Chinese and American Individuals’ Mate Selection Pressures: Self-Focused vs. Mate-Focused

Abstract

In this study, we compared Chinese and American never-married heterosexual adults’ self-reported mate selection pressures and write-in responses on perceived mate selection pressures for men and women, respectively (N = 918; 489 Chinese and 429 Americans). Participants’ mean age was 25.67 years old (SD = 4.50), and data were collected in 2013. Overall, Chinese participants reported significantly higher mate selection pressures than American participants did. Chinese participants’ mate selection pressures also focused overwhelmingly more on their own mate selection assets (self-focused) than on their possible mate’s mate selection assets (matefocused), and considerably more so compared to American participants’ mate selection pressures. We discussed the relative focuses of Chinese and American participants’ mate selection pressures, gender differences in participants’ mate selection pressures, and the implications of the study’s findings for existing understandings of mate selection process in two distinct cultural contexts.