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Men’s Benefit-Provisioning Mate Retention Behavior Mediates the Relationship Between Their Agreeableness and Their Oral Sex Behaviors

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Abstract

Men perform oral sex on their romantic partner as part of a broader benefit-provisioning mate retention strategy and men higher in Agreeableness are especially likely to provision their partner with benefits. The current research explored whether men’s benefit-provisioning mate retention behavior mediated the relationship between their Agreeableness and their oral sex behaviors in their long-term romantic relationship. Men (n = 346) in a committed, sexual, heterosexual relationship completed the Mate Retention Inventory—a 104-item instrument that assesses the frequency with which they performed various mate retention behaviors during the past month, a 40-item personality inventory, and reported on a questionnaire their interest in and the time they spent performing oral sex on their romantic partner during their most recent sexual encounter with her. The results indicated that men higher in Agreeableness reported greater interest in and spent more time performing oral sex on their partner, and that their benefit-provisioning mate retention behaviors partially mediated these relationships. The current research is the first to investigate the relationship between personality dimensions and oral sex behaviors and adds to a growing body of research documenting that mate retention strategies influence sexual behavior.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Oakland University, 130 Pryale Hall, Rochester, MI, 48309, USA

    Michael N. Pham, Todd K. Shackelford, Christopher J. Holden, Virgil Zeigler-Hill, Yael Sela & Austin John Jeffery

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  1. Michael N. Pham
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  2. Todd K. Shackelford
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  3. Christopher J. Holden
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  4. Virgil Zeigler-Hill
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  5. Yael Sela
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  6. Austin John Jeffery
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Correspondence to Michael N. Pham.

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Pham, M.N., Shackelford, T.K., Holden, C.J. et al. Men’s Benefit-Provisioning Mate Retention Behavior Mediates the Relationship Between Their Agreeableness and Their Oral Sex Behaviors. Arch Sex Behav 44, 1723–1728 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-014-0371-6

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