Preferintele sexuale ale femeilor

(female mate preferences)

 Introducere

Teoria investitiei parentale (theory of parental investment)

• o femela are nevoie de putine

imperecheri pentru fertilizarea
ovulelor sale.
• asigurarea resurselor necesare
dezvoltarii fiecarui ovul
fecundat.

CONFLICTE DE INTERESE
• un mascul poate
fertiliza mult mai multe
ovule decat produce o
Robert Trivers femela.
• maximizarea numarului
de acuplari.
Female Mate Preferences

 Ca urmare a inegalitatilor in investitie parentala – femelele

se confrunta cu o serie de probleme in gasirea “the right
partner”

 Femelele ancestrale cu succes reproductiv - au avut

mecanisme adecvate de gasire a partenerilor cu valoare
reproductiva inalta, mai atractivi sexuali.

 Femelele au evoluat preferinte (information processing

biases) care le-au facut capabile sa evalueze trasaturile
relationate cu “high mating value” si sa le considere atractive
la nivel sexual si /sau romantic.

 In cazul stramosilor speciei umane – ce trasaturi au corelat

cu “high mating value”?
1. Abilitatea si dorinta (willingness) de a oferi resurse

 Human males can provide a range of resources for the female:

 Food.
 Shelter.
 Protection from other males.

 Females should have evolved preferences for males who:

 Have good financial prospects.
 Are older than themselves (varsta coreleaza pozitiv cu statutul
socio-economic)
 Have higher social status.
 Display hard working and industrious characters.

Acestea sunt corelate ale abilitatii de a oferi resurse.

 Evidente
 In toate societatile umane – femeile valorifica
resursele economice ale unui partener semnificativ
mai mult decat barbatii.

 Trivers (1985) – USA – barbatii care se insoara

intr-un anumit an castiga de aprox. 50% mai mult
decat barbatii de aceeasi varsta care nu se
casatoresc.

 Buss (1989) – femeile valorifica perspectivele

financiare (financial prospects) de doua ori mai mult
decat barbatii.
 Capacitatea de castig la barbati
(Male Earning Capacity)
 Kenrick et al., (1990) –
paricipantii au fost rugati sa
indice minimum de procente ale
caracteristicilor pe care le
considera acceptabile la un
potential partener.

 Femeile – procentul minim

acceptat la nivel de capacitate
de castig (earning capacity)
este in jur de 70% din cel al
altor barbati;

 Femeile – standarde mai inalte

decat barbatii in ceea ce
priveste perspectivele financiare
in toate stadiile unei relatii.

Kenrick et al., 1990

 Perspective in educatie si job
 Nu toate femeile au la dispozitie parteneri mai in varsta decat
ele – unii sunt mai tineri sau de aceeasi varsta si nu au inca
statut social/resurse  “…a good cue to potential resource
acquisition is education and willingness to seek resources”,

 Femeile valorizeaza educatia, detinerea unei cariere

promitatoare, caracteristici care indica abilitatea de a lucra
intens (orientare in cariera, ambitie).

 Femeile – probabilitate foarte mare de a intrerupe o relatie cu

barbati someri, cu lipsa de motivatie in cariera si cu nivel scazut
de implicare in munca (Betzig, 1989).
 Statut socio-economic si atractivitate
la barbati
 Townsend & Levy (1990a) – investigheaza importanta relativa a
statutului socio-econimic si a atractivitatii pe 6 nivele ale implicarii
romantice.

 Study: Photographs of people of high, medium, and low attractiveness

were paired with three levels of occupational status and income.

 Students viewed the portrayals and indicated their willingness to

engage in relationships of varying levels of sexual intimacy.

 Male socioeconomic status had a large influence on female responses at

all levels of intimacy. This increased as the degree of involvement
increased.

 Atractivitatea fizica a avut o anumita influenta, dar “the highest

status” a fost capabil sa surclaseze lipsa de atractivitate.
 Townsend & Levy (1990)
 Investigarea efectelor statutului (semnalat prin imbracaminte) si
atractivitatii asupra dorintei femeilor de a se implica in relatii
romantice.
 Study: Male targets were pre-rated for physical attraction and
divided into two categories - handsome, and homely. The targets
wore one of three costumes:
 1. Blazer, shirt, designer tie, Rolex watch. Described as being
doctors (high status).
 2. Plain white shirt. Described as being teachers (medium
status).
 3. Uniform of a Burger King employee. Described as being trainee
waiters (low status).
 Women were more willing to engage in relationships with high
status/homely males then with medium - or low status /
handsome males at all levels of involvement.
 Preferinte pentru statut la femeile cu
statut socio-economic inalt…
 Women who are of high status also prefer males of a high
status - preferably of even higher status than themselves.

 Townsend (1989) reported that female medical students

became more selective in their criteria in entering a sexual
relationship. Males were convinced that their increasing status
would enable them to engage in more sexual activity.
 Factorul “varsta”
 Older males are significantly
more likely to have achieved a
sound economic and financial
status than younger,
inexperienced males.

 Buss (1989): In a cross-

cultural survey female
preference was for someone
around 4 years older.

 Kenrick & Keefe (1992):

Females consistently married
males who were around 5 years
older than themselves.
Preferinta pentru diferente de varsta

Buss (2001)
Un rezultat destul de comun…
 2. Abilitatea si dorinta de a oferi
protectie
 Surveys consistently show that females prefer males who are
socially dominant and have the respect of their peers.
 Forming a relationship with a socially dominant male would
confer greater direct access to resources and also raise the
social status of the female.
 Women pay close attention to how men interact with, and are
treated by other men.
 Sadella et al., (1987) made video’s depicting males and females
engaging in dominant or submissive behaviour with another male
or a female.
 Dominant behaviour increased the sexual attractiveness and
dating desirability of the males, whilst female targets were
unaffected.
 Inaltime
 Height is associated with power and status and confers
economic and social advantages. Taller men are perceived as
being more dominant and we would predict that females
should choose taller over shorter males.

 Graziano et al., (1978) had women judge pictures of men

who they believed to be short, medium or tall on
attractiveness and dating desirability. Tall men were rated
more positively than short men, though males of medium
height were most preferred.

 In a sample of over 4000 Polish men Pawlowski et al., (2000)

found that height was significantly associated with the
likelihood of getting married and having children.

 Bachelors were significantly shorter than married men.

 Pilozitatea faciala
 In humans the presence or absence of head and facial hair
provide strong social/sexual signals.

 Facial hair is generated at puberty in the presence of

testosterone and rate of beard growth is positively related
to androgen levels.

 It has been suggested that facial hair may have evolved as

a dominance signal as it increases the apparent size of the
jaw, itself a male secondary sexual characteristic.

 Males with facial hair are rated as being more masculine,

strong, potent, dominant and courageous, but also as lacking
in self-control, dirty, aggressive and reckless (Reed & Blunk,
1990).
 Pilozitatea faciala si atractivitatea?
 Women often state that they
do not find male facial hair
attractive.

 One study manipulated the

extent of facial hair in Identi-
kit pictures and found that
attractiveness ratings
increased as the quantity of
facial hair increased (Hatfield
& Sprecher, 1986).

 There may be large cultural

differences in this respect.
 Parul cranial
 Muscarella & Cunningham (1996) - suggested that male
pattern baldness evolved as a signal of aging and social
maturity. This may signal a male with enhanced social status
but reduced physical aggression.

 6 male models with different levels of facial and cranial hair

were rated on 32 social perception adjectives.

 Males with facial hair and those with bald or receding hair
were rated as being older than those who were clean-
shaven, or had a full head of hair.

 Beards and a full head of hair were also seen as being more
aggressive and less socially mature, baldness was associated
with less attractiveness and more social maturity.
 Proportiile corpului
 Horvarth (1979) found that shoulder width was a strong
positive predictor of the attractiveness of male figures.

 Maisey et al., (1999) found that waist-chest ratio (WCR)

was the principal determinant of attractiveness - males with
an inverted triangle torso (narrow waist with broad chest
and shoulders) were rated as being more attractive.

 More recently, Hughes & Gallup (2003) showed that males

with a high shoulder-to-hip ratio (SHR) reported having sex
at an earlier age, had more sexual partners, and more
extrapair copulations.

 A protruding stomach is seen as an exceptionally

unattractive trait in men.
 Asimetria fluctuanta
 Fluctuating asymmetry (FA) = an organism’s deviation from
bilateral symmetry. FA indicates developmental stability in the
presence of environmental and genetic challenges, and
therefore provides a possible indicator of health (and therefore
perhaps fertility).

 Low FA (more symmetrical) males report more sexual partners,

earlier age of first sexual intercourse, and have more offspring
than high FA men (Thornhill & Gangstead, 1994).

 Male faces high in symmetry are rated as being more attractive,

dominant, sexy, and healthy (Grammer & Thornhill 1994).
 Asimetria faciala
 Shackelford & Larsen (1998) measured the degree of facial
asymmetry in students.

 Greater asymmetry was related to self-reported depression,

neuroses, inferiority, more physical health problems.

 High FA males were also rated as being less attractive, less

emotionally-stable, and less intelligent.

 However, this link between facial symmetry and health is not

always reported (Kalick et al., 1998).
Simetria faciala si atractivitatea

Buss, 1999 p 119

 Influenta ciclului menstrual
 Penton-Voak et al., (1999): females
preferred masculine-looking faces at
ovulation, but less-masculine faces when
non-fertile.

 However, Koehler et al., (2002) asked

non-pill-using females to rate the
attractiveness of male faces varying in
symmetry during menses and just before
ovulation.

 Females did have an overall preference

for symmetry but this was irrespective of
menstrual cycle phase.
 Compatibilitatea genetica
 Body odour serves as a cue for immunological health, Gangstead &
Thornhill (1998) examined whether female olfactory preferences for
male odour would favour the scent of more symmetrical men during
ovulation.

 For contraceptive pill users and females not ovulating, there was no
relationship.

 However, non pill-users when ovulating consistently preferred the

scent of symmetrical men.

 Herz & Inzlicht (2002) asked males and females to rank various
physical characteristics in a potential partner.

 While males where primarily concerned with physical attractiveness,

females considered a man's smell to be more important than 'looks',
'money' or 'ambition'.
 3. Abilitatea si dorinta (willingness)
de implicare in parenting
 La Cerra (1994) presented pictures of males in several
different conditions with children.
 The picture of the male engaging in positive interactions with a
small child yielded the most positive reactions.
 The picture showing a male ignoring a child in distress led to the
most negative ratings.
 Women highly value characteristics such as ‘dependability’,
‘maturity’ and ‘emotional stability’. They may indicate that the
male is willing to provide resources and continue his investment.
 Expressions of love may be a signal of regular commitment and
the majority of women require love for a long-term relationship.
 To attract a female as a long-term
mating partner, a male
should..
 1. Show evidence of ambition, hard work, and intelligence.
 2. Be generous (buy gifts, give to charity etc).
 3. Dress well.
 4. Be confident and assertive (around other males).
 5. Be taller than the woman in question.
 6. Be clean shaven and have a full head of hair.
 7. Have broad shoulders, be moderately hunky and have no
beer belly.
 8. Be facially and physically symmetrical, and show good
health.
 9. Be athletic and sporty.
 10. Smell ‘right’.
 11. Be nice to babies and children.
And if you can’t manage any of these?

 Be absolutely filthy stinking rich.