Abstract
Because sexual attraction is a key driver of human mate choice and reproduction, we descriptively assess relative sex differences in the level of attraction individuals expect in the aesthetic, resource, and personality characteristics of potential mates. As a novelty we explore how male and female sexual attractiveness preference changes across age, using a dataset comprising online survey data for over 7,000 respondents across a broad age distribution of individuals between 18 and 65 years. In general, we find that both males and females show similar distribution patterns in their preference responses, with statistically significant sex differences within most of the traits. On average, females rate age, education, intelligence, income, trust, and emotional connection around 9 to 14 points higher than males on our 0-100 scale range. Our relative importance analysis shows greater male priority for attractiveness and physical build, compared to females, relative to all other traits. Using multiple regression analysis, we find a consistent statistical sex difference (males relative to females) that decreases linearly with age for aesthetics, while the opposite is true for resources and personality, with females exhibiting a stronger relative preference, particularly in the younger aged cohort. Exploring non-linearity in sex difference with contour plots for intelligence and attractiveness across age (mediated by age) indicates that sex differences in attractiveness preferences are driven by the male cohort (particularly age 30 to 40) for those who care about the importance of age, while intelligence is driven by females caring relatively more about intelligence for those who see age as very important (age cohort 40 to 55). Overall, many of our results indicate distinct variations within sex at key life stages, which is consistent with theories of selection pressure. Moreover, results also align with theories of parental investment, the gender similarities hypothesis, and mutual mate choice-which speaks to the fact that the broader discipline of evolutionary mate choice research in humans still contains considerable scope for further inquiry towards a unified theory, particularly when exploring sex-difference across age.
Highlights
Sexual attraction is a primary driver of mate selection and reproductive decisions, and those decisions impact the individuals involved but the broader market in which the decision occurs [1]
The aesthetic factors are recognizable and assessable in even minute interpersonal interactions or exposure [37]; the three resource factors are all commonly used in mate choice research, as they aid parental investment [1, 11, 38]; and the three personality factors matter for interpersonal relationships, pair bonding, and parental investment [39,40,41]
The distribution between the nine traits follows a similar pattern for both sexes; for example, the three personality traits, physical build, and attractiveness, are rated quite high on the importance scale for both sexes, while age, intelligence, and education are more evenly rated, and income is rated quite low on the importance scale
Summary
Sexual attraction is a primary driver of mate selection and reproductive decisions, and those decisions impact the individuals involved but the broader market in which the decision occurs [1]. Females are more selective, because their maximum fecundity is time limited but because choosing poorly increases the long-term opportunity costs of reproduction (internal gestation, ongoing lactation, and disproportionate maternal investment) and reduces the probability of offspring [12]. Their mate preferences should reflect characteristics or traits that can compensate for disproportionate maternal investment and ensure offspring survival and reproductive success, especially with respect to economic proxies for resources and/or increased paternal investment such as educational level, intelligence, and income. In contrast, need only invest the time taken to copulate, which paucity of paternal investment implies the favoring of mates whose genetic fitness guarantees a maximum chance of offspring survival and reproduction
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