Schulte-Hostedde, Albrecht I, Eye, Mark A, & Johnson, Krista (2008). Female mate choice is influenced by male sport participation. Evolutionary Psychology

Schulte-Hostedde, Albrecht I, Eye, Mark A, & Johnson, Krista (2008). Female mate choice is influenced by male sport participation. Evolutionary Psychology. 6,114-124.

The Sexual Selection Theory that says males are more likely to compete against other males for potential mates, in that same manner females tend to be more selective of their mates as compared to males.

Females tend to be the main provider of care for the offspring. Human females also tend to choose mates who have better genes and/or resources.

Sports can be a way that females can easily determine the quality of their potential mates.

Team sports provide a way of comparison between other teammates, which is not available in individual sports


Hypothesis: Sport participation is used by females to assess male qualities.

3 main effects› Females will prefer team sport athletes over

both individual sport athletes and non-athletes› Males of high status will be preferred over

males of low status› Attractive males will be preferred over less

attractive males.


Participants: 282 female undergraduate students from a Central Canadian University between the ages of 18-29 years old

IV: Picture Stimulus and a Description DV: 7 Point Likert Scale (1 not willing-7

very willing)


This is Brian. He is a member of the varsity Water Polo team. He is ranked as one of the more skilled players within his team by the other players. He grew up in Vancouver and has a younger sister and an older brother. He loves to go out and watches television occasionally. He loves dogs.


Levels of Relationships› Please indicate your willingness to…

Go on one date with this person To engage in a short term relationship with

this person (less than 1 month) Engage in sexual intercourse with this

person, considering a situation where there is no risk of pregnancy or STD

Engage in a long term/serious committed relationship with this person (more than 6 months)


A 3(sport involvement) x 2(status) x 2(physical attractiveness) MANCOVA was conducted

Females were more likely to participate in all of the various relationship types with athletes from team sports

Females overwhelmingly decided to participate in all of the various types of relationships with males of high status

Females were more likely to engage in all of the various types of relationships with males who were highly attractive


Females are very choosy and tend to find males who are physically attractive and of high status significantly more appealing

Effects of sport involvement were significant but smaller than other two qualities

This may be due to the financial benefits that professional athletes will acquire if they further pursue their sport. This financial security would ensure better resources for future offspring


› This study was very thorough when it came to sports, for example, it used both individual and team sports as variables.

› The researchers provided extensive outside evidence to support the Sexual Selection Theory.

› Even though this was not on purpose, the obtained participants were all in their most fertile period of life, and so they had adequate insight of what they want as mating partners


The study took place in Canada, so there was very little external validity. Therefore we cannot generalize these findings to people outside of Canada.

The pilot study to find what qualifies as attractiveness had only 35 participants, so it was a very small sample size.

They did not include race in this study. For example, the race of the participants was not reported in their study. Also, the stimulus only portrayed Caucasian males and did not take into account males of other ethnicities. Therefore, we did not have an accurate conception of attractiveness because different people have different preferences.


1. Where was this study conducted?A. CaliforniaB. CambodiaC. ColumbiaD. Canada

2. What statistical analysis did the researchers run? A. 3x2x2 MANCOVA B. 2x2 MANOVA C. 3x3x2 ANOVA D. T-test

3. Which variable was not measured in this study?A. StatusB. Sport ParticipationC. RaceD. Attractiveness

4. True/False Females prefer males who participate in individual sports. 5. True/False Males of higher status are considered more attractive to

females. 6. True/False Females tend to be the main provider of care for the

offspring, and they tend to choose mates who have better genes and/or resources


1. Where was this study conducted?A. CaliforniaB. CambodiaC. ColumbiaD. Canada

2. What statistical analysis did the researchers run? A. 3x2x2 MANCOVA B. 2x2 MANOVA C. 3x3x2 ANOVA D. T-test

3. Which variable was not measured in this study?A. StatusB. Sport ParticipationC. RaceD. Attractiveness

4. True/False Females prefer males who participate in individual sports.

5. True/False Males of higher status are considered more attractive to females.

6. True/False Females tend to be the main provider of care for the offspring, and they tend to choose mates who have better genes and/or resources


Documents

Schulte-Hostedde, Albrecht I, Eye, Mark A, & Johnson, Krista (2008). Female mate choice is influenced by male sport participation. Evolutionary Psychology