Paper 2 Studies

Buss et al., 1989 - Aim

To examine whether sex differences in mate preferences are universal across cultures, and to test predictions from evolutionary theory regarding what men and women value in long-term partners.

Buss et al., 1989 - Method

• Participants:

  • 9,474 individuals (mean age around 23)

  • From 37 cultures across 33 countries on six continents (e.g., USA, Nigeria, Japan, Sweden, Iran, India, Zulu population in South Africa, etc.)

• Design:

  • Cross-cultural survey study, quantitative design.

• Procedure:

  • Participants completed a two-part questionnaire:

    1. Rating scale (0–3) to assess 18 mate characteristics (e.g., good financial prospects, chastity, physical attractiveness, ambition, intelligence, kindness, health).

    2. Rank ordering of 13 traits from most to least important in a long-term mate.

• Data were statistically analyzed to detect sex differences and cultural similarities/differences.

Buss et al., 1989 - Results

Universal Sex Differences (Consistent Across Cultures):

• Women rated the following traits significantly higher than men:

  • Good financial prospects:

    • Women > Men in 36/37 cultures.

    • Largest differences in Japan, Iran, India.

  • Ambition and industriousness:

    • Women consistently rated ambition as more desirable in a mate.

• Men rated the following traits significantly higher:

  • Physical attractiveness:

    • Men > Women in all 37 cultures.

    • Strongest differences in Nigeria, South Africa, Brazil.

  • Youth (indirectly measured via preferred age difference):

    • Men preferred mates on average 2.66 years younger.

    • Women preferred mates on average 3.42 years older.

Cultural Differences:

• Chastity:

  • Rated as very important in China, India, Taiwan, Iran.

  • Rated as unimportant in Sweden, Norway, Netherlands.

• Kindness, intelligence, and health:

  • Universally valued by both sexes across cultures.

  • Kindness ranked #1 or #2 in almost all cultures.

Buss et al., 1989 - Conclusion

• There are robust sex differences in mate preferences consistent with evolutionary theories, suggesting that:

  • Men prioritize fertility cues (youth, attractiveness).

  • Women prioritize resource acquisition (status, ambition, wealth) due to differential parental investment.

• Cultural norms still influence preferences for specific traits like chastity, showing an interaction between biology and culture.

• The study supports a biosocial model of mate selection: evolved predispositions are shaped by sociocultural context.

Evaluation for Buss (1989) - Biological Approach

Support for Evolutionary Theory:

• Findings align with evolutionary psychology (Buss, 1989; Trivers, 1972):

  • Men's attraction to youth and beauty → evolutionary indicators of fertility and reproductive value.

  • Women's preference for older, wealthy, ambitious men → indicators of ability to invest in offspring.

• Sex differences persisted across all continents, indicating universal biological drivers.

• Male preference for youth: supported by age gap data across cultures.

  • In Zambia, men preferred mates 6.4 years younger.

  • In USA, the age difference was 2.7 years on average.

Criticisms:

• Overly deterministic: Assumes all behavior is driven by reproduction.

• Ignores same-sex relationships and non-reproductive sexual behavior.

• Reductionist: Complex human traits (e.g., love, compatibility) reduced to survival strategies.

Evaluation for Buss (1989) - Sociocultural Approach

Cultural Influence on Mate Preferences:

• Chastity: Strong cross-cultural differences show cultural norms play a major role.

  • Example: In China and India, chastity is highly valued due to religious and traditional gender norms.

  • In contrast, Scandinavian countries, which have more liberal sexual values, rated chastity low.

• Economic development and gender equality influence preferences:

  • In more egalitarian societies (e.g., Sweden), women valued financial resources less.

  • This supports Eagly & Wood's (1999) Social Structural Theory:

    • Suggests that mate preferences reflect social roles, not just evolved traits.

    • When women have equal access to resources, the need for a “provider” declines.

Limitations:

• Despite cultural variation, traditional gender roles were present in almost all cultures.

• Survey interpretation may differ across languages/cultures (translation issues).

• Some societies may have normative pressure to report "desirable" preferences → social desirability bias.

Clark and Hatfield (1989) - Aim

To investigate sex differences in receptivity to sexual offers from strangers, and to test the evolutionary hypothesis that men and women have evolved different mating strategies due to differences in parental investment.

Clark and Hatfield (1989) - Method

• Participants:

  • Male and female college students (approx. aged 18–22) at Florida State University.

  • Exact sample size not specified, but roughly 96 participants (48 men and 48 women), approached by confederates.

• Procedure:

  • Attractive male and female confederates were instructed to approach opposite-sex strangers on campus with one of three scripted questions:

    1. “Would you go out with me tonight?”

    2. “Would you come over to my apartment tonight?”

    3. “Would you go to bed with me tonight?”

  • Responses were recorded for analysis.

Clark and Hatfield (1989) - Results

Question	Male Participants (Approached by Female)	Female Participants (Approached by Male)
Go out with me?	50% said yes	56% said yes
Come to my apartment?	69% said yes	6% said yes
Go to bed with me?	75% said yes	0% said yes

• Men were far more likely to accept casual sexual offers.

• Women were almost completely unwilling to engage in casual sex with a stranger, despite agreeing equally to dates.

Clark and Hatfield (1989) - Conclusion

• The findings strongly support evolutionary theories of human mating behavior, specifically:

  • Men have evolved to seek more short-term mating opportunities to increase reproductive success.

  • Women, due to greater biological investment in offspring (pregnancy, child-rearing), are more selective in choosing sexual partners.

• The cost of mating is much higher for females, which explains their greater sexual caution.

Clark and Hatfield (1989) - Evaluation

Summary of Strengths and Weaknesses

Strengths	Weaknesses
High ecological validity	Cultural and age bias
Supports key evolutionary theory predictions	Ethical concerns
Measured actual behavior, not attitudes	Lacks emotional/relationship context
Simple, replicable design	Social norms/confounds not controlled

Wedekind et al (1995) - Aim 

To investigate whether human body odor preferences are influenced by genetic compatibility, specifically differences in the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) — a group of genes involved in immune system functioning.

Based on evolutionary theory: choosing a mate with different MHC genes leads to greater immune system diversity in offspring, enhancing survival chances.

Wedekind et al (1995) - Method

• Design: Double-blind experiment.

• Participants:

  • 49 female and 44 male students from the University of Bern, Switzerland.

  • All were European, similar in age, and not taking oral contraceptives (for female participants).

  • MHC genotyping was done beforehand to identify each participant’s MHC profile.

• Procedure:

  1. Male participants were asked to wear a clean cotton T-shirt for two consecutive nights, avoiding deodorants, perfumes, spicy foods, alcohol, and smoking — all factors that could alter natural body odor.

  2. Each T-shirt was placed in a sealed box with a small opening.

  3. After the two days, female participants (during the mid-point of their menstrual cycle, when scent sensitivity is highest) were asked to smell and rate 7 T-shirts:

     • 3 worn by men with MHCs dissimilar to their own.

     • 3 worn by men with similar MHCs.

     • 1 unworn control shirt.

  4. Ratings were given on intensity, pleasantness, and sexiness of the scent.

Wedekind et al (1995) - Results

• **Women preferred the scent of T-shirts worn by men with MHC genes dissimilar to their own.

• These shirts were rated as more pleasant, more sexy, and less intense.

• The preference was reversed in women taking oral contraceptives (not included in final data), suggesting hormonal influence.

• This supports the hypothesis that odor preferences are linked to MHC compatibility.

Wedekind et al (1995) - Conclusion

• The study supports the biological theory of mate selection:
  Humans may be biologically programmed to be attracted to genetically compatible partners, in this case, those with different immune system genes.

• This unconscious mechanism increases the chance of producing healthy, disease-resistant offspring, consistent with evolutionary theories of attraction.

Wedekind et al (1995) - Evaluation

Strengths	Limitations
Strong empirical support for evolutionary theory	Low ecological validity
Controlled lab conditions (diet, hygiene)	Small, culturally narrow sample
Objective genetic data (MHC typing)	Oversimplifies complex human attraction
Replicable design	Ignores cultural and social factors
Relevant for real-world application (e.g., fertility, contraceptives)	Hormonal influences not fully controlled

Dion et al (1972) - Aim 

To investigate whether physical attractiveness influences people’s perceptions of others’ personality traits — i.e., whether a “halo effect” exists, where attractive individuals are perceived more positively in unrelated domains (e.g., intelligence, kindness).

Cognitive psychologists propose that schemas — mental frameworks — guide how we process information about others. Dion et al. wanted to test whether appearance-based schemas influence judgments of character and social desirability.

Dion et al (1972) - Method

METHOD

• Participants:

  • 60 university students (30 males and 30 females) from the USA.

  • All participants were volunteers.

• Design:

  • Independent measures design — participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups.

• Procedure:

  1. Each participant was shown a photograph of a person (either attractive, moderately attractive, or unattractive, based on prior ratings).

  2. All photographs were of white individuals of the same age group (to control for other biases).

  3. Participants were then asked to rate the person in the photo on 27 different personality traits, including:

     • Kindness

     • Likelihood of marriage success

     • Intelligence

     • Career success

     • Social happiness

Dion et al (1972) - Results

• Participants consistently rated more physically attractive individuals as:

  • More sociable, intelligent, competent, and socially successful.

  • More likely to have a happy marriage and a successful career.

• Unattractive individuals were rated more negatively, despite having no behavioral or personal information provided.

• Gender of the rater had no significant effect — both male and female participants showed the same bias.

Dion et al (1972) - Conclusion

• The study demonstrated a clear halo effect: people form positive impressions of others based solely on physical attractiveness.

• This supports the cognitive approach to relationships — our judgments of others are shaped by schemas and heuristics, not objective evidence.

• In the context of attraction, first impressions based on appearance may lead to biased assumptions about personality and compatibility.

Dion et al (1972) - Evaluation 

Strengths	Limitations
Demonstrates a real cognitive bias	Low ecological validity
Controlled variables (standard photos)	Culturally biased sample
Replicable and widely supported	Oversimplifies attraction (based on photos only)
Strong support for schema theory	Ethical concerns: reinforces stereotypes

Markey and Markey (2007) - Aim 

To investigate whether individuals are more attracted to others who are similar to themselves in personality traits — supporting the Similarity-Attraction Hypothesis.

This cognitive model suggests people are attracted to those who are similar because they fit into existing self-schemas and provide predictability and validation in social interactions.

Markey and Markey (2007) - Method

• Participants:

  • Young adults recruited through self-selected sampling.

  • 103 female and 66 male undergraduate students (N = 169) from the USA.

• Design:

  • Survey-based correlational study.

• Procedure:

  1. Participants completed a self-report questionnaire about their own personality traits, using the Big Five model (e.g., extraversion, agreeableness, emotional stability).

  2. Then, they described the ideal romantic partner's personality using the same scale.

  3. Researchers analyzed the degree of similarity between participants’ self-described traits and their "ideal partner" descriptions.

Markey and Markey (2007) - Results 

• There was a strong positive correlation between participants' own personality traits and those they desired in a romantic partner.

  • For example:

    • Extraverted participants were more likely to want extraverted partners.

    • Emotionally stable individuals preferred emotionally stable partners.

• The strongest similarities were seen in:

  • Openness to experience

  • Agreeableness

  • Emotional stability

Markey and Markey (2007) - Conclusion

• The findings support the Similarity-Attraction Hypothesis: people are cognitively drawn to others who are like them.

• Suggests that attraction is not random or purely based on external factors, but is influenced by cognitive schemas (internal representations of the self and others).

• Individuals may find similarity comforting because it validates their worldview, enhances predictability, and increases relationship satisfaction.

Markey and Markey (2007) - Evaluation

Strengths	Limitations

Empirical support for schema theory

Correlational – no causation

Controlled use of Big Five personality measures

Sample is culturally narrow (U.S. students)

Explains real-life attraction patterns

Self-report = potential bias

Applicable to dating psychology

Ideal partner ≠ actual behavior