Can Sexual Appeal, Beauty, or Virtue Increase the Opportunity for a Woman to Be Selected as a Spouse? The Mediating Role of Human Uniqueness.

Ji Lai,Xinling Chen,Daoqun Ding,Shenglan Li

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.698712

Abstract

High mating value is believed to correspond with high mating opportunities. On that premise, this study explores three cues that are linked to women of high long-term mating value, namely a “beautiful” facial appearance, “sexually attractive” body shape, and “virtuous” behavior. With exclusive attention focused on the above cues, this study examines what kind of human attributes would make a contribution to women’s mating opportunities. The results reveal that both “beautiful” women and “virtuous” women were assessed (in this study) as having greater mating opportunities than “sexually attractive” women. In regard to the human attributes, only the “beautiful” woman was assessed as having high levels of human uniqueness and human nature. Meanwhile, “virtuous” women were assessed as having higher levels of human uniqueness but lower levels of human nature. In contrast, “sexually attractive” women were assessed as having lower levels of human uniqueness but higher levels of human nature. In addition, the results of a mediation analysis show that the trait of human uniqueness, and not human nature, was the mediator between the three types of women and women’s mating opportunities. This finding means that, when women have higher levels of human uniqueness, they can acquire more mating opportunities. These findings contribute an improved understanding to why and how “beauty” or “virtue” increases the opportunity for woman to be selected as a spouse.

Highlights

In human society, mate selection is an important prerequisite for reproduction, providing the first step for individuals who want to enter into marriage and establish families
A follow-up simple effects analysis showed the following: The human nature rating was significantly higher than the human uniqueness rating in the “sexually attractive” woman image prime conditions: F(1, 234) = 61.98, p < 0.001, hP2 = 0.21
No significant difference exists between the human nature rating and the human uniqueness rating in the “beautiful” woman image prime conditions: p = 0.28

Summary

Introduction

Mate selection is an important prerequisite for reproduction, providing the first step for individuals who want to enter into marriage and establish families. Women Stereotype Impacts Mating Opportunity spouse has high reproductive value; (2) whether the spouse’s children have a paternity relationship with the man, and (3) whether the spouse can cooperate with the man to co-nurture their offspring (Buss and Schmitt, 2019). Women of higher reproductive value show a stronger attractiveness in terms of facial features and having sexual figures (Andrews et al, 2017). These facial features usually include facial adiposity, plump lips, a small chin, thin jaws, and high cheekbones, all of which make the face look attractive (Karremans et al, 2010). Sexual figures are often taken to mean a slender waist, a low waist-to-hip ratio, firm breasts, and a relatively low body mass index (BMI); these features are considered to be reliable indicators of body attractiveness in women (Kościński, 2013; Sugiyama, 2015)

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Conclusion