Mate preferences do predict attraction and choices in the early stages of mate selection
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6205941 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Norman P Li (0000-0002-4059-1613, Singapore Management University), J C Yong (0000-0002-6413-2016, Singapore Management University), William Tov (0000-0002-4306-8860, Singapore Management University), Oliver Sng (0000-0003-2854-8791, Arizona State University), Garth J O Fletcher (0000-0002-7284-9498, Victoria University of Wellington), Katherine A Valentine (0009-0008-1817-3723, Singapore Management University), Yun F Jiang (Singapore Management University), Daniel Balliet (0000-0001-5365-9675, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) |
| Year | 2013 |
| Volume | 105 |
| Issue | 5 |
| Pages | 757-776 |
| Publication date | 2013-11-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0022-3514 • E-ISSN: 1939-1315 |
| Publisher | American Psychological Association (APA) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1037/a0033777 |
| PMID | 23915041 |
| OpenAlex | W2106428093 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 73 |
| References cited | 47 |
Although mate preference research has firmly established that men value physical attractiveness more than women do and women value social status more than men do, recent speed-dating studies have indicated mixed evidence (at best) for whether people's sex-differentiated mate preferences predict actual mate choices. According to an evolutionary, mate preference priority model (Li, Bailey, Kenrick, & Linsenmeier, 2002; Li & Kenrick, 2006; Li, Valentine, & Patel, 2011), the sexes are largely similar in what they ideally like, but for long-term mates, they should differ on what they most want to avoid in early selection contexts. Following this model, we conducted experiments using online messaging and modified speed-dating platforms. Results indicate that when a mating pool includes people at the low end of social status and physical attractiveness, mate choice criteria are sex-differentiated: Men, more than women, chose mates based on physical attractiveness, whereas women, more than men, chose mates based on social status. In addition, individuals who more greatly valued social status or physical attractiveness on paper valued these traits more in their actual choices. In particular, mate choices were sex-differentiated when considering long-term relationships but not short-term ones, where both sexes shunned partners with low physical attractiveness. The findings validate a large body of mate preferences research and an evolutionary perspective on mating, and they have implications for research using speed-dating and other interactive contexts
Attraction · Attractiveness · Biology · Evolutionary psychology · Interpersonal attraction · Mate choice · Mating · Mating preferences · Perspective (graphical) · Physical attractiveness · Preference · Reproductive value · Selection (genetic algorithm) · Sexual selection · Consumer Behavior in Brand Consumption and Identification · Ecology · Evolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation · Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior · Psychology · Social Psychology
The neural basis of human female mate copying
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Assortative mating and the evolution of desirability covariation
When social status gets in the way of reproduction in modern settings
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The many voices of Darwin’s descendants
Predictive validity and adjustment of ideal partner preferences across the transition into romantic relationships
Social Status and Economic Resources
Sex Differences Versus Gender Symmetry
The influence of resource-gaining capacity on mate preferences
The relative impact of looks, income, warmth, and intelligence on female online dating preferences
Mating with Multi-Armed Bandits
What is a mate preference? Probing the computational format of mate preferences using couple simulation
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Swipe Right
Parent–child discrepancies in mate preferences
Virtual speed dating
Women Choosing Younger Men
Insights into Young Adults’ Views on Long-term and Short-term Romantic Relationships in the United Kingdom
Evolutionary Psychology and the Crisis of Empirical Rigor in Feminist Studies
Differential Roles of Physical Attractiveness and Earning Capability in Explaining Sense of Power among Dating Individuals in China
The interaction between perceived chronological age and physical sexual development in attractiveness judgements made by people who are attracted to children
Attentional and evaluative biases help people maintain relationships by avoiding infidelity
Do mate preferences influence actual mating decisions? Evidence from computer simulations and three studies of mated couples
Sex differences in the implications of partner physical attractiveness for the trajectory of marital satisfaction
Relational mate value
Preference for Self-Resembling Male Faces in Gay Men in China
Task affordances affect partner preferences
Initial Evidence that Individuals Form New Relationships with Partners that More Closely Match their Ideal Preferences
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The (Simp)le Truth About Excessive and Obsessive Romantic Behaviors in Men
Confidence is sexy and it can be trained
Looks and status are still essential
The long and short of mistress relationships
Mate preference priorities in the East and West
Perceptions of inferred parental ability through sexually dimorphic facial features
Chasing Prince Charming
Incorporating geographic distance into mate preference research
Contextual desirability of strong men employing affiliative and aggressive humor
Attraction to Physical and Psychological Features of Children in Child-Attracted Persons
Do Men and Women Exhibit Different Preferences for Mates? A Replication of Eastwick and Finkel (2008)
Online Dating Is Shifting Educational Inequalities in Marriage Formation in Germany
Dealbreakers, or dealbenders? Capturing the cumulative effects of partner information on mate choice
What Do Different People Look for in a Partner? Effects of Sex, Sexual Orientation, and Mating Strategies on Partner Preferences
Individual Differences in How Desirable People Think They Are as a Mate
The Impact of Health, Wealth, and Attractiveness on Romantic Evaluation from Photographs of Faces
Diverse Gender and Sexual Identity in Romantic Partner Selection Experiences
An Experimental Study of Men’s and Women’s Personal Ads
Multivariate mate choice constrains mate preference evolution
The Effects of Cues to Ambient Darkness on Women's Willingness to Engage With Physically Strong Men
Being More Educated and Earning More Increases Romantic Interest
Change in Physical Attraction in Early Romantic Relationships
How gender role stereotypes affect attraction in an online dating scenario
Preliminary evidence for an aversion to atheists in long-term mating domains in the Southern United States
Show versus tell? The effects of mating context on women's memory for a man's physical features and verbal statements
Is pulling the lever sexy? Deontology as a downstream cue to long-term mate quality
The effects of ideal standards and parental approval on mate choice among emerging adults
Revisiting judgment of strategic self-promotion and competitor derogation tactics
Contemporary Partner Preferences in Mate Selection
Too many women?
Symmetry and Human Facial Attractiveness
Universal dimensions of human mate preferences
HurryDate
Different cognitive processes underlie human mate choices and mate preferences
Robustness issues in multilevel regression analysis
What if You Can't Get What You Want? Willingness to Compromise Ideal Mate Selection Standards as a Function of Sex, Mate Value, and Relationship Context
Dynamical evolutionary psychology
The evolution of human mating
Gender Differences in Mate Selection
Sexual Strategies Theory
Sex differences in human mate preferences
Telling more than we can know
Hierarchical linear models
Do Ideal Partner Preferences Predict Divorce? A Tale of Two Metrics
What Leads to Romantic Attraction
Evolution, Traits, and the Stages of Human Courtship
Speed‐dating as an invaluable tool for studying romantic attraction
Age and Gender Differences in Mate Selection Criteria for Various Involvement Levels
Do advertised preferences predict the behavior of speed daters
The affective shift hypothesis
Campus Values in Mate Selection
Are the Traits we Prefer in Potential Mates the Traits they Value in Themselves? An Analysis of Sex Differences in the Self-concept
The Perception of Ingroup and Outgroup Homogeneity
The predictive validity of ideal partner preferences
Sex similarities and differences in preferences for short-term mates
Can one ever be too wealthy or too chaste? Searching for nonlinearities in mate judgment
Perceptions of Ingroup and Outgroup Variability
Thin Slices of Behavior as Cues of Personality and Intelligence
Functional projection
Mate selection preferences
The necessities and luxuries of mate preferences
The matching hypothesis reexamined
Ideals, perceptions, and evaluations in early relationship development
The halo effect
Sex differences in mate preferences revisited
Integrating evolutionary and social exchange perspectives on relationships
Ideals in intimate relationships
Importance of physical attractiveness in dating behavior
Regulation processes in intimate relationships
When and why do ideal partner preferences affect the process of initiating and maintaining romantic relationships
Individual differences in sociosexuality
Through the eyes of love
The Impact of Cultural Patterns on Cognition and Intention in Singapore
Love and Marriage in Eleven Cultures
International Preferences in Selecting Mates
Birds of a Feather
| Unique citing works | 73 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 6,08 |
| Citation span | 2014 - 2026 (13) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 65 |