Share
Results from two experiments suggest that observers selectively attend to male, but not female, targets displaying signs of social dominance. Participants overestimated the frequency of dominant men in rapidly presented stimulus arrays (Study 1) and visually fixated on dominant men in an eyetracking experiment (Study 2). When viewing female targets, participants attended to signs of physical attractiveness rather than social dominance. Findings fit with evolutionary models of mating, which imply that dominance and physical attractiveness sometimes tend to be prioritized preferentially in judgments of men versus women, respectively. Findings suggest that sex differences in human mating are observed not only at the level of overt mating preferences and choices but also at early stages of interpersonal perception. This research demonstrates the utility of examining early-in-the-stream social cognition through the functionalist lens of adaptive thinking.
Source: “Selective attention to signs of success: social dominance and early stage interpersonal perception.” from Pers Soc Psychol Bull. 2008 Apr;34(4):488-501. Epub 2008 Jan 11.
Here’s another great book that addresses those fundamental issues of why men and women are the way we are. I also highly recommend Our Inner Ape: A Leading Primatologist Explains Why We Are Who We Are and The Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature.
Related posts:
Do sexist men make better husbands?
Are “feminine” or “un-feminine” women more likely to be sexually harassed?
You know what has the power to dramatically improve women’s lives? Brazilian soap operas.
Is kindness less optional for women than for men?
Are women held to higher standards than men at work?
Do we judge married women based on whether they take their husbands name?
Do children stereotype males more than females?
Does gender discrimination work both ways?
Does punching things make men feel better?
Are women held to higher standards than men at work?
Does having a high-status car really make a man more attractive to women?
How does thinking about parenthood change what men and women look for in a mate?
You should follow me on Twitter here. You can also subscribe to the blog’s feed or follow on Facebook. If you want to help support the blog, please do your Amazon shopping via this link. Here are the site’s most popular posts of all time.