Sex differences in human mate preferences: Evolutionary hypotheses tested in 37 cultures

Abstract Contemporary mate preferences can provide important clues to human reproductive history. Little is known about which characteristics people value in potential mates. Five predictions were made about sex differences in human mate preferences based on evolutionary conceptions of parental investment, sexual selection, human reproductive capacity, and sexual asymmetries regarding certainty of paternity versus maternity. The predictions centered on how each sex valued earning capacity, ambition— industriousness, youth, physical attractiveness, and chastity. Predictions were tested in data from 37 samples drawn from 33 countries located on six continents and five islands (total N = 10,047). For 27 countries, demographic data on actual age at marriage provided a validity check on questionnaire data. Females were found to value cues to resource acquisition in potential mates more highly than males. Characteristics signaling reproductive capacity were valued more by males than by females. These sex differences may reflect different evolutionary selection pressures on human males and females; they provide powerful cross-cultural evidence of current sex differences in reproductive strategies. Discussion focuses on proximate mechanisms underlying mate preferences, consequences for human intrasexual competition, and the limitations of this study.

[1]  R. Plomin.  Behavioral genetics. , 1991, Research publications - Association for Research in Nervous and Mental Disease.

[2]  D. Buss,et al.  Derogation of Competitors , 1990 .

[3]  I. Vine.  Vaulting ambition: Sociobiology and the quest for human nature , 1990 .

[4]  L Cosmides,et al.  On the universality of human nature and the uniqueness of the individual: the role of genetics and adaptation. , 1990, Journal of personality.

[5]  C. Badcock.  Is the Oedipus complex a Darwinian adaptation? , 1990, The Journal of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis.

[6]  John Orbell,et al.  Selfishness examined: Cooperation in the absence of egoistic incentives. , 1989 .

[7]  C. Faver.  Sex and Scientific Inquiry , 1989 .

[8]  D. Bartle,et al.  Women and men. , 1989, New Zealand health & hospital.

[9]  R. Burian.  Vaulting Ambition: Sociobiology and the Quest for Human Nature by Philip Kitcher , 1989 .

[10]  J. P. Rushton,et al.  Genetic similarity in male friendships , 1989 .

[11]  Robert J. Samuelson,et al.  Statistical Abstract of the United States, 1988 , 1989 .

[12]  R. Beilharz.  Sexual selection: Testing the alternatives , 1989 .

[13]  J. Townsend,et al.  Mate selection criteria. A pilot study , 1989 .

[14]  M. Trost,et al.  A reproductive exchange model of heterosexual relationships: Putting proximate economics in ultimate perspective. , 1989 .

[15]  D. Symons.  A critique of Darwinian anthropology. , 1989 .

[16]  John Tooby,et al.  Evolutionary psychology and the generation of culture, part I: Theoretical considerations , 1989 .

[17]  J. P. Rushton,et al.  Genetic similarity mate choice and fecundity in humans. , 1988 .

[18]  D. Buss,et al.  From vigilance to violence: Tactics of mate retention in American undergraduates , 1988 .

[19]  W. Rice.  HERITABLE VARIATION IN FITNESS AS A PREREQUISITE FOR ADAPTIVE FEMALE CHOICE: THE EFFECT OF MUTATION‐SELECTION BALANCE , 1988, Evolution; international journal of organic evolution.

[20]  S. Greenhalgh,et al.  Historical Anthropology of the Family. , 1988 .

[21]  N L Segal,et al.  Personality similarity in twins reared apart and together. , 1988, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[22]  S. J. Arnold,et al.  Directional selection and the evolution of breeding date in birds. , 1988, Science.

[23]  I. Tomlinson.  Diploid models of the handicap principle , 1988, Heredity.

[24]  D. Buss.  The evolution of human intrasexual competition: tactics of mate attraction. , 1988, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[25]  P. Turke,et al.  Kipsigis bridewealth payments , 1988 .

[26]  J. P. Rushton,et al.  Genetic similarity theory, intelligence, and human mate choice , 1988 .

[27]  M. Flinn.  Mate guarding in a Caribbean village , 1988 .

[28]  J. P. Rushton,et al.  Race differences in sexual behavior: Testing an evolutionary hypothesis , 1987 .

[29]  Jerram L. Brown,et al.  Animal Societies: Theories and Facts , 1987 .

[30]  B. Sherwin,et al.  The role of androgen in the maintenance of sexual functioning in oophorectomized women. , 1987, Psychosomatic medicine.

[31]  Andrew Pomiankowski,et al.  Sexual selection: the handicap principle does work – sometimes , 1987, Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B. Biological Sciences.

[32]  S. Parker.  A sexual selection model for hominid evolution , 1987 .

[33]  Doreen Kimura,et al.  Are men's and women's brains really different? , 1987 .

[34]  J. Gray.  Signs of the Flesh: An Essay on the Evolution of Hominid Sexuality. Daniel Rancour‐Laferriere. , 1987 .

[35]  D. Rowe,et al.  Physical attractiveness and the personality resemblance of identical twins , 1987, Behavior genetics.

[36]  P. Klopfer,et al.  Perspectives in Ethology , 1973, Springer US.

[37]  John Tooby,et al.  From evolution to behavior: Evolutionary psychology as the missing link. , 1987 .

[38]  John Dupré,et al.  The Latest on the best : essays on evolution and optimality , 1987 .

[39]  D. Krebs,et al.  Sociobiology and psychology : ideas, issues, and applications , 1987 .

[40]  B. Smuts.  Sexual competition and mate choice , 1987 .

[41]  Robert A. Foley,et al.  Another Unique Species: Patterns in Human Evolutionary Ecology , 1987 .

[42]  M. West-Eberhard.  Flexible strategy and social evolution , 1987 .

[43]  P. Colgan,et al.  Animal Conflict , 1987, Chapman and Hall Animal Behaviour Series.

[44]  M. Segalen.  Historical anthropology of the family , 1988 .

[45]  J. P. Rushton,et al.  When a child dies: the sociobiology of bereavement. , 1986, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[46]  M. Majerus,et al.  Genetics and evolution of female choice , 1986, Nature.

[47]  M. Cunningham.  Measuring the physical in physical attractiveness: quasi-experiments on the sociobiology of female facial beauty , 1986 .

[48]  D. Buss,et al.  Preferences in human mate selection. , 1986 .

[49]  D. Rancour-Laferriere.  Signs of the Flesh: An Essay on the Evolution of Hominid Sexuality, Daniel Rancour-Laferriere. 1992. Indiana University Press, Bloomington, IN. 488 pages. ISBN: 0-253-20673-1. $17.95 , 1986 .

[50]  M. Flinn,et al.  Resource distribution, social competition, and mating patterns in human societies , 1986 .

[51]  M. Cunningham.  Measuring the physical in physical attractiveness: quasi-experiments on the sociobiology of female f , 1986 .

[52]  C. O'Kelly,et al.  Women and Men in Society: Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Gender Stratification , 1986 .

[53]  B. I. Murstein.  Paths to marriage , 1986 .

[54]  Stephen Jay Gould,et al.  Evolution and the Triumph of Homology, or Why History Matters , 1986 .

[55]  D. Buss,et al.  Human Mate Selection , 2020 .

[56]  J. Russell,et al.  Genetic similarity theory: A reply to Mealey and new evidence , 1985, Behavior genetics.

[57]  Anne Lohrli.  Chapman and Hall , 1985 .

[58]  B. Sherwin,et al.  Androgen enhances sexual motivation in females: a prospective, crossover study of sex steroid administration in the surgical menopause. , 1985, Psychosomatic medicine.

[59]  D. Baucom,et al.  Relation between testosterone concentration, sex role identity, and personality among females. , 1985, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[60]  D. Sperber,et al.  Anthropology and Psychology: Towards an Epidemiology of Representations , 1985 .

[61]  P. A. Wells,et al.  Evidence for genetic similarity detection in human marriage , 1985 .

[62]  D. Buss,et al.  Evolutionary biology and personality psychology. Toward a conception of human nature and individual differences. , 1984, The American psychologist.

[63]  D. Osgood,et al.  HEREDITY AND SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES OF DELINQUENCY: A RECONSIDERATION* , 1984 .

[64]  P. A. Wells,et al.  Genetic similarity theory: Beyond kin selection , 1984, Behavior genetics.

[65]  J. Udry,et al.  Benefits of Being Attractive: Differential Payoffs for Men and Women , 1984 .

[66]  D. Vining.  Subfertility among the very intelligent: an examination of the American Mensa , 1984 .

[67]  G. Dover.  Dimensions of Darwinism: Edited by Marjorie Grene. Pp. 336. Cambridge University Press, with Editions de la Maison des Sciences de l'Homme. 1983. £15.00 ($29.95) , 1984 .

[68]  Bertram L. Smith.  Tactics in Reproduction. (Book Reviews: Sperm Competition and the Evolution of Animal Mating Systems) , 1984 .

[69]  C. Starr,et al.  Sperm competition and the evolution of animal mating systems , 1984 .

[70]  Linda Partridge,et al.  Mating patterns and mate choice , 1984 .

[71]  R. Schiavi,et al.  Sex chromosome anomalies, hormones, and aggressivity. , 1984, Archives of general psychiatry.

[72]  A Theilgaard,et al.  A psychological study of the personalities of XYY- and XXY-men. , 1984, Acta psychiatrica Scandinavica. Supplementum.

[73]  E. Epstein,et al.  Mate selection in man: evidence, theory, and outcome. , 1984, Social biology.

[74]  H. Nyborg.  Performance and intelligence in hormonally different groups. , 1984, Progress in brain research.

[75]  Jack Goody,et al.  The Development of the Family and Marriage in Europe. , 1984 .

[76]  J. Bancroft,et al.  Mood, Sexuality, Hormones, and the Menstrual Cycle. III. Sexuality and the Role of Androgens , 1983, Psychosomatic medicine.

[77]  M. West-Eberhard.  Sexual Selection, Social Competition, and Speciation , 1983, The Quarterly Review of Biology.

[78]  T. D. Wade,et al.  Intrasexual selection and male mating strategies in baboons and macaques , 1983, International Journal of Primatology.

[79]  S. Wasser.  Social Behavior of Female Vertebrates , 1983 .

[80]  P. V. D. Berghe,et al.  Human inbreeding avoidance: Culture in nature , 1983, Behavioral and Brain Sciences.

[81]  E. Mayr.  How to Carry Out the Adaptationist Program? , 1983, The American Naturalist.

[82]  W. Shields,et al.  Forcible rape: An evolutionary perspective , 1983 .

[83]  N. Burley.  The meaning of assortative mating , 1983 .

[84]  H. Nyborg,et al.  Spatial ability in men and women: Review and new theory , 1983 .

[85]  Randy Thornhill,et al.  Human rape: An evolutionary analysis , 1983 .

[86]  W. Irons.  7 – Human Female Reproductive Strategies , 1983 .

[87]  J. Capitanio.  Variability and complexity in primate behavior. Review of Primate Behavior, edited by James L. Fobes and James E. King. New York, Academic Press, 1982, 393 pp, $27.50 , 1983 .

[88]  Gary R. Lee.  Family Structure and Interaction: A Comparative Analysis , 1982 .

[89]  H. Pulliam.  NATURAL SELECTION AND SOCIAL BEHAVIOR , 1982 .

[90]  William J. Hamilton,et al.  Darwinism and Human Affairs , 1982 .

[91]  E. Wilson,et al.  From genes to culture: The missing links , 1982, Behavioral and Brain Sciences.

[92]  D. Best,et al.  Measuring sex stereotypes : a thirty-nation study , 1982 .

[93]  John G. Robinson.  Intrasexual competition and mate choice in primates , 1982 .

[94]  Robin I. M. Dunbar.  Intraspecific Variations in Mating Strategy , 1982 .

[95]  Edward O. Wilson,et al.  GENES, MIND AND CULTURE , 1984 .

[96]  C. Jencks,et al.  Who Gets Ahead? The Determinants of Economic Success in America. , 1981 .

[97]  B. Gillen,et al.  Physical Attractiveness , 1981 .

[98]  James F. Wittenberger.  Animal Social Behavior , 1981 .

[99]  S. Lenington.  Child abuse: The limits of sociobiology , 1981 .

[100]  I. Borg.  Multidimensional data representations : when & why , 1981 .

[101]  S. Gaulin,et al.  Paternal confidence and paternal investment: A cross cultural test of a sociobiological hypothesis , 1980 .

[102]  R. Cairns.  On human sociobiology. , 1980 .

[103]  G. Hofstede,et al.  Culture′s Consequences: International Differences in Work-Related Values , 1980 .

[104]  D. Symons,et al.  Précis of The evolution of human sexuality , 1980, Behavioral and Brain Sciences.

[105]  R. E. Whalen.  Evolutionary causation: how proximate is ultimate? , 1980, Behavioral and Brain Sciences.

[106]  Barbara Gregg,et al.  Human Assortative Mating and Genetic Equilibrium: An Evolutionary Perspective , 1980 .

[107]  L. Wheeler,et al.  Review of personality and social psychology , 1980 .

[108]  Robert Plomin,et al.  Behavioral Genetics : A Primer , 1980 .

[109]  J. York.  Campus Values in Mate Selection: A Replication and Expansion. , 1979 .

[110]  G. Kurian.  Cross-Cultural Perspectives of Mate-Selection and Marriage , 1979 .

[111]  M. Dickemann.  The ecology of mating systems in hypergynous dowry societies , 1979 .

[112]  B. Low.  Sexual selection and human ornamentation , 1979 .

[113]  L. Willerman.  The psychology of individual and group differences , 1979 .

[114]  Richard D. Alexander,et al.  Darwinism and human affairs , 1979 .

[115]  Napoleon A. Chagnon,et al.  Evolutionary biology and human social behavior: An anthropological perspective , 1979 .

[116]  Napoleon A. Chagnon,et al.  Evolutionary biology and human social behavior: An anthropological perspective , 1979 .

[117]  L. Koopmans,et al.  Androstenedione, testosterone, and free testosterone concentration in women of various occupations. , 1979, Social biology.

[118]  Samuel T. Mayo,et al.  Statistical methods in education and psychology , 1979 .

[119]  M. Whyte.  The status of women in preindustrial societies , 1979 .

[120]  H. Lambert.  Biology and Equality: A Perspective on Sex Differences , 1978, Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society.

[121]  Nina L. Colwill,et al.  The psychology of sex differences , 1978 .

[122]  K. R. Weiss,et al.  The command neuron concept , 1978, Behavioral and Brain Sciences.

[123]  J. Krebs,et al.  Behavioural Ecology: An Evolutionary Approach , 1978 .

[124]  M. Daly,et al.  Sex, evolution, and behavior , 1978 .

[125]  D. Commerce.  Statistical abstract of the United States , 1978 .

[126]  L. Stone.  The Family, Sex and Marriage in England 1500-1800. , 1977 .

[127]  S. Emlen,et al.  Ecology, sexual selection, and the evolution of mating systems. , 1977, Science.

[128]  D. Winter,et al.  The Nature and Causes of Female Suppression , 1977, Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society.

[129]  J. M. Smith.  Parental investment: A prospective analysis , 1977, Animal Behaviour.

[130]  D. E. Matthews.  Evolution and the Theory of Games , 1977 .

[131]  G. Holton.  Sociobiology: the new synthesis? , 1977, Newsletter on science, technology & human values.

[132]  J M Smith,et al.  Evolution and the theory of games , 1976 .

[133]  Ernst Mayr,et al.  Evolution and the Diversity of Life: Selected Essays , 1977 .

[134]  R. Hinde,et al.  Growing Points in Ethology , 1976 .

[135]  N. Glenn,et al.  The Utility of Education and Attractiveness for Females' Status Attainment Through Marriage. , 1976 .

[136]  P. Bateson.  Perspectives in Ethology: Volume 2 , 1976 .

[137]  Marshall Sahlins,et al.  The use and abuse of biology : an anthropological critique of sociobiology , 1976 .

[138]  Jacob Cohen,et al.  Applied multiple regression/correlation analysis for the behavioral sciences , 1979 .

[139]  George C. Williams,et al.  Sex and evolution. , 1975, Monographs in population biology.

[140]  M. Takayama,et al.  Serum Gonadotropin Levels in Japanese Women , 1975, Obstetrics and gynecology.

[141]  Richard J. Harris.  A primer of multivariate statistics , 1975 .

[142]  R. E. Peterson,et al.  Steroid 5alpha-reductase deficiency in man: an inherited form of male pseudohermaphroditism. , 1975, Science.

[143]  R. E. Peterson,et al.  Steroid 5α-Reductase Deficiency in Man: An Inherited Form of Male Pseudohermaphroditism , 1974, Science.

[144]  R. D. Alexander,et al.  The evolution of social behavior , 1974 .

[145]  E. Mayr,et al.  Behavior programs and evolutionary strategies. , 1974, American scientist.

[146]  J. T. Fawcett,et al.  Psychological Perspectives on Population. , 1974 .

[147]  N. Uddenberg.  Psychological aspects of sexual inadequacy in women. , 1974, Journal of psychosomatic research.

[148]  J. M. Smith,et al.  The Logic of Animal Conflict , 1973, Nature.

[149]  M. Edgerton.  MAN AND WOMAN, BOY AND GIRL , 1973 .

[150]  B. J. Winer,et al.  Statistical Principles in Experimental Design, 2nd Edition. , 1973 .

[151]  S. Fisher.  The female orgasm : psychology, physiology, fantasy , 1973 .

[152]  I. Nisbet,et al.  Courtship-feeding, Egg-size and Breeding Success in Common Terns , 1973, Nature.

[153]  Anke A. Ehrhardt,et al.  Man and Woman: Boy and Girl , 1974 .

[154]  S. G. Vandenberg.  Assortative mating, or who marries whom? , 1972 .

[155]  R. Blumberg,et al.  Societal Complexity and Familial Complexity: Evidence for the Curvilinear Hypothesis , 1972, American Journal of Sociology.

[156]  R. Trivers.  Parental investment and sexual selection , 1972 .

[157]  B. Campbell.  Forces and Strategies in Evolution. (Book Reviews: Sexual Selection and the Descent of Man, 1871-1971) , 1972 .

[158]  Jack P. Hailman,et al.  Man and Beast: Comparative Social Behavior , 1971 .

[159]  I. Eibl-Eibesfeldt.  Ethology, the biology of behavior , 1970 .

[160]  R. Kirk.  Experimental Design: Procedures for the Behavioral Sciences , 1970 .

[161]  M. Ghiselin.  The triumph of the Darwinian method , 1970 .

[162]  C. Lévi-Strauss.  The Elementary Structures of Kinship , 1969 .

[163]  J. Hudson,et al.  Campus Values in Mate Selection: A Replication. , 1969 .

[164]  G. Elder.  Appearance and education in marriage mobility. , 1969, American sociological review.

[165]  C. Darwin.  On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection: Or, The Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life , 2019 .

[166]  J. Spuhler.  Assortative mating with respect to physical characteristics. , 1968, Eugenics quarterly.

[167]  Napoleon A. Chagnon,et al.  Yanomamo: The Fierce People , 1968 .

[168]  W. Calder.  Breeding Behavior of the Roadrunner, Geococcyx californianus , 1967 .

[169]  W. Hamilton.  The moulding of senescence by natural selection. , 1966, Journal of theoretical biology.

[170]  W. Hamilton.  The genetical evolution of social behaviour. I. , 1964, Journal of theoretical biology.

[171]  Michael T. Ghiselin,et al.  The Economy of Nature and the Evolution of Sex , 1964 .

[172]  Seymour Geisser,et al.  Statistical Principles in Experimental Design , 1963 .

[173]  L. Schiebinger.  Women in Science and Technology , 1962, Nature.

[174]  C. Hart,et al.  The Tiwi of North Australia , 1960 .

[175]  R. McGinnis.  Campus Values in Mate Selection: A Repeat Study , 1958 .

[176]  F. A. Beach,et al.  Patterns of Sexual Behavior , 1951 .

[177]  Bateman Aj.  Intra-sexual selection in Drosophila. , 1948 .

[178]  C. Winslow,et al.  Sexual Behavior in the Human Male , 1948 .

[179]  D. Lack,et al.  Pair-Formation in Birds , 1940 .

[180]  H. Richardson.  Studies of mental resemblance between husbands and wives and between friends. , 1939 .

[181]  S. Fiske,et al.  The Handbook of Social Psychology , 1935 .

[182]  R. Punnett,et al.  The Genetical Theory of Natural Selection , 1930, Nature.

[183]  William Cronon,et al.  On Human Nature , 2022, Nature.

[184]  Charles Darwin.  Descent of man, and selection in relation to sex: New edition, revised and augmented. , 1880 .

[185]  P. Smith,et al.  The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex , 1871, Nature.

[186]  C. Darwin.  The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex: INDEX , 1871 .

[187]  C. Darwin.  The descent of man, and Selection in relation to sex, Vol 1. , 1871 .

[188]  C. Darwin.  The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, Or, The Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life , 1859 .