Mothers of very young children report more dates than fathers of very young children; single parents of children less than 5 report higher frequency of sexual activity & more first dates in the past 3 months than those of older children

Using conjoint analysis to assess men’s relationship interest in women with and without children. Viviana Weekes-Shackelford, Justin K Mogilski, Todd K. Shackelford. Human Behavior and Evolution Society 31st annual meeting. Boston 2019. http://tiny.cc/aa1w6y

Abstract: If the presence of children and remarriage (or re-mating) were recurrent features of human evolutionary history, mating psychology should contain features that address problems associated with the presence of children and re-mating and we should see this revealed in a variety of mating behaviors. Mothers of very young children (<2yrs) report more dates than fathers of very young children and single parents of children less than 5 report higher frequency of sexual activity and more first dates in the past 3 months than do parents of older children. Men and women with at least one genetic child with their partner also perform more frequent individual mate retention behaviors. Furthermore, women report different mate preferences before and after having children. The current research used conjoint analysis to explore men’s long- and short-term interest in women with and without children. Over 500 men were asked to rank profiles of potential mates that varied by the woman’s age, her child’s age, her child’s sex, and the father’s involvement. Findings add to a provisional framework for research on mating psychology after having children.