<P> Female mate choice hinges on many different coinciding male traits, and the trade off between many of these traits must be assessed . The ultimate traits most salient to female human mate choice, however, are parental investment, resource provision and the provision of good genes to offspring . Many phenotypic traits are thought to be selected for as they act as an indication of one of these three major traits . The relative importance of these traits when considering mate selection differ depending on the type of mating arrangement females engage in . Human women typically employ long term mating strategies when choosing a mate, however they also engage in short term mating arrangements, so their mate choice preferences change depending on the function of the type of arrangement . </P> <P> Women do not always seek out and engage in long term mating arrangements . This is evidenced by factors such as the evolved male tendency to seek out multiple sexual partners - a trait that could not have evolved if women were not also historically engaging in short term arrangements - and by the tendency of some women to pursue affairs outside of their long - term couple pairings . </P> <P> David Buss outlines several hypotheses as to the function of women's short term mate choices: </P> <Ul> <Li> Resource hypothesis: Women may engage in short term mating in order to gain resources that they may not be able to gain from a long - term partner, or that a long - term partner may not be able to provide consistently . These resources may be food, protection for the woman and her children from aggressive men who may capture or sexually coerce them, or status, by providing the woman with a higher social standing . Women may also benefit from having several short term mating arrangements through paternity confusion - if the paternity of her offspring is not certain, she may be able to accrue resources from several men as a result of this uncertainty . </Li> <Li> Genetic benefit hypothesis: Women may choose to engage in short term mating arrangements in order to aid conception if her long term partner is infertile, to gain superior genes to those of her long term partner, or to acquire different genes to those of her partner and increase the genetic diversity of her offspring . This relates to what is known as the sexy son hypothesis; if a woman acquires genes from a high quality male, her offspring will likely have higher mate value, resulting in their increased reproductive success . </Li> <Li> Mate expulsion and mate switching: Women may engage in a short term mating arrangement in order to cause her long term partner to end their relationship; in other words, to facilitate a break - up . Women may also use short term mating if their current partner has depreciated in value, and they wish to' trade - up' and find a partner that they believe has higher value . </Li> <Li> Short term for long term goals: Women may use short term sexual relationships in order to assess a mate's value as a long term partner, or in the hopes that the short term arrangement will result in one that is long term . </Li> </Ul>

What are three factors that affect who you choose as your mate