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U-M study: Why men are attracted to subordinate women
University of Michigan News Service ^ | Dec. 8, 2004 | U Mich

Posted on 12/21/2004 3:59:39 PM PST by beavus

ANN ARBOR, Mich.—Men are more likely to want to marry women who are their assistants at work rather than their colleagues or bosses, a University of Michigan study finds.

The study, published in the current issue of Evolution and Human Behavior, highlights the importance of relational dominance in mate selection and discusses the evolutionary utility of male concerns about mating with dominant females.

"These findings provide empirical support for the widespread belief that powerful women are at a disadvantage in the marriage market because men may prefer to marry less accomplished women," said Stephanie Brown, lead author of the study and a social psychologist at the U-M Institute for Social Research (ISR).

For the study, supported in part by a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health, Brown and co-author Brian Lewis from UCLA tested 120 male and 208 female undergraduates by asking them to rate their attraction and desire to affiliate with a man and a woman they were said to know from work.

"Imagine that you have just taken a job and that Jennifer (or John) is your immediate supervisor (or your peer, or your assistant)," study participants were told as they were shown a photo of a male or a female.

After seeing the photo and hearing the description of the person's role at work in relation to their own, participants were asked to use a 9-point Likert scale (1 is not at all, 9 is very much) to rate the extent to which they would enjoy going to a party with Jennifer or John, exercising with the person, dating the person and marrying the person.

Brown and Lewis found that males, but not females, were most strongly attracted to subordinate partners for high-investment activities such as marriage and dating.

"Our results demonstrate that male preference for subordinate women increases as the investment in the relationship increases," Brown said. "This pattern is consistent with the possibility that there were reproductive advantages for males who preferred to form long-term relationships with relatively subordinate partners.

"Given that female infidelity is a severe reproductive threat to males only when investment is high, a preference for subordinate partners may provide adaptive benefits to males in the context of only long-term, investing relationships---not one-night stands."

According to Brown, who is affiliated with the ISR Evolution and Human Adaptation Program, the current findings are consistent with earlier research showing that expressions of vulnerability enhance female attractiveness. "Our results also provide further explanation for why males might attend to dominance-linked characteristics of women such as relative age or income, and why adult males typically prefer partners who are younger and make less money."

For more information on the ISR Evolution and Human Adaptation Program, visit: http://rcgd.isr.umich.edu/ehap/


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News
KEYWORDS: barefootistheway2go; cookmyeggswoman; fetchmyslippers; genderwars; getmeabeer; ilovekeywords; maleordersquaw; marriage; mopthefloorsasap; noonewantsabossycow; rwos; sadderbutwisergals; wheresmyremote
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To: arasina
Mighty interesting thread...

Lurking and bumping to 500.

501 posted on 04/10/2005 8:57:27 PM PDT by Liberator
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To: arasina

Troublemaker.......:)


502 posted on 04/10/2005 8:58:17 PM PDT by Dan from Michigan ("If Stabenow were any bigger a roadblock, she could halt traffic on all of I-75.")
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To: Dan from Michigan
Troublemaker.......:)

LOL! That I am. Are you going to ping the star of this thread? I'm not. ;-)

503 posted on 04/10/2005 9:03:48 PM PDT by arasina (So there.)
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To: arasina

what, no maniacal mad scientist laugh?

BWAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAH!!!!!bump


504 posted on 04/10/2005 9:07:40 PM PDT by longtermmemmory (VOTE!)
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To: longtermmemmory
Actually, I'm not very good at outright BWAAAHAHAing. I take a more subtle approach.


505 posted on 04/10/2005 9:16:52 PM PDT by arasina (So there.)
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To: Noachian
Does this mean that the gene pool of "powerful women" will one day be depleted due to a lack of compliant men?
====================================================================

No, they become lesbians and reproduce through artificial insemination using sperm from people just as drugged out David Crosby.

506 posted on 04/10/2005 9:21:38 PM PDT by doug from upland (MOCKING DEMOCRATS 24/7 --- www.rightwingparodies.com)
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To: F16Fighter

We owe a debt of gratitude to a certain 'njwoman'. I say we go together and buy her some whipped cream. You in? :o)


507 posted on 07/24/2005 4:52:36 PM PDT by arasina (So there.)
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To: arasina
"I say we go together and buy her some whipped cream. You in? :o)"

I'm "in" only if the whipped cream is for...YOU :-P

508 posted on 07/24/2005 5:57:16 PM PDT by F16Fighter
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To: infidel29

What is so sexy about dating/marrying a subordinate woman who can not cook, can not keep a house clean, and can not think and make decisions for herself? Men settle for these kind of subordinate women? I feel sorry for you, because I know from experience, you're not happy. It's cheaper to keep her. I'm a working, professional woman who works in an all-men environment. I sit at my desk all the time when I over hear the stay-at-home married women call their husbands at work on the phone and nag them. The men even tell me that their wives can't cook, and do not have a dinner waiting for them when they come home after working hard all day. They expect their husbands to take them out to dinner and/or bring dinner home. Friday night is pizza night for most of them. Who wants to eat pizza and fast food every Friday or during the week? If I was married to a man who is the provider and works hard all day at work, you can rest assure he will come home and smell the aroma of a very nice hot, home-cooked meal waiting for him.

Smartlady


509 posted on 02/02/2006 10:47:13 AM PST by smartlady
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To: F16Fighter

.


510 posted on 02/11/2006 9:08:37 PM PST by arasina (So there.)
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Naughty Little Red Book: The People's Republic of Sex Kittens and Metrosexuals
NY Times | March 4, 2007 | DAVID BARBOZA
Posted on 03/04/2007 8:27:00 AM EST by Pharmboy
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1794939/posts


511 posted on 03/04/2007 7:43:41 AM PST by SunkenCiv (I last updated my profile on Thursday, February 19, 2007. https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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