A worldwide test of the predictive validity of ideal partner preference matching.

Citation

Eastwick PW, Sparks J, Finkel EJ, Meza EM, Adamkovič M, Adu P, Ai T, Akintola AA, Al-Shawaf L, Apriliawati D, Arriaga P, Aubert-Teillaud B, Baník G, Barzykowski K & Roberts SC (2024) A worldwide test of the predictive validity of ideal partner preference matching.. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000524

Abstract
Ideal partner preferences (i.e., ratings of the desirability of attributes like attractiveness or intelligence) are the source of numerous foundational findings in the interdisciplinary literature on human mating. Recently, research on the predictive validity of ideal partner preference matching (i.e., Do people positively evaluate partners who match vs. mismatch their ideals?) has become mired in several problems. First, articles exhibit discrepant analytic and reporting practices. Second, different findings emerge across laboratories worldwide, perhaps because they sample different relationship contexts and/or populations. This registered report—partnered with the Psychological Science Accelerator—uses a highly powered design (N = 10,358) across 43 countries and 22 languages to estimate preference-matching effect sizes. The most rigorous tests revealed significant preference-matching effects in the whole sample and for partnered and single participants separately. The “corrected pattern metric” that collapses across 35 traits revealed a zero-order effect of β = .19 and an effect of β = .11 when included alongside a normative preference-matching metric. Specific traits in the “level metric” (interaction) tests revealed very small (average β = .04) effects. Effect sizes were similar for partnered participants who reported ideals before entering a relationship, and there was no consistent evidence that individual differences moderated any effects. Comparisons between stated and revealed preferences shed light on gender differences and similarities: For attractiveness, men’s and (especially) women’s stated preferences underestimated revealed preferences (i.e., they thought attractiveness was less important than it actually was). For earning potential, men’s stated preferences underestimated—and women’s stated preferences overestimated—revealed preferences. Implications for the literature on human mating are discussed.

Notes
Output Status: Forthcoming/Available Online Additional co-authors: Carlota Batres, Katherine J. Baucom, Elizabeth Z. Beaulieu, Maciej Behnke, Natalie Butcher, Deborah Y. Charles, Jane M. Chen, Jeong Eun Cheon, Phakkanun Chittham, Patrycja Chwiłkowska, Chin Wen Cong, Lee T. Copping, Nadia S. Corral-Frias, Vera Ćubela Adorić, Mikaela Dizon, Hongfei Du, Michael I. Ehinmowo, Daniela A. Escribano, Natalia M. Espinosa, Francisca Expósito, Gilad Feldman, Raquel Freitag, Martha Frias Armenta, Albina Gallyamova, Omri Gillath, Biljana Gjoneska, Theofilos Gkinopoulos, Franca Grafe, Dmitry Grigoryev, Agata Groyecka-Bernard, Gul Gunaydin, Ruby Ilustrisimo, Emily Impett, Pavol Kačmár, Young-Hoon Kim, Mirosław Kocur, Marta Kowal, Maatangi Krishna, Paul Danielle Labor, Jackson G. Lu, Marc Y. Lucas, Wojciech Małecki, Klara Malinakova, Sofia Meißner, Zdeněk Meier, Michal Misiak, Amy Muise, Lukas Novak, Jiaqing O, Asil A. Özdoğru, Haeyoung Gideon Park, Mariola Paruzel, Zoran Pavlović, Marcell Püski, Gianni Ribeiro, Jan P. Röer, Ivan Ropovik, Robert M. Ross, Ezgi Sakman, Cristina E. Salvador, Emre Selcuk, Shayna Skakoon-Sparling, Agnieszka Sorokowska, Piotr Sorokowski, Ognen Spasovski, Sarah C. E. Stanton, Suzanne L. K. Stewart, Viren Swami, Barnabas Szaszi, Kaito Takashima, Peter Tavel, Julian Tejada, Eric Tu, Jarno Tuominen, David Vaidis, Zahir Vally, Leigh Ann Vaughn, Laura Villanueva-Moya, Dian Wisnuwardhani, Yuki Yamada, Fumiya Yonemitsu, Radka Žídková, Kristýna Živná, Nicholas A. Coles

Journal
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

• Accepted manuscript