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Dissertation

My dissertation is composed of three related papers, all addressing processes of relationship formation in young adulthood, and all using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health.

The first section of my dissertation investigates the role physical attractivenes and education in partner choice. Prior papers have argued that one partner's attractiveness can be traded for the other partner's socioeconomic resources, but they have often assumed a gendered pattern of exchange and failed to control for the positive correlation between physical attractiveness and socioeconomic resources. I show that men's and women's physical attractiveness does predict their partner's education, but that this relationship is an artifact of matching on physical attractiveness and on education and of the positive relationship between education and physical attractiveness. Here is a link to the abstract.

The second paper in my dissertation examines gender differences in the effect of physical attractiveness on sexual and romantic outcomes. Both the double standard of sexuality, insofar as it still exists, and evolutionary theories predict that women and men will have different sexual and romantic goals and strategies. If physically attractive people are more desired as partners, they will have greater ability to negotiate the rules of their relationships. I show that sexual and romantic outcomes do depend on physical attractiveness, but the effect is often opposite for men and women, revealing gender differences in sexual and romantic strategies that are largely consistent with predictions from both the social structural and evolutionary perspectives. Here is a link to the abstract.

The third and final section of my dissertation concerns dynamics within established romantic relationships. A social exchange perspective on intimate relationships suggests that each partner is interested in maximizing her personal benefits. This perspective has resulted in literature addressing, for example, economic dependency and housework, and divorce vs. separate spheres. I am interested in factors other than income and housework which may create dependency or be used to compensate an objectively more desirable partner. I am also interested in contrasting the exchange perspective with an altruistic perspective and testing whether the exchange model applies to couples with high levels of relationship satisfaction and reciprocal love, or whether it is only relevant to couples with unequal and lower levels of satisfaction and love.

Here are links to my research page, paper abstracts, my CV, and my teaching page.