Valerie G. Starratt

Perceived risk of female infidelity moderates the relationship between objective risk of female infidelity and sexual coercion in humans (Homo sapiens).

Female extrapair copulation (EPC) can be costly to a womans long-term romantic partner. If a woman has copulated recently with a man other than her long-term partner, her reproductive tract may contain the sperm of both men, initiating sperm competition (whereby sperm from multiple males compete to fertilize an egg). Should the woman become pregnant, her long-term partner is at risk of cuckoldry-investing unwittingly in offspring to whom he is not genetically related. Previous research in humans (Homo sapiens) and in nonhuman animals suggests that males have evolved tactics such as partner-directed sexual coercion that reduce the risk of cuckoldry. The current research provides preliminary evidence that mated men (n = 223) at greater risk of partner EPC, measured as having spent a greater proportion of time apart from their partner since the couples last in-pair copulation, more frequently perform partner-directed sexually coercive behaviors. This relationship is moderated, however, by mens perceived risk of partner EPC, such that the correlation between the proportion of time spent apart since last in-pair copulation and sexually coercive behaviors remains significant only for those men who perceive themselves to be at some risk of partner EPC. Discussion addresses limitations of this research and highlights directions for future research investigating the relationship between female EPC and mens partner-directed sexual coercion.

Risk of Death or Life-Threatening Injury for Women with Children Not Sired by the Abuser

Women who are abused by their male intimate partners incur many costs, ranging in severity from fleeting physical pain to death. Previous research has linked the presence of children sired by a woman’s previous partner to increased risk of woman abuse and to increased risk of femicide. The current research extends this work by securing data from samples of 111 unabused women, 111 less severely abused women, 128 more severely abused women, and 26 victims of intimate partner femicide from the Chicago Women’s Health Risk Study to document an ordinal trend in the risk of experiencing more severe forms of violence for women who have children in the household sired by a previous partner. The discussion addresses two potential explanations for this trend and highlights directions for future research.

Male Adaptations to Retain a Mate

Men expend significant amounts of time, effort, and resources on finding, attracting, and sustaining a relationship with a mate. Those resources may have been used in vain, however, if the woman in which he invested those resources defects from the relationship, even temporarily. Consequently, men are hypothesized to have evolved psychological mechanisms that motivate the production of behaviors dedicated to the detection of such risks and the prevention of such losses. These mate retention behaviors may be directed at rival males or the man’s partner and may inflict costs for her defection or reward her fidelity, but they all function by increasing the cost-to-benefit ratio of a woman’s continued devotion to the existing relationship. This ratio, and men’s use of different categories of mate retention behaviors, is influenced by a wide variety of variables, including men’s and women’s mate value and characteristics of the existing relationship.