mate selection
Picking a spouse
Mate selection is the process of choosing a romantic or sexual partner, especially with long-term partnership in mind.
The term appears primarily in evolutionary psychology, biology, and sociology, where it encompasses the criteria and behaviors involved in evaluating potential mates: Studies of mate selection reveal cross-cultural preferences for kindness and intelligence.
The clinical tone makes it more common in research than everyday conversation.
- courtshipSeeking another's romantic favor
- attractionPull toward something
- love at first sightImmediate romantic attraction to stranger
- chemistryStudy of substances' interactions
- datingPursuing romantic connections
blind date · romance · compatibility · flirtation · desire · pheromones · choosy · fertility · biological clock · beauty · signals · display · plumage · peacock · fitness · genes · instinct · suitor
mate selectionforced marriage
Union without consent
arranged marriage · shotgun wedding · captive breeding · breeding program · dynastic marriage
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