Sociosexuality from Argentina to Zimbabwe: A 48-nation study of sex, culture, and strategies of human mating
2005/04/01 by David P. Schmitt · 4 citations
Psychology · Social Sciences · #Attachment and Relationship Dynamics #Biology #Developmental psychology #Ecology #Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior #Gender studies #Human sexuality #Marriage and Sexual Relationships #Mating #Psychology #Social psychology #Sociology
paper · doi:10.1017/s0140525x05000051
openalex publication_date 2005/04/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/16
Abstract
The Sociosexual Orientation Inventory (SOI; Simpson & Gangestad 1991) is a self-report measure of individual differences in human mating strategies. Low SOI scores signify that a person is sociosexually restricted, or follows a more monogamous mating strategy. High SOI scores indicate that an individual is unrestricted, or has a more promiscuous mating strategy. As part of the International Sexuality Description Project (ISDP), the SOI was translated from English into 25 additional languages and administered to a total sample of 14,059 people across 48 nations. Responses to the SOI were used to address four main issues. First, the psychometric properties of the SOI were examined in cross-cultural perspective. The SOI possessed adequate reliability and validity both within and across a diverse range of modem cultures. Second, theories concerning the systematic distribution of sociosexuality across cultures were evaluated. Both operational sex ratios and reproductively demanding environments related in evolutionary-predicted ways to national levels of sociosexuality. Third, sex differences in sociosexuality were generally large and demonstrated cross-cultural universality across the 48 nations of the ISDP, confirming several evolutionary theories of human mating. Fourth, sex differences in sociosexuality were significantly larger when reproductive environments were demanding but were reduced to more moderate levels in cultures with more political and economic gender equality. Implications for evolutionary and social role theories of human sexuality are discussed.
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