Men are twice as likely to go out with a friend who has cheated on her with another woman than one who has cheated with another man, according to a new study by a psychologist at the University of Texas at Austin.
Women show the opposite pattern. It is more likely to continue dating a man who has had a heterosexual relationship than one that has had a homosexual relationship.
The study, published last month in the journal Personality and Individual Differences, provides a new understanding of the psychological adaptations behind the desire of men for a variety of partners and the desire of women to a committed partner. These units have played a key role in the evolution of human mating psychology.
"A robust mechanism is triggered jealousy in men and women different types of signals - those that threaten parenthood in men and those who threaten the abandonment of women," says Jaime C. Conference, the study's lead author and doctoral student in developmental psychology.
Conference conducted the study with his father, Mark D. Cloud, a psychology professor at Lock Haven University in Pennsylvania.
The researchers asked 700 college students to imagine they were in a committed romantic and sexual relationship with someone who has been dating for three months. They were asked how they would respond to infidelity committed by the couple expected.
Some participants said that their partners had been unfaithful with a man, others with a woman. Some said that their partner had an affair with a person, other people with multiple partners. Some said that the infidelity happened once, twice.
Regardless of the number of episodes or partners, the study found that:
- In general, men showed a 50 percent chance of continuing with a partner who has had a homosexual relationship and a 22 percent chance of staying with a woman after a heterosexual relationship.
- The women showed a 28 percent chance of continuing to date a boyfriend who had a heterosexual relationship and a 21 percent chance of staying with someone who has had a homosexual relationship.
The findings suggest that men have more difficulty by the type of infidelity that could threaten his paternity of the offspring. Men can also see the couple's homosexual relationship as an opportunity to mate with more than one woman at the same time, satisfy the desire of men older than most members, say the authors.
"These results are even more remarkable considering that homosexuality attitude surveys show men have more negative attitudes toward homosexuality and less favorable to civil rights for same-sex partners than women. However, this general tendency of men to show less tolerance of homosexuality that women invest in a gym situation improves - female homosexuality, "say the authors.
By contrast, women opposed to relations after the two types of things, but especially for a homosexual relationship boyfriend. This matter can be seen as a sign of dissatisfaction with the current relationship and a possible prelude to abandonment, according to the authors.
Participants were also asked the results of the experiences of infidelity in real life. Results similar to scenarios imagined infidelity: Men were significantly more likely than women who have completed their real relations as a result of a couple (presumably heterosexual) affair.
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