I’m sexy and I know it: The effect of mate poaching on self-perceived mate value

Mate poaching is when someone attracts, or tries to attract, a romantic partner away from their current romantic partner. Research in this area has focused on individual differences in engaging in a mate poaching strategy. Less is known about the effects of being a target of mate poaching. In the present study, I tested three hypotheses about being the target of mate poaching attempts. First, I hypothesized that perceptions of frequency of being the target of mate poaching attempts would be positively associated with self-perceived mate value. Second, I hypothesized that perceptions of frequency of your partner being the target of mate poaching attempts would be positively associated with self-perceived mate value. Third, I hypothesized that receiving feedback that there has been a higher than average frequency of mate poaching attempts in a person’s relationship will result in an increase in self-perceived mate value compared to receiving feedback that the mate poaching attempts in a person’s relationship have been of average frequency. Participants in relationships completed a survey in which they reported how often they, and their romantic partner, have been the targets of mate poaching attempts in their relationship. Participants were then randomly assigned to one of two false feedback conditions and told the amount of mate poaching in their relationship was above average or average. After receiving the false feedback, they completed a scale measuring their self-perceived mate value. Results expand our understanding of how mate poaching influences self-perceptions and affects romantic relationship quality