Physical Attraction and Male Physique
Research indicates that women's ideal preference for penis size is slightly above average (approx. 6.3 inches length), but most women have never encountered their ideal size, and only about 27% have broken up with a man due to size issues,,.
Men frequently overestimate the level of leanness women desire, aiming for 10% body fat when women typically prefer a healthier, "softer" range of 13-15%,.
Women's physical preferences, such as broad shoulders and height, act as proxies for formidability, favoring men who look like they could win a fight or provide protection,.
Much of modern male physique optimization (e.g., extreme bodybuilding) is actually a form of intra-sexual competition for status among other men, rather than being optimized for female attraction,.
Sexual History and Relationship Stability
Contrary to the belief that men prefer chastity above all else, men typically prioritize physical beauty over virginity within normal variations,.
However, both men and women exhibit a preference for partners with low-to-moderate past sexual partners (ideally 0-3), with desirability dropping significantly after the average of roughly six partners,.
High "body counts" are statistically associated with lower rates of long-term relationship success and higher rates of infidelity, serving as a proxy for high sociosexuality,.
While men desire sexual variety more than women due to evolutionary incentives, they also face higher evolutionary costs from infidelity (paternity uncertainty), making non-monogamy psychologically fraught for them,.
Socioeconomic Dynamics in Mating
The mating market is undergoing a shift toward hyperandry where the bottom 40% of men are increasingly "marrying up" economically, while the top 20% of women face a scarcity of partners who earn more than they do,.
Successful men engage in assortative mating and often prefer successful women they can relate to, contradicting the meme that men do not care about a woman's career or education,.
Humans are expected to adapt to these new socioeconomic realities over time, similar to how cultures with high female provisioning have successfully adapted historically,.
Attractiveness and Infidelity
When infidelity occurs, individuals tend to "cheat up" in terms of physical attractiveness, meaning the affair partner is often better looking than the primary partner,.
Men are willing to lower their standards for short-term mating, which facilitates this dynamic, whereas women generally maintain or raise standards for affair partners.
Large gaps in attractiveness between partners can lead to negative outcomes, including "optionality distress" for the more attractive partner and cost-inflicting behaviors (like excessive jealousy) from the less attractive partner,.
Other Evolutionary Insights
The "Rich Gay Uncle" hypothesis, which suggests homosexuality persists via kin selection (uncles investing in nieces/nephews), is not well supported by data in the West, though it may function in other cultural contexts like Samoa,.
The "birth order effect" is a consistent finding where men with more older brothers are statistically more likely to be homosexual, potentially due to a maternal immune response during pregnancy,.