Attractiveness proved to be more important than intelligence for women and their parents when choosing a partner.

In many cultures, it is common practice for both the father and mother to participate in selecting a partner for their daughter. Parents often prioritize traits that are crucial for long-term stability, such as intelligence and the ability to provide financially.

Women themselves, along with their close ones, believe that intelligence is more important for a man than physical attractiveness. However, according to evolutionary theory, attractiveness signals genetic advantages of a partner, while developed intelligence indicates a good potential for resource acquisition and investment in offspring. Therefore, when choosing a partner, women may place more emphasis on the appearance of their chosen one than their parents do.

In most previous scientific studies describing these trends, authors relied on survey data regarding the qualities of an ideal partner. A group of psychologists from Eastern Connecticut State University (USA) decided to delve deeper into the topic and conducted an experiment to check whether stated preferences align with the actual choices of parents and daughters.

The study, discussed in an article published in the journal Evolutionary Psychological Science, involved 201 women aged 18 to 33 and 187 of their parents, primarily mothers. Volunteers were recruited from the university community and social media.

In the first stage, participants from both groups were asked to rate the importance of various traits in a prospective partner (for themselves or their daughter) using a scale, such as intelligence, attractiveness, honesty, and others.

Then, daughters and parents were shown photographs of two men, one of whom was more physically attractive than the other. Each photo included a description of their intelligence level. Participants evaluated potential partners with the following combinations: high attractiveness/high intelligence; high attractiveness/low intelligence; low attractiveness/high intelligence; low attractiveness/low intelligence.

Initially, the subjects simply assessed how attractive, intelligent, and desirable the depicted men seemed as relationship partners. They were then shown photos with opposite characteristics and asked to choose the best candidate for themselves or their daughter, explaining their decision.

The survey results sharply diverged from the actual choices of the participants. The majority of daughters (72.6%) and parents (59.6%) preferred more attractive men, regardless of their intelligence, even though participants from both groups initially indicated that intelligence was a more important trait. This suggests that attractiveness influences partner selection more than people realize.

In 73.8% of cases, the choices of daughters and parents aligned, especially when a potential partner combined both attractiveness and intelligence. When compromises were necessary, daughters tended to prefer more attractive but less intelligent men. In contrast, parents more frequently chose the smarter but less attractive candidates. This indicates that stability and the ability to provide resources seemed more important to them, while daughters emphasized genetic advantages (attractiveness).

It is important to note that the results of the study should be interpreted cautiously due to a significant limitation. The experiment represented only a hypothetical choice, rather than an actual decision about dating or marriage, so real-life trends may differ.