What Drives Mating Effort: Fear of Singlehood, Relationship Status, and Self-Esteem

Abstract

Purpose

Attracting and maintaining a romantic partner requires considerable effort. In the current study, we aimed to test the hypothesis that fear of singlehood is a primary factor driving individuals to allocate scarce resources in the mating domain.

Methods

We conducted a close-ended survey with a sample of 990 Greek and Turkish-speaking participants.

Results

We found that that a stronger fear of singlehood was associated with higher mating effort. Moreover, voluntarily single participants experienced lower fear of singlehood compared to other categories of singles and individuals in intimate relationships. Additionally, higher self-esteem was associated with lower fear of singlehood. We also identified a significant indirect effect of relationship status and self-esteem on mating effort through fear of singlehood. Specifically, involuntarily single individuals tended to exert more mating effort due to heightened fear of singlehood compared to those in other relationship status categories. Furthermore, higher self-esteem was associated with reduced mating effort, as it was associated with lower fear of singlehood. These findings held true across both the Greek and Turkish samples.

Conclusion

Relationship status and self-esteem play a role in mating effort through fear of singlehood.