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Market value, quality of the pool of potential mates, and singles' confidence about marrying
Author(s) -
BREDOW CARRIE A.,
HUSTON TED L.,
GLENN NORVAL D.
Publication year - 2011
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.1475-6811.2010.01302.x
Subject(s) - psychology , mate choice , value (mathematics) , perception , quality (philosophy) , mating , social psychology , sample (material) , marriage market , sexual selection , demography , demographic economics , economics , ecology , sociology , biology , statistics , philosophy , chemistry , mathematics , epistemology , chromatography , neuroscience
Although most mate selection research has focused on what people want in a marriage partner, this research focuses on what people think they can get. Using survey data from a large, representative sample of unmarried individuals, this study revealed that people who believed they possessed fewer qualities that are valued in the mating marketplace and who reported meeting lower quality potential mates felt less confident about their chances of securing an acceptable partner to marry; these associations were no weaker for people who held lower versus higher standards for a mate. Consistent with predictions, individuals' perceptions of the desirability of the people in their mating pools partially mediated the link between their self‐reported market value and their confidence about marrying.