A Woman's Secret Desire For a mate Uncovered

Women are not in a rush to say ‘I do’ anymore and when they do finally find that special someone they are willing to marry, you may be surprised to know the science or lack thereof in how he becomes become the lucky little fellow. Below are some statistics on the marital condition of the U.S. and a few looks at how women select their mates.

by Mark Mather and Diana Lavery

(September 2010) Marriage rates have dropped precipitously among young adults ages 25 to 34 during the past decade and the decline has accelerated since the onset of the recession, according to PRB's analysis of new data from the U.S. Census Bureau's 2009 American Community Survey (ACS) and 2010 Current Population Survey (CPS). The data suggest that more young couples are delaying marriage or foregoing matrimony altogether, likely as an adaptive response to the economic downturn and decline in the housing market.

Between 2000 and 2009, the share of young adults ages 25 to 34 who are married dropped 10 percentage points, from 55 percent to 45 percent, according to ACS data. During the same period, the percentage who have never been married increased sharply, from 34 percent to 46 percent. In a dramatic reversal, the proportion of young adults in the United States who have never been married now exceeds those who are married. Among the total population ages 18 and older, the proportion married dropped from 57 percent in 2000 to 52 percent in 2009. This is the lowest percentage recorded since information on marital status was first collected by the U.S. Census Bureau more than 100 years ago. Among women, the proportion married dropped below 50 percent (to 49.9 percent), so the number of unmarried women (including those who are separated, widowed, divorced, and never married) outnumber married women, possibly for the first time in U.S. history. In 2009, there were an estimated 59.5 million adult women who were married, compared with 59.8 million women in other marital categories.

Many people who are classified as single are actually in cohabiting relationships with opposite- or same-sex partners. In fact, the sharp decline in marriage has been accompanied by a rapid increase in the number of cohabiting couples, as reported by the U.S. Census Bureau in September, 2010.4 Cohabitation has been on the rise for several decades, but the Census Bureau links the recent increase in cohabiting couples to rising unemployment rates and growing economic uncertainty, especially among young men. Given the scope of the recent recession, many more couples are likely to choose cohabitation over marriage in the coming years

As much as we love our independence we are still a flawed and socially linked if not dependent in matters of the heart. Women pay even more attention than men to what others think about their choice in a partner, according to an Indiana University study described on Jezebel.com.

Not only do they take notice of what their friends think, but they want to know how complete strangers assess their potential partner. It's called "mate choice copying," and it's documented in many other species, especially fish and birds.



Eye candy prevails for surprising reasons. New research suggests that women measure a man's potential as a mate based on the masculinity of his features. The man who has a square jaw and a very well defined brow ridge is considered a great short-term partner because he will be adventurous, fun and exciting. He is not considered a long-term partner because he will likely be too busy with his competitive challenges than he would be on being a good partner. The woman who is looking for a long-term mate will be seeking the man with gentler features, more rounded in the face and with fuller lips. This is a man who would be less likely to cheat on his spouse, abandon them for his adventures or more. Participants in the study overwhelmingly defined the men with the most masculine features as the men with the greatest risk.

Romantically and statistically, when you look at the rebellious male figure in a story - his chiseled, square jaw and his emphasized brow ridges define him. He is extremely masculine and he is extremely difficult to entreat into a long-term relationship. According to other studies in psychology, women tend to view men with very masculine features as great flings, but hardly long term potential. These are the types of men more likely to abandon them or die young - so while their contribution to offspring is great, their potential as a mate for life is not.

There are other explanations to be offered and part of the answer seems to be how much your prospective partner looks like your dad. This is according to researchers at Durham University led by Lynda Boothroyd, who have shown that women who have good childhood relationships with their fathers are more likely to select partners whose faces resemble those of their dads.

The researchers were looking for evidence of parental sexual imprinting, a sexual preference for individuals that have some of the characteristics of one's parent. A group of women were shown photographs of men's faces and asked to rate their attractiveness. The faces were measured (using calipers) and compared to the women's fathers. The women were also asked to rate their relationships with their fathers, in terms of how much time he spent with them and how emotionally involved he was in their upbringing.

The study follows on from an earlier effort by another researcher, Tamas Bereczkei, showing that men's wives bore a stronger resemblance to the men's mothers if they had had a good relationship with them as children. The phenomenon of parental sexual imprinting has also been heavily studied in many animal species, for example zebra finches.

In the Bible, marriage and family ranks very high. With all the information above it is evident there must first be the ‘desire’ to marry. I hope we women have not given up on this institution because of a long laundry list of everything that must be perfect for us to marry, because *****NEWS FLASH****** marriage isn’t perfect. For more wonderful marriage statistics:

http://www.prb.org/Articles/2010/usmarriagedecline.aspx.