Posted on 12/21/2004 3:59:39 PM PST by beavus
ANN ARBOR, Mich.—Men are more likely to want to marry women who are their assistants at work rather than their colleagues or bosses, a University of Michigan study finds.
The study, published in the current issue of Evolution and Human Behavior, highlights the importance of relational dominance in mate selection and discusses the evolutionary utility of male concerns about mating with dominant females.
"These findings provide empirical support for the widespread belief that powerful women are at a disadvantage in the marriage market because men may prefer to marry less accomplished women," said Stephanie Brown, lead author of the study and a social psychologist at the U-M Institute for Social Research (ISR).
For the study, supported in part by a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health, Brown and co-author Brian Lewis from UCLA tested 120 male and 208 female undergraduates by asking them to rate their attraction and desire to affiliate with a man and a woman they were said to know from work.
"Imagine that you have just taken a job and that Jennifer (or John) is your immediate supervisor (or your peer, or your assistant)," study participants were told as they were shown a photo of a male or a female.
After seeing the photo and hearing the description of the person's role at work in relation to their own, participants were asked to use a 9-point Likert scale (1 is not at all, 9 is very much) to rate the extent to which they would enjoy going to a party with Jennifer or John, exercising with the person, dating the person and marrying the person.
Brown and Lewis found that males, but not females, were most strongly attracted to subordinate partners for high-investment activities such as marriage and dating.
"Our results demonstrate that male preference for subordinate women increases as the investment in the relationship increases," Brown said. "This pattern is consistent with the possibility that there were reproductive advantages for males who preferred to form long-term relationships with relatively subordinate partners.
"Given that female infidelity is a severe reproductive threat to males only when investment is high, a preference for subordinate partners may provide adaptive benefits to males in the context of only long-term, investing relationships---not one-night stands."
According to Brown, who is affiliated with the ISR Evolution and Human Adaptation Program, the current findings are consistent with earlier research showing that expressions of vulnerability enhance female attractiveness. "Our results also provide further explanation for why males might attend to dominance-linked characteristics of women such as relative age or income, and why adult males typically prefer partners who are younger and make less money."
For more information on the ISR Evolution and Human Adaptation Program, visit: http://rcgd.isr.umich.edu/ehap/
As my former boss used to say (about his ex-wife): it was a wedding, not a coronation.
If your choices are Hillary! or Laura Bush, which would most (straight) men choose?
I'm not an attractive guy, but i've never been in any kind of relationship, yes i am a loser, but maybe there is a girl out there for me, hopefully.
I didn't mean just control over the female, I was leaning towards situational control, but the deep rooted societial control (order) is ingrained just as well.
Or, in my case, a grandmom! But I'm sure you aren't THAT old.
At the right price...
I don't think she's going to answer it....
Probably not with that attitude.
There is no definition for "less accomplished" or more accomplished," and these terms apply to many different factors.
I find that few female lawyer types give men credit for your common sense observations.
These are the types of questions that couples should ask individually and together. Whose carreer will come first? If it is a choice of moving for his career or her career which will it be?
For feminists it will allways be about her, for a man it will always be to make sure he can provide for the family.
While they are wasting time in such a way, they could re-invent the wheel as well.
There is no new information in this article.
Have you missed all the Ann Coulter threads?
Yeah, she is a buttless wonder.
Was you situation an anomaly?
Yeah, I got married wanting to be Donna Reed (I even had the apron!) and ended up being Molly Manager to support the family. It was one of those situations where I went in a ball of marshmallow cream and came out a Briggs & Stratton Chainsaw :)
I don't know, are you still married?
Widowed.
Did you have children?
Nope, but not for lack of want or tryin'.
What do you think has caused the increase of divorce?
People who have forgotten the definition of love? I don't know. I ask questions on these threads trying to find answers to some of my own questions, understand some things that have always been a puzzle to me. :)
Usually I walk away with more questions.
They differ in ambition, what they want from life, what they hope to accomplish.
Which marriage would you rather have?
One uses her husband because he is a cad, and his daliances are irrelevant to her.
The other stood by her man while he overcame his personal problems.
Hitlary would kick bill off the mountain, Laura would help George climb the mountain.
Just my $0.02.
Good question.
Har, many would like to marry her. Probably the majority for the wrong reasons.
Personally I think she is an attractive woman, but I don't happen to be attracted to her. In the way those that post her pictures are.
I do love her sardonic wit, and her ability to make liberals shake. LOL
Her latest book is grate!
Men want a steady girl with a steady job.
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