Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-wzw2p Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-14T04:02:39.152Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

15 - Emotional Commitment

from Part III - Postcopulatory Adaptations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 June 2022

By
Marissa A. Harrison
Edited by
Todd K. Shackelford
Todd K. Shackelford
Affiliation:
Oakland University, Michigan
Get access

Summary

A commitment ensures I forsake other options and allows another to make predictions about my future actions. Emotions are physiological and psychological experiences that serve a survival function by motivating our behavior. From an evolutionary psychological perspective, an emotional commitment is a mating strategy with a psychological, physiological, and behavioral milieu naturally selected to forge an ensuring partnership with short-term sacrifices for long-term gains. Using Dawkins’ concept of genesmanship, people have the predisposition to commit to another because this long-term alliance will increase the likelihood of passing on their own genetic legacy. Women and men faced differing reproductive issues over the course of human evolution, and through sexual selection, the sexes have developed competing mating strategies to solve problems of maximizing fitness. Women have far fewer reproductive opportunities and far more substantial childbearing and childrearing costs compared to men, and therefore making a an emotional commitment to a man, and securing one from him in return, would have allowed for a better chance of offspring survival in the environment of evolutionary adaptedness (EEA) by access to provisioning and protection. With our minds still operating today as they did over the course of millions of years of human existence, women world-wide still seek emotional commitment to a greater extent than men. In this chapter, I discuss the nature of emotional commitment, and the significance of love, romance, and marriage. Moreover, emotional commitment to others (nonromantic partners) also serves a survival function. I therefore also discuss emotional commitment to kin (parent-child attachment, other family) and to non-kin (friends, pets).

Keywords

Emotional commitmentpair bondattachmentlovesex differences
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Evolutionary Perspectives on Sexual Psychology , pp. 399 - 425
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abbot, P., Abe, J., Alcock, J., et al. (134 more authors). (2011). Inclusive fitness theory and eusociality. Nature, 471(7339). E1–E4. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature09831CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Acevedo, B. P., Aron, A., Fisher, H. E., & Brown, L. L. (2011). Neural correlates of long-term intense romantic love. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 7(2), 145–159. doi: 10.1093/scan/nsq092Google Scholar
Ackerman, J. M., Griskevicius, V., & Li, N. P. (2011). Let’s get serious: Communicating commitment in romantic relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 100(6), 1079–1094. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0022412Google Scholar
Ainsworth, M. D. S. (1973). Attachment as related to mother-infant interaction. Advances in the Study of Behavior, 9, 1–51. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0065-3454(08)60032-7Google Scholar
Ainsworth, M. D. S., & Bell, S. M. (1970). Attachment, exploration, and separation: Illustrated by the behavior of one-year-olds in a strange situation. Child Development, 41(1), 49–67. Retrieved from www.jstor.org/stable/1127388Google Scholar
Anderson, S. (2007). The economics of dowry and brideprice. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 21(4), 151–174. https://doi.org/10.1257/jep.21.4.151Google Scholar
Archer, J. (1997). Why do people love their pets? Evolution and Human Behavior, 18(4), 237–259. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0162-3095(99)80001-4Google Scholar
Aron, A., Fisher, H., Mashek, D. J., Strong, G., Li, H., & Brown, L. L. (2005). Reward, motivation, and emotion systems associated with early-stage intense romantic love. Journal of Neurophysiology, 94(1), 327–337. https://doi.org/10.1152/jn.00838.2004Google Scholar
Bahr, R. (2019). Critic’s notebook: Baby Yoda, “The Dark Crystal” and the need for puppetry in the age of CGI. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved from www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/baby-yoda-dark-crystal-prove-we-still-need-puppetry-age-cgi-1265008Google Scholar
Bailey, J. M. (1994). Effects of gender and sexual orientation on evolutionarily relevant aspects of human mating psychology. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 66(6), 1081–1093. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.66.6.1081Google Scholar
Balsam, K. F., Beauchaine, T. P., Rothblum, E. D., & Solomon, S. E. (2008). Three-year follow-up of same-sex couples who had civil unions in Vermont, same-sex couples not in civil unions, and heterosexual married couples. Developmental Psychology, 44(1), 102–116. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.44.1.102Google Scholar
Bell, R. R. (1963). Marriage and family interaction. Homewood, IL: Dorsey.Google Scholar
Belsky, J. (1997). Attachment, mating, and parenting: An evolutionary interpretation. Human Nature, 8(4), 361–381.Google Scholar
Belsky, J., & Cassidy, J. (1994). Attachment: Theory and evidence. In Rutter, M. & Hay, D. (Eds.), Development through life: A handbook for clinicians (pp. 373–402). Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Belsky, J., Steinberg, L., & Draper, P. (1991). Childhood experience, interpersonal development, and reproductive strategy: An evolutionary theory of socialization. Child Development, 62(4), 647–670. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.1991.tb01558.xGoogle Scholar
Bourke, A. F. G. (2011). Principles of social evolution. Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199231157.001.0001CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bowlby, J. (1958). The nature of the child’s tie to his mother. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 39(5), 350–371. PMID:13610508Google Scholar
Bowlby, J. (1969). Attachment. Attachment and loss: Vol. 1. Loss. New York, NY: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Boyer, P. (2008). Evolutionary economics of mental time travel? Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 12(6), 219–224. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2008.03.003Google Scholar
Brinig, M. F. (1990). Rings and promises. Journal of Law, Economics and Organisation, 6(1), 203–215.Google Scholar
Broad, K. D., Curley, J. P., & Keverne, E. B. (2006). Mother-infant bonding and the evolution of mammalian social relationships. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 361(1476). https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2006.1940Google Scholar
Bronte-Tinkew, J., Ryan, S., Carrano, J., & Moore, K. A. (2007). Resident fathers’ pregnancy intentions, prenatal behaviors, and links to involvement with infants. Journal of Marriage and Family, 69(4), 977–990. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2007.00425.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buckle, L., Gallup, G. G. Jr., & Rodd, Z. A. (1996). Marriage as a reproductive contract: Patterns of marriage, divorce, and remarriage. Ethology and Sociobiology, 17(6), 363–377. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0162-3095(96)00075–1Google Scholar
Burch, R. L. (2019). The wedding as a reproductive ritual. Review of General Psychology, 23(3), 382–398. https://doi.org/10.1177/1089268019832848Google Scholar
Buss, D. M. (1988). Love acts: The evolutionary biology of love. In Sternberg, R. J. & Barnes, M. L. (Eds.), The psychology of love (pp. 100–118). New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Buss, D. M. (1989). Sex differences in human mate preferences: Evolutionary hypotheses tested in 37 cultures. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 12(1), 1–49. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X00023992Google Scholar
Buss, D. M. (2000). The dangerous passion: Why jealousy is as necessary as love and sex. New York, NY: The Free Press.Google Scholar
Buss, D. M. (2003). The evolution of desire: Strategies of human mating, 2nd ed. New York, NY: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Buss, D. (2007). The evolution of human mating. Acta Psychologia Sinica, 39(3), 502–512. https://doi.org/10.1177/147470490800600116Google Scholar
Buss, D. M. (2018). Sexual and emotional infidelity: Evolved gender differences in jealousy prove robust and replicable. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 13(2), 155–160. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691617698225Google Scholar
Buss, D. M. (2019). The evolution of love in humans. In Sternberg, R. J. & Sternberg, K. (Eds.), The new psychology of love (pp. 42–63). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Buss, D. M., & Haselton, M. (2005). The evolution of jealousy. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 9(11), 506–507. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2005.09.006CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Buss, D. M., Larsen, R. J., & Westen, D. (1996). Sex differences in jealousy: Not gone, not forgotten, and not explained well by alternative hypotheses. Psychological Science, 7(6), 373–375. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.1996.tb00392.xGoogle Scholar
Buss, D. M., Larsen, R. J., Westen, D., & Semmelroth, J. (1992). Sex differences in jealousy: Evolution, physiology, and psychology. Psychological Science, 3(4), 251–255. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.1992.tb00038.xGoogle Scholar
Buss, D. M., & Shackelford, T. K. (2008). Attractive women want it all: Good genes, economic investment, parenting proclivities, and emotional commitment. Evolutionary Psychology, 6(1), 134–146. https://doi.org/10.1177/147470490800600116Google Scholar
Buss, D. M., Shackelford, T. K., Kirkpatrick, L. A., Choe, J. C., Lim, H. K., Hasegawa, , … & Bennett, K. (1999). Jealousy and the nature of beliefs about infidelity: Tests of competing hypothesis about sex differences in the United States, Korea, and Japan. Personal Relationships, 6(1), 125–150. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-6811.1999.tb00215.xGoogle Scholar
Buss, D. M., & Schmitt, D. P. (1993). Sexual strategies theory: An evolutionary perspective on human mating. Psychological Review, 100(2), 204–232. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.100.2.204Google Scholar
Camerer, C. (1988). Gifts as economic signals and social symbols. American Journal of Sociology, 94(suppl), 180–214. https://doi.org/10.1086/228946Google Scholar
Campbell, L., & Ellis, B. J. (2005). Commitment, love, and mate retention. In Buss, D. M. (Ed.), The evolutionary psychology handbook (pp. 419–442). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar
Camperio Ciani, A., Battaglia, U., Cesare, L., Camperio Ciani, G., & Capiluppi, C. (2018). Possible balancing selection in human female homosexuality. Human Nature, 29(1), 14–32. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12110-017-9309-8CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cox, A., & Fisher, M. (2009). The Texas billionaire’s pregnant bride: An evolutionary interpretation of romance fiction titles. Journal of Social, Evolutionary, and Cultural Psychology, 3(4), 386–401. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/h0099308Google Scholar
Daly, M. I., & Wilson, M. (1988). Homicide. Hawthorn, NY: Aldine de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Dawkins, R. (1989). The selfish gene, 2nd ed. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
de Wall, F. (2019). Mama’s last hug: Animal emotions and what they tell us about ourselves. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company.Google Scholar
Del Corral, M. (2015). Why do people keep their promises? An overview of strategic commitment. Cuadernos de Economía, 34(65), 237–259. https://doi.org/10.15446/cuad.econ.v34n65.40511CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Driscoll, C. A., Macdonald, D. W., & O’Brien, S. J. (2009). From wild animals to domestic pets, an evolutionary view of domestication. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 106(1), 9971–9978. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0901586106Google Scholar
Duffy, S. M., & Rusbult, C. E. (2010). Satisfaction and commitment in homosexual and heterosexual relationships. Journal of Homosexuality, 12(2), 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1300/J082v12n02_01Google Scholar
Durante, K. M., & Li, N. P. (2009). Oestradiol level and opportunistic mating in women. Biology Letters, 5, 179–182. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2008.0709Google Scholar
Easton, J. A., Goetz, C. D., & Buss, D. M. (2015). Human mate choice, evolution of. International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences, 2nd ed., 11, 340–347. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-097086-8.81049-1Google Scholar
Elliot, A. J., & Niesta, D. (2008). Romantic red: Red enhances men’s attraction to women. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95(5), 1150–1164. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.95.5.1150CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fisher, H. E. (1989). Evolution of human serial pairbonding. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 78(3), 331–354. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.1330780303Google Scholar
Fisher, H. E. (1992). Anatomy of love: The natural history of monogamy, adultery, and divorce. New York, NY: Norton & Company.Google Scholar
Fisher, H. E. (2011). Serial monogamy and clandestine adultery: Evolution and consequences of the dual human reproductive strategy. In Roberts, S. C. (Ed.), Applied evolutionary psychology (pp. 96–111). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Fisher, H. E., Aron, A., & Brown, L. L. (2006). Romantic love: A mammalian brain system for mate choice. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 361(1476), 2173–2186. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2006.1938Google Scholar
Fisher, M., & Cox, A. (2010). Man change thyself: Hero versus heroine development in Harlequin romance novels. Journal of Social, Evolutionary, and Cultural Psychology, 4(4), 305–316. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/h0099281Google Scholar
Francis-Tan, A., & Mialon, H. M. (2015). “A diamond is forever” and other fairy tales: The relationship between wedding expenses and marriage duration. Economic Inquiry, 53(4), 1919–1930. https://doi.org/10.1111/ecin.12206Google Scholar
Gallup, Inc. (2018). In U.S., estimate of LGBT population rises to 4.5%. Retrieved from https://news.gallup.com/poll/234863/estimate-lgbt-population-rises.aspxGoogle Scholar
Geary, D. C. (2000). Evolution and proximate expression of human paternal investment. Psychological Bulletin, 126(1), 55–77. https://doi.org/10.1037//0033-2909.126.1.55Google Scholar
Geary, D. C. (2005). Evolution of paternal investment. In Buss, D. M. (Ed.), The evolutionary psychology handbook (pp. 483–505). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & SonsGoogle Scholar
Griffin, A. S. (2013). Kin selection. In Maloy, S. & Hughes, K. (Eds.), Brenner’s encyclopedia of genetics (pp. 160–162). London: Elsevier Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-374984-0.09001-XGoogle Scholar
Guitar, A. E., Geher, G. G., Kruger, D. J., Garcia, J. R., Fisher, M. L., & Fitzgerald, C. J. (2017). Defining and distinguishing sexual and emotional infidelity. Current Psychology, 36(3), 434–446. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-016-9432-4Google Scholar
Hamilton, W. D. (1964). The genetic evolution of social behaviour. I. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 7(1), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-5193(64)90038-4Google Scholar
Harrison, M. A., Becker, M. A., & Janze, M. F. (2014). “Heck with the flowers and candy – I just want sex!” Women’s and men’s agreement and disagreement about romance. Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences, 8(3), 186–196. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0099846CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harrison, M. A., & Shortall, J. C. (2011). Women and men in love: Who really feels it and says it first? The Journal of Social Psychology, 151(6), 727–736. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224545.2010.522626Google Scholar
Harrison, M. A., Shortall, J. C., Dispenza, F. D., & Gallup, Jr., G. G. (2011). You must have been a beautiful baby: Ratings of infant facial attractiveness fail to predict ratings of adult attractiveness. Infant Behavior and Development, 34(4), 610–616. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.infbeh.2011.06.003Google Scholar
Hawkins, R., & Williams, J. (2017). Childhood attachment to pets: Associations between pet attachment, attitudes to animals, compassion, and humane behaviour. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 14(5), 490. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14050490Google Scholar
Hecht, A. (2020). Here’s how much Americans plan to spend on Valentine’s Day gifts. Retrieved from www.cnbc.com/2020/02/13/how-much-americans-plan-to-spend-on-valentines-day.htmlGoogle Scholar
Hendrick, C., & Hendrick, S. (1986). A theory and method of love. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 50(2), 392–402. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.50.2.392CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hildebrandt, K., & Fitzgerald, H. (1983). The infant’s physical attractiveness: Its effect on bonding and attachment. Infant Mental Health Journal, 4(1), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1002/1097-0355(198321)4:1%3C1::AID-IMHJ2280040102%3E3.0.CO;2-2Google Scholar
Hong, Y. R., & Sun Park, J. (2012). Impact of attachment, temperament and parenting on human development. Korean Journal of Pediatrics, 55(12), 449–454. https://doi.org/10.3345/kjp.2012.55.12.449Google Scholar
Howard, R. M., & Perilloux, C. (2016). Is mating psychology most closely tied to biological sex or preferred partner’s sex? Personality and Individual Differences, 115(1), 83–89. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2016.05.009Google Scholar
Hrdy, S. B. (1999). Mother nature: A history of mothers, infants, and natural selection. New York, NY: Pantheon Books.Google Scholar
Hrdy, S. B. (2008). Cooperative breeding and the paradox of facultative fathering. In Neurobiology of the parental brain (pp. 405–416). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Hughes, S. M. (2019). Engagement rings as a commitment cue. In Shackelford, T. K. & Weekes-Shackelford, V. A. (Eds.), Encyclopedia of evolutionary psychological science. New York, NY: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3656-1Google Scholar
Hughes, S. M., & Aung, T. (2017). Modern day female preferences for resources and provisioning by long-term mates. Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences, 11(3), 242–261. https://doi.org/10.1037/ebs0000084Google Scholar
Hurlbert, D. F. (2008). Female sexuality: A comparative study between women in homosexual and heterosexual relationships. Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy, 19(4), 315–327. https://doi.org/10.1080/00926239308404375Google Scholar
Jensen, J. F., Rauer, A. J., & Volling, B. (2013). A dyadic view of support in marriage: The critical role of men’s support provision. Sex Roles, 68(7–8), 427–438. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11199-012-0256-xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johnson, L., Petty, C. S., & Neaves, W. B. (1980). A comparative study of daily sperm production and testicular composition in humans and rats. Biology of Reproduction, 22(5), 1233–1243. https://doi.org/10.1093/biolreprod/22.5.1233Google Scholar
Julius, H., Beetz, A., Kotrschal, K., Turner, D., & Uvnäs-Moberg, K. (2013). Attachment to pets: An integrative view of human-animal relationships with implications for therapeutic practice. Cambridge, MA: Hogrefe Publishing.Google Scholar
Kanazawa, S. (2002). Bowling with our imaginary friends. Evolution and Human Behavior, 23(3), 167–171. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1090-5138(01)00098-8Google Scholar
Karen, R. (1994). Becoming attached: First relationships and how they shape our capacity to love. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Kaufman, G., & Goldscheider, F. (2007). Do men “need” a spouse more than women? Perceptions of the importance of marriage for men and women. Sociology Quarterly, 48(1), 29–46. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1533-8525.2007.00069.xGoogle Scholar
Kenrick, D. T. (2006). A dynamical evolutionary view of love. In Sternberg, R. J. & Weis, K. (Eds.), The new psychology of love (pp. 15–34). New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Khaleque, A., & Rohner, R. P. (2011). Transnational relations between perceived parental acceptance and personality dispositions of children and adults: A meta-analytic review. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 16(2), 103–115. https://doi.org/10.1177/1088868311418986Google Scholar
Kuhle, B. X. (2011). Did you have sex with him? Do you love her? An in vivo test of sex differences in jealous interrogations. Personality and Individual Differences, 51(8), 1044–1047. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2011.07.034Google Scholar
Kurzban, R., McCabe, K., Smith, V. L., & Wilson, B. J. (2001). Incremental commitment and reciprocity in a real-time public goods game. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 27(12), 1662–1673. https://doi.org/10.1177/01461672012712009Google Scholar
Lobmaier, J., Sprengelmeyer, R., Wiffen, B., & Perrett, D. (2010). Female and male responses to cuteness, age, and emotion in infant faces. Evolution and Human Behavior, 31(1), 16–21. https://doi.org/110.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2009.05.004Google Scholar
Markovic, N., & Markovic, O. (2008). The female reproductive system in health and disease. In Markovic, N. & Markovic, O. (Eds.), What every woman should know about cervical cancer (pp. 1–22). Rockville, MD: Springer Science. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4020-6937-6_1CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meehan, M., Massavelli, B., & Pachana, N. (2017). Using attachment theory and social support theory to examine and measure pets as sources of social support and attachment figures. Anthrozoös, 30(2), 273–289. https://doi.org/10.1080/08927936.2017.1311050Google Scholar
Neese, R. M. (1990). Evolutionary explanations of emotions. Human Nature, 1(3), 261–289. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02733986Google Scholar
Owen Blakemore, J. E., Lawton, C. A., & Vartanian, L. R. (2005). I can’t wait to get married: Gender differences in drive to marry. Sex Roles, 53(5–6), 327–335. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-005-6756-1Google Scholar
Pachankis, J. E., & Bränström, R. (2019). How many sexual minorities are hidden? Projecting the size of the global closet with implications for policy and public health. PLoS One, 14(6), e0218084. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0218084CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Payne, E., Bennett, P. C., & McGreevy, P. D. (2015). Current perspectives on attachment and bonding in the dog-human dyad. Psychology Research and Behavior Management, 8, 71–79. https://doi.org/10.2147/PRBM.S74972Google Scholar
Pew Research Center. (2020). The global divide on homosexuality exists. Retrieved from www.pewresearch.org/global/2020/06/25/global-divide-on-homosexuality-persists/Google Scholar
Price, M. E., Cosmides, L., & Tooby, J. (2002). Punitive sentiment as an anti-free rider psychological device. Evolution and Human Behavior, 23(3), 203–231. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1090-5138(01)00093-9CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rice, W. R., Friberg, U., & Gavrilets, S. (2012). Homosexuality as a consequence of epigenetically canalized sexual development. The Quarterly Review of Biology, 87(4), 343–368. Retrieved from www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/668167Google Scholar
Rohner, R. P., & Veneziano, R. A. (2001). The importance of father love: History and contemporary evidence. Review of General Psychology, 5(4), 382–405. https://doi.org/10.1037/1089-2680.5.4.382Google Scholar
Savin-Williams, R. (2014). An exploratory study of the categorical versus spectrum nature of sexual orientation. Journal of Sex Research, 51(4), 446–453. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2013.871691Google Scholar
Schacht, R., & Kramer, K. L. (2019). Are we monogamous? A review of the evolution of pair-bonding in humans and its contemporary variation cross-culturally. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 7(230). https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2019.00230Google Scholar
Schelling, T. C. (1960). The strategy of conflict. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Schwartz, S., Spires, E., & Young, R. (2019). Why do people keep their promises? A further investigation. Experimental Economics, 22, 530–551. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10683-018-9567-2Google Scholar
Silk, J. B. (2013). Reciprocal altruism. Current Biology, 23(18), R827–R828. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2013.03.052CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Simpson, J. A., & Belsky, J. (2008). Attachment theory within a modern evolutionary framework: Theory, research, and clinical applications. In Cassidy, J. & Shaver, P. R. (Eds.), Handbook of attachment: Theory, research, and clinical applications, 2nd ed. (pp. 131–157). New York, NY: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Smith, A., Pedersen, E. J., Forster, D. E., McCullough, M. E., & Lieberman, D. (2017). Cooperation: The roles of interpersonal value and gratitude. Evolution and Human Behavior, 38(6), 695–703. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2017.08.003Google Scholar
Sternberg, R. J. (1986). A triangular theory of love. Psychological Review, 93(2), 119–135. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.93.2.119Google Scholar
Sternberg, R. J. (1996). Love stories. Personal Relationships, 3(1), 1359–1379. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-6811.1996.tb00104.xGoogle Scholar
Sternberg, R. J. (1998). Love is a story. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Sui, J. J., & Baloglu, S. (2003). The role of emotional commitment in relationship marketing: An empirical investigation of a loyalty model for casinos. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Research, 27(4), 470–489. https://doi.org/10.1177/10963480030274006Google Scholar
Symons, D. (1979). The evolution of human sexuality. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Tarabulsy, G. M., Tessier, R., Gagnon, J., & Piché, C. (1996). Attachment classification and infant responsiveness during interactions. Infant Behavior and Development, 19(1), 131–143. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0163-6383(96)90051-XGoogle Scholar
Thomas, J. (2019). Valentine’s Day: Southeast Asians are spending more. Retrieved from https://theaseanpost.com/article/valentines-day-southeast-asians-are-spending-moreGoogle Scholar
Trivers, R. L. (1971). The evolution of reciprocal altruism. The Quarterly Review of Biology, 46(1), 35–57. https://doi.org/10.1086/406755Google Scholar
Trivers, R. L. (1972). Parental investment and sexual selection. In Campbell, B. H. (Ed.), Sexual selection and the descent of man, 1871–1971 (pp. 136–179). Chicago, IL: Aldine.Google Scholar
VanderLaan, D. P., & Vasey, P. L. (2008). Mate retention behavior of men and women in heterosexual and homosexual relationships. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 37(4), 572–585. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-006-9139-yGoogle Scholar
Wade, T. J., Auer, G., & Roth, T. M. (2009). What is love: Further investigation of love acts. Journal of Social, Evolutionary, and Cultural Psychology, 3(4), 290–304. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/h0099315Google Scholar
Wilkins, R., & Gareis, E. (2006). Emotion expression and the locution “‘I love you”: A cross-cultural study. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 30(1), 51–75. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2005.07.003Google Scholar
Wilson, E. O. (1975). Sociobiology: The new synthesis. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Wilson, M. I., & Daly, M. (1996). Male sexual proprietariness and violence against wives. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 5(1), 2–7. Retrieved from www.jstor.org/stable/20182377Google Scholar
Xu, X., Aron, A., Brown, L., Cao, G., Feng, T., & Weng, X. (2011). Reward and motivation systems: A brain mapping study of early-stage intense romantic love in Chinese participants. Human Brain Mapping, 32(2), 249–257. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/hbm.21017.Google Scholar
Young, M. A. (1985). The evolution of domestic pets and companion animals. The Veterinary Clinics of North America: Small Animal Practice, 15(2), 297–309. doi: 10.1016/s0195-5616(85)50302-2Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×