|
Research Interests |
| Sexual misperception |
| The phenomenon of male sexual overperception is well-documented in the literature. I plan to add to this knowledge bank by investigating individual differences and contextual effects that influence the degree to which men overperceive sexual interest in women. I've started conducting studies in this area with Diana Fleischman and Judith Easton. |
| Romantic relationship dissolution |
| The dissolution of romantic relationships has been a recurrent aspect of human mating throughout our ancestral past. I've studied sex differences and Rejector/Rejectee differences in costs experienced and strategies for dealing with these costs. |
| Daughter-Guarding |
| Working with Diana Fleischman and David Buss, I've looked at ways in which parents preferentially guard their daughters (but not their sons) from early sexual activity. We are now researching how parents and children differ in their preferences for the desired traits of the child's mate. |
| Attractiveness |
| Another line of research that I've started with Jaime Confer centers around how individual differences in physical attractiveness affect social and romantic experiences, especially those involving sexual conflict and intrasexual competition. |
| Female anti-rape adaptations |
| Through a long-term project I have collected hundreds of extensive reports about women's experiences with attempted and completed rape. We are currently analyzing this large qualitative dataset to identify strategies and actions that women report to have been successful in real-life encounters. |