Dating and Mating in Adolescence: How Hormones and Puberty Influence Adolescent Mating Motivation

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dc.contributor.advisorPfeifer, Jennifer
dc.contributor.authorDonaldson, Sarah
dc.date.accessioned2022-10-26T15:24:29Z
dc.date.available2022-10-26T15:24:29Z
dc.date.issued2022-10-26
dc.description.abstractPuberty marks the physical transition towards sexual maturity, culminating in the ability to reproduce. It follows that maturing cognitive, affective, and social skills develop concurrently to support reproductive competence, transitioning the mind towards identifying and exploring mating relationships. While there is much research on the link between earlier pubertal timing and earlier onset of sexual behaviors, the specific underlying psychological changes occurring prior to the enactment of these behaviors is understudied. This dissertation explores how different aspects of puberty influence the development of mating motivations in early to middle adolescent girls. The first section of this dissertation reviews the literature on the development of adolescent social cognition and points to key ways in which these processes may support mating-relevant psychology. The following two empirical studies explore the development of mating motivation and behaviors in early to middle adolescence, and investigate whether testosterone or other pubertal indices play a role in these emerging romantic ideations and experiences. Results suggest that age of menarche has a more nuanced relationship with mating indices than previously thought, as an older age of menarche is associated with increased enjoyment of mating behaviors and a greater number of romantic partnerships (Chapter III), while an earlier age of menarche is associated with poorer performance in a mate-learning task. However, neither changes in T nor current levels of T were related to the development of mating motivation as assessed in this dissertation (Chapter III) and did not influence performance on a social learning task (Chapter IV). It is likely that more detailed explorations of romantic development will provide additional clarity on emerging romantic experiences in early to middle adolescents, and whether other hormonal mechanisms influence mating motivation in adolescent girls.en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1794/27738
dc.language.isoen_US
dc.publisherUniversity of Oregon
dc.rightsAll Rights Reserved.
dc.subjectAdolescenceen_US
dc.subjectHormonesen_US
dc.subjectMatingen_US
dc.subjectPubertyen_US
dc.subjectRelationshipsen_US
dc.subjectTestosteroneen_US
dc.titleDating and Mating in Adolescence: How Hormones and Puberty Influence Adolescent Mating Motivation
dc.typeElectronic Thesis or Dissertation
thesis.degree.disciplineDepartment of Psychology
thesis.degree.grantorUniversity of Oregon
thesis.degree.leveldoctoral
thesis.degree.namePh.D.

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