Development and Validation of the Mating Competition Scale: A Four-Factor Measure of Intrasexual Competition

Intrasexual competition plays a central role in human mating strategies, yet most available measures have concentrated on self-promotion and competitor derogation, leaving other competitive tactics less explored. These tools also evaluate general competitiveness rather than specifically targeting mating competition. Such limitations have resulted in an incomplete understanding, as previous research has yet to systematically assess manipulation-oriented strategies. The Mating Competition Scale (MCS) was developed to measure four theoretically distinct strategies: self-promotion, competitor derogation, mate manipulation, and competitor manipulation. An initial item pool was created based on findings from prior qualitative research and iteratively refined through quantitative analysis. The scale was validated using three independent community samples (N = 2,322). Analyses included assessments of internal consistency, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, and tests of convergent validity with two established measures: the Intrasexual Rivalry Scale (IRS) and the Intrasexual Competition Scale (ICS). Results support a robust four-factor structure representing the four strategies, for both sex-specific versions of the scale, with the final versions showing excellent reliability (α = .93 and .97, respectively) and convergent validity with both the IRS and ICS. The MCS makes an important methodological contribution and offers researchers a comprehensive tool for advancing the study of human mating competition within evolutionary psychology and related fields.