A thread through the archive
Essays tagged “mate selection”. Follow an idea across the archive.
Scott Alexander examines hypergamy in modern marriages, finding educational hypergamy has reversed while income hypergamy persists, with strong class homogamy for both genders.
Scott critiques evolutionary explanations for suitor-parent disagreements in mate choice, proposing that suitors use innate instincts while parents rely on reasoning, leading to different preferences.
Scott examines conflicting evidence on whether humans choose mates based on parental imprinting or genetics, concluding that mate choice might be based on mysterious romantic love.
Scott explores the conflicting evidence on whether humans are attracted to genetically similar or dissimilar partners, concluding with a paradoxical observation that both seem true in different contexts.