Men (but not women) prefer to live in economically equal societies when it comes to mating: A five-study investigation

Abstract

It is generally believed that people prefer societies with economic equality. No studies thus far have systematically examined sex differences in this preference specifically concerning mating—an important life stage. Building upon theoretical frameworks of mating strategies (i.e., hypergyny), we hypothesized that men, in comparison to women, are less inclined to prefer and reside in a highly unequal society when it comes to mating. This could be because economically unequal environments lead men to expect poorer life quality after marriage than women. These hypotheses were confirmed across five studies using a mixed-method approach. In particular, we first provided evidence by focusing on fertile age populations and employing the panel data across 50 states of the USA from 2006 to 2019 (Study 1A), the most recent cross-sectional data at the county level of the USA (Study 1B), and a large-scale survey data on the individual migration records of American residents (N = 4,746,718, Study 2). In addition, we conducted two controlled experiments by manipulating mating motivation (Study 3) and economic inequality level (high versus low, Studies 3 and 4, N = 812, N = 418). Our studies, employing both archival data high in ecological validity and experimental evidence allowing causal inferences, show that men exhibit a stronger aversion than women toward economic inequality. Our findings contribute to a deeper understanding of how evolutionary mating strategies and sex differences jointly influence the economic inequality preference.