Discrepancies in Mate Preferences among Chinese Families between Fathers, Mothers, and Children: A Latent Profile Analysis

Parents develop their own preferences regarding prospective in-laws, which influence their children's mate selection processes and outcomes. From an evolutionary perspective, fathers, mothers, and their offspring have partially divergent genetic interests, potentially leading to conflicts in mate preferences. Currently, the characteristics of discrepancy profiles in mate preferences within Chinese families and their influencing factors remain unclear. Adopting an individual-centered perspective, this study examined the profiles of discrepancies in mate preferences between fathers, mothers, and children across a diverse set of Chinese families, along with their associations with family relations and evaluations of children. This study recruited 337 complete families. The results revealed three distinct profiles of father-mother mate preference discrepancies in families with sons and four profiles in families with daughters. Additionally, both families with sons and daughters displayed three profiles of discrepancies in parent-child mate preferences. Parental perceptions of marital relationships and their evaluations of children were linked to diverse father-mother discrepancy profiles in both families with sons and daughters. The father-son relationship was associated with the profiles of parent-child discrepancies in families with sons, while maternal evaluations of children and daughters' self-evaluations were related to the profiles of parent-child discrepancies in families with daughters. This study provides insights into understanding the conflict patterns and underlying reasons regarding mate preference between Chinese parents and their children within family settings.

Arranged and non-arranged marriages have similar reproductive outcomes in Nepal

Much of the evolutionary literature on mate choice presumes that individual mate preferences function to increase individual fitness, and this assumption has been confirmed in several experimental studies with animals. However, human mate choice, in many cultures, is heavily controlled by parents via arranged marriages, rather than the selection of the marrying individuals. Several studies have demonstrated that parents and offspring do not exhibit identical preferences for an in-law or spouse, respectively. If parental choice thwarts offspring's evolved mate preferences from being expressed, then arranged marriages should reduce fitness. Using data from the Chitwan Valley Family Study, I examined whether having an arranged marriage, as compared to a non-arranged marriage, is associated with differences in total births, offspring survival to age 15, or interbirth intervals in Nepal, a culture with a rich history of arranged marriage. I find that there are no differences in any reproductive outcomes between arranged, co-selected, and self-selected marriages. These results indicate that individuals in arranged and non-arranged marriages may achieve similar fitness outcomes via different pathways, which may be unique to human mating systems.

Parental Interference in Offspring's Mate Choice: Sets of Actions and Counteractions Based on Both Perspectives

Mate choice in humans is specific by the involvement of kin both in partner choice and in the functioning of the relationship. The influence of relatives ranges from providing advice all the way to arranged marriages. Existing research so far tended to map neither the actual parental interventions and further reactions (counteractions) nor the independently pursued behavior (actions) by which the offspring or their partners assert their interests. This study identified such sets of behaviors through semi-structured individual interviews with members of 20 dyads of adult offspring and their biological parents (five son-mother, five son-father, five daughter-mother, and five daughter-father dyads). Thematic analysis revealed sets of parental actions aimed at the offspring, their partners, and the couple as a whole, as well as further counteractions (reactions to parental interference) and independently pursued behavior (actions) of the offspring and their partners aimed at the parents in the context of the offspring's previous or current relationship. Our findings showed that parental interference differed depending on the recipient: toward the couple were applied mainly indirect and supportive parental actions, whereas when facing their offspring or offspring's partner, parents' actions were more direct and disruptive. Our results thus indicate the importance of reporting about actual interactions which differ from the hypothetical settings used in prior studies by lower intensity. Moreover, by interviewing both members of dyads, we expanded the sets of actions and counteractions identified by prior studies and managed to limit self-reporting bias.

Socioeconomic benefits and limited parent-offspring disagreement in arranged marriages in Nepal

Mate preferences probably evolved to increase fitness; however, studies using arranged and non-arranged marriage as proxies for limited and free mate choice (respectively) do not find any reproductive differences. We explore why arranged and non-arranged marriages are an imperfect proxy for limited and free-choice matings and what fitness effects different marriage types could produce. Data from focus group discussions with men and women in Nepal show that there are three spouse choice categories with differing levels of parental influence over mate choice, reinforcing that arranged and non-arranged are not dichotomous. Discussions also show that parents and offspring, especially sons, may be more aligned in in-law/mate preferences than expected, demonstrating the need to establish clear domains of parent-offspring disagreement over spouse choice in the community before investigating fitness. Several social and financial benefits that are only available to arranged couples in this community were detected, and these benefits could compensate for any costs of not choosing a spouse independently. These benefits of arranged marriage are more salient for women than for men. These discussions indicate that predictions about the effects of spouse choice on fitness outcomes may differ for men and women and depend on community-specific socioeconomic benefits.

Paternity Uncertainty and Parent-Offspring Conflict Explain Restrictions on Female Premarital Sex across Societies

Although norms of premarital sex vary cross-culturally, the sexuality of adolescent girls has been consistently more restricted than that of adolescent boys. Three major theories that attempt to explain restrictions on female premarital sex (FPS) concern male, female, and parental control. These competing theories have not been tested against each other cross-culturally. In this study, we do this using a sample of 128 nonindustrial societies and socioecological predictors capturing extramarital sex, paternal care, female status, sex ratio, parental control over a daughter's mate choice, residence, and marriage transactions, while also controlling for phylogenetic non-independence across societies. We found that multiple parties benefit from restrictions on FPS. Specifically, FPS is more restricted in societies intolerant of extramarital sex and where men transfer property to their children (male control), as well as where marriages are arranged by parents (parental control). Both paternity uncertainty (partitioned among marital fidelity and paternal investment) and parent-offspring conflict (prompting parents to control their daughter's sexuality) were identified as possible mechanisms of FPS restrictions. The evidence for female control is ambiguous, mainly because it can be equally well interpreted as both male control and parental control, and because fathers, rather than mothers, are often the primary decision makers about a daughter's mate choice. Our results also emphasize the importance of social roles, rather than stereotyped sex roles, as a more useful approach to understanding the evolution of FPS restrictions.

Different predictors of intimate partner and natal family violence against women

Background

Violence against women is often studied in the context of violence from intimate partners. However, women receive violence from a wider range of individuals—such as their natal kin—including their siblings, parents, uncles and cousins. Applying insights from evolutionary theory, we examine whether cousin marriage, which has been hypothesized to both reduce the risk of partner violence but increase the risk of natal family violence, associates differently with each type of violence. Second, we test whether common risk factors for partner violence, such as wealth, associate similarly with natal violence.

Methodology

We analyse over 16 000 Jordanian women from three cohorts of the Jordan Demographic Health Surveys. Predictor variables include type of cousin marriage (patrilateral or matrilateral), education, wealth, number of children, urban living and polygyny. Outcome variables include whether a woman’s husband or her natal family has ever been physically violent towards her.

Results

Being married to a patrilateral cousin but not a matrilateral cousin is associated with a reduced risk of reporting intimate partner violence (IPV). By contrast being married to a matrilateral cousin but not a patrilateral one is associated with a reduced risk of reporting natal family violence. As expected, wealth is negatively associated with reporting partner violence, but we find no association with reports of natal family violence. Finally, individuals with more children are more likely to report IPV.

Conclusions and implications

Findings indicate the importance of distinguishing between types of cousin marriage and highlight substantial differences in risk factors for intimate partner compared to natal family violence.

Lay Summary

Sociodemographic risk factors, such as wealth, may associate differently with intimate partner and natal family violence. Results suggest that whether cousin marriage is protective of violence may depend on the type of cousin and secondly, that violence can have fitness relevant outcomes.

Phenotypic Signals of Sexual Selection and Fast Life History Dynamics for the Long-Term but Not Short-Term Mating

Mating patterns are crucial for understanding selection regimes in current populations and highly implicative for sexual selection and life history theory. However, empirical data on the relations between mating and reproductive outcomes in contemporary humans are lacking. In the present research we examined the sexual selection on mating (with an emphasis on Bateman's third parameter - the association between mating and reproductive success) and life history dynamics of mating by examining the relations between mating patterns and a comprehensive set of variables which determine human reproductive ecology. We conducted two studies (Study 1: N = 398, Study 2: N = 996, the sample was representative for participants' sex, age, region, and settlement size). The findings from these studies were mutually congruent and complementary. In general, the data suggested that short-term mating was unrelated or even negatively related to reproductive success. Conversely, long-term mating was positively associated with reproductive success (number of children in Study 1; number of children and grandchildren in Study 2) and there were indices that the beneficial role of long-term mating is more pronounced in males, which is in accordance with Bateman's third principle. Observed age of first reproduction mediated the link between long-term mating and number of children but only in male participants (Study 2). There were no clear indications of the position of the mating patterns in human life history trajectories; however, the obtained data suggested that long-term mating has some characteristics of fast life history dynamics. Findings are implicative for sexual selection and life history theory in humans.

The Mediating Role of Parental Influence on the Relationship Between Adult Children's Filial Piety Beliefs and Mate Preferences

In the present study, we aim to examine the mediating roles of the two types of perceived parental influence in the relation between the dual filial piety model and adult children's long-term mate preferences. A survey was administered to 499 Chinese adult children on their filial piety beliefs, perceptions about parental influence, and long-term mate preferences. Structural equation modeling revealed the following findings. (a) For both genders, reciprocal filial piety was positively correlated with good father/mother traits, and authoritarian filial piety was positively correlated with good gene traits. (b) For both genders, sensitivity from the perceived parental influence mediated the link between authoritarian filial piety and good provider traits. (c) For females, sensitivity mediated the link between authoritarian filial piety and good gene traits. (d) For males, parental monitoring from perceived parental influence mediated the link between authoritarian filial piety and good gene and good mother traits. In addition, authoritarian filial piety was positively correlated with good provider and good mother traits. In summary, filial piety can link both directly and indirectly to mate preference through parental sensitivity for males and females and through parental monitoring mainly for males.

Adults' facial impressions of children's niceness, but not shyness, show modest accuracy

Lay wisdom warns against "judging a book by its cover." However, facial first impressions influence people's behaviour towards others, so it is critical that we understand whether these impressions are at all accurate. Understanding impressions of children's faces is particularly important because these impressions can have social consequences during a crucial time of development. Here, we examined the accuracy of two traits that capture the most variance in impressions of children's faces, niceness and shyness. We collected face images and parental reports of actual niceness/shyness for 86 children (4-11 years old). Different images of the same person can lead to different impressions, and so we employed a novel approach by obtaining impressions from five images of each child. These images were ambient, representing the natural variability in faces. Adult strangers rated the faces for niceness (Study 1) or shyness (Study 2). Niceness impressions were modestly accurate for different images of the same child, regardless of whether these images were presented individually or simultaneously as a group. Shyness impressions were not accurate, for images presented either individually or as a group. Together, these results demonstrate modest accuracy in adults' impressions of niceness, but not shyness, from children's faces. Furthermore, our results reveal that this accuracy can be captured by images which contain natural face variability, and holds across different images of the same child's face. These results invite future research into the cues and causal mechanisms underlying this link between facial impressions of niceness and nice behaviour in children.

Attitudes Towards Cousin Marriages: Findings Among Young People from Mexico

The present research examined how life history and resistance against interethnic mating were related to positive and negative attitudes towards cousin marriages among young people aged between 15 and 25 from a rural area in the Mexican state of Oaxaca. The sample included three ethnic groups: Mestizos (people of mixed Spanish and indigenous descent, n = 84), indigenous Mixtecs (n = 83), and Afro-Mexicans (n = 33). In general, respondents reported more negative than positive attitudes towards cousin marriage. Among the Mestizos, but not in the other ethnic groups, women reported more negative attitudes than men did. The main objections against marrying a cousin were that it might lead to family conflict and might result in genetic defects of one’s offspring. The main positive aspect of cousin marriage that participants mentioned was that one would marry someone with the same values. The ethnic groups did not differ in their attitudes towards cousin marriages. A slower life history was related to a more negative (but not a less positive) attitude towards cousin marriages, whereas resistance against out-group mating was related to a more positive (but not a less negative) attitude towards cousin marriages. The implications of the results are discussed in the context of life history theory, the benefits of in-group marriage, and the potential positive and negative effects of cousin marriages.

Papa Don't Preach? : Using Lies to Expose the Truth about Who Suppresses Female Sexuality

The suppression of sexuality is culturally widespread, and women's sexual promiscuity, activity, and enjoyment are almost always judged and punished more harshly than men's. It remains disputed, however, to what end people suppress sexuality, and who benefits from the suppression of female sexuality. Different theories predict that women in general, men in general, women's intimate partners, or parents benefit most. Here we use the lies women and men tell-or imagine telling-about their sexual histories as an indirect measure of who is most involved in the suppression of sexuality. We asked men and women what they would reply if asked questions by their mother, father, current partner, attractive confederate, and various same- or opposite-sex friends and colleagues about their number of previous sex partners, age at first romantic kiss, age at first consensual sex, and cheating on a previous partner or spouse. By comparing the size and direction of the lies that subjects told, we tested competing predictions of several cultural and evolutionary theories concerning why female sexuality is suppressed and who is driving its suppression. We found that men and women told larger and more frequent lies to their parents, with women telling the largest and most frequent lies of all to their fathers. Additionally, the majority of lies by both men and women were in sexually conservative directions. Our findings suggest that mothers, and especially fathers, restrict female sexuality.

Evolutionary Mismatch in Mating

Evolutionary mismatch concepts are being fruitfully employed in a number of research domains, including medicine, health, and human cognition and behavior to generate novel hypotheses and better understand existing findings. We contend that research on human mating will benefit from explicitly addressing both the evolutionary mismatch of the people we study and the evolutionary mismatch of people conducting the research. We identified nine mismatch characteristics important to the study of human mating and reviewed the literature related to each of these characteristics. Many of the people we study are: exposed to social media, in temporary relationships, relocatable, autonomous in their mating decisions, nulliparous, in groups that are socially segmented, in an educational setting, confronted with lots of options, and young. We applied mismatch concepts to each characteristic to illustrate the importance of incorporating mismatch into this research area. Our aim in this paper is not to identify all potential mismatch effects in mating research, nor to challenge or disqualify existing data. Rather, we demonstrate principled ways of thinking about evolutionary mismatch in order to propel progress in mating research. We show how attending to the potential effects of mismatch can help us refine our theoretical and methodological approaches and deepen our understanding of existing patterns in the empirical record. We conclude with specific recommendations about how to include consideration of evolutionary mismatch into research on human mating.

Aggressive and Humiliating Sexual Play: Occurrence Rates and Discordance Between the Sexes

The present study attempted to understand people's desires for aggressive and humiliating sexual play, both in terms of interests and fantasy. An evolutionary framework has been developed which generated five hypotheses to be tested. Evidence from a qualitative study of 102 participants identified 13 aggressive and sexual acts which were commonly preferred. A subsequent quantitative online study of 1026 men and women asked participants to rate the desirability of these acts. The results indicated that more than 70% of participants found at least one aggressive or humiliating sexual play desirable, whereas about half of the participants found at least three such acts desirable. Significant sex differences were also found, with men desiring to engage in such play more than women. This discordance was moderated by the willingness of each party to partially accommodate each other's desires. On the basis of these findings and the proposed theoretical framework, it is concluded that aggressive and humiliating sexual play constitutes a normal variation in sexual desire.

Response to vocal music in Angelman syndrome contrasts with Prader-Willi syndrome

Parent-offspring conflict-conflict over resource distribution within families due to differences in genetic relatedness-is the biological foundation for many psychological phenomena. In genomic imprinting disorders, parent-specific genetic expression is altered causing imbalances in behaviors influenced by parental investment. We use this natural experiment to test the theory that parent-offspring conflict contributed to the evolution of vocal music by moderating infant demands for parental attention. Individuals with Prader-Willi syndrome, a genomic imprinting disorder resulting from increased relative maternal genetic contribution, show enhanced relaxation responses to song, consistent with reduced demand for parental investment (Mehr et al., 2017, Psychological Science). We report the necessary complementary pattern here: individuals with Angelman syndrome, a genomic imprinting disorder resulting from increased relative paternal genetic contribution, demonstrate a relatively reduced relaxation response to song, suggesting increased demand for parental attention. These results support the extension of genetic conflict theories to psychological resources like parental attention.

Parent-offspring conflict over mate choice: An experimental study in China

Both parents and offspring have evolved mating preferences that enable them to select mates and children-in-law to maximize their inclusive fitness. The theory of parent-offspring conflict predicts that preferences for potential mates may differ between parents and offspring: individuals are expected to value biological quality more in their own mates than in their offspring's mates and to value investment potential more in their offspring's mates than in their own mates. We tested this hypothesis in China using a naturalistic 'marriage market' where parents actively search for marital partners for their offspring. Parents gather at a public park to advertise the characteristics of their adult children, looking for a potential son or daughter-in-law. We presented 589 parents and young adults from the city of Kunming (Yunnan, China) with hypothetical mating candidates varying in their levels of income (proxy for investment potential) and physical attractiveness (proxy for biological quality). We found some evidence of a parent-offspring conflict over mate choice, but only in the case of daughters, who evaluated physical attractiveness as more important than parents. We also found an effect of the mating candidate's sex, as physical attractiveness was deemed more valuable in a female potential mate by parents and offspring alike.

Parent-Offspring Conflict Over Mating in Chinese Families: Comparisons With Greek Cypriot Families

Parents and their children are genetically related but not genetically identical, a fact that leads to conflict between the two. One such domain of conflict is mate choice, where in-law and mate preferences diverge. The current research examined this divergence in preferences in the Chinese culture and how it varied across cultural contexts. More specifically, we have employed an online sample of 356 Chinese families, and we asked parents to rate the importance of several traits in a prospective spouse for their children and their children to rate the importance of the same traits in a prospective spouse for themselves. Comparisons of parents' and children's answers indicated a disagreement in several domains including good looks and family oriented. It was also found that there was more disagreement between parents and sons than between parents and daughters. Finally, the responses of Chinese parents and their children in the current study were compared with the responses of Greek Cypriot parents and their children from a previous study. It was found that, across several domains, there was more disagreement between parents and sons in the Chinese sample, while for the family oriented and the chastity, there was more parents-sons and parents-daughters disagreement in the Chinese sample. The implications of these findings were further examined.

I Have, Therefore I Love: Status Quo Preference in Mate Choice

Decades of research indicate that individuals adhere to existing states (“status quo bias”) and value them more (“endowment effect”). The present work is the first to investigate status quo preference within the context of trade-offs in mate choice. Across seven studies (total N = 1,567), participants indicated whether they would prefer remaining with a current partner possessing a particular set of traits (e.g., high trustworthiness, low attractiveness) or switching to an alternative partner possessing opposite traits. Preference for a given trait was highest when the individual representing the status quo (one’s romantic partner or an interaction partner) possessed that trait. Concerns about hurting the partner, ambiguity avoidance, and biased construal of the partner and the alternative predicted status quo preference and disapproval of the current partner by network members eliminated this effect. These findings indicate that when it comes to matters of the heart, we tend to love what we currently have.

Free mate choice does not influence reproductive success in humans

The effect of free mate choice on the relative magnitude of fitness benefits has been examined among various species. The majority of the data show significant fitness benefits of mating with partners of an individual’s own choice, highlighting elevated behavioral compatibility between partners with free mate choice. Similarities between humans and other species that benefit from free mate choice led us to hypothesize that it also confers reproductive benefits in Homo sapiens. To test this hypothesis, we conducted a study among three indigenous societies—the Tsimane’, Yali, and Bhotiya—who employ natural birth control. In all three samples, we compared the marriages arranged by parents with the non-arranged ones in terms of number of offspring. Here, we show that there were no significant relationships between type of marriage and the total number of alive children and number of dead children among the three sampled groups. The presented study is the first to date to examine the fitness benefits of free mate choice in humans. In discussion we present limitations of our research and discuss the possibility of love having a beneficial influence in terms of the number of offspring.

In-Law Preferences in China: What Parents Look for in the Parents of Their Children's Mates

Across different times and cultures, parents play an important role in influencing their children's mating decisions. When they do so, they aim to forge useful alliances with other parents which raises the question of what parents look for in the latter. The current research aims to address this question. In particular, we employed an online sample of 925 Chinese parents who were asked to rate the desirability of 88 traits in the parents of prospective mates for their children. Principal components analysis classified these traits in eight factors for the mothers and 10 factors of interest for the fathers of their children's mates. We also found that parents had a well-defined hierarchy of preferences, fathers, and mothers were in agreement in what they looked for in a prospective in-law, but their preferences were contingent to the sex of the in-law.

In-Law and Mate Preferences in Chinese Society and the Role of Traditional Cultural Values

Using 347 parent-child dyads as participants, this study directly examined in-law and mate preferences in a typical collectivist culture. The results showed (1) traits indicating social status and parental investment were more highly valued by the parents, while traits indicating genetic quality and traits related to romantic love were more highly valued by the children. (2) Parental preferences were moderated by gender of the in-laws. Good earning capacity was more preferred by parents in a son-in-law, traits connoting genetic quality and reproductive fitness were more preferred by parents in a daughter-in-law. (3) There was more convergence in in-law and mate preferences in Chinese culture than in Western cultures. (4) Traditional cultural values (i.e., filial piety) can be used as a predictor of traditional mate preferences and less parent-child divergences. Additionally, greater preference for kind and understanding by parents than by children as well as by daughters than by sons, and greater preference for social status by the daughters' than by the sons' parents have not been observed in the rating and the ranking instrument. These findings illustrated how culture handles the parent-child disagreement over mating by authorizing greater parental influence on children's mating decisions.

For the Boys in the Family: An Investigation Into the Relationship Between "Honor"-Based Violence and Endogamy

Germaine Tillion's classic work of ethnology My Cousin, My Husband related so-called "honor"-based violence (HBV) to the institution of cousin marriage as a response to women's entitlement to inheritance within the Greater Mediterranean Region. This article will scrutinize Tillion's position using original survey data gathered in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, finding that although there is a correlation between HBV and cousin marriage, Tillion's association of this with inheritance laws is inadequate. An alternative position is proposed, in which the relationship between HBV and cousin marriage is situated in coercion around marriage, intergenerational tensions, and in-group exclusivity, exacerbated by the contemporary politics of nationalist neopatrimonialism and an economy based in oil rentierism.

The Role of Genes and Environment in Degree of Partner Self-Similarity

Choice of romantic partner is an enormously important component of human life, impacting almost every facet of day-to-day existence, however; the processes underlying this choice are remarkably complex and have so far been largely resistant to scientific explanation. One consistent finding is that, on average, members of romantic dyads tend to be more alike than would be expected by chance. Selecting for self-similarity is at least partially driven by phenotypic matching wherein couples share similar phenotypes, and preferences for a number of these traits are partly genetically influenced (e.g., education, height, social attitudes and religiosity). This suggests that genetically influenced preferences for self-similarity might contribute to phenotypic matching (and thus assortative mating), but it has never been studied in actual couples. In the present study, we use a large sample of twins to model sources of variation in self-similarity between partners. Biometrical modelling revealed that very little of the variation in the tendency to assortatively mate across 14 traits was due to genetic effects (7 %) or the shared environment of twins (0 %).

Selfish mothers indeed! Resource-dependent conflict over extended parental care in free-ranging dogs

Parent-offspring conflict (POC) theory provides an interesting premise for understanding social dynamics in facultatively social species. In free-ranging dogs, mothers increase conflict over extended parental care with their pups beyond the weaning stage. In this study, we investigated whether resource quality affects POC in the dogs that typically live in a highly competitive environment as scavengers. We built a theoretical model to predict the alternative options available to the mother in the context of food sharing with her pups when protein-rich food (meat) is provided, as compared to carbohydrate-rich food (biscuits). We fit the mothers' response from experimental data to the model and show that the mothers choose a selfish strategy, which can in turn ensure higher lifetime reproductive success, while depriving the current litter access to better resources. These results have interesting implications for understanding the social dynamics of the dogs, and the emergence of facultative sociality in a species that evolved from strongly social ancestors. We speculate that the tendency of increased conflict in resource-rich conditions might have driven the process of domestication in the ancestors of dogs which defected from their groups in favour of richer resources around human settlements.

I Am Right for Your Child! : Tactics for Manipulating Potential Parents-In-Law

Parents and children have converging as well as diverging interests with respect to the latter's mate choices. Diverging interests frequently result in children choosing mates who do not gain the approval of their parents. Manipulation then arises wherein parents try to drive away undesirable prospective sons- and daughters-in-law, and the latter employ counter manipulation to make the former to change their minds. The present research aims to identify and measure the effectiveness of manipulation tactics that individuals employ to influence their partners' parents to accept them as mates for their daughters and sons. Study 1 recruited a sample of 106 Greek-Cypriots and, using open-ended questionnaires, identified 41 acts that individuals employ on their partners' parents. Using principal-components analysis, in a sample of 738 Greek-Cypriots, Study 2 classified these acts into seven broader manipulation tactics and identified the ones that are more and the ones that are less likely to be employed. Study 3 examined in a sample of 414 Greek-Cypriots the effectiveness of these tactics in altering parents' minds and finds a moderate effectiveness, with some tactics being more effective than others. The implications of these findings are discussed.

Parent-Offspring Conflict Over Mating : Domains of Agreement and Disagreement

Evolutionary reasoning indicates that certain traits are more beneficial when they are found in a mate than in a son- or a daughter-in-law, while other traits are more beneficial when they are found in a son- or a daughter-in-law than in a mate. This translates into different evolutionary pressures exercised on in-law and mate preferences driving them to diverge. The purpose of this research is to identify the domains over which in-law and mate choice is exercised, and following this, to identify the areas of agreement and disagreement in these domains. In particular, using an extensive sample of parents (N = 1,717), Study 1 identifies 10 domains over which mate and in-law choice is exercised. Study 2 employs a sample of families (N = 541) in order to compare the preferences of parents with the preferences of their children. It is found that in-law and mate preferences diverge over several domains including good looks, personality, and family background.

My Parents Know Best: No Mating With Members From Other Ethnic Groups

This study examined the opposition against out-group mating and the attitude towards parental influence on mate choice among 107 Dutch, 69 Moroccan, and 69 Turkish participants aged between 15 and 25. The level of preferred parental influence on mate choice was considerably higher among the Turks and Moroccans than among the Dutch, but females in both ethnic groups were less in favor of parental influence on mate choice than males were. Overall, males showed a higher opposition against interethnic dating than females did, and the Turks showed a higher level of opposition to interethnic mating than both the Moroccans and the Dutch. In addition, the effect of opposition against interethnic mating on preferred parental influence on mate choice was especially pronounced among the Turks, somewhat less so among the Moroccans, and least strong among the Dutch. Especially young males with a Turkish and Moroccan background seem to hold on to the values of the cultures they come from, and particularly Turkish immigrants seem keen on keeping the cohesion of their ethnic group intact by opposing interethnic dating, and by favoring parental influence on mate choice as a way to achieve this goal.

Associations of collectivism with relationship commitment, passion, and mate preferences: opposing roles of parental influence and family allocentrism

In collectivist cultures, families tend to be characterized by respect for parental authority and strong, interdependent ties. Do these aspects of collectivism exert countervailing pressures on mate choices and relationship quality? In the present research, we found that collectivism was associated with greater acceptance of parental influence over mate choice, thereby driving relationship commitment down (Studies 1 and 2), but collectivism was also associated with stronger family ties (referred to as family allocentrism), which drove commitment up (Study 2). Along similar lines, Study 1 found that collectivists’ greater acceptance of parental influence on mate choice contributed to their reduced relationship passion, whereas Study 2 found that their greater family allocentrism may have enhanced their passion. Study 2 also revealed that collectivists may have reported a smaller discrepancy between their own preferences for mates high in warmth and trustworthiness and their perception of their parents’ preferences for these qualities because of their stronger family allocentrism. However, their higher tolerance of parental influence may have also contributed to a smaller discrepancy in their mate preferences versus their perceptions of their parents’ preferences for qualities signifying status and resources. Implications for the roles of collectivism, parental influence, and family allocentrism in relationship quality and mate selection will be discussed.

Romantic ideals, mate preferences, and anticipation of future difficulties in marital life: a comparative study of young adults in India and America

Previous studies have established that Indians tend to be greater in collectivism and gender role traditionalism than Americans. The purpose of the present study was to examine whether these differences explained further cultural differences in romantic beliefs, traditional mate preferences, and anticipation of future difficulties in marital life. Results revealed that Indians reported greater collectivism than Americans and, in turn, held stronger romantic beliefs. Additionally, Indians' greater collectivism and endorsement of more traditional gender roles in part predicted their preferences for a marital partner possessing traditional characteristics, and fully accounted for their heightened concerns about encountering future difficulties in marital life. These results shed light on the processes underlying cultural differences in relationship attitudes and preferences, and point to culture-specific therapies to enhance marital functioning.

Substitute consent in women with psychosis

When treating patients with schizophrenia, substitute consent for treatment is often needed because of the patient's decisional incapacity. The goal of this article is to illustrate the potential problems involved in surrogate decision-making in a mental health service for women. A composite case vignette that highlights these issues is presented. The vignette was developed based on files from a women's clinic for psychosis and a selective literature review. The quality of the relationship between marriage partners and the possibility of pregnancy, motherhood, and child custody disputes all complicate the ethics of next- of-kin surrogate decision-making. The concept of "best interests" (the mother's or the child's) is not straightforward. A related ethical issue is whether/when to disclose psychiatric information to spouses. It is hoped that this paper will engender further discussion in medicine, cultural studies, ethics, and the law.