4.0 Article

Attractive Women Want it All: Good Genes, Economic Investment, Parenting Proclivities, and Emotional Commitment

Journal

EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGY
Volume 6, Issue 1, Pages 134-146

Publisher

SAGE PUBLICATIONS INC
DOI: 10.1177/147470490800600116

Keywords

mating; mate value; attractiveness; genes; investment; parenting

Ask authors/readers for more resources

The current research tests the hypothesis that women have an evolved mate value calibration adaptation that functions to raise or lower their standards in a long-term mate according to their own mate value. A woman's physical attractiveness is a cardinal component of women's mate value. We correlated observer-assessed physical attractiveness (face, body, and overall) with expressed preferences for four clusters of mate characteristics (N = 214): (1) hypothesized good-gene indicators (e. g., masculinity, sexiness); (2) hypothesized good investment indicators (e. g., potential income); (3) good parenting indicators (e. g., desire for home and children), and (4) good partner indicators (e. g., being a loving partner). Results supported the hypothesis that high mate value women, as indexed by observer-judged physical attractiveness, expressed elevated standards for all four clusters of mate characteristics. Discussion focuses on potential design features of the hypothesized mate-value calibration adaptation, and suggests an important modification of the trade-off model of women's mating. A minority of women notably those low in mate value who are able to escape male mate guarding and the manifold costs of an exposed infidelity-will pursue a mixed mating strategy, obtaining investment from one man and good genes from an extra-pair copulation partner (as the trade-off model predicts). Since the vast majority of women secure genes and direct benefits from the same man, however, most women will attempt to secure the best combination of all desired qualities from the same man.

Authors

I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.

Reviews

Primary Rating

4.0
Not enough ratings

Secondary Ratings

Novelty
-
Significance
-
Scientific rigor
-
Rate this paper

Recommended

No Data Available
No Data Available