ItemArticle

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

Title
A worldwide test of the predictive validity of ideal partner preference matching.
Creator
Eastwick, Paul W.; Sparks, Jehan; Finkel, Eli J.; Meza, Eva M.; Adamkovi?, Mat Adu, Peter; Ai, Ting; Akintola, Aderonke A.; Al-Shawaf, Laith; Apriliawati, Denisa; Arriaga, Patria; Aubert-Teillaud, Benjamin; Ban, Gabriel; Barzykowski, Krystian; Batres, Carlota; Baucom, Katherine J.; Beaulieu, Elizabeth Z.; Behnke, Maciej; Butcher, Natalie; Charles, Deborah Y.; Chen, Jane Minyan; Cheon, Jeong Eun; Chittham, Phakkanun; Chwi?kowska, Patrycja; Cong, Chin Wen; Copping, Lee T.; Corral-Frias, Nadia S.; ?ubela Adori?, Vera; Dizon, Mikaela; Du, Hongfei; Ehinmowo, Michael I.; Escribano, Daniela A.; Espinosa, Natalia M.; Expito, Francisca; Feldman, Gilad; Freitag, Raquel; Frias Armenta, Martha; Gallyamova, Albina; Gillath, Omri; Gjoneska, Biljana; Gkinopoulos, Theofilos; Grafe, Franca; Grigoryev, Dmitry; Groyecka-Bernard, Agata; Gunaydin, Gul; Ilustrisimo, Ruby; Impett, Emily; Ka?m, Pavol; Kim, Young-Hoon; Kocur, Miros?aw; Kowal, Marta; Krishna, Maatangi; Labor, Paul Danielle; Lu, Jackson G.; Lucas, Marc Y.; Ma?ecki, Wojciech P.; Malinakova, Klara; Meier, Sofia; Meier, Zden?k; Misiak, Michal; Muise, Amy; Novak, Lukas; O, Jiaqing; do?ru, Asil A.; Park, Haeyoung Gideon; Paruzel, Mariola; Pavlovi?, Zoran; Pki, Marcell; Ribeiro, Gianni; Roberts, S. Craig; Rr, Jan P.; Ropovik, Ivan; Ross, Robert M.; Sakman, Ezgi; Salvador, Cristina E.; Selcuk, Emre; Skakoon-Sparling, Shayna; Sorokowska, Agnieszka; Sorokowski, Piotr; Spasovski, Ognen; Stanton, Sarah C. E.; Stewart, Suzanne L. K.; Swami, Viren; Szaszi, Barnabas; Takashima, Kaito; Tavel, Peter; Tejada, Julian; Tu, Eric; Tuominen, Jarno; Vaidis, David; Vally, Zahir; Vaughn, Leigh Ann; Villanueva-Moya, Laura; Wisnuwardhani, Dian; Yamada, Yuki; Yonemitsu, Fumiya; kov Radka; ivn Krista; Coles, Nicholas A.
Description
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 reportpartnered with the Psychological Science Acceleratoruses 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 ? =.19 and an effect of ? =.11 when included alongside a normative preference-matching metric. Specific traits in the level metric (interaction) tests revealed very small (average ? =.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 underestimatedand women's stated preferences overestimatedrevealed preferences. Implications for the literature on human mating are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved) 2024 American Psychological Association All rights, including for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies, are reserved.
Source
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology;Volume;128;Issue;1;pp.123-146
Date
01-01-2025
Publisher
American Psychological Association
Subject
attraction; close relationships; human mating; ideals; matching hypothesis
Coverage
Eastwick P.W., Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United States; Sparks J., Behavioral Decision Making Group, University of California, Los Angeles, Anderson School of Management, Los Angeles, CA, United States; Finkel E.J., Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, United States; Meza E.M., Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United States; Adamkovi? M., Centre of Social and Psychological Sciences, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Slovakia; Adu P., Wellington Faculty of Health, School of Health, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand; Ai T., Department of Social Psychology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, United States; Akintola A.A., Department of Psychology, Redeemer's University, Nigeria; Al-Shawaf L., Department of Psychology, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, CO, United States; Apriliawati D., Department of Psychology, Universitas Islam Negeri Sunan Kalijaga, Indonesia; Arriaga P., Department of Social and Organizational Psychology, Iscte-University Institute of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal; Aubert-Teillaud B., Institut de Psychologie, Universite Paris Cite, Paris, France; Ban G., Department of Educational Psychology and Psychology of Health, Pavol Jozef Safarik University, Slovakia; Barzykowski K., Faculty of Philosophy, Institute of Psychology, Jagiellonian University, Poland; Batres C., Department of Psychology, Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, PA, United States; Baucom K.J., Department of Psychology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, United States; Beaulieu E.Z., Department of Psychology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, United States; Behnke M., Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poland; Butcher N., Department of Psychology, Teesside University, United Kingdom; Charles D.Y., Department of Psychology, Christ University, India; Chen J.M., Department of Psychology, Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA, United States; Cheon J.E., Department of Psychology, Yonsei University, South Korea; Chittham P., Faculty of Psychology, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand; Chwi?kowska P., Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poland; Cong C.W., Department of Social Science, Faculty of Social Science and Humanities, Tunku Abdul Rahman University of Management and Technology, Malaysia; Copping L.T., Department of Psychology, Teesside University, United Kingdom; Corral-Frias N.S., Department of Psychology, Universidad de Sonora, Mexico; ?ubela Adori? V., Department of Psychology, University of Zadar, Zadar, Croatia; Dizon M., Department of Psychology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom; Du H., Institute of Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China; Ehinmowo M.I., Department of Psychology, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria; Escribano D.A., Department of Social Psychology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, United States; Espinosa N.M., Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States; Expito F., Departament of Social Psychology, University of Granada, Granada, Spain; Feldman G., Department of Psychology, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong; Freitag R., Departamento de Letras Vernaculas, Universidade Federal de Sergipe, Brazil; Frias Armenta M., Department of Law, Universidad de Sonora, Mexico; Gallyamova A., Center for Sociocultural Research, HSE University, Russian Federation; Gillath O., Department of Social Psychology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, United States; Gjoneska B., Devision of Neuroinformatics in Function of Sustainable Development, Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts, North Macedonia; Gkinopoulos T., Institute of Psychology, Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Krakow, Poland; Grafe F., Department of Psychology and Psychotherapy, Witten/Herdecke University, Witten, Germany; Grigoryev D., Center for Sociocultural Research, HSE University, Russian Federation; Groyecka-Bernard A., Institute of Psychology, University of Wroclaw, Wroclaw, Poland; Gunaydin G., Psychology Program, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Sabanci University, Turkey; Ilustrisimo R., Department of Psychology, University of San Carlos, Philippines; Impett E., Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada; Ka?m P., Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts, Pavol Jozef Safarik University in Kosice, Kosice, Slovakia; Kim Y.-H., Department of Psychology, Yonsei University, South Korea; Kocur M., IDN Being Human, Institute of Psychology, University of Wroclaw, Wroclaw, Poland; Kowal M., IDN Being Human, Institute of Psychology, University of Wroclaw, Wroclaw, Poland; Krishna M.; Labor P.D., Department of Psychology, University of the Philippines, Philippines; Lu J.G., Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States; Lucas M.Y., Department of Anthropology and Psychology, Universidad de Sonora, Mexico; Ma?ecki W.P., IDN Being Human, Institute of Polish Studies, University of Wroclaw, Wroclaw, Poland; Malinakova K., Olomouc University Social Health Institute, Palacky University Olomouc, Olomouc, Czech Republic; Meier S., Department of Psychology and Psychotherapy, Witten/Herdecke University, Witten, Germany; Meier Z., Olomouc University Social Health Institute, Palacky University Olomouc, Olomouc, Czech Republic; Misiak M., IDN Being Human, Institute of Psychology, University of Wroclaw, Wroclaw, Poland; Muise A., Department of Psychology, York University, North York, ON, Canada; Novak L., Olomouc University Social Health Institute, Palacky University Olomouc, Olomouc, Czech Republic; O J., Health and Social Sciences Cluster, Singapore Institute of Technology, Singapore; do?ru A.A., Department of Psychology, Marmara University, Turkey; Park H.G., Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada; Paruzel M., Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poland; Pavlovi? Z., Faculty of Philosophy, Department of Psychology, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia; Pki M., Institute of Psychology, Eotvos Lorand University, Hungary; Ribeiro G., School of Psychology, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia; Roberts S.C., IDN Being Human, Institute of Psychology, University of Wroclaw, Wroclaw, Poland; Rr J.P., Department of Psychology and Psychotherapy, Witten/Herdecke University, Witten, Germany; Ropovik I., Institute for Research and Development of Education, Faculty of Education, Charles University, Czech Republic; Ross R.M., Department of Philosophy, Macquarie University, North Ryde, NSW, Australia; Sakman E., Department of Psychology, Bilkent University, Turkey; Salvador C.E., Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States; Selcuk E., Psychology Program, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Sabanci University, Turkey; Skakoon-Sparling S., Department of Psychology, Toronto Metropolitan University, Toronto, ON, Canada; Sorokowska A., Institute of Psychology, University of Wroclaw, Wroclaw, Poland; Sorokowski P., IDN Being Human, Institute of Psychology, University of Wroclaw, Wroclaw, Poland; Spasovski O., Department of Psychology, Faculty of Philosophy, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, Skopje, North Macedonia; Stanton S.C.E., Department of Psychology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom; Stewart S.L.K., School of Psychology, University of Chester, Chester, United Kingdom; Swami V., School of Psychology, Sport, and Sensory Sciences, Anglia Ruskin University, United Kingdom; Szaszi B., Institute of Psychology, Eotvos Lorand University, Hungary; Takashima K., Graduate School of Human-Environment Studies, Kyushu University, Japan; Tavel P., Olomouc University Social Health Institute, Palacky University Olomouc, Olomouc, Czech Republic; Tejada J., Departamento de Psicologia, Universidade Federal de Sergipe, Brazil; Tu E., Department of Psychology, York University, North York, ON, Canada; Tuominen J., Department of Psychology and Speech-Language Pathology, University of Turku, Turku, Finland; Vaidis D., Department of Psychology, Centre for Learning Leadership and Excellence, centre national de la recherche scientifique, Universite de Toulouse, Toulouse, France; Vally Z., Department of Clinical Psychology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, United Arab Emirates; Vaughn L.A., Department of Psychology, Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY, United States; Villanueva-Moya L., Departament of Social Psychology, University of Granada, Granada, Spain; Wisnuwardhani D., Faculty of Psychology, Universitas Indonesia, Indonesia; Yamada Y., Faculty of Arts and Science, Kyushu University, Japan; Yonemitsu F., College of Engineering, Shibaura Institute of Technology, Japan; kovR., Olomouc University Social Health Institute, Palacky University Olomouc, Olomouc, Czech Republic; ivnK., Olomouc University Social Health Institute, Palacky University Olomouc, Olomouc, Czech Republic; Coles N.A., Center for the Study of Language and Information, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States
Rights
All Open Access; Green Open Access; Hybrid Gold Open Access
Relation
ISSN: 223514; CODEN: JPSPB
Format
online
Language
English
Type
Article

Citation

Eastwick, Paul W.; Sparks, Jehan; Finkel, Eli J.; Meza, Eva M.; Adamkovi?, Mat Adu, Peter; Ai, Ting; Akintola, Aderonke A.; Al-Shawaf, Laith; Apriliawati, Denisa; Arriaga, Patria; Aubert-Teillaud, Benjamin; Ban, Gabriel; Barzykowski, Krystian; Batres, Carlota; Baucom, Katherine J.; Beaulieu, Elizabeth Z.; Behnke, Maciej; Butcher, Natalie; Charles, Deborah Y.; Chen, Jane Minyan; Cheon, Jeong Eun; Chittham, Phakkanun; Chwi?kowska, Patrycja; Cong, Chin Wen; Copping, Lee T.; Corral-Frias, Nadia S.; ?ubela Adori?, Vera; Dizon, Mikaela; Du, Hongfei; Ehinmowo, Michael I.; Escribano, Daniela A.; Espinosa, Natalia M.; Expito, Francisca; Feldman, Gilad; Freitag, Raquel; Frias Armenta, Martha; Gallyamova, Albina; Gillath, Omri; Gjoneska, Biljana; Gkinopoulos, Theofilos; Grafe, Franca; Grigoryev, Dmitry; Groyecka-Bernard, Agata; Gunaydin, Gul; Ilustrisimo, Ruby; Impett, Emily; Ka?m, Pavol; Kim, Young-Hoon; Kocur, Miros?aw; Kowal, Marta; Krishna, Maatangi; Labor, Paul Danielle; Lu, Jackson G.; Lucas, Marc Y.; Ma?ecki, Wojciech P.; Malinakova, Klara; Meier, Sofia; Meier, Zden?k; Misiak, Michal; Muise, Amy; Novak, Lukas; O, Jiaqing; do?ru, Asil A.; Park, Haeyoung Gideon; Paruzel, Mariola; Pavlovi?, Zoran; Pki, Marcell; Ribeiro, Gianni; Roberts, S. Craig; Rr, Jan P.; Ropovik, Ivan; Ross, Robert M.; Sakman, Ezgi; Salvador, Cristina E.; Selcuk, Emre; Skakoon-Sparling, Shayna; Sorokowska, Agnieszka; Sorokowski, Piotr; Spasovski, Ognen; Stanton, Sarah C. E.; Stewart, Suzanne L. K.; Swami, Viren; Szaszi, Barnabas; Takashima, Kaito; Tavel, Peter; Tejada, Julian; Tu, Eric; Tuominen, Jarno; Vaidis, David; Vally, Zahir; Vaughn, Leigh Ann; Villanueva-Moya, Laura; Wisnuwardhani, Dian; Yamada, Yuki; Yonemitsu, Fumiya; kov Radka; ivn Krista; Coles, Nicholas A., “A worldwide test of the predictive validity of ideal partner preference matching.,” CHRIST (Deemed To Be University) Institutional Repository, accessed June 18, 2026, https://archives.christuniversity.in/items/show/22514.

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