College student men (n = 185) and women (n = 244) rated how desirable certain characteristics are in an ideal sex partner within a long-term relationship. They reported personal beliefs and predictions about the other gender's preferences. Of the twenty-six items that comprised each measure, factor analyses yielded five subscales: Communication/Openness, Physical Attractiveness, Knowledge/Skill, Take Control, and Response/Drive. As hypothesized, men placed greater emphasis than did women on Physical Attractiveness and Response/Drive, whereas women, more than men, believed Knowledge/Skill was important. Men and women differed completely on what they thought was important to each other. Furthermore, men recognized that there were gender differences on all subscales but Knowledge/Skill, whereas women recognized gender differences on all subscales. When the actual responses of men and women were compared with the beliefs that each had about the other, results showed that both genders underestimated the importance the other placed on Communication/Openness and overestimated that of Physical Attractiveness. Results are discussed with regard to implications for counselors. / Department of Psychological Science

In the psychological literature little has been written about Asian-Indians residing in the United States. Still, previous writers have noted that conflicts between parents and offspring in this population frequently revolve around issues of dating and mate selection. In the current study, I investigated the relationship between acculturation and mate selection preferences among Asian-Indians in the United States. The hypothesis was that respondents who spent their childhood in India would demonstrate Eastern mate selection preferences regardless of degree of acculturation, whereas for respondents who spent their childhood in the United States, acculturation would be predictive of mate selection preferences. Results revealed that generation and acculturation were too highly related to consider them as independent constructs. Therefore, the original hypotheses could not be tested. Factor analysis revealed that the mate selection characteristics loaded onto eight factors. Acculturation was inversely related to emphasis on traditional Eastern social status characteristics in a potential mate. Results are discussed with regard to implications for counseling and future research. / Department of Psychological Science