Posted on 08/13/2009 9:40:05 AM PDT by nickcarraway
Researchers have debated for years whether men or women are likelier to engage in “mate poaching.” Some surveys indicated that men had a stronger tendency to go after other people’s partners, but was that just because men were more likely to admit engaging in this behavior? Now there’s experimental evidence that single women are particularly drawn to other people’s partners, according to a report in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology by two social psychologists, Melissa Burkley and Jessica Parker of Oklahoma State University.
Noting that single women often complain that “all the good men are taken,” the psychologists wondered if “this perception is really based on the fact that taken men are perceived as good.” To investigate, the researchers quizzed male and female undergraduates — some involved in romantic relationships, some unattached — about their ideal romantic partner.
Next, each of the experimental subjects was told that he or she had been matched by a computer with a like-minded partner, and each was shown a photo of an attractive person of the opposite sex. (All the women saw the same photo, as did all the men.)Half of the subjects were told that their match was already romantically involved with someone else, while the other half were told that their match was unattached. Then the subjects were all asked how interested they were in their match.
To the men in the experiment, and to the women who were already in relationships, it didn’t make a significant difference whether their match was single or attached. But single women showed a distinct preference for mate poaching. When the man was described as unattached, 59 percent of the single women were interested in pursuing him. When that same man was described as being in a committed relationship, 90percent were interested. The researchers write:
(Excerpt) Read more at tierneylab.blogs.nytimes.com ...
Yeah, I gotta beat 'em off with a stick.
'specially around their meal time.
If you’re attached she figures that at least one woman thought you were OK. If you’re not attached, she wonders why.
Yes, men that are 'attached' to huge bank accounts.
I didn’t read beyond the excerpt posted here. Does the word “marriage” figure into it at all? Or is “committed relationship” as strong as it gets when they were asking the questions? Just curious.
MM
One of his better tricks when he's "Looking for Targets" is to put a wedding ring on his finger and pretend to be traveling on business. Says that it works every time.
I've not tried his methods....I'm still head over heels with Mrs WBill!
Noting that single women often complain that “all the good men are taken,” the psychologists wondered if “this perception is really based on the fact that taken men are perceived as good.”
As our industrial base further diminishes and our increasingly impoverished nation begins to buckle under the weight of unsustainable burdens, the contribution one of our publicly-supported research universities is making to our country is to investigate the question, "are all the good men really taken?"
Thanks, ladies, for your important work.
Yeah but what a sad profile of that woman. Those are the women that make me run screaming because they’ve obviously got some serious problems.
In my 40 years I can peg the good from the bad from the questionable, at the very most, within a few hours of being around them. Sometimes within minutes. I know what I want and what I don’t. What does it say about a woman who has to rely on another woman’s judgement to make her own?
It says she’s a woman who doesn’t know herself, has no real backbone, no individuality, low self-esteem, thin-skinned, no foundation, nothing. And they dare to judge somebody else as worthy of a relationship.
Scary, hypocritcal, and pathetic all at the same time.
I should show this article to my wife. She’s always pressuring me to get a wedding ring and wear it. I’m one of those people who absolutely hates wearing any kind of jewelry, including rings. The only thing I’ll wear is a watch.
Get a tatto of a wedding ring on your ring finger. That should solve both problems unless you like giving the impression you are on the market...
Once you wear a wedding band for a while you don’t even notice it. Though you do notice it if it’s gone.
This means stead, not necessarily married. When a man is in that state, he is almost married (marriageable material). Then it is easy to come along and pick off the fruit from someone who has labored long and hard.
Taking a married man, is a loosing proposition, because he soon learns that he can get another interested woman just the same.
Just one, I told the Mrs. "You don't put it up for me. Why do I have to put it down for you?"
This means steady, not necessarily married. When a man is in that state, he is almost married (marriageable material). Then it is easy to come along and pick off the fruit from someone who has labored long and hard.
Taking a married man, is a loosing proposition, because he soon learns that he can get another interested woman just the same.
The article said — But single women showed a distinct preference for mate poaching. When the man was described as unattached, 59 percent of the single women were interested in pursuing him. When that same man was described as being in a committed relationship, 90 percent were interested.
—
Ummm..., I’ve seen that principle in operation, in real life... :-)
[... coming under the “strange but true” category.... ]
That's certainly part of it. But a larger part, I imagine, has to do with their fiercely competitive nature and the 'challenge' of stealing the guy away from her. :)
It’s neurotic women seeking to prove they’re “good enough” to ruin someone else’s marriage. If they actually pull off an affair, they lose interest and move on to assault another family.
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