4. Game theory. Recall the famous scene in “The Beautiful Mind” during which mathematician John Nash (played by Russell Crowe) applies game theory to dating. John Nash and his friends all found the same blonde woman to be the most beautiful. However, Nash came to the conclusion that no one would “win” if they all went for her, so they must each go for her brunette friends instead.
Real life doesn’t work quite the same way, but perhaps “equilibrium” or an optimal outcome for all parties can be reached through another method. Researchers sought to examine two forces of human mate selection-selection of “good genes” (e.g., preference for the best) and “self-seeking like” (e.g., preference for self-resemblance).
In support of sexual imprinting, participants who were primed with an image of their own parent (vs
Through a randomly selected sample of 36 couples, they found evidence of both forces. Continue reading To test this idea, researchers subliminally primed heterosexual men and women with a photo of their other-sex parent