For those who have a lot of experience in the field, how accurate is the female dual mating strategy theory?

norwegiandoggo · 2026-04-10T13:38:45+00:00

It has been debunked by replication studies that failed.

Basically, the idea comes from early studies showing that women in the fertile part of their cycle prefered more "masculine" men. But these early studies just asked women when they had their periods (which is not an accurate way to measure when they are most fertile). They also had few participants in the study - which is more likely to yield false results. Plus the results were sensational (PR worthy) which gave them a lot of traction in the literature.

The later replication studies by Benedict Jones in 2018 and Julia Stern in 2021, took more women and measured their blood to more accurately determine when they were fertile. And in these cases - women preferred ALL MEN more. Whether it was their long-term husband or a masculine stranger. They were just more horny in general. This debunked the old idea that women prefer "other men" or more "manly / formidable men" to mate with to give their babies better genetics. While having a "caring loser" at home.

It's also true in real life that in like 97% or more cases - the dad that believes he is a dad, is also the real dad of the baby when they do DNA testing. So women sneakily finding another man to make babies with is not a common strategy in real life either. Essentially further debunking the dual mating hypothesis.

Western-Month-3877 · 2026-04-10T13:59:15+00:00

More like anecdotes.

Ur_X · 2026-04-10T14:13:23+00:00

Easy, girls are the gatekeepers of sex men are the gatekeepers of reltionship. Both of those things may, can, and at times are at odds with each other

PostAvailable9966 · 2026-04-10T13:36:09+00:00

It is not accurate in practice. It is accurate in theory.

Because you plan to do what? Be a Beta and try to get results on the field? We only see the alpha side of it in practice.

But having said that… it is very accurate at observing social dynamics in social settings and understanding society at large

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