Relationships/How Women Select Men

__TOC__ The field of Evolutionary Psychology hypothesizes that women use two conflicting strategies when selecting a male mate. The first strategy is to select for optimal genetic fitness. One way of making that selection is by choosing to mate with physically attractive men. The other strategy is for women to select a mate based off of their willingness and ability to engage in future long term resource investment.Buss D. M. Schmitt D. P. Sexual strategies theory: an evolutionary perspective on human mating https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8483982 Psychological Review 100 2 204–232 10.1037/0033-295x.100.2.204 0033-295X 8483982 PubMed Trait preferences Status Women prefer high-status men.Buss, David M. Evolutionary Psychology (Allyn & Bacon, 1999, 0-205-19358-7, p. 110. In workplace affairs, men are equally likely to have sex with a superior or subordinate woman. Women, in contrast, are seven times more likely to have sex with superior, rather than subordinate, men."Office Sex & Romance Survey," special to MSNBC, May 8, 2002. Looks, Height, and Strength Women prefer men that are taller than they are, and indicate a greater preference for men who are above average height over men who are average height, or short.Pisanski Katarzyna Fernandez-Alonso Maydel Díaz-Simón Nadir Oleszkiewicz Anna Sardinas Adrian Pellegrino Robert Estevez Nancy Mora Emanuel C. Luckett Curtis R. Feinberg David R. 2022 Assortative mate preferences for height across short-term and long-term relationship contexts in a cross-cultural sample https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9454610/ Frontiers in Psychology 13 937146 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.937146 1664-1078 9454610 36092066 Age Women select men who are, on average, three and a half years older than they are. The worldwide average age difference between brides and grooms is three years. Americans marry closer in age.Statistical Abstract of the United States (U S. Department of Commerce), Table 56, "Married Couples by Differences in Ages Between Husband and Wife: 1999" www.census.gov/prod/2001pubs/statab/sec01.pdf In 1890, the average age at which men first married was 26. Women married at 22.http://www.census.gov/population/socdemo/ms-la/tabms-2.txt No data were recorded during World War Two. During the first half of the twentieth century, increasing affluence enabled younger men to support families. Secondary education and increased leisure time facilitated dating. In 1956, men married at 22, women at 20. The FDA approved oral contraceptives in 1956. The U.S. Supreme Court legalized abortion in 1973. Women delayed motherhood to start careers.Murstein, Bernard. Paths to Marriage (Sage, 1986, 0803923821, p. 26. In 1998, men married at 27, women at 25. Couples today live together from the age that their parents' generation married. The average man now first lives with a woman, either in marriage or as an unmarried couple, for the first time at 22. The average woman moves in with a man at age 20 or 21.Laumann, Edward O., Gagnon, John H., Michael, Robert T., Michaels, Stuart. The Social Organization Of Sexuality: Sexual Practices In The United States (University of Chicago, 1994, 0-226-46957-3, 477-479. Couples that marry younger than 25 have dramatically higher divorce rates.Parker-Pope, Tara. "How Eye-Rolling Destroys A Marriage; Researchers Try to Predict Divorce Rate," The Wall Street Journal, August 6, 2002, p. D1. Relationship Skills Predictability Women prefer men who have a steady job, are dependable, and are emotionally stable.Buss, David M. Evolutionary Psychology (Allyn & Bacon, 1999, 0-205-19358-7, p. 114. Home Ownership One of the highest factors correlating with likelihood of a man to marry is home ownership.Lloyd, K.M., South, S.J. "Contextual Influences on Young Men's Transition to First Marriage," Social Forces, 74 (1996), page 1110. Family Relationships Emotional Connection The prefrontal lobes (part of the cerebral cortex) enable affect-regulation, or the ability to regulate our emotional reactions, control our impulses, or moderate the survival reflexes of our ancient reptilian system.Pearce, Joseph Chilton. The Biology of Transcendence: A Blueprint Of The Human Spirit (Park Street, 2002, 0-89281990-1, p. 41. Joseph Chilton Pearce, The Biology of Transcendence (2002) The prefrontal lobes are our most recently evolved brain area.Pearce, Joseph Chilton. The Biology of Transcendence: A Blueprint Of The Human Spirit (Park Street, 2002, 0-89281990-1, 40-54. This is also the last area to develop in each individual; maturing between the ages of 15 and 25.Pearce, Joseph Chilton. The Biology of Transcendence: A Blueprint Of The Human Spirit (Park Street, 2002, 0-89281990-1, p. 46. References Buss1999Buss, David M. Evolutionary Psychology (Allyn & Bacon, 1999, 0-205-19358-7, 136-137. BrinBrin, David. "Neoteny and Two-Way Sexual Selection in Human Evolution," http://www.kithrup.com/brin/neoteny.html. Rhodes2000Rhodes, G. Hickford, C., Jeffrey, L. "Sex-typicality and attractiveness: Are supermale and superfemale faces super-attractive?" ritish Journal of Psychology, 91, 125-140 (2000); Cunningham, M.R. “Measuring the physical in physical attractiveness: Quasi-experiments on the sociobiology of female facial beauty,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 50, 925-35 (1986); Johnson, V.S., Franklin, M. “Is Beauty in the Eye of the Beholder?” Ethology and Sociobiology 14 (1993): 183-199. BrinBrin, David. "Neoteny and Two-Way Sexual Selection in Human Evolution," http://www.kithrup.com/brin/neoteny.html. Buss1999Buss, David M. Evolutionary Psychology< (Allyn & Bacon, 1999, 0-205-19358-7, p. 140. The Science of Relationships The Evolution of the Human Brain How Men Select Women</noinclude>