Oxford Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology and Romantic Relationships

This handbook showcases the empirical and theoretical advancements produced by the evolutionary study of romantic relationships, tracing evolved psychological mechanisms that shape strategic computation and behavior across the lifespan of a romantic partnership. It discusses popular and cutting-edge methods for data analysis and theory development, critically analyzing the state of evolutionary relationship science and recommendations for future research.

List of contents

• Introduction


• Justin K. Mogilski and Todd K. Shackelford


• Part 1: Relationship Initiation


• 1. The sexual selection of human mating strategies: Mate preferences and competition tactics


• David M. Buss


• 2. Physical cues of partner quality


• Ian D. Stephen and Severi Luoto


• 3. The three Cs of psychological mate preference: The psychological traits people want in their romantic and sexual partners


• Peter K. Jonason and Evita March


• 4. Partner evaluation and selection


• Norman P. Li and Bryan K. C. Choy


• 5. Hormonal mechanisms of partnership formation


• Anastasia Makhanova


• 6. Human intersexual courtship


• Neil R. Caton, David M. G. Lewis, Laith Al-Shawaf, and Kortnee C. Evans


• 7. Intrasexual mating competition


• Jaimie Arona Krems, Hannah K. Bradshaw, and Laureon A. Merrie


• 8. Initiation of non-heterosexual relationships


• Jaroslava Varella Valentova, Bruno Henrique Amaral, and Marco Antonio Correa Varella


• 9. Relationship initiation among older adults


• Chaya Koren and Liat Ayalon


• 10. Cross-cultural variation in relationship initiation


• Victor Karandashev


• Part 2: Relationship Maintenance


• 11. Sexual conflict during relationship maintenance


• Leif Edward Ottesen Kennair, Trond Viggo Grøntvedt, Andrea Melanie Kessler, and Mons Bendixen


• 12. Jealousy in close relationships from an evolutionary and cultural perspective: Responding to real and feared rivals


• Abraham P. Buunk and Karlijn Massar


• 13. Hormonal mechanisms of in-pair mating and maintenance


• Amanda Denes, John P. Crowley, and Anuraj Dhillon


• 14. Mate guarding and partner defection avoidance


• Valerie G. Starratt


• 15. Intimate partner violence and relationship maintenance


• Gordon G. Gallup, Jr. and Rebecca L. Burch


• 16. Parenting and relationship maintenance


• Elizabeth M. Westrupp, Emma M. Marshall, Clair Bennett, Michelle Benstead, Gabriella King, and Gery C. Karantzas


• 17. Maintaining multi-partner relationships: Evolution, sexual ethics, and consensual non-monogamy


• Justin K. Mogilski, David L. Rodrigues, Justin. J. Lehmiller, and Rhonda N. Balzarini


• 18. Evolutionary perspectives on relationship maintenance across the spectrum of sexual and gender diversity


• Lisa M. Diamond and Jenna Alley


• 19. Relationship maintenance in older adults: Considering social and evolutionary psychological perspectives


• Ledina Imami and Christopher R. Agnew


• 20. Cultural variation in relationship maintenance


• Lora Adair and Nelli Ferenczi


• Part 3: Relationship Dissolution


• 21. Relationship dissatisfaction and partner access deficits


• T. Joel Wade, James B. Moran, and Maryanne L. Fisher


• 22. In-pair divestment


• Simona Sciara and Giuseppe Pantaleo


• 23. Mate poaching, infidelity, and mate switching


• Joshua Everett Ryan and Edward P. Lemay, Jr.


• 24. Menstrual cycle variation in women's mating psychology: Empirical evidence and theoretical considerations


• Jan Havlícek and S. Craig Roberts


• 25. Affective reactions to divorce or spousal death


• Jeannette Brodbeck and Hans Joerg Znoj


• 26. Affective self-regulation after relationship dissolution


• Leah E. LeFebvre and Ryan D. Rasner


• 27. Post-relationship romance


• Michael R. Langlais and He Xiao


• 28. Evolutionary perspectives on post-separation parenting


• Lawrence J. Moloney and Bruce M. Smyth


• 29. Dissolution of LGBTQ+ relationships


• Madeleine Redlick Holland and Pamela J. Lannutti


• 30. Relationship dissolution among older adults


• Dimitri Mortelmans


• Conclusion


• Justin K. Mogilski and Todd K. Shackelford

About the author

Justin K. Mogilski earned his Ph.D. in evolutionary psychology from Oakland University in 2017. He is an Assistant Professor at the University of South Carolina, Salkehatchie. He researches how evolution has shaped brain computation to adaptively guide the decisions that people make to initiate, maintain, and dissolve intimate relationships. He has published evolutionary, social, personality, and sexual psychology journals on topics spanning mate poaching, infidelity, cross-gender friendship, intimate partner conflict, moral decision-making, morphometric cues of partner attractiveness, and multivariate statistical analyses of human mate preference.

Todd K. Shackelford received his Ph.D. in evolutionary psychology from the University of Texas at Austin in 1997. Since 2010, he is Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychology at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan. Shackelford has published around 400 journal articles and his work has been cited around 28,000 times. Much of

Shackelford's research addresses sexual conflict between men and women, with a focus on men's physical, emotional, and sexual violence against their intimate partners.

Summary

This handbook showcases the empirical and theoretical advancements in the evolutionary study of romantic relationships, tracing the psychological mechanisms that shape strategic computation and behavior across the lifespan of an intimate partnership. Written by global experts in their fields, each chapter provides an overview of historic and contemporary research on the psychological mechanisms and processes underlying initiation, maintenance, and dissolution of romantic relationships. The volume discusses popular and cutting-edge methods for data analysis and theory development, critically analyzing the state of evolutionary relationship science. It provides discerning recommendations for future research and integrates a broad range of topics (e.g., partner preference and selection, competition and conflict, jealousy and mate guarding, parenting, partner loss and divorce, and post-relationship affiliation) that are discussed alongside major sources of strategic variation in mating behavior, such as sex and gender diversity, developmental life history, neuroendocrine processes, technological advancement, and culture.

The Oxford Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology and Romantic Relationships enriches students' and established researchers' views across a diverse cross-section of relationship scholars and clinicians to incorporate evolutionary theorizing into their professional work, including those interested in social change and continuity in social and cultural psychology, sociology, political science, healthcare, and related fields.

Additional text

The handbook is likely most helpful for relationship researchers as it generally provides information about trends in populations.

Product details

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 31.12.2022
• EAN: 9780197524718
• ISBN: 978-0-19-752471-8
• No. of pages: 864
• Series: OXFORD LIBRARY OF PSYCHOLOGY SERIES
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Psychology > Theoretical psychology; PSYCHOLOGY / Social Psychology, PSYCHOLOGY / Movements / General, Social, group or collective psychology, Psychological theory, systems, schools and viewpoints, Psychological theory & schools of thought