Life, Liberty & Pursuit Of Your Boyfriend

You say “two-timing.” I say “cheating.” Let’s call the whole thing off.

There’s a new psychological term I learned this morning called mate poaching, which is the “behavior intended to attract someone who is already in a romantic relationship.”

If you’re interested in learning all the techniques and tricks of the trade, read the study created by David P. Schmitt and David M. Buss here. [pdf] Page 23 (Appendix A) is especially intriguing with their “18 potential benefits of mate poaching”:

He will learn how to have a really good romantic relationship with a woman.
He will only have to “look good” some of the time.
He can get back at another man for mating with his woman.

She will be free from having to be totally responsible for him.
She will have a man “ready to go” when she decides to get married.
She will feel good about herself because of her mating success.
She will be able to get pregnant.

OK, these college girls are a whole bunch of crazy.

Then, continue to Appendix B for mate poaching tactics and examples. Highlights, you ask (I know, it’s Friday, you don’t want to read some process paper):

He appears naked in potential mate’s room or car.
He waits around and is there when they break up.
He offers her sex.
She puts down the appearance of her rival.
She tries to prove that her rival is cheating on him.
She gets the potential mate drunk and then takes advantage of him.

Women seem to do think with their vagina and promote sexual promiscuity access in order to win at mate poaching. Men, I guess being generous and letting me know you have more money than that “other guy.” Oh, and “offering” sex. That sounds a little backward, no?

In any event, the study proved that mate poaching was relatively common. Schmitt & Buss discovered that 50% of those that participated have made an attempt to poach a mate. In holy crap stats, 80% admit to be victims to mate poaching (either being poached or having their partner poached).

Further continued into Schmitt’s study, he published another paper with some Shackelford guy. Scroll to Page 13 and read about deception and disguised techniques. Damn, these people are good. Who needs intuition? Keep a list on your fridge.

Why couldn’t I complete a fun study as such for my statistics class? I guess I’ll keep it in mind for my gender studies program.