Rating: subjects were required to rate the listed characteristics in order of desirability in a mate. .
Many similarities appeared during this study, including the recurring importance of "good financial prospect-. This characteristic was outstanding in thirty six of the thirty seven samples, where females rated it significantly higher than males. This leads Buss to draw on similarities between cohorts and highlight the overall importance of this characteristic in today's society, of which these results are representative. What his results show is that males tend to desire mates with physical attractiveness and youth, while women seek mates with more financial power. The evolutionary approach to this conclusion dates it back to our ancestors and the situation in which they found themselves, thus with the main goal being to survive. In order to do this, males aimed to reproduce as much as possible, and females sought males who could protect them. In these times wealth was measured by social status, strength and ability to fight, and as a result these traits were inherited by future generations. Though the demand for these characteristics is not as apparent in today's society in comparison to ancient times, the hidden desire for them is still buried in the human sub-conscience. Buss shows that males prefer mates with facial symmetry, clear skin and well toned bodies. An important feature of a fertile woman is a low hip to waist ratio, developed centuries ago to indicate strength and good health, indicative of the ability to bear healthy children. As Buss' study points out, males prefer females who are younger than themselves, the suggested reason being that younger women are once again more fertile, and will produce numerous healthy children. Throughout history these qualities have remained the same even though standards of large families has somewhat decreased. The stereotype that women seek "Doctors- or Lawyers- is not far from the truth, as its basis is formed in ancestoral times, as females believe they need a mate to protect them, the only difference being today's women seek financially secure males, whereas ancient women sought strong and self sufficient mates.