Heterosexuality and gender differences in both social cognition and social behavior

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to review studies on the effects of salience of heterosexuality and mating motives on both social cognition and social behaviors and to discuss implications for gender differences in the findings of these studies. First, cultural and evolutional theories that emphasized the role of heterosexuality as a factor causing gender differences are described. Next, I review experimental studies examining the effects of mate seeking motive and mate retention motive on attention, processing style, categorization, self- representation, and social behavior (e.g., strategic self-presentations, risk taking behaviors, and aggressive behaviors). The findings from this review are discussed in terms of context-dependency of gender differences. Finally, I suggest future directions for research in both gender and evolutionary psychology.