13 research outputs found
The role of sexual and romantic attraction in human mate preferences
Sex differences in mate preferences are ubiquitous, having been evidenced across generations and cultures.
Their prevalence and persistence have compellingly placed them in the evolutionarily adaptive context of
sexual selection. However, the psycho-biological mechanisms contributing to their generation and main-
tenance remain poorly understood. As such a mechanism, sexual attraction is assumed to guide interest,
desire, and the affinity toward specific partner features. However, whether sexual attraction can indeed
explain sex differences in partner preferences has not been explicitly tested. To better understand how sex
and sexual attraction shape mate preferences in humans we assessed how partner preferences differed
across the spectrum of sexual attraction in a sample of 479 individuals that identified as asexual, gray-sexual,
demisexual or allosexual. We further tested whether romantic attraction predicted preference profiles
better than sexual attraction. Our results show that sexual attraction accounts for highly replicable sex
differences in mate preferences for high social status and financial prospects, conscientiousness, and
intelligence; however, it does not account for the enhanced preference for physical attractiveness expressed
by men, which persists even in individuals with low sexual attraction. Instead, sex differences in physical
attractiveness preference are better explained by the degree of romantic attraction. Furthermore, effects of
sexual attraction on sex differences in partner preferences were grounded in current rather than previous
experiences of sexual attraction. Taken together, the results support the idea that contemporary sex
differences in partner preferences are maintained by several psycho-biological mechanisms that evolved
in conjunction, including not only sexual but also romantic attraction
Quality of Life Research in Endometrial Cancer What Is Needed to Advance Progress in This Disease Site? Methodological Considerations From the Gynecologic Cancer InterGroup Symptom Benefit Working Group Brainstorming Session, Leiden 2012
Biological, physical and clinical aspects of cancer treatment with ionising radiatio
The Importance of Sex in the Lives of Women Living with HIV:A Critical Quantitative Analysis
The authors explored the importance of sex for 1,289 women living with HIV in Canada. Approximately half of women viewed sex as “very” (19.6%) or “somewhat” important (32.3%) and the remaining reported “neither important or unimportant” (22.0%), “somewhat unimportant” (5.4%), or “not at all important” (20.1%). Women who had a regular sex partner, identified as African, Caribbean, or Black, were more educated, believed HIV treatment prevents transmission, or had better physical health-related quality-of-life reported greater importance of sex, whereas those who were older, used illicit drugs, or experienced violence in adulthood reported lesser importance. Findings underscore the diversity of women's perspectives within the context of their lives