Sex Differences in Mate Preferences Across 45 Countries: A Large-Scale Replication

Considerable research has examined human mate preferences across cultures, finding universal sex differences in preferences for attractiveness and resources as well as sources of systematic cultural variation. Two competing perspectives—an evolutionary psychological perspective and a biosocial role...

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Main Authors: Walter, Kathryn V., Conroy-Beam, Daniel, Buss, David M., Asao, Kelly, Sorokowska, Agnieszka, Sorokowski, Piotr, Aavik, Toivo, Akello, Grace, Alhabahba, Mohammad Madallh, Alm, Charlotte, Amjad, Naumana, Anjum, Afifa, Atama, Chiemezie S., Atamtürk Duyar, Derya, Ayebare, Richard, Batres, Carlota, Bendixen, Mons, Bensafia, Aicha, Bizumic, Boris, Boussena, Mahmoud, Butovskaya, Marina, Can, Seda, Cantarero, Katarzyna, Carrier, Antonin, Cetinkaya, Hakan, Croy, Ilona, Cueto, Rosa María, Czub, Marcin, Dronova, Daria, Dural, Seda, Duyar, Izzet, Ertugrul, Berna, Espinosa, Agustín, Estevan, Ignacio, Esteves, Carla Sofia, Fang, Luxi, Frackowiak, Tomasz, Garduño, Jorge Contreras, González, Karina Ugalde, Guemaz, Farida, Gyuris, Petra, Halamová, Mária, Herak, Iskra, Horvat, Marina, Hromatko, Ivana, Hui, Chin-Ming, Jaafar, Jas Laile Suzana, Jiang, Feng, Kafetsios, Konstantinos, Kavčič, Tina, Kennair, Leif Edward Ottesen, Kervyn, Nicolas, Khanh Ha, Truong Thi, Khilji, Imran Ahmed, Köbis, Nils C., Lan, Hoang Moc, Láng, András, Lennard, Georgina R., León, Ernesto, Lindholm, Torun, Linh, Trinh Thi, Lopez, Giulia, Van Luot, Nguyen, Mailhos, Alvaro, Manesi, Zoi, Martinez, Rocio, McKerchar, Sarah L., Meskó, Norbert, Misra, Girishwar, Monaghan, Conal, Mora, Emanuel C., Moya-Garófano, Alba, Musil, Bojan, Natividade, Jean Carlos, Niemczyk, Agnieszka, Nizharadze, George, Oberzaucher, Elisabeth, Oleszkiewicz, Anna, Omar-Fauzee, Mohd Sofian, Onyishi, Ike E., Özener, Baris, Pagani, Ariela Francesca, Pakalniskiene, Vilmante, Parise, Miriam, Pazhoohi, Farid, Pisanski, Annette, Pisanski, Katarzyna, Ponciano, Edna, Popa, Camelia, Prokop, Pavol, Rizwan, Muhammad, Sainz, Mario, Salkičević, Svjetlana, Sargautyte, Ruta, Sarmány-Schuller, Ivan, Schmehl, Susanne, Sharad, Shivantika, Siddiqui, Razi Sultan, Simonetti, Franco, Stoyanova, Stanislava Yordanova, Tadinac, Meri, Varella, Marco Antonio Correa, Vauclair, Christin-Melanie, Vega, Luis Diego, Widarini, Dwi Ajeng, Yoo, Gyesook, Zat’ková, Marta, Zupančič, Maja
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Published: SAGE Publications 2020
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Online Access:http://eprints.um.edu.my/24772/
https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797620904154
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Institution: Universiti Malaya
id my.um.eprints.24772
record_format eprints
institution Universiti Malaya
building UM Library
collection Institutional Repository
continent Asia
country Malaysia
content_provider Universiti Malaya
content_source UM Research Repository
url_provider http://eprints.um.edu.my/
topic BF Psychology
spellingShingle BF Psychology
Walter, Kathryn V.
Conroy-Beam, Daniel
Buss, David M.
Asao, Kelly
Sorokowska, Agnieszka
Sorokowski, Piotr
Aavik, Toivo
Akello, Grace
Alhabahba, Mohammad Madallh
Alm, Charlotte
Amjad, Naumana
Anjum, Afifa
Atama, Chiemezie S.
Atamtürk Duyar, Derya
Ayebare, Richard
Batres, Carlota
Bendixen, Mons
Bensafia, Aicha
Bizumic, Boris
Boussena, Mahmoud
Butovskaya, Marina
Can, Seda
Cantarero, Katarzyna
Carrier, Antonin
Cetinkaya, Hakan
Croy, Ilona
Cueto, Rosa María
Czub, Marcin
Dronova, Daria
Dural, Seda
Duyar, Izzet
Ertugrul, Berna
Espinosa, Agustín
Estevan, Ignacio
Esteves, Carla Sofia
Fang, Luxi
Frackowiak, Tomasz
Garduño, Jorge Contreras
González, Karina Ugalde
Guemaz, Farida
Gyuris, Petra
Halamová, Mária
Herak, Iskra
Horvat, Marina
Hromatko, Ivana
Hui, Chin-Ming
Jaafar, Jas Laile Suzana
Jiang, Feng
Kafetsios, Konstantinos
Kavčič, Tina
Kennair, Leif Edward Ottesen
Kervyn, Nicolas
Khanh Ha, Truong Thi
Khilji, Imran Ahmed
Köbis, Nils C.
Lan, Hoang Moc
Láng, András
Lennard, Georgina R.
León, Ernesto
Lindholm, Torun
Linh, Trinh Thi
Lopez, Giulia
Van Luot, Nguyen
Mailhos, Alvaro
Manesi, Zoi
Martinez, Rocio
McKerchar, Sarah L.
Meskó, Norbert
Misra, Girishwar
Monaghan, Conal
Mora, Emanuel C.
Moya-Garófano, Alba
Musil, Bojan
Natividade, Jean Carlos
Niemczyk, Agnieszka
Nizharadze, George
Oberzaucher, Elisabeth
Oleszkiewicz, Anna
Omar-Fauzee, Mohd Sofian
Onyishi, Ike E.
Özener, Baris
Pagani, Ariela Francesca
Pakalniskiene, Vilmante
Parise, Miriam
Pazhoohi, Farid
Pisanski, Annette
Pisanski, Katarzyna
Ponciano, Edna
Popa, Camelia
Prokop, Pavol
Rizwan, Muhammad
Sainz, Mario
Salkičević, Svjetlana
Sargautyte, Ruta
Sarmány-Schuller, Ivan
Schmehl, Susanne
Sharad, Shivantika
Siddiqui, Razi Sultan
Simonetti, Franco
Stoyanova, Stanislava Yordanova
Tadinac, Meri
Varella, Marco Antonio Correa
Vauclair, Christin-Melanie
Vega, Luis Diego
Widarini, Dwi Ajeng
Yoo, Gyesook
Zat’ková, Marta
Zupančič, Maja
Sex Differences in Mate Preferences Across 45 Countries: A Large-Scale Replication
description Considerable research has examined human mate preferences across cultures, finding universal sex differences in preferences for attractiveness and resources as well as sources of systematic cultural variation. Two competing perspectives—an evolutionary psychological perspective and a biosocial role perspective—offer alternative explanations for these findings. However, the original data on which each perspective relies are decades old, and the literature is fraught with conflicting methods, analyses, results, and conclusions. Using a new 45-country sample (N = 14,399), we attempted to replicate classic studies and test both the evolutionary and biosocial role perspectives. Support for universal sex differences in preferences remains robust: Men, more than women, prefer attractive, young mates, and women, more than men, prefer older mates with financial prospects. Cross-culturally, both sexes have mates closer to their own ages as gender equality increases. Beyond age of partner, neither pathogen prevalence nor gender equality robustly predicted sex differences or preferences across countries. © The Author(s) 2020.
format Article
author Walter, Kathryn V.
Conroy-Beam, Daniel
Buss, David M.
Asao, Kelly
Sorokowska, Agnieszka
Sorokowski, Piotr
Aavik, Toivo
Akello, Grace
Alhabahba, Mohammad Madallh
Alm, Charlotte
Amjad, Naumana
Anjum, Afifa
Atama, Chiemezie S.
Atamtürk Duyar, Derya
Ayebare, Richard
Batres, Carlota
Bendixen, Mons
Bensafia, Aicha
Bizumic, Boris
Boussena, Mahmoud
Butovskaya, Marina
Can, Seda
Cantarero, Katarzyna
Carrier, Antonin
Cetinkaya, Hakan
Croy, Ilona
Cueto, Rosa María
Czub, Marcin
Dronova, Daria
Dural, Seda
Duyar, Izzet
Ertugrul, Berna
Espinosa, Agustín
Estevan, Ignacio
Esteves, Carla Sofia
Fang, Luxi
Frackowiak, Tomasz
Garduño, Jorge Contreras
González, Karina Ugalde
Guemaz, Farida
Gyuris, Petra
Halamová, Mária
Herak, Iskra
Horvat, Marina
Hromatko, Ivana
Hui, Chin-Ming
Jaafar, Jas Laile Suzana
Jiang, Feng
Kafetsios, Konstantinos
Kavčič, Tina
Kennair, Leif Edward Ottesen
Kervyn, Nicolas
Khanh Ha, Truong Thi
Khilji, Imran Ahmed
Köbis, Nils C.
Lan, Hoang Moc
Láng, András
Lennard, Georgina R.
León, Ernesto
Lindholm, Torun
Linh, Trinh Thi
Lopez, Giulia
Van Luot, Nguyen
Mailhos, Alvaro
Manesi, Zoi
Martinez, Rocio
McKerchar, Sarah L.
Meskó, Norbert
Misra, Girishwar
Monaghan, Conal
Mora, Emanuel C.
Moya-Garófano, Alba
Musil, Bojan
Natividade, Jean Carlos
Niemczyk, Agnieszka
Nizharadze, George
Oberzaucher, Elisabeth
Oleszkiewicz, Anna
Omar-Fauzee, Mohd Sofian
Onyishi, Ike E.
Özener, Baris
Pagani, Ariela Francesca
Pakalniskiene, Vilmante
Parise, Miriam
Pazhoohi, Farid
Pisanski, Annette
Pisanski, Katarzyna
Ponciano, Edna
Popa, Camelia
Prokop, Pavol
Rizwan, Muhammad
Sainz, Mario
Salkičević, Svjetlana
Sargautyte, Ruta
Sarmány-Schuller, Ivan
Schmehl, Susanne
Sharad, Shivantika
Siddiqui, Razi Sultan
Simonetti, Franco
Stoyanova, Stanislava Yordanova
Tadinac, Meri
Varella, Marco Antonio Correa
Vauclair, Christin-Melanie
Vega, Luis Diego
Widarini, Dwi Ajeng
Yoo, Gyesook
Zat’ková, Marta
Zupančič, Maja
author_facet Walter, Kathryn V.
Conroy-Beam, Daniel
Buss, David M.
Asao, Kelly
Sorokowska, Agnieszka
Sorokowski, Piotr
Aavik, Toivo
Akello, Grace
Alhabahba, Mohammad Madallh
Alm, Charlotte
Amjad, Naumana
Anjum, Afifa
Atama, Chiemezie S.
Atamtürk Duyar, Derya
Ayebare, Richard
Batres, Carlota
Bendixen, Mons
Bensafia, Aicha
Bizumic, Boris
Boussena, Mahmoud
Butovskaya, Marina
Can, Seda
Cantarero, Katarzyna
Carrier, Antonin
Cetinkaya, Hakan
Croy, Ilona
Cueto, Rosa María
Czub, Marcin
Dronova, Daria
Dural, Seda
Duyar, Izzet
Ertugrul, Berna
Espinosa, Agustín
Estevan, Ignacio
Esteves, Carla Sofia
Fang, Luxi
Frackowiak, Tomasz
Garduño, Jorge Contreras
González, Karina Ugalde
Guemaz, Farida
Gyuris, Petra
Halamová, Mária
Herak, Iskra
Horvat, Marina
Hromatko, Ivana
Hui, Chin-Ming
Jaafar, Jas Laile Suzana
Jiang, Feng
Kafetsios, Konstantinos
Kavčič, Tina
Kennair, Leif Edward Ottesen
Kervyn, Nicolas
Khanh Ha, Truong Thi
Khilji, Imran Ahmed
Köbis, Nils C.
Lan, Hoang Moc
Láng, András
Lennard, Georgina R.
León, Ernesto
Lindholm, Torun
Linh, Trinh Thi
Lopez, Giulia
Van Luot, Nguyen
Mailhos, Alvaro
Manesi, Zoi
Martinez, Rocio
McKerchar, Sarah L.
Meskó, Norbert
Misra, Girishwar
Monaghan, Conal
Mora, Emanuel C.
Moya-Garófano, Alba
Musil, Bojan
Natividade, Jean Carlos
Niemczyk, Agnieszka
Nizharadze, George
Oberzaucher, Elisabeth
Oleszkiewicz, Anna
Omar-Fauzee, Mohd Sofian
Onyishi, Ike E.
Özener, Baris
Pagani, Ariela Francesca
Pakalniskiene, Vilmante
Parise, Miriam
Pazhoohi, Farid
Pisanski, Annette
Pisanski, Katarzyna
Ponciano, Edna
Popa, Camelia
Prokop, Pavol
Rizwan, Muhammad
Sainz, Mario
Salkičević, Svjetlana
Sargautyte, Ruta
Sarmány-Schuller, Ivan
Schmehl, Susanne
Sharad, Shivantika
Siddiqui, Razi Sultan
Simonetti, Franco
Stoyanova, Stanislava Yordanova
Tadinac, Meri
Varella, Marco Antonio Correa
Vauclair, Christin-Melanie
Vega, Luis Diego
Widarini, Dwi Ajeng
Yoo, Gyesook
Zat’ková, Marta
Zupančič, Maja
author_sort Walter, Kathryn V.
title Sex Differences in Mate Preferences Across 45 Countries: A Large-Scale Replication
title_short Sex Differences in Mate Preferences Across 45 Countries: A Large-Scale Replication
title_full Sex Differences in Mate Preferences Across 45 Countries: A Large-Scale Replication
title_fullStr Sex Differences in Mate Preferences Across 45 Countries: A Large-Scale Replication
title_full_unstemmed Sex Differences in Mate Preferences Across 45 Countries: A Large-Scale Replication
title_sort sex differences in mate preferences across 45 countries: a large-scale replication
publisher SAGE Publications
publishDate 2020
url http://eprints.um.edu.my/24772/
https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797620904154
_version_ 1674066726535299072
spelling my.um.eprints.247722020-06-10T08:15:28Z http://eprints.um.edu.my/24772/ Sex Differences in Mate Preferences Across 45 Countries: A Large-Scale Replication Walter, Kathryn V. Conroy-Beam, Daniel Buss, David M. Asao, Kelly Sorokowska, Agnieszka Sorokowski, Piotr Aavik, Toivo Akello, Grace Alhabahba, Mohammad Madallh Alm, Charlotte Amjad, Naumana Anjum, Afifa Atama, Chiemezie S. Atamtürk Duyar, Derya Ayebare, Richard Batres, Carlota Bendixen, Mons Bensafia, Aicha Bizumic, Boris Boussena, Mahmoud Butovskaya, Marina Can, Seda Cantarero, Katarzyna Carrier, Antonin Cetinkaya, Hakan Croy, Ilona Cueto, Rosa María Czub, Marcin Dronova, Daria Dural, Seda Duyar, Izzet Ertugrul, Berna Espinosa, Agustín Estevan, Ignacio Esteves, Carla Sofia Fang, Luxi Frackowiak, Tomasz Garduño, Jorge Contreras González, Karina Ugalde Guemaz, Farida Gyuris, Petra Halamová, Mária Herak, Iskra Horvat, Marina Hromatko, Ivana Hui, Chin-Ming Jaafar, Jas Laile Suzana Jiang, Feng Kafetsios, Konstantinos Kavčič, Tina Kennair, Leif Edward Ottesen Kervyn, Nicolas Khanh Ha, Truong Thi Khilji, Imran Ahmed Köbis, Nils C. Lan, Hoang Moc Láng, András Lennard, Georgina R. León, Ernesto Lindholm, Torun Linh, Trinh Thi Lopez, Giulia Van Luot, Nguyen Mailhos, Alvaro Manesi, Zoi Martinez, Rocio McKerchar, Sarah L. Meskó, Norbert Misra, Girishwar Monaghan, Conal Mora, Emanuel C. Moya-Garófano, Alba Musil, Bojan Natividade, Jean Carlos Niemczyk, Agnieszka Nizharadze, George Oberzaucher, Elisabeth Oleszkiewicz, Anna Omar-Fauzee, Mohd Sofian Onyishi, Ike E. Özener, Baris Pagani, Ariela Francesca Pakalniskiene, Vilmante Parise, Miriam Pazhoohi, Farid Pisanski, Annette Pisanski, Katarzyna Ponciano, Edna Popa, Camelia Prokop, Pavol Rizwan, Muhammad Sainz, Mario Salkičević, Svjetlana Sargautyte, Ruta Sarmány-Schuller, Ivan Schmehl, Susanne Sharad, Shivantika Siddiqui, Razi Sultan Simonetti, Franco Stoyanova, Stanislava Yordanova Tadinac, Meri Varella, Marco Antonio Correa Vauclair, Christin-Melanie Vega, Luis Diego Widarini, Dwi Ajeng Yoo, Gyesook Zat’ková, Marta Zupančič, Maja BF Psychology Considerable research has examined human mate preferences across cultures, finding universal sex differences in preferences for attractiveness and resources as well as sources of systematic cultural variation. Two competing perspectives—an evolutionary psychological perspective and a biosocial role perspective—offer alternative explanations for these findings. However, the original data on which each perspective relies are decades old, and the literature is fraught with conflicting methods, analyses, results, and conclusions. Using a new 45-country sample (N = 14,399), we attempted to replicate classic studies and test both the evolutionary and biosocial role perspectives. Support for universal sex differences in preferences remains robust: Men, more than women, prefer attractive, young mates, and women, more than men, prefer older mates with financial prospects. Cross-culturally, both sexes have mates closer to their own ages as gender equality increases. Beyond age of partner, neither pathogen prevalence nor gender equality robustly predicted sex differences or preferences across countries. © The Author(s) 2020. SAGE Publications 2020 Article PeerReviewed Walter, Kathryn V. and Conroy-Beam, Daniel and Buss, David M. and Asao, Kelly and Sorokowska, Agnieszka and Sorokowski, Piotr and Aavik, Toivo and Akello, Grace and Alhabahba, Mohammad Madallh and Alm, Charlotte and Amjad, Naumana and Anjum, Afifa and Atama, Chiemezie S. and Atamtürk Duyar, Derya and Ayebare, Richard and Batres, Carlota and Bendixen, Mons and Bensafia, Aicha and Bizumic, Boris and Boussena, Mahmoud and Butovskaya, Marina and Can, Seda and Cantarero, Katarzyna and Carrier, Antonin and Cetinkaya, Hakan and Croy, Ilona and Cueto, Rosa María and Czub, Marcin and Dronova, Daria and Dural, Seda and Duyar, Izzet and Ertugrul, Berna and Espinosa, Agustín and Estevan, Ignacio and Esteves, Carla Sofia and Fang, Luxi and Frackowiak, Tomasz and Garduño, Jorge Contreras and González, Karina Ugalde and Guemaz, Farida and Gyuris, Petra and Halamová, Mária and Herak, Iskra and Horvat, Marina and Hromatko, Ivana and Hui, Chin-Ming and Jaafar, Jas Laile Suzana and Jiang, Feng and Kafetsios, Konstantinos and Kavčič, Tina and Kennair, Leif Edward Ottesen and Kervyn, Nicolas and Khanh Ha, Truong Thi and Khilji, Imran Ahmed and Köbis, Nils C. and Lan, Hoang Moc and Láng, András and Lennard, Georgina R. and León, Ernesto and Lindholm, Torun and Linh, Trinh Thi and Lopez, Giulia and Van Luot, Nguyen and Mailhos, Alvaro and Manesi, Zoi and Martinez, Rocio and McKerchar, Sarah L. and Meskó, Norbert and Misra, Girishwar and Monaghan, Conal and Mora, Emanuel C. and Moya-Garófano, Alba and Musil, Bojan and Natividade, Jean Carlos and Niemczyk, Agnieszka and Nizharadze, George and Oberzaucher, Elisabeth and Oleszkiewicz, Anna and Omar-Fauzee, Mohd Sofian and Onyishi, Ike E. and Özener, Baris and Pagani, Ariela Francesca and Pakalniskiene, Vilmante and Parise, Miriam and Pazhoohi, Farid and Pisanski, Annette and Pisanski, Katarzyna and Ponciano, Edna and Popa, Camelia and Prokop, Pavol and Rizwan, Muhammad and Sainz, Mario and Salkičević, Svjetlana and Sargautyte, Ruta and Sarmány-Schuller, Ivan and Schmehl, Susanne and Sharad, Shivantika and Siddiqui, Razi Sultan and Simonetti, Franco and Stoyanova, Stanislava Yordanova and Tadinac, Meri and Varella, Marco Antonio Correa and Vauclair, Christin-Melanie and Vega, Luis Diego and Widarini, Dwi Ajeng and Yoo, Gyesook and Zat’ková, Marta and Zupančič, Maja (2020) Sex Differences in Mate Preferences Across 45 Countries: A Large-Scale Replication. Psychological Science, 31 (4). pp. 408-423. ISSN 0956-7976 https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797620904154 doi:10.1177/0956797620904154