He's my man : effect of female competition on female gift choices for male partner

• Main Author: Woo, Yue Ting
• Other Authors: Albert Lee Kai Chung
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2015
• Subjects: DRNTU::Social sciences::Psychology::Applied psychology
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/62725
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

The present study aims to look at how female mate retention strategies are manifested through women’s gift choices for their male romantic partners. Participants (n = 36) were female undergraduates at Nanyang Technological University and were in committed heterosexual relationships at the time of the study. Participants were aged between 19 and 25 years (M = 22.1, SD = 1.36) and most (83.3%) identified as ethnic Chinese. It was hypothesized that participants who were primed with intra-sexual competition, as compared to those who were not, would be (1) less likely to prefer appearance-enhancing products as gifts for their boyfriends and (2) more likely to prefer appearance-downgrading products for the same purpose. Furthermore, it was theorized that the relationship between intra-sexual competition and women’s gift choices was mediated by women’s motivation to induce a mate value discrepancy between themselves and their partners. Therefore, it was also hypothesized that (3) the effect of intra-sexual competition on participants’ gift preferences should be reduced when a mate value discrepancy is experimentally manipulated. Participants were experimentally primed with intra-sexual competition through exposure to photographs of other more attractive women. Mate value discrepancies were experimentally manipulated through the presentation of bogus feedback to participants. Analyses revealed that none of the hypotheses were supported. Possible reasons for the inconclusive data, limitations of the present study and future research directions are discussed.