ACADEMIA Letters
The moderating infuence of the general life history
strategy factor upon the relation between short-term and
long-term mating orientations is mediated by a strategic
diferentiation-integration factor
Aurelio José Figueredo, Department of Psychology, University of Arizona
Mateo Peñaherrera-Aguirre, Department of Psychology, University of Arizona
In the early nineties, Gangestad and Simpson developed the Sociosexual Orientation Inventory
(SOI) to examine the inclination of individuals towards casual sexual relationships (Gangestad
& Simpson, 1990; Simpson & Gangestad, 1991). Even though the authors originally envi-
sioned the SOI as an instrument measuring a single general dimension, other researchers have
proposed a multidimensional approach to sociosexuality (Jackson & Kirkpatrick, 2007; Banai
& Pavela, 2015). For example, Jackson and Kirkpatrick (2007) created the MSOI as an alter-
native measure to Gangestad and Simpson’s SOI. In contrast to the original instrument, the
MSOI disaggregated the SOI unitary scale into short-term mating (STM) and long-term mating
(LTM) scales. Although Jackson & Kirkpatrick reported that the Multidimensional Sociosex-
ual Orientation Inventory (MSOI; 2007) featured two “independent” dimensions (STM and
LTM), subsequent psychometric studies (e.g., Figueredo, Cuthbertson, Kaufman, Weil, &
Gladden, 2012) have identifed a moderate negative correlation (e.g., r = -.36) between these
two MSOI components. These results, however, does not support the presence of a unitary
sociosexuality factor, although they might support a higher-order construct. Additional ex-
aminations assessing these constructs’ discriminant and convergent validity have also found
support for the purported relative autonomy, although not complete independence, between
STM and LTM (Simpson, Wilson, & Winterheld, 2004; Webster & Bryan, 2007). Conse-
quently, the psychometric evidence indicates that while both STM and LTM are correlated,
Academia Letters, August 2021
Corresponding Author: Aurelio José Figueredo, ajf@arizona.edu
Citation: Figueredo, A.J., Peñaherrera-Aguirre, M. (2021). The moderating infuence of the general life history
strategy factor upon the relation between short-term and long-term mating orientations is mediated by a strategic
diferentiation-integration factor. Academia Letters, Article 3433. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL3433.
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