The Influence of Mating Context on Creativity: Insights from Simulated Dating Scenarios

StatusVoR
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Authors
Gałasińska-Grygorczuk, Katarzyna
Szymków-Sudziarska, Aleksandra
Varella, Marco Antonio Correa
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Date
2025-05-19
Publisher
Journal title
Evolutionary Psychology
Issue
2
Volume
23
Pages
Pages
1-22
ISSN
1474-7049
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Access date
2025-05-19
Abstract PL
Abstract EN
Creativity offers both survival and reproductive benefits, being a desirable trait in potential mates and linked to fertility and sexuality. We investigated whether viewing attractive faces of potential short-term or long-term partners in a simulated dating portal enhances participants’ creativity. We also explored possible mediators (arousal, mood, sexual arousal, motivation, and attraction) and moderators (relationship status, satisfaction, mate value, and sociosexual orientation). In Study 1, 483 participants (Mage = 30.06, SD = 6.37; 242 women, 241 men) viewed either four attractive or four unattractive opposite-sex potential partners and wrote self-promotional bios. No significant creativity differences were found between the attractive and unattractive groups. However, men were more flexible and produced more original ideas than women, while women showed greater fluency and self-creativity promotion. In Study 2, 494 participants (Mage = 30.84, SD = 6.06; 258 women, 236 men) viewed profiles of attractive potential partners for either short-term or long-term inclined relationships. Women's fluency and originality were higher in the long-term condition, but sexual arousal negatively impacted both fluency and originality when choosing an attractive partner for a long-term relationship, particularly when a real date desirability with the mate was high. Overall, the results suggest that creativity is influenced by the mating context, though the effects were modest. Future studies should increase sample sizes, geographic diversity, and experimental settings.
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Keywords PL
Keywords EN
mate selection
sexual arousal
romantic motivation
originality
mating context
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cc-by-nc
Except as otherwise noted, this item is licensed under the Attribution-NonCommercial licence | Permitted use of copyrighted works
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Acquisition Date30.07.2025
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