Navigation Links
Choosing a mate: what we really want
Date:9/3/2007

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- While humans may pride themselves on being highly evolved, most still behave like the stereotypical Neanderthals when it comes to choosing a mate, according to research by Indiana University cognitive scientist Peter Todd. In a new study, Todd and colleagues found that though individuals may claim otherwise, beauty is the key ingredient for men while women, the much choosier of the sexes, leverage their looks for security and commitment.

This formula has served humans throughout time, with the model of choosy females reflected in most mammals, Todd and his coauthors write in "Different cognitive processes underlie human mate choices and mate preferences," which will be published the week of Sept. 4-7 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

"Evolutionary theories in psychology suggest that men and women should trade off different traits in each other, and when we look at the actual mate choices people make, this is what we find evidence for," Todd said. "Ancestral individuals who made their mate choices in this way -- women trading off their attractiveness for higher quality men and men looking for any attractive women who will accept them -- would have had an evolutionary advantage in greater numbers of successful offspring."

Not exactly politically correct" Participants in Todd's study might verbally agree, though their actions said something different.

The study used a speed-dating session in Germany to compare what people say they want in a mate with whom they actually choose. Speed dating, an increasingly popular way for singles to meet, involves sessions in which men and women have numerous "mini dates" with up to 30 different people, each date lasting anywhere from three to five minutes. After every date, the men and women checked a box on a card noting whether they would like to see the other person again. Todd and his colleagues describe such speed-dating events as a "microcosm whe
'/>"/>

Contact: Peter Todd
pmtodd@indiana.edu
812-855-3914
Indiana University
Source:Eurekalert

0

GOOD

Page: 1 2

Related medicine news :

1. Choosing the Horoscope of Your Baby
2. Dance An Important Factor In Choosing Mate.
3. Americans Not Interested In Choosing Sex Of Child: Survey
4. A Testing Time for TESCO, for Choosing to Junk Food Warnings
5. Choosing your Bowel Cancer Test
6. Fewer Graduates Choosing General Practice
7. Kids From Low-Income Groups Could Enhance Their Nutrition By Choosing Better After School Snacks
8. Money Matters When Choosing an Infertility Treatment
9. A New Guide to Choosing the Right Vitamin Supplement
10. Eyeglass Guide Launched That Aids in Choosing the Right Eyewear
11. How a mans mind really works
Post Your Comments:
*Name:
*Comment:
*Email:
Breaking Medicine Technology:Heska Announces Extension of Credit Agreement With Wells Fargo 2Heska Announces Extension of Credit Agreement With Wells Fargo 3Anesiva Completes Sale of its Zingo(TM) Assets to Powder Pharmaceuticals and Lee's Pharmaceuticals 2St. Luke's Hospital Acquires Pioneering Technology From BrainLAB 2St. Luke's Hospital Acquires Pioneering Technology From BrainLAB 3Sanofi aventis and Merrimack Pharmaceuticals Enter Into a Worldwide Collaboration and Licensing Agreement on MM 121 an Anti ErbB3 Monoclonal Antibody 5122 1Sanofi aventis and Merrimack Pharmaceuticals Enter Into a Worldwide Collaboration and Licensing Agreement on MM 121 an Anti ErbB3 Monoclonal Antibody 5122 2Sanofi aventis and Merrimack Pharmaceuticals Enter Into a Worldwide Collaboration and Licensing Agreement on MM 121 an Anti ErbB3 Monoclonal Antibody 5122 3Sanofi aventis and Merrimack Pharmaceuticals Enter Into a Worldwide Collaboration and Licensing Agreement on MM 121 an Anti ErbB3 Monoclonal Antibody 5122 4Sanofi aventis and Merrimack Pharmaceuticals Enter Into a Worldwide Collaboration and Licensing Agreement on MM 121 an Anti ErbB3 Monoclonal Antibody 5122 5Sanofi aventis and Merrimack Pharmaceuticals Enter Into a Worldwide Collaboration and Licensing Agreement on MM 121 an Anti ErbB3 Monoclonal Antibody 5122 6Sanofi aventis and Merrimack Pharmaceuticals Enter Into a Worldwide Collaboration and Licensing Agreement on MM 121 an Anti ErbB3 Monoclonal Antibody 5122 7Sanofi aventis and Merrimack Pharmaceuticals Enter Into a Worldwide Collaboration and Licensing Agreement on MM 121 an Anti ErbB3 Monoclonal Antibody 5122 8Sanofi aventis and Merrimack Pharmaceuticals Enter Into a Worldwide Collaboration and Licensing Agreement on MM 121 an Anti ErbB3 Monoclonal Antibody 5122 9Golden Meditech Announces HK 24217 Million Private Equity Financing for Hospital Subsidiary 14309 1Golden Meditech Announces HK 24217 Million Private Equity Financing for Hospital Subsidiary 14309 2Method to Identify Female Athletes at a High Risk for Knee Injury Discovered 58628 1Method to Identify Female Athletes at a High Risk for Knee Injury Discovered 58628 2