Date of Award
Spring 2019
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
School
Psychology
Committee Chair
Donald F. Sacco
Committee Chair School
Psychology
Committee Member 2
Alen Hajnal
Committee Member 2 School
Psychology
Committee Member 3
Lucas A. Keefer
Committee Member 3 School
Psychology
Committee Member 4
Richard S. Mohn
Committee Member 4 School
Education
Abstract
Human facial structures communicate personality from which one can infer another’s behavioral intentions, forming a basis for mate selection. One particularly detectable trait through facial structures is extraversion. Extraversion is a trait associated with heightened interest in promiscuous mating strategies and preferred among individuals similarly interested in short-term mating, implicating extraverted mates as ideal trait for short-term mating. Nonetheless, behavioral repertoires associated with extraversion may also pose risks, particularly in long-term mating, as their increased promiscuity may undermine their fidelity to a specific partner, thereby potentially reducing biparental investment in any offspring produced. Thus, a preference for introversion (i.e., low extraversion) may be desirable in long-term mating. This dissertation sought to determine the extent to which differential mating contexts, as elicited through activating context-specific motives, influence preferences for facially communicated extraversion versus introversion. Men and women were experimentally primed with mating motives, either long- or short-term, or a control state before indicating the extent to which various mating-related motivational states were activated (i.e., arousal, intrasexual competition, infidelity concerns, sociosexually unrestricted attitudes). Finally, I tasked them with indicating their preferences among male and female face pairs manipulated to communicate high and low levels of extraversion. Consistent with previous research, participants reported a preference for extraverted female faces and aversion to extraverted male faces. However, and contrary to hypotheses, differential mating contexts influenced neither men’s nor women’s preferences for extraversion. Furthermore, no motivational states provided the predicted mediation pathways. I frame these results based on various methodological limitations that could inform future research and posit future directions.
ORCID ID
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6615-6081
Copyright
2019, Mitch Brown
Recommended Citation
Brown, Mitch, "Differential Mating Motives' Influence on Preferences for Facially Communicated Extraversion" (2019). Dissertations. 1618.
https://aquila.usm.edu/dissertations/1618