Human mate choice and the wedding ring effect: Are married men more attractive?
Author
Summary, in English
Individuals are often restricted to indirect cues when assessing the mate value of a potential partner. Females of some species have been shown to copy each other’s choice; in other words, the probability of a female choosing a particular male increases if he has already been chosen by other females. Recently it has been suggested that mate-choice copying could be an important aspect of human mate choice as well. We tested one of the hypotheses, the so-called wedding ring effect—that women would prefer men who are already engaged or married—in a series of live interactions between men and women. The results show that women do not find men signaling engagement, or being perceived as having a partner, more attractive or higher in socioeconomic status. Furthermore, signs of engagement did not influence the women’s reported willingness to engage in short-term or long-term relationships with the men. Thus, this study casts doubt on some simplified theories of human mate-choice copying, and alternative, more complex scenarios are outlined and discussed.
Publishing year
2003
Language
English
Pages
267-276
Publication/Series
Human Nature
Volume
14
Issue
3
Document type
Journal article
Publisher
Springer
Topic
- Biological Sciences
Keywords
- Human mate choice - Mate-choice copying - Wedding ring effect
Status
Published
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 1045-6767