Ladies, know yourselves! Gentlemen, fool yourselves! Evolved self-promotion traits as predictors for promiscuous sexual behavior in both sexes

• Published in: Personality and individual differences 2016-04, Vol.92, p.11-15
• Main Authors: Koban, Kevin, Ohler, Peter
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Deception; Mating; Self-deception; Self-monitoring; Self-promotion; Sex differences
• ISSN: 0191-8869; 1873-3549
• DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2015.11.056

Creating a convincing self-presentation which exalts one's own capabilities on the surface is often regarded as a crucial soft skill ensuring success in numerous interpersonal domains. Seen from an evolutionary perspective, strategic self-promotion might have evolved as a beneficial psychological mechanism in mating competition. While prior research is almost exclusively focused on different behavioral patterns, the present study examines relations between self-promotion and mating behavior on a trait level. Based on existing findings, we identified three different traits corresponding with determined self-presentation styles: impression management, self-deceptive enhancement, and self-monitoring. Using a sample of 232 heterosexual participants (f=143; age M=23.88years; SD=3.42years), we tested to what extent these traits predict sociosexual orientation as well as the total number of intercourse partners in both sexes. Notwithstanding gender, all chosen traits showed a positive prediction towards short-term mating behavior. By taking sex differences into consideration, however, the results indicated that self-deception was a stronger predictor for promiscuous mating behavior in men compared to women, whereas impression management showed minor differences and self-monitoring even revealed an opposite trend. These findings suggest that women may possess more rigorous deception detection mechanisms forcing men to apply subtler self-promotion strategies. •Self-related traits might have evolved as supplementary mechanisms of self-promotion.•Self-deception and impression management traits positively predict short-term mating.•Self-monitoring dispositions showed opposite patterns in men and women.•Due to differing selection pressures self-deception is a stronger predictor in men.•Results support Trivers' idea that self-deception fulfills an offensive function.