حفظ جفت نر واسطه رابطه خیانت جنسی در زنان و خشونت زنان

Previous research has documented relationships between (1) female sexual infidelity and men’s non-violent mate retention behaviors, and (2) men’s non-violent mate retention behaviors and partner-directed violence. In the two studies, we examined two additional relationships: (1) the relationship between accusations of female sexual infidelity and men’s partner-directed violence and (2) whether men’s direct guarding mate retention behaviors mediates the relationship between accusations of female sexual infidelity and men’s partner-directed violence. The results indicate that (1) accusations of female sexual infidelity predict men’s partner-directed violence, (2) men’s reports of direct guarding mediates the relationship between accusations of partner sexual infidelity and partner-directed violence (Study 1, N = 165) and (3) women’s reports of men’s direct guarding partially mediates the same relationship (Study 2, N = 306). The discussion addresses sex differences identified in the mediation analyses, notes limitations of the research, and highlights directions for future research.

Over human evolutionary history, men have faced the adaptive problem of female sexual infidelity and subsequent cuckoldry – or the unwitting investment in genetically unrelated offspring. The reproductive costs of cuckoldry, including loss of time, energy, resources, and alternative mating opportunities, are potentially so great that men are hypothesized to have evolved psychological mechanisms that function to motivate anti-cuckoldry tactics. Mate retention behaviors are one such class of anti-cuckoldry tactics. These behaviors vary in the costs inflicted upon partners, ranging from subtle manipulation to outright physical violence (Buss & Shackelford, 1997). Partner-directed violence is a more severe class of anti-cuckoldry tactics that functions to keep a partner invested in the current relationship and to prevent her from sexual infidelity and possible cuckoldry.