Katharina Buczek
And unlike preferences, which can be largely influenced by things such as Hollywood movies, Prall believes his research is different because the study relied on people’s actions.
“This research focuses on people’s actions. Sure, you might say you’d prefer someone that’s deemed really desirable, but that’s heavily impacted by societal norms,” Prall began.
“What do you do in that relationship? How does it actually go? That was what we were looking at,” Prall continued.
This difference in approach to understanding mating is groundbreaking since much anthropological research on human mating patterns relies on preference over action.
And Prall believes that Himba was an optimal group to study.
“This was a great population to look at these questions because everyone knows each other, and most date and marry within the population,” he said.
“You can ask them how much they’d like to be in a relationship with a specific person because they actually know that person. That is how people have partnered up for thousands and thousands of years. Not online– but with people in your community,” Prall finished.
Do you believe that you have or are dating someone “out of your league?” Does Prall’s theory hold up?
To read the complete study published in Science Advances, visit the link here.
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