Intimacy Issues
The importance of physical attractiveness and ambition/intelligence to the mate choices of women and their parents
Madeleine Fugère, Noelle Ciccarelli & Alita Cousins
Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences, forthcoming
Abstract:
When women make mate choices, they face potential conflict with their parents. Evolutionary theory predicts, and prior research confirms, that daughters value physical attractiveness (as a signal of genetic quality) more than their parents do when considering a partner for their daughters. However, prior research also shows that daughters and their parents value the most important traits of a mate for daughters similarly (e.g., mutual love, intelligence, etc.). We assessed self-reported mate preferences and responses to an experimental manipulation among 150 daughter–parent pairs. We varied men's physical attractiveness (more vs. less attractive) and ascribed personality characteristics (ambitious/intelligent vs. disorganized/physically fit) in a 2 × 2 independent groups design, testing 8 hypotheses evaluating the relative importance of physical attractiveness and personality traits. Self-reported ratings by both women and their parents indicated that the traits ambition and intelligence were significantly more important than physical attractiveness for a long-term mate for daughters. And, across conditions, both daughters and parents rated the ambitious and intelligent man as a more desirable dating partner than the more attractive man. However, when asked to choose the best mate for daughters, both daughters (68.7%) and their parents (63.3%) chose the more attractive man as the best long-term dating partner for daughters, regardless of his ascribed traits. Furthermore, daughters’ and parents’ choices corresponded 79% of the time. Physical attractiveness may be more important to both daughters and parents than self-reported responses suggest and actual daughter–parent conflict over physical attractiveness in chosen partnerships may be less prevalent than perceived conflict.
Trait and Facet Personality Similarity and Relationship and Life Satisfaction in Romantic Couples
Rebekka Weidmann et al.
Journal of Research in Personality, forthcoming
Abstract:
Previous research has shown that personality similarity plays a negligible role in explaining the life and relationship satisfaction of couples. However, similarity in more proximally measured personality (i.e., facets) might explain additional variance in partners’ well-being. The current study examined if in a sample of 1,294 female-male romantic couples individual and partner personality traits and facets were associated with life and relationship satisfaction in expected ways. Similarity in personality traits and facets was not robustly associated with either life or relationship satisfaction of partners. The results are discussed in the context of the predictive validity of personality facets.
So where do you see this going? The effects of commitment asymmetry and asynchrony on relationship satisfaction and break-up
Kiersten Dobson, Brian Ogolsky & Sarah Stanton
European Journal of Social Psychology, forthcoming
Abstract:
Discrepancies in partners’ commitment have been emphasized as a key factor involved in relationship instability. We tested the contributions of multiple types of commitment asymmetry (discrepancies between partners at one time point) and asynchrony (discrepancies in the progression of commitment over time) to relationship satisfaction and break-up. In three studies (N = 6960 couples) spanning months (Study 1), days (Study 2) and years (Study 3), commitment asymmetry and asynchrony consistently did not predict satisfaction or break-up when controlling for individuals and their partners’ commitment. Only one's own commitment and proportion of downturns in commitment (reporting lower commitment than the previous time point) consistently predicted satisfaction. Women's (but not men's) commitment and proportion of downturns were associated (negatively and positively, respectively) with break-up. Thus, contrary to some significant previous findings, commitment asymmetry and asynchrony are not indicative of future relationship outcomes. Our findings have important implications for theoretical models of commitment and couples’ practical issues in relationships over time.
Only Death Will Separate Us: The Role of Extramarital Partnerships among Himba Pastoralists
Brooke Scelza & Sean Prall
Archives of Sexual Behavior, May 2023, Pages 1355–1363
Abstract:
Extramarital partnerships are highly stigmatized in many societies and are typically excluded from studies of family dynamics and social support. Nevertheless, in many societies such relationships are common and can have important impacts on resource security and health outcomes. However, current studies of these relationships come mainly from ethnographic studies, with quantitative data extremely rare. Here we present data from a 10-year study of romantic partnerships among a community of Himba pastoralists in Namibia, where concurrency is common. The majority of married men (97%) and women (78%) currently reported having more than one partner (n = 122). Using multilevel models comparing marital and nonmarital relationships, we found that, contrary to conventional wisdom surrounding concurrency, Himba form enduring bonds with extramarital partners that often last decades and are very similar to marital ones in terms of length, emotional affect, reliability, and future prospects. Qualitative interview data showed that extramarital relationships were imbued with a set of rights and obligations that, while distinct from those of spouses, provide an important source of support. Greater inclusion of these relationships in studies of marriage and family would provide a clearer picture of social support and resource transfers in these communities and help to explain variation in the practice and acceptance of concurrency around the world.