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Age preferences in mates: An even closer look, without the distorting lenses

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 March 1997

Douglas T. Kenrick
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-1104 atdtk@asuacad.bitnet.
Richard C. Keefe
Affiliation:
Department of Behavioral Science, Scottsdale College, Scottsdale, AZ 85256 keefe@sc.maricopa.edu.

Abstract

Einon's data support our original claims, although not a claim she seems to assume – of reciprocal attraction between elderly men and 20-year-old women. Implicit in her commentary is an assumption that genetic predispositions are omniscient fitness maximizers. Instead, evolutionary models assume selection-fashioned psychological mechanisms that, in the context of other mechanisms and pressures in past environments, had a positive effect on fitness relative to competing alternatives. The Over & Phillips data fit with our own data on homosexuals, and with the assumption of independent modular mechanisms, rather than any existing sociocultural models. Einon also incorrectly assumes that evolutionary models have overemphasized male choice to the exclusion of female choice.

Type
Author's Response
Copyright
© 1997 Cambridge University Press

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