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Marriage affects competitive performance in male tennis players

Farrelly, Daniel and Nettle, Daniel (2007) Marriage affects competitive performance in male tennis players. Journal of Evolutionary Psychology, 5 (1-4). pp. 141-148. ISSN 1789-2082

Item Type: Article

Abstract

Cultural displays, such as art and science, are proposed to be used by males to compete for potential mates. As a result, the desire to engage in such behaviours will diminish following marriage. Male competition in sport can be considered a cultural display for potential mates, therefore male sporting performance will be negatively affected by marriage. Here we show that professional male tennis players perform significantly worse in the year after their marriage compared to the year before, whereas there is no such effect for unmarried players of the same age. Therefore the results suggest that following marriage, males experience an evolved psychological mechanism that leads to less motivation to engage in intra-sexual competition. Fluctuating testosterone (T) levels are discussed as providing the underlying biochemical changes necessary for such mechanisms.

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More Information

Depositing User: Daniel Farrelly

Identifiers

Item ID: 3291
Identification Number: https://doi.org/10.1556/JEP.2007.1004
ISSN: 1789-2082
URI: http://sure.sunderland.ac.uk/id/eprint/3291
Official URL: http://www.akademiai.com/content/j0518n75x3427313/...

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Catalogue record

Date Deposited: 07 Jan 2013 11:47
Last Modified: 02 Jul 2019 09:07

Contributors

Author: Daniel Farrelly
Author: Daniel Nettle

University Divisions

Faculty of Health Sciences and Wellbeing > School of Psychology

Subjects

Psychology > Psychology

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