Abstract
Mate choice appears to be driven by a set of mate preferences. It is, however, unclear how preferences for individual characteristics are integrated into actual mate choice decisions.
According to the Additive model, the most desirable partner is the one with the highest overall sum of relevant characteristics. In contrast, the Threshold model predicts that only partners who meet a certain threshold value in all characteristics will be considered.
We conducted two studies (Pilot: N = 522, and Main Study: N = 1873) to compare the two models using vignettes describing potential partners. Each vignette was predicted to be preferred either by the Additive or by the Threshold model.
Overall, participants preferred the vignettes following the Threshold model, except if the violated characteristic had low importance. Our results indicate that in mate choice, decisions are directed by thresholds in preferences but take also into account the overall sum of the relevant characteristics.