Psychology

    Humans are created in this world to serve a number of objectives and included in the list is their task to produce progenies in order to preserve the continuity of life and genetic traits, and to maintain the general equilibrium between and among living, non-living and inanimate objects that reside in this world today (Hamida, Mineka and Bailey, 1998).  Gender specific preferences in mate selection are the focus of many psychological and sociological studies that seek to answer the recurring question of how intrinsic behavior and traditional gender roles influence the lifelong mate selection decision making process (Feingold, 1992). Not just researchers, but the public too, is interested in explaining why the selection criteria differ between males and females because it is believed that these features are the main driving force that fuel diversity across all cultures covering all conditions.

    Available literatures agree that the females preference is strongly influenced by socio-economic status while males, on the other hand, place more emphasis on physical appearance, as compared to other observable female properties, and make it an important criterion in their selection process (Buss and Barnes, 1986). Evolutionary psychology explains these differences between human males and females with the parental investment model which states that women seek out potential partners by their ability to provide and protect while male tend to look for females who possess excellent reproductive properties (Eagly and Wood, 1999). The concept behind the mentality of females is in accordance to traditional societal gender roles which dictate that the lesser economic opportunities available today instruct females to seek for mates who are willing to and are able to provide financial support to her offspring and herself (Sprecher, Sullivan and Hatfield, 1994). In this sense, it can be inferred that women value financial stability of their future family as the main defining factor by which they will lay the grounds of their marital selection process (Sprecher, Sullivan and Hatfield, 1994). However, it is an accepted fact that that the ability by which a female can produce an offspring is described in a significantly shorter time span than that of a man, and thus, places the investment model as the main determinant of mate selection process in relation to the fact that the females will be subjected to the reproductive notion that will be associated to them by each and every male who can be their potential marital partner (Murstein, 1972). Therefore, women execute ways to increase their mate value by increasing their level of physical attractiveness to males which are evident in their trips to the salon, makeovers, shopping spree and many other ways which they believe are helpful in the improvement of their physical appearance (Murstein, 1972). Improvement of self worth, however, does not suggest that increased economic status of the female will also necessarily increase a females value in a males eyes (Hamida, Mineka and Bailey, 1998). The aforementioned statement is supported by the idea that men tend to assert the monetary domain in the family and often gets their ego hurt by the idea that women are earning more money for the family than what they actually obtain (Hamida, Mineka and Bailey, 1998).

    Males put high emphasis on selecting a mate with excellent domestic qualities (Johannesen-Schmidt and Eagly, 2002). However, the main focus of males is also related to their future offspring. Males look for females who they believe will be able to produce healthy offspring. Fertility is often identified with features such as facial attractiveness, youthfulness, and health. It can be deduced that the first feature is concerned with the potential physical properties of the future progenies while the second and third female properties, youthfulness and health, are manifestations of the perceived reproductive capability of the female based on her physical characteristics (Cunningham and Russell, 2004). Aside from health, age is another obvious determinant of the reproductive capacity of a female which can be reflected in certain physical features like smooth and clear skin, good muscle tone, lively gait, white teeth, and lustrous hair (Buss and Barnes, 1986). Furthermore, male preferences are influenced by body shape and symmetry (Cunningham and Russell, 2004). Buss (1989) states that traits suggesting reproductive capacity are seen as more desirable by males rather than females. Buss (1989) also found that the overwhelming majority of his samples, females, valued good financial prospect more highly than males. Although neither sex rated ambition and industriousness as low, this criterion was valued higher by females. The evidence supports that males value physical attractiveness more importantly even across cultures (Buss, 1989). The influences of negative characteristics displayed in a female have also been investigated. Males are more willing to accept negative character traits than females (Todosijevic, Ljubinkovic and Arancic 2003). Hence, it can be said that men value the physical beauty of their potential partners on a higher degree of assessment as compared to the importance that women tend to give to this property (Buss and Barnes, 1986).

    Social factors, like the desire to obtain the societys approval regarding of the mate choice has effects on determining the desirable qualities in a mate. For example, it is more socially acceptable for a male to be with a female who is physically attractive but without financial status and it is also more socially acceptable for a female to be with an unattractive male if the socioeconomic status is high (Feingold, 1992). These observations suggest the increased attributions that the society gives to accepted norms as basis of mate selection and acceptance of marital combinations (Feingold, 1992). Another practical example of this phenomenon is seen whenever people choose the type of dates that they will have and studies suggest that the aforementioned traits are so desirable that males are less likely to even date females that they do not find sufficiently attractive and, in the same manner, females are also less likely to date men who are of lower socioeconomic status regardless of their physical appearance (Townsend and Roberts, 1993). Consequently, it can be said that the physical feature plays a major role that one looks for in the assessment of a mates physical attractiveness (Buss, 1995). To further test this mental construct, the goal of this paper is to deduce an expository parameter in order to comprehend the differences between the sexes as revealed by the formulation of four hypotheses which are shown below. The hypotheses examined in this study are based largely on traditional gender roles.

Hypothesis 1 Female participants ratings of the ambition and industriousness item will be significantly higher than male participants ratings.
Hypothesis 2 Female participants ratings of the good financial prospect item will be significantly higher than male participants ratings.
Hypothesis 3 Male participants ratings of the good looks item will be significantly higher than female participants ratings.
Hypothesis 4 The mean Mon-Wed participants ratings across all conditions will not be significantly different than the mean Tues-Thur participants ratings across conditions.
Method   

Participants
     In order to properly analyze the gender specific mate selection procedures for both sexes, two groups of participants were recruited for the study. The participants were members of two undergraduate psychology courses at xxxxxxxx, in xxxxxxx, xxx. The study included a total of 75 participants where 30 are males and 45 are females. They ranged in age from 18 to 49, with a median age of 22.53, and a standard deviation of 5.82. It must be mentioned that the unequal distribution of the male-female participants is a function of the availability of the subjects and their granted consent to submit in the demands of the study. Furthermore, the diversity of age parameters is an important factor because they are likely to manifest and characterize the difference in preferences of the chosen population.   

Procedure
    The participants were assigned to two groups based on their last enrollment on Monday-Wednesday or Tuesday-Thursday. Participants were instructed to rate anonymously their personal opinion in choosing a lifelong mate. Male and female participants were administered the same questionnaires. Two unrelated questionnaires were also given at the same time. Participants were asked to rate three Likert items on a 10 point scale (1  not important, 10  very important). The three items included the character traits of ambition and industriousness, good financial prospect, and good looks. In addition to rating these items, participants were asked of their gender, class day and meeting time. The age was asked for statistical purposes, not for identification. There was no manipulation of the independent variable. Variables were measured based on participants ratings. It was attempted to increase randomization by utilizing data from two different classes. Participants were asked to rate without information regarding other participants answers or previously conducted studies. They were informed that the data would be used anonymously and for student research purposes only. Participants were also provided with an informed consent document beforehand.

    After having completed the abovementioned procedures, the validity of each hypothesis has been verified. In general, it has been determined that in relation to ambition and industriousness, female participants regarded such an aspect to be of greater significance or importance in contrast to the response derived from male participants. Despite such though, it is important to emphasize that the difference between mean values derived from male and female participants only differed by 1.3. Hence, it may be stated that ambition and industriousness mattered for both genders, albeit the fact that differences in the relative importance of such an aspect are of course observable. In addition to such findings pertaining to ambition and industriousness, the same trend in responses has also been noted for the good financial prospect criterion. To highlight such a point, it has been determined that female participants considered and responded to good financial prospect as a criterion of greater importance. Of course though, male participants still considered such a criterion to a degree.

    In contrast to the abovementioned criteria, which have been predominantly determined to be regarded and rated as higher among female participants, in terms of the good looks criterion it has been established that ratings derived from male participants were higher. It is vital to emphasize though that similar to previous criteria discussed the ratings provided by both male and female participants did not differ to a great extent. Besides such results, information pertaining to the differences among ratings among Monday  Wednesday participants and Tuesday  Thursday participants have been derived as well. To further expound, it has been established that throughout the responses derived from the aforementioned groups of participants, no significant differences may be observed. Given such, it may be appropriately stated that each hypothesis was confirmed and validated from such results. To further understand such and to emphasize upon numerical or statistical values, refer to table 2 below.

    Two groups of participants were recruited in the study which was named as Mon-Wed group and Tue-Thu group. These subjects are students of Psychology courses and the manner by which they were selected for the study involved a non-random method. Hence, it can be said that the non-random sample utilized in the study might have an impact on the integrity of the results obtained.

    Four hypotheses were tested in the study and the responses of the two groups of subjects are all in accordance to the pre-formulated hypotheses. This is despite the idea that the participants are less likely to answer honestly inside a classroom setting and that they are subjected to the pressures of traditional gender roles which can truly affect the gathered data. Furthermore, the non-rejection of the four hypotheses is a contradiction of the researchers fear that data relying on self-reports are not reliable because people do not always have an accurate view of them or tell the truth.

    In connection to hypothesis 1 and 2, female participants of this research study are seen to provide answers that are in accordance to the observed sociological frameworks that were investigated through time and were cited by scientific studies. The acceptability of the two hypotheses signifies the undeniable importance that the female subjects attribute to ambition industriousness, and good financial prospect of their potential male partners. In this case, common university experiences will portray a situation where in a female who is being pursued by two men will go for the guy who can satisfy more of the nonphysical characteristics that are likely to manifest the mans capability to provide greater financial stability to her and to their potential family (Feingold, 1992). These nonphysical characteristics which are related to the assessment of the kind monetary stability that can be provided by men to his future family include socioeconomic status, ambitiousness, character, and intelligence (Feingold, 1992). Sense of humor and personality were also discovered to be given with significant importance by both sexes regardless of the fact that these properties are not directly related to either reproductive investment or progeny survival (Feingold, 1992).

    The acceptance of hypothesis 3, on the other hand, suggests that the male participants really focus more on the physical features of the females which is also in congruence with the published scientific studies. Male participants of this study also prefer women with desirable physical properties. Moreover, the presumed self-rated attractiveness of a man is seen to relate to the type of date or marital partner that he is likely to have (Stroebe, Insko, Thompson and Layton, 1971). Those men who rated themselves as attractive are the ones who are likely to date women who are also attractive while men who rated themselves as unattractive are more likely to consider going out with ladies of physical characteristics which are not absolutely in accordance to the norms of the society (Stroebe, Insko, Thompson and Layton, 1971). This observation is also supported by the study of Murstein (1972) wherein he emphasized the importance of the stimulus-value-role theory which states that individuals are likely to choose dates or marital partners of comparable physical attractiveness.

    Lastly, the non-rejection of hypothesis number 4 confirms the notion that the mentioned gender specific mate selection strategies are practiced by the majority of the population across all cultures throughout the globe. The precision of the observed mean of the MonWed and TueThurs group is a reflection of the preservation of the sociological concepts that were mentioned in scientific literature with the expressed attributes by the college participants.            

    Buss  Barnes (1986) gave brief and concise explanations of the concepts that can be obtained from this study which include the notion that standards of female beauty are the subject of the scrutiny of mens eyes because they are believed to be the possible parameters of female reproductive capability. The correlation between male age and masculine reproductive capacity is not justifiable in most cases and thus, poses an alarm to the female population regarding the idea that they need to catch up with the reproductive investment that can be offered by their male counterpart, that men will prefer women who are within the age of reproductive capability, and that the women who are able to possess a mate with a high economic status are likely to have productive and successful progenies in the future.