Date of Award

2018

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

Submission Date

October 2026

Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]

Lanning, Kevin

Abstract

Life history theory (LHT) explains behavioral, motivational, and biological variations among individuals as adaptive trade-offs between somatic and reproductive efforts. Utilizing data containing OkCupid user responses (N = 68,371) to 2,620 compatibility and demographic questions such as, “How clear to you are your goals in life?” 16 scales were constructed to measure psychological and behavioral characteristics related to the life history strategy (LHS) employed. The scales were initially examined within a ‘training’ subset of the data (n = 2,000) and factor-analyzed to determine whether they form a common underlying life history (LH) factor. Preliminary factor analytic results show support for a LH factor, as well as a second ecobiodevelopmental (EBD) factor composed of developmental, biological, and psychological characteristics underlying mental and physical health outcomes. Results, cross-validated with the remainder of the sample (n = 66,271), showed support for both factors, LH and EBD, underlying distinct developmental, biological, and psychological differences.

Comments

Includes bibliography.

Extent

50 p.

Identifier

FAUHT00023

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