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. 2020 Oct-Dec;18(4):1474704920979623.
doi: 10.1177/1474704920979623.

Norwegian Men and Women Value Similar Mate Traits in Short-Term Relationships

Mehmet Mehmetoglu  1 , Ilmari Määttänen  2
Affiliations

Norwegian Men and Women Value Similar Mate Traits in Short-Term Relationships

Mehmet Mehmetoglu et al. Evol Psychol. 2020 Oct-Dec.

Abstract

Previous research has provided evidence that females are generally the more selective sex in humans. Moreover, both sexes have been found to be more selective in long-term mating compared to short-term mating. In this study, we have examined the effects of sex, mating strategy (preferred relationship length) and their interaction on mate preferences (i.e., mate selection criteria) in an egalitarian Nordic society, namely Norway. The study sample consisted of 1,000 individuals, 417 of whom were male and 583 female respondents. According to our findings, men were more selective in physical appearance, whereas women were more selective in all the other mate preferences (e.g., understanding, dominant, kind, intellectual etc.). The respondents that were seeking short-term relationships had higher preference for physical appearance, humorousness and sociability. On the other hand, the respondents that were seeking long-term relationships were more selective in most of the other mate preferences (i.e., understanding, kind, cultivated, domestic, reliable, and similar). Interestingly, no interaction effect was found between sex and mating strategy in that differences between long-term and short-term seekers in mate preferences did not change depending on sex. This suggests that men and women value the same traits in short-term relationships.

Keywords: long-term mating; mate preference; sex differences; sexual selection; short-term mating.

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Conflict of interest statement

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
The research model including individual hypotheses.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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