The Relative Importance of Physical Attractiveness and Personality Characteristics to the Mate Choices of Women and Their Fathers

The importance of physical attractiveness and ambition/intelligence to the mate choices of women and their parents.

“…We hypothesize that both daughters and their parents will choose the more attractive man as the best mate for daughters, rather than the man described as ambitious and intelligent. Consistent with prior research suggesting that physical attractiveness is important to the mate choices of both women and their parents (Fugère, Chabot, et al, 2017; Fugère et al, 2019), perhaps even more important than consciously realized, we predict that both daughters and parents will choose the more attractive man as the best mate for daughters than the less attractive man, even when the less attractive man has the more favorable personality characteristics of ambition and intelligence.…”

“…For example, Lefevre and Saxton (2017) found that both daughters and their parents valued attractiveness as an indicator of genetic quality when evaluating men as potential partners for daughters. Furthermore, in two separate studies (Fugère, Chabot, et al, 2017; Fugère et al, 2019), women and their parents preferred attractive and moderately attractive men as potential mates for daughters, even when the less attractive men possessed more desirable personality characteristics (e.g., respectful, honest). Conversely, Apostolou (2011) found that when mate “budgets” were limited (via a number of points to spend on eight different traits), women spent a larger proportion of their budgets to obtain an attractive partner while their fathers allotted more of their budgets to obtain a partner for their daughters with a favorable social status.…”

“…Obtaining a partner with an acceptable level of attractiveness (or avoiding unattractiveness) may be more important than finding a particularly attractive partner. For example, Fugère, Chabot, et al (2017) and Fugère et al (2019) found that both women and their parents were willing to choose moderately attractive or attractive men as partners (for themselves or for their daughters), but avoided choosing unattractive men as partners for daughters, even when the unattractive men had the most favorable personality characteristics. Moreover, Li et al (2002) and Griffin and Langlois (2006) found that unattractive individuals were rated less favorably, but those with average or above-average attractiveness were rated similarly.…”

“…Most research assessing offspring-parent conflict over mate preferences involves self-reported mate preferences (e.g., Apostolou, 2008a, 2008b, 2015; Buunk & Solano, 2010; Dubbs & Buunk, 2010; Dubbs et al, 2013; Fugère, Doucette, et al, 2017; Perilloux et al, 2011). Experimental examinations of both offspring and parent preferences are rare, however, these experiments often reveal the increased importance of physical attractiveness relative to other characteristics (Bovet et al, 2018; Fugère, Chabot, et al, 2017; Fugère et al, 2019; Lefevre & Saxton, 2017). For example, Lefevre and Saxton (2017) found that both daughters and their parents valued attractiveness as an indicator of genetic quality when evaluating men as potential partners for daughters.…”

“…In the current project, we collect both women's and parents’ self-reported preferences for a long-term mate for daughters, as well as daughters’ and parents’ responses to an experimental manipulation varying men's physical attractiveness and ascribed personality characteristics. Although recent research has explored the relative importance of physical attractiveness and personality characteristics among women and their parents (Fugère, Chabot, et al, 2017; Fugère et al, 2019), in prior research men's attractiveness levels varied from attractive to unattractive while their personality characteristics were always favorable. One reason, then, that prior research may have found the increased importance of physical attractiveness versus personality characteristics is that the attractiveness manipulations were simply stronger than the personality manipulations.…”