Preferences For Physical Attractiveness Research Articles

What Do Different People Look for in a Partner? Effects of Sex, Sexual Orientation, and Mating Strategies on Partner Preferences.

Partner preferences are an important differential in relationship formation and evolutionary fitness, and vary according to individual, ecological, and social factors. In this study, we evaluated the variation in preference for intelligence, kindness, physical attractiveness, health, and socioeconomic level among individuals of different sexes and sexual orientations in a Brazilian sample. We analyzed the preference scores of 778 heterosexual, bisexual, and homosexual men and women in three budgeted mate design tasks (low vs. medium vs. high budget) and their association with sociosexuality, attachment styles, homogamy, and willingness to engage in short- and long-term relationships. Results indicated a global trait preference order, with intelligence ranking first, followed by kindness, physical attractiveness, health, and lastly by socioeconomic status. Typical sex differences were observed mostly within the heterosexual group, and specific combinations of sex and sexual orientation were linked to variation in preference for physical attractiveness, kindness, and socioeconomic status. We also found unique associations of the other variables with partner preferences and with willingness to engage in short- or long-term relationships. By exploring the partner preferences of non-heterosexual individuals from a Latin American country, an underrepresented group in evolutionary psychology research, our results help understand the universal and specific factors that guide partner preferences and human sexual behavior.

The Role of Sexual and Romantic Attraction in Human Mate Preferences

ABSTRACT Sex differences in mate preferences are ubiquitous, having been evidenced across generations and cultures. Their prevalence and persistence have compellingly placed them in the evolutionarily adaptive context of sexual selection. However, the psycho-biological mechanisms contributing to their generation and maintenance remain poorly understood. As such a mechanism, sexual attraction is assumed to guide interest, desire, and the affinity toward specific partner features. However, whether sexual attraction can indeed explain sex differences in partner preferences has not been explicitly tested. To better understand how sex and sexual attraction shape mate preferences in humans we assessed how partner preferences differed across the spectrum of sexual attraction in a sample of 479 individuals that identified as asexual, gray-sexual, demisexual or allosexual. We further tested whether romantic attraction predicted preference profiles better than sexual attraction. Our results show that sexual attraction accounts for highly replicable sex differences in mate preferences for high social status and financial prospects, conscientiousness, and intelligence; however, it does not account for the enhanced preference for physical attractiveness expressed by men, which persists even in individuals with low sexual attraction. Instead, sex differences in physical attractiveness preference are better explained by the degree of romantic attraction. Furthermore, effects of sexual attraction on sex differences in partner preferences were grounded in current rather than previous experiences of sexual attraction. Taken together, the results support the idea that contemporary sex differences in partner preferences are maintained by several psycho-biological mechanisms that evolved in conjunction, including not only sexual but also romantic attraction.

Chinese and UK participants' preferences for physical attractiveness and social status in potential mates.

Men are hypothesized to show stronger preferences for physical attractiveness in potential mates than women are, particularly when assessing the attractiveness of potential mates for short-term relationships. By contrast, women are thought to show stronger preferences for social status in potential mates than men are, particularly when assessing the attractiveness of potential mates for long-term relationships. These mate-preference sex differences are often claimed to be ‘universal' (i.e. stable across cultures). Consequently, we used an established ‘budget-allocation' task to investigate Chinese and UK participants' preferences for physical attractiveness and social status in potential mates. Confirmatory analyses replicated these sex differences in both samples, consistent with the suggestion that they occur in diverse cultures. However, confirmatory analyses also showed that Chinese women had stronger preferences for social status than UK women did, suggesting cultural differences in the magnitude of mate-preference sex differences can also occur.

Are Sex Differences in Preferences for Physical Attractiveness and Good Earning Capacity in Potential Mates Smaller in Countries With Greater Gender Equality?

On average, women show stronger preferences for mates with good earning capacity than men do, while men show stronger preferences for physically attractive mates than women do. Studies reporting that sex differences in mate preferences are smaller in countries with greater gender equality have been interpreted as evidence that these sex differences in mate preferences are caused by the different roles society imposes on men and women. Here, we attempted to replicate previously reported links between sex differences in mate preferences and country-level measures of gender inequality in a sample of 3,073 participants from 36 countries (data and code available at https://osf.io/4sr5f/ ). Although women preferred mates with good earning capacity more than men did and men preferred physically attractive mates more than women did, we found little evidence that these sex differences were smaller in countries with greater gender equality. Although one analysis suggested that the sex difference in preferences for good earning capacity was smaller in countries with greater gender equality, this effect was not significant when controlling for Galton's problem or when correcting for multiple comparisons. Collectively, these results provide little support for the social roles account of sex differences in mate preferences.

Physical, Unconscious, and Non-physical Factors of Attraction

Attraction is defined in many ways, and there is general idea that men and women have particular preferences in mates regarding physical attractiveness. Studies have found that physically, men prefer women with both a small waist and hips, and women prefer men with taller and more brawny bodies than themselves. However, there are unconscious factors, such as assessing a human leukocyte antigen complex through sense of smell, which many are not aware of. The most influential factor on attractiveness ratings is personality; while many are aware of their preference for a particular personality, it is less apparent than physical attractiveness preferences. Various assessments, physical, unconscious, and non-physical, form the foundation for ratings of interpersonal attraction.

The predictive validity of ideal partner preferences: A review and meta-analysis.

A central element of interdependence theory is that people have standards against which they compare their current outcomes, and one ubiquitous standard in the mating domain is the preference for particular attributes in a partner (ideal partner preferences). This article reviews research on the predictive validity of ideal partner preferences and presents a new integrative model that highlights when and why ideals succeed or fail to predict relational outcomes. Section 1 examines predictive validity by reviewing research on sex differences in the preference for physical attractiveness and earning prospects. Men and women reliably differ in the extent to which these qualities affect their romantic evaluations of hypothetical targets. Yet a new meta-analysis spanning the attraction and relationships literatures (k = 97) revealed that physical attractiveness predicted romantic evaluations with a moderate-to-strong effect size (r = ∼.40) for both sexes, and earning prospects predicted romantic evaluations with a small effect size (r = ∼.10) for both sexes. Sex differences in the correlations were small (r difference = .03) and uniformly nonsignificant. Section 2 reviews research on individual differences in ideal partner preferences, drawing from several theoretical traditions to explain why ideals predict relational evaluations at different relationship stages. Furthermore, this literature also identifies alternative measures of ideal partner preferences that have stronger predictive validity in certain theoretically sensible contexts. Finally, a discussion highlights a new framework for conceptualizing the appeal of traits, the difference between live and hypothetical interactions, and the productive interplay between mating research and broader psychological theories.

Sex differences in the implications of partner physical attractiveness for the trajectory of marital satisfaction.

Do men value physical attractiveness in a mate more than women? Scientists in numerous disciplines believe that they do, but recent research using speed-dating paradigms suggests that males and females are equally influenced by physical attractiveness when choosing potential mates. Nevertheless, the premise of the current work is that sex differences in the importance of physical attractiveness are most likely to emerge in research on long-term relationships. Accordingly, the current work drew from 4 independent, longitudinal studies to examine sex differences in the implications of partner physical attractiveness for trajectories of marital satisfaction. In all 4 studies, both partners' physical attractiveness was objectively rated at baseline, and both partners reported their marital satisfaction up to 8 times over the first 4 years of marriage. Whereas husbands were more satisfied at the beginning of the marriage and remained more satisfied over the next 4 years to the extent that they had an attractive wife, wives were no more or less satisfied initially or over the next 4 years to the extent that they had an attractive husband. Most importantly, a direct test indicated that partner physical attractiveness played a larger role in predicting husbands' satisfaction than predicting wives' satisfaction. These findings strengthen support for the idea that sex differences in self-reported preferences for physical attractiveness do have implications for long-term relationship outcomes.

When the Difference is in the Details: A Critique of “Stepping out of the Caveman's Shadow: Nations' Gender Gap Predicts Degree of Sex Differentiation in Mate Preferences”

In a recent 10-nation study, Zentner and Mitura (2012) reported observing smaller sex differences in mate preferences within nations that have higher gender parity. As noted in previous research, and in a re-analysis of Zentner and Mitura's own data, sex differences in some mate preferences (e.g., long-term mate preferences for physical attractiveness) are either unrelated to or actually get larger with higher national gender parity. It is critically important to distinguish among mate preference domains when looking for patterns of sexual differentiation across nations. Indeed, for many psychological domains (e.g., attachment styles, Big Five traits, Dark Triad traits, self-esteem, personal values, depression, emotional expression, crying behavior, intimate partner violence, tested mental abilities, health indicators; see Schmitt, 2012), sex differences are demonstrably larger in nations with higher sociopolitical gender parity. By not distinguishing among mate preferences, Zentner and Mitura committed a form of the ecological fallacy-making false conclusions about individual mate preferences when looking only at associations among groups of mate preferences.

More Than Just a Pretty Face and a Hot Body: Multiple Cues in Mate-Choice

ABSTRACT Matepreferences have been well studied in social and evolutionary psychology. In two studies (N = 490), using two different measurement techniques, we examined mate preferences for the body and the face in the context of other traits. Results replicated prior research on mate preferences across the sex of the participant and mating duration but clarified the nature of preferences for physical attractiveness. Generally, physical attractiveness was a necessity in short-term mating and for men and traits like kindness were a necessity in long-term mating and for women. Men wanted a short-term mate who had a good body, likely because that body advertises fertility whereas both sexes wanted a mate with a nice face for a long-term mate, which is likely because the face is a cue based on structural properties related to health. Sex and mating-duration differences on preferences for attractive faces and bodies were robust to differences in measurement technique.

Implicit and explicit preferences for physical attractiveness in a romantic partner: A double dissociation in predictive validity.

Five studies develop and examine the predictive validity of an implicit measure of the preference for physical attractiveness in a romantic partner. Three hypotheses were generally supported. First, 2 variants of the go/no-go association task revealed that participants, on average, demonstrate an implicit preference (i.e., a positive spontaneous affective reaction) for physical attractiveness in a romantic partner. Second, these implicit measures were not redundant with a traditional explicit measure: The correlation between these constructs was .00 on average, and the implicit measures revealed no reliable sex differences, unlike the explicit measure. Third, explicit and implicit measures exhibited a double dissociation in predictive validity. Specifically, explicit preferences predicted the extent to which attractiveness was associated with participants' romantic interest in opposite-sex photographs but not their romantic interest in real-life opposite-sex speed-daters or confederates. Implicit preferences showed the opposite pattern. This research extends prior work on implicit processes in romantic relationships and offers the first demonstration that any measure of a preference for a particular characteristic in a romantic partner (an implicit measure of physical attractiveness, in this case) predicts individuals' evaluation of live potential romantic partners.

Mixed Support for Sexual Selection Theories of Mate Preferences in the Swedish Population

Evolutionary theory predicts the existence of relatively stable sex differences in partner preferences with, for example, males being more concerned with traits predicting high fertility and females with traits predicting high resource availability. We tested three predictions using personal advertisements from both traditional newspapers and internet dating services. In accordance with predictions, men offered resources more often than did women, and women requested resources more often than did men. Males in all age-categories preferred younger partners. Young females preferred older males, but the pattern was reversed for the majority of females past their fertile period. In contrast to predictions, there was no difference between males and females in the degree to which they offered, or asked for, physical attractiveness. Based on our results and a review of previous studies, we suggest that sex differences in factual or advertised preference for physical attractiveness may be more labile than sex differences in preference for resources and status across societies.

Globalizing Evolution

An evolutionary perspective on physical attractiveness suggests that individuals find those characteristics associated with reproductive success attractive. Theory and existing data consistent with this view link perceptions of physical attractiveness to traits such as symmetry, status, and reproductive value. Here, we take this evolutionary perspective global to ask how do Chinese men and women rate the sexual beauty of East Asian compared with Caucasian models? We enlisted 74 Chinese men and women from Hohhot, a northern city, and Chengdu, a southern city, to rank photos of both Chinese and Caucasian male and female models obtained from Chinese magazines. We also elicited emic accounts for the ratings as complementary source of qualitative data. Results revealed that Chinese women ranked Caucasian male and female models as more attractive. Chinese men, however, did not differentially rank East Asian and Caucasian women, though they did rank Caucasian men as being more attractive. We suggest that, while an evolutionary novelty, a process of globalization can still be linked to potentially adaptive preferences for physical attractiveness, and call for more research in this vein.

Mate preferences among the Shuar of Ecuador: trait rankings and peer evaluations

A large body of research has examined sex differences in mate preferences, but very little of such work has been conducted in small-scale societies. Study 1 explored women's and men's mate preferences within a modern hunter-horticulturalist population in Amazonian Ecuador. In contrast to patterns documented in much of the existing literature, women and men from three Shuar villages were nearly identical in their stated preferences for physical attractiveness and resource-related traits, and physical attractiveness was ranked at the bottom among 19 traits. Study 2 examined the relationship between unmarried Shuar participants' assessments of the personal characteristics of known peers and their assessments of those peers as desirable long-term partners. When assessed using this method, physical attractiveness appeared to weigh much more heavily into Shuar evaluations of partner desirability, and a sex difference emerged in the preference for resource-related traits. Overall, there were substantial differences between individuals' stated preferences and their preferences as revealed in peer ratings. Across both measurement techniques, however, Shuar women and men were very similar in their preferences for physical attractiveness. These results raise questions about the universality of sex differences in mate preferences documented in the existing literature.

The Muscular Male: A Comparison of the Physical Attractiveness Preferences of Gay and Heterosexual Men

This study examined the association between sexual orientation and the perception of men's physical attractiveness. Twenty-seven heterosexual men and 23 gay men were asked to rate, according to physical attractiveness, a series of images of real men with known body mass index (BMI) and waist-to-chest ratio (WCR). The results showed that the WCR was the primary component of attractiveness ratings for both heterosexual and gay men. However, gay men showed a stronger preference for lower WCRs, indicating a preference for a more developed upper-body build. There were small differences in terms of preference for overall body weight, with both groups preferring an image with a BMI of about 21kg/m2. The findings are discussed in terms of gay culture, which emphasises the importance of muscularity in physical attraction.

Perceptions of female body weight and shape among indigenous and urban Europeans

Two important cues to female physical attractiveness are body mass index (BMI) and body shape as measured by the waist-to-hip ratio (WHR). This study examined the relative contribution of both cues in three culturally distinct populations. A total of 119 Finnish, Sámi and British male observers rated a set of un-edited photographs of women with known BMI and WHR. The results showed that there were significant differences in preferences for physical attractiveness, with the indigenous Sámi preferring figures with larger BMIs and more tolerant of heavyweight figures than either Finnish participants in Helsinki or Britons in London, who were indistinguishable in their preferences for slim figures. The findings are discussed in terms of evolutionary psychological explanations of mate selection, and sociocultural theories which emphasizes the learning of preferences for body sizes in social and cultural contexts.

The Effects of a Parenting Prime on Sex Differences in Mate Selection Criteria

This study tested an evolutionary hypothesis that the mere prospect of caring for a child will increase sex differences in human mate selection criteria. That is, women would adopt a stronger preference for socially dominant men when parenting had been primed and men would adopt a stronger preference for physically attractive women when parenting had been primed. Male and female university students were randomly assigned to be exposed to a parenting prime or a nonparenting prime. Following the priming procedure, participants rated the romantic appeal of a target person of the opposite sex. Exposure to the parenting prime, the target's social dominance, and the target's physical attractiveness were orthogonally manipulated. As predicted, women adopted a stronger mate preference for social dominance when parenting was at the forefront of the mind. Contrary to predictions, the parenting prime had no effect on men's mate preference for physical attractiveness.

The Influence of Body Mass Index on the Physical Attractiveness Preferences of Feminist and Nonfeminist Heterosexual Women and Lesbians

The present study examined associations between lesbian and feminist identity and predictors of female physical attractiveness. Seventy-two nonfeminist heterosexuals, 38 feminist heterosexuals, 75 nonfeminist lesbians, and 33 feminist lesbians were asked to rate according to physical attractiveness a set of images of real women with known body mass indexes (BMIs). The results showed that regardless of sexual orientation and feminist ascription, BMI was a dominant predictor of physical attractiveness. The results also showed that there were significant differences between lesbians and heterosexual women in BMIs of images found to be most attractive, with lesbians preferring images of women with significantly higher BMIs than heterosexual women. Self-identification as a feminist did not appear to be associated with a preference for larger BMIs. The findings are discussed in terms of sociocultural theory, which suggests that different communities may have different ideals of beauty.

Female physical attractiveness in Britain and Japan: a cross‐cultural study

Two purported cues to female physical attractiveness are body mass index (BMI) and body shape as measured by the waist‐to‐hip ratio (WHR). This study examined the relative contribution of both cues in two culturally distinct populations. Eighty‐two male participants from Britain and Japan were asked to rate a set of images of real women with known BMI and WHR. Results showed that BMI is the primary determinant of female physical attractiveness, whereas WHR failed to emerge as a significant predictor. Results also showed that there were significant differences in preferences for physical attractiveness, with Japanese participants preferring images of women with significantly lower BMIs than Britons. Finally, results showed that the Japanese are more reliant on body shape than Britons when judging physical attractiveness. The findings are discussed in terms of evolutionary psychological explanations of mate selection, and sociocultural theories which emphasise the learning of preferences in social and cultural contexts. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The effects of female control of resources on sex-differentiated mate preferences

A number of sex differences in mate preferences have been reported across cultures. Women prefer partners who are older than them whereas men prefer partners who are younger than them. Women have stronger preferences for resource-acquisition characteristics whereas men have stronger preferences for physical attractiveness. Recently, studies have reported shifts in female preferences with increasing female empowerment and associated female attitudes. Other studies, however, report opposite effects of female wealth and income. In this study, we investigated the effects of female control of the resources necessary to raise offspring successfully on mate preferences. We developed measures of resource control at the level of the individual and investigated relationships between these and mate preferences using an internet survey. Resource control was associated with preferences for physical attractiveness over good financial prospects and greater maximum partner age tolerated. Resource control, however, was also associated with tolerance of younger partners. The results implicate the role of constraints on female access to and control of resources in sex-differentiated mate preferences and highlight differences between resource control and wealth.

Female sexual advertisement reflects resource availability in twentieth-century UK society.

Evolutionary theory suggests that men and women differ in the characteristics valued in potential mates. In humans, males show a preference for physical attractiveness, whereas females seek cues that relate to resources and future earning potential. If women pursue marriage as an economic strategy, female sexual advertisement should increase during periods of poor economic conditions when the number of high-quality male partners becomes a limited resource. To test this prediction, measures of skin display and clothing tightness were taken for clothes portrayed in UK Vogue magazine from 1916 to 1999. These estimates of sexual advertisement were analyzed in relation to an index of economic prosperity (GDP), while controlling for general increases in economic conditions and sexual display over the course of the past century. The results indicate that female sexual display increases as economic conditions decline, with the level of breast display and the tightness of clothing at the waist and hips the key factors underlying this increase. Breast size and symmetry and female body form are secondary sexual characteristics that play an important role in sexual attractiveness. Since advertisement of these features increases as levels of competition for high-quality partners increases, females appear to use marriage as an economic strategy. Patterns of female fashion appear to be underpinned by evolutionary considerations relating resource availability to female reproductive success.