PSYC 367/WmSt 366:  Gender Issues in Psychology

Spring 2004            Virginia Norris, Ph.D.

All dates are subject to change.  Announcements in class supersede internet material.

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Project 5
DUE March 2, 2004

Sex Differences In Mate Preferences

Data collection:

1. Randomly select 3 men and 3 women.

2. Ask them the two mate selection questions on the following two pages.

3. Then ask them:

1) Do you desire to marry or commit yourself to a long-term relationship sometime in the future?

2) Do you plan to have children?

 Record your data in the grids provided.
 
 
 
1.  You are looking for a person with whom to have a short-term romantic relationship.  You don't want a commitment; you just want to have a short-fun romance.  What do you look for in a potential short-term mate?  Why?
 
Physical characteristics
Personal characteristics
Why?
Female 1
Marry?
Yes     No
Children?
Yes     No		      
Female 2
Marry
Yes     No
Children?
Yes     No		      
Female 3
Marry?
Yes     No
Children?
Yes     No		      
Male 1
Marry?
Yes     No
Children
Yes     No		      
Male 2
Marry?
Yes     No
Children?
Yes     No		    
Male 3
Marry?
Yes     No
Children?
Yes     No		      
2.  You are looking for a person with whom to have a long-term romantic relationship.  You want a long-term commitment, hopefully for life!  What do you look for in a potneital long-term mate?  Why?
  Physical characteristics Personal characteristics Why?
Female 1
Marry?
Yes     No
Children?
Yes     No		      
Female 2
Marry?
Yes     No
Children?
Yes     No		      
Female 3
Marry?
Yes     No
Children?
Yes     No		      
Male 1
Marry?
Yes     No
Children?
Yes     No		      
Male 2
Marry?
Yes     No
Children?
Yes     No		      
Male 3
Marry?
Yes     No
Children?
Yes     No		      

 
 

Data Interpretation:

1. Do you notice differences among your respondents' short- and long-term mate preferences?
 
 

2. Do you notice differences between males and females in their short- and long-term mate preferences?
 
 

3. Do you notice differences between males and females who desire to marry and those who do not in their short- and long-term mate preferences?
 
 

4. Do you notice differences between males and females who desire to have children and those who do not in their short- and long-term mate preferences?
 
 

5. Are your results "good"or "good enough" evidence for evolutionary perspectives on sex differences in male selection preferences?
 
 

6. How do desires for marriage and reproduction fit into evolutionary thought? How does sexual orientation fit into evolutionary thought?
 
 

7. How might the design of this exercise (similar to mate selection/preference research designs) lead to an overestimation of sex differences and an underestimation of other individual difference variables? How could the study be redesigned to eliminate this bias?
 
 

B. Evolutionary theory does not consider motives of males and females to be conscious or intentional. In light of this, is research on mate preferences a valid test of evolutionary ideas?
 
 

9. Do you think there is cross-time consistency in individuals' mate preferences? Is there cross-time consistency in mate choice? If you had asked your respondents to describe the characteristics of their last "mates," do you think there would be correspondence with their preferences or ideals? How do these issues impact evolutionary theory?
 
 
 
 
 


Paul, E. L. & Johnson, E. R. (1998). Instructor's Manual and Test Bank. D. Ansalmi & A. Law, The Question Of Gender: Perspectives and
Paradoxes. NY: The McGraw-Hill companies, Inc.
Copyright © 1998 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.