Human female mate choice from an evolutionary perspective

Human female mate choice and selection has been topic of interest both in the scientific community and in popular culture. In popular culture there are books and websites giving women pointers on finding the ideal mate. There are shows on T.V. perpetuating stereotypes of what an ideal mate should look like, act like, and be like. But what are the core attributes that cause women to be attracted to certain males? What are the evolutionary mechanisms that cause one male to be more attractive than another? The subject of human female mate selection is vast and diverse, but there are some scientific studies that may shed some light on the topic.

Facial characteristics may be a factor in determining whether females select certain males over other males. Experiments conducted by Kruger (2006) sought to investigate this link. The author conducted three experiments to investigate women’s reactions to masculine and feminine male faces. One study geometrically manipulated the look of the males face and measured the ratings given to each face. The second study tested the mating trade off hypothesis that a “woman’s partner preference should be related to the length of the relationship and expectations for genetic and parental investments.” (p.455). The author hypothesized that if females choose males based on facial masculinity, then attributions based on personality and reproductive strategy would also be linked to facial masculinity. The final study had participant’s group behavioral tendencies, high mating effort/risk strategies and high parenting/risk adverse strategies between masculine or feminine faces. Kruger concluded that “Highly masculine faces are associated with riskier and more competitive behavioral strategies, higher mating effort, and lower parenting effort in comparison to less masculine faces.” (p.460). The author found that women tend to choose men with masculine faces for short term relationships, but favored men with feminine faces for long term relationships/marriage. One possible explanation for this conclusion is that men with masculine faces may have other attributes associated with masculinity. They may have higher testosterone levels, engage in risky behaviors (hunting, competition for mates, conduct war), and may not survive long enough to be considered for a long term relationship. Men with feminine faces may be seen as not engaging in these risky behaviors, therefore they may live a long time and be able to increase their parental investment in their offspring.

The way that women compare themselves to other women may influence the type of males they find attractive. A study conducted by Little and Mannion (2006) investigated the correlation between self attractiveness and preferences for male masculinity. The study measured and recorded the responses of 65 women from age 16-45. They were asked to rate the attractiveness of 40 women on a scale from 1-10 from an online database. Then the participants were asked to complete a questionnaire about self ratings and body attractiveness. During the final portion of the experiment women were shown 10 pairs of male faces, one masculine and one feminine, and were asked to select the most attractive face. The results indicated that women who viewed images of attractive women rated themselves lower on the self-report questionnaire and demonstrated a preference for men’s faces that were less masculine. However, women who viewed the pictures of unattractive women rated themselves higher on the self-report questionnaire and demonstrated a preference for more masculine faces. The researchers concluded that “If intrasexual competition for mates in females is based on such uncontrollable traits, we might expect them to have sophisticated mechanisms for estimating their relative worth within a population.” (p.985). The study indicates that women adjust their preferences in mate selection based on their own self perception and self esteem. Women who perceive themselves as attractive may be more confident and select masculine males as potential mates. These women may see their rewards in having offspring who are attractive, more capable of finding mates of their own in a competitive environment.

The effects of female control of resources may have an impact on the mates that women select. Research conducted by Moore, Cassidy, Smith and Perrett (2006) investigated the effects of the amount of resources women have and their mate preferences. The authors recruited 2788 heterosexual female participants’ age 18-35 years old to participate in the study. The participants answered a questionnaire asking about demographic information. They were also asked about the relationship they would prefer if they were looking for one on the day of testing. To measure control of resources, participants were asked to rank on a scale form 1-7 the importance of career, access to resources, financial independence, and how much input they have on decisions at home. And finally they were asked to rank 13 characteristics in order of importance in a potential partner for a long term relationship. The sample characteristics included good financial prospects, ambition and industriousness, favorable social status, and physical attractiveness. The results from the study showed that women who controlled their own resources would chose physically attractive mates and were more tolerant if they were younger than them. Their mate’s level of resources wasn’t a factor. Women who didn’t control their resources chose mates who had more financial resources and were older than they were. The findings suggest that women who control their own resources may not see the capability of their mates providing resources as important as the women who don’t control their own. Women who don’t have many resources may select their mate on the level of parental investment that they can provide for their offspring.

Do women choose mates based on the attractive female company they keep? Waynforth (2007) conducted a study to determine whether women perceived men to be more attractive when they were seen with a female date or friend. He also wanted to find out whether the physical attractiveness of the female consort affected the woman’s perception of males desirability. The author recruited 112 undergraduate women, ages 19-23, to view facial photographs of 46 men and 60 women. The images of the men and women were presented separately on a PowerPoint presentation with images cropped at the neck. The participants viewed the Power Point presentation and were asked to rank the attractiveness of the image on a scale from 1-10. Two weeks elapsed, and the images used in the presentation were reassigned into 112 female-male pairs. The participants were then asked to rerate the images of the males, this time presented with a female consort. The findings demonstrated that women are influenced by viewing men with physically attractive consorts. Specifically, a male “shown with a less attractive female consort caused women to downgrade the attractiveness ratings they had assigned to men when shown without a female consort.” (p.269). It wasn’t enough for the male to be seen with a female to be considered desirable, the female consort had to be attractive as well. The results also indicated that women with more sexual experience were less likely to be influenced by the presence of a female consort. Females may use mate copying as a heuristic, a means to quickly size up a potential mate. If the male’s female consort is attractive, then it is assumed that she may have done the legwork in determining his viability as a potential mate and judged him worthy to pass on his genes.

Sexual imprinting may be a factor in determining which characteristics women find attractive in their potential mates. The study conducted by Wiszewska, Pawlowski, and Boothroyd examined the link between facial proportions of the fathers and faces that females found attractive. In the experiment 49 women ages 15-34 participated in the study. The author’s selected 16 out of 31 facial photographs of men to be chosen as stimuli faces. The facial proportions of the participant’s father’s faces and the stimuli faces were entered into SPSS 12.0 in order to perform a principle component analysis. A questionnaire was given to the daughters to answer, with questions ranging from demographics, level of education to rating the relationship they had with their fathers. The women were then shown the stimuli faces and asked to rank them on attractiveness. The facial factors of the father were then correlated with the stimuli faces. The women who had positive relationships with their fathers rated faces that had similar facial proportions to their father as attractive. There were no significant correlations in the group who had a less positive relationship with their fathers. The authors discovered that “there was no overall concordance between father’s faces and the faces which females found attractive: however, women who rated their fathers most positively showed significantly stronger concordance between father’s and chosen faces . . . than women who rated theirs fathers least positively.” (p.251). Women who select future partners may base their decisions on the past of experience with their fathers. These women may associate positive attributions with these similarities because it may be a mechanism to help them determine their mate’s viability as a responsible parent.

In conclusion, the studies reviewed for this treatise seems to indicate that women attempt to develop methods on quickly assessing potential mates. This makes sense, since women have a limited amount of time in which they’re fertile. They also have the most parental investment since they have to carry their child within their bodies for 9 months, and have to care and rear their child for 18 years or longer. Women seem to look to the face in order to determine a mate’s potential viability. They also copy other attractive females in their choices for attractive mates. A woman’s past experience with their father may give them clues on which attributes they find attractive in a potential mate. Women may also select mates based on they way they perceive themselves. If they find themselves attractive as compared to other women, then they tend to find men who are masculine more attractive. If they feel less attractive than the women they see, then they find feminine looking men more attractive. Finally, a woman who controls their own resources will chose mates based primarily on attractiveness, since they don’t need to rely on their potential parental investment. Women who don’t control their resources, however, will chose a mate who’s older and has more resources in order to insure that they’re offspring will be taken care of.

Kruger, D. (2006). Male facial masculinity influences attributions of personality and

reproductive strategy. Personal Relationships 13 (4), 451-463.

Little, A. C., Mannion, H. (2006). Viewing attractive or unattractive same sex individuals

changes self-rated attractiveness and face preferences in women. Animal Behavior 72 (5),

981-987.

Moore, F. R., Cassidy, C., Smith, M. J. L., Perrett, D. I. (2006). The effects of female control of

resources on sex-differentiated mate preferences. Evolution and Human Behavior 27 (3), 193

-205.

Waynforth, D. (2007). Mate Choice Copying in Humans. Human Nature 18 (3), 264-271.

Wiszewska, A., Pawlowski, B., Boothroyd, L. G. (2007). Father-daughter relationship as a

moderator of sexual imprinting: A facialmetric study. Evolution and Human Behavior 28 (4),

248-252.

©2010 Augustine A. Zavala