The Psychology of Human Mate Selection: Exploring the Complexity of the Strategic Repertoire

Imagine a world in which people had no mate preferences. Mate selection would be random. Each person would have a equal probability of mating with everyone else, and no one would suffer discrimination on the mating market. People riddled with disease, open sores, and lesions would be desired as mates as often as people brimming with robust good health. Pimply faced adolescent boys and arthritic senior citizens would be desired as often as successful athletes, CEOs, artists, and orators. Graying grandmothers covered with liver spots and lacking real teeth would be desired as much as 20-year-old women with clear skin, white teeth, and firm muscle tone.