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Mate selection: Gender and generational differences
Abstract
This study compared the ranking of 18 characteristics or desirable traits that college students might take into consideration when selecting a mate. The current study was compared to previous studies from 1939-2011, which dealt with the same issue. Among the most consistent findings for all eight assessment periods is the high value both sexes placed on dependable character, emotional stability/maturity, pleasing disposition, and mutual attraction/love. Men across all periods placed higher value than women on good looks, good health, and good cook/housekeeper, while women placed a higher value on ambitious/industrious and good financial prospect.
... In particular, family income and family assets not provided by the woman herself may promote female fertility. For men, personal income and assets are expected to promote fertility, in part because of the attractiveness to potential mates of male access to resources (Buss 1989;Buss et al. 2001;Henry et al. 2013;Wiederman and Allgeier 1992). On the other hand, if a man's partner or family provide most of the income and assets available to him, it may have a negative influence on his fertility because of trade-offs between fertility and employment for women and because a man's lack of full-time employment is associated with a lower chance of marriage (Oppenheimer 2000;Ruggles 2016) and a higher risk of divorce (Killewald 2016;Sayer and Bianchi 2000). ...
... These results on the effects of personal and family income conform to predictions from evolutionary theory about the role of socioeconomic status in fertility behavior in modern societies. For males in contemporary societies, higher status as measured by their personal income is associated with higher fertility and a larger number of childbearing unions, underlining the importance of male access to resources (at least in the form of personal income) in attracting and keeping mates (Buss 1989;Buss et al. 2001;Henry et al. 2013;Wiederman and Allgeier 1992). Women with higher status and greater access to resources as measured by their personal income have fewer children than other women, on average. ...
Evolutionary theory predicts that social status and fertility will be positively related. It also predicts that the relationship between status and fertility will differ for men and women. This is particularly likely in modern societies given evidence that females face greater trade-offs between status and resource acquisition and fertility than males. This paper tests these hypotheses using newly released data from the 2014 wave of the Survey of Income and Program Participation by the US Census, which has the first complete measures of fertility and number of childbearing partners for a large, representative, national probability sample of men and women and also contains comprehensive measures of economic status as measured by personal and family resources, including income from all sources and all assets. Multivariate analyses show that personal income is positively associated with total fertility and number of childbearing unions for men only. For men, personal net worth is positively associated with number of childbearing unions; it is also positively associated with fertility for married men with a spouse present. These findings support evolutionary predictions of a positive relationship between status, access to mates, and reproductive success for males. Whereas personal income and personal net worth are negatively associated with total fertility and number of childbearing unions for women, family income (net of personal income) is positively associated with total fertility for women. For married men living with a spouse, family income (net of personal income) is negatively associated with total fertility. These findings are consistent with evolutionary theory given the existence of greater trade-offs between production and reproduction for women in an advanced industrial society. For women and men, family net worth (net of personal net worth) is negatively associated with number of childbearing unions and fertility. Implications are discussed.
... However, it appears that the primary driver of the relationship between socioeconomic status and reproductive success for men in Europe is the greater likelihood of childlessness among low status men (Barthold, Myrskylä, & Jones, 2012;Fieder & Huber, 2007;Fieder et al., 2011;Goodman, Koupil, & Lawson, 2012). These findings are consistent with theory from both sociobiology and evolutionary psychology, which suggests that women are more likely than men to prefer good financial prospects in a mate (Buss, 1989;Buss, Shackelford, Kirkpatrick, & Larsen, 2001;Henry, Helm, & Cruz, 2013;Wiederman & Allgeier, 1992). If high income men are more desirable as mates than other men, then this may explain why low income men are more likely to remain childless. ...
... Since more children likely mean more descendants (Goodman & Koupil, 2009), these findings in conjunction with similar findings for other developed countries suggests that the demographic transition has attenuated, but not entirely broken, the link between social status and reproductive success in modern industrial societies, contra Vining (1986Vining ( , 2011. These results are also consistent with the idea that the stronger female preference for financial prospects in a mate shown by previous research has behavioral implications (Buss, 1989;Buss et al., 2001;Henry et al., 2013;Wiederman & Allgeier, 1992). If female (and not male) choice determines who fathers children, then it appears that women in the U.S., as do women in other countries, are more likely to choose higher income men as the fathers of their children. ...
Sociobiology predicts that among social species individual social status will be positively correlated with reproductive success, yet in modern societies the opposite appears to be true. However, in the last five to ten years, a sex difference in the association between some measures of personal status on number of children has been documented in many countries, such that status is positively associated with number of children for men only. Much of this research utilizes European data and there has been little use of data from the U.S. In this paper, analysis of U.S. data from the 1979 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth shows that personal income is positively associated with number of offspring for men, and this is true for men at all levels of education. This is mostly because of increased childlessness among low income men. For women, personal income is negatively associated with number of offspring, and this is true for women at all levels of education. Other measures of status (intelligence and education) are negatively associated with number of offspring for men and women, although the negative association is less for men.
... Yet only a number of studies were conducted to assess whether purported evolutionary psychological adaptations are relatively time invariant or subject to cultural influence. These studies used a cross-generational method to compare behavioral patterns in mate preference across several decades in the 20 th century [17][18][19]. Testing historical continuity of human motivations across longer spans of time is largely missing in the literature. One of our objectives is to show how historical data may help us assess the extent of historical cultural context in shaping our psychological architecture by using the disease avoidance adaptation as a case in point. ...
Historical psychology is emerging as a multidisciplinary field for studying psychological phenomena in a historical context. Historical records can also serve as testbeds for psychological theories, particularly the evolutionary ones. In Study 1 we aimed to gather evidence to evaluate the disease avoidance theory of xenophobia by analyzing the narratives of European explorers from the15th and 16th centuries. Contrary to the theory’s expectations, the narratives revealed numerous instances of close physical contact between the explorers and the native populations. Furthermore, rather than using disgust-laden words, the explorers portrayed the natives in a positive light. In Study 2, we employed a word embedding algorithm to explore whether native group names and their unfamiliar appearance were associated with disgust-laden words in the 19th century travel literature. The results indicated that while native group names showed such associations, their appearance did not. Finally, through network analysis, we demonstrated that embedded words such as “savages” mediated the perception of native groups as potential disease-threat. The findings highlight the significance of cultural factors that evolve over time, rather than cognitive adaptations believed to have evolved prior to the emergence of human culture, in explaining xenophobia.
... Male and female perceivers might have different purposes and motivations when evaluating a target, and people naturally have different expectations and behavioral expressions when they come into contact with the opposite sex target or the same sex target. Based on the social role theory (Eagly et al., 2000), the spousal selection principle (Chang et al., 2011;Henry et al., 2013), and gender stereotypes (Prentice & Carranza, 2010), female perceivers mostly value males with high social status, and potential for higher financial earnings, whereas male perceivers may not prefer high competence male targets because these targets are competitors for social resources, according to the theory of evolutionary psychology (Buss, 2012). ...
The current study aimed to test the perceivers’ ratings of likability and their willingness to become friends with targets who have different ratios of warmth to competence. In Study 1, we recruited 106 females and 61 males. The results of Study 1 showed that perceivers were reluctant to become friends with targets that had extreme ratios of warmth to competence (0:5 or 5:0). In Study 2, we recruited 137 males and 164 females. The results of Study 2 showed that male perceivers were willing to become friends with a female target whose ratio of warmth to competence was 5:0 and unwilling to become friends with a male target whose ratio was 0:5. Female perceivers were unwilling to become friends with a female target whose ratio was 0:5. Moreover, participants were unwilling to choose targets with a ratio of 5:0 as partners in a competition context. These results could help researchers understand how the process of impression formation works when considering different ratios of warmth to competence.
... For instance, men come to value reproductive and nurturant ability in a mate to better ensure care for their offspring, whereas women come to value social dominance and status, to better ensure their offspring have financial and genetic advantages to survive for further reproduction (Buss, 1989;Buss & Barnes, 1986;Ickes, 1993;Kenrick et al., 1990;Kenrick & Keefe, 1992;Orlofsky, 1982). More recent evidence has suggested men place higher value on women's caregiving skills (e.g., as a cook and housekeeper), whereas women place higher value on men's financial prospects, dominance, ambition, industriousness, and social status (Boxer et al., 2015;Henry et al., 2013;Schwarz et al., 2020). In other words, in heterosexual mate selection, individuals sought partners with characteristics consistent with stereotypic gender roles (i.e., agentic traits for men and communal traits for women). ...
Agency and communion are gender-stereotypical traits, which were explicitly designed to capture desirable attributes of men and women, respectively. Whereas the existence of gender gaps in agency and communion is commonly known, it remains unknown what the average magnitude, stability (over time and develop- mental age), and variability (across cultures, sampling strategies, and measures) of these gender differences are. Consistent with social role theory (Eagly, 1987; Wood & Eagly, 2012), the current meta-analysis estimated that men tended to be more agentic than women (g = 0.40, k = 928 samples, N = 254,731 participants), whereas women tended to be more communal than men (g = −0.56, k = 937 samples, N = 254,465 participants). Moderator analyses revealed that these gender differences in agency and communion have been decreasing over time. The gender gap in communion decreased with age but increased with country-level gender occupational segregation. Further, the gender gap in agency was larger when sampling participants as couples (vs. sampling as individuals), and the gaps in both agency and communion were larger in heterosexual (vs. gay/lesbian and bisexual) samples. An important methodological moderator was measurement instrument (e.g., short-form Bem Sex Role Inventory shows much smaller gender gaps than the long-form). Altogether, we leveraged a large database to reveal effects consistent with social role theory—that men are higher in agency (masculinity) and women are higher in communion (femininity)— while simultaneously offering insight into factors (earlier time period, occupational segregation, younger age, sampling in couples, heterosexual orientation) that serve to exacerbate such effects.
... Social role theory provides the conceptual framework for thinking about these stereotypes about gender. This theory holds that society has different role requirements for people of different genders (Henry et al., 2013). A common stereotype is that women should be family-oriented, with the welfare of the family being central to their lives; men should be work-oriented, meaning that they should value development, continuous learning, and gaining experience (Chang et al., 2010;Beigi et al., 2017). ...
People typically reject being negatively stereotyped but overlook the ways in which they are positively stereotyped. The current study focused on the attitude of Chinese women toward being evaluated based on the traditional positive stereotype that women are virtuous; family/work centrality as a boundary condition of these attitudes; and three perceptions that may mediate the link between this type of evaluation and attitudes of women. In experiment 1, female college students were identified as work-oriented or family-oriented based on their responses to a questionnaire regarding their focus on these two domains. They then read a vignette in which a man evaluated a female target under random assignment to one of three conditions, namely: group positive stereotype evaluation, individual positive stereotype evaluation, or unstereotypical positive evaluation. The participants rated how much they liked the female target, as an indicator of their attitude toward evaluations based on the stereotype that women are virtuous. In experiment 2, female college students were classified as work- oriented or family-oriented, and then read a vignette in which a man (the target) evaluated them. They were randomly assigned to the group positive stereotype evaluation, individual positive stereotype evaluation, or unstereotypical positive evaluation. Participants rated how much they liked the male target, as an indicator of their attitude toward evaluations based on the positive stereotype that women are virtuous. Across both studies, ANOVA showed that work-oriented women liked evaluations based on both group and individual stereotypes less than the family-oriented women. Regression-based analyses showed evidence of a mediation process in which work-oriented women viewed the virtuous positive stereotype as implying a prescriptive social demand that women should engage in family roles, resulting in a negative reaction to this type of evaluation.
... Issues related to mate preferences have been studied by many researchers (e.g., Brumbaugh & Wood, 2013;Buss, 1985;Buss, et al., 1990;Buss & Barns, 1986;Buss, Shackelford, Kirkpatrick, & Larsen, 2001;Schmitt, 2004). Some research has focused on gender differences (Buss & Shackelford, 2008;Furnham, 2009;Furnham & Tsoi, 2012;Greitemeyer, 2007;Stone, Shackelford, & Buss, 2007) whereas other studies have investigated age or generational differences (e.g., Henry, Helm, & Cruz, 2013;Sepehri & Bagherian, 2013). Overall, sex and age differences were widely reported by worldwide participants (Schwarz & Hassebrauck, 2012). ...
Mate preferences expressed by college students may reflect both the society’s traditional beliefs and the changing nature of cultural values. The current study compared American and Chinese college students’ responses on mate preference choices (N=545). Results show both similarities and differences in mate preferences between these two groups. Out of 18 characteristics, the two groups were similar in eight and differed in ten; and out of 13 rank order ratings, the two groups differed significantly on ten items. Overall, these findings suggest that while there is evidence of convergence in American and Chinese college students’ mate preference values, reflecting the effect of globalization, there are also significant differences in their choices, reflecting social and cultural values of each individual country
... Individuals are likely to express love to individuals they are attracted to and these are mostly persons who possess certain qualities they see as desirable. Consequently, individuals are likely to fall in love with people who possess the qualities they see as desirable (Oladeji &Ariyo, 2014 Generally, studies on mate selection have focused on attributes that individual's desire in a potential mate and how gender influences these preferences without describing the processes of mate selection (Brown, 2001;Furnham & Tsoi, 2012;Henry & Cruz, 2013;Schwartz & Hasserbrauck, 2012;Walter, 1997). This approach makes mate selection appear mechanical. ...
This paper explores the patterns of civil society engagement in Ghana’s Public-Private Partnership (PPP) regime. It examines the forms of civil society participation in the PPP regime, the political contexts within which they participate, and how the patterns of civil society participation reflect current theoretical claims in development partnership and cooperation. Using purely qualitative methods, the study relied on interviews as sources of primary data. Secondary data were drawn from reports and media interviews. Using both inductive and abductive frames of reasoning the study discovered that civil society participation has been fundamentally fringe-like, albeit some traces of inclusion in PPP arrangements. Their forms of participation have been largely accounted for by inadequate and unsatisfactory political responses to anomalies in the PPP. Moreover, it was evident that while some of the modes of participation of civil society in the PPP regime reflected current claims in development partnership and cooperation others did not. In this paper, we observe that a CSO may play crucial roles in PPP projects by reacting constructively to the actions and inactions of the coalition of state and private actors. The usefulness of their roles in reorganizing PPP regimes will be enhanced if they remain objective, consistent and factual in their claims.
... Individuals are likely to express love to individuals they are attracted to and these are mostly persons who possess certain qualities they see as desirable. Consequently, individuals are likely to fall in love with people who possess the qualities they see as desirable (Oladeji &Ariyo, 2014 Generally, studies on mate selection have focused on attributes that individual's desire in a potential mate and how gender influences these preferences without describing the processes of mate selection (Brown, 2001;Furnham & Tsoi, 2012;Henry & Cruz, 2013;Schwartz & Hasserbrauck, 2012;Walter, 1997). This approach makes mate selection appear mechanical. ...
The article discusses whether the involvement of children in tobacco production constitute child labour or child work considering the fact that Child labour has attracted global attention in recent times but remains an important but controversial issue. This is because conceptually, where to draw the distinction between child labour and child work is still debated within the academic community based on apparent differences among International conventions, developmental strategies, policies, social norms and backgrounds. For a developing nation like Ghana, the participation of children in agricultural production is culturally accepted but their involvement affects their educational attainment, and also constitutes child labour according to ILO conventions.
... Closely related to the subject of mate selection and yet given less attention are the mate selection process and what it entails, and how other factors aside individual factors influence mate selection. Generally, studies on mate selection have focused on attributes that individual's desire in a potential mate and how gender influences these preferences without describing the processes of mate selection (Brown, 2001;Furnham & Tsoi, 2012;Henry & Cruz, 2013;Schwartz & Hasserbrauck, 2012;Walter, 1997). This approach makes mate selection appear mechanical. ...
... Theory from evolutionary biology and evolutionary psychology predicts that resource-rich men will be more attractive as mates for women, and that resources will be less important for women in attracting mates, although the extent of these associations will vary across environmental contexts (Bateman, 1948;Trivers, 1972;Gowaty, 2004;Kokko and Jennions, 2012). Survey research on male and female preferences across a large variety of cultures has confirmed this sex difference in preference, with women preferring spouses with good financial prospects more than men (Buss, 1989;Wiederman and Allgeier, 1992;Buss et al., 2001;Henry et al., 2013). As expected, the strength of this preference varies across national context (Buss et al., 1990) and is related to other national characteristics. ...
Theory from evolutionary biology suggests that status and access to resources will influence the number of mating partners somewhat differently for men and women, yet little previous research has examined the relationship between status and number of childbearing partners for men and women in the U.S. This paper uses newly available data on a large probability sample of the U.S. population (the Survey of Income and Program Participation) to evaluate the relationship between the number of childbearing partners, socioeconomic status, and subsequent fertility for men and women in the U.S. Results show that education (net of income and net worth) is always negatively related to the number of childbearing unions and fertility for both men and women. For men, personal income and personal net worth are positive predictors of both number of childbearing partners and fertility, while for women personal income and personal net worth are negative predictors of number of childbearing partners and fertility. For men, the positive effect of income on number of childbearing partners is because low income men are more likely to have no childbearing partners at all and not because high income men are more likely to have multiple partners. Men with a higher net worth do have more childbearing partners than other men, all else being equal. Both men and women who have a larger number of childbearing partners do have more children, all else being equal, although this effect is stronger for men than for women. Of those with multiple childbearing unions, men and women with both very high and very low incomes have more children than those with middle incomes.
... In humans, females are likely to choose higher status males as mates as such males are best able to invest in offspring. There is evidence that women across cultures do have a greater preference for status in a mate than men (see Buss, 1989;Wiederman & Allgeier, 1992;Buss et al., 2001;Henry et al., 2013). Throughout history, high-status men have typically far out-reproduced low-status men (Betzig, 1986). ...
Fitness is always relative to the fitness of others in the group or breeding population. Even in very low-fertility societies, individual fitness as measured by the share of genes in subsequent generations may still be maximized. Further, sexual selection theory from evolutionary biology suggests that the relationship between status and fertility will differ for males and females. For this reason it is important to examine the relationship between status and fertility separately for males and females–something few demographic studies of fertility do. When male fertility is measured separately, high-status men (as measured by their wealth and personal income) have higher fertility than low-status men, even in very low-fertility societies, so individual males appear to be maximizing their fitness within the constraints posed by a modern society. Thus male fertility cannot be considered maladaptive. When female fertility is measured separately, in both very high- and very low-fertility societies, there is not much variance across women of different statuses in completed fertility. Only in societies currently changing rapidly (with falling fertility rates) is somewhat high variance across women of different statuses in completed fertility found. What is seen across all phases of the demographic transition appears to be a continuation of two somewhat different evolved human reproductive strategies–one male, one female–in changing social and material contexts. Whether contemporary female fertility is maladaptive remains an open question.
... They also note greater female preference for financial prospects in a mate (Buss 1989; Buss et. al. 2001; Henry, Helm and Cruz, 2013), along with other sex differences in mate preferences. ...
Sociobiology predicts that high-status, dominant individuals will out reproduce low-status individuals in a population. This prediction has been seemingly contradicted in modern societies, where women in high income households have fewer children than women in low income households. Yet if status is measured as personal income, in the U.S. and a variety of European countries there is a great deal of evidence that high-status males out reproduce low-status males (while the reverse is true for women). In this paper, I show how these findings are consistent with trends in pre-industrial societies. I further review studies of modern societies that support another important sociobiological prediction, as given by the Trivers-Willard hypothesis. I suggest that all these results are evidence that sociobiology (and associated evolutionary psychology) are relevant to modern populations.
... Based on previous research on mate preferences (Buss, 1989;Eastwick & Finkel, 2008;Henry, Helm & Cruz, 2013;Jonason, 2009), we hypothesized that men would focus on characteristics signaling physical attractiveness and reproductive value more than women would, and that women would focus on personality variables and earning potential more than men. We expected that ideal mate preferences would differ from the characteristics of real romantic partners, though published reports on this point have been contradictory (Burris, Welling, & Puts, 2011;Eastwick, Finkel, & Eagly, 2011). ...
The possible sex difference in preferred mate characteristics is a domain that is receiving more attention as of late, due to the increases in new forms of dating and new conceptualizations of attraction. Evolutionary theory posits that men are attracted to cues signaling reproductive value and women are attracted to resources and personality traits, while more social-based theories rely on societal pressures explaining the way men and women behave when it comes to attraction. The present study found that men and women may not differ in terms of how important they rate general physical attractiveness and shared values. However, women did value long-term relationships more and monetary potential more, while men rated characteristics like eye color, hair color, and weight as more important. Further, relationship longevity was only predicted partially by certain aspects of real-life relationships, but not ideal mate preferences. These findings suggest that a simple evolutionary approach to mate preferences research may not be completely sufficient in today's society. The literature on young-adult mate preferences and relationships is extensive, yet many of the reported findings are contradictory and inconclusive. This study was designed to provide additional information regarding several issues of interest to relationship researchers, including the correlation between expressed preferences and demonstrated preferences; sex differences in preferred mate characteristics; and factors associated with relationship duration in young adults. Recent research on expressed preferences and demonstrated preferences has yielded inconclusive results. For example, Eastwick, Finkel, and Eagly (2011), compared self-reported mate preferences with preferences demonstrated in live-interaction situations and found significant differences. In contrast, Burris, Welling, and Puts (2011) found that women who express a preference for more masculine faces tend to have more masculine partners. Methodological differences between the studies make it difficult to draw definitive conclusions about the correlation between expressed and demonstrated mate preferences. Research on attractiveness tends to focus on initial attraction. In relationship research, though, changes in ratings of attractiveness are also of interest. Reis et al. (2011) found that simply spending more time with someone in a live-interaction can make that person seem more attractive. The traditional view of sex differences in mate preferences is that men tend to value traits signaling physical attractiveness and reproductive capacities, and women tend to value traits signaling stability and resource acquisition (Buss, 1989; Li & Kenrick, 2006, Li et al., 2013; Sprecher, Sullivan, & Hatfield, 1994). Much of the theory in this area stems the work of Trivers (1972), who argues that women invest more in parenting and are therefore more discriminating in mate selection. Men, who traditionally carry less of the responsibility of having and raising a child, are less selective. From an evolutionary perspective, the cost of wasting one's reproductive resources is less for men than it is for women. Women are thought of as the choosier sex because they can spread their genes to the next generation best by securing resources over the 9 months of pregnancy. Men, however, may be better suited pursuing other sexual partners in that time, in order to enhance their chances of progeny in the next generation (Trivers, 1972; Feingold, 1992; Bjorklund & Shackelford, 1999). Just as sex differences in mating preferences have been interpreted from an evolutionary perspective, so have sex differences in relationships. This could be thought of as the difference between relationship preferences and pursuit, and actual relationship maintenance once in a committed relationship. Some relationships are found to involve jealousy induction, an intentional tactic used to make a romantic partner jealous. This type of behavior is typically correlated with lower relationship satisfaction and commitment (Mattingly, Whitson, & Mattingly, 2012). Other relationships are potentially volatile because of too much jealousy in particular domains. Many studies have shown that men are more distressed by potential sexual infidelities, while women are more distressed by potential emotional infidelities (Buss, Larsen, Westen & Semmelroth, 1992; Edlund & Sagarin, 2009; Sagarin, Becker, Guadagno, Wilkinson, & Nicastle, 2012). In comparison to men, women have been found to show heightened jealousy in romantic relationships. Sagarin and Guadagno (2004), for example, found that women more often than men report " extreme jealousy ". These studies lend support to evolutionary models of human mating behavior. As would be expected from an evolutionary perspective, meta-analytic work has shown that women prefer taller partners, or partners who are at least as tall as
Today, it is not uncommon to meet someone and begin a romantic relationship online. Meeting on a dating website differs from meeting in person because a dating profile is created first that allows others to review potential romantic partners. Few studies have examined romantic attraction within an online dating context, and even fewer have examined how gender roles may influence attraction. The current study1 (N = 447, 49.4% female) examined the effects of gender role congruence and physical attractiveness on romantic interest in college students. Participants viewed online dating profiles that varied in their physical attractiveness and adherence to gender role norms. Results indicated that both men and women preferred attractive and gender role incongruent dating partners over average looking and gender role congruent. Contrary to previous research, women differentiated more between profiles based on physical attractiveness than the men, especially for gender role congruent profiles. Men were especially interested in attractive, gender role incongruent profiles. After physical attractiveness, gender role incongruence was the greatest factor that determined interest in a profile. Future research may need to consider how the potential seriousness of a relationship, as defined by the expected length of the relationship, influences how online profile characteristics affect attraction and interest.
The possible sex difference in preferred mate characteristics is a domain that is receiving more attention as of late, due to the increases in new forms of dating and new conceptualizations of attraction. Evolutionary theory posits that men are attracted to cues signaling reproductive value and women are attracted to resources and personality traits, while more social-based theories rely on societal pressures explaining the way men and women behave when it comes to attraction. The present study found that men and women may not differ in terms of how important they rate general physical attractiveness and shared values. However, women did value long-term relationships more and monetary potential more, while men rated characteristics like eye color, hair color, and weight as more important. Further, relationship longevity was only predicted partially by certain aspects of real-life relationships, but not ideal mate preferences. These findings suggest that a simple evolutionary approach to mate preferences research may not be completely sufficient in today's society. The literature on young-adult mate preferences and relationships is extensive, yet many of the reported findings are contradictory and inconclusive. This study was designed to provide additional information regarding several issues of interest to relationship researchers, including the correlation between expressed preferences and demonstrated preferences; sex differences in preferred mate characteristics; and factors associated with relationship duration in young adults. Recent research on expressed preferences and demonstrated preferences has yielded inconclusive results. For example, Eastwick, Finkel, and Eagly (2011), compared self-reported mate preferences with preferences demonstrated in live-interaction situations and found significant differences. In contrast, Burris, Welling, and Puts (2011) found that women who express a preference for more masculine faces tend to have more masculine partners. Methodological differences between the studies make it difficult to draw definitive conclusions about the correlation between expressed and demonstrated mate preferences. Research on attractiveness tends to focus on initial attraction. In relationship research, though, changes in ratings of attractiveness are also of interest. Reis et al. (2011) found that simply spending more time with someone in a live-interaction can make that person seem more attractive. The traditional view of sex differences in mate preferences is that men tend to value traits signaling physical attractiveness and reproductive capacities, and women tend to value traits signaling stability and resource acquisition (Buss, 1989; Li & Kenrick, 2006, Li et al., 2013; Sprecher, Sullivan, & Hatfield, 1994). Much of the theory in this area stems the work of Trivers (1972), who argues that women invest more in parenting and are therefore more discriminating in mate selection. Men, who traditionally carry less of the responsibility of having and raising a child, are less selective. From an evolutionary perspective, the cost of wasting one's reproductive resources is less for men than it is for women. Women are thought of as the choosier sex because they can spread their genes to the next generation best by securing resources over the 9 months of pregnancy. Men, however, may be better suited pursuing other sexual partners in that time, in order to enhance their chances of progeny in the next generation (Trivers, 1972; Feingold, 1992; Bjorklund & Shackelford, 1999). Just as sex differences in mating preferences have been interpreted from an evolutionary perspective, so have sex differences in relationships. This could be thought of as the difference between relationship preferences and pursuit, and actual relationship maintenance once in a committed relationship. Some relationships are found to involve jealousy induction, an intentional tactic used to make a romantic partner jealous. This type of behavior is typically correlated with lower relationship satisfaction and commitment (Mattingly, Whitson, & Mattingly, 2012). Other relationships are potentially volatile because of too much jealousy in particular domains. Many studies have shown that men are more distressed by potential sexual infidelities, while women are more distressed by potential emotional infidelities (Buss, Larsen, Westen & Semmelroth, 1992; Edlund & Sagarin, 2009; Sagarin, Becker, Guadagno, Wilkinson, & Nicastle, 2012). In comparison to men, women have been found to show heightened jealousy in romantic relationships. Sagarin and Guadagno (2004), for example, found that women more often than men report " extreme jealousy ". These studies lend support to evolutionary models of human mating behavior. As would be expected from an evolutionary perspective, meta-analytic work has shown that women prefer taller partners, or partners who are at least as tall as
This study compared the ranking of 18 personal characteristics or qualities which college students might use in selecting a future mate and builds on six other assessment periods from 1939-1996 which dealt with this issue. Among the most consistent findings for all seven assessment periods is the high value both sexes place on dependable character, emotional stability/maturity, pleasing disposition, and mutual attraction/love. Men across all assessment periods placed a higher value than women on good health, good cook/housekeeper, and good looks, while women placed a higher value on ambitious/industrious, similar educational background, and good financial prospect. These trends could go along with ethological theory. For both sexes chastity and similar religious background gained value; however, this may be an artifact of the current sample of 100 students.
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This study was designed to examine and compare campus values in mate selection from 1939 to 1967. A replication of previous research done in 1939 by Hill and in 1956 by McGinnis was undertaken in 1967 by sending a questionnaire concerned with factors in mate selection to a random sample of students on four college campuses. From the findings it was concluded that the current college population has not departed significantly from values in mate selection held a generation ago. In fact, responses indicate a remarkable degree of consistency between the values voiced by the two generations.
In this investigation, data on young, single adults' preferences in marital partners were gathered from three very diverse cultures: the United States, Russia, and Japan. Based on evolutionary, social learning, historical, and cross-cultural perspectives, the authors hypothesized that in all three cultures they would find certain traditional gender differences. Men would care more than women about physical attractiveness, whereas women would care more than men about status (e.g., intelligence; ambition; money, status, and position; potential for success) and personality attributes (e.g., kindness, understanding, expressiveness, openness). Women would be more "choosy" overall than would men. The authors also hypothesized thatpeople from the United States (a Western individualist culture) would expect more from their relationships than would those from Japan (an Eastern collectivist culture). Finally, the authors predicted that gender differences would be smallest in the United States and largest in Japan. They found strong support for all but the last of these hypotheses and found weak support for that one.
Data from over 2,000 respondents in the National Survey of Families and Households are used to examine sociodemographic differentials in the stated willingness of individuals to marry persons with various social, economic, and demographic characteristics. In general, hypotheses derived from exchange theory fare slightly better than those drawn from theories of marriage market imbalances. As suggested by exchange theory, men place higher value than do women on physical attractiveness and youth, while women are less willing than men to marry someone with low earnings or unstable employment. Nonetheless, men report being comparatively unwilling to marry a woman without steady employment. Older persons tend to have a broader field of eligibles, reporting a greater willingness to marry much younger, previously married persons with children. High earnings and education tend to reduce the willingness to marry formerly married persons with children and persons with low socioeconomic status, but these effects are stronger for men than for women. Among African Americans, both men and women report a lesser willingness than their white counterparts to marry persons with non-normative qualities or low status, a finding that indicates, for black women, a discrepancy between mate preferences and demographic reality.
This study seems to suggest that, over the last ten years at least, several important changes have taken place. Students in this sample appear to be less concerned with the home and children aspects of family life and more concerned with the social aspects. They want more intelligent and better educated mates. Men are much more interested in a woman's looks than in knowing if she is a good cook and housekeeper. Chastity does not seem to be of great concern to either sex and in this sense it does appear that these students have departed from traditional values. The differences emerging in important characteristics in mate selection reflect changes in sex roles, influence by the mass media, increased idealization of romantic love, and current social and economic conditions.
This research used an individual differences approach to test Eagly and Wood’s (1999) claim that sex differences in the characteristics that people prefer in mates reflect the tendency for men and women to occupy different social roles in a society. The study related the extent to which participants endorsed the traditional female gender role to their preferences for their future mate’s traits and age relative to their own age. In general, the sex–differentiated preferences that are consistent with the traditional division of labor were more pronounced, especially in male participants, to the extent that they endorsed the traditional female role.