HoldsUp

Rob Henderson

Rob Henderson holds a PhD in psychology. He focuses on evolutionary psychology topics, including attraction, dating dynamics, and relationship behavior. There are no publications listed for him in the provided record.

12 claims checked on air: 1 context 7 supported 4 unverified

What they said on air

0:18:15supportedmoderateThe New Science Of Female Attraction - Psychology Roundtable

Survey data shows that roughly 18% to 20% of men report having three or more sexual partners within the past year, a figure that has remained relatively unchanged since the year 2000.

"So when you look at the data, it looks like something like about maybe 18 to 20% of men report having three or more sexual partners within the past year. And that really hasn't changed since about the year of 2000, which is as far back as I could find data on this." (said at 0:18:15)

Nationally representative survey data from the US General Social Survey (GSS) examining sexual behavior between 2000 and 2018 among adults aged 18 to 44 years evaluated the annual number of sexual partners (categorized as 0, 1, 2, or ≥3 partners). While the proportion of sexually inactive young men increased significantly over this period (coinciding with drops in men reporting 1 partner), the proportion of men reporting 3 or more sexual partners in the past year remained relatively stable across the survey waves at roughly 15% to 20%.

0:18:33supportedmoderateThe New Science Of Female Attraction - Psychology Roundtable

In survey data on sexual behavior, the most common reported number of sexual partners in the past 12 months is one, followed by zero.

"The most common response to the question of how many partners have you had in the past 12 months is one followed by zero." (said at 0:18:33)

Nationally representative survey data on sexual behavior, such as the General Social Survey (GSS) in the United States, consistently demonstrate that the modal response to the number of sexual partners in the past 12 months is one, followed by zero. For example, analysis of GSS data from 2000 to 2018 shows that the vast majority of adults report exactly one sexual partner in the past year (e.g., over 70% among adults aged 25–34), with the second most prevalent category being zero partners (ranging from ~7% to ~31% depending on age group and time period), while reporting two or more partners is much less common.

0:18:38unverifiedvery lowThe New Science Of Female Attraction - Psychology Roundtable

Survey data indicates that approximately 12% to 18% of women report having three or more sexual partners in a year.

"But then when you look at the sexual behavior of women, you find essentially the same pattern, which is that something like 12 to 18% of women also report three or more sexual partners a year." (said at 0:18:38)

No published record matching the claim that 12% to 18% of women report having three or more sexual partners in a year was located; this does not prove the claim false.

0:22:04unverifiedvery lowThe New Science Of Female Attraction - Psychology Roundtable

Research on dating apps shows that on Tinder roughly 4% of male profiles receive the vast majority of swipes, and on Hinge the top 10% of male users receive 60% of all likes.

"The swipe rates are very easy to measure. There's been a lot of research on this, and we mistakenly kind of overinterpret the findings of what people see on Tinder or on Hinge, which do show on Tinder something like 4% of the men get the vast majority of the swipes, and then larger numbers of women get liked versus men. Same thing on Hinge, that the top 10% of male users on Hinge get 60% of the likes." (said at 0:22:04)

No published record matching the claim that roughly 4% of male Tinder profiles receive the vast majority of swipes or that the top 10% of male Hinge users receive 60% of all likes was located; this does not prove the claim false. These statistics originate primarily from internal dating app company blog posts, informal datasets, and secondary online analyses rather than peer-reviewed scientific studies indexed in the biomedical literature.

0:33:40supportedhighThe New Science Of Female Attraction - Psychology Roundtable

Most adults report having had zero or one sexual partner in the past 12 months, with only a small minority reporting three or more partners.

"most people say in the past 12 months they've had sex with one person or zero people, and that a small number of people, I don't know what the number exactly was up there, three or more times. It was a small fragment of people who say that they've had sex, or rather well have sex, have had three or more sexual partners in the past year" (said at 0:33:40)

Nationally representative survey data from the U.S. General Social Survey (GSS) and related population surveys demonstrate that the vast majority of adults report having zero or one sexual partner in the past 12 months, with only a small minority reporting multiple (e.g., three or more) partners. For instance, analyses of the GSS show that across age groups, the majority of adults report either having 1 partner (e.g., 72.7%–79.6% of women aged 25–34) or being sexually inactive in the past year (ranging up to 30.9% among young men).

0:55:30unverifiedvery lowThe New Science Of Female Attraction - Psychology Roundtable

In major US metropolitan areas, young women under 30 earn more on average than young men.

"Major uh metro areas in the US. So New York, DC, Boston, LA, I think Seattle as well. I I don't know the state of Austin, but it wouldn't surprise me if Austin show the same pattern as well for under 30s." (said at 0:55:30)

No published record matching the claim that young women under 30 earn more on average than young men across major US metropolitan areas was located; this does not prove the claim false.

1:15:52needs contextlowThe New Science Of Female Attraction - Psychology Roundtable

A study of college students found that Tinder users scored significantly higher on Dark Triad personality traits (narcissism, Machiavellianism, psychopathy) than non-users, with effect sizes between d = 0.3 and 0.4.

"There was a study a few years ago on on Tinder users back when I think Tinder was still the number one dating app in the late 2010s and this was only on college students and they looked at students who uh had never used Tinder and students who were currently using Tinder and they they looked at the Dark Triad personality traits and found that the users of Tinder scored uh significantly higher uh pretty pretty sizable effect sizes .3, .4 uh higher for the Tinder users and the non-Tinder users." (said at 1:15:52)

Evidence on Tinder use and Dark Triad personality traits (Machiavellianism, narcissism, psychopathy) indicates a positive association in several cross-sectional samples, particularly among male users and those seeking short-term casual encounters. A 2020 review noted that dark personality traits were more frequently reported among male Tinder users. However, findings across university cohorts are mixed and conditional: in a large sample of 1,705 university students, dark personality traits showed no independent predictive ability for dating app use after adjusting for sociodemographic factors and broad personality traits. Furthermore, all available evidence is cross-sectional and observational.

1:25:27unverifiedvery lowThe New Science Of Female Attraction - Psychology Roundtable

In the United States, upper-middle-class and college-educated fathers have significantly increased the time spent with their children compared to the past, while non-college fathers spend the same or slightly less time.

"I've read that this differs by socioeconomic status and education where educated upper middle class men are spending far more time with their children than fathers in the past. Whereas non-college men um are spending the same amount as uh decades past or even slightly less." (said at 1:25:27)

No published record matching the specific claim that college-educated fathers in the United States increased childcare time relative to the past while non-college-educated fathers spent the same or less time was located; this does not prove the claim false.

1:32:16supportedlowThe New Science Of Female Attraction - Psychology Roundtable

A study by David Puts and colleagues found that male physical formidability rated from video clips predicted the number of sexual partners men had over the following 18 months, whereas rated sexual attractiveness did not.

"David Puts uh and his colleagues famously did this study uh where they brought in a group of men and recorded them in these videos... And they found that how formidable they were uh predicted how many sexual partners they had, whereas how sexually attractive they were to these women uh had no relationship at all." (said at 1:32:16)

A study by David Puts and colleagues evaluated whether male contest competition (dominance/formidability) or female mate choice (attractiveness) better predicted mating success. Male participants were recorded competing for a date with a woman, and their interactions were evaluated for dominance and attractiveness cues. Dominance cues (such as dominant linguistic content and monotone vocal characteristics) significantly predicted men's reported number of sexual partners in the past year, whereas attractiveness and courtship measures did not significantly predict partner count. Certainty is rated as low due to the observational, cross-sectional design relying on self-reported sexual history in a university sample.

1:36:10supportedmoderateThe New Science Of Female Attraction - Psychology Roundtable

Male teachers are far more likely to engage in sexual misconduct or sleep with underage students than female teachers.

"male teachers are still far more likely to um, commit this transgression of sleeping with an underage student than female teachers are." (said at 1:36:10)

Epidemiological studies and regulatory case reviews on educator sexual misconduct consistently show that male educators constitute the vast majority of perpetrators. In a large survey of K–12 graduates in the United States (n = 6,632), 85% of educators who engaged in sexual misconduct were male, despite women comprising the majority of the K–12 teaching workforce. Similarly, an analysis of disciplinary cases from the Ontario College of Teachers found that approximately 92% of offenders were men.

1:39:17supportedmoderateThe New Science Of Female Attraction - Psychology Roundtable

While average differences in aggressiveness between sexes are small, individuals at the extreme tails of aggression and sexual predation are predominantly male.

"The average difference, as as you've mentioned in your book, aggressiveness is not that large, but in the tails, the most extremely aggressive, sexually predatory people tend to be men." (said at 1:39:17)

The speaker's statement accurately reflects the psychological and criminological literature on sex differences in aggression. While population-level and survey-based differences in general or low-level aggressive behavior between men and women are modest (with effect sizes typically small to moderate), the sex difference widens substantially as the severity, physical risk, and lethality of the behavior increase, resulting in a heavy overrepresentation of males in extreme violence, homicide, and predatory sexual offenses.

2:03:02supportedlowThe New Science Of Female Attraction - Psychology Roundtable

Gay men prioritize physical appearance and youth in their mate preferences, mirroring the preferences observed in heterosexual men.

"one line of evidence for uh, you know, the sex differences being um, you know, sort of evolutionary in origin and not entirely socially constructed is the way that that gay men what they find attractive: appearance and youth and so on." (said at 2:03:02)

Empirical studies in evolutionary and social psychology consistently find that gay men prioritize physical attractiveness and youth in potential partners in patterns that closely mirror those of heterosexual men, compared to the mate selection criteria prioritized by women. Observational survey and experimental vignette research indicates that men, regardless of sexual orientation, place higher emphasis on partner physical appearance and display age preferences for younger partners relative to female counterparts.

Fact-checked episodes

Publications

No PubMed publication profile has been built for this speaker yet.