Mate Deprivation Hypothesis
Lauren Riddle
Gillette College
The mate deprivation hypothesis seems originally based off of Freud’s uses of libido and beyond the pleasure principal. An easy definition by Haberlandt (1999) states, when men cannot secure mates through the means of attraction they experience deprivation, which prompts them to use sexually aggressive tactics to avoid being excluded entirely (p. 323). Through my research I found evidence proving that this hypothesis is false.
The only study found on the mate deprivation hypothesis was Lalumiere’s. In his study, he interviewed 156 males ages 17-36. The sexual experiences survey consists of twelve yes/no questions where participants are asked "Have you ever..." combined with a description of a situation involving different levels of sexual coercion. Participants were tested in groups of five to 25. They were assured of complete confidentiality and anonymity, and then they completed a consent form. Questionnaires were administered in counterbalanced order. Participants subsequently received a debriefing form that outlined the objectives of the study and provided sources of information about sexual coercion. Out of the 156 participants that were used in the analyses; seven participants were omitted because they did not report a heterosexual preference. Seventeen participants (0.9%) indicated not having experienced intercourse, 88 (56.4%) indicated a non-coercive sexual history, 44 (28.2%) indicated some nonphysical coercive experience but no physical coercive experience, and seven (4.5%) indicated some physical coercive experience. Lalumiere later states (1996) Two alternative models of sexual coercion can thus be proposed. The first is a micro mate deprivation model for males who have adopted as a primary mode short-term mating tactics and involves a special-purpose psychological mechanism: short-term males who suffer periodic difficulty in securing sexual access to desirable mates...