According to a new study, men are more likely to choose an attractive partner while women prefer a male with a higher social status. The findings, published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, are the first to demonstrate experimentally that the sexes differ in the way they choose mates in real-life contexts. The study's findings contradict recently popularised speed-dating studies that have found that, while men and women show these differences when considering hypothetical ideal partners, their preferences do not match up with how they actually evaluate and choose speed-dating partners. According to the study’s lead author, SMU Associate Professor of Psychology Norman Li, the research is also novel because the scientists are clarifying how exactly men and women differ. According to Associate Prof Li, men and women differ mostly on the low-end qualities that they want to avoid, not the high-end traits that they ideally desire.