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Evolutionary Psychology E Evolution of Desire, The research in the years since its original publication. Desire has become a citation classic (more than David M. Buss 2,000 scholarly citations as of 2016). It is widely The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, used in college courses. It is used by scientists to USA guide mating research. And it is used by everyday readers to inform their own mating lives. Although one previous excellent book had been Synonyms written about the evolution of human sexuality – Donald Symons’s(1979) classic trea- Attraction; Mate preferences; Mate retention; tise, The Evolution of Human Sexuality – the goals Mate selection; Mating; Mating psychology; Mat- of The Evolution of Desire were broader than sex- ing strategies uality per se. It aimed to look at human evolved psychology of mating more expansively, including all the action that happens prior to, and after, sexual Definition activity proper – strategies of mate competition, mate attraction, mate selection, mate retention, This book provides a unified theory of human mate poaching, conflict between the sexes, mate mating strategies, anchored in the best scientific ejection, and remating over the life span. evidence available on sexual psychology. A key theoretical premise of The Evolution of Desire is that humans have a menu of mating strategies, not just a single one, and that some of Introduction these strategies show important gender differences. Humans most obviously have long-term mating The Evolution of Desire: Strategies of Human (sometimes called pair-bonding, committed mat- Mating was first published by Basic Books ing, or marriage), although this turns out to be rare (Buss 1994). It took 4 years to write and among mammalian species, characterizing perhaps represented a synthesis of a decade of research only 3 %. Humans also have short-term mating or on the psychology of human mating by the author. casual sex, serial mating, mate poaching, and infi- Two chapters were added to a revised edition in delity, which represents a mixed mating strategy of 2003, although the original ten chapters remained one long-term mateship with some sex on the side. in unmodified form. Desire was updated and Understanding all mating strategies requires first revised thoroughly from top to bottom (Buss identifying what women and men want. It all starts 2016) and represented an explosion of empirical with desires in a mate. # Springer International Publishing AG 2016 T.K. Shackelford, V.A. Weekes-Shackelford (eds.), Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_1863-1 2 Evolution of Desire, The Desires in Human Mating the desire for virginity in a potential spouse. Swedes, for example, did not value virginity at What people desire in a mate, selective mate pref- all, whereas Chinese at the time saw virginity as erences, captures a key component of Darwin’s virtually indispensable (Buss 1989a). theory of sexual selection. Desires draw us to Chapter 4 delves into the deep scientific evi- some potential mates. They repel us from others. dence for sex differences in the psychology of Iterated over generations, the desires of one sex short-term mating (as contrasted with long-term determine the qualities favored or shunned, pro- mating). David Schmitt and David Buss were the ducing evolution or change over time. Prior to first to systematically document gender differ- 1989, little was known about what women and ences in mate preferences as a function of this men wanted in long-term mates. David Buss’s temporal context (Buss and Schmitt 1993). Men, 37 culture study, involving 10,047 individuals for example, prioritized high sex drive, sexual on five continents and six islands, provided the experience, and physical attractiveness in short- first massive cross-cultural findings on this key term mating, while despising prudishness and a topic (Buss 1989a). low sex drive. Women also increased the impor- The Evolution of Desire synthesized this and tance they attach to physical appearance, but ramp all scientific studies available at the time in up their desire for immediate resource displays Chapter 2 (What Women Want), Chapter 3 from a man. Chapter 4 also delves into the scien- (What Men Want), and Chapter 4 (Casual Sex). tific evidence for gender differences in the desire These chapters describe sexual similarities in for sexual variety. It highlights its many psycho- mate preferences, universal sex differences, and logical design features of short-term mating psy- cultural variation. Universal preferences include chology, including attraction to novel partners, the desire for mates who are kind, understanding, letting little time elapse before seeking sex, intelligent, dependable, emotionally stable, and relaxing standards for a partner, and showing a healthy. Importantly, people worldwide want sexual over-perception bias that causes men to mates with whom they are in love and who are over-infer women’s sexual interest. It also specu- in love with them, overturning conventional lated about men’s attraction decrement post- social science beliefs that love was a Western intercourse – designed to motivate a hasty post- European invention and not a universal across copulatory departure and minimize investment cultures. The emotion of love exists worldwide, and commitment – a hypothesis that was subse- appears in long-term but not short-term mating, quently tested and supported only for men pursu- and serves as a form of psychological ing a short-term mating strategy, as predicted commitment – an idea articulated independently (Haselton and Buss 2001). by the economist Robert Frank (1988) and David Buss (1988) the same year. Desire also described universal sex differ- Mate Competition: Attraction ences. Women more than men desire mates who and Derogation provide good economic resources, as well as the attributes linked with long-term resource acquisi- Several chapters in Desire capture what is known tion such as ambition, industriousness, and social about intrasexual mate competition – the second status. Men more than women prioritize physical key component of Darwin’s theory of sexual attractiveness and relative youth – important cues selection. They focus on two generic to fertility. These are universal sex differences that strategies – tactics of attraction and derogation were predicted in advance by evolutionary of competitors. According to sexual selection the- hypotheses; they have been robustly replicated ory, these should focus on dimensions desired by by dozens of researchers since Desire; and they the other sex. Stated differently, the desires of one show no signs of diminution over time. Cultures sex establish the ground rules of same-sex mate also differed dramatically in some desires, such as competition. Studies bear out this key prediction. Evolution of Desire, The 3 Both men and women display and deploy tactics strategies. Conflict between the sexes occurs on that involve acts of kindness, intelligence, and the mating market. One example stems from dif- brimming good health. Sex-differentiated tactics fering perceptions of mate value, such as when a involve resource display, physical protection, and man approaches an attractive women he believes appearance enhancement. Women, for example, is within his mate value range, but she does not spend more than nine times as much money on concur. Another source of conflict is when one beauty products. Men display status, ambition, person is seeking a long-term mate and the other a and resources and show a willingness to commit short-term mate, which has selected for strategies them to one woman, at least in long-term mating. of deception. A man might feign long-term inter- Tactics for attracting short-term mates differ est for short-term sexual access. A woman might somewhat. Schmitt and Buss (1996) found that present herself as costless sex and then attempt to men seeking short-term mates were more likely to convert the relationship into one of long-term engage in immediate resource display, whereas commitment. These are all forms of “strategic women were more likely to give off cues to imme- interference,” whereby a member of one gender diate sexual access. Because more men than blocks or impedes a strategy pursued by the other women seek short-term mates, women generally (Buss 1989b). have their pick on the short-term mating market, Committed couples sometimes break up. The and these sexual signals are extremely effective causes are well predicted by sexual strategies the- for them. Men sometimes deceive women, ory and a deep understanding of human mate feigning long-term interest for the purpose of preferences. Men’s failure in resource provision- gaining short-term sex. Desire goes into depth ing, for example, violates what women want. about these and other tactics of short-term and Women’s decrement in appearance or older age long-term mate attraction. sometimes causes men break up. Conflict over Derogation of competitors – the ways in which pooled resources and over in-laws are common we use language to impugn the character and sources of friction. And infidelity, sexual or finan- desirability of our rivals – is a second strategy in cial, violates desires and often leads to breakups. the arsenal of human mate competition. And the desires of one sex again set the ground rules of the game. Men are more likely than women to impugn Mate Retention and Mate Ejection a rival’s status, resources, and athletic prowess. Women are more likely than men to derogative Tactics of mate retention and mate ejection also their rival’s physical attractiveness (e.g., “she has should follow the logic of evolved desires. Suc- heavy thighs”) and sexual selectivity (e.g., “she cessful tactics of mate retention embody what a slept with the whole football team”). Men seeking mate wants, such as kindness, attentiveness, love, a long-term mate are hugely turned off by a affection, gifts, resource flow, and sexual access. women’s promiscuity, since it jeopardizes his Desire describes how men’s efforts at mate reten- paternity certainty.
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