Mate Preference and Love

Lecture Overview

Lecture 8: Mate Preference and LoveCourse: PSYCH 3M03: Motivation and Emotion

Preferential Mate Choice

Mate preference has evolved over approximately 800 million years, suggesting deep-rooted biological influences on human mating behaviors. While many adaptations prioritize mating advantages, rather than mere survival, consensus among researchers indicates certain desired traits, possibly heritable, have emerged across generations. This phenomenon extends throughout the 1.3 million sexually reproducing species, with humans being among the most complex due to additional social and cultural factors that influence mate preferences.

Theories of Mate Preference

Various theories attempt to explain mate choice:

  • Non-Evolutionary Theories

    • Freud: Proposed that individuals tend to seek mates resembling their parents of the opposite sex, influencing attraction and choice.

    • Winch: Suggests that people seek partners with qualities they themselves lack, promoting a sense of complementarity in the relationship.

    • Similarity Attraction Theory: Some theories advocate that individuals are drawn to mates with similar backgrounds, values, and interests.

    • Exchange and Equity Theories: Highlight the importance of finding partners with equivalent resources, thus fostering balanced relationships.

    • Critique: Non-evolutionary theories often grapple with domain generality, making it challenging to create universally applicable hypotheses.

Criteria for a Good Theory

An effective theory of mate preference should:

  • Address multiple domains and strategies beyond just long-term pairings.

  • Recognize that preferences may adapt or shift according to specific contexts and changing social dynamics.

  • Develop and propose hypotheses related to the functions of features within human mating psychology.

    • For instance, the illustrations by Victorian cartoonists that mock Darwin's original ideas demonstrate societal perceptions and understandings of mate selection.

Key References

  • Tooby, Cosmides, Barkow: The Adapted Mind (1992).

  • Buss, D. M. (1992, 2019): Elaborates on various topics surrounding mate preferences and the evolutionary aspects of love.

Mate Preference and Rivalry

The exertion of fitness-enhancing preferential mate choice plays a crucial role in the dynamics of intrasexual competition among individuals vying for desirable partners. This competition shapes mating strategies as they adapt over evolutionary time.Significantly, data shows that mate preferences can significantly influence social behaviors and competition strategies within groups.

Sexual Strategies Theory (David Buss & David Schmitt)

Premises:

  • Humans exhibit multiple mating strategies, each specifically designed to address common and sex-differentiated mating challenges often based on evolutionary pressures over time.

Short-Term Mating Strategies for Males

  • Driven by asymmetric parental investment, males typically exhibit greater desires for short-term mates, actively seeking multiple partners.

  • Males tend to engage more quickly in romantic pursuits with relaxed preferences, which is often further exaggerated in gender-egalitarian societies.

  • Males are statistically more likely to desire extramarital relationships and casual encounters and often feel regret for missed opportunities more than for encounters.

  • Attraction can also be directed towards immaturity and intoxication, with some using deception regarding their commitment to attract short-term mates.

Short-Term Strategies for Females

Contrary to popular belief, females are not solely focused on long-term commitments; they evaluate short-term mates for potential long-term benefits.

  • Immediate survival needs often drive female choices, seeking partners who can provide protection or resources.

  • The Mate Switching Hypothesis suggests an adaptive strategy for women to break up with partners who are costly to them.

Female Short-Term Strategies and Genetics

  • The Good Genes hypothesis posits that females seek resources from a committed mate while simultaneously pursuing superior genetic traits from an affair partner.

  • Preferences during ovulation can influence choices, although there is minimal support for some claims regarding a drastic change in mate attractiveness.

  • Research shows that there is a similarity in qualities sought between long-term partnerships and extramarital affairs, indicating a complex interplay of needs and desires.

  • Furthermore, traits in intelligence, ambition, and stability tend to display partial heritability.