Abstracts
"Beauty and Status: The Illusion of Exchange in Partner Selection?" (2014)
Media Abstract
Celebrity examples of “trophy wives” abound—pretty women married to wealthier, less attractive, often older men. In fact, as the popular television series “Trophy Wife” evidences, the idea of a pretty woman leveraging her looks to score a rich man is nearly a cultural obsession. Even academics have propagated the stereotype that pretty women “marry up” by partnering with financially successful men. But is the trophy wife trade-off truly common in marriage? In a new article published in the American Sociological Review, University of Notre Dame sociologist Elizabeth Aura McClintock argues that the trophy wife stereotype is largely a myth propagated by cultural blindness to men’s attractiveness and women’s achievements. At least in the recent cohort of couples that she examines, there is little evidence of women trading beauty for men’s education, income, or occupational status. Instead, spouses match on both attractiveness and status—pretty women marry handsome men and successful men marry successful women. However, because socioeconomically-advantaged individuals are rated as more physically attractive on average, couple matching on beauty and status might be easily misidentified as exchange. For example, a pretty woman married to a high-earning man might be interpreted as a trophy wife to an observer who notices only male status and female beauty—but if the woman is a high-earner and her husband is handsome then the couple is actually matched on both traits. By assuming a stereotypically-gendered importance of beauty and status researchers and laypersons alike erroneously confirm their preconceived expectations and further perpetuate the trophy wife myth.
Scholarly Abstract
Scholars have long been interested in exchange and matching (assortative mating) in romantic partner selection. But many analyses of exchange, particularly those that examine beauty and socioeconomic status, fail to control for partners’ tendency to match each other on these same traits. Because traits that are desirable in mates are positively correlated between partners and within individuals, ignoring matching may exaggerate evidence of exchange. Moreover, many prior analyses have assumed a gendered exchange in which women trade beauty for men’s status without testing whether men might use handsomeness to attract higher-status women. Prior analyses have also not fully investigated how the prevalence of beauty-status exchange varies between different types of couple. I use data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health Romantic Pair Sample, a large (N = 1,507), nationally representative probability sample of dating, cohabiting and married couples, to investigate how often romantic partners exchange physical attractiveness and socioeconomic status, net of matching on these same traits. I find that controlling for matching eliminates nearly all evidence of beauty-status exchange. The discussion focuses on the contexts in which beauty-status exchange is most likely and on implications that these results have for market-based and sociobiological theories of partner selection.
"Handsome Wants as Handsome Does: Physical Attractiveness and Gender Differences in Revealed Sexual Preferences." (2011)
Scholarly Abstract
In this article I evaluate the effect of physical attractiveness on young adults’ sexual and romantic outcomes in order to reveal gender differences in acted preferences. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), a probability sample of young adults (n = 14,276), I investigate gender differences in desired sexual partner accumulation, relationship status, and timing of sexual intercourse. I find gender differences in sexual and romantic strategies, consistent with those predicted by the double standard of sexuality and evolutionary theory. Specifically, compared to men, women pursue more committed relationships, fewer sexual partners, and delayed sexual intercourse.
“Weight Self-Concept: Formation, Stability, and Consequences.” (2011)
Scholarly Abstract
This theoretical review develops weight self-concept (perception of one’s body as thin/overweight) as a dimension of self-concept and distinguishes it from body image (affective evaluation of one’s body) which is a dimension of self-esteem. It proposes that weight self-concept and body image might resemble other dimensions of self-concept and self-esteem in that they coalesce after the instability of adolescence and are thereafter resistant to change. Therefore, in considering the determinants of weight self-concept and body image this paper reviews the literature on those aspects of the adolescent experience which influence weight self-concept and body image, particularly pubertal timing. This paper also addresses the implications that weight self-concept might have for understanding identity formation and identification with stigmatized groups (such as overweight). The conclusion discusses the importance of interventions during pre-adolescence to prevent the development of a stigmatized, overweight self-concept and negative body image.
“The Gendered Double Standard of Aging in Marriage Markets.” (2010)
Scholarly Abstract
Using vital statistics collected on brides and grooms in most U.S. states between 1970 and 1988, we show that the older men are when they marry, the more years senior to their brides they are, whether it is a first or higher-order marriage. While older men with more education marry down in age slightly more than less educated older men, the pattern of men marrying down more if they marry later holds strongly for all education groups. We consider several possible explanations for the tendency of men to marry down in age more if they are older at marriage. While we have no direct measure of beauty, we argue that the most compelling interpretation is that men, more than women, evaluate potential spouses on the basis of beauty. Since the prevailing standard of beauty favors young women, the older men are when they marry, the more they find women their own age unattractive relative to younger women, leading them to marry down in age more if they are older at marriage. The consequence for women of men’s preference for youth is more often that they remain unmarried than that they end up married to less educated men.
Media Abstract
Celebrity examples of “trophy wives” abound—pretty women married to wealthier, less attractive, often older men. In fact, as the popular television series “Trophy Wife” evidences, the idea of a pretty woman leveraging her looks to score a rich man is nearly a cultural obsession. Even academics have propagated the stereotype that pretty women “marry up” by partnering with financially successful men. But is the trophy wife trade-off truly common in marriage? In a new article published in the American Sociological Review, University of Notre Dame sociologist Elizabeth Aura McClintock argues that the trophy wife stereotype is largely a myth propagated by cultural blindness to men’s attractiveness and women’s achievements. At least in the recent cohort of couples that she examines, there is little evidence of women trading beauty for men’s education, income, or occupational status. Instead, spouses match on both attractiveness and status—pretty women marry handsome men and successful men marry successful women. However, because socioeconomically-advantaged individuals are rated as more physically attractive on average, couple matching on beauty and status might be easily misidentified as exchange. For example, a pretty woman married to a high-earning man might be interpreted as a trophy wife to an observer who notices only male status and female beauty—but if the woman is a high-earner and her husband is handsome then the couple is actually matched on both traits. By assuming a stereotypically-gendered importance of beauty and status researchers and laypersons alike erroneously confirm their preconceived expectations and further perpetuate the trophy wife myth.
Scholarly Abstract
Scholars have long been interested in exchange and matching (assortative mating) in romantic partner selection. But many analyses of exchange, particularly those that examine beauty and socioeconomic status, fail to control for partners’ tendency to match each other on these same traits. Because traits that are desirable in mates are positively correlated between partners and within individuals, ignoring matching may exaggerate evidence of exchange. Moreover, many prior analyses have assumed a gendered exchange in which women trade beauty for men’s status without testing whether men might use handsomeness to attract higher-status women. Prior analyses have also not fully investigated how the prevalence of beauty-status exchange varies between different types of couple. I use data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health Romantic Pair Sample, a large (N = 1,507), nationally representative probability sample of dating, cohabiting and married couples, to investigate how often romantic partners exchange physical attractiveness and socioeconomic status, net of matching on these same traits. I find that controlling for matching eliminates nearly all evidence of beauty-status exchange. The discussion focuses on the contexts in which beauty-status exchange is most likely and on implications that these results have for market-based and sociobiological theories of partner selection.
"Handsome Wants as Handsome Does: Physical Attractiveness and Gender Differences in Revealed Sexual Preferences." (2011)
Scholarly Abstract
In this article I evaluate the effect of physical attractiveness on young adults’ sexual and romantic outcomes in order to reveal gender differences in acted preferences. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), a probability sample of young adults (n = 14,276), I investigate gender differences in desired sexual partner accumulation, relationship status, and timing of sexual intercourse. I find gender differences in sexual and romantic strategies, consistent with those predicted by the double standard of sexuality and evolutionary theory. Specifically, compared to men, women pursue more committed relationships, fewer sexual partners, and delayed sexual intercourse.
“Weight Self-Concept: Formation, Stability, and Consequences.” (2011)
Scholarly Abstract
This theoretical review develops weight self-concept (perception of one’s body as thin/overweight) as a dimension of self-concept and distinguishes it from body image (affective evaluation of one’s body) which is a dimension of self-esteem. It proposes that weight self-concept and body image might resemble other dimensions of self-concept and self-esteem in that they coalesce after the instability of adolescence and are thereafter resistant to change. Therefore, in considering the determinants of weight self-concept and body image this paper reviews the literature on those aspects of the adolescent experience which influence weight self-concept and body image, particularly pubertal timing. This paper also addresses the implications that weight self-concept might have for understanding identity formation and identification with stigmatized groups (such as overweight). The conclusion discusses the importance of interventions during pre-adolescence to prevent the development of a stigmatized, overweight self-concept and negative body image.
“The Gendered Double Standard of Aging in Marriage Markets.” (2010)
Scholarly Abstract
Using vital statistics collected on brides and grooms in most U.S. states between 1970 and 1988, we show that the older men are when they marry, the more years senior to their brides they are, whether it is a first or higher-order marriage. While older men with more education marry down in age slightly more than less educated older men, the pattern of men marrying down more if they marry later holds strongly for all education groups. We consider several possible explanations for the tendency of men to marry down in age more if they are older at marriage. While we have no direct measure of beauty, we argue that the most compelling interpretation is that men, more than women, evaluate potential spouses on the basis of beauty. Since the prevailing standard of beauty favors young women, the older men are when they marry, the more they find women their own age unattractive relative to younger women, leading them to marry down in age more if they are older at marriage. The consequence for women of men’s preference for youth is more often that they remain unmarried than that they end up married to less educated men.