{"id":11477,"date":"2018-11-28T15:01:36","date_gmt":"2018-11-28T06:01:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/themantic-education.com\/ibpsych\/?p=11477"},"modified":"2020-01-16T11:07:13","modified_gmt":"2020-01-16T02:07:13","slug":"key-study-buss-cross-cultural-study-on-mate-preference-1989","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.themantic-education.com\/ibpsych\/2018\/11\/28\/key-study-buss-cross-cultural-study-on-mate-preference-1989\/","title":{"rendered":"Key Study: Mate preference across cultures (Buss, 1989)<\/br>A cross-cultural study on attraction and mate preference<\/font>"},"content":{"rendered":"

“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” This classic saying means that we all have a different opinion about what is beautiful. When it comes to romantic relationships, is this really<\/em> the case?\u00a0A common field of study for psychologists is attraction and mate preference: what do people look for in a husband, wife, or lover? Buss’s classic study shows us that our preferences might have a biological basis, but it also shows that culture can have an influence as well.<\/strong><\/p>\n

There are numerous factors that influence our <\/span>mate selection<\/b>. You may already be familiar with some of these factors from previous studies, such as <\/span>MHC genes<\/b><\/a>, facial characteristics, proximity and familiarity, among others (read more here)<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Is beauty in the eye of the beholder, or can we agree this is a rather beautiful man? His beauty is a product of biological, in particular hormones like testosterone.<\/p><\/div>\n

Some of these factors operate on an unconscious level, that is to say, we are not aware that they are influencing our decisions. <\/span>For instance, girls don\u2019t think to themselves, \u201cooh, I like his sexy, deep voice. He must have high levels of testosterone which means he can obtain high social status and have more access to resources or me and my children.” On the other hand, there are some qualities that do<\/em> operate on a more conscious level. For example, if a man has no money, his potential date may think that he wouldn\u2019t be able to provide for her in the future and could be less attracted to him.<\/p>\n

But are there differences between the qualities that men and women look for in a potential partner? If there are differences, are they universal across cultures? Perhaps some cultures place higher value on certain qualities than others. These are the questions that David M. Buss set out to investigate in his cross-cultural research study of around 10,000 participants across 37 cultures. <\/span><\/p>\n

Buss\u2019s Hypotheses<\/b><\/h2>\n

Based on previous research that investigates evolutionary explanations of mate selection, Buss made some hypotheses. Here is a summary of some of those predictions:<\/span><\/p>\n