The altruism that we perceive in others influences whether we will finally select them as a partner .
Because moderate levels of altruism are generally valued more desirably than compared to those who are not at all altruistic or are overly altruistic, according to a new study published in Personality and Individual Differences .
Good genes?
Altruism plays a role in mate choice, particularly in women’s preferences and in long-term relationships.
The study was based on the results of three experiments that aimed to address how altruistic various subjects were in hypothetical social settings .
It is not yet clear why we prefer moderately altruistic people. Perhaps this trait indicates good genetic quality, due to its expensive nature, or good mate / nurture qualities.
That is, the first reason would be the "peacock tail" type: peacocks with larger tails are more coveted because, since it requires more skills to survive predators, genes must be better.
The second reason has more to do with the search for a father who is a good match and is willing to raise the offspring. That is, this altruistic behavior would also show good phenotypic quality, since the nature of such behaviors may indicate that the altruist will be a good companion and father and will have good genes in that sense.
However, these findings go further and expand the previous literature on altruism and mating by highlighting the role of prosociality in mate choice, as this other study also suggested: being altruistic made unattractive men more desirable , but only for long-term relationships.