Mate Poaching

Mate poaching according to urban dictionary is defined as attempting to lure someone of the opposite sex away from their partner through various strategies in order to mate with them and/or to prevent their partner from mating with them. After reading the article Do Single Women Seek Attached Men it is shown that studies performed by Melissa Burkley and Jessica Parker of Oklahoma State University showed more men engaged in mate poaching. The real question in this experiment was women honest when responding? It was shown that many women feel that all of the good men are taken and if somebody is single there has to be a flaw keeping women from being with them. To examine the situation male and female undergraduates were quizzed about their romantic partners. The females involved were shown the same picture of men and the males were shown the same picture of females. Half of the people were told that the person in the picture was taken and the other half was told that they were single. When the subject was asked how interested they were in the person in the picture, the answers did not show a significant difference, but women showed interest in mate poaching. The studies showed that when the man was described as unattached, 59 percent of single women were interested in pursuing him. When that same man was described as being in a committed relationship, 90 percent were interested. In sum this study in particular showed that women took more of an interest in mate poaching where men showed less interest. The reason for this seems as though women think that single men have qualities that another female has already been troubled by, and the man in a relationship is the better choice.