The Young Male Cigarette and Alcohol Syndrome
Smoking and Drinking as a Short-Term Mating Strategy
- Eveline Vincke, Department of Communication Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium. Email: eveline.vincke{at}ugent.be
Abstract
Despite the many health risks of tobacco and alcohol use, high levels of smoking and drinking are being persisted. Moreover, young men engage more in these behaviors as compared to women. As male physical risk-taking behavior gains attractiveness in short-term mating contexts and given that smoking and drinking have considerable physical costs, this study explores the possibility that tobacco and alcohol use is part of a male short-term mating strategy. By means of a between-subjects experiment (N = 239), women’s perceptions of young male smoking and drinking were investigated. The experiment showed that women perceive men who smoke and drink as being more short-term oriented in their sexuality than nonusers. Moreover, both tobacco and (especially) alcohol use brought some attractiveness benefits in short-term mating contexts. A follow-up study (N = 171) confirmed that men’s behavior corresponds with women’s perceptions. Overall, these findings show that cigarette and alcohol use can operate as a short-term mating strategy.
Article Notes
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Declaration of Conflicting Interests The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
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Funding The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The author received financial support, in the form of a PhD scholarship of the FWO.
- Received June 1, 2015.
- Accepted December 22, 2015.
- © The Author(s) 2016
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