Scott Alexander examines hypergamy in modern marriages, finding educational hypergamy has reversed while income hypergamy persists, with strong class homogamy for both genders. Longer summary

Scott Alexander examines the concept of hypergamy, particularly focusing on educational and income differences in heterosexual marriages. He finds that while educational hypergamy (women marrying more educated men) has reversed due to women's increasing educational attainment, income hypergamy (women marrying higher-earning men) persists. The post explores various studies on class, income, and educational matching in marriages, discusses the role of physical attractiveness, and touches on hypergamy in same-sex relationships. Scott concludes that class homogamy is strong for both genders, with looks playing a smaller role than often assumed in mate selection. Shorter summary

Scott critiques evolutionary explanations for suitor-parent disagreements in mate choice, proposing that suitors use innate instincts while parents rely on reasoning, leading to different preferences. Longer summary

Scott Alexander critiques Dynomight's theories on why suitors and parents disagree about mate choice. He argues that evolutionary psychology explanations are insufficient, proposing instead that suitors rely on innate, finely-tuned instincts for mate selection, while parents use less-evolved human reasoning. This difference in decision-making processes leads to systematically different preferences. Scott also explores the complexity of human drives related to reproduction, questioning whether they exist at different cognitive 'levels' (reptilian, mammalian, human) and how they interact. Shorter summary

Scott examines conflicting evidence on whether humans choose mates based on parental imprinting or genetics, concluding that mate choice might be based on mysterious romantic love. Longer summary

This post explores the question of how humans choose their mates, examining theories of imprinting on parents versus genetic influences. It reviews several studies on animals and humans, including twin studies, that provide conflicting evidence. The post starts by discussing psychoanalytic theories and animal studies supporting imprinting, then moves to human studies with mixed results. It then examines twin studies that surprisingly show little genetic influence on mate choice. The post ends with the suggestion that mate choice might be based on romantic love, which is beyond scientific understanding. Throughout, Scott maintains a skeptical and sometimes humorous tone, highlighting the complexity and contradictions in the research. Shorter summary

Scott explores the conflicting evidence on whether humans are attracted to genetically similar or dissimilar partners, concluding with a paradoxical observation that both seem true in different contexts. Longer summary

This post discusses the conflicting evidence on whether humans are attracted to genetically similar or dissimilar partners. It starts with the argument for genetic dissimilarity, citing examples from nature and studies on MHC complexes. Then, it presents evidence for genetic similarity, including genetic sexual attraction and studies showing people tend to marry those similar to them. The post concludes that current evidence suggests people are attracted to genetic similarity except for MHC complexes, where they prefer difference. The author expresses confusion about this seemingly contradictory conclusion. Shorter summary