Failing to attract a female partner – Are low mate value and low mate access associated with regulating female sexual autonomy in men?

Abstract

We tested the hypothesis that individual differences in capacity to attract female partners is associated with regulating female sexual autonomy in men. Building on evolutionary theories of female choice, we hypothesized that men with low (vs. high) mate value and low (vs. high) mate access are more motivated to limit female choice, and, therefore, to adopt sexism and oppose women's sexual freedom. We used self-reports of mate value, mate access, sexism and, opposing women's sexual freedom from 159 men and examined associations between these self-reports by using structural equation modeling. We also inspected individual differences in regulating female sexual autonomy based on income, education, and socioeconomic status. As expected, men with low (vs. high) mate value displayed more sexism. Interestingly, there was no association between mate access and regulating female sexual autonomy neither in terms of sexism nor in terms of opposing women's sexual freedom. We also found a correlation between education and sexism, indicating respondents reporting a lower education reported more sexism. To conclude, the results are mixed and calls for further research.