ArticlePDF Available

Buss, David M. 1989. “Sex Differences in Human Mate Preferences: Evolutionary Hypotheses Tested in 37 Cultures.” Behavioral and Brain Sciences

Authors:
David M Buss at University of Texas at Austin
David M Buss
Download full-text PDFDownload full-text PDF
Read full-text
Download citation

Abstract

Contemporary mate preferences can provide important clues to human reproductive history. Little is known about which characteristics people value in potential mates. Five predictions were made about sex differences in human mate preferences based on evolutionary conceptions of parental investment, sexual selection, human reproductive capacity, and sexual asymmetries regarding certainty of paternity versus maternity. The predictions centered on how each sex valued earning capacity, ambition— industriousness, youth, physical attractiveness, and chastity. Predictions were tested in data from 37 samples drawn from 33 countries located on six continents and five islands (total N = 10,047). For 27 countries, demographic data on actual age at marriage provided a validity check on questionnaire data. Females were found to value cues to resource acquisition in potential mates more highly than males. Characteristics signaling reproductive capacity were valued more by males than by females. These sex differences may reflect different evolutionary selection pressures on human males and females; they provide powerful cross-cultural evidence of current sex differences in reproductive strategies. Discussion focuses on proximate mechanisms underlying mate preferences, consequences for human intrasexual competition, and the limitations of this study.
buss-1989-sex-differences-in-human-mate-preferenc
es.pdf
Content uploaded by David M Buss
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by David M Buss on Sep 03, 2016
Content may be subject to copyright.
0912f51437077f00730000
00.pdf
Content uploaded by David M Buss
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by David M Buss
Content may be subject to copyright.
... At least that's the way it is, magazines and television don't show just any faces -mostly they show attractive faces. Attractiveness also affects the choice of partner, as both women and men place great value on good looks in a potential partner [7]. People have always strived for eternal youth and perfection to maintain attractiveness and it has never been easier than nowadays, when you can have wrinkles removed -quick as a coffee to go -with botulinum toxin [8,9]. ...
... In modern societies in Europe, Asia and North America a very slim physique is considered attractive, as portrayed in the media [20]. Since preferences influence mate choice, they may also have evolved through sexual selection in addition to cultural influences [7]. Given that some studies have found a cross-cultural consensus on perceived attractiveness of faces, this may support the theory that certain preferences are part of our biological rather than cultural heritage [17,21]. ...
When the Desire for Beauty Becomes Pathological: The Body Dysmorphic Disorder -An Overview
Article
Full-text available
  • May 2024
This article provides an overview of the development of the body dysmorphic disorder in the context of various prevailing ideals of beauty. The distinction from simple body dissatisfaction is presented, also in view of brain-organic as well as neurochemical differences. Individuals with body dysmorphic disorder have an increased sensitivity to the detection of detail-instead of a holistic view-, making them more likely to notice flaws or blemishes that are unnoticeable to others. This distorted perception can be corrected in the context of cognitive behavioural therapy, provided that the body dysmorphic disorder is recognised as such. The concealment by comorbidities as well as the consequences for affected persons and treatment options are described.
View
... A notable contribution to the discussion of gender values and gender differences in values have come from evolutionary scientists, particularly evolutionary psychologists and evolutionary anthropologists (Buss 1989(Buss , 2007Buss et al. 2020;Fromhage and Jennions 2016;Van Vugt and Smith 2019). Sexual selection theory predicts the existence of male and female reproductive strategies associated with access to reproductive partners as well as parental behavior (Wade and Shuster 2002;Kaplan and Lancaster 2003). ...
... There is an obvious conflict between sexes over levelling the amount of parental investment (Geary 2000;Archer 2009). In humans, males represent the lesser-investing sex, they mate at lower cost and are potentially biased towards mating with more partners, compared to females, the more-investing sex (Buss 1989(Buss , 2007Buss et al. 2020;Fromhage and Jennions 2016). Although good-father mate values correlate positively with paternal investment in offspring (mainly in the form of provisioning), the intrinsic imbalance in biparental care is obvious (Chang et al. 2017). ...
Global Evolutionary Perspectives on Gender Differences in Religiosity, Family, Politics and Pro-Social Values Based on the Data from the World Values Survey
Article
Full-text available
  • Mar 2024
Recent studies show that the global increase in gender equality does not reduce gender differences in values. These findings somewhat undermine the social role theory and increase the need for additional explanations. These findings also imply that gender differences in values may stem from some underlying universalities that persist even through changes associated with socio-economic development. This gives us reason to explore an evolutionary perspective on gender differences in values. We discuss evolutionary mechanisms that could underlie certain universal gender differences in values, and then test whether these differences are truly universal across the world (we use data from World Values Survey to search for empirical support for our evolutionary hypotheses). We provide evidence for the global scale of gender differences in religiosity, family values, political values, and pro-social values through our calculations.
View
... Indirect strategies are highly effective in women's competition, and they are often directed against women who are considered threats to themselves or to their current relationship. It has been suggested that women have evolved mechanisms that increase their vigilance to potential threats [10], and this is amplified by the features that men find important in other women [11], such as physical attractiveness. For instance, women consider attractive features, such as lower waist-to-hip ratios, facial femininity, and larger breasts, as potential threats [12]. ...
The Role of Breast Morphology in Women's Rival Derogation Tactics
Article
Full-text available
  • Jun 2024
Physical features that are desired by the opposite sex may drive competition between members of the same sex to gain access to potential mates. Women's breasts are considered sexually attractive to men, and it has been shown that women may engage in competitive tactics to compete with or derogate women with ideal physical traits (i.e., physically attractive features). In the current online study, we investigated Hispanic women's (n = 114) perceptions of breast stimuli that had been manipulated to display four levels of breast size (A-, B-, C-, and D-cup) and three levels of ptosis (i.e., levels of sagginess: non, low, and high) and their likelihood of engaging in rival derogation tactics, such as verbal and indirect aggression. The findings demonstrated that women were more likely to engage in rival derogation towards women with larger breast sizes. Women's dispositional level of intrasexual competition did not play a role in rival derogation tactics. The results are in line with previous research suggesting that women's rival derogation tactics are likely to be targeted towards women with attractive features that are desired by men.
View
... From an evolutionary perspective, attractiveness reflects a preference for adaptations that increase survival and reproduction 18,19 . Accordingly, attractiveness is affected by physical features [20][21][22] , resources, social position, and strength [23][24][25][26] . ...
Social and nonsocial synchrony are interrelated and romantically attractive
Article
Full-text available
  • Jun 2024
The mechanisms of romantic bonding in humans are largely unknown. Recent research suggests that physiological synchrony between partners is associated with bonding. This study combines an experimental approach with a naturalistic dating setup to test whether the individual differences in social and nonsocial synchrony are interdependent, and linked to romantic attractiveness. In a preregistered online experiment with 144 participants, we discover that inducing physiological synchrony between an actor and an actress determines their attractiveness ratings by participants, indicating that synchrony can increase perceived attraction. In a lab-based naturalistic speed-dating experiment, we quantify in 48 participants the individual tendency for social physiological synchrony, nonsocial sensorimotor synchrony, and romantic attractiveness. We discover that the individual propensity to synchronize in social and nonsocial tasks is correlated. Some individuals synchronize better regardless of partners or tasks, and such Super Synchronizers are rated as more attractive. Altogether, this demonstrates that humans prefer romantic partners who can synchronize.
View
... Women's appearance influence their success in mating competition, as men exhibit stronger preferences than do women for mates who are young (Maestripieri et al., 2014;Mathes et al., 1985;Matts et al., 2007;McLellan & McKelvie, 1993) and physically attractive (Bar-Tal & Saxe, 1976;Buss, 1989;Townsend & Wasserman, 1998;Walter et al., 2020). Compared to their heavier counterparts, thinner women are perceived as more physically attractive in many cultures (Kurzban & Weeden, 2005;Perilloux et al., 2013;Weeden & Sabini, 2007) and are more likely to attract mates with resources (Averett et al., 2008;Oreffice & Quintana-Domeque, 2010). ...
Exploring Within-Gender Differences in Friendships Using an Online Social Network
Article
Full-text available
  • Jun 2024
  • ARCH SEX BEHAV
People tend to befriend others similar to themselves, generating a pattern called homophily. However, existing studies on friendship patterns often rely on surveys that assess the perspective of relatively few participants on their friendships but do not measure actualized friendship patterns. Here, we used data from a large Slovakian online social network to assess the role of gender, age, and body mass index (BMI) in same-gender online connections among more than 400,000 users. We found that age and BMI homophily occurred in both men’s and women’s same-gender connections, but somewhat more strongly among men’s. Yet, as women diverged in BMI, their connections were less likely to be reciprocated. We discuss how the evolutionary legacy of men’s coalitional competition (e.g., warfare) and women’s mating competition or recruitment of allocare providers might contribute to these patterns in modern same-gender relationships. For example, men’s engagement in physical activities may lead to similar formidability levels among their same-gender peers. Altogether, our findings highlight the importance of trait similarity to same-gender friendship patterns.
View
... Sexual selection theory predicts that most aggressive competition, particularly over resources, should occur within the sexes (Buss, 1989;Campbell, 1999;Darwin, 1871). While most studies have not reported the targets of preschool children's aggression, those that have generally find that boys more often target boys and girls more often target girls (McGrew, 1972;Ostrov & Keating, 2004;Pellegrini et al., 2007;Smith & Green, 1975), both consistent with sexual selection theory. ...
A Quantitative Comparison of Patterns of Play and Conflict in Nature Preschool and Traditional Preschool Children in Norway
Article
Full-text available
  • May 2024
Early childhood experiences have lifelong physical, social, emotional, and cognitive impacts. High quality early childhood education and care (ECEC) can put children on the path to personal development, lifelong learning, and future employability. Among the fastest growing ECEC options are nature-based preschools, where children spend most or all of each day outdoors in natural environments, but comparative studies of children’s behavior in nature-based versus traditional preschools are needed. We conducted an observational study comparing conflict, activity patterns, and play behavior among children at a nature preschool and a traditional preschool, both in Norway, where access to high quality ECEC is a universal right. We found that preschool children’s behavior varied with time spent outdoors in natural environments: (1) play was more physically active, less gendered, and less often incorporated human-made items at the nature preschool, (2) conflict was almost twice as common at the traditional preschool, and (3) daily group activities at the traditional preschool like sitting down to a cooked meal and gathering up and putting away toys were absent from the nature preschool. While both the traditional and nature preschools offered children equal amounts of play time and a variety of physically and socially stimulating play activities, our results suggest that access to natural environments impacts preschool children’s behavior and interactions in meaningful ways.
View
... First, the SSSM model contains the term "cultur*" which returns work containing mention of "cultural", "cultures", "cultured" and so on. Brushing aside concerns as to whether work on culture should be classed as SSSM by default (some of the best EP work involves examinations of cultural differences and similarities; Buss, 1989;Thomas et al., 2019), the issue here is that culture has different meanings within different scientific sub-disciplines. In biomedical research, it refers to a growth of microorganisms, cells, and tissues in a laboratory setting. ...
The Scientific Revolution of Evolutionary Psychology: Current Status and Future Directions. A Commentary on Zagaria (2024)
Article
Full-text available
  • May 2024
Objectives: A bibliometric analysis by Zagaria (2024) claimed that research in Evolutionary Psychology (EP) lags behind research grounded in the Standard Social Science Model (SSSM) in prevalence and growth rate, questioning EP’s status as a scientific revolution. This commentary aims to re-evaluate Zagaria’s findings and conclusions. We raise two major concerns about his analysis. First, Zagaria’s EP syntax excluded key EP terms like fitness, psychological adaptation, and parental investment, while the SSSM syntax included homonyms (e.g., culture) not always relevant to SSSM (e.g., tissue culture in medicine). Second, the analysis included non-scientific journals from fields like gender studies, skewing results since EP is not intended to influence non-scientific fields like dance therapy or tourism studies. Focusing on high-impact psychology journals would better reflect EP’s influence. Methods: We revised the SSSM syntax to “cultural” and updated the EP syntax by adding “inclusive fitness,” “parental investment,” and “psychological adaptation.” Our analysis also used year-by-year data and 5- and 10-year rolling averages to assess trends more accurately. Results: Our analysis found that growth in EP and SSSM research is comparable over time, and the ratio of SSSM to EP papers was overstated by at least 23%. Conclusion: We highlight metrics that should be weighted more heavily than publication quantity, such as effect magnitude, universality, and replicability. By these metrics, EP is arguably outperforming the SSSM and embodies elements of the Kuhnian scientific revolution discussed by Zagaria (2024). This commentary offers a more optimistic vision for EP’s current status and future directions.
View
Young Adults’ Desired Life Tradeoffs: Love First, Sex Last
Preprint
Full-text available
  • Jun 2024
Every human and non-animal must make tradeoffs in investments in terms of time, energy, and resources. The aim of this study was to extrapolate from the types of investments in survival and mating that non-human animals make and translate these into human motivations. 16 potential goals were presented to 851 childless, 18-23-year-old adults from 11 world regions in an online study. Each young adult was asked to weight the importance of every goal to his or her ideal life. Weights had to sum to 100, requiring tradeoffs. Results revealed striking agreement across young adults with only four goals weighted above chance. The two most important goals were having a mutually loving romantic relationship and being healthy followed by earning money or resources, with lots of sexual partners the least important goal. Helping young adults achieve success requires understanding their goals, rather than focusing on popular media’s depictions of what young adults should desire.
View
The effects on women’s pragmatic love style and benefactor interests of exposure to a romantic fairy tale青年期女子の実利主義的恋愛観の規定因: ──ファンタジー物語との接触の影響
Article
  • Jun 2024
The two studies examined the effects of exposure to a romantic fairy tale on women’s pragmatic love styles and their benefactor interests. Female college students read either Cinderella or Helen Keller stories. The control group read no story. The results showed that the Cinderella group significantly increased their benefactor interests as well as their indirect power aspirations, including indirectly seeking economic rewards and social prestige from their romantic male partners, compared to the Helen Keller group. The Cinderella group also estimated that their future spouse would have a higher income than the Helen Keller group. In conclusion, women’s pragmatic love style could be socialized or cultivated within the social structure, including the media. Therefore, women’s pragmatic love style, as well as their benefactor interests, may vary according to possible changes in the future of Japan’s social structure, including the structure of the gender gap and the media.
View
View
Historical Anthropology of the Family
Book
  • Nov 1986
This historical anthropology of the family represents a new departure in family studies. Over the past ten years or so, the social scientific sociological analysis of the family has undergone a change, and has been obliged to reconsider its traditional view that industrialisation triggered a shift within society from the 'large family', which fulfilled all social functions from socialising the children to caring for the sick and the old, to the modern nuclear family, which was regarded solely as being the locus for emotional relationships. Historians have shown that in the past there was in fact a great variety of different family structures within a wide range of varying demographic, economic and cultural frameworks, distinctive for each society. At the same time, the interaction between sociology and social anthropology has led to a clearer conceptual analysis of that vague, polysemic term 'family'; and notions of dwelling-place, descent, marriage, the relative roles of husband and wife and parent-child relations, as well as the more general relations between generations, have in a variety of past and present social contexts been taken apart and analysed. In this book, Martine Segalen reviews and synthesises a rich wealth of often little-known European and North American historical and social anthropological material on the family. This results in a reversal of the frequently held view of the family as an institution in decline, showing it instead to be both dynamic and resistant.
View
View
View
View
Heritable variation in fitness as a prerequisite for adaptive female choice: the effect of mutation-selection balance
Article
  • Jul 1988
  • EVOLUTION
Modele genetique suggerant que l'equilibre mutation-selection seul est suffisant pour produire des variations hereditaires substantielles dans le fitness total dans le cas du choix femelle lorsque les mâles ne contribuent pas a des benefices materiels
View
View
Campus Values in Mate Selection: A Repeat Study
Article
  • May 1958
The abstract for this document is available on CSA Illumina.To view the Abstract, click the Abstract button above the document title.
View
View
Heredity and Sociological Theories of Delinquency: A Reconsideration
Article
  • Aug 1984
In most sociological treatments of crime and delinquency, genetic explanations are either ignored or ridiculed. While the belief that single genetic defects produce delinquent behavior is untenable, modern genetic theory is concerned with the influence of many genes on normal human behavioral variation. This analysis of genetic variation can be united with sociological theory. In particular, a twin study of the covariation between delinquent behavior and association with delinquent peers is used to demonstrate the value of a behavioral genetic analysis for developing social theory. The phenotypic correlation between self-reported "delinquency" and the "delinquency of friends" is apportioned to three theoretical sources: genetic variation; common environmental influences that affect family members equally; and specific environmental influences that affect each individual uniquely. Of the three component sources, genetic factors contributed most to the phenotypic covariation in this study. Although genetic factors are implicated, this result does not mean that delinquency is either a direct result of biological differences or that it is inevitable. Rather, it shows that causal sequences leading to delinquency are traceable to individual differences in genes, so any social causation entails either individual differences in reactions to social processes or differential social reactions to already differing individuals. Implications of behavioral genetic analyses of covariation for theories of delinquency are discussed.
View
View