Women’s desire for more valuable engagement rings is linked to the availability of potential partners. — The average American husband-to-be will spend around $6000 on an engagement ring for his partner. Unlike other large purchases, such as a house or car, an engagement ring serves little practical purpose. You can’t live it in, eat it, or use it to get from A to B. …

Scientists investigate the link between perceptions of leadership ability and partner attractiveness. — New Jersey-based management studies professors have found that the perceived competence of leaders is affected by the attractiveness of their spouses. An attractive partner enhances the apparent leadership ability of a man, but female leaders suffer a penalty when their partner is attractive. Humans are social beings, and we like…

Narcissists, who believe that they are better than their peers, are often colloquially described as big-headed. But do people with over-sized egos really think they have heads to match? It might sound like an odd question, but there’s good reason to suspect that big-headedness is not just figurative but literal…

More of us are searching for partners on dating apps than ever before. Even as we shelter in place we can browse Bumble or Tinder for our next virtual date: much safer than crowding into a bar in hopes of meeting The One. In some ways, searching for a partner…

Scientists have discovered that the sweet smell of success is more than a mere metaphor: it has a basis in fact. Humans compete in various endeavours. The most clear cut examples are in combat sports, like boxing, taekwondo, or Mixed Martial Arts (MMA). Non-human animals also compete, mostly over valued…

Two new research studies reveal whether Tinder is making us choose different types of partner or relationships than we otherwise would. — Finding love is a perennial problem. In the distant past, our ancestors lived in small social groups and rarely moved far from the places they were raised. Their romantic options were limited. Choosing the right partner may have been the most important decision in their lives.

Psychopaths exert a strange allure. The fictional psychopath has been a staple of film and television for decades, and the popularity of true-crime podcasts and streaming-service documentary series suggests that our fascination with psychopathy is on the increase. A curiosity about the psychological precursors of manipulative or violent behavior can…

Emotional responses to a partner’s involvement with another in monogamous and consensually non-monogamous relationships — Imagine yourself in this scenario: you are in a long-term relationship, and one day you discover that your partner is pursuing a relationship with someone else. How would you feel? Many of us would experience jealousy: an unpleasant sensation that can motivate behavior designed to reduce the risk of our…

Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, in the early phase of her political career, struggled to be taken seriously. …