Social or evolutionary theories? Some observations on preferences in human mate selection.

In this article, we extend the research by Buss and Barnes (1986) on preferences in human mate selection. Buss and Barnes explored human mate preferences by identifying major dimensions of preferences, sex differences in selection preferences, and the relations between mate preferences and characteristics of obtained partners. To examine these questions, Buss and Barnes studied two heterosexual samples. In discussing their findings, they specified two general theoretical orientations to understanding human mate preferences, the first based on social factors and the second based on principles of evolutionary biology. The relative adequacy of these two perspectives was not evaluated because as Buss and Barnes noted, the two sets of hypotheses are not inherently incompatible. In this extension of their research, we examine mate preferences in samples of both heterosexual and homosexual couples, using variation in sexual orientation to evaluate further the adequacy of social and evolutionary theories in explaining human mate preferences. Although some aspects of partner preferences are consistent with both theoretical orientations, we demonstrate that other patterns are explained more adequately by a social perspective. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The origins of sex differences in human behavior: Evolved dispositions versus social roles.

The origins of sex differences in human behavior can lie mainly in evolved dispositions that differ by sex or mainly in the differing placement of women and men in the social structure. The present article contrasts these 2 origin theories of sex differences and illustrates the explanatory power of each to account for the overall differences between the mate selection preferences of men and women. Although this research area often has been interpreted as providing evidence for evolved dispositions, a reanalysis of D. M. Buss's (see record 1989-32627-001) study of sex differences in the attributes valued in potential mates in 37 cultures yielded cross-cultural variation that supports the social structural account of sex differences in mate preferences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The evolution of human intrasexual competition: Tactics of mate attraction.

Darwin's theory of sexual selection suggests that individuals compete with members of their own sex for reproductively relevant resources held by members of the opposite sex. Four empirical studies were conducted to identify tactics of intrasexual mate competition and to test four evolution-based hypotheses. A preliminary study yielded a taxonomy of tactics. Study 1 used close-friend observers to report performance frequencies of 23 tactics to test the hypotheses. Study 2 replicated Study 1's results by using a different data source and subject population. Study 3 provided an independent test of the hypotheses in assessing the perceived effectiveness of each tactic for male and female actors. Although the basic hypotheses were supported across all three studies, there were several predictive failures and unanticipated findings. Discussion centers on the heuristic as well as predictive role of evolutionary theory, and on implications for other arenas of intrasexual competition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ideal Mate Personality Concepts and Compatibility in Close Relationships: A Longitudinal Analysis.

How 2 personalities may be best combined in a couple has often been answered in terms of similarity in partner's personality characteristics. However, results have been inconsistent. The present study proposed that relationship outcomes should depend more on the similarity between individuals' ideal mate personality concepts (IMPCs) and their partner's personality as both perceived by the self and selfreported by the partner. Study 1 introduces a new Q-sort to assess IMPCs and provides evidence for the interindividual variability and the short-term consistency of IMPC. By following nonmarried couples over a 9-month period, Study 2 replicated findings from Study 1 and demonstrated that, overall, the current concept of congruence predicts relationship outcomes better than both personality similarity and the partner's individual personality traits. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gender differences in mate selection preferences: A test of the parental investment model.

Evolutionary-related hypotheses about gender differences in mate selection preferences were derived from R. Trivers's (1979, 1985) parental investment model, which contends that women are more likely than men to seek a mate who possesses nonphysical characteristics that maximize the survival or reproductive prospects of their offspring, and were examined in a meta-analysis of mate selection research (questionnaire studies, analyses of personal advertisements). As predicted, women accorded more weight than men to socioeconomic status (SES), ambitiousness, character, and intelligence, and the largest gender differences were observed for cues to resource acquisition (status, ambitiousness). Also as predicted, gender differences were not found in preferences for characteristics unrelated to progeny survival (sense of humor, "personality"). Where valid comparisons could be made, the findings were generally invariant across generations, cultures, and research paradigms. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

From vigilance to violence: Mate retention tactics in married couples.

Although much research has explored the adaptive problems of mate selection and mate attraction, little research has investigated the adaptive problem of mate retention. We tested several evolutionary psychological hypotheses about the determinants of mate retention in 214 married people. We assessed the usage of 19 mate retention tactics ranging from vigilance to violence. Key hypothesized findings include the following: Men's, but not women's, mate retention positively covaried with partner's youth and physical attractiveness. Women's, but not men's, mate retention positively covaried with partner's income and status striving. Men's mate retention positively covaried with perceived probability of partner's infidelity. Men, more than women, reported using resource display, submission and debasement, and intrasexual threats to retain their mates. Women, more than men, reported using appearance enhancement and verbal signals of possession. Discussion includes an evolutionary psychological analysis of mate retention in married couples. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Conflict between the sexes: Strategic interference and the evocation of anger and upset.

Advances an evolution-based model of strategic conflict between men and women. Conflict is predicted to occur whenever the reproductive strategy adopted by one sex interferes with that adopted by the opposite sex. Three empirical studies tested hypotheses based on this model. Study 1 (N?=?528) examined sex differences in sources of anger and upset (e.g., about sexual aggressiveness or withholding) among 2 samples of Ss differing in age and marital status. Study 2 (N?=?60) assessed the perceived magnitude of upset each sex would experience when confronted by each source. Study 3 (N?=?214) tested predictions within married couples about sex differences in sources of marital and sexual dissatisfaction. These studies provide modest support for the strategic conflict model and implicate the negative emotions of anger and upset as proximate mechanisms that alert men and women to strategic interference. The diversity of upset elicitors discovered here, such as being condescending, possessive, neglecting, abusive, inconsiderate, moody, and self-centered, point to the limitations of this evolutionary model and the need to develop more comprehensive models of conflict between the sexes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex differences in the interpersonal behavior of married couples.

Self- and observer reports were used to assess performance frequencies of 800 acts in a sample of 93 married couples over a 3-mo period. Although numerous sex differences were found with respect to each data source, only 69 acts showed significant sex differences across both data sources. Subsequently, these 69 acts were factor analyzed separately for the 2 data sources to identify the major dimensions of sex difference. Four clear and comparable factors emerged from the 2 analyses: Coercive-Manipulative, Communal, Flashy Attire, and Initiative. The California Psychological Inventory Femininity scale correlated highly with most composites for the total sample, suggesting considerable predictive power in identifying dimensions of sex difference. The Extended Personality Attribute Questionnaire scales correlated strongly with the factor composites within sex, but less so for the total sample. Results are discussed in terms of strategies for assessing sex differences in interpersonal behavior, alternative foci of convenience for different masculinity and femininity scales, and the use of multiple data sources to transcend single-source limitations. (28 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Using revealed mate preferences to evaluate market force and differential preference explanations for mate selection.

In this article the authors illustrate how revealed preferences (i.e., preferences inferred through an individual’s differential attraction to multiple targets) can be used to investigate the nature of mate preferences. The authors describe how revealed preferences can be estimated and how the reliability of these estimates can be established. Revealed preference estimates were used to explore the level of consensus in judgments of who is and is not attractive and whether revealed preferences are systematically related to self-reported mate preferences and personality traits. Revealed preference estimates were created for over 4,000 participants by examining their attraction to 98 photographs. Participants of both genders showed substantial consensus in judgments of whom they found attractive and unattractive, although men showed higher consensus than women. Revealed preference estimates also showed relationships with corresponding self-rated preferences and with other dispositional characteristics such as personality traits and age. Although the findings demonstrate the existence of meaningful individual differences in preferences, they also indicate an important role for consensual preferences in mate selection processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Discriminating interaction behaviors in happy and unhappy marriages.

Evaluated a social-learning formulation of marital distress. It was hypothesized that unhappily (vs happily) married couples would show a deficit in problem solving by indicating significantly more unresolved problems. It was also expected that unhappily married couples would indicate less involvement with one another in both elective free-time activities and shared sexuality. 50 happy and 50 unhappy couples filled out the Areas of Change Questionnaire and the Marital Activities Inventory. All hypotheses were confirmed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Three-year follow-up of same-sex couples who had civil unions in Vermont, same-sex couples not in civil unions, and heterosexual married couples.

This study was a 3-year follow-up of 65 male and 138 female same-sex couples who had civil unions in Vermont during the 1st year of that legislation. These couples were compared with 23 male and 61 female same-sex couples in their friendship circles who did not have civil unions and with 55 heterosexual married couples (1 member of each was a sibling to a member of a civil union couple). Despite the legalized nature of their relationships, civil union couples did not differ on any measure from same-sex couples who were not in civil unions. However, same-sex couples not in civil unions were more likely to have ended their relationships than same-sex civil union or heterosexual married couples. Compared with heterosexual married participants, both types of same-sex couples reported greater relationship quality, compatibility, and intimacy and lower levels of conflict. Longitudinal predictors of relationship quality at Time 2 included less conflict, greater level of outness, and a shorter relationship length for men in same-sex relationships and included less conflict and more frequent sex for women in same-sex relationships at Time 1. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The place of attachment in human mating.

Application of the principles of evolution and natural selection to the phenomena of human mating does not lead inevitably to a single theoretical model. According to the standard evolutionary model, formally known as sexual strategies theory (D. M. Buss & D. P. Schmitt, 1993), biologically based sex differences in parental investment have resulted in hard-wired sex differences in mate preferences and mating strategies. A critical analysis of the logical and empirical foundations of the theory reveals several weaknesses and limitations. This article demonstrates how attachment theory (J. Bowlby, 1969/1982, 1973, 1979, 1980, 1988) can be used to integrate a diverse set of ideas and research findings and provide a more grounded account of human mating. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gender differences in effects of physical attractiveness on romantic attraction: A comparison across five research paradigms.

Evolutionary and sociocultural theories of mate selection preferences contend that men place greater value on physical attractiveness than do women. Thus, meta-analyses were conducted of findings from 5 research paradigms that have examined the hypothesis: (1) questionnaire studies, (2) analyses of lonely hearts advertisements, (3) studies that correlate attractiveness with opposite sex popularity, (4) studies that correlate attractiveness with liking by a dyadic interaction partner, and (5) experiments that manipulate the attractiveness and similarity of an opposite sex stranger. The anticipated sex difference emerged in all 5 meta-analyses, although it was larger in research that examined self-reports than in research that examined social behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"I know you self-handicapped last exam": Gender differences in reactions to self-handicapping.

Past research has shown that self-handicapping involves the trade-off of ability-related attributional benefits for interpersonal costs. Study 1 examined whether perceiver or target sex moderates impressions of self-handicapping targets. Although target sex was not an important factor, female perceivers were consistently more critical of behavioral self-handicappers. Two additional studies replicated this gender difference with variations of the handicap. Study 3 examined the motives inferred by perceivers and found that women not only view self-handicappers as more unmotivated but also report greater suspicion of self-handicapping motives; furthermore, these differences in perceived motives mediated sex differences in reactions to self-handicappers. Implications for the effectiveness of self-handicapping as an impression management strategy are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Similarity, convergence, and relationship satisfaction in dating and married couples.

The current work investigates how personality and interpersonal processes combine to predict change in relationship quality. Measures of personality and emotion similarity were collected during laboratory interactions from a cross-sectional sample of dating couples (Study 1) and a 1-year longitudinal study of newlywed married couples (Study 2). Results showed that emotion similarity mediated the association between personality similarity and relationship quality (Studies 1 and 2) and that emotion convergence mediated the association between personality convergence and relationship satisfaction (Study 2). These results indicate that similarity and convergence in personality may benefit relationships by promoting similarity and convergence in partners' shared emotional experiences. Findings also lend support to models that integrate partners' enduring traits and couples' adaptive processes as antecedents of relationship outcomes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A ratio measure of sex stereotyping.

The goals of these two studies were (a) to develop a measure of cultural sex stereotypes and individual differences in sex stereotyping and (b) to determine the accuracy of cultural sex stereotypes. Stereotype measures were based on ratio scores. For a given attribute, the strength of a stereotype was indexed by the ratio of perceivers' estimates of the percentage of women versus men with that attribute. In Study 1, one group of subjects estimated the prevalence in men and women of 30 socially desirable traits. A second group of subjects rated themselves on the same traits, thus providing group norms that were used as criteria for accuracy. Ratio measures were found to be useful in identifying the content of cultural sex stereotypes and in assessing individual differences in stereotyping. Individual differences in stereotyping were found to generalize across a wide variety of traits. To assess accuracy, stereotypes were compared with group norms. Group norms showed only a few large sex differences on traits, although there were many small sex differences. Stereotypes were much more extreme; that is, large sex differences were assumed to exist for virtually every trait. Study 2 replicated the results of Study 1 and extended the findings to socially undesirable sex stereotypes. Implications of these results are discussed for the "kernel of truth" debate and for schema theories of stereotyping. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Is human mating adventitious or the result of lawful choice? A twin study of mate selection.

Pairs of middle-aged twins and their spouses provided data on 74 mainly psychological variables. Neither spousal similarity nor idiosyncratic criteria could account for specific mate selection in these 738 couples. Of the twins (and their spouses), 547 independently rated their initial attraction to their twin's mate (or to their spouse's twin). Findings suggest that characteristics both of the chooser and the chosen constrain mate selection only weakly. This article proposes that it is romantic infatuation that commonly determines the final choice from a broad field of potential eligibles and that this phenomenon is inherently random, in the same sense as is imprinting in precocial birds. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Graduate student couples: Dyadic satisfaction in relation to type of partnership and demographic characteristics.

71 married and cohabiting graduate student couples (aged 21–61 yrs) responded individually to questionnaires that queried Ss on demographic characteristics, dyadic satisfaction (DS), and dyadic trust (DT). There were 26 symmetrical couples in which both partners were students and 45 asymmetrical couples in which only 1 partner was a student. No significant results were found for married couples with respect to symmetry on overall relationship satisfaction. Married partners, however, did show significantly greater DT compared with cohabiting couples. The finding that higher income men enjoy greater DS than lower income men suggests that financial security is an important factor for men to experience happiness in their intimate relationships. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex differences in the recall of affective experiences

Three studies tested hypotheses for sex differences in the recall of life events: differences in (a) affect intensity at encoding, (b) affect intensity at retrieval, (c) rehearsal, (d) detail of encoding, and (e) artifacts such as motivation or verbal ability. In Study 1 (N = 419), women recalled more positive (p < .01) and more negative (p < .05) life events than men. Differences in retrieval mood were not found. Study 2 (N = 55) replicated the recall differences and showed that neither rehearsal nor artifacts were responsible. Sex differences in recalling neutral everyday events also were obtained (p < .05), suggesting that affect intensity was not responsible. In Study 3 (N = 132), affective reactions to events were unrelated to recall, but sex differences in the detail of encoding (p < .001) were related to recall (p < .05). Sex differences in autobiographical memory are reliable and may be due to differences in the detail of encoding.     

Physical attractiveness and health: Comment on Weeden and Sabini (2005).

Evolutionary behavioral biology suggests that certain characteristics of the human face and body are important for mate preferences and are therefore subject to sexual selection. J. Weeden and J. Sabini (see record 2005-11504-001) identify a number of weaknesses in the association between traits' attractiveness and health. In contrast, the authors argue that (a) studies on preferences for physical characteristics that rely on 1 trait permit only limited interpretation, (b) limitations placed on J. Weeden and J. Sabini's review exclude important associations, (c) there are misconceptions in their treatment of some traits, and (d) their selected literature provides an inaccurate picture regarding effect size. The authors suggest that future research in this field should seek conceptual and methodological constancy in trait selection and in the evaluation of attractiveness- and health-related traits. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)