Mate selection is one of the most fascinating aspects of human behavior.
In all cultures, most people (usually over 90 percent) marry at least once in their lives
and even those who never marry generally have some sort of romantic experience.
From puberty, both men and women spend a great deal of time and energy
advertising themselves as potential mates and evaluating the desirability of other people as mates.
This is especially true during the years of adolescence and early adulthood
when the pressures to attract a suitable mate are most intense.
In the animal world, most species have a set of fairly rigid courtship behaviors.
Animals who deviate from those courtship behaviors rarely attract a mate
so their genes are not passed on to the next generation.
Humans are more flexible and creative about mating.
Every human culture has an elaborate set of courtship rituals, but also a wide range of variations.
In this activity, we will examine some of the factors that influence romantic attraction
and consider an evolutionary explanation for some gender differences in mate selection.