Sex differences in intra-sex variations in human mating tactics: An evolutionary approach

Abstract

We assessed sex differences in the effects of physical attractiveness and earning potential on mate selection, and sex differences in preferences and motivations with regard to short-term and long-term mating. We also investigated the effect of a variable likely to produce intra-sex variations in the selection of mating tactics, self-perceived mating success. Forty-eight university students were presented with pictures and short descriptions of persons of the opposite sex varying in physical attractiveness and earning potential. Dating interest was influenced, for both sexes, by stimulus-person's physical attractiveness and earning potential, but these two characteristics interacted only for female raters. Male and female subjects showed discrepant preferences and motivations with regard to short-term and long-term mating. In addition, self-perceived mating success was related to mating tactics in males only: Males who perceived themselves as more successful, compared to males who perceived themselves as less successful, tended to prefer and to more often select short-term mating. This effect was maximized when the stimulus person was very attractive and of high earning potential. These results confirm sex differences in mating preferences, strongly suggest a proximal factor of tactic selection, and suggest that males' mating strategies may be more variable than females'.