Observational · 1989
Sex differences in human mate preferences: Evolutionary hypotheses tested in 37 cultures
D. M. Buss. Behavioral and Brain Sciences · N=10047.
Stated preferences across 37 cultures: women placed more value on earning capacity; men placed more value on youth and physical attractiveness. Foundational, survey-based, and the starting point later field experiments had to discipline.
Open sourcedoi:10.1017/S0140525X00023992
Edges that cite this paper
- Richer men can act on a preference that poorer men also often hold. Money changes the feasible set, not necessarily the utility function.
- As the income gap closes, strict economic hypergamy yields to educational and cultural homogamy. Incentives, not a frozen instinct.
- Assets change the feasible set in a mating market. That is not a new instinct.
- Command over people is not a separately identified cause of youth preference. It usually arrives with money.
- Unrestricted sociosexuality is not a stealth measure of 'women want richer men'.
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What Causes What. “Sex differences in human mate preferences: Evolutionary hypotheses tested in 37 cultures.” https://whatcauseswhat.org/papers/p-buss-1989 (atlas updated 2026-08-31).