Romantic relationships: An examination of partner evaluation, women's mate preferences, and dynamics in long-term relationships

Choosing, attracting, and retaining a romantic partner are among the most compelling and complex tasks people face in their lives. The research presented in this dissertation integrates an evolutionary approach with theory and methods from social psychology to advance the understanding of how people evaluate possible partners, the role of intelligence in women's mate preferences, and dynamics in the formation and maintenance of long-term romantic relationships. The first chapter provides an overview of the research. In chapter 2, results of an experimental study demonstrate that favorable ratings of a potential partner's desirability decrease after information that the person was abandoned by his or her previous romantic partner. This information was perceived as similarly negative by both male and female participants, but had a larger effect when the target person was being evaluated for a long-term (compared to a sexual) relationship. Chapter 3 examines individual variation in women's mate preferences and attitudes about sex and appropriate gender roles. Data gathered from a cross-sectional sample of college women suggest that higher intelligence correlates with less concern about a future partner's ability to provide resources. Women's intelligence is also positively related to more favorable attitudes towards casual sex and more egalitarian views on gender roles in the context of romantic relationships. Finally, chapter 4 goes beyond examining what qualities people want and how they detect whether someone meets their standards, to explore how people attract and retain desirable partners. A new theory of relationship dynamics (The Relationship Negotiation Hypothesis; RNH) suggests that people pair with each other not only based on their absolute mate value, but also as a function of the accommodations individuals offer their partners. Data from both a student and a more representative sample gathered on-line reveal that people are willing to offer more accommodations to maintain a relationship with an attractive compared to unattractive partner. Consistent with this, data from existing couples suggests that the less attractive members of couples are more likely to concede to their partners' wants in the domains of money and sex. Implications and future research directions suggested by these findings are examined.