And now there is new research that has just been released from the University of Texas, Austin that shows that things go far beyond "male dominance" or "cultural norms."
The advantage of beauty appears to be big in one of the most important ways.
The release reporting the new study reveals that although many researchers have believed women choose partners based on the kind of relationship they are seeking, when in fact, women's preferences can be influenced by their own attractiveness.
David Buss, psychology researcher at the university, has published the findings in "Attractive Women Want it All: Good Genes, Economic Investment, Parenting Proclivities and Emotional Commitment" in this month's Evolutionary Psychology. Popular literature citation: University of Texas at Austin (2008, March 24). Do Attractive Women Want It All?. ScienceDaily. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedaily.com; /releases/2008/03/080320155237.htm
We used to think that just what women REALLY value depended on the type of relationship they were looking for.
We believed that women looking for long-term partners wanted someone who would be a good provider for them and their children, but women seeking short-term flings care more about masculinity and physical attractiveness, features that may be passed down to children.
Buss and Todd Shackelford, psychology professor at Florida Atlantic University, have found women ideally want partners who have all the characteristics they desire, but they will calibrate their standards based on their own desirability.
"When reviewing the qualities they desire in romantic partners, women gauge what they can get based on what they got," Buss said. "And women who are considered physically attractive maintain high standards for prospective partners across a variety of characteristics."
The researchers identified four categories of characteristics women seek in a partner:
Good genes, reflected in desirable physical traits
Resources (money/education)
The desire to have children
Good parenting skills
and
Loyalty and devotion
Most women attempt to secure the best combination of the qualities they desire from the same man, but the researchers said a small portion of women who do not find a partner with all the qualities may trade some characteristics for others.
Although women's selectivity across categories reflected how attractive they appeared to other people, the researchers found the characteristics men desired in a partner did not vary based on their own physical attractiveness.
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