2024/08/22 by Catharina Walldén, Annika Gunst, Julia Andersson +2 · 1 voice
Psychology · Social Sciences · #Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior #Gender Roles and Identity Studies #Personality Traits and Psychology
paper · doi:10.31234/osf.io/b578u
openalex publication_date 2024/08/22 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/14
We tested the hypothesis that individual differences in capacity to attract female partners is associated with anti-feminist attitudes 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, also are more likely to hold anti-feminist attitudes. We used self-reports of mate value, mate access and, anti-feminist attitudes from 159 men and examined associations between these self-reports by using structural equation modeling. We also inspected individual differences in anti-feminist attitudes based on income, education, and socioeconomic status. As expected, men with low (vs. high) mate value displayed more anti-feminist attitudes in terms of sexism. Interestingly, there were no associations between mate value and supporting restrictions on women’s sexual freedom, nor between mate access and anti-feminist attitudes. 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. Keywords: Mate value, Mate access, Anti-feminism, Female choice, Sexism.