Contrasting Computational Models of Mate Preference Integration Across 45 Countries

Abstract

Humans express a wide array of ideal mate preferences. Around the world, people desire romantic partners who are intelligent, healthy, kind, physically attractive, wealthy, and more. In order for these ideal preferences to guide the choice of actual romantic partners, human mating psychology must possess a means to integrate information across these many preference dimensions into summaries of the overall mate value of their potential mates. Here we explore the computational design of this mate preference integration process using a large sample of n = 14,487 people from 45 countries around the world. We combine this large cross-cultural sample with agent-based models to compare eight hypothesized models of human mating markets. Across cultures, people higher in mate value appear to experience greater power of choice on the mating market in that they set higher ideal standards, better fulfill their preferences in choice, and pair with higher mate value partners. Furthermore, we find that this cross-culturally universal pattern of mate choice is most consistent with a Euclidean model of mate preference integration.

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Affiliated Institutions

• Algiers 2 University
• UCLouvain BE
• Sivas Cumhuriyet Üniversitesi TR
• Ankara University TR
• University of Maribor SI
• Uniwersytet SWPS PL
• Centre of Social and Psychological Sciences of the Slovak Academy of Sciences SK
• Middle East University JO
• Vilnius University LT
• Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro BR
• Australian National University AU
• Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra SK
• Norwegian University of Science and Technology
• Technische Universität Dresden DE
• Nature Uganda UG
• University of Amsterdam NL
• The University of Texas at Austin US
• University of the Punjab PK
• Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore IT
• Pontifical Catholic University of Peru PE
• University of Nigeria NG
• University of Wrocław PL
• University of Havana CU
• Latin University of Costa Rica CR
• University of Zagreb HR
• Istanbul University TR
• University of California, Santa Barbara US
• İzmir University of Economics TR
• Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam NL
• University of Sussex GB
• National University of Theatre and Film I.L. Caragiale RO
• University of Algiers 3 DZ
• University of Crete GR
• Central University of Finance and Economics CN
• Institute of Psychology PL
• University of Delhi IN
• University of Primorska SI
• University Ferhat Abbas of Setif DZ
• University of Malaya MY
• Universidad de Granada ES
• Comenius University Bratislava SK
• Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro BR
• Universidad de la República de Uruguay UY
• University of Pecs HU
• DHA Suffa University PK
• South-West University "Neofit Rilski" BG
• Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile CL
• Institute of Anthropology and Ethnography RU
• University of British Columbia CA
• Stockholm University SE
• Iscte – Instituto Universitário de Lisboa PT
• Gulu University UG
• Franklin & Marshall College US
• University of Vienna AT
• Romanian Academy RO
• Russian Academy of Sciences RU
• University of Monterrey MX
• Crete University Press GR
• Chinese University of Hong Kong HK
• Vietnam National University, Hanoi VN
• University of Tartu EE
• Northern University of Malaysia MY

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