Social context may influence more self-perception and romantic partner preferences than biological sex

According to Sexual Strategies Theory, heterosexual individuals adjust their mate preferences to maximize reproductive success. These preferences are also shaped by environmental factors, including rivalry contexts, in which individuals compare themselves to potential competitors. This study examined mate preferences among women and men from different socioeconomic status (SES) and investigated how rival characteristics (physical attractiveness, social skills, and social status) relate to self-perception and short- and long-term partner preferences. We surveyed 1,166 participants (511 higher SES, 655 lower SES) from Northeast Brazil. Lower SES participants rated themselves as more physically attractive, whereas higher SES individuals considered themselves more socially skilled. In the same direction, higher SES individuals gave more importance to social skills while lower SES participants prioritized physical attractiveness in their long-term partners. For short-term, women reported significantly stronger preferences for general attractiveness, social skills, and social status than men. Lower SES participants expressed significantly stronger preferences for both social skills and social status in a partner compared to higher SES ones. The study also found that higher SES men gave less importance to social skills in their short-term partners than lower SES women and men and higher SES women. Additionally, exposure to high physically attractive rivals enhanced long-term partners' preference for social status, but only of low SES women. The results suggest that partner preference reflects not the weight of a single attribute, but a dynamic interplay of traits, shaped by sex and SES, consistent with Strategic Pluralism and Sexual Strategies Theories.