Romantic Relationships 303Social role theory would predict that
sex differences in mate preferences ought to
decrease as women’s and men’s roles become
more similar. Because women are less depen-
dent on men for financial resources today
than they were several decades ago, perhaps
women’s preferences for a high status mate
have declined. Changes in mate preferences
between 1936 and 1996 show that women
have decreased the value they attached to a
mate’s ambition, men have increased the
value they attach to a mate’s education and
financial assets, and men have decreased the
value they place on a mate’s domestic skills
(Buss et al., 2001). Both men and women
have increased their value of physical at-
tractiveness in a mate. In general, men’s and
women’s mate preferences have become
more similar over time. Compare mate pref-
erences at your college with the research
reviewed here in Do Gender 9.1.a mate with high earning capacity and men
were more likely than women to value a mate
who was physically attractive. However, they
also found that men were more likely than
women to value a mate who was a good cook
and a good housekeeper. This sex difference
was as large as the previous two. Evolution-
ary theory would not lead to this prediction,
but social role theory would. Second, sex dif-
ferences in preferences for a mate with high
earning capacity were highly correlated with
sex differences in preferences for a mate with
good domestic skills. Therefore, cultures in
which high earning capacity is valued more
by women are the same cultures in which
domestic skills are valued more by men.
Finally, the gender equality of a culture (as
measured by the percentage of women in
administrative, technical, and professional
positions; the percentage of women in politi-
cal office; and the percentage of men’s salary
the average woman earns) was inversely re-
lated to the size of the sex difference in earn-
ing capacity preference and domestic skill
preference, but not physical attractiveness
preference. That is, sex differences in earning
capacity and domestic skill preference were
higher in more traditional cultures. The tra-
ditionality of a culture did not have anything
to do with the sex difference in the value
attached to physical attractiveness.
A more recent study of nine nations has
examined an individual’s gender-role tradi-
tionality rather than the traditionality of the
culture and found that sex differences in mate
preferences were more common among indi-
viduals with traditional gender-role ideologies
(Eastwick et al., 2006). Men with more tradi-
tional gender-role beliefs showed a greater
preference for younger mates with domes-
tic skills, and women with more traditional
gender-role beliefs showed a greater prefer-
ence for older mates with financial resources.DO GENDER 9.1
Mate PreferencesIdentify 10 characteristics of a potential
mate. Make sure some of the character-
istics are the ones that both women and
men rate as important. Also include physi-
cal attractiveness and earning potential.
Have 10 female and 10 male friends rate
how important each characteristic is in a
potential mate. Rank the characteristics in
terms of relative importance and examine
whether there are differences in the value
that women and men attach to each char-
acteristic. You might also compare the
responses of people who are and are not
currently in a romantic relationship. Does
being in a relationship alter what people
view as important?M09_HELG0185_04_SE_C09.indd 303 6/21/11 12:40 PM