You notice a girl checking out your man, so you involuntarily lean in closer as if to say “he’s mine”. This is mate-guarding, and here’s why we do it.
You notice a girl checking out your man, so you involuntarily lean in closer as if to say “he’s mine”. This is mate-guarding, and here’s why we do it.
If you’ve ever felt aggressively jealous when your boyfriend gets attention from other women, or noticed he does the same, you might be surprised to know it's actually behaviour we’ve inherited from our caveman ancestors.
It's called mate-guarding, and both sexes do it to maintain reproductive opportunities, but in different ways. Men are more likely to try and "brand" their women (aka putting a ring on it), while women try to hide their men from competition. While none of this excuses overly jealous behaviour, it does explain it somewhat. Even so, a good, honest conversation about our insecurities would probably go a lot further than guarding your S.O. at every social event.
Images 123RF.com, TPG/Click Photos Instagram Account @selenagomez Text Karen Fong.
