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Martie G.
Haselton, Ph.D

University of California, Los Angeles
Departments of Communication, Psychology, and the Institute for Society and Genetics

Bio

Martie G. Haselton is Professor of Communication and Psychology at the University of California Los Angeles, director of the UCLA Sex, Gender, and Evolution (SAGE) Lab, and holds a joint appointment in The Institute for Society and Genetics.

Haselton studies human reproductive hormones and their relationship to social behavior, intimate relationships, and sexuality. She is also known for developing error management theory as an explanation for a diverse suite of cognitive biases.

Her book Hormonal: The Hidden Intelligence of Hormones—How They Drive Desire, Shape Relationships, Influence Our Choices, and Make Us Wiser (2018, Little, Brown) has been translated into seven languages: Croation, Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Korean, and Polish.

Research from Haselton’s lab has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today, The New York Post, Time, The Economist, The Wall Street Journal, and The Los Angeles Times. She has been interviewed on NPR, CNN, Good Morning America, and The View.

Haselton holds a US patent for a romantic matching and is a science advisor for hormone-tracking devices and applications. She was editor of Psychological Science, Evolution and Human Behavior, and Adaptive Human Behavior and Evolution.

At UCLA, she coordinates the year-long freshman cluster course, Sex: from Biology to Gendered Society and is Chair of the UCLA Committee on Academic Freedom.

Ph.D., University of Texas, Austin, Psychology: 2000

 

M.A., College of William & Mary, Psychology: 1997

 

B.A., University of San Diego, Psychology: 1992

Education

Research

Intimate relationships, sexuality, social endocrinology, biases in social inference, error management theory, women’s reproductive psychology, politics of reproduction, freedom of inquiry

Hormonal

Media

Martie Haselton on The View
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Highlighted Publications

Error Management Theory

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Hormones and Behavior

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Evolutionary Psychology

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All Publications

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2017

*Pinsof, D. & Haselton, M. G., (2017). When self-interest contradicts ideology: A reply to Hoffarth and Jost (2017). Psychological Science, 28 (10) 1525-1527. DOI: 10.1177/0956797617723725.

*Dinh, T., Pinsof, D., Gangestad, S. W., Haselton, M. G. (2017). Cycling on the fast track: Ovulatory shifts in sexual motivation as a proximate mechanism for regulating life history strategies. Evolution and Human Behavior, 38 (6) 685–694. DOI: 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2017.09.001.

*Pinsof, D. & Haselton, M. G. (2017). The effect of the promiscuity stereotype on opposition to gay rights. PLoS ONE, 12 (7), e0178534. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0178534.

Ahlstrom, B., Dinh, T., Haselton, M. G., & Tomiyama, A. J. (2017). Understanding eating interventions through an evolutionary lens. Health Psychology Review, 11 (1), 72-88. DOI: 10.1080/17437199.2016.1260489.

*Gildersleeve, K. A., Fales, M. R. & Haselton, M. G. (2017). Women’s evaluations of other women’s body odor depend on targets’ fertility. Evolution and Human Behavior, 38 (2), 155-163. DOI:
10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2016.08.003.

*Murray, D., Gildersleeve, K. A., & Haselton, M. G. (2017). MHC Homozygosity is associated with “fast” sexual strategies in women. Adaptive Human Behavior and Physiology, 3 (2), 101-117. DOI: 10.1007/s40750-016-0057-5.

*Murray, D., Murphy, S. C., von Hippel, W., Trivers, R., &, Haselton, M. G. (2017). A preregistered study of competing predictions suggests that men do overestimate women’s sexual intent.
Psychological Science, 28 (2), 253-255. DOI: 10.1177/0956797616675474.​​​​

2016

*Saphire-Bernstein, S., Larson, C. M., Gildersleeve, K., Pillsworth, E. G., Fales, M. R., & Haselton, M. G. (2016). Genetic compatibility in long-term intimate relationships: partner similarity at major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genes may reduce in-pair attraction. Evolution and Human Behavior, 38 (2), 190-196. DOI: 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2016.09.003.

Pang, R. D., Bello M S., Stone, M. D., Kirkpatrick, M. G., Huh, J., Monterosso, J., Haselton, M. G., Fales, M. R., & Leventhal A.M. (2016). Premenstrual symptoms and smoking-related expectancies. Addictive Behaviors, 57, 38-41. DOI: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2016.01.015.

*Pinsof, D. & Haselton, M. G. (2016). The political divide over same-sex marriage: Mating strategies in conflict? Psychological Science, 27 (4) 435-442. DOI: 10.1177/0956797615621719.

*Fales, M. R., Frederick D. A., Garcia, J. R., Gildersleeve, K. A., Haselton, M. G., & Fisher, H. E. (2016). Mating markets and bargaining hands: Mate preferences for attractiveness and resources in two national U.S. studies. Personality and Individual Differences, 88, 78–87. DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2015.08.041.

Haselton, M. G. & Gildersleeve, K. (2016). Human ovulation cues. Current Opinion in Psychology. 7, 120–125. DOI: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2015.08.020.

Gangestad, S. W., Haselton, M. G., Welling, L. M., Gildersleeve, K., Pillsworth, E. G., Burriss, R. Larson, C. M, & Puts, D. M. (2016). How valid are assessments of conception probability in ovulatory
cycle research? Evaluations, recommended, and theoretical implications. Evolution and
Human Behavior, 37 (2), 85–96. DOI: 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2015.09.001.​​​

2015

2014

*Hahn-Holbrook, J. & Haselton, M. G. (2014). Is postpartum depression a disease of modern civilization? Current Directions in Psychological Science, 23 (6), 395-400. DOI:
10.1177/0963721414547736.

*Gildersleeve, K., Haselton, M. G., & Fales, M. R. (2014). Meta-analysis and p-curves support robust shifts in women’s mate preferences: Response to Wood and Carden (2014) and Harris, Pashler, & Mickes (2014). Psychological Bulletin, 140 (5), 1272-1280. DOI: doi.org/10.1037/a0037714.

*Gildersleeve, K., Haselton, M. G., & Fales, M. R. (2014). Do women’s mate preferences change across the ovulatory cycle? A meta-analytic review. Psychological Bulletin, 140 (5), 1205-1259. DOI: doi.org/10.1037/a0035438.

Lukaszewski, A. W., Larson, C. M., Gildersleeve, K. A. Roney, J. R., & Haselton, M. G. (2014). Condition- dependent calibration of men’s uncommitted mating orientation: evidence from multiple samples. Evolution & Human Behavior, 35 (4), 319 – 326. DOI: 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2014.03.002.

*Fales, M. R. Gildersleeve. K. A., & Haselton, M. G. (2014). Exposure to perceived male rivals raises men’s testosterone on fertile relative to nonfertile days of their partner’s ovulatory cycle. Hormones and Behavior, 65 (5), 454–460. DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2014.04.002.

Holbrook, C., Galperin, A., Fessler, D. M. T., Johnson, K. L., Bryant, G. A., Haselton, M. G. (2014). If looks could kill: Anger attributions are informed by affordances for doing harm. Emotion, 14 (3), 455-461. DOI: 10.1037/a0035826.​​

2013

*Galperin, A., Fessler, D. M. T., Johnson, K. L., & Haselton, M. G. (2013). Seeing storms behind the clouds: Biases in the attribution of anger. Evolution & Human Behavior, 34 (5), 358-365. DOI: 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2013.06.003.

*Galperin, A., Haselton, M.G., Frederick, D.A., Poore, J., von Hippel, W., Gonzaga, G., & Buss, D.M. (2013). Sexual regret: Evidence for evolved sex differences. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 42 (7), 1145-1161. DOI: 10.1007/s15008-012-0019-3

*Gildersleeve, K. L., DeBruine, L. Haselton, M. G., Frederick, D. A., Penton-Voak, I. S., Jones, B. C., & Perrett, D. I., (2013). Shifts in women’s mate preferences across the ovulatory cycle: A critique of Harris (2011) and Harris (2012), Sex Roles, 69 (9-10), 516-524. DOI: 1007/s11199-013-0273-4.

*Hahn-Holbrook, J., Haselton, M. G., Dunkel Schetter, C., & Glynn, L. (2013). Does breastfeeding offer protection against maternal depressive symptomatology? A prospective study from pregnancy to 2 years after birth. Archives of Women’s Mental Health, 16 (5), 411-422. DOI:
10.1007/s00737-013-0348-9.

*Hahn-Holbrook, J., Dunkel Schetter, C., & Haselton, M. G. (2013). Breastfeeding and maternal mental and physical health. In M. Spiers, P. Geller, & J. Kloss (Eds). Women’s Health Psychology. New Jersey: Wiley. (pp. 414-439).

​Haselton, M. G. & Galperin, A. (2013). Error management in relationships. In J. A. Simpson & L. Campbell (Eds.). Handbook of Close Relationships. Oxford University Press. (pp. 234-254).

Johnson, D. D. P., Blumstein, D. T., Fowler, J. H., & Haselton, M. G. (2013). The evolution of error: Error management, cognitive constraints, and adaptive decision-making biases. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 28 (8), 474-481. DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2013.05.014.

*Larson, C. M., Haselton, M. G., Pillsworth, E. G., & Gildersleeve, K. (2013). Changes in women’s feelings about their romantic relationships across the ovulatory cycle. Hormones and Behavior, 63 (1), 128-135. DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2012.10.005.​​

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

Barrett, H. C., Frederick, D. A., Haselton, M. G., & Kurzban, R. C. (2006). Can manipulations of cognitive load be used to test evolutionary hypotheses? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 91 (3), 513-518. DOI: 10.1037/0022-3514.91.3.513.

 

Gangestad, S. W., Haselton, M. G., & Buss, D. M. (2006). Evolutionary foundations of cultural variation: Evoked culture and mate preferences. Psychological Inquiry, 17 (2), 75-95. DOI: 10.1207/s15327965pli1702_1.

 

Gangestad, S. W., Haselton, M. G., & Buss, D. M. (2006). Authors’ Response: Toward an integrative understanding of evoked and transmitted culture: The importance of specialized psychological design. Psychological Inquiry, 17 (2), 138-151. DOI: 10.1207/s15327965pli1702_3.

 

Haselton, M. G. & Funder, D. (2006). The evolution of accuracy and bias in social judgment. In M. Schaller, D. T. Kenrick, & J. A. Simpson (Eds.), Evolution and Social Psychology (pp. 15-37).  New York: Psychology Press.

 

Haselton, M. G., & Gangestad, S. W. (2006). Conditional expression of women’s desires and men’s mate guarding across the ovulatory cycle. Hormones and Behavior, 49 (4), 509-518. DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2005.10.006.

 

Haselton, M. G. & Ketelaar, T. (2006). Irrational emotions or emotional wisdom? The evolutionary psychology of emotions and behavior.  In J. P. Forgas, Hearts and minds:  Affective influences on social cognition and behavior, 8 (pp. 21-40). New York: Psychology Press.

 

Haselton, M. G. & Miller, G. F. (2006). Women’s fertility across the cycle increases the short-term attractiveness of creative intelligence. Human Nature, 17 (1), 50-73. DOI: 10.1007/s12110-006-1020-0.

 

Haselton, M. G. & Nettle, D. (2006). The paranoid optimist: An integrative evolutionary model of cognitive biases. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 10, 47-66. 

 

Kurzban, R. & Haselton, M. G. (2006). Making hay out of straw: Real and imagined controversies in evolutionary psychology. In J. Barkow (Ed.), Missing the revolution: Evolutionary perspectives on culture and society (pp. 149-161). New York: Oxford University Press.

 

*Pillsworth, E. G. & Haselton, M. G. (2006). Women’s sexual strategies: The evolution of long-term bonds and extra-pair sex. Annual Review of Sex Research, 17 (1), 59-100. DOI: 10.1080/10532528.2006.10559837.


*Pillsworth, E. G. & Haselton, M. G. (2006). Male sexual attractiveness predicts differential ovulatory shifts in female extra-pair attraction and male mate retention. Evolution and Human Behavior, 27, 4, 247-258. DOI: 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2005.10.002.

2005

2004

2003

2001

2000

1999

1998

Buss, D. M., Haselton, M. G., Shackelford, T. K., Bleske, A. L., & Wakefield, J. (1998). Adaptations, exaptations, and spandrels. American Psychologist, 53 (5), 533-548.

 

Derks, P. L., Staley, R. E., & Haselton, M. G. (1998). "Sense" of humor: Perception, intelligence, or expertise? In W. Ruch (Ed.), "Sense of humor": Explorations of a personality characteristic. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.

Edited Volume

Forgas, J. P., Haselton, M. G., & von Hippel, W. (Eds.) (2007). Evolution and the Social Mind:
Evolutionary Psychology and Social Cognition. New York: Psychology Press.

© 2025 by Martie G. Haselton, PhD.

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