Males identify and respond adaptively to the mating strategies of other men

Abstract

We recently demonstrated that college-aged women who were given a brief character sketch of personality features consistent with each strategy readily comprehended alternative male mating strategies. In the current study, we confirmed that college-aged males are also able to identify traits and tendencies associated with long-term “dad” and short-term “cad” mating strategies. Participants were aware of the cads' greater tendency for mating effort and success with women and the dads' greater suitability for long-term relationships and potential for paternal investment in offspring. There was some preference for dads rather than cads in social alliances. Participants also predicted responses to these characters in ways that would benefit their own reproductive success. Participants’ personality attributes, hypothetical behaviors, and actual behaviors generally corresponded with their judgments of their similarity to the character descriptions.