The effect of mate value feedback on women's mating aspirations and mate preference Simon D. Reeve a , Kristine M. Kelly b , Lisa L.M. Welling a, ⁎ a Department of Psychology, Oakland University, 2200 N. Squirrel Road, Rochester, MI 48309, USA b Department of Psychology, Western Illinois University, 1 University Circle, Macomb, IL 61455, USA abstract article info Article history: Received 5 February 2016 Received in revised form 3 June 2016 Accepted 4 June 2016 Available online xxxx The concept of a mating sociometer (e.g., Kavanagh, Robins, & Ellis, 2010) suggests that humans adaptively cal- ibrate their mating aspirations in line with their mate value, drawing from relevant cues and experiences. Here we investigate the influence of acceptance versus rejection cues on a variety of mate preferences among women. Results suggest that a rejection cue from opposite-sex individuals decreases overall choosiness when rating the importance of several traits. Specifically, Cultivated traits were rated as less important by women who received a rejection cue compared to those who received an acceptance cue or no feedback. Also, Similar Ideals/Interests, Sociable, Intellectual, Pleasant, Physical Attractiveness, Kind and Understanding, and Wealthy traits were rated as significantly less important by rejected participants, but these fell short of significance after Bonferroni correction. There was no significant difference in preference for sexually dimorphic body types or in facial coloration between feedback conditions. However, participants that received an acceptance cue pre- ferred more masculine-shaped male faces compared to rejected or control participants. Overall, results provide some support for a sociometer perspective on women's mating aspirations. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Mating sociometer Mate preference Mate value Sexual dimorphism Rejection Acceptance 1. Introduction Many, if not all, patterns in thought and behavior have likely evolved because they inferred an adaptive advantage that increased the fre- quency of the organism's genetic material in the population in the evo- lutionary past (e.g., Tooby & Cosmides, 1990). Therefore, mate preferences can be viewed as adaptations that should promote success- ful reproduction and there is likely an evolved adaptive advantage un- derlying anything that is generally found attractive. The Immunocompetence Handicap Hypothesis (Folstad & Karter, 1992) theo- rizes that sexually dimorphic (i.e., masculine) traits in men are likely an honest indicator of health, as testosterone actively suppresses the im- mune system so that only healthy males can afford to develop promi- nent masculine traits. Indeed, women typically prefer a male face that is more masculine than average (Johnston, Hagel, Franklin, Fink, & Grammer, 2001; but see discussion in DeBruine, Jones, Crawford, Welling, & Little, 2010). Facial sexual dimorphism also occurs in its col- oration (Rowland & Perrett, 1995). Compared to men, women tend to have darker eyes and lips relative to the rest of their face (i.e., higher contrast), and male faces with lower contrast are rated more attractive (Russell, 2009). There is also significant sexual dimorphism in body composition characterized by lower body fat and higher muscle mass among men (e.g., Kirchengast, 2010), a greater discrepancy between the measurements of the waist and hips (i.e., waist-to-hip ratio [WHR]) of women relative to men, and a greater difference between the chest/shoulders and hips/waist (waist-to-chest ratio [WCR] or shoulder-hip-ratio[SHR], respectively) of men relative to women (e.g., Braun & Bryan, 2006). In addition to considering sexually dimorphic traits when evaluating a potential partner, people consider other personal qualities. Although physical attractiveness is a particularly important trait in a partner for men and status/resources is particularly important for women, kindness and intelligence are reported as necessary traits in a partner for both sexes (Edlund & Sagarin, 2010; Li, Bailey, Kenrick, & Linsenmeier, 2002). The most recent and arguably most extensive attempt at formu- lating a taxonomy of mate preference traits was conducted by Schwarz and Hassebrauck (2012). Using a participant pool of nearly 24,000 adults between the ages of 18 and 65, these authors established 12 areas of mate preference that encompass both physical (e.g., attractive- ness) and personal (e.g., reliability) traits. Thus, both physical and per- sonal characteristics are prized in a potential partner and influence evaluation of their overall value as a mate. A person's mate value can be theoretically surmised as the sum of the “values” of each of their mating-relevant qualities. In real-world situa- tions, individuals tend to mate with someone of a similar mate value to themselves (Buss, 2009). This pattern of mating has been well- established for physical attractiveness, known as the matching principle (e.g., Berscheid, Dion, Walster, & Walster, 1971). Certainly, although people tend to desire highly attractive partners, mate selection is constrained by a person's own attractiveness (e.g., Van Straaten, Engels, Finkenauer, & Holland, 2009). However, mating patterns found Personality and Individual Differences xxx (2016) xxx–xxx ⁎ Corresponding author. E-mail address: welling@oakland.edu (L.L.M. Welling). PAID-07663; No of Pages 6 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2016.06.007 0191-8869/© 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Personality and Individual Differences journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/paid Please cite this article as: Reeve, S.D., et al., The effect of mate value feedback on women's mating aspirations and mate preference, Personality and Individual Differences (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2016.06.007