To Steal a Mate: Predictors of Mate Poaching

Human mate poaching behaviors are defined as certain behaviors that are intended to attract other people\u27s romantic partners (Schmitt & Buss, 2001; Schmitt, 2004). This occurs in the context of another person perceiving favorable qualities in another’s mate. More specifically, when an individual views another person as having a good, stable mate, they may engage in mate poaching or simply, trying to ‘steal’ the mate. The purpose of the current study was to examine the perceptions of mate poaching behaviors. That is, are some individuals just more open (i.e., liberal perceptions) of mate poaching behaviors than others? We hypothesized that consistent with past sex research, males will have more liberal perceptions than females, and those individuals in committed relationships will be more conservative than single participants. Additionally, we hypothesized that relationship contingent self-worth, sociosexual orientation, and avoidant attachment styles will predict liberal perceptions of mate poaching behaviors. Alternatively, we expected a sex guilt and anxious attachment to predict conservative perceptions. Participants (N = 207) were recruited from MTurk to complete an online survey. Data analysis is currently underway, and implications of the findings will be discussed