Mating preferences

Mate preferences in humans refers to why one human chooses or chooses not to mate with another human and their reasoning why (see: Evolutionary Psychology, mating). Men and women have been observed having different criteria as what makes a good or ideal mate (gender differences). A potential mate's socioeconomic status has also been seen as having a noticeable effect, especially in developing areas where social status is more emphasized.

In humans, when choosing a mate of the opposite sex, females place high preference for a mate that is physically attractive. This ties in with the idea that women discriminate between men on hypothesized fitness cues. The more physically attractive a man is, the higher his fitness, and the better his genes will be. Women are attracted to more masculine traits (e.g. strong jawline, a more muscular body). Indeed, men who are more masculine tend to have a higher number of sexual partners.

This hypothesis suggests that secondary sexual characteristics such as a low waist-to-chest ratio or masculine facial features (e.g. strong jawline, larger brow ridge, more muscular) are reliable indicators of mate quality as the hormones that cause their development (i.e. testosterone) suppress the immune system of an individual. With immunosuppression a male would be more susceptible to diseases or pathogens. However if a male is in good enough condition to weather these negative effects, it would be indicative to women, who selected these men as mates, that they have good genes.

Like men, who have a preference for a lower waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), a measure linked to female bodily attractiveness, women tend to be more attracted to men who have broader shoulders and relatively narrow waists (the waist-to-chest ratio; WCR). The ratio, changed by the distribution of android fat in the torso, makes the characteristic V-shape and is related to levels of testosterone in males, also correlated with higher perceived dominance of males.

Cross-culturally however the waist-to-chest ratio significance differs. A cross-cultural study across urban and rural settings in Britain and Malaysia found that BMI and waist-to-hip ratio also play roles in rating male physical attractiveness. In urban settings, participants would place a larger importance on WCR, minor importance on BMI and no significant importance on WHR. In rural settings BMI was however found to be the most important factor in deciding physical attractiveness.

Fluctuating Asymmetry (FA) is the deviation from perfect bilateral symmetry in an organism. The more symmetrical an organism is, the better they are at handling developmental stress arising from environmental stress, genetic problems and developmental instability. Along with developmental stability, FA indicates the genetic fitness of an individual and will therefore affect sexual selection. Men with high facial symmetry are rated as more attractive, dominant, sexy, and healthy than their counterparts. Low FA males report more sexual partners across a lifetime, an earlier age of first sexual intercourse, and have more offspring than high FA men. Additionally, low FA men's partners report more orgasms than those whose partners have high FA. With other results showing that women find low FA men's voice and scent more attractive, it is clear that mating preference is affected by FA.

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