It is Not All About the Benjamins: Understanding Preferences for Mates with Resources

• Main Authors: JONASON, Peter K., LI, Norman P., MADSON, Laura
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2012
• Subjects: Mate preferences; Sex differences; Resources; Evolutionary psychology; Gender and Sexuality; Personality and Social Contexts; Social Psychology
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/1127; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/soss_research/article/2383/viewcontent/JonasonLiMadson2012.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

We contend that preferences for mates with resources or money might be calibrated on where a potential mate gets her/his money. In three studies (N = 668) we examined the nature of individuals’ preferences for mates who have resources or money. Both sexes preferred a long-term mate who has earned her/his money over other sources. In particular, women preferred mates who earned their money over other potential means of getting resources (i.e., inheritance, embezzlement, and windfall). Women maintained a high level of interest in mates who earned their money regardless of duration of the mateship whereas men became less interested in a mate who earned her money in the context of short-term relationships. Overall, the sexes preferred a mate who earned their money more strongly in the long-term than the short-term context. Results are discussed from evolutionary and sociocultural models of mate preferences.