Health Affecting Mating

Health Affecting Mating

Across cultures, health is an important mating characteristic (Buss et al., 1990). Recent research shows that both men and women rank health as the fourth most important trait (out of 18) in a marriage partner, and that men and women rank health as the third most important trait (again, out of 18) in a partner for their sons and daughters (Apostolou, 2008) . We are interested in understanding how this preference affects mating behavior in relationships? Do unhealthy people (who are at a mating disadvantage) exhibit more jealousy and mate-guarding? (Arnocky, Pearson, & Vaillancourt, 2015).  Do  people change their mating strategies when they receive positive or negative health information?