PosterPDF Available

Licking Business: Oral Sex may serve as Mate Value Discrepancy Compensation for Heterosexual men

Authors:

Abstract

Maintaining a romantic relationship has been and continues to be a significant adaptive challenge throughout human evolutionary history (Conroy-Beam et al., 2015; 2016). This challenge can be addressed through various strategies, such as selecting a partner with a similar mate value (MV) or monitoring potential differences in mate value (referred to as mate value discrepancy, MVD) between romantic partners (Buss and Shackelford, 1997). One particularly important factor that prompts the implementation of partner-retention strategies is the presence of disparities in mate value. In cases of MVD between romantic partners, both individuals in the relationship employ various compensation strategies (Goetz and Meyer, 2018). For example, when one partner has a lower MV than the other, these strategies aim to retain the mate, while in the case of the partner with a higher MV, they may lead to infidelity (Goetz and Meyer, 2018; Conroy-Beam et al., 2016). The aim of our project is to investigate whether the motivation to sexually satisfy a long-term romantic partner through active oral sex can function as a strategy for mate retention and compensation for MVD among heterosexual men with a lower MV compared to their long-term partner. Our planned correlational study intends to determine whether differences in MV in favor of the partner predict the frequency of engaging in active oral sex among heterosexual men and whether this relationship can be explained by the motivation to sexually satisfy the long-term romantic partner. The results obtained from this study will enhance our understanding of the strategies employed by heterosexual men in long-term relationships characterized by MVD on both sides. Furthermore, drawing upon the premises of the Behavioral Immune System theory (Ackerman et al., 2018), which pertains to a set of psychological mechanisms and behaviors that assist individuals in avoiding contact with infectious pathogens while considering the principles of situational and individual flexibility – recognizing that not everyone benefits equally from avoiding pathogens at all times (Curtis et al., 2011; Murray and Schaller, 2016), we hypothesize that the frequency of engaging in active oral sex (which carries the risk of exposure to health-threatening pathogens) predicted by MVD in favor of the partner among heterosexual men will be moderated by their subjective perceived vulnerability to disease (PVD) (Duncan et al., 2009). More precisely, we anticipate that this relationship will be more pronounced among men with lower PVD scores, as these men do not have to make a trade-off between protecting their own health by avoiding pathogens and benefiting from maintaining a long-term romantic relationship (Tybur et al., 2020).
Theoretical background Results
Heterosexual men’s motivation to sexually satisfy a committed female
partner through active oral sex can function as a strategy for mate retention
and compensation for MVD among those with a lower MV compared to their
partners.
Specifically:
The higher the MVD in favor of the female partner, the greater the
frequency of men’s engagement in active oral sex.
The higher the MVD in favor of the female partner, the higher the men’s
motivation for sexual satisfaction of the female partner.
MVD in favor of the partner predicts the frequency of men’s engagement
in active oral sex, and this relationship is mediated by men’s motivation
for sexual satisfaction of the partner.
The relationship between MVD and the frequency of men’s engagement
in active oral sex is not moderated by PVD (neither germ aversion nor
perceived infectability).
Motivation to sexually satisfy a female partner as a mediator of a
relationship between MVD and the frequency of engaging in active oral sex
to a female partner (model 4 PROCESS; Hayes & Rockwood, 2017).
Frequency of
oral sex on a
female partner
Motivation to
sexually satisfy
a female partner
nfrankowska@swps.edu.pl
@n_frankowska OR @bbsb_rc
https://rcbbsb.com/
Conclusions
References:
Natalia Frankowska*
Aleksandra Szymkow
Andrzej Galbarczyk
Licking Business:
Center for Research on Biological Basis of Social
Behavior; SWPS University in Warsaw,
Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland
Method
Participants
Procedure
Maintaining a romantic relationship has been and continues to be
a significant adaptive challenge throughout human evolutionary
history (Conroy-Beam et al., 2016).
540 men (+ 18 y/o)
involved in a
committed, actively
sexual, heterosexual
relation for at least
three years,
(Mage = 28.4, SD = 2.31
M relation length =
4.34, SD = 0.99 ).
Ackerman, J. M., Hill, S. E., & Murray, D. R. (2018). The behavioral immune system: Current concerns and future
directions. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 12(2), 57-70.
Buss, D. M., & Shackelford, T. K. (1997). Human Aggression in Evolutionary Psychological Perspective. Clinical
Psychology Review, 17, 605-619.
Conroy-Beam, D., Goetz, C. D., & Buss, D. M. (2016). What predicts romantic relationship satisfaction and mate
retention intensity: Mate preference fulfillment or mate value discrepancies? Evolution and Human Behavior,
37(6), 440–448.
Duncan, L. A., Schaller, M., & Park, J. H. (2009). Perceived vulnerability to disease: Development and validation of
a 15-item self-report instrument. Personality and Individual Differences, 47, 541-546.
Edlund, J. E., & Sagarin, B. J. (2014). The Mate Value Scale. Personality and Individual Differences, 64, 72–77.
Goetz, C. D., & Meyer, K. B. (2018). Mate value discrepancies, the Dark Triad and relationship satisfaction: A
Euclidean distances approach. Evolutionary Psychological Science, 4(2), 134–140.
Pham, M. N., & Shackelford, T. K. (2013a). Oral sex as infidelity-detection. Personality and Individual Differences,
54(6), 792–795.
Pham, M. N., & Shackelford, T. K. (2013b). Oral sex as mate retention behavior. Personality and Individual Differences,
55, 185–188.
Tybur, J. M., Lieberman, D., Fan, L., Kupfer, T. R., & de Vries, R. E. (2020). Behavioral Immune trade-offs: Interpersonal
value relaxes social pathogen avoidance. Psychological Science, 31(10), 1211-1221.
Oral Sex may serve as Mate Value
Discrepancy Compensation
for Heterosexual Men
The presence of mate value disparities prompts partners to
employ retention strategies. In cases where one partner has
lower MV, strategies aim to retain the mate, while higher MV
partners may resort to infidelity (Goetz & Meyer, 2018;
Conroy-Beam et al., 2016).
The aim of our study was to investigate
whether the motivation to sexually satisfy a
long-term romantic partner through active
oral sex can function as a strategy for mate
retention and compensation for MVD among
heterosexual men with a lower MV
compared to their long-term partner.
Picture: generated by
the AI Stable Diffusion
2.1 demo (2024)
Specifically, we examined if:
additionally, drawing from the
Behavioral Immune System theory
(Ackerman et al., 2018), we tested
whether this relationship is
moderated by perceived
vulnerability to disease (PVD). with
This challenge can be addressed through various strategies,
such as selecting a partner with a similar mate value (MV) or
monitoring potential differences in mate value (referred to as
mate value discrepancy, MVD) between romantic partners
(Buss & Shackelford, 1997; Pham & Shackelford, 2013a; 1013b).
Mate Value Discrepancy
(MVD): difference between
MVs of both partners on
Mate Value Scale (Edlund
& Sagarin, 2014).
Motivation to sexually satisfy a
female partner: four questions, i.e.,
I prioritize my partner's sexual
satisfaction over mine during sex”
averaged to overall motivation α = .61)
Perceived Vulnerability to Disease (PVD;
Duncan et al., 2009). Measured as perceived
infectability (PI, α = .82) and germ aversion
(GA; α = .69).
Oral sex on a female partner frequency: how
many of your last 10 sexual encounters
involved orally satisfying your female
partner?
Predictors
Dependent variable
Pearson correlation analyses
Mediation analysis
Neither germ aversion nor perceived infectability moderated a relationship
between MVD and the frequency of engaging in oral sex on a female partner
mediated by participant’s motivation to sexually satisfy a female partner
(model 7 PROCESS; Hayes & Rockwood, 2017).
Moderated mediation analyses
MVD
(in favor to a
female partner)
a = -0.11** b = 0.98***
c = -0.14
c' = 0.98***
differences favoring the female partner's
MV predict heterosexual men’s frequency of
engaging in oral sex, and
if this is driven by a desire to sexually satisfy
the female partner.
stronger effects
among men with
lower PVD scores,
who face fewer
trade-offs between
health protection
and relationship
maintenance (Tybur
et al., 2020).
How to contact us?
The study was
preregistered:
ResearchGate has not been able to resolve any citations for this publication.
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