Mate Selection in Sexual-Desire and Pair-Bond Relationships

2012

Adult respondents in an Internet survey on romantic and sexual relationships (N = 726) completed mate selection tasks (e.g., Lippa, 2007) in which they rated the importance of 28 characteristics of a potential mate. Following Diamond (2003), the tasks were constructed to make a distinction between short-term, sexual-desire-driven relationships and long-term, pair-bond relationships. Multidimensional scaling analyses showed that for the sexual-desire mate selection task, respondents prioritized sexual-attractiveness attributes, while in the pair-bond mate selection task, character-attractiveness attributes (e.g., honesty, intelligence, humor) were given equal weight with sexual-attractiveness attributes. Analyses by gender and sexual orientation showed broad similarities, with important differences in prioritization of partner gender and gender presentation.

Conference presentations and posters presented

Consumers/Families, Professionals, Policymakers, Students

[email protected]

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