The Role of Vision in the Emergence of Mate Preferences

Abstract

Cross-cultural research has repeatedly demonstrated sex differences in the importance of partner characteristics when choosing a mate. Men typically report higher preferences for younger, more physically attractive women, while women typically place more importance on a partner’s status and wealth. As the assessment of such partner characteristics often relies on visual cues, this raises the question whether visual experience is necessary for sex-specific mate preferences to develop. To shed more light onto the emergence of sex differences in mate choice, the current study assessed how preferences for attractiveness, resources, and personality factors differ between sighted and blind individuals using an online questionnaire. We further investigate the role of social factors and sensory cue selection in these sex differences. Our sample consisted of 94 sighted and blind participants with different ages of blindness onset: 19 blind/28 sighted males and 19 blind/28 sighted females. Results replicated well-documented findings in the sighted, with men placing more importance on physical attractiveness and women placing more importance on status and resources. However, while physical attractiveness was less important to blind men, blind women considered physical attractiveness as important as sighted women. The importance of a high status and likeable personality was not influenced by sightedness. Blind individuals considered auditory cues more important than visual cues, while sighted males showed the opposite pattern. Further, relationship status and indirect, social influences were related to preferences. Overall, our findings shed light on the availability of visual information for the emergence of sex differences in mate preference.

The psychosocial experiences of girls with visual impairment about the ideal spouse and marriage

“…Some participants emphasized the beautiful and expressive voice of their ideal partner as one of their criteria for marriage. Accordingly, the researchers showed that auditory ability is an important mate selection criterion for both men and women with blindness disorders (Scheller et al, 2021; Sorokowska et al, 2018). Another study showed that emotional maturity is an important criterion for marriage for VI youth (Pinquart & Pfeiffer, 2012).…”

The Application of Probability Theory in the Percentage of People Having Myopia Caused by Inheritance

“…Similarly, people with no myopia in our sample also have two options: mate with the person who also has no myopia and mate with the person who has myopia. According to the research, the importance of high status and likable personality was not influenced by sightedness [4]. Since there is no clear preference mate in the United States society between people who have myopia and have not, 50% of people with myopia mate to people also with myopia, and another 50% of people with myopia mate to people with no myopia.…”

Developing cortex is functionally pluripotent: Evidence from blindness

“…Unlike visual faces, however, tactile faces are not a highly ecologically relevant stimulus, either for sighted or blind people. Although we have experience touching our own face, and perhaps the faces of one or two other people, touch is not typically used to recognize either identity or emotional expressions of other people ( Scheller et al, 2021 ). Sighted people are unlikely to recognize a mask made from their own face when only using touch ( Casey and Newell, 2005 ).…”