Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Women’s Mate Preferences

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science

  • 1115 Accesses

Synonyms

Female mate interests; Female partner preferences; Women’s mate interests; Women’s preferred partners

Definition

The qualities that women are interested in when selecting partner’s for short- or long-term relationships.

Female Mate Preferences

Introduction

Within evolutionary psychology, the study of women’s mate preferences is a central and important topic. This chapter will discuss the general strategies that women tend to use when looking for a mate. Following this, there will be an overview of what is known about female mate preferences, focusing on three major features known to be most important in women’s mate preferences: a man’s face, his body, and his behavior. The chapter will conclude by covering several contextual factors that can cause women’s mate preferences to shift in predictable ways.

Mating Strategies

In almost all species, including mammals, males and females differ in how much they invest in their offspring in terms of time, resources, and energy. The...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Buss, D. M. (1989). Sex differences in human mate preferences: Evolutionary hypotheses tested in 37 cultures. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 12(1), 1–14.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Campbell, L., Simpson, J. A., Kashy, D. A., & Fletcher, G. J. (2001). Ideal standards, the self, and flexibility of ideals in close relationships. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 27(4), 447–462.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cantú, S. M., Simpson, J. A., Griskevicius, V., Weisberg, Y. J., Durante, K. M., & Beal, D. J. (2014). Fertile and selectively flirty women’s behavior toward men changes across the ovulatory cycle. Psychological Science, 25, 431–438.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Eagly, A. H., & Wood, W. (1999). The origins of sex differences in human behavior: Evolved dispositions versus social roles. American Psychologist, 54(6), 408–423.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Feinberg, D. R., Jones, B. C., Little, A. C., Burt, D. M., & Perrett, D. I. (2005). Manipulations of fundamental and formant frequencies influence the attractiveness of human male voices. Animal Behaviour, 69(3), 561–568.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fink, B., Grammer, K., & Thornhill, R. (2001). Human (Homo sapiens) facial attractiveness in relation to skin texture and color. Journal of Comparative Psychology, 115(1), 92–99.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fink, B., Neave, N., Brewer, G., & Pawlowski, B. (2007). Variable preferences for sexual dimorphism in stature (SDS): Further evidence for an adjustment in relation to own height. Personality and Individual Differences, 43(8), 2249–2257.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frederick, D. A., & Haselton, M. G. (2007). Why is muscularity sexy? Tests of the fitness indicator hypothesis. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 33(8), 1167–1183.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gangestad, S. W., & Buss, D. M. (1993). Pathogen prevalence and human mate preferences. Ethology and Sociobiology, 14, 89–96.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gangestad, S. W., & Simpson, J. A. (2000). The evolution of human mating: Trade-offs and strategic pluralism. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 23(4), 573–587.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gangestad, S. W., Simpson, J. A., Cousins, A. J., Garver-Apgar, C. E., & Christensen, P. N. (2004). Women’s preferences for male behavioral displays change across the menstrual cycle. Psychological Science, 15(3), 203–207.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gildersleeve, K., Haselton, M. G., & Fales, M. R. (2014). Do women’s mate preferences change across the ovulatory cycle? A meta-analytic review. Psychological Bulletin, 140(5), 1205–1259.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hughes, S. M., & Gallup, G. G. (2003). Sex differences in morphological predictors of sexual behavior: Shoulder to hip and waist to hip ratios. Evolution and Human Behavior, 24(3), 173–178.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jensen-Campbell, L. A., Graziano, W. G., & West, S. G. (1995). Dominance, prosocial orientation, and female preferences: Do nice guys really finish last? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 68(3), 427–440.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kenrick, D. T., Neuberg, S. L., Zierk, K. L., & Krones, J. M. (1994). Evolution and social cognition: Contrast effects as a function of sex, dominance, and physical attractiveness. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 20(2), 210–217.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Langlois, J. H., & Roggman, L. A. (1990). Attractive faces are only average. Psychological Science, 1(2), 115–121.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lieberman, D., Tooby, J., & Cosmides, L. (2007). The architecture of human kin detection. Nature, 445(7129), 727–731.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Little, A. C., Jones, B. C., Penton-Voak, I. S., Burt, D. M., & Perrett, D. I. (2002). Partnership status and the temporal context of relationships influence human female preferences for sexual dimorphism in male face shape. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences, 269(1496), 1095–1100.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Little, A. C., DeBruine, L. M., & Jones, B. C. (2011). Exposure to visual cues of pathogen contagion changes preferences for masculinity and symmetry in opposite-sex faces. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences, 278(1714), 2032–2039.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Neave, N., & Shields, K. (2008). The effects of facial hair manipulation on female perceptions of attractiveness, masculinity, and dominance in male faces. Personality and Individual Differences, 45(5), 373–377.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Penton-Voak, I. S., & Chen, J. Y. (2004). High salivary testosterone is linked to masculine male facial appearance in humans. Evolution and Human Behavior, 25(4), 229–241.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Penton-Voak, I. S., & Perrett, D. I. (2000). Female preference for male faces changes cyclically: Further evidence. Evolution and Human Behavior, 21(1), 39–48.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Petraitis, J. M., Lampman, C. B., Boeckmann, R. J., & Falconer, E. M. (2014). Sex differences in the attractiveness of hunter-gatherer and modern risks. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 44(6), 442–453.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pollet, T. V., & Nettle, D. (2008). Driving a hard bargain: Sex ratio and male marriage success in a historical US population. Biology Letters, 4(1), 31–33.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rhodes, G., Zebrowitz, L. A., Clark, A., Kalick, S. M., Hightower, A., & McKay, R. (2001). Do facial averageness and symmetry signal health? Evolution and Human Behavior, 22(1), 31–46.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ronay, R., & von Hippel, W. (2010). The presence of an attractive woman elevates testosterone and physical risk taking in young men. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 1(1), 57–64.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Swaddle, J. P., & Cuthill, I. C. (1995). Asymmetry and human facial attractiveness: Symmetry may not always be beautiful. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences, 261(1360), 111–116.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Swami, V., & Tovée, M. J. (2005). Male physical attractiveness in Britain and Malaysia: A cross-cultural study. Body Image, 2(4), 383–393.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Thornhill, R., & Gangestad, S. W. (2008). The evolutionary biology of human female sexuality. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Trivers, R. (1972). Parental investment and sexual selection. In B. Campbell (Ed.), Sexual selection and the descent of man 1871–1971 (pp. 136–179). Chicago: Aldine.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Dongen, S., & Gangestad, S. W. (2011). Human fluctuating asymmetry in relation to health and quality: A meta-analysis. Evolution and Human Behavior, 32(6), 380–398.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    Cory Fleck & Jeffry A. Simpson

Authors
  1. Cory Fleck
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jeffry A. Simpson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Cory Fleck or Jeffry A. Simpson .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Oakland Univ Dept of Psycholgy, Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Viviana Weekes-Shackelford

  2. Department of Psychology, Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

  3. Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Viviana A. Weekes-Shackelford

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this entry

Cite this entry

Fleck, C., Simpson, J.A. (2016). Women’s Mate Preferences. In: Weekes-Shackelford, V., Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_10-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_10-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation