Taking health-risks as a short-term mating strategy

• Main Author: WONG, Alvin Jun Jie
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2022
• Subjects: Sexual selection; risk-taking; health behavior; attractiveness; Health Psychology; Personality and Social Contexts
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/etd_coll/402; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/etd_coll/article/1400/viewcontent/GPPS_AY2021_MbR_Alvin_Wong_Jun_Jie.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

Diseases pose a recurring, and often indiscriminate threat to the health of individuals. However, there exists a wide range of behavioral responses between individuals when it comes to taking health precautions or undertaking risks in response to this perennial threat, with some responses seeming maladaptive to an individual’s survival. The present study adopts the lens of evolutionary psychology and suggests that taking health risks represent a short-term mating strategy in men, which potentially trades survival for reproductive fitness. Taking health risks is hypothesized to be an honest signal of both good genes and a strong physiological immune system, both of which are especially attractive to women looking for short-term (sexual) relationships. Results show only partial support for the hypotheses – short-term mate desirability was influenced by health-related risk-taking through vitality-attractiveness, but did not differ by sex or when using a measure of perceived genetic quality. Implications of the research could have both theoretical and practical significance.