Men show stronger aversion to economic inequality than women when mating is at stake, study finds

A new study published in Evolution and Human Behavior has found that men, compared to women, tend to prefer societies with less economic inequality—especially when they are thinking about finding a romantic partner. The researchers suggest this pattern may be rooted in different mating strategies, where men expect their life quality after marriage to decline in highly unequal environments, while women may anticipate an improvement.

Although people generally dislike economic inequality, the idea that this aversion could differ between men and women in the context of mating had not been explored in detail until now. Drawing on evolutionary theories of mate selection, the researchers hypothesized that economic inequality creates different incentives and outcomes for each sex.

Men may face greater competition and reduced household outcomes after marriage in unequal societies, while women may stand to gain by partnering with higher-status individuals. This could mean men are more sensitive to inequality when thinking about long-term relationships.

To test this, the researchers conducted five separate studies using data from both the United States and China. The first two studies used population-level data to explore how inequality influenced the local ratio of reproductive-aged men to women. Study 1A analyzed data from all 50 U.S. states between 2006 and 2019, while Study 1B looked at county-level data from 2010 and 2020. In both cases, the researchers found that higher income inequality was linked to a lower ratio of reproductive-aged men compared to women. This suggests that in more unequal areas, there may be relatively fewer men in the mating pool—possibly because they are less willing to stay in these areas.

Study 2 examined this idea more directly by analyzing migration patterns of over 4.7 million reproductive-aged Americans. The researchers found that men living in states with high economic inequality were more likely to move away than women, supporting the idea that men are more likely to avoid unequal environments when making life decisions about where to live. These findings held even after controlling for income, education, employment, and other demographic variables.

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While the first three studies relied on archival data, the next two experiments tested whether inequality preference could be influenced by making mating goals more salient. Study 3 involved over 800 Chinese university students who were randomly assigned to imagine living in a fictional society with either high or low economic inequality.

Participants were told to either think about finding a romantic partner or about pursuing a job in that society. Men who were asked to imagine looking for a partner in a high-inequality society showed significantly lower preference for living in that society compared to women. This effect was not observed in the work-related condition.

Study 4 replicated these findings in a more targeted sample of 418 heterosexual Chinese college students who were actively seeking romantic partners. Again, men showed a lower preference for high-inequality societies compared to women.

Importantly, the researchers also measured participants’ expectations about their life quality after marriage and found that this helped explain the results. Men expected their household status and income to decline after marriage in unequal societies, while women expected theirs to improve. A statistical mediation analysis confirmed that these expectations helped account for the sex difference in inequality preferences.

Taken together, the findings suggest that men and women respond differently to economic inequality in part because they anticipate different outcomes from romantic relationships in these environments. In unequal societies, men face steeper competition for partners, often end up partnering with lower-status individuals, and expect to see a drop in life quality after marriage. Women, on the other hand, may have more opportunities to partner with higher-status men and anticipate upward mobility, even if such relationships come with increased competition.

The researchers argue that these results provide a more nuanced view of how people form attitudes toward inequality. While previous research has often found that women show greater concern about fairness and social equality, this study shows that context matters. When mating goals are activated, women may become more tolerant of inequality, especially if they believe it increases their chances of improving their status through marriage.

These insights also speak to broader evolutionary theories. Men are often expected to compete for resources and status to improve their attractiveness to potential mates, especially in highly unequal societies where the stakes are higher. Women, who often prefer partners with more resources, may use inequality as a cue that high-status men are available, even if it means facing more competition.

The study provides evidence that attitudes toward economic inequality are not just shaped by ideology or income level—they can also be deeply tied to our evolutionary psychology. But it also has limitations. Most of the experimental data came from college students in China, which may not reflect attitudes across different age groups, cultures, or relationship contexts.

The researchers also focused only on heterosexual participants, meaning the results might not generalize to people with other sexual orientations or gender identities. In addition, although the experiments manipulated perceptions of inequality and measured participants’ preferences, real-world decisions about where to live or whom to marry are influenced by many other factors.

Future research could explore whether similar sex differences exist in polygynous societies, where wealthier men may have multiple partners, or in cultures with different norms around marriage and gender roles. The authors also suggest that subjective perceptions of inequality—how unequal people feel their society is—could be just as important as objective measures in shaping preferences. Understanding how these different forms of inequality influence people’s life choices may help policymakers and social scientists better grasp how economic structures interact with human behavior.

The study, “Men (but not women) prefer to live in economically equal societies when it comes to mating: A five-study investigation,” was authored by Xijing Wang, Hao Chen, and Khandis R. Blake.