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Adolescent females' strategic behavior within romantic relationships

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 May 2016

Michelle Cristiani
Michelle Cristiani*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology University of New Mexico Albuquerque, NM 87131 USA sheba@unm.edu
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Abstract

Three romantic strategies are inferred from an evolutionary life-history model of adolescence, in which girls must choose between beginning reproduction and acquiring skills. These strategies differ in the level of commitment sought and in the type of information gathered during relationships. I surveyed 158 heterosexual high school girls in New Mexico. The three strategies, as well as age, sexual maturity, parents' education, and father absence, were used as predictors of romantic relationship duration. Three significant results were obtained using the Cox Proportional Hazards Model. First, girls scoring high in the “committer” scale were less likely to have relationships end than were girls scoring higher on “information-gatherer” scales. Also, Anglo girls and Anglo-Hispanic multi-racial girls were more likely to have a relationship end than were Hispanic girls. Third, girls from a higher socioeconomic background were likely to have longer relationships. The implications of these results are discussed.

Type
Graduate Student Award
Information
Politics and the Life Sciences , Volume 22 , Issue 1 , March 2003 , pp. 36 - 42
Copyright
Copyright © Association for Politics and the Life Sciences 

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