Men and women reported higher desirability for heroic targets for long-term compared with short-term relationships, although this pattern was more prominent in women

Bhogal, M. S., & Bartlett, J. E. (2020). Further support for the role of heroism in human mate choice. Evolutionary Behavioral, Sep 2020.  https://doi.org/10.1037/ebs0000230

Abstract: Although evidence suggests that altruistic behavior can act as a mating signal, little research has explored the role of heroism in mate choice. Previous research has focused on women only, ignoring the role of heroism in male mate choice. Here we extended and replicated previous research on the role of heroism in human mate choice. Participants (N = 276) rated how desirable targets were for a short-term and long-term relationship, which varied in heroism. The findings showed men and women reported higher desirability for heroic targets for long-term compared with short-term relationships, although this pattern was more prominent in women. These findings add support to the role of heroism in mate choice by exploring the role of heroism in male and female mate choice.

Check also The role of altruistic costs in human mate choice. Manpal Singh Bhogal et al. Personality and Individual Differences, Volume 160, 1 July 2020, 109939. https://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2020/02/human-mate-choice-individuals.html

And The role of prosocial behaviors in mate choice: A critical review of the literature. Manpal Singh Bhogal, Daniel Farrelly, Niall Galbraith. Current Psychology, May 27 2019. https://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2019/05/most-research-has-found-that-people.html

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Discussion The aim of this study was to 1) further explore and extend the role of heroism and mate choice and 2) to explore the role of heroism in men and women’s mate choice. Hypothesis one was supported, as high heroic targets were rated as more desirable than low-heroic targets. Control scenarios were included to anchor the results, as desirability ratings for high heroic targets were higher than desirability ratings for the control condition, and desirability ratings for low heroic targets were lower than desirability ratings for the control condition. Hypothesis two was supported, as women rated heroic targets as more desirable than men. Hypothesis three was explored in two stages. Part (a) was supported as both men and women reported higher desirability ratings for high heroic targets in long-term than short-term relationships. 10 Part (b) was also supported as this effect interacted with the participants’ sex. Women reported higher desirability ratings for high heroic targets than men for both short-term and long-term relationships. The effect sizes were larger in the comparison between men and women than the within-subject comparisons between short-term and longterm relationships. As a result, the findings of this study lend support for the role of mutual mate choice in the desirability of heroism, but the effect is more pronounced in women than men. The findings of this paper provide support for the hypothesis that heroism plays a role in mate choice, consistent with limited research in the area (Margana et al. 2019; Kelly & Dunbar, 2001). The findings of this paper are also consistent with previous research finding that women find prosocial targets (in the form of altruism) to be more desirable compared to non-altruistic targets (Bhogal et al. 2019; Farrelly, 2011). In addition, our finding that men also find high heroic targets as desirable compared to those displaying low heroism is consistent with research showing both men and women find prosociality (again, in the form of altruism) targets desirable, even though desirability ratings tend to be higher for women, particularly when seeking long-term relationships (Bhogal et al. 2019). When looking at the theoretical foundation of this study, this study provides support that heroism could have evolved through mutual mate choice, as higher heroism was desirable to our participants. The fact that participants rated heroic targets as more desirable for long-term relationships compared to short-term relationships is consistent with previous research exploring other forms of prosociality (Bhogal et al. 2019; Farrelly, 2011) due to prosociality signalling good parent/partner quality. Therefore, when examining longterm relationships, heroism (as with other forms of prosociality) could be signalling good parent and partner qualities, for men and women. As the data here are supportive 11 of previous literature exploring altruism and mate choice, it could be argued that heroism is a riskier form of altruism (benefit-provision with added personal risk). Due to the importance of replication in psychology (Earp & Trafimow, 2015), we believe the findings of this study are important in the field, as this paper provides evidence that heroism is important in mate choice, whereby we have replicated and extended the limited research in the area on heroism and mate choice.

Limitations and future research
Although there are strengths to this study, there are also some limitations to note. The scenarios used from Margana et al. (2019) included targets who are displaying extreme forms of heroism, as opposed to subtle forms of heroism. For example, one scenario displaying high heroism related to the climbing Mount Everest, and one of the scenarios depicting low heroism was related to the Ebola outbreak with both scenarios involving an extreme risk of personal injury. Future research could include more subtle, realistic scenarios which we may encounter in our day to day lives. Furthermore, while we know that altruism increases mating success (Arnocky, Piché, Albert, Ouellette, & Barclay, 2017), we do not yet know whether behaving heroically actually increases ones mating success, which could be an avenue for future research.