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CCN Forum: Conspicuous Consumption in Close Relationships: A Signal of Relationship

Tingting Liu, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Psychology, CCN
Friday, March 15, 2019
2:00-3:00 PM
4464 East Hall Map
Most male songbirds use their song to attract females, including extra-pair partners. In male humans, conspicuous consumption—the consumption and display of luxury goods as an ostentatious expression of wealth and status—serves similar functions. Conspicuous consumption in humans has been found to increase sexual selection, costly signaling of mating qualities, and the perception of heterosexual men’s mate attraction motives. Because the literature has focused more on the conspicuous consumption of single men, the function of men’s conspicuous consumption within a committed romantic relationship has been overlooked. Through three studies, the current research explores the association between heterosexual men’s conspicuous consumption, self-reported satisfaction of their current committed romantic relationship, and their female partners’ beliefs and behavioral reactions to this consumption. The current study adds to the previous literature by providing a framework to understand men’s motivation to consume luxury products and women’s response to their conspicuous consumption within a committed romantic relationship.
Building: East Hall
Event Type: Presentation
Tags: colloquium, Psychology
Source: Happening @ Michigan from Department of Psychology, Cognition & Cognitive Neuroscience, Weinberg Institute for Cognitive Science