A Positive Psychology Perspective on Mate Preferences in the United States and Russia

The authors collected and compared preference data on characteristics desired in long-term romantic partners between college students in two diverse countries, the United States and Russia. Based on evolutionary perspectives,the authors predicted that participants representing different cultures would retain certain adaptive gender differences. In addition, the authors included other attributes as potentially desirable in a long-term partner from studies within the field of positive psychology and predicted that these character strengths and virtues would feature prominently. Results suggested that the positive internal states of love, happiness, and kindness were among the most important qualities desired in a long-term romantic partner by both Russians and Americans. Gender differences were revealed for preferences in partner age and physique in both cultures as well as positive psychology's traits of gratitude for Russians and forgiveness in the American sample. Overall, positive internal attributes were rated as highly important and the authors recommend these should be more fully considered in future studies on mate preferences.