Gossip as an intrasexual competition strategy: Predicting information sharing from potential mate versus competitor mating strategies

Publication date: Available online 31 August 2018Source: Evolution and Human BehaviorAuthor(s): Joy P. Wyckoff, Kelly Asao, David M. BussAbstractWe propose that one function of competitive information sharing is success in intrasexual competition. We posit that the decision to share potentially damaging information about a competitor is sensitive to the probability of that information diminishing a competitor's mate value. According to Sexual Strategies Theory (Buss & Schmitt, 1993), men and women have evolved different psychological mechanisms underlying short-term and long-term mating strategies, and display somewhat different (although partially overlapping) preferences for long-term and short-term mate choice. In two experiments, we utilized a 2 × 2 factorial within-subjects design to manipulate a potential mate's mating strategy (long-term vs. short-term) and characteristics of a rival indicative of the rival's mating strategy (long-term vs. short-term). We predicted that participants would be more likely to share information about a competitor when that information mismatched the potential mate's preferences, thereby decreasing the perceived mate value of the competitor. Using Linear Mixed Effects Modeling, Study 1 found that men and women reported that they would be more likely to share that a competitor was promiscuous when the potential mate was interested in a long-term mate than when the potential mate was interested in a short-term mate. Study 2 demonstrated ...

Source: Evolution and Human Behavior - September 1, 2018 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research