Ideal Mate-Selection Theories

Words: 440
Pages: 2

Who you choose as your life partner is the most crucial decision that individuals make in their lifetime. In the process of mate-selection, various considerations influences a person's selection of a suitable mate. The qualities that attract an individual to a partner includes physical body, wealth, education, ethnic, personality and many more. In Canada, marriages result from free-choice mate-selection, in which individuals are attracted to each other, fall in love, and decide to marry, while in some cultures, people do not choose their own marriage partners because marriages are arranged by the parents. According to the Evolutionary psychology, sexual attraction is unconscious choice, whereas the internal mechanism are adaptations that helped our ancestors …show more content…
For instance, in Ideal Mate theory, attraction is defined from a symbolic interactionist perspective, mainly based on individual's unconscious image from his/ her meanings of characteristics. It supports the idea of "love at first sight" that gives an individual a chance to make the immediate judgment of the person as lovable. Apart from that, courtship is considered as a period in which couples develop a romantic relationships. In most societies, the idea behind courtship was to determine whether men could be a good providers, while women display the qualities that make them sexually desirable and nurturing. In the 21 century, the mate-selection practices, from arranged marriage at one extreme, to free-choice/love marriage at the other extreme came into practice. To find a perfect suitable-partner is not an easy job, therefore, some people would take the help of online dating industries such as matmakers, matrimonial ads, and blind dates that help them to develop a good understanding of each other without violating their cultural norms. I believe that the mate-selection is based on sociocultural