Physical cues of partner quality

The dominant evolutionary theory of sexual attraction posits that attraction serves as a psychobehavioral and motivational mechanism for identifying healthy, fertile, and appropriate mates. According to this theory, humans and animals display cues that reflect their mate quality and, if successful, are perceived as attractive by potential mates. There is evidence for such valid cues in human faces, bodies, and non-bodily traits, which include adornments and items that signal provisioning ability, creativity, artistic skills, or conspicuous consumption. In this chapter, we discuss the evidence for the existence of these facial, bodily, and non-bodily cues and for their role in communicating aspects of partner quality, including health, fertility, developmental stability, genetic quality, and potential for parental investment. We further discuss sex differences in the physical cues that men and women rely on in mate choice. We conclude by highlighting the centrality and evolutionary importance of physical cues in contemporary sexual selection, and how they manifest in evolutionarily novel inventions such as physical self-enhancements, “sexy selfies,” social media, and online dating.