scholarly journals Norwegian Men and Women Value Similar Mate Traits in Short-Term Relationships

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 147470492097962
Author(s):  
Mehmet Mehmetoglu ◽  
Ilmari Määttänen

Previous research has provided evidence that females are generally the more selective sex in humans. Moreover, both sexes have been found to be more selective in long-term mating compared to short-term mating. In this study, we have examined the effects of sex, mating strategy (preferred relationship length) and their interaction on mate preferences (i.e., mate selection criteria) in an egalitarian Nordic society, namely Norway. The study sample consisted of 1,000 individuals, 417 of whom were male and 583 female respondents. According to our findings, men were more selective in physical appearance, whereas women were more selective in all the other mate preferences (e.g., understanding, dominant, kind, intellectual etc.). The respondents that were seeking short-term relationships had higher preference for physical appearance, humorousness and sociability. On the other hand, the respondents that were seeking long-term relationships were more selective in most of the other mate preferences (i.e., understanding, kind, cultivated, domestic, reliable, and similar). Interestingly, no interaction effect was found between sex and mating strategy in that differences between long-term and short-term seekers in mate preferences did not change depending on sex. This suggests that men and women value the same traits in short-term relationships.

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fatemeh Sadat Mirfazeli ◽  
Meng-Chuan Lai ◽  
Amirhossein Memari ◽  
Armin Rajab ◽  
Milad Shafizadeh ◽  
...  

AbstractMate preference in short-term relationships and long-term ones may depend on many physical, psychological, and socio-cultural factors. In this study, 178 students (81 females) in sports and 153 engineering students (64 females) answered the systemizing quotient (SQ) and empathizing quotient (EQ) questionnaires and had their digit ratio measured. They rated their preferred mate on 12 black-line drawing body figures varying in body mass index (BMI) and waist to hip ratio (WHR) for short-term and long-term relationships. Men relative to women preferred lower WHR and BMI for mate selection for both short-term and long-term relationships. BMI and WHR preference in men is independent of each other, but has a negative correlation in women. For men, digit ratio was inversely associated with BMI (p = 0.039, B = − 0.154) preference in a short-term relationship, and EQ was inversely associated with WHR preference in a long-term relationship (p = 0.045, B = − 0.164). Furthermore, men and women in sports, compared to engineering students, preferred higher (p = 0.009, B = 0.201) and lower BMI (p = 0.034, B = − 0.182) for short-term relationships, respectively. Women were more consistent in their preferences for short-term and long-term relationships relative to men. Both biological factors and social/experiential factors contribute to mate preferences in men while in women, mostly social/experiential factors contribute to them.


2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Arter

Many species employ conditional strategies for reproduction or survival. In other words, each individual “chooses” one of two or more possible phenotypes to maximize survival or reproductive advantage given specific ecological niche conditions (e.g., Moran, 1992). Humans seem to employ at least one conditional reproductive strategy, choosing between a more short-term or a more long-term mating strategy (Gangestad & Simpson, 2000), and as with non-human animals, their choices relate in part to an assessment of their own traits (Belsky, 1997; Schmitt, 2005). However, the selection pressures that individuals of a species can exert on each other are not restricted to mate selection; they can arise from many forms of social interaction (West-Eberhard, 1983; Wolf, Brodie, & Moore, 1999). Evidence suggests that individuals are sensitive to characteristics of the self, friend, and environmental conditions when choosing friends (Fehr, 1996; Rose, 1985; Verbrugge, 1977), and that a person’s economic, social, and environmental circumstances influence how they form and organize their friendships (Adams & Allan, 1998; Feld & Carter, 1998). Thus, in this paper I hypothesize that humans have evolved a coherent range of conditional friendship strategies: that we vary predictably in terms of the friendships we form, based on an assessment of our own traits, others’ traits, and our own current needs. I propose a continuum of individual differences in friendship strategy, anchored on one end by those who use friendships for exploration (e.g., skill-building and networking) and on the other end by those who use friendships for intimate exchange (e.g., emotional support and intimacy). I created a measure assessing this continuum, and found that men tended to report a stronger exploration strategy than women. I also found that people with a stronger exploration strategy also had a more short-term mating strategy and were more extroverted, and that people with a stronger intimate exchange strategy reported themselves to be more kind and generous; these results remained when controlling for gender. However, friendship strategy did not relate to socioeconomic status, age, attachment avoidance, relationship status, or presence of kin relationships. There was some evidence that friendship strategy was related to the number of friends an individual reported having and how close they felt to their friends.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katarzyna Pisanski ◽  
Maydel Fernandez ◽  
Nadir Diaz ◽  
Anna Oleszkiewicz ◽  
Adrian Sardinas ◽  
...  

We tested whether positive assortative preferences for height are observed in a large cross-cultural sample of men and women (536 adults aged 15-77 from Canada, Cuba, Norway and the United States), and whether assortative preferences for height differ for hypothetical long- versus short-term relationship partners. Participants indicated their height preferences for a long- and short-term mate using graphic stimuli. Replicating previous research, participants generally preferred taller-than-average men and women of approximately average height across cultures. However, positive assortative preferences for height were only weakly observed in either sex, and the strength of these relationships did not vary by relationship context. Assortative preferences for height also did not vary by the participants’ country of residence, nationality, or categorized ethnicity. Our results provide further evidence that the positive relationship between an individual’s own height and the preferred height of a potential partner is not strongly influenced by cultural factors and provide the first evidence that, in contrast to mate preferences for masculine androgen-mediated traits, height preferences do not vary as a function of relationship context.


2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Arter

Many species employ conditional strategies for reproduction or survival. In other words, each individual “chooses” one of two or more possible phenotypes to maximize survival or reproductive advantage given specific ecological niche conditions (e.g., Moran, 1992). Humans seem to employ at least one conditional reproductive strategy, choosing between a more short-term or a more long-term mating strategy (Gangestad & Simpson, 2000), and as with non-human animals, their choices relate in part to an assessment of their own traits (Belsky, 1997; Schmitt, 2005). However, the selection pressures that individuals of a species can exert on each other are not restricted to mate selection; they can arise from many forms of social interaction (West-Eberhard, 1983; Wolf, Brodie, & Moore, 1999). Evidence suggests that individuals are sensitive to characteristics of the self, friend, and environmental conditions when choosing friends (Fehr, 1996; Rose, 1985; Verbrugge, 1977), and that a person’s economic, social, and environmental circumstances influence how they form and organize their friendships (Adams & Allan, 1998; Feld & Carter, 1998). Thus, in this paper I hypothesize that humans have evolved a coherent range of conditional friendship strategies: that we vary predictably in terms of the friendships we form, based on an assessment of our own traits, others’ traits, and our own current needs. I propose a continuum of individual differences in friendship strategy, anchored on one end by those who use friendships for exploration (e.g., skill-building and networking) and on the other end by those who use friendships for intimate exchange (e.g., emotional support and intimacy). I created a measure assessing this continuum, and found that men tended to report a stronger exploration strategy than women. I also found that people with a stronger exploration strategy also had a more short-term mating strategy and were more extroverted, and that people with a stronger intimate exchange strategy reported themselves to be more kind and generous; these results remained when controlling for gender. However, friendship strategy did not relate to socioeconomic status, age, attachment avoidance, relationship status, or presence of kin relationships. There was some evidence that friendship strategy was related to the number of friends an individual reported having and how close they felt to their friends.


2018 ◽  
Vol 122 (2) ◽  
pp. 550-557 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manpal Singh Bhogal ◽  
Niall Galbraith ◽  
Ken Manktelow

Previous literature suggests that altruism may have evolved as a sexually selectable trait. Recent research suggests that women seek altruistic traits for long-term, not short-term relationships, as altruism can serve as an honest signal of one’s character. We tested this hypothesis by asking 102 participants to complete a modified version of Buss’s Mate Preferences Questionnaire. We found that women placed higher importance on altruism in a mate compared to men, and this preference was greater when seeking a long-term mate, compared to a short-term mate. We also found that although women placed greater importance on cooperativeness in a mate compared to men, this preference was not influenced by whether they were seeking a short-term or a long-term mate. We successfully replicate previous literature exploring the role of altruism in mate choice.


2018 ◽  
pp. 49-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. E. Mamonov

Our analysis documents that the existence of hidden “holes” in the capital of not yet failed banks - while creating intertemporal pressure on the actual level of capital - leads to changing of maturity of loans supplied rather than to contracting of their volume. Long-term loans decrease, whereas short-term loans rise - and, what is most remarkably, by approximately the same amounts. Standardly, the higher the maturity of loans the higher the credit risk and, thus, the more loan loss reserves (LLP) banks are forced to create, increasing the pressure on capital. Banks that already hide “holes” in the capital, but have not yet faced with license withdrawal, must possess strong incentives to shorten the maturity of supplied loans. On the one hand, it raises the turnovers of LLP and facilitates the flexibility of capital management; on the other hand, it allows increasing the speed of shifting of attracted deposits to loans to related parties in domestic or foreign jurisdictions. This enlarges the potential size of ex post revealed “hole” in the capital and, therefore, allows us to assume that not every loan might be viewed as a good for the economy: excessive short-term and insufficient long-term loans can produce the source for future losses.


Circulation ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 127 (suppl_12) ◽  
Author(s):  
Janice E Williams ◽  
Sharon B Wyatt ◽  
Kathryn M Rose ◽  
David J Couper ◽  
Anna Kucharska-Newton

Though several large epidemiologic studies have demonstrated the positive association of anger with coronary heart disease (CHD) onset, a dearth of population-based evidence exists regarding the relationship of anger to the clinical course of CHD among people with established disease. Trait anger is conceptualized as a stable personality trait and defined as the tendency to experience frequent and intense anger. Therefore, it is plausible that the effects of trait anger on CHD are long standing. We assessed the hypothesis that trait anger predicts short-term and long-term risk for recurrent CHD among middle-aged men and women. Participants were 611 black or white men and women, ages 48 - 67, who had a history of CHD at the second clinical examination (1990-1992) of the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study. They were followed for the recurrence of CHD (myocardial infarction or fatal CHD) from 1990 through three different time intervals: 1995, 2003, and 2009 (maximum follow-up = 19.0 years). Trait anger (measured at Visit 2) was assessed using the Spielberger Trait Anger Scale, with scores categorized as high, moderate, and low. Cox proportional hazards regression analyses were adjusted for age, sex, race-center, educational level, waist-to-hip ratio, plasma LDL-and HDL-cholesterol levels, hypertension, diabetes, cigarette smoking status, and pack-years of cigarette smoking. After 3 - 5 years of follow-up, the risk for recurrent CHD among participants with high trait anger was more than twice that of their counterparts with low trait anger (2.24 [95% C.I: 1.14 to 4.40]). After 11 - 13 years, the risk was 80% greater (1.80 [95% C.I: 1.17 to 2.78]) and after 17 - 19 years, it was 70% greater (1.70 [95% C.I: 1.15 to 2.52]). The risk for recurrent CHD was strongest in the first time interval but remained strong and statistically significant through 19 years of follow-up. In conclusion, the experience of frequent and intense anger increases short-term and long-term risk for recurrent CHD in middle-aged men and women.


2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 147470491881213 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evita March ◽  
George Van Doorn ◽  
Rachel Grieve

The booty-call relationship is defined by both sexual characteristics and emotional involvement. In the current study, men’s and women’s preferences for a booty-call mate were explored. Men and women were predicted to exhibit different mate preferences depending on whether they considered a booty-call relationship a short- or long-term relationship. Participants ( N = 559, 74% women) completed an anonymous online questionnaire, designing their ideal booty-call mate using the mate dollars paradigm. Both sexes considered the physical attractiveness and kindness of a booty-call mate a necessity, expressing both short- and long-term mate preferences. The current study highlights the need to explore mate preferences outside the dichotomy of short- and long-term relationships, providing evidence of a compromise relationship.


2002 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 88-93 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lynn Carol Miller ◽  
Anila Putcha-Bhagavatula ◽  
William C. Pedersen

Have men and women evolved sex-distinct mating preferences for short-term and long-term mating, as postulated by some evolutionary theorists? Direct tests of assumptions, consideration of confounds with gender, and examination of the same variables for both sexes suggest men and women are remarkably similar. Furthermore, cross-species comparisons indicate that humans do not evidence mating mechanisms indicative of short-term mating (e.g., large female sexual skins, large testicles). Understanding human variability in mating preferences is apt to involve more detailed knowledge of the links between these preferences and biological and chemical mechanisms associated with sexual motivation, sexual arousal, and sexual functioning.


2017 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 237802311668533 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia Geist ◽  
Sarah Brauner-Otto

Using five waves of the German Panel Analysis of Intimate Relationships and Family Dynamics ( pairfam), we examine how economic circumstances are related to fertility intentions in childless young men and women in East and West Germany. We explore multiple dimensions of fertility intentions: short-term intentions for the next two years, long-term expectations about family size, and uncertainty about these short- and long-term intentions. Our findings suggest that economic circumstances constrain fertility intentions and increase uncertainty. Although fertility intentions differ between men and women and by region, the broad mechanisms that predict intentions are very similar across groups for long-term intentions and uncertainty. However, group differences emerge in short-term intentions.


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