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Young adults' partner preferences and parents' in‐law preferences across generations, genders, and nations
Author(s) -
Locke Kenneth D.,
Mastor Khairul A.,
MacDonald Geoff,
Barni Daniela,
Morio Hiroaki,
Reyes Jose Alberto S.,
VargasFlores José de Jesús,
IbáñezReyes Joselina,
Kamble Shanmukh,
Ortiz Fernando A.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
european journal of social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.609
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1099-0992
pISSN - 0046-2772
DOI - 10.1002/ejsp.2662
Subject(s) - spouse , psychology , sociocultural evolution , social psychology , interpersonal communication , socioeconomic status , physical attractiveness , developmental psychology , agency (philosophy) , attractiveness , demography , sociology , population , social science , anthropology , psychoanalysis
Abstract To examine cultural, gender, and parent–child differences in partner preferences, in eight countries undergraduates ( n = 2,071) and their parents ( n = 1,851) ranked the desirability of qualities in someone the student might marry. Despite sizable cultural differences—especially between Southeast Asian and Western countries—participants generally ranked kind / understanding (reflecting interpersonal communion) highest, and intelligent and healthy (reflecting mental/physical agency) among the top four. Students valued exciting, attractive partners more and healthy, religious partners less than parents did; comparisons with rankings by youth in 1984 (i.e., from the parents' generation) suggested cohort effects cannot explain most parent–child disagreements . As evolutionary psychology predicts, participants prioritized wives' attractiveness and homemaker skills and husbands' education and breadwinner skills; but as sociocultural theory predicts, variations across countries/decades in gendered spousal/in‐law preferences mirrored socioeconomic gender differences. Collectively, the results suggest individuals consider their social roles/circumstances when envisioning their ideal spouse/in‐law, which has implications for how humans’ partner‐appraisal capabilities evolved.