Men Prefer 'Slender' Mates While Women Like 'Em Rich, Study

New research into what men and women think to be "desirable" and "essential" in the opposite sex again reaffirms a common gender stereotype: men prefer beautiful, slender women, and women seem to be hankering for "rich and financially stable" men.

Studying  more than 28,000 heterosexual participants aged between 18 to 75 by researchers from Chapman University in California helped scientists to understand what people look for in their mates.

Gender seemed to be the sturdiest predictor of what people wanted in a long-term partner. Those who had more "desirable" traits seemed to have a stronger bargaining hand and were more "selective" while rifling the candidates in the dating pool.

"We looked at the extent to which attractiveness and resources are 'desirable' versus 'essential' to men and women when they are looking for a long-term partner," said David Frederick, assistant professor of psychology at Chapman University and a co-author on the study, reported EurekAlert. "We've known for a long time that men care more about attractiveness in a long term partner, and women care more about resources."

Hence, men seemed to like a "slender" partner, with 80 percent men concurring that they thought it more important, compared to just 58 percent of women for whom "slender" was important. Factor of being "good looking" was also preferred by men rather than women, with 92% men and 84% women finding it "desirable/essential".

On the other hand, women opt for partners with a steady income, as 97 percent call it desirable compared to 74 percent of men. A higher percentage of women also said they preferred mates who earned as much money as they did, and had successful careers.

Hence, even those who were happy with their personal appearance did not require partners who were "physically attractive", but did want a partner who was "good looking and slender".

Moreover, the older they became, the less they cared about being attractive, wealthy or successful.

The study, titled, "Mating markets and bargaining hands: Mate preferences for attractiveness and resources in two national U.S. studies," will be published in the January issue of the journal Personality and Individual Differences.