Sex differences in human mate preferences vary across sex ratios

• 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., Duyar, Derya Atamturk, 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 Maria, Czub, Marcin, Dronova, Daria, Dural, Seda, Duyar, Izzet, Ertugrul, Berna, Espinosa, Agustin, Estevan, Ignacio, Esteves, Carla Sofia, Fang, Luxi, Frackowiak, Tomasz, Garduno, Jorge Contreras, Gonzalez, Karina Ugalde, Guemaz, Farida, Gyuris, Petra, Halamova, Maria, Herak, Iskra, Horvat, Marina, Hromatko, Ivana, Hui, Chin-Ming, Jaafar, Jas Laile, Jiang, Feng, Kafetsios, Konstantinos, Kavcic, Tina, Ottesen Kennair, Leif Edward, Kervyn, Nicolas, Khanh Ha, Truong Thi, Khilji, Imran Ahmed, Kobis, Nils C., Lan, Hoang Moc, Lang, Andras, Lennard, Georgina R., Leon, Ernesto, Lindholm, Torun, Linh, Trinh Thi, Lopez, Giulia, Luot, Nguyen Van, Mailhos, Alvaro, Manesi, Zoi, Martinez, Rocio, McKerchar, Sarah L., Mesko, Norbert, Misra, Girishwar, Monaghan, Conal, Mora, Emanuel C., Moya-Garofano, Alba, Musil, Bojan, Natividade, Jean Carlos, Niemczyk, Agnieszka, Nizharadze, George, Oberzaucher, Elisabeth, Oleszkiewicz, Anna, Omar-Fauzee, Mohd Sofian, Onyishi, Ike E., Ozener, Baris, Pagani, Ariela Francesca, Pakalniskiene, Vilmante, Parise, Miriam, Pazhoohi, Farid, Pisanski, Annette, Pisanski, Katarzyna, Ponciano, Edna, Popa, Camelia, Prokop, Pavol, Rizwan, Muhammad, Sainz, Mario, Salkicevic, Svjetlana, Sargautyte, Ruta, Sarmany-Schuller, Ivan, Schmehl, Susanne, Sharad, Shivantika, Siddiqui, Razi Sultan, Simonetti, Franco, Stoyanova, Stanislava Yordanova, Tadinac, Meri, Correa Varella, Marco Antonio, Vauclair, Christin-Melanie, Vega, Luis Diego, Widarini, Dwi Ajeng, Yoo, Gyesook, Zat'kova, Marta Marta, Zupancic, Maja
• Format: Article
• Published: Royal Society of London 2021
• Subjects: GE Environmental Sciences; QH301 Biology
• Online Access: http://eprints.um.edu.my/34735/
• Institution: Universiti Malaya

A wide range of literature connects sex ratio and mating behaviours in non-human animals. However, research examining sex ratio and human mating is limited in scope. Prior work has examined the relationship between sex ratio and desire for short-term, uncommitted mating as well as outcomes such as marriage and divorce rates. Less empirical attention has been directed towards the relationship between sex ratio and mate preferences, despite the importance of mate preferences in the human mating literature. To address this gap, we examined sex ratio's relationship to the variation in preferences for attractiveness, resources, kindness, intelligence and health in a long-term mate across 45 countries (n = 14 487). We predicted that mate preferences would vary according to relative power of choice on the mating market, with increased power derived from having relatively few competitors and numerous potential mates. We found that each sex tended to report more demanding preferences for attractiveness and resources where the opposite sex was abundant, compared to where the opposite sex was scarce. This pattern dovetails with those found for mating strategies in humans and mate preferences across species, highlighting the importance of sex ratio for understanding variation in human mate preferences.