Find Out Why A New Study Claims Men Are “Sexual Poachers”

Is the grass really always greener on the other side or do we just think it is? Do we always want what we can’t have because the best things are always taken, or does our inability to have something make it more attractive?  They say all the good ones are taken and because of that, so-called mate poaching is becoming common. A new study finds men are sexual poachers.

Are you into people you can’t have? Let us know in the comments!

Mate poaching. According to Psychology Today, so-called “mate poaching” isn’t just a thing but it’s a common occurrence. What’s more, it’s just as common with women as it is with men. The occurrence is apparently innate. Single women are reportedly more interested in a male if they believe he is in a relationship. This according to Psychology Today.

Study. A large study found that 90 percent of single women were interested in a man they thought was taken. That number shrunk down to 59 percent when they found out he was single.

New Study. A new study on mate poaching was done by Jason Northrup at St John Fisher College. According to the study, "It is suggested that mate poaching has transpired due to monogamy and marriage being the defining factors of human sexual relations where needs are not being met."

 

Genders. While mate poaching occurs in both genders, it occurs for different reasons. "There exists several significantly diverse sexual roles and behaviors between males and females. Men are more interested in sexual novelty and variety, whereas women are more interested in long-term relationships as assurance of a resource supply for offspring.”

Rules. According to Psychology Today, mate poaching is so prevalent in men that many societies and religions have rules against it: "This is reflected in the almost universal rules in every religion: all religions take a keen interest in sex, and prescribe how and when it should take place. One of the major functions of religion, as we all know, is social control. Men are forbidden to take a sexual interest in women who are already in a relationship with another man.”

Question. The reason why men continue to poach is simply because it’s in their nature to sire as many offspring as possible. Society tries to prevent this but some men are more likely to go ahead and poach anyway and there may be a way to tell who those men are.

Parameters. The poaching study consisted of men being shown four pictures. One picture of an attractive woman with a partner and one without. Another showed unattractive woman with a partner and another without.

Questions. The men were asked whether they would want a romantic relationship with the women in each picture. To no one’s surprise, the attractive females were deemed more desirable than the unattractive ones. Those without partners were more attractive than those who had a partner.

Poachers. Yet other men were interested in the pictures of the women who had a partner. These subjects showed a willingness to poach their mates .

X factor. The results of the study weren’t too surprising. However, the brains of these men were being scanned during the tests and what these scans showed was interesting.

Scans. Attractive women registered an effect in the ventral striatum section of the brain. This is the part of the brain focused on reward. It anticipates this reward.

Partners. The men’s brains also reacted to the presence of the partner in the picture. This reaction occured in the parietal cortex. This is the decision making part of the brain.

Result. According to Psychology Today, the results show that, "the brain was reflecting the inhibitory effect of seeing that a female has a partner, and making a decision on this basis—maybe respecting social conventions that discourage men from attempting to lure other men's partners away.”

Poacher scans. The scans of the poachers, or those willing to engage in a relationship with the women who had a partner, activated a different part of the brain, the orbital frontal lobes. This is the part of the brain that’s involved with emotion.

Frontal lobe. Frontal lobe damage results in behavior that is uncontrolled, and inappropriate, particularly by society’s standards. Many killers have frontal lobe damage. The study may show that some people are just pre-ordained toward this type of behavior by the way their brain works.