Just a thought here. Might women be looking at the unmarried men and wondering *why* they're unmarried, and thinking there might be something less desirable about a man who's - just to pursue a stereotype here - unmarried and living with his mother? I like Mike's suggestion that married men might be seen as "pre-screened."
Beth Benoit Granite State College Plymouth State University New Hampshire On Fri, Aug 14, 2009 at 2:29 PM, Don Allen <[email protected]> wrote: > Hardly a surprising finding. How many women would turn down an advance > from Brad Pitt because he was married? Marriage just seems to be another one > of those "fitness" markers such as wealth or status that women use in mate > selection. Once again evolution trumps morality. > > -Don. > > Don Allen > Dept. of Psychology > Langara College > 100 W. 49th Ave. > Vancouver, B.C. > Canada V5Y 2Z6 > Phone: 604-323-5871 > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Mike Palij > Date: Friday, August 14, 2009 7:00 am > Subject: [tips] Why Do Single Women Go After Married Men? > To: "Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS)" > Cc: Mike Palij > > > Or do they? > > > > An interesting blog entry in the NY Times this week describes a > > study in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology that varied > > descriptions of males and females as being single or married/attached. > > Quoting from the blog entry: > > > > |To the men in the experiment, and to the women who were > > |already in relationships, it didn't make a significant > > difference > > |whether their match was single or attached. But single women > > |showed a distinct preference for mate poaching. When the man > > |was described as unattached, 59 percent of the single women > > |were interested in pursuing him. When that same man was > > described > > |as being in a committed relationship, 90 percent were interested. > > > > Of course, as the researchers explain, "most women who engage > > in mate poaching do not think the attached status of the target > > played a role in their poaching decision, but our study shows this > > belief to be false." > > > > A married man, apparently, has been "pre-screened", has been > > found "passing the test for matehood", and, thus, is a desirable > > "commodity". > > > > Gee, guys, I hadn't realized how objectified we have been for so long. > > I feel, what is the proper word, used? ;-) > > > > For more (or less) see the blog entry: > > http://tierneylab.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/13/do-single-women- > > seek-attached-men/?em > > > > If you were really interested in the article you would locate it and > > read it yourself: > > > > Parker, J. & Burkley, M. Who's chasing whom? The impact > > of gender and relationship status on mate poaching, Journal > > of Experimental Social Psychology, Volume 45, Issue 4, July > > 2009, > > Pages 1016-1019, ISSN 0022-1031, DOI: 10.1016/j.jesp.2009.04.022. > > (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6WJB-4W6Y5S3- > > 1/2/dc59df25a980557415a8385ea7efe80a ) > > Abstract: > > Are women more interested in men who are already in a > > relationship? Female and male participants who were single > > or in a relationship viewed information about an opposite-sex > > other and indicated their interest in pursuing this target. > > Half of the participants were told that the target was single > > and half read that the target was currently in a relationship. > > The results showed that only single women were more interested > > in pursuing an attached target rather than a single target. > > We discuss how these results add to what is already known about > > mate poaching. > > Keywords: Mate poaching; Cheating; Gender; Relationship status > > > > Why do I get the feeling that "mate poaching" will be the next > > big topic to be researched by undergraduates this coming academic > > year? ;-) > > > > -Mike Palij > > New York University > > [email protected] > > > > > > > > > > --- > > To make changes to your subscription contact: > > > > Bill Southerly ([email protected]) > > > > Don Allen > Dept. of Psychology > Langara College > 100 W. 49th Ave. > Vancouver, B.C. > Canada V5Y 2Z6 > Phone: 604-323-5871 > > > --- > To make changes to your subscription contact: > > Bill Southerly ([email protected]) > > --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([email protected])
