#polishstudy — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #polishstudy, aggregated by home.social.
-
DATE: July 3, 2026 at 07:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Women who perceive their partner as more desirable report higher motivation to please them sexually
A study of women in committed and sexually active romantic relationships in Poland found that women who perceived their mate value as lower than that of their partner showed a stronger desire to satisfy their partner sexually. In turn, this higher motivation was associated with these women initiating sex, performing fellatio, and faking orgasms more frequently. The paper was published in Archives of Sexual Behavior.
Being in a stable romantic relationship is beneficial for both men and women. Stable romantic relationships can provide emotional security, shared resources, mutual protection, and a reliable environment for raising children. From an evolutionary perspective, long-term bonds may have benefited men by increasing confidence in paternity and women by providing support during pregnancy, childbirth, and childcare. Cooperative parenting can improve children’s survival and development by distributing the demands of protection, caregiving, and resource provision between partners.
Nevertheless, maintaining a long-term relationship can be difficult because people must balance commitment to a partner with attraction to possible alternatives. To reduce the risk of infidelity or separation, people use mate-retention strategies aimed at preserving their partner’s commitment.
Benefit-provisioning strategies strengthen the relationship by offering affection, emotional support, resources, attention, or sexual satisfaction. Cost-inflicting strategies instead attempt to discourage defection through jealousy, surveillance, criticism, possessiveness, or restrictions on the partner’s behavior.
These efforts may become stronger when people believe that their partner has greater mate value than they do, because this discrepancy can produce insecurity and fear of abandonment. Mate value is a person’s perceived desirability as a romantic or sexual partner based on traits such as attractiveness, health, personality, status, resources, and relationship qualities.
In their new study, Natalia Frankowska, an assistant professor at SWPS University in Poland and Fulbright Visiting Scholar at UCLA, and her colleagues explored whether heterosexual women with a perceived lower mate value than their male partner engage in sex initiation, active oral sex, and faking orgasms more frequently.
“This study was a continuation of our earlier research on men’s sexual behavior in committed heterosexual relationships,” Frankowska told PsyPost. “Oral sex is interesting from an evolutionary perspective because it does not directly contribute to conception, yet people commonly engage in it. This suggests that it may serve important social, sexual, or relational functions.”
Previous research has suggested that oral sex may function as a mate retention behavior that helps maintain a partner’s interest and commitment. In their earlier study, Frankowska and colleagues found that men who perceived their female partners as having higher mate value than themselves were more motivated to sexually satisfy them, resulting in more frequent cunnilingus.
“We then wanted to test whether a similar mechanism could be observed among women,” Frankowska explained. “More specifically, we were interested in what happens when people feel that their partner may be more desirable than they are — what psychologists call mate value discrepancy. Such perceptions are subjective and may change over time, but they can shape how people think and behave within committed relationships.”
The researchers hypothesized that a larger mate value gap favoring the male partner would increase the woman’s motivation to sexually please him as a mate retention strategy. In turn, this would lead to more frequent attempts at initiating sex, fellatio, and faking orgasms.
“We thought that focusing only on oral sex would capture only one part of this process. In women, partner-directed sexual investment may be expressed both through behaviors that directly provide sexual pleasure, such as oral sex, and through behaviors that signal desire, sexual interest, or sexual satisfaction,” Frankowska said. “Initiating sex may communicate that the partner is wanted and desired, whereas faking orgasm may communicate that the partner is sexually satisfying. We therefore examined oral sex, sex initiation, and faking orgasm as different possible forms of sexual benefit-provisioning mate retention strategies.”
Study participants were 562 Polish women. Among them, 477 reported that they engage exclusively in heterosexual sexual activities, while 85 reported that they predominantly engage in heterosexual sexual activities. Participants were between 18 and 50 years of age, with the average age being 30 years. Nearly 64% of participating women were in relationships lasting more than three years.
Study participants completed an online survey. They first reported their demographic data, sexual orientation, and duration of their current relationship. Next, they reported how often they initiated sex, performed oral sex, and faked orgasms during their last 10 sexual encounters. They also reported how often they experienced orgasm and received oral stimulation from their partner during their last 10 sexual encounters.
The discrepancy in mate values between the participant and her partner was assessed using the Mate Value Scale. In this scale, participants rated their own perceived mate value and separately evaluated their partner’s. The scale itself consists of four items asking the respondent to rate the overall desirability of herself and her partner. The mate value discrepancy was the difference in ratings a woman gave to herself and to her partner. Participants also completed short assessments of their motivation to sexually satisfy the partner and of perceived vulnerability to disease.
Results showed that women with higher mate value discrepancy, meaning they rated their partner’s mate value higher than their own, tended to be slightly more motivated to satisfy their partner sexually. Women who were more motivated to satisfy their partner sexually tended to initiate sex, perform oral sex, and fake orgasms slightly more frequently. They also tended to be younger.
However, mate value discrepancy was not associated directly with the frequency with which women initiated sex, performed fellatio, or faked orgasms. Instead, the study authors tested a statistical model proposing an indirect relationship: higher mate value discrepancy makes women more motivated to satisfy their partner sexually, and that higher motivation then makes them more likely to initiate sex, perform fellatio, or fake orgasms. Results showed that such an indirect relationship between these factors is present.
“The main takeaway is that sexual behavior in committed relationships may be shaped not only by desire and pleasure, but also by perceived relationship dynamics,” Frankowska said. “In our sample of Polish women in committed heterosexual relationships, women who perceived their male partners as having higher mate value than themselves reported a stronger motivation to sexually satisfy their partners. This motivation, in turn, was associated with more frequent sex initiation, oral sex, and faking orgasms.”
Further analyses revealed that the relationship between mate value discrepancy and fellatio frequency did not depend on participating women’s perceived vulnerability to disease, their enjoyment of performing fellatio, or their perception of their partner’s enjoyment of receiving fellatio.
“The most surprising finding was that the indirect effect involving oral sex did not depend on how much women reported enjoying performing oral sex or how much they believed their partners enjoyed receiving it,” Frankowska noted. “This differed from our earlier study on men, where the effect was present mainly among men who enjoyed performing oral sex. This suggests that the mechanisms may be partly similar for women and men, but not identical.”
The study contributes to scientific knowledge about human sexual behavior. However, it should be noted that the design of this study does not allow any causal inferences to be derived from the results. Additionally, all data came from self-reports, leaving room for reporting bias to have affected the results. Previous studies have shown that reporting bias tends to be a particularly important risk in studies asking participants to report sensitive information about their sexual behavior. Finally, all of the reported associations were weak.
“This was a self-report study on sensitive sexual behaviors, so responses may have been influenced by memory, self-presentation, or cultural norms around sexuality,” Frankowska told PsyPost. “The study was also correlational, so we cannot make strong causal claims. We do not know whether perceived mate value discrepancy leads to these behaviors, whether these behaviors shape relationship dynamics, or whether both are influenced by other factors such as relationship satisfaction or perceived risk of infidelity. More research is needed to answer these questions.”
Future research will focus on better understanding the conditions under which sexual behaviors may function as mate retention strategies, and exploring cross-cultural differences in these behaviors.
“I think it is important to interpret these findings carefully,” Frankowska added. “Sexual behavior is complex and can have many meanings at the same time. Our study does not suggest that women’s sexual behaviors are reducible to mate retention, or that these behaviors are inherently problematic. Our point is more specific: perceived imbalance in partners’ mate value may be one factor shaping the motivation to satisfy a partner sexually, and this motivation may be linked to particular sexual behaviors in committed relationships. This is not necessarily conscious, calculated, or manipulative. It is one possible psychological mechanism within broader relationship dynamics.”
The paper, “Polish Women’s Sexual Strategies in Mate Retention: Initiating Sex, Faking Orgasms, and Performing Oral Sex in Response to Mate Value Discrepancy–Evidence from a Preregistered Study,” was authored by Natalia Frankowska, Aleksandra Szymkow, and Andrzej Galbarczyk.
-------------------------------------------------
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #MateValueDiscrepancy #SexualBehaviorResearch #WomenInRelationships #OralSexMotivation #SexualInitiation #FakingOrgasms #MateRetentionStrategies #RelationshipDynamics #PolishStudy #ArchivesOfSexualBehavior
-
DATE: July 3, 2026 at 07:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Women who perceive their partner as more desirable report higher motivation to please them sexually
A study of women in committed and sexually active romantic relationships in Poland found that women who perceived their mate value as lower than that of their partner showed a stronger desire to satisfy their partner sexually. In turn, this higher motivation was associated with these women initiating sex, performing fellatio, and faking orgasms more frequently. The paper was published in Archives of Sexual Behavior.
Being in a stable romantic relationship is beneficial for both men and women. Stable romantic relationships can provide emotional security, shared resources, mutual protection, and a reliable environment for raising children. From an evolutionary perspective, long-term bonds may have benefited men by increasing confidence in paternity and women by providing support during pregnancy, childbirth, and childcare. Cooperative parenting can improve children’s survival and development by distributing the demands of protection, caregiving, and resource provision between partners.
Nevertheless, maintaining a long-term relationship can be difficult because people must balance commitment to a partner with attraction to possible alternatives. To reduce the risk of infidelity or separation, people use mate-retention strategies aimed at preserving their partner’s commitment.
Benefit-provisioning strategies strengthen the relationship by offering affection, emotional support, resources, attention, or sexual satisfaction. Cost-inflicting strategies instead attempt to discourage defection through jealousy, surveillance, criticism, possessiveness, or restrictions on the partner’s behavior.
These efforts may become stronger when people believe that their partner has greater mate value than they do, because this discrepancy can produce insecurity and fear of abandonment. Mate value is a person’s perceived desirability as a romantic or sexual partner based on traits such as attractiveness, health, personality, status, resources, and relationship qualities.
In their new study, Natalia Frankowska, an assistant professor at SWPS University in Poland and Fulbright Visiting Scholar at UCLA, and her colleagues explored whether heterosexual women with a perceived lower mate value than their male partner engage in sex initiation, active oral sex, and faking orgasms more frequently.
“This study was a continuation of our earlier research on men’s sexual behavior in committed heterosexual relationships,” Frankowska told PsyPost. “Oral sex is interesting from an evolutionary perspective because it does not directly contribute to conception, yet people commonly engage in it. This suggests that it may serve important social, sexual, or relational functions.”
Previous research has suggested that oral sex may function as a mate retention behavior that helps maintain a partner’s interest and commitment. In their earlier study, Frankowska and colleagues found that men who perceived their female partners as having higher mate value than themselves were more motivated to sexually satisfy them, resulting in more frequent cunnilingus.
“We then wanted to test whether a similar mechanism could be observed among women,” Frankowska explained. “More specifically, we were interested in what happens when people feel that their partner may be more desirable than they are — what psychologists call mate value discrepancy. Such perceptions are subjective and may change over time, but they can shape how people think and behave within committed relationships.”
The researchers hypothesized that a larger mate value gap favoring the male partner would increase the woman’s motivation to sexually please him as a mate retention strategy. In turn, this would lead to more frequent attempts at initiating sex, fellatio, and faking orgasms.
“We thought that focusing only on oral sex would capture only one part of this process. In women, partner-directed sexual investment may be expressed both through behaviors that directly provide sexual pleasure, such as oral sex, and through behaviors that signal desire, sexual interest, or sexual satisfaction,” Frankowska said. “Initiating sex may communicate that the partner is wanted and desired, whereas faking orgasm may communicate that the partner is sexually satisfying. We therefore examined oral sex, sex initiation, and faking orgasm as different possible forms of sexual benefit-provisioning mate retention strategies.”
Study participants were 562 Polish women. Among them, 477 reported that they engage exclusively in heterosexual sexual activities, while 85 reported that they predominantly engage in heterosexual sexual activities. Participants were between 18 and 50 years of age, with the average age being 30 years. Nearly 64% of participating women were in relationships lasting more than three years.
Study participants completed an online survey. They first reported their demographic data, sexual orientation, and duration of their current relationship. Next, they reported how often they initiated sex, performed oral sex, and faked orgasms during their last 10 sexual encounters. They also reported how often they experienced orgasm and received oral stimulation from their partner during their last 10 sexual encounters.
The discrepancy in mate values between the participant and her partner was assessed using the Mate Value Scale. In this scale, participants rated their own perceived mate value and separately evaluated their partner’s. The scale itself consists of four items asking the respondent to rate the overall desirability of herself and her partner. The mate value discrepancy was the difference in ratings a woman gave to herself and to her partner. Participants also completed short assessments of their motivation to sexually satisfy the partner and of perceived vulnerability to disease.
Results showed that women with higher mate value discrepancy, meaning they rated their partner’s mate value higher than their own, tended to be slightly more motivated to satisfy their partner sexually. Women who were more motivated to satisfy their partner sexually tended to initiate sex, perform oral sex, and fake orgasms slightly more frequently. They also tended to be younger.
However, mate value discrepancy was not associated directly with the frequency with which women initiated sex, performed fellatio, or faked orgasms. Instead, the study authors tested a statistical model proposing an indirect relationship: higher mate value discrepancy makes women more motivated to satisfy their partner sexually, and that higher motivation then makes them more likely to initiate sex, perform fellatio, or fake orgasms. Results showed that such an indirect relationship between these factors is present.
“The main takeaway is that sexual behavior in committed relationships may be shaped not only by desire and pleasure, but also by perceived relationship dynamics,” Frankowska said. “In our sample of Polish women in committed heterosexual relationships, women who perceived their male partners as having higher mate value than themselves reported a stronger motivation to sexually satisfy their partners. This motivation, in turn, was associated with more frequent sex initiation, oral sex, and faking orgasms.”
Further analyses revealed that the relationship between mate value discrepancy and fellatio frequency did not depend on participating women’s perceived vulnerability to disease, their enjoyment of performing fellatio, or their perception of their partner’s enjoyment of receiving fellatio.
“The most surprising finding was that the indirect effect involving oral sex did not depend on how much women reported enjoying performing oral sex or how much they believed their partners enjoyed receiving it,” Frankowska noted. “This differed from our earlier study on men, where the effect was present mainly among men who enjoyed performing oral sex. This suggests that the mechanisms may be partly similar for women and men, but not identical.”
The study contributes to scientific knowledge about human sexual behavior. However, it should be noted that the design of this study does not allow any causal inferences to be derived from the results. Additionally, all data came from self-reports, leaving room for reporting bias to have affected the results. Previous studies have shown that reporting bias tends to be a particularly important risk in studies asking participants to report sensitive information about their sexual behavior. Finally, all of the reported associations were weak.
“This was a self-report study on sensitive sexual behaviors, so responses may have been influenced by memory, self-presentation, or cultural norms around sexuality,” Frankowska told PsyPost. “The study was also correlational, so we cannot make strong causal claims. We do not know whether perceived mate value discrepancy leads to these behaviors, whether these behaviors shape relationship dynamics, or whether both are influenced by other factors such as relationship satisfaction or perceived risk of infidelity. More research is needed to answer these questions.”
Future research will focus on better understanding the conditions under which sexual behaviors may function as mate retention strategies, and exploring cross-cultural differences in these behaviors.
“I think it is important to interpret these findings carefully,” Frankowska added. “Sexual behavior is complex and can have many meanings at the same time. Our study does not suggest that women’s sexual behaviors are reducible to mate retention, or that these behaviors are inherently problematic. Our point is more specific: perceived imbalance in partners’ mate value may be one factor shaping the motivation to satisfy a partner sexually, and this motivation may be linked to particular sexual behaviors in committed relationships. This is not necessarily conscious, calculated, or manipulative. It is one possible psychological mechanism within broader relationship dynamics.”
The paper, “Polish Women’s Sexual Strategies in Mate Retention: Initiating Sex, Faking Orgasms, and Performing Oral Sex in Response to Mate Value Discrepancy–Evidence from a Preregistered Study,” was authored by Natalia Frankowska, Aleksandra Szymkow, and Andrzej Galbarczyk.
-------------------------------------------------
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #MateValueDiscrepancy #SexualBehaviorResearch #WomenInRelationships #OralSexMotivation #SexualInitiation #FakingOrgasms #MateRetentionStrategies #RelationshipDynamics #PolishStudy #ArchivesOfSexualBehavior
-
DATE: June 24, 2026 at 08:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Gossiping and manipulation linked to higher fertility in new psychology study
URL: https://www.psypost.org/covert-hostility-may-offer-reproductive-benefits-in-modern-humans/
Spreading rumors and intentionally excluding peers from social groups are behaviors often viewed as undesirable. A new study suggests that this type of covert hostility is linked to a higher likelihood of being in a romantic relationship and having more children. The research, published in Evolutionary Psychological Science, indicates that subtle forms of aggression might provide a reproductive advantage in modern populations.
Evolutionary psychologists track the number of children people have to measure evolutionary fitness. This metric reflects how successfully an individual passes down their genetic material to the next generation. If a specific heritable trait results in more offspring, its underlying genetics will become more common in the population over time. This process is the basic mechanism of natural selection.
Researchers study various psychological traits to see if they are actively being shaped by natural selection in the modern era. Characteristics like extroversion and neuroticism have already shown links to reproductive outcomes. Evolutionary theorists propose that aggressive behavior might also be an adaptive trait. Aggression can help individuals defend territory, secure limited resources, and compete for mating opportunities.
Human aggression is broadly divided into two categories based on how it is expressed. Direct aggression involves overt physical or verbal attacks, such as punching or yelling. Indirect aggression relies on covert tactics to inflict harm. A specific type of indirect aggression, known as relational aggression, focuses on damaging a victim’s social standing and interpersonal connections.
Relational aggression includes gossiping, withholding friendship, or manipulating others to isolate a rival. From an evolutionary perspective, direct physical aggression carries high risks. An overtly aggressive person could suffer physical injury, face social exile, or incur legal punishments. Relational aggression maximizes harm to the victim while keeping the aggressor relatively safe from physical retaliation or immediate blame.
Past research has struggled to directly link aggression to actual reproductive success in modern humans. Evolutionary studies often relied on proxies for reproduction, like the number of dating partners or a person’s age during their first sexual experience. When data on actual fertility was available, researchers frequently used biological proxies for aggression, such as upper body strength.
Marcin Moroń, a researcher at the Institute of Psychology at the University of Silesia in Poland, designed a study to test whether relational aggression offers quantifiable reproductive benefits in a contemporary society. By focusing on actual fertility rather than dating proxies, his work aimed to test the evolutionary adaptiveness of covert hostility.
Moroń analyzed data from 1,497 Polish adults who participated through an online survey platform. The participants ranged in age from eighteen to eighty-one, averaging about forty-eight years old. Just over half of the respondents were women. Participants completed demographic surveys asking about their socioeconomic status, relationship status, and the number of biological children they had.
The participants also answered a series of questions assessing their disposition toward relational aggression. The survey divided these hostile behaviors into two distinct categories. One category measured aggression directed at peers, asking if participants would try to embarrass someone or threaten to withdraw their friendship to get their way. The other category measured aggression directed at romantic partners, such as intentionally trying to make a spouse jealous.
Moroń used statistical models called Poisson regressions to examine the relationship between these aggressive tendencies and the number of children participants reported. These statistical models are specifically designed to analyze count data, like the number of offspring. The models accounted for demographic variables including age, sex, socioeconomic status, and whether the respondent was currently in a romantic relationship.
People who reported higher levels of peer-directed relational aggression were found to be involved in romantic relationships more frequently than those with lower levels. After adjusting for age and socioeconomic factors, higher peer-directed aggression was associated with a higher number of biological children. The data showed this positive association between covert peer aggression and fertility for both men and women.
The study then isolated the participants who were currently involved in romantic relationships. Within this specific group, higher levels of romantic partner-directed relational aggression were also linked to having more children. When looking at simple statistical correlations, this specific association appeared primarily among men.
The formal regression models, which evaluate all overlapping variables simultaneously, did not confirm a firm difference between the sexes in this regard. The interactions between sex and relational aggression were not statistically significant in the final models. Because these gender differences were not robust, Moroń noted that the proposed explanations for these behaviors could apply equally to men and women.
Relational aggression might function as an evolutionary strategy for competing with members of the same sex. Lowering the social rank of a romantic rival can increase a person’s chances of attracting a desired partner. This strategy is known in evolutionary biology as rival derogation. Improved mating success through these tactics could eventually lead to a higher number of offspring over a lifetime.
Within an established relationship, relational aggression might serve as a tactic to retain a mate. Behaviors meant to manipulate a partner or deter outside rivals might stabilize long-term relationships, which generally predicts higher fertility. Alternatively, these aggressive behaviors might push a partner away. This would lead the aggressive individual to break up, find new partners, and potentially have children across multiple relationships.
The results of the study are based on a cross-sectional design, meaning the data was collected at a single point in time. This type of observational data prevents researchers from determining simple cause and effect. It is possible that being in a relationship makes people more relationally aggressive as they attempt to guard their partner, rather than the aggression initially causing their romantic success.
The study also relied on self-reported questionnaires. People might underestimate or underreport how often they use manipulative tactics because they want to appear in a favorable light to researchers. Using reports from peers or partners could provide a more objective measure of a person’s aggressive tendencies in future studies.
The observed effect of relational aggression on fertility was relatively small in magnitude. Factors like a person’s age and relationship status played a much larger role in predicting how many children they had. The research also lacked data on variables like voluntary childlessness and the use of contraceptives. Tracking these factors would reveal exactly how aggressive individuals navigate modern family planning.
Future research will need to explore these social dynamics over a continuous timescale rather than a single snapshot. Longitudinal studies could track individuals from adolescence through their reproductive years to see how aggressive strategies shift over time. Despite the limitations, the current findings suggest that subtle, covert aggression might continue to play a role in human reproductive success.
The study, “Relational Aggression and Lifetime Offspring: A Preliminary Study in a Large Community-Based Sample of Polish Adults,” was authored by Marcin Moroń.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/covert-hostility-may-offer-reproductive-benefits-in-modern-humans/
-------------------------------------------------
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #RelationalAggression #FertilityStudy #EvolutionaryPsychology #CovertHostility #GossipAndLove #OffspringCount #ReproductiveFitness #SocialDynamics #PolishStudy #MarcinMoron
-
DATE: June 24, 2026 at 08:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Gossiping and manipulation linked to higher fertility in new psychology study
URL: https://www.psypost.org/covert-hostility-may-offer-reproductive-benefits-in-modern-humans/
Spreading rumors and intentionally excluding peers from social groups are behaviors often viewed as undesirable. A new study suggests that this type of covert hostility is linked to a higher likelihood of being in a romantic relationship and having more children. The research, published in Evolutionary Psychological Science, indicates that subtle forms of aggression might provide a reproductive advantage in modern populations.
Evolutionary psychologists track the number of children people have to measure evolutionary fitness. This metric reflects how successfully an individual passes down their genetic material to the next generation. If a specific heritable trait results in more offspring, its underlying genetics will become more common in the population over time. This process is the basic mechanism of natural selection.
Researchers study various psychological traits to see if they are actively being shaped by natural selection in the modern era. Characteristics like extroversion and neuroticism have already shown links to reproductive outcomes. Evolutionary theorists propose that aggressive behavior might also be an adaptive trait. Aggression can help individuals defend territory, secure limited resources, and compete for mating opportunities.
Human aggression is broadly divided into two categories based on how it is expressed. Direct aggression involves overt physical or verbal attacks, such as punching or yelling. Indirect aggression relies on covert tactics to inflict harm. A specific type of indirect aggression, known as relational aggression, focuses on damaging a victim’s social standing and interpersonal connections.
Relational aggression includes gossiping, withholding friendship, or manipulating others to isolate a rival. From an evolutionary perspective, direct physical aggression carries high risks. An overtly aggressive person could suffer physical injury, face social exile, or incur legal punishments. Relational aggression maximizes harm to the victim while keeping the aggressor relatively safe from physical retaliation or immediate blame.
Past research has struggled to directly link aggression to actual reproductive success in modern humans. Evolutionary studies often relied on proxies for reproduction, like the number of dating partners or a person’s age during their first sexual experience. When data on actual fertility was available, researchers frequently used biological proxies for aggression, such as upper body strength.
Marcin Moroń, a researcher at the Institute of Psychology at the University of Silesia in Poland, designed a study to test whether relational aggression offers quantifiable reproductive benefits in a contemporary society. By focusing on actual fertility rather than dating proxies, his work aimed to test the evolutionary adaptiveness of covert hostility.
Moroń analyzed data from 1,497 Polish adults who participated through an online survey platform. The participants ranged in age from eighteen to eighty-one, averaging about forty-eight years old. Just over half of the respondents were women. Participants completed demographic surveys asking about their socioeconomic status, relationship status, and the number of biological children they had.
The participants also answered a series of questions assessing their disposition toward relational aggression. The survey divided these hostile behaviors into two distinct categories. One category measured aggression directed at peers, asking if participants would try to embarrass someone or threaten to withdraw their friendship to get their way. The other category measured aggression directed at romantic partners, such as intentionally trying to make a spouse jealous.
Moroń used statistical models called Poisson regressions to examine the relationship between these aggressive tendencies and the number of children participants reported. These statistical models are specifically designed to analyze count data, like the number of offspring. The models accounted for demographic variables including age, sex, socioeconomic status, and whether the respondent was currently in a romantic relationship.
People who reported higher levels of peer-directed relational aggression were found to be involved in romantic relationships more frequently than those with lower levels. After adjusting for age and socioeconomic factors, higher peer-directed aggression was associated with a higher number of biological children. The data showed this positive association between covert peer aggression and fertility for both men and women.
The study then isolated the participants who were currently involved in romantic relationships. Within this specific group, higher levels of romantic partner-directed relational aggression were also linked to having more children. When looking at simple statistical correlations, this specific association appeared primarily among men.
The formal regression models, which evaluate all overlapping variables simultaneously, did not confirm a firm difference between the sexes in this regard. The interactions between sex and relational aggression were not statistically significant in the final models. Because these gender differences were not robust, Moroń noted that the proposed explanations for these behaviors could apply equally to men and women.
Relational aggression might function as an evolutionary strategy for competing with members of the same sex. Lowering the social rank of a romantic rival can increase a person’s chances of attracting a desired partner. This strategy is known in evolutionary biology as rival derogation. Improved mating success through these tactics could eventually lead to a higher number of offspring over a lifetime.
Within an established relationship, relational aggression might serve as a tactic to retain a mate. Behaviors meant to manipulate a partner or deter outside rivals might stabilize long-term relationships, which generally predicts higher fertility. Alternatively, these aggressive behaviors might push a partner away. This would lead the aggressive individual to break up, find new partners, and potentially have children across multiple relationships.
The results of the study are based on a cross-sectional design, meaning the data was collected at a single point in time. This type of observational data prevents researchers from determining simple cause and effect. It is possible that being in a relationship makes people more relationally aggressive as they attempt to guard their partner, rather than the aggression initially causing their romantic success.
The study also relied on self-reported questionnaires. People might underestimate or underreport how often they use manipulative tactics because they want to appear in a favorable light to researchers. Using reports from peers or partners could provide a more objective measure of a person’s aggressive tendencies in future studies.
The observed effect of relational aggression on fertility was relatively small in magnitude. Factors like a person’s age and relationship status played a much larger role in predicting how many children they had. The research also lacked data on variables like voluntary childlessness and the use of contraceptives. Tracking these factors would reveal exactly how aggressive individuals navigate modern family planning.
Future research will need to explore these social dynamics over a continuous timescale rather than a single snapshot. Longitudinal studies could track individuals from adolescence through their reproductive years to see how aggressive strategies shift over time. Despite the limitations, the current findings suggest that subtle, covert aggression might continue to play a role in human reproductive success.
The study, “Relational Aggression and Lifetime Offspring: A Preliminary Study in a Large Community-Based Sample of Polish Adults,” was authored by Marcin Moroń.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/covert-hostility-may-offer-reproductive-benefits-in-modern-humans/
-------------------------------------------------
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #RelationalAggression #FertilityStudy #EvolutionaryPsychology #CovertHostility #GossipAndLove #OffspringCount #ReproductiveFitness #SocialDynamics #PolishStudy #MarcinMoron