Laboratory
Personality and Culture Lab (PaC Lab)
David P. Schmitt, Ph.D.
Founding Director, International Sexuality Description Project
My research interests include evolutionary and cross-cultural approaches to understanding personal relationships, sexual strategies, romantic attachment styles, and gender differences in human mating. I am also interested in the "Big Five" model of personality traits, risk factors for HIV/AIDS, and predictors of both sexual aggression and domestic violence across cultures.
I am the Founding Director of the International Sexuality Description Project (Schmitt et al., 2003), a cross-cultural survey study that included samples from 56 nations representing 6 continents, 13 islands, and 28 languages. I am currently completing the second wave of the ISDP (the ISDP-2). If you are interested in finding out more about the ISDP, please contact me at Bradley University (dps@bradley.edu).
Below are listed some of the main findings from the ISDP
Sexuality across Cultures:
National Averages and Sex Differences in Sociosexuality ( PDF )
Regional Averages and Sex Differences in Short-Term Mating Interests ( PDF )
Regional Averages and Sex Differences in Mate Poaching ( PDF )
Romantic Attachment across Cultures:
National Averages in Romantic Attachment ( PDF )
Sex Differences in Dismissing Romantic Attachment ( PDF )
Personality Traits across Cultures:
National Averages of the Big Five ( PDF )
National Sex Differences in the Big Five ( PDF )
National Averages of Self-Esteem ( PDF )
Dr. Schmitt's Publications
In Press
Denissen, J., Penke, L., Schmitt, D.P., & van Aken, M. (in press). Spending time with close others: How the sociometer affects people’s self-esteem reactions to social interactions across days, people, and nations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
2008
Schmitt, D.P. (2008). Evolutionary approaches to mate choice and relationship initiation. In S.
Sprecher, J. Harvey, & A. Wenzel (Eds.), Handbook of relationship initiation. (pp. 55-74).
Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Schmitt, D.P. (2008). Research methods in evolutionary psychology. In C. Crawford & D. Krebs (Eds.), Foundations of evolutionary psychology: Ideas, issues, and applications (pp. 213-235). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Schmitt, D.P., Realo, A., Voracek, M., & Allik, J. (2008). Why can’t a man be more like a woman? Sex differences in Big Five personality traits across 55 cultures. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 94, 168-182. PDF
Schmitt, D.P., & Shackelford, T.K. (2008). Big Five traits related to short-term mating: From
personality to promiscuity across 46 nations. Evolutionary Psychology, 6, 246-282. PDF
2007
Schmitt, D.P. (2007). Sexual strategies across sexual orientations: How do personality traits and culture relate to sociosexuality among gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and heterosexuals? Journal of Psychology and Human Sexuality, 18, 183-214.
Schmitt, D.P. (2007). Sexual strategies across sexual orientations: How do personality traits and culture relate to sociosexuality among gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and heterosexuals? In M.R. Kauth (Ed.), The handbook of the evolution of human sexuality (pp. 183-214). New York: Haworth Press.
Schmitt, D.P., Allik, J., McCrae, R.R., Benet-Martinez, V., Alcalay, L., Ault, L., et al. (2007). The geographic distribution of Big Five personality traits: Patterns and profiles of human self-description across 56 nations. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 38, 173-212. PDF
2006
Schmitt, D.P. (2006). Cultural influences on human mating strategies: Evolutionary theories, mechanisms, and explanations of change. Psychological Inquiry, 17, 116-117.
Schmitt, D.P. (2006). Evolutionary and cross-cultural perspectives on love: The influence of gender, personality, and local ecology on emotional investment in romantic relationships. In R.J. Sternberg (Ed.), The psychology of love (2nd ed.) (pp. 249-273). New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Schmitt, D.P. (2006). On the evolutionary virtues of temperate orgasms and prudent sperm allocation [Review of Sperm competition in humans: Classic and contemporary readings]. Evolutionary Psychology, 4, 471-473. PDF
Schmitt, D.P. (2006). Short-term and long-term mating strategies: Additional evolutionary systems relevant to adolescent sexuality. In A. Booth & A.C. Crouter (Eds.), Romance and sex in adolescence and emerging adulthood: Risks and opportunities (pp. 41-47). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Shackelford, T.K., Goetz, A.T., Guta, F.E., & Schmitt, D.P. (2006). Mate guarding and frequent in-pair copulation in humans: Concurrent or compensatory anti-cuckoldry tactics. Human Nature, 17, 239-252.
2005
Goetz, A.T., Shackelford, T.K., Weekes-Shackelford, V.A., Euler, H.A., Hoier, S., Schmitt, D.P., & LaMonyon, C.W. (2005). Mate retention, semen displacement, and human sperm competition: Tactics to prevent and correct female infidelity. Personality and Individual Differences, 38, 749-763.
Schmitt, D.P. (2005). Fundamentals of human mating strategies. In D.M. Buss (Ed.), The evolutionary psychology handbook (pp. 258-291). New York, NY: Wiley. PDF
Schmitt, D.P. (2005). Is short-term mating the maladaptive result of insecure attachment? A test of competing evolutionary perspectives. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 31, 747-768. PDF
Schmitt, D.P. (2005). Measuring sociosexuality across people and nations: Revisiting the strengths and weaknesses of cross-cultural sex research (Author’s response). Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 28, 297-311. PDF
Schmitt, D.P. (2005). Sociosexuality from Argentina to Zimbabwe: A 48-nation study of sex, culture, and strategies of human mating. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 28, 247-275. PDF
Schmitt, D.P., & Allik, J. (2005). Simultaneous administration of the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale across 53 nations: Exploring the universal and culture-specific features of global self-esteem. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 89, 623-642. PDF
Shackelford, T.K., Schmitt, D.P., & Buss, D.M. (2005). Mate preferences of married persons in the newlywed year and three years later. Cognition and Emotion, 19, 1262-1270.
Shackelford, T.K., Schmitt, D.P., & Buss, D.M. (2005). Universal dimensions of human mate preferences. Personality and Individual Differences, 39, 447-458. PDF
Shackelford, T.K., Weekes-Shackelford, V.A., & Schmitt, D.P. (2005). An evolutionary perspective on why some men refuse or reduce their child support payments. Basic & Applied Social Psychology, 27, 297-306.
2004
Schmitt, D.P. (2004). The Big Five related to risky sexual behavior across 10 world regions: Differential personality associations of sexual promiscuity and relationship infidelity. European Journal of Personality, 18, 301-319. PDF
Schmitt, D.P. (2004). The price of Mr. Right: Evolutionary biology and modern mating markets [Review of The science of romance: Secrets of the sexual brain]. Contemporary Psychology, 49, 478-480.
Schmitt, D.P., Alcalay, L., Allensworth, M., Allik, J., Ault, L., Austers, I., et al. (2004). Patterns and universals of adult romantic attachment across 62 cultural regions: Are models of self and of other pancultural constructs? Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 35, 367-402. PDF
Schmitt, D.P., Alcalay, L., Allik, J., Angleiter, A., Ault, L., Austers, I., et al. (2004). Patterns and universals of mate poaching across 53 nations: The effects of sex, culture, and personality on romantically attracting another person’s partner. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 86, 560-584. PDF
Schmitt, D.P., & Pilcher, J.J. (2004). Evaluating evidence of psychological adaptation: How do we know one when we see one? Psychological Science, 15, 643-649. PDF
Shackelford, T.K., Michalski, R.L., & Schmitt, D.P. (2004). Upset in response to a child’s partner’s infidelities. European Journal of Social Psychology, 34, 489-497.
Shackelford, T.K., Voracek, M., Schmitt, D.P., Buss, D.M., Weekes-Shackelford, V.A., & Michalski, R. (2004). Romantic jealousy in early adulthood and in later life. Human Nature, 15, 59-76.
2003
Rowatt, W., & Schmitt, D.P. (2003). Associations between religious orientation and varieties of sexual experience. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 42, 455-465. PDF
Schmitt, D.P. (2003). How shall I compare thee? Evolutionary psychology viewed as a psychological science. Psychology, Evolution and Gender, 4, 219-230.
Schmitt, D.P. (2003). International sexuality description project. In R.T. Francoeur & R.J. Noonan (Eds.), International encyclopedia of sexuality (p. 1284). New York: Continuum.
Schmitt, D.P., Alcalay, L., Allensworth, M., Allik, J., Ault, L., Austers, I., et al. (2003). Are men universally more dismissing than women? Gender differences in romantic attachment across 62 cultural regions. Personal Relationships, 10, 307-331. PDF
Schmitt, D.P., Alcalay, L., Allik, J., Ault, L., Austers, I., Bennett, K.L., et al. (2003). Universal sex differences in the desire for sexual variety: Tests from 52 nations, 6 continents, and 13 islands. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85, 85-104. PDF
Schmitt, D.P., & Shackelford, T.K. (2003). Nifty ways to leave your lover: The tactics people use to entice and disguise the process of human mate poaching. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 29, 1018-1035. PDF
2002
Díaz-Loving, R., Rivera-Aragon, S. Rocha-Sánchez, T.E., & Schmitt, D.P. (2002). Marcado por la conquista: Rasgos de personalidad derivados de la vida sexual. Revista de Psicología Social y Personalidad, XVIII, 1, 77-92.
Schmitt, D.P. (2002). Are sexual promiscuity and relationship infidelity linked to different personality traits across cultures? Findings from the International Sexuality Description Project. In W. Lonner, D.L., Dinnel, S.A. Hayes, & D.N. Sattler (Eds.), OnLine Readings in Psychology and Culture, Western Washington University, Department of Psychology, Center for Cross-Cultural Research Web site: http://www.wwu.edu/~culture.
Schmitt, D.P. (2002). Personality, attachment, and sexuality related to dating relationship outcomes: Contrasting three perspectives on personal attribute interaction. British Journal of Social Psychology, 41, 589-610. PDF
Schmitt, D.P. (2002). A meta-analysis of sex differences in romantic attraction: Do rating contexts affect tactic effectiveness judgments? British Journal of Social Psychology, 41, 387-402. PDF
Schmitt, D.P., Shackelford, T.K., Duntely, J., Tooke, W., Buss, D.M., Fisher, M.L., Lavallée, M., & Vasey, P. (2002). Is there an early-30’s peak in female sexual desire? Cross-sectional evidence from the United States and Canada. The Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality, 11, 1-18. PDF
2001
Schmitt, D.P. (2001). Alas poor Darwin, arguments against evolutionary psychology [Review of Alas poor Darwin, arguments against evolutionary psychology]. Human Ethology Bulletin, 16, 11-14.
Schmitt, D.P., & Buss, D.M. (2001). Human mate poaching: Tactics and temptations for infiltrating existing mateships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80, 894-917. PDF
Schmitt, D.P., Couden, A., & Baker, M. (2001). Sex, temporal context, and romantic desire: An experimental evaluation of Sexual Strategies Theory. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 27, 833-847. PDF
Schmitt, D.P., Shackelford, T.K., & Buss, D.M. (2001). Are men really more “oriented” toward short-term mating than women? A critical review of theory and research. Psychology, Evolution and Gender, 3, 211-239.
Schmitt, D.P., Shackelford, T.K., Duntely, J., Tooke, W., & Buss, D.M. (2001). The desire for sexual variety as a key to understanding basic human mating strategies. Personal Relationships, 8, 425-455. PDF
1993-2000
Schmitt, D.P., & Buss, D.M. (2000). Sexual dimensions of person description: Beyond or subsumed by the Big Five? Journal of Research in Personality, 34, 141-177. PDF
Schmitt, D.P., & Winter, D.G. (1998). Measuring the motives of Soviet leaders and Soviet society: Congruence created or congruence reflected? Leadership Quarterly, 9, 293-307.
Schmitt, D.P. (1997). Evolutionary social psychology [Review of the book Evolutionary social psychology]. Human Ethology Bulletin, 12, 11-13.
Schmitt, D.P., & Buss, D.M. (1996). Strategic self-enhancement and competitor derogation: Sex and context effects on the perceived effectiveness of mate attraction tactics. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70, 1185-1204. PDF
Buss, D.M., & Schmitt, D.P. (1993). Sexual strategies theory: An evolutionary perspective on human mating. Psychological Review, 100, 204-232. PDF