Degree Type
Honors Capstone Project
Date of Submission
Spring 5-1-2009
Capstone Advisor
Alecia M. Santuzzi
Honors Reader
Leonard S. Newman
Capstone Major
Psychology
Capstone College
Arts and Science
Audio/Visual Component
no
Capstone Prize Winner
no
Won Capstone Funding
no
Honors Categories
Social Sciences
Subject Categories
Community Psychology | Other Psychology | Psychology | Social Psychology
Abstract
This study investigated whether different romantic contexts would influence one’s willingness to engage in blatant benevolence or conspicuous consumption. Participants – 341 college-age students – were recruited to read written stimulus materials about interpersonal encounters with a person of the opposite sex. Each participant was then asked to respond to questionnaires, which led to atypical results in how men and women interpret ambiguous cues. Contrary to previous findings, evidence suggested women more readily wish to use costly signals in response to ambiguous romantic cues in evolving relationships as compared to men, who showed no distinction between non-romantic and ambiguously romantic cues. Men actually showed a decrease in the willingness for blatant prosocial behavior in explicitly romantic contexts.
Recommended Citation
Taube, David, "Evolutionary Mating Traits: When Costly Signals Emerge" (2009). Honors Capstone Projects - All. 489.
https://surface.syr.edu/honors_capstone/489
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
