Are Women’s Mate Preferences for Altruism Also Influenced by Physical Attractiveness?

Abstract

Altruism plays a role in mate choice, particularly in women’s preferences and in long-term (LT) relationships. The current study analyzed how these preferences interacted with another important mate choice variable, physical attractiveness. Here, female participants were presented with photographs of men of varying levels of physical attractiveness, alongside descriptions of them behaving either altruistically or not in different scenarios. The results showed women preferred altruistic men, particularly in LT relationships and that this interacted with physical attractiveness such that being both attractive and altruistic made a man more desirable than just the sum of the two desirable parts. Also, being altruistic made low attractive men more desirable but only for LT relationships. Finally, men who were just altruistic were rated more desirable than men who were just attractive, especially for LT relationships. Overall, these findings are discussed in terms of the role of altruism in mate choice, particularly in LT relationships and directions of future research.

The synergistic effect of prosociality and physical attractiveness on mate desirability

“…Furthermore, both characteristics were preferred more so in long-term partners, which is commensurate with the findings of existing research pointing at the particular value of prosociality in long-term relationships (Barclay, 2010;Farrelly, 2011Farrelly, , 2013Farrelly et al, 2016;Oda et al, 2014;Stavrova & Ehlebracht, 2015), suggesting that prosociality acts predominantly as a signal of good partner/parenting quality to potential mates. Furthermore, both characteristics were preferred more so in long-term partners, which is commensurate with the findings of existing research pointing at the particular value of prosociality in long-term relationships (Barclay, 2010;Farrelly, 2011Farrelly, , 2013Farrelly et al, 2016;Oda et al, 2014;Stavrova & Ehlebracht, 2015), suggesting that prosociality acts predominantly as a signal of good partner/parenting quality to potential mates.…”

“…Hence, both women and men generally exhibit pronounced preferences for physically attractive partners (Buss, 1989b;Li, Bailey, Kenrick, & Linsenmeier, 2002). In other words, if prosociality is a signal of good partner/parenting quality as has been suggested previously (Farrelly, 2011(Farrelly, , 2013Farrelly et al, 2016;Oda et al, 2014), then its desirability across mating contexts will follow a different pattern to the desirability of a signal of good genetic quality such as physical attractiveness. Therefore, the pattern of its desirability when combined with prosociality across different mating contexts will provide valuable evidence as to whether the latter is predominantly a signal of good genes or good partner/parenting quality.…”

“…Unlike previous research (e.g., Barclay, 2010;Farrelly, 2011;Farrelly et al, 2016), we avoided using vignettes depicting hypothetical scenarios to reduce any ambiguity that their use may present to the reader. Unlike previous research (e.g., Barclay, 2010;Farrelly, 2011;Farrelly et al, 2016), we avoided using vignettes depicting hypothetical scenarios to reduce any ambiguity that their use may present to the reader.…”

“…Similarly, Lundy, Tan, and Cunningham (1998) showed that women rated humorous men as more desirable as partners for a serious long-term relationship or marriage than non-humorous men, but only if they were also physically attractive. A recent study by Farrelly, Clemson, and Guthrie (2016) found that men who were both attractive and altruistic were particularly desirable as longterm partners, whereas being altruistic hardly mattered in short-term contexts. A recent study by Farrelly, Clemson, and Guthrie (2016) found that men who were both attractive and altruistic were particularly desirable as longterm partners, whereas being altruistic hardly mattered in short-term contexts.…”

“…Subsequently, prosocial traits have been shown to be valued more for long-term mating (e.g., Barclay, 2010;Farrelly, 2013;Farrelly et al, 2016), and there appears to be no effect of fertility on preferences for altruistic short-term partners (Farrelly, 2011;Oda et al, 2014). This therefore suggests that prosociality acts predominantly as a signal of an individual's quality as a partner and/or parent.…”