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Sociosexuality and Sexual Conflict in Mating Strategies

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Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science
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Synonyms

Error management theory; Mating strategies; Sex differences; Sexual conflict; Sociosexuality

Definition

Men and women differ in terms of their sociosexuality, or evolved preferences for whether and how soon to have sexual relations. Reflecting these differences, the sexes often come into sexual conflict.

Introduction

Sociosexual orientation, or sociosexuality, is a construct reflecting an individual’s tendency to engage in casual, uncommitted sexual relationships. It is commonly measured by the Sociosexual Orientation Inventory (SOI) (Simpson and Gangestad 1991), which measures both behavioral elements – past number of partners, predicted number of future partners, number of one-night stands, frequency of sexual fantasies – as well as attitudes toward engaging in casual, uncommitted sex. Individuals with a restricted sociosexual orientation are more likely to insist on commitment and closeness in a relationship before engaging in sex and to pursue a long-term mating strategy,...

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Correspondence to Nadhilla V. Melia .

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Melia, N.V., Li, N.P. (2018). Sociosexuality and Sexual Conflict in Mating Strategies. In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3698-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3698-1

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

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