Female expectations on romantic market in a sample of Brazilian and American women (original) (raw)

Psychology and Neuroscience, 2018

Abstract

This study explored undergraduate women’s mating-market expectations in Brazil and the United States. Participants (n = 387) were shown descriptions of hypothetical stimulus females that were varied to yield all combinations of 2 levels (high/low) of 3 attributes (physical attractiveness/social skills/social status). They subsequently rated each stimulus female on 9 traits, and each stimulus female’s likely preferred long-term mating partner on the same set of 9 scales. Ratings of stimulus females paralleled their descriptions of each positive characteristic, substantially raising ratings on its 3 related traits but also showed substantial halo effects of positive descriptions, increasing the ratings of most unrelated traits. However, women with lower social skills are rated as having better financial prospects, and (only in Brazil) lower social-status women are rated as having more attractive bodies. Likewise, participants deemed that the stimulus would match their preferred partners more on related than unrelated traits, but each of the 3 positive traits also significantly raised all 6 of their unrelated traits. The strongest unrelated effect size was between the stimulus female’s physical attractiveness and her prospective partner’s financial status; this effect was significantly stronger in the American sample. This study shows that women expect positive assortative mating in long-term relationships and that desirable traits are not expected to vary independently. Finally, of the 54 characteristic/trait pairings examined, a large number showed significant sample (United States/Brazil) differences and even more showed significant pairing × sample interactions, suggesting nontrivial cultural and/or facultative influences.

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