The Mating Strategies and Mate Preferences of Mail Order Brides

Two studies explored the mating strategies and mate preferences of mail order brides (MOBs) from three different countries. In the first study, 48 Colombian MOBs were compared with 44 single Colombian women who were not MOBs on a variety of attitudinal and demographic characteristics. Both groups also identified qualities that they wished to communicate about themselves to a prospective mate, qualities that they most desired in a mate, and qualities that they believed were most highly sought after by a prospective mate. In the second study, the expressed mate preferences of 60 MOBs from Colombia, Russia, and the Philippines were compared. With only minor cross-cultural variability, both studies confirmed the importance of characteristics such as commitment, ambition, and sexual fidelity that have been identified in previous studies of female mate choice. The results are discussed within a framework of evolutionary explanations for mate preferences in human females.