How variations in age-based mate preferences illuminate universals of human life history

Adi Wiezel, Sophie G. Verrecchia and Douglas T. Kenrick

Chapter 19 in Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology, 2026, pp 343-357 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: Contradicting the powerful similarity-attraction rule, women prefer men who are slightly older than themselves over men their own age, whereas men prefer relatively younger partners. Initial explanations of this discrepancy focused on sex role norms in Western society. Kenrick and Keefe (1992a) suggested an alternative explanation, based on sex differences in human life history. From that perspective, because women in their late teens and twenties are highly fertile, preferences for relatively younger women should increase as men age. Kenrick and Keefe found evidence for this across six studies using different methods and populations. Further challenging a social norms account, a companion study found a predicted reversal for teenage men, who are attracted to women relatively older than themselves. This pattern constitutes one of the most replicable social psychological findings and provides a case against the assumption of unbounded cultural relativity, and in favor of considering human social behavior from an evolutionary perspective.

Keywords: Mate Selection; Sex Differences; Mate Preferences; Life-history Theory (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035332496
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