Do assortative preferences contribute to assortative mating for adiposity?

Fisher, C. I., Fincher, C. L., Hahn, A. C. , Little, A. C., DeBruine, L. M. and Jones, B. C. (2014) Do assortative preferences contribute to assortative mating for adiposity? British Journal of Psychology, 105(4), pp. 474-485. (doi: 10.1111/bjop.12055) (PMID:24168811) (PMCID:PMC4282125)

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Abstract

Assortative mating for adiposity, whereby levels of adiposity in romantic partners tend to be positively correlated, has implications for population health due to the combined effects of partners' levels of adiposity on fertility and/or offspring health. Although assortative preferences for cues of adiposity, whereby leaner people are inherently more attracted to leaner individuals, have been proposed as a factor in assortative mating for adiposity, there have been no direct tests of this issue. Because of this, and because of recent work suggesting that facial cues of adiposity convey information about others' health that may be particularly important for mate preferences, we tested the contribution of assortative preferences for facial cues of adiposity to assortative mating for adiposity (assessed from body mass index, BMI) in a sample of romantic couples. Romantic partners' BMIs were positively correlated and this correlation was not due to the effects of age or relationship duration. However, although men and women with leaner partners showed stronger preferences for cues of low levels of adiposity, controlling for these preferences did not weaken the correlation between partners' BMIs. Indeed, own BMI and preferences were uncorrelated. These results suggest that assortative preferences for facial cues of adiposity contribute little (if at all) to assortative mating for adiposity.

Item Type:Articles
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Hahn, Dr Amanda and Jones, Professor Benedict and Fincher, Dr Corey and Fisher, Dr Claire
Authors: Fisher, C. I., Fincher, C. L., Hahn, A. C., Little, A. C., DeBruine, L. M., and Jones, B. C.
College/School:College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Psychology & Neuroscience
Journal Name:British Journal of Psychology
Publisher:John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
ISSN:0007-1269
ISSN (Online):2044-8295
Copyright Holders:Copyright © 2013 The Authors
First Published:First published in British Journal of Psychology 105(4):474-485
Publisher Policy:Reproduced under a Creative Commons License

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Project CodeAward NoProject NamePrincipal InvestigatorFunder's NameFunder RefLead Dept
604381OCMATE: Do oral contraceptives alter women's mate preferences?Benedict JonesEuropean Research Council (ERC)OCMATE FP7ERC28RI NEUROSCIENCE & PSYCHOLOGY