University of New England

Psychology scholar Sarah Strout to discuss mating strategies and "Sex in the City" Oct. 24th

BIDDEFORD - The University of New England will host a talk by Southern New Hampshire University scholar Sarah L. Strout, Ph.D., who will speak on "Sex in the City: The Ambiguity of Female Mating Strategies" at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2007, in the St. Francis Room of the Ketchum Library on the University Campus in Biddeford.

The program, sponsored by UNE's New England Institute for Cognitive Science and Evolutionary Psychology, is free and open to the public.

The Lecture
Most research on human mating strategies focuses exclusively on their evolutionary adaptiveness. Evolutionary psychologists explain our present-day mating behavior by considering how it may have contributed to the reproductive success of our prehistoric ancestors.

This presentation will explore how any theory that attempts to explain female mating strategies must consider cultural, religious, and social influences on a woman's decision making, as well as the evolutionary influences. To highlight the ambiguities of female mating strategies, we will examine the fictional lives of the characters on the popular TV series "Sex and the City" and use a multi-level theory that takes into account all influences to explain female mating strategies.

Sarah Strout
Sarah L. Strout received her Ph.D. in social psychology from Clark University in 2006. She is currently an assistant professor of psychology at Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester, N.H.. Dr. Strout's research interests include the social, evolutionary, and cultural influences on human mating strategies. Her work has been published in "Evolutionary Psychology", "Behavior and Philosophy" and "Cultural Psychology." In addition to her articles, she is author of various chapters and reviews. She is co-editor with Rosemarie I. Sokol of the "Journal of Social Evolutionary and Cultural Psychology" and editor-in-chief of the "International Journal of Idiographic Science."

(Press release posted Oct. 10, 2007)