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What influences the choice of a partner?
Last reviewed: 01.07.2025
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It is obvious that men and women select their partners based on different principles and evaluate them according to different criteria, but the nature of this choice is not entirely clear.
The classic explanation for this "sample" is that the brains of both sexes have evolved.
Throughout the history of human development, women and men have faced the same problems: food production, protection from predators, etc. According to psychologists, those areas of life where the activities of both sexes were the same, they will be similar, but when it comes to reproduction, here they have developed different approaches to adaptive solutions.
Evolutionary psychologists suggest that women's preferences in choosing a partner are based on the desire to raise their child in good conditions and give him a good start in life. In order to provide the appropriate conditions, the man a woman chooses must be wealthy.
Men are usually guided by a different principle of selection - to continue the family line, they look for a woman capable of reproducing offspring, assessing her fertility by external signs, which can give an idea of the age and health of a potential partner.
In this case, however, the theory of evolutionary psychologists is only part of the answer.
A new study published in the journal Psychological Science suggests that women do not need to have children and a family to be “evolutionarily successful.” British scientists suggest that evolutionary psychology will gradually be replaced by another theory. This will happen as women and men equalize their rights and responsibilities.
The researchers analyzed the results of an online survey of 3,177 respondents from ten countries. Participants filled out a questionnaire in which they indicated their criteria for evaluating a life partner. For example, whether the financial security of a potential spouse is important, or whether his or her culinary talents would be an advantage.
The results showed the following: according to the theory of evolutionary psychology, the most pronounced differences in partner choice were observed in countries with the highest level of gender inequality, and the least - in countries where the participation of both sexes in different spheres of life is almost equal.
As the gender equality index gradually increases, the differences in the selection of life partners between men and women decrease accordingly.
This study challenges the theory of some evolutionary psychologists that gender differences between women and men are determined by biological processes. In the modern world, the social aspect is an important factor in choosing a partner, because gender roles in society can change.