Buss 1989 — Sex differences in human mate preferences across 37 cultures

What the study found

Buss surveyed 10,047 people across 37 samples in 33 countries and tested whether stated mate preferences differ by sex. Across these cultures, women on average placed more weight than men on a prospective partner's resource-acquisition cues, such as earning capacity and financial prospects. ^[1]

Females were found to value cues to resource acquisition in potential mates more highly than males

^[1]

Why it matters here

This study is often invoked in manosphere discussion of "hypergamy" — the idea that women prefer, or only pair with, higher-status men. Buss documents a consistent average sex difference in stated preference for a partner's resources, which is narrower than the stronger claim that women universally partner up the status ladder. It measures reported preferences rather than actual mating behaviour, and group averages do not describe any individual. See the check on whether hypergamy is universal for how this evidence is weighed.