CHAPTER 4: WOMEN’S LONG-TERM MATING STRATEGIES
Chapter Summary
We now have the outlines of an answer to the mystery of women’s long-term mate preferences. Modern
women have inherited from their successful ancestors wisdom about the men they consent to mate with.
Ancestral women who mated indiscriminately were likely to have been less reproductively successful
than those who exercised choice. Long-term mates bring with them a treasure trove of assets. Selecting a
long-term mate who has the relevant assets is clearly an extraordinarily complex endeavor. It involves a
number of distinctive preferences, each corresponding to a resource that helps women solve critical
adaptive problems.
That women seek resources in a marriage partner might seem obvious, but prior to the cross-cultural
research by evolutionary psychologists scientists did not realize that this was a universal evolved mate
preference. Because resources cannot always be directly discerned, women’s mating preferences are
keyed to other qualities that signal the likely possession, or future acquisition, of resources. Indeed,
women may be less influenced by money per se than by qualities that lead to resources, such as ambition,
intelligence, and older age. Women scrutinize these personal qualities carefully because they reveal a
man’s potential.
Potential, however, is not enough. Because many men with a rich resource potential are themselves highly
discriminating and are at times content with casual sex, women are faced with the problem of
commitment. Seeking love is one solution to the commitment problem. Acts of love signal that a man has
in fact committed to a particular woman.
Finally, resources, commitment, and protection do a woman little good if her husband becomes diseased
or dies or if the couple is so mismatched that the partners fail to function as an effective team. The
premium that women place on a man’s health ensures that husbands will be capable of providing these
benefits over the long haul. Masculine features may provide valuable information about a man’s health.
And the premium that women place on similarity of interests and traits with their mate helps to ensure
fidelity and stability. These multiple facets of current women’s mating preferences correspond well to
adaptive problems faced by our female ancestors thousands of years ago.
with other women, and particularly if other women are physically attractive and seem interested in them.
Women who are higher in objectively assessed and self-perceived attractiveness raise their mating
standards and seek men who are relatively more masculine, symmetrical, high in status, attractive,
healthy, and physically fit.
For preferences to evolve, they must have had a recurrent impact on actual mating behavior. We do not
expect that women’s preferences will show a one–to-one correspondence with behavior. People cannot
always get what they want. Nonetheless, several lines of research support the notion that women’s
preferences do in fact affect actual mating behavior. Women respond more to personal ads in which men
indicate good financial status. Men high in status and resources are more likely to marry. If living in a
polygynous society, high-status men are more likely to attract multiple wives. Poor men are more likely
to remain bachelors. Women who embody what men desire (e.g., by being physically attractive) are in the
Suggested Readings
Buss, D. M. (2003). The evolution of desire: Strategies of human mating (rev. ed.). New York: Free Press.
Dunn, M. J., Brinton, S., & Clark, L. (2010). Universal sex differences in online advertisers age
preferences: Comparing data from 14 cultures and 2 religious groups. Evolution and Human
Behavior, 31, 383–392.
Johnston, V. S., Hagel, R., Franklin, M., Fink, B., & Grammer, K. (2001). Male facial attractiveness:
Evidence for hormone-mediated adaptive design. Evolution and Human Behavior, 22, 251–267.
Li, N. P., Griskevicius, V., Durante, K. M., Jonason, P. K., Pasisz, D. J., & Aumer, K. (2009). An
evolutionary perspective on humor: Sexual selection or interest indication? Personality and
Social Psychology Bulletin, 35, 923–936.
Lieberman, D. (2009). Rethinking the Taiwanese minor marriage data: Evidence the mind uses multiple
kinship cues to regulate inbreeding avoidance. Evolution and Human Behavior, 30, 153–160.
Little, A. C., DeBruine, L. M., & Jones, B. C. (2013). Environmentally contingent preferences:
Multiple Choice Questions
(a) the size of its zygotes
(b) the size of its gametes
(c) testosterone levels
(d) estrogen levels
(a) larger; larger
(b) larger; smaller
(c) smaller; larger
(d) few; smaller
3. Parental investment theory posits that the sex with the greater obligatory parental investment will be
(a) selective
(b) indiscriminate
(c) indifferent
(d) casual
(a) William Hamilton
(b) Robert Trivers
(c) George Williams
(d) Tooby and DeVore
5. A cross-cultural study of folktales revealed that female characters did which of the following more than
(a) primarily preferred mates with high wealth or status
(b) primarily preferred mates who were highly attractive
(c) primarily preferred mates who were creative and sensitive
(d) none of the above
6. Recent studies which examined mate preferences in the context of “speed dating” showed that women
(a) described athletic success during high school or college
(b) indicated that they grew up in an affluent neighborhood
(c) asked women a lot of questions about themselves
(d) smiled more and maintained eye contact
7. Which of the following female mate preferences solved the adaptive problem of selecting a mate who
(a) dependability
(b) emotional stability
(c) symmetry
(d) social status
8. Wherever a female shows a mating preference, the male’s _______ is/are often the key selection
(a) dependability
(b) commitment cues
(c) resources
(d) size
9. Women indicate that their minimum acceptable percentile for a spouse on earning capacity is
___________ percent, whereas men indicate a minimum acceptable percentile of ___________ percent.
(b) 70; 40
(c) 51; 49
(d) 49; 51
10. The sexual revolution of the 1960s and 1970s ____________ men’s and women’s mate preferences.
(b) changed dramatically
(c) caused a reversal in
(d) masked
(a) as much as
(b) much more than
(c) much less than
(d) with greater variation than
(a) younger
(b) thinner
(c) older
(d) more asymmetrical
13. Averaged over all cultures, women prefer men who are roughly __________ years older than
(a) 1.5
(b) 2.5
(c) 3.5
(d) 5.5
14. One reason women may not be as attracted to substantially older men, relative to slightly older men, is
(a) are less likely to invest in her and her offspring
(b) are less likely to be able to invest long-term in her and her offspring
(c) do not have as many resources
(d) are more physically active
15. A man’s size, strength, and physical prowess signal to prospective mates solutions to the problem of
(a) commitment
(b) willingness to invest
(c) sexual fidelity
(d) protection
(a) Tall; short
(b) Emotionally unstable; emotionally stable
(c) Asymmetrical; symmetrical
(d) Sensible; ambitious
(a) similar; different
(b) few; different
(c) similar; similar
(d) different; similar
(a) masculinity
(b) psychological disorder
(c) willingness to invest in offspring
(d) protection from environmental and genetic stressors
(a) a recent invention introduced by Europeans
(b) independent of one’s commitment to a partner
(c) found cross-culturally
(d) limited to Western cultures
20. Based on comparative and phylogenetic analyses of different species, adult attachment, or “love,” was
(a) paternal care
(b) maternal care
(c) polygyny
(d) marriage
(a) unnecessary
(b) indispensable
(c) slightly desirable
(d) temporary
22. fMRI studies have examined the brains of people who are intensely in love while thinking about the
(a) The prefrontal cortex, associated with decision making, shows intense activation while
thinking about the lover.
(b) sex differences in the amount of overall brain activity while imagining the lover
(c) The reward centers of the brain show increased activation while thinking about the lover.
(d) Brainstem activity decreases when subjects are visualizing the lover.
(a) have high social status but are indifferent about investing in children
(b) are interested more in children than in them
(c) are capable of but unwilling to invest in children
(d) are capable of and willing to invest in children
(a) In cultures where women hold greater power than men, women have preferences for men with
resources.
(b) In cultures where women hold greater power than men, women do not have preferences for
men with resources.
(c) In cultures where men hold greater power than women, men still have preferences for women
with greater physical attractiveness.
(d) In cultures where men hold greater power than women, men do not have preferences for
women with greater physical attractiveness.
25. Which of the following characteristics are rated by women as more desirable in a long-term mate than
(a) kindness
(b) religiousness
(c) youthfulness
(d) patience
(a) preferred mating strategy
(b) a woman’s place in her menstrual cycle
(c) geographic location
(d) her mate value
27. Women display an ability to determine a man’s interest in infants simply by looking at his face. How
(a) Women preferred the men with higher interest in infants for short-term partners but not long-
term partners.
(b) Women preferred the men with higher interest in infants for long-term partners but not short-
term partners.
(c) Women preferred the men with higher interest in infants for both long-term and short-term
partners.
(d) Women did not show a preference for men with higher interest in infants for either long-term
or short-term partners.
(a) parental investment
(b) homogamy
(c) mate copying
(d) structural powerlessness
(a) Their agendas were the same.
(b) Mail-order brides were seeking high levels of financial security.
(c) Non-mail-order brides placed love above attraction and financial security.
(d) Neither placed emphasis on status.
30. In an international study on preference for social status in a marriage partner, which group placed
(a) German men
(b) German women
(c) American women
(d) American men
31. Women and men display homogamy when it comes to choosing long-term mates. Homogamy refers
(a) preference for a mate who is different from oneself
(b) actually mating with someone who is different from oneself
(c) preferences for a mate who is similar to oneself
(d) actually mating with someone who is similar to oneself
32. In long-term mating, women prefer mates who _________ humor while men prefer mates who
(a) produce; appreciate
(b) appreciate; replicate
(c) replicate; identify
(d) identify; produce
33. Not only have women evolved preferences for what they do want in a mate—they also possess
evolved mechanisms for avoiding what they don’t want. One example of what women avoid in a long-
(a) signals of facial masculinity
(b) interest in infants
(c) cues to genetic relatedness
(d) a deep voice
34. Women’s attractiveness is ____________ correlated with their preference for masculine faces and
(a) negatively
(b) positively
(c) not
(d) not significantly
35. Multiple studies have now demonstrated that women who have high access to their own resources
(a) a mate’s financial prospects
(b) a mate’s physical attractiveness
(c) a mate’s interest in infants
(d) a mate’s kindness
36. A man’s stated income and education is ____________ correlated with the number of responses he
(a) negatively
(b) positively
(c) not
(d) not significantly
37. When men derogate their rivals in front of women, which of the following attributes would they most
(a) the rival’s past romantic partners
(b) the rival’s poor fashion taste
(c) the rival’s physique
(d) the rival’s business failures
38. Several studies have examined the effect of priming men with photos of beautiful women. These
studies have shown that men primed with photos of attractive women display more ____________ than
(a) nonconformity
(b) discounting of the future
(c) desire for a larger income
(d) all of the above
39. In traditional societies, parents generally choose their daughters’ mates. Parents are more likely to
(a) physical health
(b) physical attractiveness
(c) intelligence
(d) resources
(a) women’s preference for physical attractiveness in a mate represents a necessity
(b) sex differences in mate preferences are only found when rating traits, not when ranking them
(c) women’s preference for social status in a mate represents a necessity
(d) sex differences in mate preferences emerge only in luxuries, not necessities
(a) hunting skills
(b) parenting skills
(c) gathering skills
(d) negotiation skills
(a) short men were rated as more attractive by women who read the ad but were less likely to be
contacted than tall men
(b) tall men were rated as more attractive by women who read the ad but were less likely to be
contacted than short men
(c) men’s height was a significant predictor of the number of women who would respond to the
personal ad
(d) men’s tallness was significantly preferred by women in person but not in printed ads
43. A recent study by Lukaszewski and Roney (2010) examined women’s preferences for kindness in a
(a) kinder to women than men
(b) kind to them, but not kind to other women
(c) consistently kind to everyone in their in-group
(d) kinder to men than to women
(a) co-residence during childhood
(b) emotional closeness
(c) knowledge of genetic relatedness
(d) number of siblings
(a) next to a man who is laughing at something he said
(b) standing with multiple women who are talking amongst themselves
(c) talking with a smiling, attractive woman
(d) He would be considered equally attractive in all of the above scenarios.
(a) Women are motivated to engage in intrasexual competition and mate copying functions to provide
a context to increase competition between women.
(b) Mate copying functions to prevent women from becoming attracted to homosexual men.
(c) Women provide information to other women about a man’s quality as a mate to improve the
reproductive success of the species.
(d) Women can vicariously obtain information about a man’s relative value as a mate.
(a) Attractive women want less attractive partners than unattractive women do.
(b) Attractive women want more attractive partners than unattractive women do.
(c) A woman’s attractiveness is not correlated with her mate preferences; all women prefer financial
status and attractiveness in a mate.
(d) Attractive women prefer higher levels of luxury traits (e.g., creativity) than unattractive women
do, but equal levels of necessity traits (e.g., resources).
(a) the less likely he is to have children
(b) the less likely he is to be healthy
(c) the more likely he is to marry, particularly in polygynous cultures
(d) the more likely he is to remain single, particularly in polygynous cultures
49. The fact that men tend to exaggerate their height and financial status in personal ads indicates that
(a) men’s height and status are negatively correlated with psychopathy
(b) men are aware of women’s preferences and attempt to embody them
(c) women are not consciously aware of their preferences for these traits
(d) women’s preference for these traits is likely learned rather than evolved