Department of Psychology, Arizona State University.
Department of Psychology, Oklahoma State University.
Perspect Psychol Sci. 2020 Jan;15(1):173-201. doi: 10.1177/1745691619872986. Epub 2019 Dec 3.
What motives do people prioritize in their social lives? Historically, social psychologists, especially those adopting an evolutionary perspective, have devoted a great deal of research attention to sexual attraction and romantic-partner choice (mate seeking). Research on long-term familial bonds (mate retention and kin care) has been less thoroughly connected to relevant comparative and evolutionary work on other species, and in the case of kin care, these bonds have been less well researched. Examining varied sources of data from 27 societies around the world, we found that people generally view familial motives as primary in importance and mate-seeking motives as relatively low in importance. Compared with other groups, college students, single people, and men place relatively higher emphasis on mate seeking, but even those samples rated kin-care motives as more important. Furthermore, motives linked to long-term familial bonds are positively associated with psychological well-being, but mate-seeking motives are associated with anxiety and depression. We address theoretical and empirical reasons why there has been extensive research on mate seeking and why people prioritize goals related to long-term familial bonds over mating goals. Reallocating relatively greater research effort toward long-term familial relationships would likely yield many interesting new findings relevant to everyday people's highest social priorities.
人们在社交生活中优先考虑哪些动机？从历史上看，社会心理学家，尤其是那些采用进化视角的心理学家，对性吸引力和浪漫伴侣选择（求偶）投入了大量研究关注。关于长期家庭纽带（配偶维系和亲属关怀）的研究与其他物种的相关比较和进化工作联系较少，而在亲属关怀的情况下，这些纽带的研究也较少。我们从全球 27 个社会的各种来源的数据中发现，人们普遍认为家庭动机更为重要，而求偶动机相对次要。与其他群体相比，大学生、单身人士和男性更注重求偶，但即使是这些样本也认为亲属关怀动机更为重要。此外，与长期家庭纽带相关的动机与心理健康呈正相关，而求偶动机与焦虑和抑郁有关。我们探讨了为什么人们会优先考虑与长期家庭纽带相关的目标而不是求偶目标，以及为什么在求偶方面进行了广泛研究的理论和实证原因。相对增加对长期家庭关系的研究投入，可能会产生许多与人们的首要社交需求相关的有趣新发现。
