Hi, My Name is Wealthy: Women’s Dating Behaviors in Relation to the Perceived Wealth of Perspective Mates

Hi, My Name is Wealthy: Women’s Dating Behaviors in Relation to the Perceived Wealth of Perspective Mates. Hunter, H., Benoit, T., Reid, G., Bourgeois, C., Tiller, A.,& Fisher, M. L. EvoS Journal, Vol. 10, Special Issue 1, Oct 2019. http://evostudies.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Hunter_et-al_Vol10SpIss1.pdf

Abstract: It has been cross-culturally documented that women exhibit a preference for mates who  possess  resources  or  traits  that  signal  potential  wealth.  The  majority  of  this literature   relies   on   self   reported   mate   preferences. Here   we   report   on   two experiments to test whether women’s willingness to date men is actually influenced by   their   perceived   wealth.   Online   dating   profiles   were   created   to   present photographs of men and information about their current bank account status (Study 1), or to indirectly indicate their level of wealth (Study 2). In Study 1, the faces were presented  with  alternating  high  and  low  bank  account  balances.  We  hypothesized that women who viewed men with high bank account values would evaluate them as more desirable than women who viewed men with low bank account values. That is, they  would  be  more  likely  to  engage  with  him  in  an  online  conversation,  meet  with him for a casual coffee, accept an invitation of a date, consider him for a one-night stand,  consider  him  for  a  short-term  relationship,  or  consider  him  for  a  long-term relationship.  It  was  also  hypothesized  that  women  would  rate  the  men  with  high bank account balances as more physically attractive than the men with the low bank account balances. The results generally do not support the hypotheses. In Study 2, we  replaced  bank  account  balances  with  indirect  indicators  of  wealth.  Our  results indicate that women were significantly less interested in wealthier men as compared to  poorer  men,  possibly  because  the  wealthy  men  may  be  perceived  as  bragging. Together, these studies suggest men’s wealth may not be as important to women as has been previously considered, but further research is needed.

Keywords: Dating, Wealth, Physical Attractiveness, Mate Preferences,Men