Evolution & Human Behavior
Volume 29, Issue 5 , Pages 343-349, September 2008

Automatic inattention to attractive alternatives: the evolved psychology of relationship maintenance

  • Jon K. Maner

      Affiliations

    • Department of Psychology, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306-4301, USA
    • Corresponding Author InformationCorresponding author. Tel.: +1 850 645 1409; fax: +1 850 644 7739.
    • ,
  • David Aaron Rouby

      Affiliations

    • Department of Psychology, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306-4301, USA
    • ,
  • Gian C. Gonzaga

      Affiliations

    • eHarmony Labs, Pasadena, CA 91101, USA
    • Department of Psychology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA

Received 20 December 2007; accepted 14 April 2008. published online 01 July 2008.

Abstract 

There can be important reproductive benefits to maintaining a long-term romantic relationship. As a result, humans may possess evolved psychological mechanisms designed to help them maintain their commitment to a long-term mate, particularly when faced with attractive alternative relationship partners. The current study identifies a relationship maintenance process that involves being inattentive to alternative relationship partners. Experimentally eliciting thoughts and feelings of romantic love—an emotion thought to have evolved for the purpose of relationship maintenance—reduced attention to alternative partners at an early, automatic stage of visual perception. Consistent with evolutionary models of mate selection, this reduction in attention was observed only for opposite sex targets displaying high levels of physical attractiveness. This research illustrates the utility of integrating evolutionary models of mating with theory and method from cognitive science.

Keywords: Mating, Cognitive bias, Social cognition, Attention, Emotion

To access this article, please choose from the options below

Login to an existing account or Register a new account.

  • Purchase this article for 31.50 USD (You must login/register to purchase this article)

    Online access for 24 hours. The PDF version can be downloaded as your permanent record.

  • Subscribe to this title

    Get unlimited online access to this article and all other articles in this title 24/7 for one year.

  • Claim access now

    For current subscribers with Society Membership or Account Number.

  • Visit SciVerse ScienceDirect to see if you have access via your institution.
 

 Because this paper may positively impact the financial success of eHarmony.com the reader should know the third author has a financial interest in eHarmony.com. The UCLA psychology department has not endorsed eHarmony's commercial selection/matching procedures.

PII: S1090-5138(08)00047-0

doi:10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2008.04.003

Evolution & Human Behavior
Volume 29, Issue 5 , Pages 343-349, September 2008

Article Tools

* Image Usage & Resolution