# Mate Guarding **Domain:** Primatology / Behavioral Ecology / Relationships **Doc Type:** Concept Node **Maturity:** Developing ## Definition **Mate guarding is behavior that attempts to reduce a partner's access to reproductive or romantic alternatives, or to reduce rivals' access to the partner.** Across species and human settings it can include proximity maintenance, vigilance, monopolization of time, rival monitoring, signaling, intimidation, or control of movement and communication. ## Evidence Boundary Mate guarding is a behavioral category, not a complete explanation of jealousy, fidelity, attachment, or abuse. Comparisons across species must distinguish possible evolutionary continuity from analogy, culture, individual learning, law, and conscious choice. Description does not make coercive conduct inevitable or desirable. The framework connects to [[books/Chimping Out|Chimping Out]], which treats possession and guarding as part of the older primate machinery beneath civilized relationship language. [[wiki/Behavioral Pricing|Behavioral Pricing]] adds the question of which costs, alternatives, permissions, and consequences make controlling conduct easier or harder. ## Simple Reminders, Quotations, and Thoughts > “No one owns another person. Partners, children, and friends are sovereign beings. Approaching relationships without illusions of possession honors their freedom and one's own.” > **— Bryant McGill**, *Why Real Love Gives Freedom and Lets Go of Control - Livestream (Dec 2015)* [[reminders/Sovereignty/No One Owns Another Person by Bryant McGill|No One Owns Another Person by Bryant McGill]] ## Relationships [[wiki/Relational Autonomy|Relational Autonomy]] · [[wiki/Human Animality|Human Animality]] · [[wiki/Primate Politics|Primate Politics]] · [[wiki/Behavioral Pricing|Behavioral Pricing]]