Sexual conflict in mating strategies

• Main Authors: LI, Norman P., YONG, Jin Chuan
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2017
• Subjects: Error management theory; Rape; Sexual aggression; Sexual conflict; Sexual harassment; Strategic interference; Applied Behavior Analysis; Gender and Sexuality; Social Psychology
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/3262; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/soss_research/article/4519/viewcontent/Sexual_Conflict_in_Mating_Strategies_av.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

Why do men and women come into conflict over mating and sex? This chapter examines the adaptive reasons, which trace back to key differences in minimum obligatory parental investment (Trivers 1972). Reflecting these differences, men tend to be relatively eager for casual sex, whereas women are relatively more cautious, requiring their sexual partners to be of higher quality or committed for a longer duration. As each side strives for its own reproductive interests, the other side’s strategy is often interfered with, resulting in conflict.