|
|
College Students’ Short-term and Long-term Mate Selection Preferences: Comparing Faces, Bodies and Personality Traits
2022, 45(1):
61-67.
Abstract: Physical attractiveness is an important factor in people’s mate selection, which can be reflected in both body shape and face. People prefer the mates with attractive faces and good body shape in mate selection. In addition, people prefer the mates with traditional gender characteristics. Thus, body shape, face and personality traits could all influence people's mate selection. However, we still do not know which one play a higher important role in people’s mate selection. Many previous studies have failed to well answer this question as their limitations of research methods. The purpose of this study was to compare the effect of face, body shape and personality traits on people's mate selection. Moreover, people have different criteria when choosing a partner in the long-term and short-term, and it have been demonstrated that men will give priority to women' faces when choosing a long-term mate, but give priority to body shape when choosing a short-term mate, thus our research also intended to compare people’s mate selection preference of long-term and short-term.
In our study, 83 heterosexual female students and 81 heterosexual male students were asked to make evaluation related to their willingness to engage in short-term and long-term relationships with the eight targets who have three dimensions information (face, body, personality). Repeated measures of variance (ANOVA) was used to examine the effect of face, body, and personality traits on male and female’ long-term and short-term mate selection, with 2 (body shape: very good body shape, average body shape) *2 (face: very beautiful, average) *2 (personality traits: have typical gender traits, have average degree of gender traits). Moreover, the participants were presented with two targets at the same time and were asked to choose whom they would prefer to data with. The two targets are inconsistent with each other in two of the three dimensions, with the first target is positive in one dimension and neutral in the second dimension, and the second target is neutral in one dimension and positive in the second dimension. A total of six comparison were made (twice for comparison of body and face, twice for comparison of body and personality traits, and twice for comparison of face and personality traits). Chi-square analysis was used to compare which factor was more likely to influence female and male's mate choice.
The results of Repeated measures of variance (ANOVA) showed that, for the male’ short-term mate selection, the main effect of face, body shape, and personality were all significant F(1,80)=37.29,p<0.001,ηp2=0.32; F(1,80)=5.80,p<0.05, ηp2=0.07; F(1,80)=10.39,p<0.01, ηp2=0.11, and their three-term interaction was also significant F(1,80)=4.31,p<0.05, ηp2=0.05. For the male’ long-term mate selection, the main effect of face and body shape were significant F(1,80)=44.57,p<0.001, ηp2=0.36; F(1,80)=10.39,p<0.01, ηp2=0.11, but the effect of personality was not significant F(1,80)=1.47,p=0.23. Moreover, for the females’ short-term and long-term mate selection, the main effect of face, body shape, and personality were all significant. The results of Chi-square analysis showed that men pay the most attention to the female targets’ face information, followed by body information and personality information. Moreover, men pay much more attention to physical attractiveness in short-term mate selection than that of long-term mate selection. Female’s long-term and short-term mate preferences are consistent with men. It can be seen that in the long-term and short-term mate selection of college students, a pretty face is the best icing on the cake.
Related Articles |
Metrics
|
