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The dominance dilemma: Do women really prefer dominant mates?
Author(s) -
SNYDER JEFFREY K.,
KIRKPATRICK LEE A.,
BARRETT H. CLARK
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
personal relationships
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.81
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1475-6811
pISSN - 1350-4126
DOI - 10.1111/j.1475-6811.2008.00208.x
Subject(s) - dominance (genetics) , psychology , prestige , attractiveness , social psychology , physical attractiveness , dilemma , biology , philosophy , biochemistry , linguistics , epistemology , gene , psychoanalysis
Previous research has led to a widely accepted conclusion that heterosexual women prefer mates who are high in dominance . Three experiments designed to distinguish dominance from prestige and examine moderating contextual factors challenge this conclusion. College women at 2 U.S. universities evaluated hypothetical, potential mates described in written vignettes. Participants in Study 1 preferred a high‐prestige to a high‐dominance target. With dominance and prestige manipulated independently in Study 2, participants preferred high to low prestige but also preferred low to high dominance. Participants in Study 3 preferred high to low dominance, but only (a) when displayed in the context of an athletic competition and (b) in ratings of attractiveness and desirability as a short‐term (vs. long‐term) mate.