Factors Affecting The Choice Of Mates: A Study On Physical And Psychological Characteristics

The researchers further suggest the physical attractiveness of a certain person is treated to be a unidimensional factor that is related in the matters that are related to the choice of the mates (li & Kendrick, 2006) (as cited in Jonason, Raulston & Rotolo, 2012). The article further states that there are various traits that should be taken into consideration while aiming to discuss the factors that are related to the looks of the mate of the concerned person.

Factors influencing mate choice

Jonason, Raulston and Rotolo, (2012) in the article entitled “More than just a pretty face and a hot body: Multiple cues in mate-choice” attempts a discussion on the choices that are made by the concerned people regarding their mates. Confer, Perilloux and Buss (2010) (as cited in Jonason, Raulston & Rotolo, 2012) and other researchers tend to focus majorly on the matters that are related to the cues of the attractiveness. The researchers further suggest the physical attractiveness of a certain person is treated to be a unidimensional factor that is related in the matters that are related to the choice of the mates (li & Kendrick, 2006) (as cited in Jonason, Raulston & Rotolo, 2012). The article further states that there are various traits that should be taken into consideration while aiming to discuss the factors that are related to the looks of the mate of the concerned person. As opined by several researchers, the face and the body of the concerned person are the two major cues that are studied with the utmost importance for choosing a mate (Confer, Perilloux, & Buss, 2010; Currie & Little, 2009; Perilloux, Webster, & Gaulin, 2010) (as cited in Jonason, Raulston & Rotolo, 2012). The researchers further opine that the body part contains several features that are tend to influence the attractiveness of the concerned mate. These factors might include the body fact as opined by Smith, Cornelissen, and Tovee, (2007). (as cited in Jonason, Raulston & Rotolo, 2012) as well as the ratio of the waist to the hip (Singh, 1993) (as cited in Jonason, Raulston & Rotolo, 2012). The face on the other hand aims to shed light on the masculinity or the femininity of the concerned person (Little, Jones, Penton-Voak, Burt, & Perrett, 2002) (as cited in Jonason, Raulston & Rotolo, 2012).

The major purpose of study is to discuss the matters that are related to the preferences of the mates on the basis of the bodily attractive features of the concerned person. The concerned article further aims a discussion on the matters related to the psychological traits that are related to the choice of the mates by the concerned people. As opined by Johnstone (1996) (as cited in Jonason, Raulston & Rotolo, 2012), the preferences of the several traits within an individual help in the collection of the proper amount of data regarding the concerned individual. On the other hand, Candolin (2003) (as cited in Jonason, Raulston & Rotolo, 2012) states that the various assessment of the various cues in choosing the mates tend to reflect a greater amount of expenditure of the intangible matters like time. These matters might help in the proper assessment of the quality of the mate.

The first study in the article the authors aimed at the comparison between the choices of the mates on the basis of the physical attributes like the facial and the bodily appearances and the presence of the psychological traits that are depicted by the people of the opposite sex (Jonason, Raulston & Rotolo, 2012). The authors aimed to replicate the prior researches on the facial and bodily appearances by Confer et al., (2010) (as cited in Jonason, Raulston & Rotolo, 2012) and the general perceptions on the preferences of the mates as inferred by Liu et al., (2002) (as cited in Jonason, Raulston & Rotolo, 2012). The first study incorporated the 410 volunteers (Jonason, Raulston & Rotolo, 2012). The volunteers were petitioned through several fliers. These fliers were majorly posted at various departments and places within a mid-sized university of the southwestern United States (Jonason, Raulston & Rotolo, 2012). The fliers were mainly posted in the places like the health center in the campus, the departmental buildings that were dedicated to the subjects of anthropology, the communication studies and the department of psychology (Jonason, Raulston & Rotolo, 2012). The participants of the study were asked to respond to eight question using the Likert Scale. The results were initially analyzed through ANOVA, a mixed-design method that comprised of the sex of the participant as well as the preferences of the person in the choice of the mates (Jonason, Raulston & Rotolo, 2012). The study revealed that the male members desired the sexual activity more than their female counterparts irrespective of the matters that are related to the duration of the mating activity (Jonason, Raulston & Rotolo, 2012). The various qualities long-term partner is cued to the traits for the discussion on the ideal duration for mating within the female members within the society as opined by Liu et al., (2002).

Purpose of the study

                                                           Source: (Jonason, Raulston & Rotolo, 2012)

The second study within the article deals with almost 90 candidates in a freer manner (Jonason, Raulston & Rotolo, 2012). The first study had depicted the comparison of the relative interests that the participants had depicted in the matters that of the psychological as well as the physical traits of the potential mates that had been chosen by the participants. According to the opinions of Li et al., (2002) and Li and Kendrick, (2006) (as cited in Jonason, Raulston & Rotolo, 2012) the differences in the choices of the mates might be revealed through the implementation of the constraints in the choices made by the concerned participants. The second study comprised of the allocation of a budget that had forced the revelation of the choices of the participants. The study comprised of 90 students who had been pursuing their studies in the psychology department of the mid-sized university of the southwestern United States (Jonason, Raulston & Rotolo, 2012). The participants were asked to complete two measures that were related to the allocation of the budget. The results of the second study further backed up the claims of the first study. The male members were observed to have been lending more importance to the bodily and the facial attractiveness in case of choosing the short-term mates as compared to the choice of the long-term mates (Jonason, Raulston & Rotolo, 2012). The results of the studies reveal that the psychological traits were given more importance than the physical attractiveness of the concerned mate were given in the matters related to the long-term mates.

                                                    Source: (Jonason, Raulston & Rotolo, 2012)

                                                                       Source: (Jonason, Raulston & Rotolo, 2012)

The studies attempted an assessment on the preferences that are related to the physical attractiveness of the concerned mates. The results that were derived from the studies have been observed to bear a high amount of consistency with the matters that are related to the results of the previous researches (Jonason, Raulston & Rotolo, 2012). The study revealed that the male members desired the sexual activity more than their female counterparts irrespective of the matters that are related to the duration of the mating activity (Jonason, Raulston & Rotolo, 2012). The various qualities of the long-term partner are cued to the traits for the discussion on the ideal duration for mating within the female members within the society as opined by Liu et al., (2002) (as cited in Jonason, Raulston & Rotolo, 2012). The male members were observed to have been lending more importance to the bodily and the facial attractiveness in case of choosing the short-term mates as compared to the choice of the long-term mates (Jonason, Raulston & Rotolo, 2012). The results of the studies reveal that the psychological traits were given more importance than the physical attractiveness of the concerned mate were given in the matters related to the long-term mates.

The major limitation of the study includes the sample size that was chosen for the research (Jonason, Raulston & Rotolo, 2012). The study had majorly focused on the college students of America and thus lacks input from the other cultures that have been existing all over the world.

References:

Jonason, P. K., Raulston, T., & Rotolo, A. (2012). More than just a pretty face and a hot body: Multiple cues in mate-choice. The Journal of social psychology, 152(2), 174-184. DOI - 10.1080/00224545.2011.586654