Article: Men Marry Down For Fear Of Infidelity admin: Most men would rather marry or date their secretary than their boss because they instinctively fear that women in positions of authority will cheat on them, American research suggests.
Psychologists who carried out tests on 328 volunteers found that male subjects were more likely to be attracted to subordinate colleagues than those of a similar or more senior status.
Men are genetically programmed to avoid stronger women as potential mothers to their children because they perceive them to be more likely to be able to attract other sexual partners, the study found.
Stephanie Brown, the lead author of the study, from the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research, said: "Powerful women are at a disadvantage in the marriage market because men may prefer to marry less-accomplished women. The male participants showed a strong attraction to the target when the target was subordinate to them."
The research was published in the journal Evolution and Human Behaviour. A group of 120 male and 208 female students was shown photographs of people of the opposite sex and given imaginary scenarios that involved the person being their boss, a colleague of the same status or a subordinate.
They were then asked to rate how much they were attracted to the idea of going to a party, exercising with, dating or marrying that person.
However, all is not lost for strong women in the mating game, said Gladeana McMahon, a relationship counsellor and author.
She said: "I think the group of men attracted to strong, independent women is growing as traditional roles are eroded."
The Telegraph, London - Dec 13 2004
Re:Article: Men Marry Down For Fear Of Infidelity Matt: Ah, evolution.. It marches on rather slowly..
glad to be in the minority on this one...
Re:Article: Men Marry Down For Fear Of Infidelity jason_stl: [quote"> A group of 120 male[/quote">
I call shennanigans! The whole thing stinks because it wasn't any sort of a representation of the male population of the United States. They were all students first and foremost, which to me means they were also geographically located near to one another. You can't make these far-reaching claims on such biased data.
To me this was just a good waste of time for someone working on their doctorate.
Re:Article: Men Marry Down For Fear Of Infidelity jason_stl: Just to elaborate on my answer a bit:
When I was a student I didn't know jack and $hit about life. All I knew were books, formulas and that I wanted to make a lot of money. Even though I was on my own, there are a lot of things that have changed in my mindset from then to now. You can't expect a group primarily composed of men ages 18 to 22 to give good data.
I mean how many of them have even been through one great love in their life? Or have been put in a position of authority over women? How many weren't having mommy and daddy pay for their way into college, or helped watch their friends children or nieces and nephews? The outcome of the survey is extremely weighted to young people who don't have a clue about how love works (for the most part).
Once again, why I call shennanigans!
*Looks around for his broom* (P.S. if you get that joke then I applaud you)
Re:Article: Men Marry Down For Fear Of Infidelity seth: In general I'd agree with you, but you're assuming a lot here. I'm not certain that all psychological research is conducted on university campuses....
But I agree w/ what you're saying about their general "conclusion." I guess I'm in the minority too b/c I like smart women, having suffered terribly at the hands of my retarded ex, who actually teaches special ed.... I have the biggest crush on one of my grad. school professors and have always had a thing for (slightly) older, smart women.
Every time this woman turns around in class, I'm checking her out--I'm terrible. I did notice, however, that as the class went on she started dressing better--heels, more jewelry, etc. She had just had a baby too. Maybe I just reminded her that she's hot....
Anyway, it's an interesting topic.... :)
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