Men's Long-term Mate Preferences

What does facial femininity signal?

- Ability to reproduce - Age: the face becomes more masculine with age - Estrogen: higher levels of estrogen leads to more feminine face

WHR preference: cross-cultural evidence

- Across every culture, feminine WHR scores higher in attractiveness, healthiness, would like to marry, youthfulness - In foraging cultures, mean WHR is slightly higher, but men still prefer the more feminine of the locally represented women

What does healthy skin signal?

- Age - Lifetime health: parasite and disease resistance, good genes

What does healthy hair signal?

- Age: hair colour darkens with age - Health: long hair provides a record of health - Reproductive history: after a full term pregnancy and birth women's hair becomes more brittle and coarse

Cross-race ratings of facial attractiveness: Cunningham et al (1995)

- Asian, Hispanic, Black, and White women rated by men and women - Whether they were looking at someone of their own race or another, there was little variability of people's ratings of attractiveness

Benefits of commitment

- Better quality mates - Survival of offspring - Coalition building - Increased paternity certainty

What does waist-to-hip ratio cue?

- Biological sex: women's healthy WHR is 0.67-0.8 and men's is 0.85-0.95 - Age: women have smaller WHR at puberty, menopausal women have higher WHR - Fertility: estrogen balance (lower WHR cues higher estrogen) - Health (better cue than % body fat)

Solutions to avoiding sexual unfaithfulness

- Character - Emotional and behavioural adaptations: jealousy and mate guarding

General beauty preferences: Clelland & Beach (1951) on what US men find attractive

- Clear, bright skin - Big and bright eyes - Healthy, shiny hair - Strong teeth

Healthy hair signals: Heinsz et al (2001)

- Female research assistant surveyed women participants on their health while another assistant rated her hair on shine, grooming, smoothness, strength, and length. - Older and less healthy women had poorer quality hair

Effect of suspected cheating on sperm production: Kilgallon (2005) on cues of infidelity

- Had men masturbate to either an image of a women alone, or an image of a woman with two other men - When the woman is with other men, they participant produces more sperm

WHR preference: Signh and Randall (2007) on surgically altered WHR

- Had men rate photos in random order of women who underwent surgery to remove fat from the abdominal region and put it into the ass (decrease WHR) - In every single case, the woman is preferred post-op with the more feminine WHR.

% body fat variable preferences: Swami & Tovee (2007)

- High socioeconomic status: attractiveness ratings were higher for low BMI, but not unhealthily skinny - Low socioeconomic status: attractiveness ratings peaks at a higher BMI towards the low overweight range

Teens' age preferences: Kenrick et al (1996)

- Ideal maximum: peak reproductive value to peak fertility - Ideal minimum: prefer women of the same age, but 18 year olds are okay with almost two years younger

WHR preference: Singh (1993) research using line drawings

- In line drawings of women with varying WHR, both men and women prefer figure with 0.7 WHR - In line drawings of women with varying WHR and body fat (underweight, normal, overweight), men prefer normal weight, then underweight, then overweight models with 0.7 WHR.

Women's sexual desire as a function of ovulation: Stainslaw & Rice (1988)

- Married women tracked their cycles - Had women indicate whether they were feeling sexual desire at different parts of the day (pager method) - Sexual desire peaks at ovulation

Women's sexual desire as a function of ovulation and dating status: Pillsworth et al (2004)

- Mated women have increased sexual desire when ovulating - Unmated women experience no difference in sexual desire during ovulation (women who are unmated somehow suppress their sex drive)

Jealousy as an evolved mechanism: Buss et al (1992A) on sexual fidelity distress

- Men are more distressed by the thought of their partner cheating on them sexually. - Women are more distressed by the idea of their partner falling in love with someone else. - This is consistent across cultures.

Alternative to evolutionary explanation for youth: control hypothesis

- Men prefer younger women because they are less dominant and more easily controlled (not supported) - If the control hypothesis is valid, teenage boys should prefer younger girls who are more vulnerable than they are

How can the odds of faithfulness during ovulation be improved?

- Men should have a preference for ovulating women and should marry their mates. - Jealousy to step up mate guarding

What does youth cue?

- Potential ability to bear many children - Reproductive value: the expected reproduction of an individual from their current age onward (peaks at age of puberty) - Fertility: actual reproductive ability (peaks at mid-twenties)

Cross-race ratings of attractiveness and Western media influence

- Preference for facial femininity holds when controlling for exposure to Western media images - New exchange students to the West still have the same preferences

How is the problem of cryptic ovulation overcome?

- Preference for ovulating women - Marriage (to claim mates) - Jealousy - Mate guarding - Physiologically reproductive adaptations

What character preferences do men exhibit in the long-term?

- Preference for premarital chastity (moreso in areas without birth control) - Preference for premarital non-promiscuity (indicator of post-marital promiscuity, more important cue than chastity)

Preference for youth: Kenrick & Keefe (1992) personal ads research

- Preference for youth varies with men's age - Men of all ages prefer women who are younger than them, but the younger men will settle for women who are slightly older

What are the negative consequences of being a cuckhold?

- Reproduction - Resources - Reputation

Neuroscience of beauty: Aharon et al (2001)

- Reward value of 4 sets of faces - Nucleus accumbens of men was activated when viewing pictures of very attractive women, but not when exposed to ordinary women, very attractive men, or ordinary men

What skin characteristics do men prefer?

- Rosy cheeks - Light skin tones

WHR preference: Karremans et al (2010) on congenitally blind

- Sighted men, blindfolded men, blind men felt up models and each preferred women with WHR of 0.70 - Blind men who have not been exposed to cultural images still have the preference

How do men detect ovulation?

- Skin cues: vascularization, lightening - Body odour cues: men prefer the scent of ovulating to non-fertile women - Body composition cues: WHR becomes marginally more feminine - Women's behaviour: more revealing clothes and more red and pink

Why does marriage increase certainty of paternity?

- Social traditions associated with public joinings - Ease of mate guarding - Ease of cheating detection - Consistent sexual access

Relationship violence and age: Daly & Wilson (1989)

- The larger the age gap between spouses, the higher the likelihood of violence occurring in the relationship - Preferences are relative depending on age of male

Benefits for the preference for ovulating women

- Timing of courtship efforts: likelihood of successful fertilization and efficient use of time, energy, and resources - Timing of mate-guarding efforts

What part of the brain is associated with recognition of beauty?

Nucleus accumbens: pleasure center of the brain - Rats: stimulation by electrode results in feeling of pleasure - Neurosurgery: stimulation by neurosurgeon results in intense feeling of pleasure - fMRI research: reportings of high emotionality (joy) are associated with high activity

Jealousy as an evolved mechanism: Buss et al (1992B) on physiological measures of distress

- Took physiological measures of distress while men imagine one of two scenarios (partner has fallen in love with someone else or partner has cheated sexually) - The measures of distress are more extreme for men when they imagine their partner sexually cheating on them

General beauty preferences: Malinowski (1929) on what Trobriand Islanders find attractive

- Tribe members had never seen anyone other than another Islander - Had same preferences as US men: bright and healthy skin, eyes, teeth - Particularly repulsed by women who had sores on their skin

Preference for youth: Buss's 37 cultures

- Women prefer men who are older than themselves and men prefer younger women - Magnitude of preference varies across cultures

Three components of attractiveness

1. Behaviour (energy level) 2. Physical (facial) beauty 3. Body size and composition

Men's long-term mating puzzles

1. Ability to reproduce: choose women who are able to have lots of healthy babies, as indicated by cues of fertility (youth and attractiveness) 2. Paternity uncertainty: choose women who are likely to have their babies, as solved by ovulation signals, jealousy and mate guarding, and character (sexually faithful)

Jealousy as an evolved mechanism: Daly & Wilson (1988) on male aggression

A very significant proportion of wife beatings were accompanied by the husbands' thoughts that the wife was cheating on him

What does attractiveness cue?

Fertility: actual ability to bear many healthy children

What is the problem for men regarding cryptic ovulation?

Men don't have the cue of when to mate with and then guard her

Women's misconception of men's preferences: Rozin & Fallon (1985, 1988), Ostovich & Rozin (2004)

Men indicated on picture graph the body they found most attractive, which was of higher body fat than what women indicated to be men's preferred size

Preference for youth: Yanomamo Indians

Moko dude: term that describes both a fruit that is perfectly ripe and the ideal woman who is ready to reproduce

What does % body fat cue?

Reproductive fitness (in extremes) - Really thin: hard to get pregnant and carry baby to term - Really fat: reproduction becomes more difficult Age: Heavier weight people are perceived to be older

Why is the preference for % body fat variable across time and place?

Resource availability: in areas with less resources, men prefer fatter women

What is men's biggest concern when choosing a long term mate?

Sexual faithfulness: the most indispensable trait (as rated by men) is faithfulness and sexual loyalty

Why does being mated affect the level of sexual desire during ovulation?

Unconscious mechanism to prevent the occurrence a pregnancy with no man to take care of it

Why should men commit?

When commitment increases reproductive success

Effect of suspected cheating on sperm production: Baker (1995) on time spent together versus apart

When men are in a situation where they haven't been with their partner, they produce almost double the amount of sperm

Effect of suspected cheating on sexual technique

When men have been away from their partners for a period of time, they are likely to have oral sex first and thrust deeper and harder during sex.