Naslov
Body height and reproductive strategy – Taller men pursue more short-term relationships

Autori
Pavela, Irena ; Banai, Benjamin

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Sažeci sa skupova, sažetak, znanstveni

Skup
4th Croatian neuroscience congress

Mjesto i datum
Zagreb, Hrvatska, 20.09.2013. - 21.09.2013

Vrsta sudjelovanja
Poster

Vrsta recenzije
Međunarodna recenzija

Ključne riječi
body height ; mating strategies ; Sociosexual Orientation Inventory

Sažetak
Mating strategies are integrated sets of adaptations that organize and guide an individual’s reproductive effort (Gangestad and Simpson, 2000). Compared to women, men on average have a stronger preference for short-term mating strategy, i.e. sexual relationships without emotional involvement (Simpson and Gangestad, 2000). However, much variability exists within men about the degree to which they pursue short- term and long-term relationships (Gangestad and Simpson, 2001). Current study focused on one variable that was predicted to influence men’s mating strategies – body height, which is one of men’s phenotypic traits shaped by sexual selection. Taller men are perceived as being more attractive and dominant (Nettle, 2002 ; Pawlowski and Jasienka, 2005), which is explained by the assumption that height and stature signal certain heritable qualities, i.e. “good genes” and reproductive success (Pawlowski, Dunbar and Lipowicz, 2000). If so, more attractive (taller) men could be more prone to pursue short-term instead of long-term strategy, hence increasing their reproductive success by coupling with greater number of women. This prediction was tested among 155 heterosexual male participants (Mage=25.34, sdage=2.62). Self-reported measures of body height, number of sexual partners and age of the first sexual intercourse were used. Participants also filled out Croatian version of Sociosexual Orientation Inventory (SOI, Kardum et al., 2006). Greater result on SOI means greater tendency to pursue short-term strategy. As predicted, positive linear and quadratic relationships were found between body height and short-term mating tendency. Further analysis revealed negative linear relationship between the age of the first sexual intercourse and tendency to short-term mating strategy. Furthermore, it is showed that participants, who are more prone to short-term strategy, have a greater number of sexual partners per year. These results could be interpreted within the framework of evolutionary approach by identifying selection pressures during evolutionary history.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

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