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Mate selection in popular women’s fiction

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Abstract

A study of twenty-five popular women’s novels and six famous romantic stories has led to the conclusion that such novels and stories are tales of mate selection and mating commitment. Pérusse’s (1994) predictions with respect to mate choice are confirmed by the activities of male and female protagonists in the novels (binomial test,p<.01 in all cases). Males choose mates on the basis of sexual exclusivity and fertility. Females choose mates on the basis of economic factors and parenting potential. As well, male and female characters differ in terms of their display of functional emotions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Psychology Department, Laurentian University, Ramsey Lake Road, P3E 2C6, Sudbury, Ontario, Canada

    Cynthia Whissell

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  1. Cynthia Whissell
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Correspondence to Cynthia Whissell.

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Cynthia Whissell is a professor of Psychology and Human Development at Laurentian University. She has taught at graduate and undergraduate levels for more than twenty-five years. The majority of her recent publications have been in the area of emotion and language.

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Whissell, C. Mate selection in popular women’s fiction. Human Nature 7, 427–447 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02732902

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