Men and Women Share Preferences in Partner Choice

Breaking the stereotypical mold that men want an attractive mate and women want an ambitious mate, a study conducted by two Northwestern University psychologists found that both men and women typically desire both in a mate.

“In other words good looks was the primary stimulus of attraction for both men and women, and a person with good earning prospects or ambition tended to be liked as well,” said Eli Finkel, assistant professor of psychology at Northwestern. “Most noteworthy, the earning-power effect as well as the good-looks effect didn’t differ for men and women.”
For a month, the romantic lives of study participants were studied, including their prospects within and outside of a speed-dating event.

Speed-dating gave the researchers an added advantage over previous researchers to compare stated romantic preferences with actual choices participants made about a series of potential partners. However, this provided discrepancies in what people actually said they wanted and whom they actually chose.

“If you were to tell me that you prefer physically attractive romantic partners, I would expect to see that you indeed are more attracted to physically attractive partners,” said Paul Eastwick, lead author of the study and graduate student in psychology in the Weinberg School of Arts and Sciences at Northwestern. “But our participants didn’t pursue their ideal in this way. This leads us to question whether people know what they initially value in a romantic partner.”

Results of the study, “Sex Differences in Mate Preferences Revisited: Do People Know What They Initially Desire in a Romantic Partner”” was published in the February issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.