Induced Mate Abundance Increases Women’s Expectations for Engagement Ring Size and Cost

Induced Mate Abundance Increases Women’s Expectations for Engagement Ring Size and Cost. Ashley Locke, Jessica Desrochers, Steven Arnocky. Evolutionary Psychological Science, December 4 2019. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40806-019-00214-z

Abstract: Research on some non-human species suggests that an abundance of reproductively viable males relative to females can increase female choosiness and preferences for longer-term mating and resource investment by males. Yet little research has explored the potential influence of mate availability upon women’s preferences for signals of men’s commitment and resource provisioning. Using an experimental mate availability priming paradigm, the present study examined whether women (N = 205) primed with either mate scarcity or abundance would differ in their expectations for engagement ring size and cost. Results demonstrated that women who were primed with the belief that good-quality mates are abundant in the population reported expecting a statistically-significantly larger and more expensive engagement ring relative to women primed with mate scarcity. Results suggest that women flexibly attune their expectations for signals of men’s investment based, in part, upon their perception of the availability of viable mates.

Keywords: Priming Sex ratio Engagement rings Social psychology Evolutionary psychology Mating behavior

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Sample
205 undergraduate women aged 17 to 39 (M 20 SD 2 87).

Demographic Measures
Prior to the priming task, participants completed measures of age and romantic relationship status (“Are you currently in a committed heterosexual romantic relationship?”)

Mate Availability Priming Task
Using a set of fictitious magazine articles developed by Spielmann, MacDonald, and Wilson 2009 participants were primed with the belief that potential mates were either abundant or scarce. In this task, participants read one of two articles In the mate abundant condition, the article explained the task of finding a new romantic partner as being relatively easy, with the mating population
consisting of many available mates. Conversely, in the mate scarcity condition, the article highlighted the difficulty of finding a new romantic partner, with desirable mates being a scarce resource.

Manipulation Check
Participants then responded to the following two items asking about their own perceptions of mate availability: (1) “It scares me to think there might not be anyone out there for me” and (2) "I feel it is close to being too late for me to find love in my life"

Engagement Ring Preferences
Following Cloud and Taylor 2018 female participants were asked ,,“if this man were to propose to you after an extended period of dating, what is the smallest size engagement ring that you would be satisfied with him giving to you To make their decision, participants saw five identical engagement rings that differed only by carat weight and cost, ranging from 0 50 carats 500 to 1 50 carats 9000 and their selection was recorded (see Fig 1 from Cloud and Taylor 2008).