Assortative mating and its relationship with sexual dimorphism in Indians: Experimental data using stimulus images

Berscheid and Walster (1974) suggested that women marry men who are taller than them. On average, in all populations, men are taller than women, but sexual dimorphism in height has different degrees of severity and affects both the cultural environment and the phy-logenetic development of a particular society (Holden & Mace, 1999). In Western cultures (North America and Europe), being tall gives men additional opportunities and facilitates their goals. At the same time, in populations where resources are obtained in a different way than in industrial societies, the importance of the man's height differs. In this study, we analyzed the male-female height ratio preferred by married couples from the Indian Diaspora in Tanzania (Dar es Salaam). As a method, stimulus images were used, whereby the respondents were asked to choose two male-female pairs from six silhouettes depicted. The first pair chosen reflected the Indians' height preferences in a married couple, whereas the second one showed the real situation in the respondents' life: the difference in height between them and their husband / wife. Considering the results obtained for the Indians, it appears important to search for similarities / differences, as well as cause-and-effect relationships regarding the preferred severity of sexual dimorphism in height, within certain groups of populations (Western, industrial, pre-industrial, developed and developing countries, traditional societies, etc.) and to take into account the specificity of local environment and living conditions, of health indicators and cultural norms.

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