Valentine’s Day is just around the corner and you are wondering what to give to that special someone in your life. There could be a specific type of gift that can indirectly reduce sexual infidelity and increase the longevity and quality of the relationship. What gift is it?
We already know that sexual infidelity can lead to psychological problems for both parties involved and it tends to be one of the most common reasons for breakups and divorce. Things get worse if the partner has cheated in the past, a recent study suggests that they are three times more likely to be unfaithful in the future.
Past empirical work suggests that there are many factors that can lead to sexual infidelity, such as having an unsatisfying sex life and being exposed to social norms that are more favorable to cheating. More recently, research has indicated that socio-sexuality (the degree to which one has unrestricted attitudes toward having sex) is an important factor in cheating behavior; the more psychologically permissive people are towards casual sex, the more they tend to be unfaithful.
Putting all of this in one place, if there was a gift that could lead to a measurable reduction in your partner’s socio-sexuality, this could indirectly reduce your likelihood of sexual infidelity and significantly improve the quality and longevity of your romantic relationship.
What is it about?
Hamsters, cats, ferrets, dogs … provoke emotional experiences of warmth, sympathy and tenderness; this, in turn, triggers a parental care motivation in humans. In fact, being in the presence of vulnerable animals activates many of the same physiological and psychological mechanisms involved in human rearing behavior. Thus, being in the presence of puppies and other animals activates the parenting mentality, which is why, depending on the mating / rearing exchange, it should also lead to a subsequent short-term reduction in mating motivation (that is, socio-sexuality) .
Testing the hypothesis
Ninety-two undergraduate participants at the University of British Columbia (Canada) received a set of ten photographs, each accompanied by a brief description. These stimuli differed in two experimental conditions: the first group was shown images of abandoned pets (with photographs showing very pretty puppies and kittens accompanied by captions suggesting that the animal needed foster care – for example, “abandoned on the street” – and the control group were shown photographs with home furnishings accompanied by an identical caption (“abandoned on the street”) as those used for the photos of abandoned pets.
Immediately after this, the participants completed 20 questions from the Socio-Sexual Orientation Inventory. This questionnaire is widely used in relationship science to capture advocacy for an unrestricted sexual style (ie, socio-sexuality) with questions such as “sex without love is okay.”
The research results showed that, compared to the control group participants, those who were presented with photographs of puppies and kittens reported lower levels of socio-sexuality. In fact, the visual presentation of puppies and small, vulnerable animals reduced permissive attitudes toward casual sex and reduced participants’ orientation toward a short-term, unrestricted mating style.
In summary, greater socio-sexuality is an important factor in predicting the behavior of infidelity and subsequent breakups, but the study published in the journal Self and Identity suggests that this propensity is reduced in the presence of young animals.
If you were looking for a gift for Valentine’s Day with the potential to increase the quality and longevity of your romantic relationship and you were already turning to the adoption of a dog, cat, etc., you could consider it as one more reason weight for the decision to adopt an animal and increase the family.
Happy Valentines Day!
Reference: Beall, AT, & Schaller, M. (2019). Evolution, motivation, and the mating / parenting trade-off. Self and Identity, 18, 39-59. / Once a Cheater, Always a Cheater? Serial Infidelity Across Subsequent Relationships Article in Archives of Sexual Behavior 46 (3) August 2017 with 515 Reads DOI: 10.1007 / s10508-017-1018-1
