How To Make Love

Sunday Sep 09, 2007
BLOOMINGTON, Ind., Sept. 4 (UPI) -- A U.S. researcher said people choosing a mate today behave no differently than stereotypical Neanderthals -- men want beauty, women want security.

Peter Todd, of Indiana University, examined the choices made by 46 adults in a speed-dating session in Germany and found that the men sought the more attractive women and the women were drawn to material wealth and security.

The study, published in the Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences, also found that while men on average wanted to see every second woman again, the women wanted to meet only one-third of the men again.

"Women trading off their attractiveness for higher quality men and men looking for any attractive women who will accept them, would have had an evolutionary advantage in greater numbers of successful offspring," Todd said in a statement.

Speed dating events -- sessions involving 30 men and women who have numerous "mini dates" lasting less than 5 minutes each -- are a "microcosm where mate choices are made sequentially in a faster and more formalized fashion than in daily life," Todd said.

Source: ScienceDaily