How Humans Select & Keep Romantic Partners in Short & Long Term | Dr. David Buss

About this video

Dr. David Buss, a professor of psychology at the University of Texas, Austin and a founder of evolutionary psychology, joins Huberman to discuss how humans select and keep mates in the short and long term. Huberman outlines Dr. Buss’s research on sex differences in mating strategy, deception, status assessment, lust, jealousy, mate poaching, ovulation effects, stalking and sexual violence, and his books including When Men Behave Badly. Discussing infidelity, Dr. Buss distinguishes sexual infidelity from emotional infidelity, falling in love or sharing intimate information with someone else. He cites a study of the television show Cheaters by his former student Barry Cooley, in which men confronting partners first asked about sex while women first asked whether their partner loved the other person, which Dr. Buss links to sex differences in jealousy. He also describes financial infidelity, such as secret credit cards and bank accounts, which he says studies place at 30 to 60 percent of people in some form.

Key takeaways

• Dr. Buss distinguishes sexual infidelity from emotional infidelity in mating research.
• Dr. Buss describes sex differences in jealousy, with men focused more on sexual and women more on emotional aspects.
• Dr. Buss reports financial infidelity in 30 to 60 percent of people across studies he summarises.
• Huberman outlines Dr. Buss’s research on status assessment, deception and mate poaching.
• Dr. Buss presents mate selection strategies as grounded in quantitative laboratory studies.

Episode details: published November 29, 2021 · 990.6K views · 2:13:02 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. The science and protocols described are Andrew Huberman’s, presented for education — not medical advice. Consult a qualified professional before changing your own health practices.

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