need to revise a paper in 3 hours.

10/18/2017 Yuzu: Psychology of Gender: Fourth Edition

https://reader.yuzu.com/#/books/9781317345046/cfi/6/36!/4/2/2/2@0:0 1/2

• •

• •

•

• •

•

•

•

•

•

•

EXPLANATIONS FOR SEX DIFFERENCES IN MATE PREFERENCES Supporting Evidence Counter-Evidence

Evolutionary Theory cross-cultural evidence men rate attractiveness as more important than women

attractive women are not paired with high status men

cross-cultural evidence women rate status as more important than men

cross-cultural evidence that men rate domestic skills as more important than women

men’s preference for physical attractiveness in a mate is not affected by the gender traditionality of the culture or by time

Social Role Theory cross-cultural evidence that women rate status as more important than men

cross-cultural evidence men rate attractiveness as more important than women

cross-cultural evidence that men rate domestic skills as more important than women greater sex differences in mate preferences in cultures with distinct female and male roles sex differences in mate preferences reduced when men and women have less traditional gender-role attitudes sex differences in mate preferences reduced over time as women’s and men’s roles have become more similar

Social Construction Theory

cultural differences in mate preferences

greater sex differences in mate preferences in cultures with distinct male and female roles

Eagly and Wood (1999) have argued that social role theory provides a better explanation than evolutionary theory for sex differences in mate selection. They suggest that a society’s emphasis on a distinct division of labor between the sexes will be directly linked to sex differences in mate selection. In other words, females will value a mate with high earning capacity and males will value a mate with domestic skills in societies where men’s role is to work outside the home and women’s role is to work inside the home. Eagly and Wood tested this hypothesis by linking the gender equality of a culture to the size of the sex difference in mate preferences. They reanalyzed the data that Buss and colleagues (1990) had collected on mate selection preferences from 37 cultures around the world. First, they confirmed Buss and colleagues’ finding that women were more likely than men to value a mate with high earning capacity and men were more likely than women to value a mate who was physically attractive. However, they also found that men were more likely than women to value a mate who was a good cook and a good housekeeper. This sex difference was as large as the previous two. Evolutionary theory would not lead to this prediction, but social role theory would. Second, sex differences in preferences for a mate with high earning capacity were highly correlated with sex differences in preferences for a mate with good domestic skills. Therefore, cultures in which high earning capacity is valued more by women are the same cultures in which domestic skills are valued more by men. Finally, the gender equality of a culture (as measured by the percentage of women in administrative, technical, and professional positions; the percentage of women in political office; and the percentage of men’s salary the average woman earns) was inversely related to the size of

10/18/2017 Yuzu: Psychology of Gender: Fourth Edition

https://reader.yuzu.com/#/books/9781317345046/cfi/6/36!/4/2/2/2@0:0 2/2

the sex difference in earning capacity preference and domestic skill preference, but not physical attractiveness preference. That is, sex differences in earning capacity and domestic skill preference were higher in more traditional cultures. The tra- ditionality of a culture did not have anything to do with the sex difference in the value attached to physical attractiveness.

A more recent study of nine nations has examined an individual’s gender-role tradi- tionality rather than the traditionality of the culture and found that sex differences in mate preferences were more common among individuals with traditional gender-role ideologies (Eastwick et al., 2006). Men with more traditional gender-role beliefs showed a greater preference for younger mates with domestic skills, and women with more traditional gender-role beliefs showed a greater preference for older mates with financial resources.

Social role theory would predict that sex differences in mate preferences ought to decrease as women’s and men’s roles become more similar. Because women are less dependent on men for financial resources today than they were several decades ago, perhaps women’s preferences for a high status mate have declined. Changes in mate preferences between 1936 and 1996 show that women have decreased the value they attached to a mate’s ambition, men have increased the value they attach to a mate’s education and financial assets, and men have decreased the value they place on a mate’s domestic skills (Buss et al., 2001). Both men and women have increased their value of physical attractiveness in a mate. In general, men’s and women’s mate preferences have become more similar over time. Compare mate preferences at your college with the research reviewed here in Do Gender 9.1.

DO GENDER 9.1 Mate Preferences

Identify 10 characteristics of a potential mate. Make sure some of the characteristics are the ones that both women and men rate as important. Also include physical attractiveness and earning potential. Have 10 female and 10 male friends rate how important each characteristic is in a potential mate. Rank the characteristics in terms of relative importance and examine whether there are differences in the value that women and men attach to each characteristic. You might also compare the responses of people who are and are not currently in a romantic relationship. Does being in a relationship alter what people view as important?