Files and links (2)
The Interplay Between Economic Status and Attractiveness, and the Importance of Attire in Mate Choice Judgments3.29 MB
Published VersionCC BY V4.0, Open Access
Journal article
The Interplay Between Economic Status and Attractiveness, and the Importance of Attire in Mate Choice Judgments
Frontiers in Psychology, Vol.10, pp.1-14
2019
PMCID: PMC6437035
PMID: 30949084
Abstract
Desirable characteristics of "opposite sex others," such as physical attractiveness and economic status, can influence how individuals are judged, and this is different for men and women. However, under various social contexts where cues of higher or lower economic status is suggested, sex differences in judgments related to mate choice have not been fully explored. In two studies, ratings of economic status and attractiveness were quantified for male and female targets that were presented under various social contexts. Study 1 assessed judgments (n = 1,359) of images of nine male and nine female targets in different sized groups containing only opposite-sex others (i.e., group size). While we found no significant effects of group size on male and female attractiveness, target female economic status increased when surrounded by two or more men. An ad hoc analysis controlling for the attire of the targets (business or casual) found that the association between target female economic status and group size occurred when females were in business attire. Study 2 investigates this effect further by presenting images of 12 males and 12 females, in higher and lower status attire (i.e., business and casual clothing) and measured judgments of attractiveness and economic status among women and men (n = 1,038). Consistent with the results of Study 1, female economic status was only affected when women were in business attire. However, female economic status decreased when in the presence of other men in business attire. There were no sex differences in judgments of economic status when judging stimuli in casual attire. Additionally, negative associations between attractiveness and economic status were found for males presented in casual attire. We discuss these results in the light of evolutionary sexual conflict theory by demonstrating how the asymmetrical importance of status between men and women can influence mate choice judgments.
Details
- Title
- The Interplay Between Economic Status and Attractiveness, and the Importance of Attire in Mate Choice Judgments
- Authors
- Amany Gouda-Vossos (Author) - UNSW AustraliaRobert C Brooks (Author) - UNSW AustraliaBarnaby J W Dixson (Author) - The University of Queensland
- Publication details
- Frontiers in Psychology, Vol.10, pp.1-14
- Publisher
- Frontiers Research Foundation
- Date published
- 2019
- DOI
- 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00462
- ISSN
- 1664-1078
- PMID
- 30949084; PMC6437035
- Copyright note
- Copyright © 2019 Gouda-Vossos, Brooks and Dixson. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
- Organisation Unit
- Australian Centre for Pacific Islands Research; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; School of Health - Psychology; School of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Legacy
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99629739902621
- Output Type
- Journal article
Metrics
3 File views/ downloads
25 Record Views
InCites Highlights
These are selected metrics from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool, related to this output
- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- Web Of Science research areas
- Psychology, Multidisciplinary