Self-Perceived Mate Value, Facial Attractiveness, and Mate Preferences: Do Desirable Men Want It All?

Polygamous Interest in a Mononormative Nation: The Roles of Sex and Sociosexuality in Polygamous Interest in a Heterosexual Sample from the UK

Polygamy is a form of "one-sided" consensually non-monogamous relationship where one person has multiple committed partners, each of whom is only involved with that one person. It was likely a reoccurring feature of ancestral mating that posed adaptive problems for our ancestors. Yet polygamy, and multi-partnering more generally, is understudied in Western cultures, raising questions about the existence of polygamous interest and whether this is calibrated adaptively to personal conditions. In two studies, we examined polygamous interest in two heterosexual online samples from the UK. In Study 1 (N = 393), modest interest was found for polygamous relationships overall. Men were six times more open to polygyny than women, but there was little sex difference in openness to polyandry. Further analysis revealed that all forms of multi-partnering were undesirable relative to singlehood and monogamy; however, consensual multi-partner relationships were less undesirable than non-consensual ones. Sex differences were largest for polygyny and arrangements where men had agreed access to a casual partner alongside a committed one, yet these were two of the most acceptable forms of multi-partnering when men and women's responses were combined. Sociosexuality positively predicted interest in most forms of multi-partnering. Study 2 (N = 735) focused on polygyny and added status-linked traits as predictors. The results of Study 1 were broadly replicated, though the status-linked traits did not predict polygynous interest specifically. Instead, sociosexuality and male intrasexual competitiveness uniquely predicted general interest in multi-partner relationships. Overall, interest in polygamy appears to emerge despite social discouragement and sex differences in interest track the relative costs and benefits associated with it. However, there is no strong evidence that polygamous interest is uniquely calibrated to personal conditions when compared to other forms of multi-partnering.

The influence of resource-gaining capacity on mate preferences: an eye tracking study

To investigate whether resource-gaining capacity influences mate preferences, explicit (self-report data) and implicit tasks (eye tracking data) were used to explore whether individuals' resource-gaining capacity influences mate preferences and whether there are sex differences in mate preferences under two different conditions (short-term and long-term strategies). A total of 59 college students completed a questionnaire collecting basic demographic information, the Resource-Gaining Capacity Scale and the two above tasks. The results showed that (1) in the short-term mating, individuals with higher resource-gaining capacity paid more attention to "good parent" than those with lower resource-gaining capacity, while individuals with lower resource-gaining capacity preferred "good provider" than those with higher resource-gaining capacity. (2) In the long-term mating, women valued "good provider" traits more than men, and they paid more attention to "good parent" traits than men in the short-term. In addition, no matter in the short-term or the long-term mating, men placed more value on "good genes" traits than women. (3) Compared with long-term mating, individuals of both sexes had preferences based on "good genes" in short-term mating, while they had preferences based on "good parent" and "good provider" in long-term mating compared with short-term mating. (4) Regarding explicit mate selection, "good parent" traits were most preferred by the participants, while the implicit eye tracking data indicated that participants preferred partners who were "good providers" and had "good genes".

Individual Differences in How Desirable People Think They Are as a Mate

Mate value is an important concept in mate choice research although its operationalization and understanding are limited. Here, we reviewed and evaluated previously established conceptual and methodological approaches measuring mate value and presented original research using individual differences in how people view themselves as a face-valid proxy for mate value in long- and short-term contexts. In data from 41 nations (N = 3895, Mage = 24.71, 63% women, 47% single), we tested sex, age, and relationship status effects on self-perceived mate desirability, along with individual differences in the Dark Triad traits, life history strategies, peer-based comparison of desirability, and self-reported mating success. Both sexes indicated more short-term than long-term mate desirability; however, men reported more long-term mate desirability than women, whereas women reported more short-term mate desirability than men. Further, individuals who were in a committed relationship felt more desirable than those who were not. Concerning the cross-sectional stability of mate desirability across the lifespan, in men, short- and long-term desirability rose to the age of 40 and 50, respectively, and decreased afterward. In women, short-term desirability rose to the age of 38 and decreased afterward, whereas long-term desirability remained stable over time. Our results suggest that measuring long- and short-term self-perceived mate desirability reveals predictable correlates.

Women's Romantic Jealousy Predicts Risky Appearance Enhancement Effort

Human appearance enhancement effort has recently been considered from an evolutionary perspective as an adaptive and sexually dimorphic strategy for effective female intrasexual and intersexual competition. Most writing and research on the topic to date has focused on appearance enhancement as a means of mate attraction, with relatively less research examining its role in mate retention. The present study considered whether romantic jealousy, as a negative emotion experienced in response to perceived threat to a desired relationship, predicts costly and/or risky appearance enhancement independent of the closely related emotion of envy. In a sample of 189 undergraduate women, results showed that romantic jealousy and dispositional envy were positively correlated with one another. Results further demonstrated that romantic jealousy predicted women's positive attitude toward cosmetic surgery, willingness to use a one-week free tanning membership, willingness to use a risky diet pill, and intent on spending a greater proportion of their income on appearance enhancement, but not intended use of facial cosmetics. Results held independent of participants' dispositional envy, suggesting that romantic jealousy is a unique predictor of women's efforts at enhancing their physical appearance, which could extend into costly and physically risky mate retention efforts.

Female intrasexual competitiveness interacts with body mass index to predict willingness to use a risky diet pill

Introduction

Previous research has highlighted the putative role of intrasexual competition (IC) in predicting women's body dissatisfaction, weight loss effort, and, at its extreme, eating disorders. However, extant research reporting on these links is limited by its exclusion of potential confounds, including psychopathologies such as depression. Moreover, it is presently unclear whether women higher in body mass index (BMI) may be more prone to the influence of IC in taking dieting risks.

Methods

To address these gaps in the literature, 189 young adult women completed measures of IC, depressive symptoms, willingness to use a risky diet pill, and had their height and weight measured.

Results

Results showed that IC interacted with BMI to predict willingness to use a risky diet pill, such that women high in both IC and BMI were most likely to take the risky diet pill. Further exploratory analyses considering potential directional links between BMI and depression supported mediating roles of depression (from BMI) and BMI (from depression) in predicting willingness to use a risky diet pill.

Discussion

Results suggest that links between IC and dieting risks may be moderated by women's BMI, and that these links hold when considering depressive symptoms. Future longitudinal research would benefit from a better understanding of the potential directional links between BMI, depression, and diet pill use.

Women's Mating Strategies and Mate Value Are Associated with Viewing Time to Facial Masculinity

Sexual selection has shaped women's preferences for ideal physical features in men that signal good health. Facial masculinity is often used as a proxy in signaling health, viability, and disease resistance, and it is thought to be attractive because it advertises heritable benefits. Preferences for facial masculinity are also associated with individual differences in one's sociosexuality and mate value, where women oriented toward a short-term mating orientation and are of high mate value may prefer men with masculine features. The current study examined women's sociosexuality and mate value (i.e., self-rating of overall desirability) in rating attractiveness and visual attention to facial masculinity in men's faces using an eye-tracking task. Overall, women (N = 72) did not show any significant preferences for men with masculinized over feminized faces. However, women who scored high on sociosexuality (i.e., unrestricted sociosexuality) and mate value demonstrated increased visual attention and looking frequency to masculinized over feminized faces. The study highlights the unique role of cognitive mechanisms in visually assessing a potential mate and how individual differences in short-term mating strategies and mate value may moderate those preferences. These findings underscore the importance of examining individual differences in mate preferences research.

Self-perceived Mate Value is Predicted by Biological and self-reported Indices of Health in Young Adults

Immunocompetence can influence an organism's reproductive fitness, and thus presumably their desirability as a mate (i.e., mate value). In humans, the link between immunocompetence and mate value has found circumstantial support by way of both expressed mate preferences for healthy partners, and via preferences for attractive phenotypes that are ostensibly linked to immune functioning. We examined whether a biological marker of immunocompetence, salivary immunoglobulin A (sIgA), along with self-reported frequency and severity of symptoms of poor health predicted individuals' reported mate value and mating behavior in a sample of 691 young adults. Our measures of immunocompetence (sIgA and symptoms of poor health) correlated significantly with one another, suggesting sIgA is a viable marker of general immune function in young adults. We then examined the independent contributions of these variables to mate value, controlling for age, sex, and body mass index (BMI). Results showed that sIgA (positively) and poor health (negatively) predicted mate value, but not lifetime number of sex partners or current romantic relationship status. These findings suggest that those with better health and immune function report being more desirable as mating partners but support past research showing null links to reported mating behavior. Together, these findings suggest that more comprehensive work on links between immunocompetence and mating is required.

Preference for ugly faces? -A cognitive study of attentional and memorial biases toward facial information among young females with facial dissatisfaction

Dissatisfaction with facial appearance is one of the strongest contributors to body image disturbance among young Chinese females and leads to a series of psychological and behavioral disorders. By conducting behavioral and ERP experiments, this study illustrates how young females in China with facial dissatisfaction process different levels of facial attractiveness. Experiments 1 and 2 are behavioral experiments in which the dot-probe paradigm was used to explore the participant's attentional bias to facial attractiveness. The results showed that regardless of whether the face image was presented above or below the threshold, young females with facial dissatisfaction exhibited attentional orientation toward lowly attractive faces and attentional avoidance to both lowly and highly attractive faces, while the control group showed difficulty in attentional disengagement from highly attractive faces. In experiment 3, the learning-recognition task was used to examine mnemonic bias toward facial attractiveness among females with facial dissatisfaction, and EEG data were also recorded during the encoding and retrieval phases. The study found that young females with facial dissatisfaction exhibited a mnemonic preference for lowly attractive images at both the encoding and retrieving stages, with higher P1, N170, P2, and N300 induced by lowly attractive faces, while the control group preferred highly attractive faces. In conclusion, young females with facial dissatisfaction tend to exhibit attentional orientation and mnemonic bias toward lowly attractive faces.

An Evolutionary Perspective on Appearance Enhancement Behavior

Researchers have highlighted numerous sociocultural factors that have been shown to underpin human appearance enhancement practices, including the influence of peers, family, the media, and sexual objectification. Fewer scholars have approached appearance enhancement from an evolutionary perspective or considered how sociocultural factors interact with evolved psychology to produce appearance enhancement behavior. Following others, we argue that evidence from the field of evolutionary psychology can complement existing sociocultural models by yielding unique insight into the historical and cross-cultural ubiquity of competition over aspects of physical appearance to embody what is desired by potential mates. An evolutionary lens can help to make sense of reliable sex and individual differences that impact appearance enhancement, as well as the context-dependent nature of putative adaptations that function to increase physical attractiveness. In the current review, appearance enhancement is described as a self-promotion strategy used to enhance reproductive success by rendering oneself more attractive than rivals to mates, thereby increasing one's mate value. The varied ways in which humans enhance their appearance are described, as well as the divergent tactics used by women and men to augment their appearance, which correspond to the preferences of opposite-sex mates in a heterosexual context. Evolutionarily relevant individual differences and contextual factors that vary predictably with appearance enhancement behavior are also discussed. The complementarity of sociocultural and evolutionary perspectives is emphasized and recommended avenues for future interdisciplinary research are provided for scholars interested in studying appearance enhancement behavior.

Sex Differences in Response to Deception Across Mate-Value Traits of Attractiveness, Job Status, and Altruism in Online Dating

Sex differences in mate preferences are well established. It is also well understood that humans often seek to manipulate their standing on important mate-value traits. Yet, there is a paucity of work examining potential sex differences in response to deception along these important dimensions. In Study 1, a sample of 280 undergraduates (123 females) responded to a hypothetical online dating scenario asking participants to rank how upset they would be if deceived about a date's attractiveness, occupation, or volunteerism. Women ranked occupation deception as more upsetting than men did, and men ranked attractiveness deception as more upsetting than women did. Given potential measurement differences between forced-choice and continuous response options, Study 2 randomly assigned 364 undergraduates (188 females) to one of the deceptions conditions and asked them to report their level of upset and willingness to go on the date using a continuous response scale. Women were more likely than men to cancel the date if the deception involved volunteerism or occupation. There was no significant sex difference in the attractiveness condition. Neither mate value nor sociosexuality moderated the sex difference in the levels of upset due to the deception. Together, these findings demonstrate that women and men exhibit differences in the degree to which they become upset by opposite sex deceptions in online dating, regardless of self-perceived mate value and sociosexuality, in alignment with evolved sex differences in mate preferences.

Mate Availability and Sexual Disgust

Objective

One of the factors that sexual disgust should be calibrated to is the size of the mating pool. This study tested this hypothesis by examining whether perceptions of mate availability explain variance in levels of sexual disgust towards potential mates.

Methods

Participants (N = 853; 373 women) rated how sexually disgusting they found 60 potential mates that have previously been rated on attractiveness by a separate group of raters. We also measured participants’ perceptions of mate availability in their local environment, self-perceived attractiveness and mate value, and relevant control variables.

Results

Multilevel models revealed a negative association between sexual disgust towards potential mates and perceived mate availability—the opposite of what we predicted. We found support for our prediction that women had higher levels of sexual disgust than men, but only after addressing the confounding sex difference in target attractiveness. We also found the predicted negative association between target attractiveness and sexual disgust. Finally, as predicted, sexual disgust levels were more strongly related to potential mates’ attractiveness in individuals who perceived there to be many available mates in their local environment.

Conclusions

These findings generally bolster functional accounts of sexual disgust while highlighting the need for more evidence to ascertain the role of mate availability in the calibration of sexual disgust. Specifically, future research should examine the extent to which disgust levels may truncate mental representations of the mating pool instead of being calibrated by them.

In humans, only attractive females fulfil their sexually imprinted preferences for eye colour

Early exposure to parental features shapes later sexual preferences in fish, birds, and mammals. Here I report that human males' preferences for a conspicuous trait, colourful eyes, are affected by the eye colour of mothers. Female faces with light (blue or green) eyes were liked better by men whose mother had light eyes; the effect broke down in those who had felt rejected by her as children. These results, garnered on over one thousand men, complete those of a symmetrical study on one thousand women, painting a fuller picture of human sexual imprinting. Both men and women appear to have imprinted on their opposite-sex parents unless these were perceived as cold and unjustly punitive. Birds require strong attachment to sexually imprint-a constraint in place to reduce the perils of acquiring the wrong sort of information. Parents who form no bond with their offspring may fail to be recognised as appropriate parental imprinting objects. Consistent with human females being, as in most of the animal kingdom, the choosier sex, imprinted preferences were displayed by both sexes but translated into real-life partner choices solely in women-attractive women. Apparently, not all of us can afford to follow our own inclinations.

Self-rated Attractiveness and Sociosexual Behavior Predict Gay Men's Preferences for Masculine Cues in Male Voices in China

Theory and some evidence suggest that masculine characteristics (e.g., lower pitched voice) will predict indices of men's long-term health. In a related finding, researchers have demonstrated that the attractiveness of individuals predicts variation in their mate preferences. As self-perceived attractiveness may predict sociosexuality (i.e., the willingness of individuals to engage in restricted or unrestricted sexual relationships), we investigated how self-rated attractiveness and sociosexuality influence preferences regarding male voices among 338 gay men across different cities in China. Each participant was randomly presented with six pairs of male voices and gave preferences using a forced-choice method; each pair of male voices consisted of a masculine (lower pitched) and feminine (higher pitched) version of the same original voice. Our findings suggested that gay men who perceived themselves as more attractive showed stronger preference for lower pitched voices compared with self-perceived less attractive individuals. In addition, we found that gay men's sociosexuality score was positively correlated with their preference for masculine cues in male voices, indicating that gay men who were less sociosexually restricted preferred lower pitched voices over higher pitched versions compared with men who were more restricted. Our study presents evidence contributing to a better understanding of condition-dependent strategies of partner choice in gay men.

Self-Perceived Mate Value Is Poorly Predicted by Demographic Variables

Mate value is a construct that can be measured in various ways, ranging from complex but difficult-to-obtain ratings all the way to single-item self-report measures. Due to low sample sizes in previous studies, little is known about the relationship between mate value and demographic variables. In this article, we tested the Mate Value Scale, a relatively new, short, 4-item self-report measure in two large samples. In the first sample of over 1,000, mostly college-age participants, the scale was found to be reliable and correlated with criterion variables in expected ways. In the second, larger sample, which included over 21,000 participants, we have tested for differences across demographics. Contrary to theoretical expectations and previous findings with smaller samples, the differences were either very small (sexual orientation, age, education) or small (sex, socioeconomic status, relationship status) in terms of their effect size. This suggests that the scale is not measuring "objective" mate value (as understood either in terms of fitness or actual mating decisions by potential partners on the "market"), but a self-perception of it, open to social comparison, relative standards, possibly even biases, raising questions about measuring self-perceived versus objective mate value.