Synonyms
Definition
Women’s mating behavior includes human female sexual development, mate preferences, and strategies to optimize reproduction and long-term mating. Each of these components of mating behavior has been shaped by selection to produce adaptive outcomes.
Introduction
A life history approach to evaluating human behavior can be fruitful for understanding the fundamentally unique nature of women’s mating behavior (Luoto et al. 2018; Motta-Mena and Puts 2017). For example, early in development, puberty in humans marks a formative time during which changes in the visuoperceptual system can influence the ability to detect facial cues related to mating behavior and sexual relationships (e.g., sexual interest; Garcia and Scherf 2015; Motta-Mena and Scherf 2017), a crucial developmental transition that, thus far, appears to be exclusive to humans. As young women undergo puberty and begin menstruation, they begin to exhibit...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Arslan, A. R. C., Schilling, K. M., & Gerlach, T. M. (2017). Using 26 thousand diary entries to show ovulatory changes in sexual desire and behaviour (pp. 1–77). https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/JP2YM.
Buss, D. M. (1989). Sex differences in human mate preferences: Evolutionary hypotheses tested in 37 cultures. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 12, 1–49. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X00023992.
Conroy-Beam, D., Buss, D. M., Pham, M. N., & Shackelford, T. K. (2015). How sexually dimorphic are human mate preferences? Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 41(8), 1082–1093. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167215590987.
Dahl, R. E. (2004). Adolescent brain development: A period of vulnerabilities and opportunities – Keynote Address. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1021, 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1196/annals.1308.001.
Dijkstra, P., & Buunk, B. P. (2002). Sex differences in the jealousy-evoking effect of rival characteristics. European Journal of Social Psychology, 32(6), 829–852. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.125.
Durante, K. M., Li, N. P., & Haselton, M. G. (2008). Changes in women’s choice of dress across the ovulatory cycle: Naturalistic and laboratory task-based evidence. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 34(11), 1451–1460. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167208323103.
Fink, B., Klappauf, D., Brewer, G., & Shackelford, T. K. (2014). Female physical characteristics and intra-sexual competition in women. Personality and Individual Differences, 58, 138–141. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2013.10.015.
Fisher, M. L. (2004). Female intrasexual competition decreases female facial attractiveness. Proceedings. Biological Sciences/The Royal Society, 271(Suppl), S283–S285. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2004.0160.
Garcia, N. V., & Scherf, K. S. (2015). Emerging sensitivity to socially complex expressions: A unique role for adolescence? Child Development Perspectives, 0(0), 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdep.12114.
Gildersleeve, K., Haselton, M. G., & Fales, M. R. (2014). Do women’s mate preferences change across the ovulatory cycle? A meta-analytic review. Psychological Bulletin, 140(2). https://doi.org/10.1037/a0035438.
Graziano, W. G., Jensen-Campbell, L. A., Shebilske, L. J., & Lundgren, S. R. (1993). Social influence, sex differences, and judgments of beauty: Putting the interpersonal back in interpersonal attraction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65(3), 522–531. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.65.3.522.
Grumbach, M. M., & Styne, D. M. (1998). Puberty: Ontogeny, neuroendocrinology, physiology, and disorders. In Williams textbook of endocrinology (pp. 1509–1625). Philadelphia: Saunders.
Haselton, M. G., & Gangestad, S. W. (2006). Conditional expression of women’s desires and men’s mate guarding across the ovulatory cycle. Hormones and Behavior, 49(4), 509–518. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yhbeh.2005.10.006.
Jasieńska, G., Ziomkiewicz, A., Ellison, P. T., Lipson, S. F., & Thune, I. (2004). Large breasts and narrow waists indicate high reproductive potential in women. Proceedings. Biological Sciences/The Royal Society, 271(1545), 1213–1217. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2004.2712.
Jones, B. C., Hahn, A. C., Fisher, C. I., Wang, H., Kandrik, M., Han, C., … DeBruine, L. M. (2017). No evidence that more physically attractive women have higher estradiol or progesterone. BioRxiv, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1101/136515.
Jones, B. C., Hahn, A. C., Fisher, C. I., Wang, H., Kandrik, M., & DeBruine, L. M. (2018a). General sexual desire, but not desire for uncommitted sexual relationships, tracks changes in women’s hormonal status. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 88, 153–157. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2017.12.015.
Jones, B. C., Hahn, A. C., Fisher, C. I., Wang, H., Kandrik, M., Han, C., Fasolt, V., Morrison, D., Lee, A. J., Holzleitner, I. J., Shea, K. J. O., Roberts, S. C., Little, A. C., & DeBruine, L. M. (2018b). no compelling evidence that preferences for facial masculinity track changes in women’s hormonal status. Psychological Science, 29(6), 996–1005. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797618760197.
Junger, J., Motta-Mena, N. V., Cardenas, R., Bailey, D., Rosenfield, K. A., Schild, C., Penke, L., & Puts, D. A. (2018). Do women’s preferences for masculine voices shift across the ovulatory cycle?, 0, 1–53. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/k9y7s.
Jünger, J., Gerlach, T. M., & Penke, L. (2018a). No evidence for ovulatory cycle shifts in women’s preferences for men’s behaviors in a pre-registered study, (March). https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/7G3XC
Jünger, J., Kordsmeyer, T. L., Gerlach, T. M., & Penke, L. (2018b). Fertile women evaluate male bodies as more attractive, regardless of masculinity. Evolution and Human Behavior, 39(4), 412–423. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2018.03.007.
Kordsmeyer, T. L., Hunt, J., Puts, D. A., Ostner, J., & Penke, L. (2018). The relative importance of intra- and intersexual selection on human male sexually dimorphic traits. Evolution and Human Behavior, 39(4), 424–436. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2018.03.008.
Lanska, D. J., Lanska, M. J., Hartz, A. J., & Rimm, A. A. (1984). Factors influencing anatomic location of fat tissue in 52,953 women. International Journal of Obesity, 9(1), 29–38.
Larson, C. M., Haselton, M. G., Gildersleeve, K. A., & Pillsworth, E. G. (2013). Changes in women’s feelings about their romantic relationships across the ovulatory cycle. Hormones and Behavior, 63(1). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yhbeh.2012.10.005.
Luoto, S., Krams, I., & Rantala, M. J. (2018). A life history approach to the female sexual orientation spectrum: Evolution, development, causal mechanisms, and health. Archives of Sexual Behavior. Springer US. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-018-1261-0
Marcinkowska, U. M., Ellison, P. T., Galbarczyk, A., Milkowska, K., Pawlowski, B., Thune, I., & Jasienska, G. (2016). Lack of support for relation between woman’s masculinity preference, estradiol level and mating context. Hormones and Behavior, 78, 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yhbeh.2015.10.012.
Marshall, W. A., & Tanner, J. M. (1969). Variations in pattern of pubertal changes in girls. Archives of Disease in Childhood, 44(235), 291–303. https://doi.org/10.1136/adc.45.239.13.
Marshall, W. A., & Tanner, J. M. (1970). Variations in the pattern of pubertal changes in boys. Archives of Disease in Childhood, 45(239), 13–23. https://doi.org/10.1136/adc.45.239.13.
Motta-Mena, N. V., & Puts, D. A. (2017). Endocrinology of human female sexuality, mating, and reproductive behavior. Hormones and Behavior, 91, 19–35.
Motta-Mena, N. V., & Scherf, K. S. (2017). Pubertal development shapes perception of complex facial expressions. Developmental Science, 20(4).
Muñoz-Reyes, J. A., Iglesias-Julios, M., Martín-Elola, C., Losada-Pérez, M., Monedero, I., Pita, M., & Turiégano, E. (2014). Changes in preference for male faces during the menstrual cycle in a Spanish population. Anales de Psicologia, 30(2), 667–675. https://doi.org/10.6018/analesps.30.2.145221.
Nadler, R. D., Collins, D. C., Miller, L. C., & Graham, C. E. (1983). Menstrual cycle patterns of hormones and sexual behavior in gorillas. Hormones and Behavior, 17(1), 1–17.
Peters, M., Simmons, L. W., & Rhodes, G. (2009). Preferences across the menstrual cycle for masculinity and symmetry in photographs of male faces and bodies. PLoS One, 4(1), e4138.
Puts, D. a. (2010). Beauty and the beast: Mechanisms of sexual selection in humans. Evolution and Human Behavior, 31(3), 157–175. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2010.02.005.
Schulz, K. M., Richardson, H. N., Zehr, J. L., Osetek, A. J., Menard, T. A., & Sisk, C. L. (2004). Gonadal hormones masculinize and defeminize reproductive behaviors during puberty in the male Syrian hamster. Hormones and Behavior, 45(4), 242–249. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yhbeh.2003.12.007.
Shirazi, T. N., Bossio, J. A., Puts, D. A., & Chivers, M. L. (2018a). Menstrual cycle phase predicts women’s hormonal responses to sexual stimuli. Hormones and Behavior, 103(June), 45–53. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yhbeh.2018.05.023.
Shirazi, T. N., Puts, D. A., & Escasa-Dorne, M. J. (2018b). Filipino women’s preferences for male voice pitch: Intra-individual, life history, and hormonal predictors. Adaptive Human Behavior and Physiology, 4(2), 188–206. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40750-018-0087-2.
Singh, D. (1993). Adaptive significance of female physical attractiveness: Role of waist-to-hip ratio. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65(2), 293–307. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.65.2.293.
Thornhill, R., & Gangestad, S. W. (2015). The functional design and phylogeny of women’s sexuality. In T. K. Shackelford & R. D. Hansen (Eds.), The evolution of sexuality – 8 (pp. 149–184). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-09384-0_8.
Trivers, R. L. (1972). Parental investment and sexual selection. Chicago: Aldine.
Wang, H., Hahn, A. C., DeBruine, L. M., & Jones, B. C. (2016). Do partnered women discriminate men’s faces less along the attractiveness dimension? Personality and Individual Differences, 98(August), 153–156. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2016.04.024.
Watkins, C. D., Nicholls, M. J., Batres, C., Xiao, D., Talamas, S., & Perrett, D. I. (2017). Own attractiveness and perceived relationship quality shape sensitivity in women’s memory for other men on the attractiveness dimension. Cognition, 163, 146–154. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2017.03.007.
Wood, W., Kressel, L., Joshi, P. D., & Louie, B. (2014). Meta-analysis of menstrual cycle effects on women’s mate preferences. Emotion Review, 6(3), 229–249. https://doi.org/10.1177/1754073914523073.
Zaadstra, B. M., Seidell, J. C., Van Noord, P. A., te Velde, E. R., Habbema, J. D., Vrieswijk, B., & Karbaat, J. (1993). Fat and female fecundity: Prospective study of effect of body fat distribution on conception rates. BMJ, 306(6876), 484–487. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.306.6876.484.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Section Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Motta-Mena, N.V. (2019). Observed Mating Behavior and Women’s Long-Term Mating. In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3657-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3657-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences