Human Mate Guarding
DAVID BUSS
Neuroendocrinology Letters,2002; 23(suppl 4):23-29
Long-term committed mating is a fundamental strategy in the human
repertoire. Successful enactment of this strategy requires solving
two related adaptive problems - fending off potential mate
poachers and preventing a mates from defecting. Mate guarding
adaptations evolved to solve these persistent problems. Those who
failed in mate guarding risked suffering substantial reproductive
costs ranging from genetic cuckoldry to reputational damage to the
entire loss of a mate. Because the precise nature of the adaptive
problems confronted differed historically for the sexes, men and
women evolved corresponding differences in the underlying psychology
of mate guarding. Men's mate guarding, relative to that of
women's, is strongly triggered as a consequence of being mated to
young and physically attractive women, being confronted by
interested rivals who have superior economic resources or prospects,
and having a mate who displays signs of sexual involvement with a
rival. Women's mate guarding, relative to that of men's, is
triggered as a consequence of being mated to men high in income and
status striving, rivals who are more physically attractive, and
having a partner who shows signs of emotional involvement with
another woman. Behavioral output of mate guarding adaptations range
from vigilance to violence.
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