This process can sound more like going to the grocery store and selecting a cut of meat rather than selecting a life partner. However, this is an integral part of a young adults social development. There are some very large differences in how men and women choose mates, lets look at those:
Men:
- prefer physically attractive younger women (cradle robber).
- value health and availability.
Women:
- look for socio-economic status that is higher than their own (gold digger).
Men also aren't as selective with their sexual partners because there are less outlying factors of responsibility for men than for women. Men value health and availability in their partners because in the chance that the couple may conceive a child these two qualities will result in minimal parenting effort from the man. Women definitely have a much longer investment of carrying the child for nine months and then the traumatic experience of birth. "...men seek to maximize the likelihood of survival of the species by maximizing the number of their offspring: women seek to minimize the number of their offspring because their investment is so much greater" (Boyd, 2008, p. 408).
Social Role Theory:
Basically people shape their gender roles to correspond with what they think their mate is looking for in a partner. For example, the "office blonde" that can never remember how to send a fax and must ask every cute man in the office how to do so.... on a daily basis. Both Sexes are drawn to people that are homogeneous to their lifestyle (ie, similar to their age, personality, education level, and economic status).
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