The scientific study of human mating has mushroomed over the past three decades, and this growth in turn has generated a proliferation of evolving literature revealing fresh discoveries about mate attraction, mate choice, mate retention, marital satisfaction, jealousy, infidelity, intimate partner violence, breakups, internet dating, cyberstalking, and sexual coercion. In The Oxford Handbook of Human Mating, editor David M. Buss showcases contributions from "the best and the brightest" scientists in the field, providing up-to-date summaries of theories and empirical evidence of the science of human mating strategies.

Much of the research in the field is guided by sexual selection theory. Over 150 years after Darwin's proposal of sexual selection theory, it has become the most important overarching theoretical framework for the scientific study of the mating strategies of all sexually reproducing species, including humans. A mountain of research centered around Darwin's classic book has documented the many complexities of human mate competition and mate choice; how these processes differ between the sexes; and how they differ as a function of sex ratio, mate value, social contexts, ovulation cycles, personality characteristics, and cultural norms and mating rituals. Thus, the science is now ripe for a collection of work by eminent scholars in the field.

David M. Buss is a leading researcher and pioneer in the study of human mating strategies, and he applies his expertise to the curation of this volume, which includes major sections covering theories of human mating; mate selection and mate attraction; mate competition; sexual conflict in mating; human pair bonding; the endocrinology of mating; and mating in the modern world.

David M. Buss is a Professor of Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin. Buss previously taught at Harvard University and the University of Michigan. He is considered the world's leading scientific expert on strategies of human mating and one of the founders of the field of evolutionary psychology. His books include The Evolution of Desire: Strategies of Human Mating; Evolutionary Psychology: The New Science of the Mind; The Dangerous Passion: Why Jealousy is as Necessary as Love and Sex; The Murderer Next Door: Why the Mind is Designed to Kill; and Why Women Have Sex (with Cindy Meston). His most recent book: When Men Behave Badly: The Hidden Roots of Sexual Deception, Harassment, and Assault (2021) uncovers the evolutionary roots of conflict between the sexes.

Theoretical Perspectives
Robert Trivers -- Writing Trivers's 1972 Theory of Parental Investment and Sexual Selection
Michael Ryan -- Sexual Selection and the Animal's Mating Mind
Jennifer Perry & Tracy Chapman - The interface of sexual selection, conflict and evolutionary psychology: emerging core themes
David Schmitt -- Extensions of Sexual Strategies Theory across Peoples, Cultures, and Ecologies

Attraction and Mate Selection
Norman Li & Bryan K. C. Choy -- The Early Stages of Mate Selection
Daniel Conroy-Beam -- Computational Models of Mate Choice
David M.G. Lewis, Kortnee C. Evans, & Laith Al-Shawaf -- The logic of physical attractiveness: what people find attractive, when, and why
Debra Lieberman & Carlton Patrick - Incest Avoidance Adaptations: Evolved function and proximate mechanisms
Menalaos Apostalou -- Parental Influence Over Mate Choice
Ryan Schacht & Caroline Uggla -- Beyond sex: Reproductive Strategies and Sex Ratio Variation
LE Kennair, Trond Viggo Grøntvedt, Andrea M. Kessler, Steven W. Gangestad, & Mons Bendixen -- Mating Strateges in Sexually Egalitarian Cultures
David Frederick, Jenna C. Alley, Scott Semenyna, & Justin R. Garcia -- Mating Strategy Variation by Sexual Orientation

Mate Competition
David Puts, David Carrier, & Alan R Rogers -- Contest Competition for Mates and the Evolution of Human Males
Maryanne Fisher & Jaimie Krems -- An Evolutionary Review of Female Intrasexual Competition
Scott W. Semenyna, Francisco R. Gómez Jiménez, & Paul Vasey -- Mate competition between the sexes: Evidence from two non-Western cultures

Pair-Bonded Relationship Dynamics
Gurit Birnbaum -- Evolving Connections: Attachment and Human Mating Strategies
William Jankoviak & Alex J. Nelson -- Archeology of love: A review of the ethnographic exploration of love around the world
Andrea Meltzer -- Marital and Sexual Satisfaction
John Edlund, Brad Sagarin, & Kristin M. Kinner -- Sex Differences in Jealousy: The State of the Theory
Valerie G. Starratt & Todd Shackelford -- Mate Guarding

Sexual Conflict in Mating
Gayle Brewer -- Deception in Human Mating
Brooke Scelza -- Marriage and Monogamy in Cross-cultural Perspective
Valerie G. Starratt & Todd Shackelford -- Sperm Competition
Joshua Duntley -- Violent Mates
Peter Jonason & Vlad Burtaverde -- The Dark Triad and Human Mating Strategies
Kingsley Browne -- Sexual Harassment
Joe Camilleri -- Sexual Coercion
Rachel M. James, Melissa M. McDonald, & Viviana Weekes-Shackelford -- Women's Avoidance of Sexual Assault

Mating and Endocrinology
James Roney -- Hormones and Human Mating
Steven Gangestad, Tran Dinh, Lauren Lesko, Martie Haselton -- Understanding Women's Estrus and Extended Sexuality: The Dual Sexuality Framework
Julia Sterns & Lars Penke -- Ovulatory cycle effects and hormonal influences on women's mating psychology
Katja Cunningham & Sarah E. Hill -- The Impact of Hormonal Contraceptives on Women's Sexual and Mating Psychology

Mating in the Modern World
Helen Fisher & Justin Garcia -- Mate Choice in the Digital Age
Catherine Salmon and Rebecca Burch -- Popular Culture and Human Mating: Artifacts of Desire
Cari Goetz -- Evolutionary Mismatch and Human Mating: Understanding the Mating Mind in the Modern World