Love me true : deception, affection, and evolutionary strategies of human mating

Giving and receiving affection is a key part of the human experience, particularly in close relationships. Affectionate messages may take on many forms, both those that are genuine and those that are deceptive in nature. A deceptive affectionate message is defined in this study as the intentional communication of a positively-valenced message, in which the intensity of the feeling is greater than that which is truly felt by the sender at that time (Horan & Booth-Butterfield, 2013). This study employed theoretical perspectives from evolutionary psychology in an attempt to explore what might motivate romantic partners to communicate a deceptive affectionate message (DAM). This study claims that DAMs may be seen as adaptive and strategically chosen mate-retention behaviors, which might be selected in the case that they can satisfy the needs of both the sender and receiver of the message. Broader questions about conceptualizing the nature of deception in close relationships are also raised and pursued.