ABSTRACT
The ways we feel and act today during courtship have been shaped by sexual selection throughout human evolutionary history. Sexual selection shaped our desires and led to sex differences in what men and women find attractive in a potential mate (Buss, 2003). In their search for mates, women desire multiple traits in men (such as intelligence, ambition, and athleticism), and, similarly, men desire various traits in women (such as physical attractiveness and kindness). Therefore, popular aphorisms such as “Women want rich men” do not explain the entire picture (Graziano, Brothen, & Berscheid, 1997). In short, the qualities desired in potential mates are multi-faceted and complex-and also sexually differentiated. (see Buss, 2003). Importantly, sexual dimorphisms in mate preferences may not translate directly into different mating patterns between men and women, due to the constraints of mutual mate choice and a competitive mating market. Desires may often go unfulfilled, which is why sexual fantasy exists. For example, a young man might desire many new sex partners per day, but this desire cannot always be realized (Symons, 1979).
