The Role of Self-Perceived Mate Value and Intrasexual Competitiveness in Tanning Behavior

Research suggests that women engage in attractiveness-enhancing techniques to increase their self-perceived mate value. These techniques, such as tanning behaviors, are driven by evolutionary mechanisms in relation to increasing one's self-perceived mate value in the mating market. We explored whether intrasexual competition and self-perceived mate value predicted attitudes toward sunbed use (Study 1, n = 93) and time spent in the sun to gain a tan (Study 2, n = 193). In Study 1, we found that self-perceived mate value negatively predicted attitudes toward sunbed use. Those with higher self-perceived mate value reported negative attitudes toward sunbed use. In Study 2, we found that intrasexual competition positively predicted time spent tanning. Those who reported more days in the sun reported greater intrasexual competition. To our knowledge, this is the first paper to find an association between intrasexual competition and tanning behavior.