Intimate Relationships

Kristin Wade Intimate Relationships January 24, 2006

Mate Poaching

- This study focuses on ways people try to get out of relationships. It is one of the first of its kind. Why do you think former studies ignored this topic and focused on romantic attractiveness instead?

- Can you give an example from a movie or from your own life where mate poaching occurs?

- Previous studies have focused on the psychology of “the poached” and not “the poacher.” Why do you think this is?

- Why are their differences between males and females in motivations for mate poaching? Can you link this to evolutionary psychology?

- What do you think differentiates an adulterer from a mate poacher, psychologically?

- What do you think about the two most common ways to disguise mate poaching, the first being that men talk about the future and having a family and the second being that women maintain their daily routine when mate poaching?

- What do you think of their finding concerning women mentioning that one partner derogates, or criticizes, them as a form of mate poaching enticement? How does this fit into evolutionary psychology? Does mentioning derogation in itself invite meddling?

- How prevalent do you think mate poaching and mate poaching enticement are?

- Do you think sex differences in mate poaching are explained by evolutionary psychology, or are they better explained by social structural theory?