Age preferences in mates reflect sex differences in human reproductive strategies

doi:10.1017/S0140525X00067595

Paper

Age preferences in mates reflect sex differences in human reproductive strategies

Published Mar 1, 1992 · D. Kenrick, R. C. Keefe

Behavioral and Brain Sciences

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779

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30

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Abstract

Abstract The finding that women are attracted to men older than themselves whereas men are attracted to relatively younger women has been explained by social psychologists in terms of economic exchange rooted in traditional sex-role norms. An alternative evolutionary model suggests that males and females follow different reproductive strategies, and predicts a more complex relationship between gender and age preferences. In particular, males' preferences for relatively younger females should be minimal during early mating years, but should become more pronounced as the male gets older. Young females are expected to prefer somewhat older males during their early years and to change less as they age. We briefly review relevant theory and present results of six studies testing this prediction. Study 1 finds support for this gender-differentiated prediction in age preferences expressed in personal advertisements. Study 2 supports the prediction with marriage statistics from two U.S. cities. Study 3 examines the cross-generational robustness of the phenomenon, and finds the same pattern in marriage statistics from 1923. Study 4 replicates Study 1 using matrimonial advertisements from two European countries, and from India. Study 5 finds a consistent pattern in marriages recorded from 1913 through 1939 on a small island in the Philippines. Study 6 reveals the same pattern in singles advertisements placed by financially successful American women and men. We consider the limitations of previous normative and evolutionary explanations of age preferences and discuss the advantages of expanding previous models to include the life history perspective.

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Study Snapshot

Men prefer relatively younger females early in mating, while young females prefer older males, reflecting sex differences in human reproductive strategies.

PopulationOlder adults (50-71 years)

Sample size24

MethodsObservational

OutcomesBody Mass Index projections

ResultsSocial networks mitigate obesity in older groups.

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Age preferences in mates reflect sex differences in human reproductive strategies

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References

Citations

No gender differences in attraction to young partners: A study of 4500 blind dates

People are slightly more attracted to younger partners on blind dates, with no gender differences observed, suggesting a mismatch between what women say they prefer and what they actually prefer in a first-date setting.

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Women's self-ratings of facial appearance vary with age and ethnicity, and age-dependent changes in skin features can predict menopausal status when combined with assessor ratings.

Cost of mate choice: Changing patterns of global age disparity in marriage and their consequences to women’s health including maternal mortality and menopause

Male preference for younger females is strongly associated with higher maternal mortality rates, increasing by 275 per 100,000 live births for each additional year in age disparity.

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European explorers in the 15th and 16th centuries portrayed native populations in a positive light, but used disgust-laden words like "savages" to perceive them as potential disease-threats.

Modeling mate choice in a small-scale community: Applying couple simulation in the U.S. and Conambo, Ecuador

The resource allocation model accurately reproduces mate choices in both large-scale industrialized and small-scale populations, suggesting some aspects of human mating psychology generalize across both.

Evolutionary Ecological Insights into the Suppression of Female Sexuality

Sexual suppression of female sexuality is influenced by factors beyond sex, including socio-sexuality, mate value, close kin sex, parental status, and local mating market.

When biology takes over: TV formats like The Bachelor and The Bachelorette confirm evolutionary theories of partner selection

The Bachelorette show has a higher likelihood of couples continuing their relationship, while The Bachelor shows a higher likelihood of couples continuing their relationship, with men preferring larger age differences than women.

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Women display more red when expecting to interact with an attractive man, but not on fertile days of the menstrual cycle, suggesting mixed replicability for the link between red and romantic attraction.

What can the eyes tell us about atypical sexual preferences as a function of sex and age? Linking eye movements with child-related chronophilias

Eye-tracking techniques can effectively measure atypical sexual preferences, such as pedophilia and hebephilia, according to sex and age.