Market value, quality of the pool of potential mates, and singles' confidence about marrying

Abstract

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.

Chasing Prince Charming: Partnering consequences of holding unrealistic standards for a spouse

“…As described in the previous sections, both theory and qualitative work (e.g., Lewis & Moon, 1997) suggest that individuals' criteria for a spouse are "realistic" to the extent that they reflect both their own overall desirability as a long-term partner and their access to desirable prospective mates. Although numerous studies have shown that, on average, people's spousal standards are positively associated with their mate value and with the availability of high-quality partners (e.g., Bredow et al, 2011;Kenrick et al, 1993;Sprecher & Regan, 2002), there is often considerable variation in the extent to which individuals' reported standards reflect their mating constraints (Bredow & Huston, 2009;Pawlowski & Dunbar, 1999). Whereas some people's standards closely approximate their opportunity structure, others' criteria are notably higher than would be expected given their social desirability and partnering context.…”

“…By reducing measurement error in the variables, using a multi-informant, multi-indicator approach to assess people's mate value and the favorability of their marriage markets allows me to best capture the "reality" of people's opportunity structures -and thus the type of partner they are likely to secure. Based on past research suggesting that singles' mate value and mating market quality are generally interrelated (Bredow et al, 2011), these two constructs are presumed to be correlated in the model. A latent interaction term (i.e., Mate Value × Mate Availability) is also included to assess the possibility that the strength of the association between people's own desirability as a marriage partner and the stringency of their mate standards may depend upon the availability of desirable potential partners (and vice versa).…”

“…Prior research suggests that when people's "attainable mate" does not meet their standards for an "acceptable mate", they are less likely to believe that they will get married, both with respect to their current partner (e.g., Waller & McLanahan, 2005) and in general (Bredow et al, 2011). Given that individuals' expectations to marry tend to be reliable precursors of their actual entry into marriage (e.g., Brown, 2000;Lichter et al, 1992;Smock & Manning, 1995;Waller & McLanahan, 2005), we would expect people with less realistic criteria to view their prospects of marriage less favorably if their standards are likely to deter future marital behavior.…”

“…Women who were more willing to marry men who had been previously married or who were five years younger than themselves (traits that are generally not preferred) were actually less likely to marry than women who were more selective. More recent work by Bredow, Huston, and Glenn (2011) also failed to support the hypothesis that holding higher standards for a marriage partner is related to greater difficulty securing a spouse. In fact, the authors found that people who reported more demanding mate standards were actually more confident about their chances of securing a partner they would be willing to marry than those who reported being less choosy.…”

“…Second, whereas both theory and qualitative work suggest that it is the attainability of people's standards that is important for their partnering outcomes, both Raley and Bratter (2004) and Bredow et al (2011) operationalized mate standards in 9 terms of absolute stringency rather than relative attainability. Although the authors included statistical controls for a handful of factors that influence the type of partner one is likely to secure (e.g., socioeconomic status, age, physical attractiveness), these controls were limited in scope and are unlikely to have captured the extent to which people's standards were truly realistic.…”