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A Worldwide Test of the Predictive Validity of Ideal Partner Preference-Matching

Eastwick, Paul W.
; 
Sparks, Jehan
; 
Finkel, Eli J.
; 
Meza, Eva M.
; 
Adamkovič, Matúš
; 
Adu, Peter
; 
Ai, Ting
; 
Akintola, Aderonke A.
; 
Al-Shawaf, Laith
; 
Apriliawati, Denisa
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University of California; UCLA Anderson School of Management; Northwestern University; Kellogg School of Management, USA; Slovak Academy of Sciences; Charles University; University of Jyväskylä; Victoria University of Wellington; University of Kansas; Redeemer's University; University of Colorado Colorado Springs; Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse; UIN Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta, Indonesia; Iscte-University Institute of Lisbon; Université Paris Cité; University of Presov; Jagiellonian University; Franklin and Marshall College; University of Utah; Adam Mickiewicz University; Teesside University; Christ University; Wellesley College; Yonsei University; Chulalongkorn University; Tunku Abdul Rahman University of Management and Technology; Universidad de Sonora; University of Zadar; University of Edinburgh; Beijing Normal University; University of Ibadan; Duke University; University of Granada; University of Hong Kong; Universidade Federal de Sergipe; HSE University; Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts; Jagiellonian University in Krakow; Witten/Herdecke University; University of Wroclaw; Sabanci University; University of San Carlos; University of Toronto; Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice; University of the Philippines; Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Palacký University Olomouc; University of Oxford; York University, Toronto; Singapore Institute of Technology; Marmara University; Üsküdar University; University of Belgrade; ELTE Eötvös Loránd University; The University of Queensland; University of Southern Queensland; University of Stirling; Macquarie University; Bilkent University; Toronto Metropolitan University; Ciryl and Methodius University in Skopje; University of Chester; Anglia Ruskin University; Perdana University; Kyushu University; University of Turku; United Arab Emirates University; Ithaca College; University of Indonesia; Chuo University; Stanford University
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2024-10-31
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Psychology
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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 versus 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.
Citation
Eastwick, P. W., Sparks, J., Finkel, E. J., Meza, E. M., Adamkovič, M., Adu, P., Ai, T., Akintola, A. A., Al-Shawaf, L., Apriliawati, D., Arriaga, P., Aubert-Teillaud, B., Baník, G., Barzykowski, K., Batres, C., Baucom, K. J., Beaulieu, E. Z., Behnke, M., Butcher, N., Charles, D. Y., ... Coles, N. A. (2024). A worldwide test of the predictive validity of ideal partner preference-matching. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, vol(issue), pages. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000524
Publisher
American Psychological Association
Journal
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
Research Unit
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10034/628834
DOI
10.1037/pspp0000524
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PubMed Central ID
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Article
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©American Psychological Association, [2024]. This paper is not the copy of record and may not exactly replicate the authoritative document published in the APA journal. The final article is available, upon publication, at: https://doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000524
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ISSN
0022-3514
EISSN
1939-1315
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https://doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000524