The roles of pro-environmental attitudes and behaviour in mate choice

Introduction: Previous research has shown that pro-environmentalism, as a signal of prosociality, can be a valued trait in mate choice. It is also predicted that perceivers’ own pro-environmental traits should influence such preferences, as these influence their perceptions of environmental signals in other domains. This study presents results of two experiments examining whether individuals who engage in pro-environmental behaviors are perceived as more desirable, and how observers’ environmental attitudes affect these perceptions.
Methods: In Experiment 1 (N=140), participants rated the desirability of targets described as engaging in either high or low pro-environmental behaviors. Experiment 2 (N=133) also explored desirability ratings and included the Environmental Attitudes Inventory (EAI-24) to assess observer attitudes.
Results: Experiment 1 found that high pro-environmental targets were rated significantly more desirable. Experiment 2 found that women rated high pro-environmental targets as more desirable than men did, and EAI-24 scores positively predicted desirability ratings for high environmental targets in long-term contexts, and negatively predicted ratings of low environmental targets.
Conclusion: These findings support previous research showing that pro-environmental behavior may function as a signal of prosociality in mate selection and is novel in finding that this is especially the case among individuals with stronger environmental attitudes.