Topic
Mate choice
About: Mate choice is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 6037 publications have been published within this topic receiving 336206 citations. The topic is also known as: partner selection & choice of partner.
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24 Feb 1871
TL;DR: In this paper, secondary sexual characters of fishes, amphibians and reptiles are presented. But the authors focus on the secondary sexual characteristics of fishes and amphibians rather than the primary sexual characters.
Abstract: Part II. Sexual Selection (continued): 12. Secondary sexual characters of fishes, amphibians and reptiles 13. Secondary sexual characters of birds 14. Birds (continued) 15. Birds (continued) 16. Birds (concluded) 17. Secondary sexual characters of mammals 18. Secondary sexual characters of mammals (continued) 19. Secondary sexual characters of man 20. Secondary sexual characters of man (continued) 21. General summary and conclusion Index.
11,302 citations
TL;DR: It is suggested that characters which develop through mate preference confer handicaps on the selected individuals in their survival, which are of use to the selecting sex since they test the quality of the mate.
4,744 citations
TL;DR: For example, this paper found that females value cues to resource acquisition in potential mates more highly than males, while males valued earning capacity, ambition, industriousness, youth, physical attractiveness, and chastity.
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.
3,733 citations
TL;DR: A contextual-evolutionary theory of human mating strategies is proposed, hypothesized to have evolved distinct psychological mechanisms that underlie short-term and long-term strategies between men and women.
Abstract: This article proposes a contextual-evolutionary theory of human mating strategies. Both men and women are hypothesized to have evolved distinct psychological mechanisms that underlie short-term and long-term strategies. Men and women confront different adaptive problems in short-term as opposed to long-term mating contexts. Consequently, different mate preferences become activated from their strategic repertoires. Nine key hypotheses and 22 predictions from Sexual Strategies Theory are outlined and tested empirically. Adaptive problems sensitive to context include sexual accessibility, fertility assessment, commitment seeking and avoidance, immediate and enduring resource procurement, paternity certainty, assessment of mate value, and parental investment. Discussion summarizes 6 additional sources of behavioral data, outlines adaptive problems common to both sexes, and suggests additional contexts likely to cause shifts in mating strategy.
3,660 citations
University of California, Santa Barbara1, University of Texas at Austin2, University of Wrocław3, Dresden University of Technology4, University of Tartu5, Gulu University6, Middle East University7, Stockholm University8, University of the Punjab9, University of Nigeria, Nsukka10, Istanbul University11, Franklin & Marshall College12, Norwegian University of Science and Technology13, University of Algiers14, Australian National University15, Russian Academy of Sciences16, Russian State University for the Humanities17, İzmir University of Economics18, University of Social Sciences and Humanities19, Université catholique de Louvain20, Ankara University21, Pontifical Catholic University of Peru22, Cumhuriyet University23, University of the Republic24, ISCTE – University Institute of Lisbon25, The Chinese University of Hong Kong26, National Autonomous University of Mexico27, University of Pécs28, University of Constantine the Philosopher29, University of Maribor30, University of Zagreb31, University of Malaya32, Central University of Finance and Economics33, University of Crete34, University of Primorska35, Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology36, University of Amsterdam37, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart38, VU University Amsterdam39, University of Granada40, University of Delhi41, University of Havana42, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro43, University of Vienna44, Universiti Utara Malaysia45, Vilnius University46, University of British Columbia47, University of Sussex48, Romanian Academy49, Comenius University in Bratislava50, Slovak Academy of Sciences51, University of Monterrey52, SAS Institute53, DHA Suffa University54, Pontifical Catholic University of Chile55, South-West University "Neofit Rilski"56, University of São Paulo57, Kyung Hee University58, University of Ljubljana59
TL;DR: This work combines this large cross-cultural sample with agent-based models to compare eight hypothesized models of human mating markets and finds that this cross-culturally universal pattern of mate choice is most consistent with a Euclidean model of mate preference integration.
Abstract: Humans express a wide array of ideal mate preferences. Around the world, people desire romantic partners who are intelligent, healthy, kind, physically attractive, wealthy, and more. In order for these ideal preferences to guide the choice of actual romantic partners, human mating psychology must possess a means to integrate information across these many preference dimensions into summaries of the overall mate value of their potential mates. Here we explore the computational design of this mate preference integration process using a large sample of n = 14,487 people from 45 countries around the world. We combine this large cross-cultural sample with agent-based models to compare eight hypothesized models of human mating markets. Across cultures, people higher in mate value appear to experience greater power of choice on the mating market in that they set higher ideal standards, better fulfill their preferences in choice, and pair with higher mate value partners. Furthermore, we find that this cross-culturally universal pattern of mate choice is most consistent with a Euclidean model of mate preference integration.
1,827 citations