The predictive validity of ideal partner preferences: a review and meta-analysis.
Level 2 - randomized trial
Systematic review and meta-analysis of observational and experimental attraction studies
PubMed 23586697 · doi:10.1037/a0032432
What was done
A review and meta-analysis synthesized attraction and relationship literature (k = 97) to examine how ideal partner preferences predict relational outcomes. The authors examined sex differences in the predictive validity of physical attractiveness and earning prospects on romantic evaluations and presented an integrative model assessing individual differences and interaction contexts.
What was found
Physical attractiveness predicted romantic evaluations with a moderate-to-strong effect size (r ≈ .40) for both sexes. Earning prospects predicted romantic evaluations with a small effect size (r ≈ .10) for both sexes. Sex differences between these correlations were small (r difference = .03) and uniformly non-significant.
Why it matters
This paper demonstrates that stated differences between men and women in hypothetical preference contexts do not translate into meaningful sex differences when predicting actual romantic evaluations of partners.
Limits
The abstract does not report overall participant sample size, demographics, search strategy, or heterogeneity metrics. The primary outcome synthesized is romantic evaluation rather than long-term relational stability or satisfaction.