Human Mate Choice

Pre-Lab Discussion
A) The long tails of peacocks are thought to be the result of a balance between female mate
choice (males with longer, more lavish tails mate with more females) and survivorship
(the longer, more conspicuous tail is thought to reduce male life expectancy). Can you
think of characteristics in other animals that seem to be a balance between female or
male choice and survivorship? How might this be the case?
B) Think of some physical, physiological, or behavioral attributes of human reproduction where
the maximizing mating success or reproduction might come into conflict with
survivorship. Do you think any of these have resulted from evolution by natural
selection? Do you think evolution by natural selection continues in humans at present?
C) Do you thing people are attracted, consciously or unconsciously, to traits that might
maximize their reproductive success?

Introduction
This lab is an exploration of human mate choice and how it interacts with gender roles
and our own evolutionary history. Please come into this lab with an open mind, and most of all
speak your mind. We are not trying to shove any dogma down your throat (far from it), lively
discussion is what this lab is all about. If you do not personally feel comfortable answering the
survey, go ahead and leave it blank.

Human Mate Choice Questionnaire

You are Male:____________

Female:____________

Rank (from 1 = most important to 12 = least important; use any rank only once) the following
attributes of what you value/desire in a significant personal relationship. Answer as if you are
picking a long-term partner for yourself (same sex or opposite sex, there is no need to mention
your sexual orientation).

Human Mate Choice Survey

Attribute

Your Rank

Friends Approve
Wealth
Academic Achievement
Ambition
Intelligence
Physique
Sexiness
Sense of Humor
Shared Values
Fidelity Commitment
Ethnicity
Religion

How old are you?

What would be the age of your ideal mate?
How young could you accept as a partner in a
relationship?
How old could you accept asa partner in a
relationship?

Please fill out appendix five of the lab manual and turn it in to your TA. She/he will calculate
the class averages and report them to you.
Table 5.1 - Compilation of Appendix 5, Human Mate Choice Survey, Part 1
Attribute

Average Class Rank (female)

Average Class Rank (male)

Friends Approve
Wealth
Academic Achievement
Ambition
Intelligence
Physique
Sexiness
Sense of Humor
Shared Values
Fidelity Commitment
Ethnicity
Religion
Do men and women rank these qualities differently?

What trait was MOST important to the women in your section?

What trait was LEAST important to the women in your section?

What trait was MOST important to the men in your section?

What trait was LEAST important to the men in your section?

What does this suggest about the reproductive strategies of women and men? How much
of this do you think is cultural, and how much is biological?

Table 5.2 - Compilation of Appendix 5, Human Mate Choice Survey, Part 2

Average - Women

Average - Men

How old are you?

What would be the age of your ideal mate?
How young could you accept as a partner in a
relationship?
How old could you accept asa partner in a
relationship?
Are college-age women and men interested in partners of different ages? Why might this
be the case, or not be the case?

Personal ads.
Personal ads say a great deal about the person who places them, and exactly what they are
looking for. Since people generally pay by the word, they usually get right down to what the
person is looking for in a relationship.
Search through the personal ads and try to find adds where the wealth and age of both partners is
specified.
Are women and men interested in partners of different ages?
From the following set of personal ads find 10 ads where 'Men Seeking Women' specify the age
of the man and the acceptable age of the woman.
Example, the acceptable age of a woman where an age range is given from 25-35 is the
average of the lowest and highest ages (25+35)/2=30 years old.

Table 5.3 - Data Collected from Men Seeking Women

Mans age

Womans
acceptable
age

Age difference

Average =

Average =

Average =

Did the man

imply he was
wealthy?

Did the man specify

the wealth of the
desired partner

Based on this sample, do wealthy men tend to seek younger women? Do men in general seek
wealthy women?

What does this suggest about the reproductive strategies of men? How much of this do you think
is cultural, and how much is biological?

From the following set of personal ads find 10 ads where 'Women Seeking men' specify the age
of the man and the acceptable age of the woman.

Table 5.4 - Data Collected from Women Seeking Men

Womans
age

Mans
acceptable
age

Age difference

Average =

Average =

Average =

Did the woman

imply she was
wealthy?

Did the woman

specify the wealth of
the desired partner

Based on this sample, do wealthy women tend to seek younger men? Do women in general seek
wealthier men?

What does this suggest about the reproductive strategies of women? How much of this do you
think is cultural and how much of this do you think is biological?

Just Sex
Scan the men seeking women and men seeking men sections of your personal adds and record
the number of adds where, using your judgement, the person is seeking a purely sexual
relationship.
Total number of adds____________________ Total men seeking sex ____________________
Now, scan the women seeking men and women seeking women adds, noting how many women
are seeking purely sexual relationships.
Total number of adds ___________________ Total women seeking sex __________________
# men seeking sex / total= __________________%
# women seeking sex / total=__________________%
Does this suggest a difference between the interests of males and females when placing
personal adds? Is this mostly an artifact of our cultural upbringing, or is there some
underlying biological difference between men and women in this regard? Explain
(remember, you can answer however you like, but be prepared to defend your answer).
Experimental Biases
1. Are the class data biased (i.e. do you think your results represent a typical American
population?) Why or why not?

2. Are the data acquired from the personal ads biased? Why or why not?

3. Is there a way to generate unbiased data for this type of research? Why or why not?