Similarities and differences in mate preferences among parents and their adult children

- Parents and offspring rated traits for ideal romantic partners for the offspring.
- Sons and daughters more strongly valued attractiveness and genetic quality.
- Many of the most important traits to parents and offspring were rated equivalently.
- Greater similarity existed among parents and children of the same sex.

Prior research reveals differences in the characteristics that offspring prioritize in a mate for themselves and parents prioritize in a mate for their adult children. Sons and daughters more strongly value characteristics connoting genetic quality while parents more strongly value traits indicating potential investment in future children or in-group cooperation. However, prior research neglects significant overlap in the preferences of offspring and parents. We assessed mate preferences among 42 women, 38 men, and one or both parents. We hypothesized that offspring and their parents would agree about many of the most important traits for a potential mate for the offspring. Traits connoting genetic quality were valued more by men and women than their parents, however, many traits considered most important by offspring and their parents (e.g., ambition/industriousness, likes children) and many traits that evidenced disagreement in previous research (e.g. no previous marriages, favorable social status) were rated similarly by offspring and parents.