This Valentine’s Day, consider mate-poaching

Having your loved one poached might sound like a Valentine’s Day nightmare, but consider this:mate-poaching is an effective evolutionary tactic, even if it is heart-breaking. That’s the finding of a new study recently published in the Journal of Evolutionary Psychology, titled Mate-Poaching and Mating Success in Humans.

The study was conducted by Dr. Steven Arnocky, Nipissing University; Shafik Sunderlani, University of Toronto; and Tracy Vaillancourt, University of Ottawa.

Mate-poaching is the phenomenon of attempting to mate with someone who is already in a committed romantic relationship. This can include behaviours such as trying to show oneself as a better option as a mate, or planting seeds of dissatisfaction in the existing relationship.

“While mate-poaching occurs across many cultures, there are some very negative costs associated with it, including retaliation from an angry partner, or being labelled as a home-wrecker,” said Arnocky. “This begs the question: Why try to mate-poach, when there are many unattached potential mates?  We wanted to test the hypothesis that mate-poaching has evolved as a strategy to enhance the number of mates available, and to gain access to the highest quality mates.”

The study sampled 271 men and women from two Ontario Universities. Participants completed self-report surveys in which they were given a definition of mate-poaching, and then reported on their total number of lifetime mate-poaching attempts using the following two items: “How often have you successfully poached someone away from a past partner?” and “How often have you attempted to try to poach someone away from their relationship with someone else unsuccessfully?” Respondents also self-reported on their number of consensual lifetime sex partners, their number of consensual casual sex partners and the number of exclusive dating partners they have had in their lifetime.

The results indicated that for both men and women, the number of mate-poaching attempts predicted having more lifetime sex partners, more lifetime casual sex partners, and more lifetime dating partners.

“While it might not hit the sentiment Valentine’s Day cards are after, the take-home message is clear,” said Arnocky. “Despite being considered a despicable act, mate-poaching strongly linked to mating success in young adults.”

You can access the full Mate-Poaching and Mating Success in Humans report, here.

You can buy flowers for your loved one in an attempt to stave off poachers, at your local florist.