Fen Edebiyat Fakültesi / Faculty of Letters and Science
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/11727/1396
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Item What Drives Mating Effort: Fear of Singlehood, Relationship Status, and Self-Esteem(Başkent Üniversitesi Fen Edebiyat Fakültesi, 2024-04-27) Apostolou, Menelaos; Tekes, Burcu; Kagialis, AntoniosPurpose Attracting and maintaining a romantic partner requires considerable effort. In the current study, we aimed to test the hypothesis that fear of singlehood is a primary factor driving individuals to allocate scarce resources in the mating domain.Methods We conducted a close-ended survey with a sample of 990 Greek and Turkish-speaking participants.Results We found that that a stronger fear of singlehood was associated with higher mating effort. Moreover, voluntarily single participants experienced lower fear of singlehood compared to other categories of singles and individuals in intimate relationships. Additionally, higher self-esteem was associated with lower fear of singlehood. We also identified a significant indirect effect of relationship status and self-esteem on mating effort through fear of singlehood. Specifically, involuntarily single individuals tended to exert more mating effort due to heightened fear of singlehood compared to those in other relationship status categories. Furthermore, higher self-esteem was associated with reduced mating effort, as it was associated with lower fear of singlehood. These findings held true across both the Greek and Turkish samples.Conclusion Relationship status and self-esteem play a role in mating effort through fear of singlehood.Item Emotional Wellbeing and Life Satisfaction of Singles and Mated People Across 12 Nations(EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE, 2024-12) Apostolou, Menelaos; Tekes, Burcu; Blachnio, Agata; Sullman, Mark; Costello, WilliamThe increasing occurrence of singlehood raises the question of whether people enjoy greater emotional wellbeing alone or in an intimate relationship. Guided by an evolutionary theoretical framework of human emotions, the current research aimed to address whether individuals are emotionally better off single than in an intimate relationship, taking a cross-cultural perspective. The quality of the relationship is also crucial; thus, the study also aimed to determine whether individuals in a good or bad intimate relationship differ from each other and from those who are single in terms of emotional wellbeing. In a sample of 6338 participants from 12 nations, we found that singles experienced lower emotional wellbeing and life satisfaction than those in relationships. More specifically, participants who were in a relationship or married reported the highest life satisfaction and emotional wellbeing, while those involuntarily single reported the lowest levels, with individuals who are between relationships or voluntarily single reporting intermediate levels. Additionally, participants in a good relationship experienced higher emotional wellbeing and life satisfaction than those in a bad relationship. The findings among the involuntarily single participants were similarly negative, but to a lesser extent than those in a bad relationship. These results were consistent across the different nations in our sample.Item Fear of Relationship Commitment and Singlehood(EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE, 2024-03) Apostolou, Menelaos; Tekes, BurcuNot having an intimate partner is a common state in contemporary post-industrial societies. One reason that individuals report for being single is their fear of relationship commitment. The objective of the current research was to investigate the factors that are associated with the fear of relationship commitment and how this fear is associated with singlehood. In a sample of 453 Turkish-speaking participants, we found that lower levels of agreeableness, openness, mating performance, and relationship quality were associated with a higher fear of relationship commitment. Moreover, a higher fear of relationship commitment was linked to a greater likelihood of being single compared to being in an intimate relationship. Additionally, we found that lower levels of self-esteem, extraversion, and openness were associated with reduced mating performance, which, in turn, was associated with a higher fear of relationship commitment and a higher probability of being single compared to being in an intimate relationship.Item Strategies for Becoming A More Desirable Mate: Evidence From 14 Countries(PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS, 2024) Tekes, BurcuThe current research aimed to study the strategies that people employ in order to become more desirable as mates in different cultural settings. More specifically, using a closed-ended questionnaire on a sample of 7181 participants from 14 different countries, we identified 10 different strategies that people employ to become more appealing as mates. Participants indicated that they had more frequently used the "Enhance looks," followed by the "Show off abilities and talents," and the "Demonstrate similarity" strategies. On the other hand, they had less frequently used the "Keep undesirable things hidden," the "Show off and exaggerate wealth and abilities," and the "Drastic appearance changes" strategies. Female participants indicated that they had more extensive used the "Enhance looks" strategy than male participants, while male participants indicated that they had more extensive used the "Increase income and social status" and the "Show off and exaggerate wealth and abilities" strategies than female participants. The sex effects, as well as the extent of use, were generally consistent across the different cultures. The identified strategies were classified further into two main strategies, namely the "Develop and demonstrate desirable traits" and the "Deceive about undesirable traits," which was generally consistent across the different countries.