Adaptive Calibration of Partner Choosiness

Individuals differ in how selective, or choosy, they are when selecting long-term relationship partners. An interdisciplinary approach suggests individual differences in partner choosiness may be shaped, at least in part, by ecological conditions that comprise individuals' life histories (i.e., environmental harshness and unpredictability in childhood). I examined this possibility in three independent studies. In Study 1, I recruited a large sample of undergraduates to participate in an online study and operationalized partner choosiness as self-reported long-term partner standards. Results demonstrated preliminary support for the notion that people's long-term partner standards are calibrated to the unpredictability of their early childhood ecologies. Moreover, this association was driven largely through relaxed standards for qualities associated with long-term relationship maintenance (i.e., partner warmth/trustworthiness) rather than qualities that directly benefit offspring (i.e., partner vitality/attractiveness, partner status/resources). In Study 2, I extended this work by (a) conceptualizing partner choosiness as a bet-hedging strategy whereby people may diversify their pool of prospective long-term partners, which reduces their risk of rejection but at the cost of reduced partner quality, and (b) exploring potential moderating factors of the hypothesized association between childhood ecology and partner choosiness. Consistent with predictions, childhood unpredictability was associated with both partner diversification and willingness to accept a lower-quality partner, and sex drive moderated this latter association. In Study 3, I examined adaptive calibration of behavioral partner choosiness in a real-life, speed-dating context. Although childhood ecology was not directly associated with behavioral choosiness, childhood harshness (but not unpredictability) was indirectly associated with behavioral choosiness through people's long-term partner standards. Moreover, being less (versus more) choosy was associated with greater matching success. Together, these studies shed light on the origins and function of individual differences in partner choosiness.