Men's Preference for Promiscuity is Disputed

NEW YORK - Are men programmed by evolution to be roving-eyed Casanovas, while women have evolved to be faithful Penelopes? In fact, a team of California psychologists argues that there is scant evidence that men and women have evolved vastly different mating styles.

"Men and women are remarkably similar in their mating preferences," researcher Dr. Lynn Carol Miller, a professor of psychology at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, told Reuters Health.

Miller and colleagues published an analysis challenging the doctrine that men and women have evolved different mating styles, with men preferring to invest in one-night stands to widely spread their seed, while women lean toward long-term couplings to provide more nurturing and resources for their offspring.

The new report, published in the journal Current Directions in Psychological Science, cites previous research finding that primates who rely on short-term mating strategies have physical characteristics meant to enhance their chances with the opposite sex--characteristics not found in humans.

For example, chimpanzees, who frequently partake in short-term couplings, have more than twice the ratio of testicle size to body size than humans do. Researchers theorize this is a result of needing to produce a higher volume of sperm to beat out competitors. Chimps also produce substances that block competitors' sperm, unlike humans.

"In terms of reproduction, we don't see these mechanisms in humans," Miller noted. "There's no biology we can point to that says there is evidence for short-term mating, and there's a lot that suggests not."

Her team's research suggests that both college-aged men and women say they want to be in a long-term exclusive sexual relationship within 5 years, and during that period, would not be interested in one-night stands. "Like many other primates, humans tend to stay together for a long period of time," she stated.

In addition, Miller argues that previous studies reporting gender differences in mate selection and reactions to adultery were flawed in their methodology.

Miller noted that her team's research has determined that rather than men seeking out sexuality and women mining for wealth, the sexes are more likely to desire the same things in a partner.

"An agreeable, conscientious mate," she said. "These things turn out to top the list of what men and women are looking for--and what our ancestors were looking for."

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SOURCE: Current Directions in Psychological Science 2002;11:88-93.