The Oxford Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology and Romantic Relationships

This handbook showcases the empirical and theoretical advancements in the evolutionary study of romantic relationships, tracing the psychological mechanisms that shape strategic computation and behavior across the lifespan of an intimate partnership. Written by global experts in their fields, each chapter provides an overview of historic and contemporary research on the psychological mechanisms and processes underlying initiation, maintenance, and dissolution of romantic relationships. The volume discusses popular and cutting-edge methods for data analysis and theory development, critically analyzing the state of evolutionary relationship science. It provides discerning recommendations for future research and integrates a broad range of topics (e.g., partner preference and selection, competition and conflict, jealousy and mate guarding, parenting, partner loss and divorce, and post-relationship affiliation) that are discussed alongside major sources of strategic variation in mating behavior, such as sex and gender diversity, developmental life history, neuroendocrine processes, technological advancement, and culture. The Oxford Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology and Romantic Relationships enriches students' and established researchers' views across a diverse cross-section of relationship scholars and clinicians to incorporate evolutionary theorizing into their professional work, including those interested in social change and continuity in social and cultural psychology, sociology, political science, healthcare, and related fields.

Justin K. Mogilski earned his Ph.D. in evolutionary psychology from Oakland University in 2017. He is an Assistant Professor at the University of South Carolina, Salkehatchie. He researches how evolution has shaped brain computation to adaptively guide the decisions that people make to initiate, maintain, and dissolve intimate relationships. He has published evolutionary, social, personality, and sexual psychology journals on topics spanning mate poaching, infidelity, cross-gender friendship, intimate partner conflict, moral decision-making, morphometric cues of partner attractiveness, and multivariate statistical analyses of human mate preference. Todd K. Shackelford received his Ph.D. in evolutionary psychology from the University of Texas at Austin in 1997. Since 2010, he is Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychology at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan. Shackelford has published around 400 journal articles and his work has been cited around 28,000 times. Much of Shackelford's research addresses sexual conflict between men and women, with a focus on men's physical, emotional, and sexual violence against their intimate partners.

Introduction Justin K. Mogilski and Todd K. Shackelford
Part 1: Relationship Initiation
1. The sexual selection of human mating strategies: Mate preferences and competition tacticsDavid M. Buss2. Physical cues of partner qualityIan D. Stephen and Severi Luoto3. The three Cs of psychological mate preference: The psychological traits people want in their romantic and sexual partnersPeter K. Jonason and Evita March4. Partner evaluation and selectionNorman P. Li and Bryan K. C. Choy5. Hormonal mechanisms of partnership formationAnastasia Makhanova6. Human intersexual courtshipNeil R. Caton, David M. G. Lewis, Laith Al-Shawaf, and Kortnee C. Evans7. Intrasexual mating competitionJaimie Arona Krems, Hannah K. Bradshaw, and Laureon A. Merrie8. Initiation of non-heterosexual relationshipsJaroslava Varella Valentova, Bruno Henrique Amaral, and Marco Antonio Correa Varella9. Relationship initiation among older adultsChaya Koren and Liat Ayalon10. Cross-cultural variation in relationship initiationVictor Karandashev
Part 2: Relationship Maintenance11. Sexual conflict during relationship maintenanceLeif Edward Ottesen Kennair, Trond Viggo Grøntvedt, Andrea Melanie Kessler, and Mons Bendixen12. Jealousy in close relationships from an evolutionary and cultural perspective: Responding to real and feared rivalsAbraham P. Buunk and Karlijn Massar13. Hormonal mechanisms of in-pair mating and maintenanceAmanda Denes, John P. Crowley, and Anuraj Dhillon14. Mate guarding and partner defection avoidanceValerie G. Starratt15. Intimate partner violence and relationship maintenanceGordon G. Gallup, Jr. and Rebecca L. Burch16. Parenting and relationship maintenanceElizabeth M. Westrupp, Emma M. Marshall, Clair Bennett, Michelle Benstead, Gabriella King, and Gery C. Karantzas17. Maintaining multi-partner relationships: Evolution, sexual ethics, and consensual non-monogamyJustin K. Mogilski, David L. Rodrigues, Justin. J. Lehmiller, and Rhonda N. Balzarini18. Evolutionary perspectives on relationship maintenance across the spectrum of sexual and gender diversityLisa M. Diamond and Jenna Alley19. Relationship maintenance in older adults: Considering social and evolutionary psychological perspectivesLedina Imami and Christopher R. Agnew20. Cultural variation in relationship maintenanceLora Adair and Nelli Ferenczi
Part 3: Relationship Dissolution21. Relationship dissatisfaction and partner access deficitsT. Joel Wade, James B. Moran, and Maryanne L. Fisher22. In-pair divestmentSimona Sciara and Giuseppe Pantaleo23. Mate poaching, infidelity, and mate switchingJoshua Everett Ryan and Edward P. Lemay, Jr.24. Menstrual cycle variation in women's mating psychology: Empirical evidence and theoretical considerationsJan Havlícek and S. Craig Roberts25. Affective reactions to divorce or spousal deathJeannette Brodbeck and Hans Joerg Znoj26. Affective self-regulation after relationship dissolutionLeah E. LeFebvre and Ryan D. Rasner27. Post-relationship romanceMichael R. Langlais and He Xiao28. Evolutionary perspectives on post-separation parentingLawrence J. Moloney and Bruce M. Smyth29. Dissolution of LGBTQ+ relationshipsMadeleine Redlick Holland and Pamela J. Lannutti30. Relationship dissolution among older adultsDimitri Mortelmans
ConclusionJustin K. Mogilski and Todd K. Shackelford