From the Swansea University press release:<\/p>\n
One of the top qualities that we look for in a long-term partner is kindness<\/strong>, according to new research by Swansea University.<\/p>\n
In a paper published by the\u00a0Journal of Personality<\/em><\/strong>, researchers had over 2,700 college students from across the globe build themselves an ideal lifelong partner by using a fixed budget to “buy” characteristics.<\/p>\n
While traits like physical attractiveness and financial prospects were important, the one that was given the highest priority was kindness.<\/p>\n
The study compared the dating preferences of students from Eastern countries, for example Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong, and Western countries such as the UK, Norway and Australia.<\/p>\n
Students were given eight attributes they could spend “mate dollars” on: physical attractiveness, good financial prospects, kindness, humour, chastity, religiosity, the desire for children, and creativity.<\/p>\n
While there were some differences in behaviour between Eastern and Western students — there were also some remarkable similarities.<\/p>\n
People typically spent 22-26% of their total budget on kindness<\/strong>, and large parts of their budget on physical attractiveness and good financial prospects, while traits like creativity and chastity received less than 10%.<\/p>\n
The research team also found some interesting sex differences — both Eastern and Western men allocated more of their budget to physical attractiveness than women (22% vs 16%) while women allocated more to good financial prospects than men (18% vs 12%).<\/p>\n
The principle researcher, Dr Andrew G. Thomas, believes that studying mate preferences across cultures is important for understanding human behaviour.<\/p>\n
“Looking at very different culture groups allows us to test the idea that some behaviours are human universals.<\/p>\n
“If men and women act in a similar way across the globe, then this adds weight to the idea that some behaviours develop in spite of culture rather than because of it.”<\/p>\n
The results also showed a difference in a partner’s desire for children, which was a priority only for Western women.<\/p>\n
“We think this may have something to do with family planning,” said Thomas. “In cultures where contraception is widespread, a partner’s desire for children may predict the likelihood of starting a family.<\/p>\n
“In contrast, in cultures where contraception use is less widespread, having children may be a natural consequence of sex within a relationship, making actual desire for children less relevant.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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