzban, R., & Weeden, J. (2005). HurryDate: Mate preferences in action. Evolution and Human Behavior, 26, 227–244.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Langlois, J. H., Kalakanis, L., Rubenstein, A. J., Larson, A., Hallam, M., & Smoot, M. (2000). Maxims or myths of beauty? A meta-analytic and theoretical review. Psychological Bulletin, 126, 390–423.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lopez, H. H., Hay, C. A., & Conklin, P. H. (2009). Attractive men induce testosterone and cortisol release in women. Hormones and Behavior, 56, 84–92.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Loving, T. J., Crockett, E. E., & Paxson, A. A. (2009). Passionate love and relationship thinkers: Experimental evidence for acute cortisol elevations in women. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 34, 939–946.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mazur, A. (2005). Biosociology of dominance and deference. Lamham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mazur, A., & Booth, A. (1998). Testosterone and dominance in men. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 21, 353–397.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mazur, A., Halpern, C., & Udry, R. J. (1994). Dominant looking male teenagers copulate earlier. Ethology & Sociobiology, 15, 87–94.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nettle, D. (2002a). Height and reproductive success in a cohort of British men. Human Nature, 13, 473–491.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nettle, D. (2002b). Women’s height, reproductive success and the evolution of sexual dimorphism in modern humans. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B, 269, 1919–1923.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ostovich, J. M., & Sabini, J. (2004). How are sociosexuality, sex drive, and lifetime number of sexual partners related? Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 30, 1255–1266.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Oswald, L. M., Zandi, P., Nestadt, G., Potash, J., Kalaydjian, A. E., & Wand, G. S. (2006). Relationship between cortisol responses to stress and personality. Neuropsychopharmacology, 31, 1583–1591.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Patzer, G. L. (1996). Understanding the causal relationship between physical attractiveness and self-esteem. Journal of Esthetic Dentistry, 8, 144–147.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Paulhus, D. L., Neumann, C. S., & Hare, R. D. (in press). Manual for the Self-Report Psychopathy (SRP) scale. Toronto: Multi-Health Systems.

  • Pawlowski, B., Dunbar, R. I. M., & Lipowicz, A. (2000). Tall men have more reproductive success. Nature, 403, 156.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Persky, H., Lief, H. I., Strauss, D., Miller, W. R., & O’Brien, C. P. (1978). Plasma testosterone level and sexual behavior of couples. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 7, 157–172.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pollet, T. V., der Meil, L., Cobey, K. D., & Buunk, A. P. (2011). Testosterone levels and their associations with lifetime number of opposite sex partners and remarriage in a large sample of American elderly men and women. Hormones and Behavior, 60, 72–77.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Puts, D. A. (2010). Beauty and the beast: Mechanisms of sexual selection in humans. Evolution and Human Behavior, 31, 157–175.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rhodes, G., Simmons, L. W., & Peters, M. (2005). Attractiveness and sexual behavior: Does attractiveness enhance mating success? Evolution and Human Behavior, 26, 186–201.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Romano-Torres, M., Phillips-Farfan, B. V., Rodriguez-Manzo, G., & Fernadez-Guasti, A. (2007). Relationship between sexual satiety and brain androgen receptors. Neuroendocrinology, 85, 16–26.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Roney, J. R., Lukazewski, A. W., & Simmons, Z. L. (2007). Rapid endocrine responses of young men to social interactions with young women. Hormones and Behavior, 52, 326–333.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Roney, J. R., Mahler, S. V., & Maesripieri, D. (2003). Behavioral and hormonal responses of men to brief interactions with women. Evolution and Human Behavior, 24, 365–375.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rosenberg, M. (1965). Society and the adolescent self-image. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sadalla, E. K., Kenrick, D. T., & Vershure, B. (1987). Dominance and heterosexual attraction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52, 730–738.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schmitt, D. P., Alcalay, L., Allik, J., Angleitner, A., Ault, L., Austers, I., et al. (2004). Patterns and universal of mate poaching across 53 nations: The effects of sex, culture, and personality on romantically attracting another person’s partner. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 86, 560–584.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Schmitt, D. P., & Buss, D. M. (2001). Human mate poaching: Tactics and temptations for infiltrating existing mateships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80, 894–917.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Schommer, N. C., Kudielda, B. M., Hellhammer, D. H., & Kirschbaum, C. (1999). No evidence for a close relationship between personality traits and circadian cortisol rhythm or a single cortisol stress response. Psychological Reports, 84, 840–842.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Singh, D., & Young, R. K. (1995). Body weight, waist-to-hip ratio, breasts, and hips: Role in judgements of female attractiveness and desirability for relationships. Ethology and Sociobiology, 16, 483–507.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Terburg, D., Morgan, B., & van Honk. (2009). The testosterone-cortisol ratio: A hormonal marker of proness to social aggression. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 32, 216-223.

  • Thompson, A. P. (1983). Extramarital sex: A review of the research literature. Journal of Sex Research, 19, 1–22.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trivers, R. L. (1985). Social evolution. Menlo Park, CA: Benjamin/Cummings.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vaillancourt, T., de Catanzaro, D., Duku, E., & Muir, C. (2009). Androgen dynamics in the context of children’s peer relations: An examination of the links between testosterone and peer victimization. Aggressive Behavior, 35, 103–113.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Vaillancourt, T., Duku, E., de Catanzaro, D., Macmillan, H., Muir, C., & Schmidt, L. A. (2008). Variation in hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity among bullied and non-bullied children. Aggressive Behavior, 34, 294–305.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Williams, K. M., Paulhus, D. L., & Hare, R. D. (2007). The four facet structure of psychopathy in non-forensic samples. Journal of Personality Assessment, 88, 118–129.

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams, K. M., Spidel, A., & Paulhus, D. L. (2005). Sex, lies, and more lies: Exploring the intimate relationships of subclinical psychopaths. Paper presented at the meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Psychopathy, Vancouver, BC.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgment

Funding support came from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Canada Research Chairs program.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada

    Shafik Sunderani & Tracy Vaillancourt

  2. Department of Psychology, Nipissing University, North Bay, ON, Canada

    Steven Arnocky

  3. Faculty of Education and School of Psychology, University of Ottawa, 145 Jean-Jacques-Lussier Private, Ottawa, ON, K1N 6N5, Canada

    Tracy Vaillancourt

Authors
  1. Shafik Sunderani
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Steven Arnocky
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Tracy Vaillancourt
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tracy Vaillancourt.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Sunderani, S., Arnocky, S. & Vaillancourt, T. Individual Differences in Mate Poaching: An Examination of Hormonal, Dispositional, and Behavioral Mate-Value Traits. Arch Sex Behav 42, 533–542 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-012-9974-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-012-9974-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation