Intelligence and mate choice: intelligent men are always appealing

Prokosch, Mark D.; Coss, Richard G.; Scheib, Joanna E.; Blozis, Shelley A.

doi:10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2008.07.004

Cited by 101 publications

(87 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…In humans, ample evidence suggests that individuals of both sexes place great value on cognitive abilities when choosing mates [76,77]. Moreover, general intelligence, measured through cognitive test batteries, correlates positively with male semen quality, suggesting a possible link between cognition and fitness [78].…”

Section: Individual Variation and The Evolution Of Cognitionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Individual variation in cognitive performance: developmental and evolutionary perspectives

Thornton

Lukas

2012

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

294

239

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Animal cognition experiments frequently reveal striking individual variation but rarely consider its causes and largely ignore its potential consequences. Studies often focus on a subset of high-performing subjects, sometimes viewing evidence from a single individual as sufficient to demonstrate the cognitive capacity of a species. We argue that the emphasis on demonstrating species-level cognitive capacities detracts from the value of individual variation in understanding cognitive development and evolution. We consider developmental and evolutionary interpretations of individual variation and use metaanalyses of data from published studies to examine predictors of individual performance. We show that reliance on small sample sizes precludes robust conclusions about individual abilities as well as inter-and intraspecific differences. We advocate standardization of experimental protocols and pooling of data between laboratories to improve statistical rigour. Our analyses show that cognitive performance is influenced by age, sex, rearing conditions and previous experience. These effects limit the validity of comparative analyses unless developmental histories are taken into account, and complicate attempts to understand how cognitive traits are expressed and selected under natural conditions. Further understanding of cognitive evolution requires efforts to elucidate the heritability of cognitive traits and establish whether elevated cognitive performance confers fitness advantages in nature.

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Section: Individual Variation and The Evolution Of Cognitionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Individual variation in cognitive performance: developmental and evolutionary perspectives

Thornton

Lukas

2012

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

294

239

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“…For example, in a study by Buss 24 of over 10,000 individuals from 33 countries, both men and women ranked "intelligence" as the second most important trait in a potential partner. The centrality of intelligence in stated mate preferences has since been replicated many times [25][26][27][28] including in one study of American women"s responses to videos of real men 29 . Yet few of these studies actually measured cognitive abilities and none examined actual mate choices.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effect of school performance upon marriage and long-term reproductive success in 10,000 Swedish males and females born 1915–1929

Goodman

Koupil

2010

Evolution and Human Behavior

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Goodman, A; Koupil, I (2010) The effect of school performance upon marriage and long-term reproductive success in 10,000 Swedish males and females born 1915-1929. Evolution and human behavior , 31 (6 AbstractHumans are an exceptionally intelligent species, and the selective pressures which may have shaped these advanced cognitive powers are therefore of interest. This study investigates the fitness consequences of pre-reproductive school performance in a Swedish population-based cohort of 5244 males and 4863 females born [1915][1916][1917][1918][1919][1920][1921][1922][1923][1924][1925][1926][1927][1928][1929]. School performance was measured at around age 10 using three variables: mean schoolmarks; being promoted/held back in school; and recognised learning difficulties. Our primary outcomes were probability of ever marrying, total number of children and total number of grandchildren. In males (but not females), poorer school performance predicted fewer children and grandchildren. This was primarily mediated via probability of marriage; mortality and fertility within marriage were not important mediating pathways. The effect of school performance upon marriage in males was independent of early-life social and biological characteristics, including birthweight for gestational age, preterm birth, family composition and family socio-economic position. The effect of school performance upon the probability of marriage in males was, however, largely mediated by adult socioeconomic position. This suggests that in general sexual selection for cognitive abilities per se did not play a major role in either males or females in this cohort. Adult socio-economic position did not, however, fully explain the marriage disadvantage in males or (at marginal significance) females with particularly poor school performance. We conclude that school performance can affect long-term reproductive success. In this population, however, the effect is confined to males and is largely mediated by the increased probability of marriage which comes with their greater socio-economic success.

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“…Moreover, the role of height has attracted a great deal of attention from researchers (Frederick & Jenkins, 2015;Mueller & Mazur, 2001;Salska et al, 2008;Sear, 2006;Stulp, Buunk, & Pollet, 2013;Stulp, Pollet, Verhulst, & Buunk, 2012). More recent studies have also highlighted the role of age, social class, ethnicity (Furnham & McClelland, 2015), and intelligence (Prokosch, Coss, Scheib, & Blozis, 2009) in females' mate preferences.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Dimensions of Women’s Mate Preferences

Atari

Jamali

2016

Evol Psychol

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A large number of studies have assessed human mate preferences using lists of characteristics. To date, there is little data regarding mate preferences in Iran. The present study aimed to investigate dimensions in mate preferences among Iranian women and to validate a female-specific instrument in Iranian context. Three studies were designed and conducted. The first study was an interview-based qualitative analysis of women's mate preferences. The second study provided a psychometrically sound list of 26 characteristics in a potential mate. The third study confirmed the five-factor structure of the instrument. In sum, five dimensions of mate preferences among Iranian women are kindness/dependability, status/resources, attractiveness/sexuality, religiosity/ chastity, and education/intelligence, as measured by the newly developed 26-item scale.

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Intelligence and mate choice: intelligent men are always appealing

Cited by 101 publications

References 33 publications

Individual variation in cognitive performance: developmental and evolutionary perspectives

Individual variation in cognitive performance: developmental and evolutionary perspectives

The effect of school performance upon marriage and long-term reproductive success in 10,000 Swedish males and females born 1915–1929

Dimensions of Women’s Mate Preferences

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