Sex differences in human mate preferences vary across sex ratios

Summary

This study examined whether the sex ratio of a population is related to variation in human mate preferences, an area that had received limited empirical attention despite extensive work linking sex ratio to mating behaviour in non-human animals. Using data from 45 countries, the authors tested how sex ratio related to preferences for a long-term partner's attractiveness, resources, kindness, intelligence, and health. The design allowed both within- and between-country comparisons of preference patterns against local sex-ratio conditions. The findings indicate that sex differences in mate preferences shift systematically with the balance of men and women in a population. The work extends sex-ratio theory from mating outcomes such as marriage and divorce to the underlying preferences themselves. (Note: a formal correction to this article was published in 2023.)