Observational · 2006
Gender differences in mate selection: Evidence from a speed dating experiment
R. Fisman, S. S. Iyengar, E. Kamenica, I. Simonson. Quarterly Journal of Economics · N=400.
Columbia speed-dating: men weighted attractiveness more; women weighted intelligence and race more; women preferred men from affluent neighborhoods; men did not value women's intelligence or ambition past their own. Revealed preference, not a survey slogan.
Open sourcedoi:10.1162/qjec.2006.121.2.673
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.
- Education sorts the rooms where people meet. Homogamy is mostly a market-design fact.
- 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.
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What Causes What. “Gender differences in mate selection: Evidence from a speed dating experiment.” https://whatcauseswhat.org/papers/p-fisman-2006 (atlas updated 2026-08-31).