The Effect of Cues of Parental Investment on Attractiveness Ratings of Males: The Impact of Child Presence and Age

Abstract

According to evolutionary theories of mate choice, male parental investment is a desired characteristic of long term mates. Brase (2006) found that cues of a positive disposition towards parental investment increased males’ perceived attractiveness to females. Interacting with a child was taken to be a measure of males’ disposition towards parental investment. The present study sought to replicate and extend these findings by altering the age of the child involved. The results confirmed that positive cues of parental investment increased a males attractiveness ratings and neutral cues of parental investment resulted in a decrease in attractiveness ratings. A significant effect of the child’s age was also found, with ratings increasing as child age decreased.