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Men's and Women's Preferences in Marital Partners in the United States, Russia, and Japan

University of Hawai'i

Susan Sprecher

Illinois State University

In this investigation, data on young, single adults' preferences in marital partners were gathered from three very diverse cultures: the United States, Russia, and Japan. Based on evolutionary, social learning, historical, and cross-cultural perspectives, the authors hypothesized that in all three cultures they would find certain traditional gender differences. Men would care more than women about physical attractiveness, whereas women would care more than men about status (e.g., intelligence; ambition; money, status, and position; potential for success) and personality attributes (e.g., kindness, understanding, expressiveness, openness). Women would be more "choosy" overall than would men. The authors also hypothesized thatpeople from the United States (a Western individualist culture) would expect more from their relationships than would those from Japan (an Eastern collectivist culture). Finally, the authors predicted that gender differences would be smallest in the United States and largest in Japan. They found strong support for all but the last of these hypotheses and found weak support for that one.

Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, Vol. 26, No. 6, 728-750 (1995)
DOI: 10.1177/002202219502600613


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