Department of Psychology, Swansea University, Swansea, UK.
School of Psychology, Western Sydney University, Sydney, Australia.
J Pers. 2020 Jun;88(3):606-620. doi: 10.1111/jopy.12514. Epub 2019 Sep 13.
Mate choice involves trading-off several preferences. Research on this process tends to examine mate preference prioritization in homogenous samples using a small number of traits and thus provide little insight into whether prioritization patterns reflect a universal human nature. This study examined whether prioritization patterns, and their accompanying sex differences, are consistent across Eastern and Western cultures.
In the largest test of the mate preference priority model to date, we asked an international sample of participants (N = 2,477) to design an ideal long-term partner by allocating mate dollars to eight traits using three budgets. Unlike previous versions of the task, we included traits known to vary in importance by culture (e.g., religiosity and chastity).
Under low budget conditions, Eastern and Western participants differed in their mate dollar allocation for almost every trait (average d = 0.42), indicating that culture influences prioritization. Despite these differences, traits fundamental for the reproductive success of each sex in the ancestral environment were prioritized by both Eastern and Western participants.
The tendency to prioritize reproductively fundamental traits is present in both Eastern and Western cultures. The psychological mechanisms responsible for this process produce similar prioritization patterns despite cross-cultural variation.
择偶涉及权衡几个偏好。关于这个过程的研究倾向于使用少数特征在同质样本中检查配偶偏好的优先级排序，因此几乎无法深入了解优先级排序模式是否反映出普遍的人性。本研究考察了优先排序模式及其伴随的性别差异是否在东方和西方文化中一致。
在迄今为止对配偶偏好优先级模型的最大测试中，我们要求国际参与者样本（N=2477）通过使用三个预算将配偶美元分配给八个特征来设计理想的长期伴侣。与之前版本的任务不同，我们包括了已知因文化而异的特征（例如宗教信仰和贞操）。
在低预算条件下，东方和西方参与者在几乎每个特征上的配偶美元分配都存在差异（平均 d=0.42），这表明文化会影响优先级排序。尽管存在这些差异，但对于每个性别在祖先环境中的生殖成功至关重要的特征都被东方和西方参与者所优先考虑。
在东方和西方文化中都存在优先考虑生殖基本特征的趋势。负责这一过程的心理机制尽管存在跨文化差异，但仍会产生类似的优先级排序模式。
