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Updated: Feb 18, 2026

The Joint Effect of Social Comparison and Social Distance on Evaluation of Intertemporal Choice Outcomes in Event-related Potential Studies
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Psychological Value Theory: Predicting Initial Romantic Partner Choice From a General-Purpose, Computational

Dale J Cohen1, Tyler D White1, Shanhong Luo2

  • 1Department of Psychology, The University of North Carolina Wilmington.

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|February 16, 2026
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Romantic partner choice is driven by mate value, predicted by a computational cognitive model. This model accurately forecasts decisions and reaction times, revealing a biased average integration of partner features.

Keywords:
Initial partner choiceIntegration algorithmMate preferenceMate selectionMate value

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Evolutionary Psychology
  • Decision Science

Background:

  • Mate value is a key factor in romantic partner selection.
  • The cognitive processes underlying partner choice are not fully understood.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To determine if a general-purpose computational cognitive model can predict initial romantic partner choice.
  • To test Psychological Value Theory (PVT) for its ability to predict both choice and decision reaction time (RT).

Main Methods:

  • Discrete choice experiments were used to test PVT's predictions under controlled conditions.
  • Experiment 1 examined choices based on single partner features.
  • Experiment 2 investigated the integration of multiple partner features.

Main Results:

  • PVT accurately predicted over 85% of the variance in choice and RT across both experiments.
  • Individuals and groups showed high predictability.
  • Experiment 2 identified a Biased Average algorithm for integrating multiple features, where the most positive attribute has greater impact.

Conclusions:

  • Initial romantic partner choice utilizes a general-purpose, value-based decision mechanism.
  • PVT provides a robust computational framework for understanding partner selection.
  • This framework can be expanded to model partner choice in real-world scenarios.