Are you currently in love?
Let me ask you --- how interested would an unattached female be in poaching your current love interest?
Or putting the shoe on the other foot, if you are not currently in a relationship, how interested would you be in poaching another woman's boyfriend?
It turns out that single women are particularly interested in men who are already in a committed relationship --- they seem to have a distinct preference for mate poaching (much more so than single men).
When presented bio information along with a photo of a relatively attractive man, fewer than 60% of the women surveyed were interested in pursuing this man if he was NOT currently attached.
But if this man was already in a committed romantic relationship, 90% of the single women expressed a strong desire to pursue him.
90%!
[BTW: There was not a similar preference among men for attached women over unattached ones.]
Women --- hang onto your man. There is a good chance that someone is out there waiting for an opportunity to snag him.
When asked why they were particularly attracted to attached men, single women responded:
- "Revenge - what goes around comes around"
- "To see if I can - I love a good challenge"
- "It's exciting - you're in the hunt"
- "Because I can - and once I do, it's an ego boost"
- "Because he's already been tested - he's pre-approved"
Real sweethearts, huh?
Remember - 90%!
Don't you just want to yell: "Go find your own relationship."
Bottom line: research has revealed that poachers rate low in reliability, low in good-heartedness, and low in relationship fidelity.
So if you are looking for a temporary burst of excitement that might also stroke your ego, go ahead - screw over some unsuspecting woman who is already in a relationship. After all, isn't that what she deserves if she is that naïve?
But if you are looking for a stable, healthy, long-term love relationship, be forewarned --- if you poached your man to begin with, guess what - if you were able to poach him, then there is a good chance that he is poachable again.
References:
"Who's Chasing Whom?" by Jessica Parker and Melissa Burkley (Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 2009, 45, pp. 1016-1019).
"Sex Differences in Perceptions of Benefits and Costs of Mate Poaching" by Alastair Davies, Todd Shackelford, & Glen Hass (Personality and Individual Differences, 2010, 49, pp. 441-445).
