Men Prefer Subordinate Women to Equals

Men would rather marry their female assistants than equal-ranking women or their supervisors, according to social psychologists.

The results are based on a study of men’s ratings of imaginary women with different job titles, during which they judged them according to their appeal as a one-night stand, friend, or long-term partner. Men’s preferences for less-dominant women may be rooted in evolution, the researchers suggest. “Males who preferred to mate with relatively subordinate partners – as opposed to higher dominance partners – may have been better able to limit the chance – or amount – of paternal uncertainty, either by preventing their partner from having sex outside of the partnership or by being able to closely monitor their partner’s sexual behavior for possible infidelity,” write Stephanie L. Brown and Brian P. Lewis. Brown is based at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and Lewis at the University of California in Los Angeles. Previous investigations into what type of mate men and women prefer have defined dominance in different ways. Some studies, for instance, have described dominance by personality – such as aggressiveness – or by possession of desirable resources, such as status, fame or fortune. Many of these studies, in contrast to the current research, found that men did not appear to have a preference for women who were less dominant than themselves, according to their definitions of dominance. In the current study, Brown and Lewis based dominance on differences in rank in the workplace, where dominant, potential mates have the ability to “exercise their own will at the expense of a less dominant other,” they write in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior. During the study, 120 male and 208 female undergraduates read scenarios about different people at work, looked at their pictures, and noted how much they would like to be associated them. All photos were deemed by judges to be of people similar in age and attractiveness. Men said they would prefer a less-dominant women both as long-term partners and as friends they would enjoy doing things with, such as exercising and going to a party. In contrast, for women, a man’s status had no influence on his desirability as a partner. (Source: Evolution and Human Behavior: Reuters Health: December 2004.)