Evolutionary Psychology Lecture 7:

Male Mate
Preferences.

Learning Outcomes.
At the end of this session you should be
able to:
1. Discuss evolutionary explanations for
male mate preferences.
2. Evaluate experimental and survey
evidence concerning male mate
preferences.

Thoughts for the Day.

"Beauty is not judged objectively, but according to
the beholders estimation". Theocritus.
Judge not according to the appearance John 7:24.
All the beauty of the world, tis but skin deep
Ralph Venning.
Beauty is a greater recommendation than any
letter of introduction. Aristotle.
Why may I not speak of your beauty, since without
that I could never have loved you. John Keats to
Fanny Browne.
Beauty is in the adaptations of the beholder. Don
Symons.

Male Mating Strategies

Males would prefer numerous sexual contacts with
no commitment, but female choice forces males to
adopt more long-term mating strategies. There are
several advantages to this:
1. Males who provide clear evidence of commitment
will be able to attract a better quality female.
2. The male can increase his odds of paternity
certainty as he will engage in mate-guarding
behaviours to reduce the possibility of cuckoldry.
3. The children of a stable relationship are much
more likely to survive.

What Do Men Find Attractive In

Women?
Buss (1999) points out that be reproductively
successful a male needs to mate with a female who
has the capacity to produce children.
Human female reproductive value cannot be
assessed directly as ovulation is concealed (unlike
most other mammals).
However, there are several clues to a woman's
reproductive value and ancestral males would have
been selected for to detect and respond accordingly
to these signals.
Such signals would be 'honest' signals as they would
be an accurate reflection of developmental and
hormonal health.

1. Youth.
This is a powerful cue to reproductive potential as
women reach their reproductive peak around the
age of twenty which declines rapidly thereafter.

Diagram from Buss (1999) p134

Male Age Preferences

(Kenrick & Keefe, 1992)
p80

In studies of mate
preferences, males
desire females who are
at their peak of
reproductive potential.
Eg, in every one of 37
societies males preferred
younger wives, on
average around 2
years younger than the
male (Buss, 1989).
As males age, they prefer
mates who are
increasingly younger
(Kenrick & Keefe, 1992).

What About Teenagers?

If teenage males prefer younger partners then these
females may not be old enough to bear children.
We would therefore predict that teenage males
would prefer slightly older females.
Kenrick et al., (1996) asked teenage males and
females (aged between 12-19) the ideal age of a
dating partner, and the age limits that would be
acceptable.
Teenage males (unlike older males) preferred mates
who were slightly older than themselves
However, they are unlikely to be successful in this
because females at all ages prefer older males!

Age Preference Changes at

Different Relationship Levels.
Buunk et al., (2001) examined minimum and maximum
age preferences for mates across 5 different levels of
relationship involvement in people aged 20-60.
Women preferred partners around their own age
regardless of the relationship involvement.
However, irrespective of their own age, males preferred
mates at the peak of reproductive capability (18-30) for
short-term relationships or sexual fantasies.
For long-term relationships however, males preferred
mates who although younger than themselves, were
sometimes above the age of maximum fertility.
This may be because males realise that very young
women would not find them attractive.

Female Minimum Age

Preferences.
Casual affair
Falling in love

marriage

Buunk et al., 2001)

p246

relationship

Sexual fantasy

Male Minimum Age

Preferences.
Sexual fantasy

Casual affair
Falling in love
relationship
marriage

Buunk et al., 2001)

p246

2. Beauty.
Attractiveness provides a reliable cue to reproductive
value, especially of youth:
Unwrinkled skin.
Bright eyes.
Full red lips.
Glossy hair.
Lack of facial blemishes and facial hair.
Males evolved the tendency to become sexually
interested in such stimuli because selection favoured
those who assessed their partner's acceptability for
mating on the basis of such fertility cues.
Males assign far greater significance to physical
attractiveness than do females (Buss & Schmitt 1993).

Importance of Physical
Attraction

Buss & Schmitt (1993) p219

Power of Attractiveness.
Physical attractiveness is a strong predictor of whether
a woman will marry, and of the socioeconomic status of
their spouse.
Townsend & Wasserman (1998) used photographs of
individuals varying in attractiveness which were
presented with a brief description varying in social
status; degree of generosity and ambition.
Students were asked to answer a series of questions
concerning the individuals dating / sexual / marital
desirability.
Males were willing to date and have sex with the most
attractive individuals irrespective of their social status.

Is Beauty in the Eye of the

Beholder?
It used to be thought that standards of beauty were
culturally determined, and individuals perceptions of
beauty had to be learned.
Darwin noted differing cultural preferences involving
beauty (grooming, body shape, adornments, hair style,
cosmetics, clothing etc) and stated "It is certainly not
true that there is in the mind of man any universal
standard of beauty with respect to the human body".
However, Langlois et al., (1990) studied infants responses
to faces differing in attractiveness.
Both groups gazed longer at the faces that had been
judged as being attractive than those judged as being
unattractive.
In another experiment, infants played longer with dolls
with attractive faces than ones with unattractive faces.

Cross-Cultural Agreement.
Cunningham et al., (1995) proposed a 'multiple fitness
model' emphasising that beauty reflects a combination
of desirable neonate, sexually mature, expressive, and
grooming qualities.
Within and between cultures, individuals may display
variance in response to specific features, but will
respond in a similar manner to the features as a whole.
They presented males from 4 ethnic-cultural groups
with Asian, black, Hispanic, and white female faces.
The average correlation between racial groups in their
rating of attractiveness was
r = .93, exposure to
Western media had no influence on the ratings.
All males were attracted to large eyes, small noses,
high cheekbones, small chin and a large smile.

Contrast Effects.
Kenrick et al., (1989) examined the effects of exposure
to attractive nude females on male sexual attraction
judgements.
Participants currently in a relationship viewed 16
pictures of attractive nude females or 16 art slides.
They then rated their current relationship and stated
the extent to which they loved their partner and found
them sexually attractive.
Males exposed to attractive female nudes showed a
significant reduction in ratings for their partner.
Kanazawa & Still (2000) found that male secondary
school teacher/college lecturers were statistically
more likely to divorce.

a) Skin Condition.
Skin condition may be a reliable signal of female health
and fertility and flawless skin is one of the most
universally desired female features (Etcoff, 1999).
Skin condition is an 'honest' signal because it reflects
the ratio of sex hormones (estrogen and testosterone),
e.g women with higher than average levels of
testosterone have more acne and facial hair (Lucky,
1995).
Skin tone may also be an honest sign of youthfulness, as
skin darkens with age, skin tone also alters with fertility
becoming darker during the non-fertile phase of the
cycle, during pregnancy, and in women who use the
contraceptive pill (Fink et al., 2001).
Van den Berghe & Frost (1986) proposed that changes in
female skin colour may enable males to distinguish more
fertile females from less fertile ones.

b) Symmetry.
2-face composite
Faces
created
by
combining
individual faces into composites are
viewed as being more attractive than
the individual faces themselves.
This was initially thought to reflect a
preference for averageness.
However, in making composites,
symmetry is increased and facial
blemishes are reduced.
Grammer & Thornhill (1994) found
that female composite faces were
judged as being more attractive and
sexy than the individual photos.

32-face composite

c) Neoteny.
A key feature of female
facial attractiveness is
the extent of babyish
features that the face
displays:
large eyes; high cheek
bones; small nose; small
chin; full lips; short eyechin distance.

Angelina Jolies
bee-sting lips are
an honest signal
of youth and
fertility

Such features are created by

a
high
estrogen/low
testosterone ratio.
Any
cues
to
illness
or
advanced age (wrinkles, grey
hair, poor complexion, poor
teeth etc) are universally
rated as being unattractive.
Johnson & Franklin (1993)
used a computer program,
which allowed participants to
morph faces until they had
achieved an ideal face. The
final face had proportions
indicative of a 14-year-old

3. Body Size and Shape.

Standards for body size preferences vary between
cultures.
In Western societies, males currently prefer
average-slim body sizes and such preferences have
changed:
Playboy centrefolds have declined in body size from
the 1950's.
Winners of beauty pageants and competitions are
several body sizes smaller than average.
In cultures where food is scare, plumpness is a sign
of adequate nutrition, health and good social
standing.

Distribution of Body Fat.

Body fat distribution may be an
honest signal of reproductive status.
Differences in body fat distribution
are minimal in infancy, childhood
and old age, and maximal in early
reproductive life.
At puberty, males deposit tissue on
the upper body, females deposit
tissue on the thighs, breasts and
buttocks.
Differences in fat distribution can be
assessed by measuring waist-to-hip
ratio.
WHR = waist circumference divided
by hip circumferance).

WHR, Health and Fertility.

After puberty the female WHR becomes significantly lower
than that of the male due to the presence of estrogens.
the typical female WHR is between 0.67-0.80.
the typical male WHR is between 0.85 - 0.95.
According to Singh (1993) WHR is unique to humans and
may be an adaptation signalling fertility.
In girls of the same body weight, those with lower WHRs
(feminised) exhibit earlier pubertal endocrine activity.
Women with a higher WHR (masculinised) have greater
difficulty in becoming pregnant.
A high WHR indicates proneness to diabetes, hypertension,
heart problems and strokes.

WHR and Attraction.

Singh (1993) presented participants with line drawings
representing four levels of WHR at three levels of body
weight.
In all weight categories, males and females rated the
figure with the lowest WHR as being more youthful,
healthy, reproductively capable and attractive.
The normal weight figure with a WHR of 0.7 was rated
as most attractive.
The underweight figure with a WHR of 0.7 was rated as
most youthful but not as attractive or reproductively
capable.
Singh & Young (1995) found that figures with large
breasts and small hips were rated as most attractive.
Figures with large hips were rated as being the least
attractive irrespective of breast size.

The Perfect Female Body?

4. Behavioural
Characteristics:
Paternity Certainty.
As males lack paternity certainty, those males that
were able to reduce the risk of cuckoldry would have
had greater reproductive fitness.
Males should have developed adaptations to seek
partners (particularly for long-term relationships)
who would remain faithful.
Chastity is valued highly in most cultures but there
are large differences in its extent (Buss & Schmitt,
1993).
Males in all cultures view promiscuity and
unfaithfulness as being particularly undesirable in a
potential long-term partner.

Preference for Chastity.

Buss & Schmitt (1993) p218

To attract a male as a longterm

mating partner, a
female should..

1. Be younger than the male.

2. Have bright eyes, full red lips, and glossy
hair.
3. Have clear, unwrinkled, unblemished and
hairless skin.
4. Possess symmetrical facial features
combined with neoteny (e.g. small nose,
large eyes).
5. Have a slim waist, large breasts, and a
WHR around 0.7.
6. Have a 'good' reputation, i.e. chastity and
faithfulness.