Why Mate Choices are not as Reciprocal as we Assume: The Role of Personality, Flirting and Physical Attractiveness

2011 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 120-132 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mitja D. Back ◽  
Lars Penke ◽  
Stefan C. Schmukle ◽  
Karoline Sachse ◽  
Peter Borkenau ◽  
...  

Based on a social relations perspective on mating, the actual and assumed reciprocity of mate choices was studied in a real–life speed–dating context. A community sample involving 382 singles aged 18–54 years filled out a questionnaire for the measurement of self–perceived mate value, sociosexuality, extraversion, and shyness and participated in free speed–dating sessions. Immediately after each date, choices and assumed choices were recorded. Measures of physical attractiveness and flirting behaviour were obtained by independent observers. Results show that actual mate choices are not reciprocal although people strongly expect their choices to be reciprocated and flirting behaviour is indeed strongly reciprocal. This interesting pattern of results was explained by investigating individual and dyadic effects of flirting, self–perceived mate value and physical attractiveness on mate choices. Results have important implications for understanding mating behaviour, sex differences and the (in)accuracies of mating decisions. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

2011 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jens B. Asendorpf ◽  
Lars Penke ◽  
Mitja D. Back

We studied initial and long–term outcomes of speed–dating over a period of 1 year in a community sample involving 382 participants aged 18–54 years. They were followed from their initial choices of dating partners up to later mating (sexual intercourse) and relating (romantic relationship). Using Social Relations Model analyses, we examined evolutionarily informed hypotheses on both individual and dyadic effects of participants’ physical characteristics, personality, education and income on their dating, mating and relating. Both men and women based their choices mainly on the dating partners’ physical attractiveness, and women additionally on men's sociosexuality, openness to experience, shyness, education and income. Choosiness increased with age in men, decreased with age in women and was positively related to popularity among the other sex, but mainly for men. Partner similarity had only weak effects on dating success. The chance for mating with a speed–dating partner was 6%, and was increased by men's short–term mating interest; the chance for relating was 4%, and was increased by women's long–term mating interest. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


2019 ◽  
Vol 52 (2) ◽  
pp. 184-197 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.S. Jacobson ◽  
R. Trivers ◽  
B.G. Palestis

AbstractThe role that physical attractiveness and fluctuating asymmetry (FA), a measure of developmental instability, play in self-perception and peer associations were explored in a well-studied cohort of Jamaican children using a novel research paradigm where subjects were already known to each other for extensive periods of time. The results showed that how attractive a child was perceived by others was significantly positively correlated with self-ratings of attractiveness. Contrary to findings from WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, Democratic) samples, the study found a reversal in the sex differences in self-perceived attractiveness and self-esteem, where Jamaican females rate themselves more attractive and report higher self-esteem than do males. Attractiveness also predicts overall popularity, as measured by desirability as a friend and the percentage of peers who choose an individual as a friend. Attractive individuals of both sexes were chosen more often as ‘friends’. A significant correlation was also found between an individual’s FA and the average FA of those chosen as friends. However, the effect was primarily due to preferences by males for female friends possessing similar levels of FA, which could be an effective strategy in reducing future mating effort.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meike Scheller ◽  
Francine Matorres ◽  
Lucy Tompkins ◽  
Anthony C. Little ◽  
Alexandra A. de Sousa

Cross-cultural research has repeatedly demonstrated sex differences in the importance of different partner characteristics when choosing a mate. Men typically report higher preferences for younger, more physically attractive women, while women prefer men that are wealthier and of higher status. As the assessment of such partner characteristics often relies on visual cues, this raises the question whether visual experience is necessary for sex-specific mate preferences to develop. To shed more light onto the emergence of sex differences in mate choice, the current study assessed how preferences for attractiveness, resources, and personality factors differ between sighted and blind individuals using an online questionnaire. We further investigate the role of social factors and sensory cue selection in these sex differences. Our sample consisted of 94 sighted and blind participants with different ages of blindness-onset, 19 blind/28 sighted males, and 19 blind/28 sighted females. Results replicated well-documented findings in the sighted, with men placing more importance on physical attractiveness and women placing more importance on status and resources. However, while physical attractiveness was less important to blind men, blind women considered physical attractiveness as important as sighted women. The importance of a high status and likeable personality was not influenced by sightedness. Blind individuals considered auditory cues more important than visual cues, while sighted males showed the opposite pattern. Further, relationship status and indirect, social influences were related to preferences. Overall, our findings shed light on the availability of visual information for the emergence of sex differences in mate preference.


2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 291-318
Author(s):  
Yogi Prasetyo ◽  
Iffah Ja'a

This article is the result of research that aims to explain the importance of study about socio-legal. The rapid development of society can lead to problems in life. Human beings must immediately fulfill the demands of practical interest. Therefore, sociolegal development as a discipline of law closely related to real-life in society becomes an urgent role. Various problems in social relations require the role of the law to solve them. We see how the law of life and development in society becomes essential in the science of law because law and society can not be separated. The research method used is a literature review with a philosophical approach. The research results show that sociolegal study is significant to see and understand the law in real life in society. The method of generalized inductive reasoning becomes sociolegal to understand it, and its practical value of use makes sociolegal a legal discipline that can follow the realities of the times.Artikel ini adalah hasil penelitian yang bertujuan untuk menjelaskan pentingnya studi tentang sociolegal. Perkembangan masyarakat yang pesat dapat menyebabkan masalah dalam kehidupan. Tuntutan kepentingan praktis harus segera dipenuhi oleh manusia. Oleh karena itu, pengembangan sociolegal sebagai disiplin ilmu hukum yang erat kaitannya dengan kehidupan nyata dalam masyarakat menjadi peran yang mendesak. Ada berbagai masalah dalam hubungan sosial yang membutuhkan peran hukum untuk menyelesaikannya. Melihat bagaimana perkembangan hukum dan pembangunan dalam masyarakat menjadi penting dalam ilmu hukum, karena hukum dan masyarakat tidak dapat dipisahkan. Metode penelitian yang digunakan adalah studi pustaka dengan pendekatan filosofis. Dari hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa kajian sosiologi hukum sangat penting untuk melihat dan memahami hukum dalam kehidupan nyata di masyarakat. Metode penalaran generalisir induktif membuat sociolegal untuk mendapatkan pemahaman tentang itu dan nilai praktis penggunaannya membuat sosiologi hukum merupakan disiplin hukum yang dapat mengikuti realitas zaman.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefanie N. Wurst ◽  
Sarah Humberg ◽  
Mitja Back

We provide a first systematic investigation of the most prominent hypotheses about the impact of mate value on interpersonal attraction in real-life early-stage romantic encounters. Using Response Surface Analysis, we simultaneously examined how (a) people’s perception of their own mate value, (b) their perception of a potential partner’s mate value, and (c) the interplay between the two mate values impact initial romantic attraction and selection as well as subsequent interpersonal outcomes after selection. Data came from the “Date me for Science” speed-dating study (n = 398), in which participants who mutually selected each other at the speed-dating event were followed up with 3 assessments in the 6 weeks after the event to assess subsequent outcomes. Participants’ romantic attraction, likelihood of selecting, and subsequent interpersonal outcomes with a dating partner almost exclusively depended on their perception of their dating partner’s mate value: the higher, the better. There was no evidence for the popular matching hypothesis, which states that people feel attracted to and select dating partners whom they perceive to have a mate value similar to their own. Implications of these findings for theory and research on the impact of mate value on romantic attraction and selection are discussed.


Author(s):  
Meike Scheller ◽  
Francine Matorres ◽  
Anthony C. Little ◽  
Lucy Tompkins ◽  
Alexandra A. de Sousa

AbstractCross-cultural research has repeatedly demonstrated sex differences in the importance of partner characteristics when choosing a mate. Men typically report higher preferences for younger, more physically attractive women, while women typically place more importance on a partner’s status and wealth. As the assessment of such partner characteristics often relies on visual cues, this raises the question whether visual experience is necessary for sex-specific mate preferences to develop. To shed more light onto the emergence of sex differences in mate choice, the current study assessed how preferences for attractiveness, resources, and personality factors differ between sighted and blind individuals using an online questionnaire. We further investigate the role of social factors and sensory cue selection in these sex differences. Our sample consisted of 94 sighted and blind participants with different ages of blindness onset: 19 blind/28 sighted males and 19 blind/28 sighted females. Results replicated well-documented findings in the sighted, with men placing more importance on physical attractiveness and women placing more importance on status and resources. However, while physical attractiveness was less important to blind men, blind women considered physical attractiveness as important as sighted women. The importance of a high status and likeable personality was not influenced by sightedness. Blind individuals considered auditory cues more important than visual cues, while sighted males showed the opposite pattern. Further, relationship status and indirect, social influences were related to preferences. Overall, our findings shed light on the availability of visual information for the emergence of sex differences in mate preference.


2007 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 161-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosalind Arden ◽  
Nicole Harlaar ◽  
Robert Plomin

Abstract. An association between intelligence at age 7 and a set of five single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) has been identified and replicated. We used this composite SNP set to investigate whether the associations differ between boys and girls for general cognitive ability at ages 2, 3, 4, 7, 9, and 10 years. In a longitudinal community sample of British twins aged 2-10 (n > 4,000 individuals), we found that the SNP set is more strongly associated with intelligence in males than in females at ages 7, 9, and 10 and the difference is significant at 10. If this finding replicates in other studies, these results will constitute the first evidence of the same autosomal genes acting differently on intelligence in the two sexes.


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