ABSTRACT Chinese adults’ preference for long-term partners who had a gender-congruent or gender-incongruent occupation were examined. Participants were 442 university students who described themselves as heterosexual. They evaluated opposite-sex targets in traditional female or male occupations. It was found that the Chinese adults endorsed traditional occupational roles in the selection of ideal partners. Men viewed women in feminine occupations to be more family-oriented, more sexually loyal, and more likely to treat their male partners as the head of household, compared with women in masculine occupations. Women viewed men with traditional male occupations as more work-oriented and more likely to be the head of household, but less sexually loyal and less family-oriented. The results are relevant for interventions aimed at increasing people’s participation in counter-stereotypical careers.