Human mate guarding refers to behaviours employed by both males and females with the aim of maintaining reproductive opportunities and sexual access to a mate. It involves discouraging the current mate from abandoning the relationship whilst also warding off intrasexual (same sex) rivals. It has been observed in many non-human animals (see mate guarding and sperm competition), as well as humans.Alberts, S. C., Altmann, J., & Wilson, M. L. (1996). Mate guarding constrains foraging activity of male baboons. Animal Behaviour, 51, 1269 -1277. Sexual jealousy is a prime example of mate guarding behaviour. Both males and females use different strategies to retain a mate and there is evidence that suggests resistance to mate guarding also exists.Buss, D. M. (2002). Human mate guarding. Neuroendocrinology Letters, 23 (4), 23-29.
Male
Circumstances of use Male mate guarding is the act of guarding a potential partner from other competing males. Mate guarding behaviour in males is much more likely to be elicited by the threat of sexual infidelity in a female partner, in comparison to emotional involvement outside the mateship.Rokach, A., & Philibert-Lignières, G. (2015). Intimacy, Loneliness & Infidelity. Open Psychol J, 8, 71-7.Buss, D. M. (2006). Strategies of human mating. Psihologijske teme, 15(2), 239-260. According to a 2004 study across multiple countries, 62% of men have attempted to mate poach for a short-term relationship, as opposed to 40% of women. “In most world regions, women report less frequent poaching attempts for short-term and long-term relationships than men. (Hudek-Knezevic et al., 2022) Schmitt et al. (2004) report that, across countries, an estimated 62% of men and 40% of women have attempted to mate poach for a short-term relationship.” (Fisher M., Wade J., and Moran J., 2023).
For long-term poaching, the difference was smaller, but still existent nonetheless, with 60% of men and 53% of women having attempted to mate poach for a long-term relationship. “The sex difference was smaller for long-term mate poaching, but still present—60% of the men and 53% of the women.” (Schmitt & Buss, 2001). These results are similar to those found in a prior 2001 study among college-aged individuals, where 64% of college-aged men were found to mate poach, as opposed to 49% of college-aged women. Mate poaching attempts among older adults constituted 60% of men and 38% of women. “Schmitt and Buss (2001) found college-aged men (64%) are more likely than college-aged women (49%) to have attempted poaching a short-term mate. These rates are higher than those observed in older adults (60% of men, 38% of women).” (Fisher M., Wade J., and Moran J., 2023).
“The first scientific study of mate poaching (Schmitt & Buss, 2001) found that substantially more men (60%) than women (38%) admitted to having attempted to poach an already mated person for a sexual encounter.” (Tierney J., 2009). Another study sampling participants across ten different countries showed that 57% of men and 35% of women have attempted to mate poach. “Across ten world regions, 57% of men and 35% of women indicated they had engaged in an attempt at mate poaching.” (Hanson R., 2009). This especially raises concern primarily due to the risk female infidelity poses for male paternity, or 'genetic cuckoldry'.
In other words, as fertilisation takes place within females, males do not have paternal certainty in the way that females do (females can always be certain that the offspring is theirs, whilst a male cannot). There is supporting evidence for this cross-culturally in a varied range of countries such as China, Germany, Japan and Sweden.Buss, D. M. (2003). The evolution of desire: Strategies of human mating. Basic books. Moreover, in physiological tests such as skin conductance and heart rate, men show greater levels of distress when asked to imagine a partner having sexual intercourse with another person.Pietrzak, R. H., Laird, J. D., Stevens, D. A., & Thompson, N. S. (2002). Sex differences in human jealousy: A coordinated study of forced-choice, continuous rating-scale, and physiological responses on the same subjects. Evolution and Human Behavior, 23(2), 83-94. Mate guarding tactics are more likely to be used if the partner is of high reproductive value e.g. if the female displays signs of high fertility such as youth and physical attractiveness.
Risks If a male does not successfully prevent a rival's attempt at mating, there are many risks. If the female becomes fertilised, then the male loses the opportunity to reproduce with that partner for an extended period of time and his genes will not be passed on to the offspring. Moreover, the male may invest years of time, resources and energy into a child that is not genetically his own. If this becomes public knowledge, the individual may also face public humiliation, and as a result this could reduce his social status and affect his future chances to reproduce. There are also 'opportunity costs'; wherein the male could have been spending lost time pursuing alternative mating options.
Male mate guarding behaviour also needs to ensure that the female does not leave the mateship as this would reduce future chances the male may have to reproduce. Moreover, the male would also lose any maternal efforts the female would have invested in any potential offspring. Additionally, access to any social benefits or helping networks that the female brought to the relationship could be lost. Finally, the female could also use information, such as strengths or weakness, about the male to exploit him in the future.
Strategies Mate guarding tactics employed by males tend to be hiding the female from intrasexual threats; this could be not bringing the mate to social events in which other competing males may be present. Another is to request that the female wear items that indicate possession, this could be a wedding ring or the male's jacket for example. Males may also demonstrate the quality of resources they have to offer (e.g. buying the mate gifts, or paying for a meal).Buss, D. M. (1988). From vigilance to violence: Tactics of mate retention in American undergraduates. Ethology and Sociobiology, 9(5), 291-317. Men are also more likely to employ threatening and violent behaviour towards intrasexual rivals.
Female Female mate guarding is the act of guarding a potential partner away from other competing females. It occurs when women mate with males that are seen as desirable due to their paternal value (see mate value), and are therefore more likely to attract other females. Despite women being 44% less likely than men to mate poach, one study showed that over 50% of females asked in a survey admitted to poaching for long-term relationships (see Human mate poaching), as well as 50% of men admitting that they were unfaithful when presented with a poaching female.Schmitt, D. P. (2004). Patterns and universals of mate poaching across 53 nations: the effects of sex, culture, and personality on romantically attracting another person's partner. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 86, 560. It is therefore a balancing act between having close female friendships that can help with childcare, and the sharing of resources,Campbell, A. (2002). A mind of her own: The evolutionary psychology of women. OUP: Oxford. but not letting friends become too close that they have easy access to poach successfully. Females have therefore come up with tactics to ward off any potential threats.
Avoidance Female mate guarding concentrates on avoiding attractive, fertile females. Research suggests that females are more likely to avoid women that are attractive and exclude them from the group, as these women are interpreted as potential poachers.Vrangalova, Z., Bukberg, R. E., & Rieger, G. (2014). Birds of a feather? Not when it comes to sexual permissiveness. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 3, 93-113.
Ovulating women are also seen as a threat. Research has shown that women subconsciously change their behaviour across their menstrual cycle, such as dressing more provocatively, which is noticed by men.Krems, J. A., Neel, R., Neuberg, S. L., Puts, D. A., & Kenrick, D. T. (2016). Women selectively guard their (desirable) mates from ovulating women. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 110 (4), 551-73 In one study, men rated photos of ovulating (fertile) women as more attractive, compared to photos of women who were in the luteal (infertile) stage of the menstrual cycle. It is suggested that men are therefore more likely to pursue ovulating women, which become potential threats to their female mates.Bobst, C. & Lobmaier, J. S. (2012). Men's preference for the ovulating female is triggered by subtle face shape differences.Hormones and Behaviour Journal, 62 (4), 413-7
Krems, Neel, Neuberg, Puts and Kenrick (2016) also found that women created larger social distance between themselves and a competing female, but only if she was ovulating and attractive. Similarly, this only occurred if the woman was partnered with a desirable mate. This is suggested to be because other females, especially those who are ovulating, are less likely to desire men that have limited resources.
Proximity Across the world, it is common for people to sleep in the same bed as one another after copulation. Humans are more likely to engage in sexual activity at night,Ford, C. S., & Beach, F. A. (1951). Patterns of sexual behavior. New York: Harper & Brothers. so therefore night-time brings the highest danger of infidelity. Due to females investing more in the relationship, women receive more benefits from sleeping with their mate during the night. Keeping close proximity with a partner acts as a mate guarding technique as it minimises the likelihood of unfaithfulness by the male, and also assures their partner of her fidelity. As a result of the paternal confidence, the male is also more likely to stay and provide resources. In one study it was found that 73.7% of participants said that females are more likely to want to sleep together after sexual intercourse. Mate guarding is a very likely explanation to this, but it may also have the benefits of increasing the female's protection, potentially from male poachers.Hughes, S. M., Harrison, M. A., & Gallup, G. G. (2004). Sex differences in mating strategies: Mate guarding, infidelity and multiple concurrent sex partners. Sexualities, Evolution & Gender, 6, 3-13.
Failure to introduce One way to overcome this issue is to avoid introducing threatening friends (potential mates of higher value) to desirable mates. In one study women were shown three pictures of the same female. In one picture the model was dressed conservatively, in the other two she was dressed provocatively, but in the third the model had been photoshopped to have a larger frame. All the women tested rated the thin, provocatively dressed women as the sexiest. Participants were also twice as likely to avoid introducing the model to their partners compared to the conservatively dressed model, who was rated as the least threatening. The authors interpreted these findings as, women who are dressed provocatively are seen as more promiscuous, so therefore are less likely to be introduced to partners due to the possibility of poaching.Vaillancourt, T., & Sharma, A. (2011). Intolerance of sexy peers: Intrasexual competition among women. Aggressive behavior, 37, 569-577. Not introducing an attractive female to a mate, minimises the likelihood that poaching will occur as it is a form of indirect aggression that minimises contact between a mate and a potential threat.
Resistance