The Five Finger Discount: Shoplifting as a Reproductive Strategy for Increasing Mate Value

Abstract

Shoplifting , the act of taking an item from a store without paying for it, is prevalent on social media platforms. Shoplifters post photographs featuring their stolen items, often including the retail value of each item, and tag the photograph as either a ‘lifting haul’ or ‘shoplifting haul’ so that it may be found by others. We argue that the items targeted for shoplifting relate to one’s desire to increase their mate value. In contemporary life, one has the ability to alter and manipulate their perceived mate value, via the aid of cosmetic, skin and hair care products, perfumes, and products that signal luxury and financial status. When viewed in this context, an evolutionary analysis of shoplifting via the specific items targeted for theft may shed light on intrasexual competition in terms of individuals competing to improve their relative mate value. Hence, we hypothesized that shoplifted items, as advertised via ‘haul’ photographs on social media, would be those relevant for increasing mate value (e.g., improve one’s appearance or markers of financial status). A researcher blind to the study hypothesis coded the stolen items within the photographs and the coded items were then categorized into themes for analysis. Our hypothesis was supported. We discuss the use of social media platforms for effectively conducting human ethological research. Keywords: Social media, Mate value, Shoplifting , Luxury products, Intrasexual competition. __________________________________________________________
 Bourgeois, C.A.; et al. (2019). The Five Finger Discount: Shoplifting as a Reproductive Strategy for Increasing Mate Value. Human Ethology, 34, 83-92. https://doi.org/10.22330/he/34/083-092 submitted: 28.Oct. 2018; revised: 11.May 2019; accepted: 13.May 2019 Bourgeois, C.A. et al. (2019): Shoplifting as a Reproductive Strategy Human Ethology, 34, 83-92