Page 25 - Demo

General introduction231attractiveness (e.g., Maner et al., 2003; Mitrovic et al., 2018; Zhang et al., 2017), this effect does not always replicate in ecologically valid studies of human mate choice, such as speed-date paradigms, were attractiveness is a good predictor of mate choice for both men and women (Eastwick & Finkel, 2008; Luo & Zhang, 2009; Selterman et al., 2015). Thus, while the attraction-filter may somewhat differ between men and women, the results are far from conclusive.Only when a potential mate “passes” the first filter, the second filter will be applied. This filter corresponds to attachment (Fisher, 1998), and focuses more on perception and appraisal of personality traits and behavioural compatibility, and explicit judgements about a potential partner (Dixson, 2012). Attachment filters might be especially common in pair-bonding species like humans, where compatibility and behavioural coordination are essential for successful reproduction (Eastwick et al., 2023; Roth, Samara, Tan, et al., 2021). Concluding, from a temporal perspective, humans first “filter” their potential partners based on attractiveness, only after which they consider other factors, such as personality and behavioural alignment.Although the second filter might be especially relevant for pair-bonding species, a first filter based on perception of attractiveness and the associated cognitive biases should also be present in other species. Therefore, in addition to investigating the influence of attractiveness on cognitive mechanisms in humans, this thesis will also investigate whether this is the case for Bornean orang-utans.Figure 1. Schematic depiction of a two-stage model of human mate choice. Adapted from Dixson (2012).Tom Roth.indd 23 08-01-2024 10:41