Human mate choice is complicated, with various individual differences and contextual factors influencing preferences for numerous traits. However, focused studies on human mate choice often do not capture this multivariate complexity. Here, we consider multiple factors simultaneously to demonstrate the advantages of a multivariate approach to human mate preferences. Participants (N = 689) rated the attractiveness of opposite-sex online dating profiles that were independently manipulated on facial attractiveness, perceived facial masculinity/femininity, and intelligence. Participants were also randomly instructed to either consider short- or long-term relationships. Using fitness surfaces analyses, we assess the linear and nonlinear effects and interactions of the profiles' facial attractiveness, perceived facial masculinity/femininity, and perceived intelligence on participants' attractiveness ratings. Using hierarchical linear modeling, we were also able to consider the independent contribution of participants' individual differences on their revealed preferences for the manipulated traits. These individual differences included participants' age, socioeconomic status, education, disgust (moral, sexual, and pathogen), sociosexual orientation, personality variables, masculinity, and mate value. Together, our results illuminate various previously undetectable phenomena, including nonlinear preference functions and interactions with individual differences. More broadly, the study illustrates the value of considering both individual variation and population-level measures when addressing questions of sexual selection, and demonstrates the utility of multivariate approaches to complement focused studies.
Mate choice is complicated. In even the simplest of animal mating systems, the outcome of mate choice can depend on a suite of variables (Moller and Pomiankowski, 1993 and Brooks and Endler, 2001b). Mate choice among humans is more complex than in almost any other species, with studies showing mate preferences for a large range of traits. This includes effects on attractiveness of wealth (Henrich, Boyd, & Richerson, 2012), status (Li, Bailey, Kenrick, & Linsenmeier, 2002), intelligence (Miller, 2000), strength (Puts, 2010), smell (Wedekind, Seebeck, Bettens, & Paepke, 1995), facial masculinity or femininity (Perrett et al., 1998 and Little et al., 2002), voice pitch (Puts, 2005), stature (Kurzban & Weeden, 2005), body shape (Singh, 1993), kindness (Li et al., 2002), and personality (Botwin, Buss, & Shackelford, 2006). This list of features considered cues for mate choice is not exhaustive and is still growing rapidly.
