I blogged a whole series on Christine Whelan's 2007 book,
Why Smart Men Marry Smart Women, starting
here. She has a new study advancing this point, with a nifty chart of men's changing preferences in women.
I am particularly struck by the big leap upward for "Education, intelligence," and, to a lesser extent, "Good financial prospect" as something that men look for in a wife.
I believe this change is especially prominent in the educated classes - proving the point that smart men marry smart women in a double sense.
(From
"Measuring Mate Preferences: A Replication and
Extension" by Christine B. Whelan, University of Pittsburgh, and
Christie F. Boxer and Mary Noonan, University of Iowa).
2 comments:
Now I am intrigued. I will do more reading on these posts and the citations you list, but I believe the statistics I have seen show that women with more than a college degree (ie. a graduate or professional degree) are more likely to remain single.
I agree that men want educated women. I am a woman with a bachelor degree and have taken graduate courses. It's one heck of a struggle for me to date doctors and lawyers. If I want to date a highly educated man I'll have to settle for an older man. A guy my age wants an equally smart and educated girl. It makes sense since being well-educated is a status symbol.
@MMMSecret the reason why well-educated women tend to remain single is because women want to date "up" and by that I mean they often refuse to date a man with less education and money. So, while their peers hound them for dates, they themselves are still trying to marry 'up'!
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