From: schultz@unixg.ubc.ca (Stewart Schultz)
Newsgroups: alt.feminism
Subject: Re: liberal men are a hot item?
Date: 7 Nov 1992 07:29:13 GMT
Organization: University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C.
NNTP-Posting-Host: unixg.ubc.ca

Here's a selection of refs I've found on the subject of mate selection.  
The general conclusions seem right in line with conventional wisdom: 
physical appearance tops the list in both sexes, but is more important 
for men; women place more value on socioeconomic status, earning 
power, and commitment.  These preferences seem to hold regardless 
of a person's socioeconomic status.

No mention of hot liberal men anywhere :-{.

Anyway, this is just a sampling.  I'm interested in seeing anything 
else that netters can come up with.

-S. Schultz

-----------snip, snip------------

Buss, David M. 1989. Sex differences in human mate preferences: 
Evolutionary hypotheses tested in 37 cultures. Behavioral & Brain 
Sciences 12(1): 1-49.
Abstract: Collected data from 4,601 males and 5,446 females (all 
aged 16.96- 28.71 yrs) from 33 countries located on 6 continents and 
5 islands, using measures that determined factors in choosing a mate 
and preferences concerning potential mates. Results show that 
females valued the financial capacity of potential mates more than 
males. Ambition and industriousness and cues to resource acquisition 
also tended to be valued more highly by females than males across 
cultures. Males valued physical attractiveness and relative youth in 
potential mates more than females across cultures.

Davis, Simon 1990.  Men as success objects and women as sex objects: 
A study of personal advertisements. Sex Roles 23(1-2): 43-50.
Abstract: Examined differential mate selection in a follow-up of 
previous research by A. Harrison and L. Saeed and K. Deaux and R. 
Hanna. Analysis of 328 personal advertisements sampled from a 
major daily Canadian newspaper indicated that gender differences 
for desired companion attributes were consistent with traditional 
sex-role stereotypes. Relative to the opposite sex, women emphasized 
masculine traits such as employment, financial, and intellectual 
status, and valued commitment in a relationship more highly; men 
emphasized stereotypically desirable feminine traits (appearance). 
Women also desired emotional expressiveness in a companion more 
than did men. Physical characteristics were the most desired, 
regardless of sex. Considerably more men than women placed ads, 
and the mean age for both sexes was relatively high.

Townsend, John M. 1989. Mate selection criteria: A pilot study. 
Ethology & Sociobiology 10(4): 241-253.
Abstract: Investigated mate selection criteria among 20 male and 20 
female medical students using open-ended questions. Striking sex 
differences emerged in this sample's preferences concerning spouses' 
relative earning power and occupational status, partners' physical 
attractiveness, and the marital division of labor. Results support the 
hypothesis: Increasing the socioeconomic status (SES) of women does 
not eliminate and may not even reduce traditional sex differences in 
mate selection criteria and marital goals. Based on these interviews 
and pertinent literature, closed-ended questions were developed and 
administered to 212 female and 170 male undergraduates. 
Significant sex differences emerged that mirrored those found among 
the medical students. 

Townsend, John M., Levy, Gary D. 1990. Effects of potential partners' 
physical attractiveness and socioeconomic status on sexuality and 
partner selection. Archives of Sexual Behavior 19(2): 149-164. 
Abstract: 170 male and 220 female college students viewed 
photographs, which had been prerated for physical attractiveness, of 
3 opposite-sex individuals. These photographs were paired with 3 
levels of occupational status and income. Ss indicated their 
willingness to engage in relationships of varying levels of sexual 
intimacy and marital potential with the portrayed individuals. 
Analyses of variance (ANOVAs), correlations, and trend analyses 
supported the hypotheses. Compared to men, women are more likely 
to prefer or insist that sexual intercourse occur in relationships that 
involve affection and marital potential, and women place more 
emphasis than men do on partners' socioeconomic status (SES) in 
such relationships. These results and the literature reviewed are 
more consistent with parental investment theory than with the view 
that these sex differences are solely the result of differential access 
to resources and differential socialization.

de Raad, Boele, Doddema-Winsemius, Mien. 1992. Factors in the 
assortment of human mates: Differential preferences in Germany and 
the Netherlands.  Personality & Individual Differences 13(1): 103-
114.
Abstract: Tested 4 hypotheses with respect to intersexual selection of 
mates on samples from Germany ( n = 591) and the Netherlands ( n = 
282). The Dutch sample consisted of students (aged 18-44 yrs), of 
whom about 50% were single. The German sample (aged 15-79 yrs) 
represented various groups, and 28% were single. Ss completed a 
battery of instruments, including adjective checklists. Contrary to 
expectations, the main patterning in preferences in selecting mates 
occurred according to the complementarity conception. Females 
particularly valued financial prospect and status in a potential 
partner, and males emphasized physical attractiveness as important 
in a partner. Good looks and physical attraction were important for 
younger and single people, while desire for home and children, 
chastity, and ambition were important for older people with a steady 
relationship.

Kenrick, Douglas T.; Sadalla, Edward K. 1990. Evolution, traits, and 
the stages of human courtship: Qualifying the parental investment 
model. Special Issue: Biological foundations of personality: Evolution, 
behavioral genetics, and psychophysiology.  Journal of Personality 
58(1): 97-116.
Abstract: Assessed the selectivity involved during casual mating 
opportunities and that involved in choosing a long-term partner in 
29 male and 64 female undergraduates asked to rate their minimum 
criteria on 24 partner characteristics at 4 levels of commitment. In 
line with an unqualified parental investment model, females were 
more selective overall, particularly on status-linked variables. In line 
with a qualified parental investment model, males' trait preferences 
depended on the anticipated investment in the relationship. Males 
had lower requirements for a sexual partner than did females but 
were nearly as selective as females when considering requirements 
for a long-term partner.