Do transgender people choose their mates according to their biological sex or their gender identity?. A study in Argentina

ARISTEGUI, INES; CASTRO SOLANO, ALEJANDRO; BUUNK, A.P.

Londres

Congreso; European Human Behaviour and Evolution Association Conference; 2016

European Human Behaviour and Evolution Association

Cross-cultural studies show that both men and women value the same characteristics such as love, trust, emotional matiurity and sociability in potential mates (Buss et al., 1990; Casullo & Liporace, 2003; Shackelford, Schmitt, & Buss, 2005; Todosijević, Ljubinković, & Arančić, 2003; Ubillos et al., 2001). While women value more than men attributes related to social status and power as clues of resources to feed their offsprings; men more than women value characterstics such as physical attractiveness and youth, as signs of good health and fertility. Recent studies have examined these evolved mechanisms in intimate relationships of gay and lesbian people in order to clarify the separate effects of biological sex and sexual orientation. It was found that, to a large extent, mate preferences (e.g., intelligence, sense of humour, honesty, kindness, and good looks) of homosexual individuals resemble those of heterosexual individuals (Lippa, 2007). However, lesbians tend to display resources to attract potential partners more than heterosexual women do (VanderLaaan & Vasey, 2008); while gay men tend to emphasize physical characteristics more than heterosexual men (Gonzales & Meyers, 1993). As transgender people (persons whose gender identity is not congruent with their biological sex) mostly have partners of the opposite gender but same sex (Aristegui & Zalazar, 2014; Operario et al., 2008), this population provides a unique opportunity to examine the effect of biological sex versus the effect of gender identity on mating preferences.