David M Buss essays

David M Buss essays His main area of study has been human desires, what people want when they are looking for a husband or wife. To research this, he surveyed over ten thousand people in thirty-seven cultures on six continents. What his findings show is that men tend to choose mates more on physical attractiveness and youth. While women seek men with more financial power. Now this may come as no surprise to us in America, because men here have always wanted women who were more physically attractive, and women have always wanted to marry a rich man, like a doctor or a lawyer. What Buss found out is that it is also similar in other cultures. How a mans wealth is determined may vary, but the mans desirability is the same. From his studies and what he has gathered from past information, he has put together a good theory that explains why we have our preferences for a mate the way we do. It dates back to our ancestors, some of the first humans. The main goal for them was to survive. To do this men wanted to have as many children as they could. Women wanted men who could protect them. For them the mans wealth was measured by his social status, strength, and ability to fight (to protect themselves). From generation to generation these traits were inherited, written deep down in our subconscious. The characteristics men look for in women are: skin tone, symmetry in the face, clear skin (acne can be a pre-indicator of high testosterone levels, which could mean they may have ovarian dysfunction), and a low hip-to-waist ratio. This ratio is the 36-24-36 measurements. This certain hip to waist ratio is a strong indicator that the woman is more fertile, and thus able to have more children. The reason men want younger women as their choice for mates is that because theyre younger, once again they can produce more children. Of course now theyre not as interested in having a large family, but the ...