Women's Long-Term Mating Strategies Quiz
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Questions and Answers

What are the two major components of sexual selection theory?

  • Genetic drift and gene flow
  • Intrasexual competition and intersexual selection (correct)
  • Natural selection and artificial selection
  • Mutation and recombination

    • How does parental investment influence the components of sexual selection?

  • It affects the mating preferences of both males and females (correct)
  • It only affects the mating preferences of females
  • It primarily affects the mating preferences of males
  • It has no influence on sexual selection components

    • What is one example of mate copying from real life?

  • A woman choosing a mate based on his physical appearance
  • A man selecting a mate based on her intelligence
  • A man imitating the behavior of his friend to attract a mate
  • A woman being more attracted to a man because she sees other women showing interest in him (correct)

    • What adaptive problems are potentially solved by women’s preferences for men with resources?

    <p>Survival and reproduction</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What illustrates how women’s mate preferences influence actual mating behavior?

    <p>Mate poaching by women</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Why is selecting a mate who failed to deliver promised resources, had affairs, or exhibited lazy behavior considered risky for survival and reproduction?

    <p>It jeopardizes access to essential resources and protection</p> Signup and view all the answers

    In the study, which country's women valued good financial prospects the most compared to men?

    <p>Japan</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which country's women valued good financial prospects the least compared to men?

    <p>Finland</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which region had women with the highest valuation of good financial prospects compared to men?

    <p>East Asia</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which of the following countries had women with the least interest in good financial prospects compared to men?

    <p>Netherlands</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What was the approximate difference in the valuation of good financial prospects between women and men in Japan?

    <p>150 percent</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What was the overall trend observed in the study regarding the valuation of financial resources in a marriage partner?

    <p>Women worldwide desired financial resources more than men</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is a key factor influencing mate choice for women according to evolutionary psychology?

    <p>Physical prowess</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Why do women seek mates in their own mate-value range according to the text?

    <p>To avoid potential abandonment by higher-mate-value partners</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What do women's evolutionary preferences favor in men?

    <p>Attributes that confer benefits</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is a challenge for women in selecting a mate according to the text?

    <p>Identifying and evaluating cues that signal a man's quality</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What does the text suggest about men's influence on mate choice?

    <p>Men vary in numerous ways, influencing mate choice</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is a key aspect of women's mate preferences according to evolutionary psychology?

    <p>Focus on adaptively valuable characteristics in men</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the theoretical background for the evolution of mate preferences?

    <p>Parental investment and sexual selection</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What defines biological sex based on the size of sex cells?

    <p>Males having small gametes and females having large gametes</p> Signup and view all the answers

    According to Trivers's theory, which sex is predicted to be more selective about mating?

    <p>The sex investing more in offspring</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What leads to women's greater initial investment per gamete?

    <p>Fertilization, gestation, and lactation</p> Signup and view all the answers

    In some species, which sex actually invests more than females in reproduction?

    <p>Males</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did evolution favor in women according to the text?

    <p>High selectivity about their mates</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What do studies show about modern U.S. women's preference for economic resources in mates?

    <p>They value economic resources in mates substantially more than men do.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did a large cross-cultural study find about women's value on good financial prospects in mates?

    <p>Women across all continents place more value than men on good financial prospects.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    In a study comparing men and women's minimum acceptable percentile for a spouse's earning capacity, what was found?

    <p>Women's minimum acceptable percentile for a husband's earning capacity was higher than men's minimum acceptable percentile for a wife's earning capacity.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did personal ads in newspapers and online dating sites confirm about women's desires in the marriage market?

    <p>Women desire strong financial resources in a mate.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the insight provided by women's mate preferences according to the text?

    <p>Insight into our mating past, similar to how fears of snakes and heights provide insight into ancestral hazards.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did men and women rate differently in a study comparing 18 characteristics for relative desirability in a marriage partner?

    <p>Women valued good financial prospects in a mate about twice as highly as men.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    In traditional hunter-gatherer societies, at what age does hunting skill typically peak for men?

    <p>Late 30s</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did a study of a small-scale Amazonian society in Ecuador find as the strongest predictor of women’s judgments of a man’s attractiveness?

    <p>Hunting ability</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is rated as between important and indispensable by women in the overwhelming majority of cultures?

    <p>Ambition and industriousness</p> Signup and view all the answers

    In how many of the 37 cultures did women value dependability more than men?

    <p>15</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What do women worldwide rate as a reliable signal that resources will be provided consistently over time?

    <p>Dependable character</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What do women in 23 cultures value significantly more than men do?

    <p>Emotional stability</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What do women from Bulgaria rate as 29 percent more important compared to men?

    <p>Ambition and industriousness</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What do women from Brazil rate as 30 percent more important compared to men?

    <p>Ambition and industriousness</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What are reliable signals that resources will be provided consistently over time according to the text?

    <p>Dependable character and emotional stability</p> Signup and view all the answers

    In the international study of male and female mating preferences, how many people were surveyed across six continents and five islands?

    <p>10,047 people</p> Signup and view all the answers

    In the study, participants rated the variable 'wealthy and generous' on a scale ranging from 0 to 3. What did a rating of 0 indicate?

    <p>Irrelevant or unimportant</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What was the largest sex difference found in the study of 21,245 Germans regarding mating preferences?

    <p>Women's greater preference for 'wealthy and generous'</p> Signup and view all the answers

    According to the study of the Himba in Namibia, what were the key cues prioritized by women in long-term mates?

    <p>Wealth, respect, hard work, and generosity</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did the study provide in terms of evidence supporting the evolutionary basis for the psychology of human mating?

    <p>The largest database of human mating preferences ever accumulated</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did findings from other cultures continue to support since the initial study?

    <p>Hypothesis that women have evolved preferences for men with resources</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did the study of 37 cultures provide in terms of cross-cultural evidence?

    <p>First extensive cross-cultural evidence supporting the evolutionary basis for the psychology of human mating</p> Signup and view all the answers

    In how many cultures did women value social status in a mate more than men?

    <p>37</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the average age preference of women for men as mates?

    <p>3.5 years older</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the reason for the preference of somewhat older men by women?

    <p>Increased access to resources as men age</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the age at which men in the Tiwi culture typically acquire a first wife in a polygynous setting?

    <p>At least by the age of 30</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What are the potential risks associated with preferring much older men as mates?

    <p>Increased risk of infertility, pregnancy problems, genetic abnormalities, and shorter life expectancy</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the main reason for women valuing education and professional degrees in mates?

    <p>Strongly linked with social status</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the primary reason for women prioritizing social status in a mate?

    <p>Necessity for resource access</p> Signup and view all the answers

    In which society do women prioritize a man's foraging abilities, especially his hunting skills?

    <p>Hadza society of Tanzania</p> Signup and view all the answers

    In which country did women seek mates with their own cars, good economic standing, and a focus on their careers more than men?

    <p>Israel</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Where did women value economic ability, status, ambition, and education more than men in mate selection?

    <p>Jordan</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which study found that women sought financially secure, emotionally sensitive, and sincere partners?

    <p>Study of 500 Muslims in the US</p> Signup and view all the answers

    In which cultural area did more female characters emphasize wealth or status in mate preferences?

    <p>48 cultural areas</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Where did women place four times more importance on a potential mate's salary than men did?

    <p>China</p> Signup and view all the answers

    In which country did women seek resources three times more often than men in personal advertisements?

    <p>Sweden</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What type of men do women prefer according to the text?

    <p>Men who are relatively tall, athletic, muscular, and display a V-shaped torso</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What personal qualities do women place a premium on in a mate according to the text?

    <p>Dependability and emotional stability</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What does the text suggest about men who are undependable and emotionally unstable?

    <p>They will absorb their partners’ time and resources, divert their own time and resources elsewhere, and fail to channel resources consistently over time</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What signals do women look for in men to indicate their ability to protect a woman and her children?

    <p>Relatively tall, athletic, muscular, and a V-shaped torso</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What type of men are considered risky for survival and reproduction according to the text?

    <p>Men who fail to deliver promised resources, have affairs, or exhibit lazy behavior</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What kind of resources do women prefer to be supplied predictably according to the text?

    <p>Resources that can be more efficiently allocated to overcome adaptive hurdles in everyday life</p> Signup and view all the answers

    In the study, what was the average attractiveness rating for the man interacting with the child positively as a marriage partner?

    <p>2.75</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What was the average attractiveness rating for the man standing alone as a marriage partner?

    <p>2.0</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which condition resulted in the man being rated equally as attractive as when he was standing alone?

    <p>Man and child facing forward (neutral condition)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    How many women participated in the study and rated each image?

    <p>240</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What was the range of the rating scale used by the women in the study?

    <p>-5 to +5</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did the study find regarding the effect of comparable photographs of women shown ignoring or interacting positively with a baby on men’s judgments of women’s attractiveness?

    <p>No effect</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the average value of good health for men?

    <p>+2.31</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is considered a physical marker of good health?

    <p>Facial and body symmetry</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the relationship between facial symmetry and physical attractiveness?

    <p>Positive relationship</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the influence of masculine features in men's faces?

    <p>Attracts women due to dominance</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What do women living in low-health nations show strong preferences for?

    <p>Masculine features</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the evidence supporting the link between masculine appearance and health?

    <p>Women's choices of the most attractive face were indistinguishable from their choices of the healthiest face</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the index of physical formidability that influences mate attraction according to the text?

    <p>Handgrip strength</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the physical characteristic that women fearful of crime show stronger preferences for in long-term mates?

    <p>Muscularity</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What type of male physiques do women prefer, as mentioned in the text?

    <p>Muscular, lean, and 'V-shaped'</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is considered as an enduring relationship formed by females with males offering physical protection in return for preferential mating access?

    <p>Special friendships</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the recurrent part of primate heritage involving male physical and sexual domination of females?

    <p>Sexual coercion</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the physical characteristic that exposure to images of men fighting or weapons increases women's preferences for?

    <p>Height</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is a key cue to commitment in mate selection, according to the text?

    <p>Acts of commitment, such as giving up romantic relations with others</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is one function of love in relation to children, supported by a comparative and phylogenetic analysis of different species?

    <p>Paternal care</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which brain areas are involved in the psychological state of love, as identified by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) technology?

    <p>Caudate nucleus and ventral tegmental areas</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is a challenge that women historically faced in mate selection, according to the text?

    <p>Choosing men who possessed resources but also showed a willingness to commit those resources</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is rated as an indispensable part of long-term mating and highly valued in mate selection across cultures?

    <p>Love</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is one of the components of commitment mentioned in the text?

    <p>Fidelity and emotional support</p> Signup and view all the answers

    In the study, how did women rate a man vacuuming compared to a man simply standing alone?

    <p>Less attractive (1.3)</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did the study suggest about men who show a willingness to invest in children as marriage partners?

    <p>They are preferred by women</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did the study find about men's judgments of a woman's attractiveness as a marriage partner?

    <p>They were not influenced by the woman's interaction with a child</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did Gary Brase's replication of the study's findings suggest?

    <p>Consistency in the preference for men who invest in children</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What was the average attractiveness rating for the man interacting positively with the child as a marriage partner?

    <p>2.7</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did the study suggest about men's judgments of a woman's attractiveness as a marriage partner?

    <p>They were not influenced by the woman's interaction with a child</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What was the key factor influencing mate selection for women, according to the text?

    <p>Emotional support from fathers</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did the study find regarding men's perceived interest in infants and its effect on their attractiveness as long-term mates?

    <p>Men perceived as liking infants were judged attractive as long-term mates</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is a significant factor influencing women's preference in long-term mates, according to the text?

    <p>Good sense of humor</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is observed in mate selection with regard to overall 'mate value'?

    <p>Individuals of similar value mate</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is a key aspect of women's mate preferences according to evolutionary psychology?

    <p>Kindness and altruism</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is an important factor in women's mate preferences due to its effect on offspring's health and intelligence?

    <p>Incest avoidance</p> Signup and view all the answers

    In the study, what did attractive women express a greater desire for in a potential mate?

    <p>Masculinity, physical attractiveness, sex appeal, and physical fitness</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did the Croatian study find about women high on self-perceived physical attractiveness?

    <p>They preferred higher levels of education, intelligence, good health, and favorable social status in a potential mate</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did the U.S. study have interviewers evaluate 107 women for?

    <p>Face, body, and overall attractiveness</p> Signup and view all the answers

    In the study, what did women higher in mate value specify in personal ads compared to women lower in mate value?

    <p>A longer list of traits required in a potential mate</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did women who perceive themselves as higher in mate value tend to impose higher minimum standards in?

    <p>Social status, intelligence, and family orientation</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did the study find about women high on self-perceived physical attractiveness in Croatia?

    <p>They preferred higher levels of education, intelligence, good health, and favorable social status in a potential mate</p> Signup and view all the answers

    In which country did a study find that women with more resources and status are more likely to seek men with similar attributes?

    <p>Spain</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What do wealthier women prioritize over physical attractiveness?

    <p>Good financial prospects</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the term for the phenomenon where women use social information, such as a man being paired with an attractive and interested woman, as a cue to his desirability as a mate?

    <p>Mate choice copying</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What influences women's mate preferences to shift depending on whether they are seeking a long-term marriage partner or a casual sex partner?

    <p>Relationship duration</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What do physically attractive women show a more pronounced preference for in men?

    <p>Physical strength</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What has been documented to influence women's judgment of men's attractiveness?

    <p>Physical proximity to other women</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is one of the deal breakers for women when considering a potential mate?

    <p>Untrustworthiness</p> Signup and view all the answers

    In which society of West Africa do women, despite having more resources and mate choices, still prefer mates with resources and may divorce due to insufficient economic provisioning?

    <p>Bakweri</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What do women find especially attractive in a male voice, possibly signaling sexual maturity, dominance, or good genetic quality?

    <p>Deep voice</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the primary reason for women prioritizing social status in a mate?

    <p>Access to resources through upward socioeconomic status mates</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is positively correlated with women's personal income, desire for a college graduate mate, and desire for a mate with a professional degree?

    <p>Women's personal income</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What do women's mate preferences depend on, according to the text?

    <p>Relevant contexts such as their personal resources prior to mate search</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did the speed-dating study in Germany find about women high on self-perceived physical attractiveness?

    <p>They chose men high on overall desirability, including wealth and status.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Why may women's mate preferences not show a perfect correspondence with actual mating behavior?

    <p>One's own mate value has no impact on access to highly desirable mates.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What does the text suggest about the historical impact of women's mate preferences on their actual mating decisions?

    <p>Preferences must have affected actual mating decisions at least some of the time over human evolutionary history.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is mentioned as a factor influencing women's mate preferences and actual mating decisions?

    <p>One's own mate value limits access to highly desirable mates.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is suggested about the impact of women's mate preferences on actual mating decisions despite certain factors?

    <p>Preferences must have affected actual mating decisions to some extent over human evolutionary history.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is mentioned as a reason for the lack of perfect correspondence between women's mate preferences and actual mating behavior?

    <p>Highly desirable potential mates are always in short supply.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is a distinguishing characteristic of butch lesbians compared to femme lesbians?

    <p>Higher levels of circulating testosterone</p> Signup and view all the answers

    How do femme lesbians differ from butch lesbians in terms of mate preferences?

    <p>Place greater importance on financial resources</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is a significant difference between the mate preferences of lesbian women and heterosexual women?

    <p>Tolerance for age differences</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is a key difference in the preference for partner height between heterosexual women and lesbian/bisexual women?

    <p>Lesbian/bisexual women prefer partners of similar height</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What do the psychological, morphological, and hormonal correlates of butch and femme lesbians imply?

    <p>Butch and femme are not merely arbitrary labels</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What do the mate preferences of lesbian women and heterosexual women have in common?

    <p>Valuing kindness and emotional stability</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the main challenge ancestral women faced in terms of mating strategies?

    <p>Securing commitment, protection, and resources from men</p> Signup and view all the answers

    In what context do women prioritize qualities signaling good provider and father?

    <p>Long-term mating contexts</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What influences women's mate preferences to shift depending on different circumstances?

    <p>Ancestral adaptive problems</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is a factor influencing male sexual orientation according to the text?

    <p>Early development</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What does a recent hypothesis suggest about genetic influence on non-heterosexual sexual orientations?

    <p>Lower direct reproductive success but higher reproductive success among genetic relatives</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What do evolutionary theories primarily explain according to the text?

    <p>Mating strategies of heterosexual women</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did the study in Poland find about women's responses to personal ads?

    <p>Women preferred men with higher education and resources</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did longitudinal studies show about the correlation between a woman's attractiveness and her husband's occupational status?

    <p>There was a positive correlation</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did the demographic data from 27 countries show about the age of grooms at marriage?

    <p>Grooms were older than brides on average</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did the study of men's socioeconomic status in 1910 reveal about their likelihood of marriage?

    <p>Men with higher socioeconomic status were more likely to marry</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did the Australian online daters show about women's likelihood to initiate contact with men?

    <p>Women were more likely to initiate contact with men of higher education</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What did the theory of sexual selection predict about mate preferences and mate competition?

    <p>Mate preferences of one sex should establish domains of mate competition in the opposite sex</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What do research studies suggest about men's behavior in mate competition?

    <p>Men are more likely to display resources, talk about professional successes, and drive expensive cars.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What do men do in response to mating rivals with higher status and financial resources?

    <p>Men experience envy more than women.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What do men do more than women in online dating profiles?

    <p>Men are more likely to lie about their height.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What happens when men are exposed to attractive women?

    <p>Men attach higher importance to having material wealth.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What cognitive adaptations are activated in men when exposed to attractive women?

    <p>Cognitive adaptations to embody qualities desired in a mate, such as financial success and ambition.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What do women seek in a marriage partner according to the text?

    <p>Women seek resources such as ambition, intelligence, social status, and older age.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Study Notes

    Evolution of Women's Long-Term Mating Strategies

    • Women's preference for a long-term mate with resources required two preconditions: resources had to be accruable, defensible, and controllable by men, and men had to differ in their holdings and willingness to invest in a woman and her children.
    • Men invest in their wives and children with provisions to an unprecedented extent among primates, providing food, shelter, defense, and status transfer.
    • Women needed cues to signal a man's possession of resources, which could be indirect, physical, or related to reputation, with economic resources providing the most obvious cue.
    • Studies show that modern U.S. women value economic resources in mates substantially more than men do, with women valuing good financial prospects in a mate about twice as highly as men.
    • U.S. college women indicate that their minimum acceptable percentile for a husband on earning capacity is the 70th percentile, whereas men's minimum acceptable percentile for a wife's earning capacity is only the 40th.
    • Personal ads in newspapers and online dating sites confirm that women in the marriage market desire strong financial resources.
    • A large cross-cultural study conducted in 37 cultures on six continents and five islands found that women across all continents, political systems, racial groups, religious groups, and systems of mating placed more value than men on good financial prospects.
    • Women's mate preferences provide insight into our mating past, similar to how fears of snakes and heights provide insight into ancestral hazards.
    • Women's preferences are not limited to college students, specific countries, or particular methods of inquiry.
    • Men and women rated 18 characteristics for relative desirability in a marriage partner, with women valuing good financial prospects in a mate about twice as highly as men.
    • Women's preference for a long-term mate with resources would have required resources to be accruable, defensible, and controllable by men during human evolutionary history, and men would have had to differ in their holdings and willingness to invest those holdings in a woman and her children.
    • Over the course of human evolutionary history, some women could garner more resources for their children through a single spouse than through several casual sex partners.

    Evolution of Women's Mate Preferences

    • A study involving Chinese, European, and American individuals found that women placed four times more importance on a potential mate's salary than men did.
    • Another study revealed that women experienced relationship regret over getting involved with a "stingy" man and not with a "wealthy" man.
    • In Jordan, women value economic ability, status, ambition, and education more than men in mate selection.
    • Analysis of folktales in 48 cultural areas showed that more female characters emphasized wealth or status in mate preferences.
    • A study of 500 Muslims in the US found that women sought financially secure, emotionally sensitive, and sincere partners.
    • In the Hadza society of Tanzania, women prioritize a man's foraging abilities, especially his hunting skills.
    • Women's mate preferences for status and ambition were evident in mail-order brides from Colombia, the Philippines, and Russia.
    • In Sweden, women sought resources three times more often than men in personal advertisements.
    • Israeli women, more than men, sought mates with their own cars, good economic standing, and a focus on their careers.
    • Women highly value intelligence in a long-term mate, which is predictive of income and occupational status.
    • Even in traditional societies like the Kipsigis of Kenya, women preferentially select men with resources like large plots of land.
    • Historical studies in Finland and Norway found that women married to wealthier men had higher survival rates and more surviving children.

    Preference for High Social Status

    • Traditional hunter-gatherer societies suggest that ancestral men had clearly defined status hierarchies, with resources flowing freely to those at the top.

    Challenges of Love and Commitment in Mate Selection

    • Women historically faced the challenge of choosing men who not only possessed resources but also showed a willingness to commit those resources to them and their children
    • Love may be a key cue to commitment in mate selection
    • Evidence from a survey of 168 diverse cultures worldwide shows that romantic love is present in 88.5% of the cultures
    • Acts of commitment, such as giving up romantic relations with others, talking of commitment and marriage, and expressing a desire to have children, are central to love
    • Reports of experiencing love strongly predict feelings of subjective commitment
    • The commitment of paternal care to children is one function of love, supported by a comparative and phylogenetic analysis of different species
    • Fidelity, channeling of resources, emotional support, and acts of reproduction are components of commitment
    • Love is an indispensable part of long-term mating and is highly valued in mate selection across cultures
    • Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) technology has identified brain mechanisms involved in love, with specific areas of the brain showing increased activity
    • The caudate nucleus and ventral tegmental areas in the brain, containing cells that produce dopamine, are involved in the psychological state of love
    • Women face the adaptive problem of gauging men’s willingness to invest in children, as men may seek sexual variety and evaluate the likelihood of being the genetic father of a child
    • Men tend to withhold investment from a child when they suspect the child is not their own

    Evolutionary Perspectives on Women's Mating Strategies

    • Humans have evolved powerful incest-avoidance mechanisms, such as disgust at the thought of intimate relations with a sibling.
    • Growing up with a sibling activates inbreeding-avoidance adaptation, predicting sexual aversions to peers one grows up with.
    • Incest-avoidance mechanisms are stronger in women due to greater obligatory parental investment, making poor mating decisions costlier for women.
    • Women consider "is my sibling" as one of the most powerful deal breakers when considering a potential mate.
    • Other deal breakers for women include untrustworthiness, addiction, poor hygiene, and infidelity.
    • Women find a deep male voice especially attractive, possibly signaling sexual maturity, dominance, or good genetic quality.
    • Men with attractive-sounding voices have sexual intercourse earlier and more sex partners.
    • Women's mate preferences depend on relevant contexts, such as their personal resources prior to mate search, economic inequality, and other women's attraction to a man.
    • Women's preferences for men with resources may stem from societal gender economic inequality, seeking access to resources through upward socioeconomic status mates.
    • In the Bakweri society of West Africa, despite women having more resources and mate choices, they still prefer mates with resources and divorce due to insufficient economic provisioning.
    • Even professionally and economically successful women in the United States value resources in men, desiring mates with professional degrees, high social status, and greater intelligence, correlating with their personal income.
    • Women's personal income is positively correlated with the income they desire in an ideal mate, desire for a college graduate mate, and desire for a mate with a professional degree.

    Men's Display of Resources and Mating Strategies

    • Research studies show that men are more likely than women to display resources, talk about professional successes, flash money, drive expensive cars, and brag about accomplishments in mate competition.
    • Men compete with other men through conspicuous consumption, such as purchasing luxury cars, and view men with conspicuous signals as potential mating rivals and mate poachers.
    • Men derogate their competitors by indicating rivals are poor, lack ambition, and are unlikely to succeed professionally.
    • Men experience envy more than women in response to mating rivals with higher status and financial resources.
    • Men are more likely than women to inflate their status, prestige, and income to potential mates and misrepresent personal assets, such as income and education level, in online dating profiles.
    • Men lie more about their height in online dating profiles.
    • Research suggests that men are aware of women's preferences for resources and qualities linked to their acquisition and take actions to embody what women want.
    • Exposure to attractive women activates cognitive adaptations in men to embody qualities desired in a mate, such as financial success and ambition.
    • Men exposed to young, attractive women rate the importance of having a large income significantly higher than those exposed to older, less attractive models.
    • Exposure to attractive women causes men to increase the importance they attach to having material wealth.
    • Priming men with attractive images of women leads to increased creativity, independence, and nonconformity.
    • Women seek resources in a marriage partner, such as ambition, intelligence, social status, and older age, as these qualities signal the likely possession or future acquisition of resources.

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    Evolution of Women's Long-Term Mating Strategies Quiz: Test your knowledge on the historical and modern preferences of women in selecting long-term mates, focusing on the significance of economic resources, mate selection across cultures, and evolutionary perspectives on mating strategies.

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