When Women Are Scarce, More Men Ready to Commit
Ladies, if you are ready to use that dress that you bought at the David’s Bridal wedding bonanza sale blow-out (but didn’t have the man to go with it) fear not. Apparently, it could just be your location that determines whether or not you will walk down the aisle.
According to Evolutionary Psychology, men are more willing to put a ring on it when there are fewer single women around. This shift could be caused by the fact that the females have more options when the men outnumber them. This leads to men being more willing to up the ante and commit. (If they don’t, it’s likely someone else will.)
Daniel Kruger, an evolutionary psychologist and the University of Michigan, told LiveScience, “Women are basically getting snapped up, because the guys want to get her before somebody else does.”
Kruger was inspired to discover what happens when there is a gender imbalance between the sexes after he saw a magazine cover entitled, “Attack of the Single Woman”, while strolling through New York City.
He began his study by analyzing census data on gender imbalances and marriage data in the 50 largest metropolitan areas in the United States. From this, he calculated the “operational sex ratio”, which is a fancy way of saying the number of sexually available men per 100 sexually available women, multiplied by 100. The ration of 100 stands for a balanced population. If the number is greater than 100, there are more men to women. Less than 100 means more women than men.
For example, if the ratio is 80, that means there are eight men available for every ten women. In other words, a city to avoid if you are a woman looking to get hitched.
Interestingly enough, Kruger found that in areas where single women were more rare, the women got snagged up a little earlier. Men’s average age of marriage didn’t change, but there was more variability in the age in which they married, compared to women.
Kruger believes this is because women can be more choosy, but men have to build up social and financial status before they can catch a bride.
It’s always fun to see a form of natural selection happening at the social level between humans. But, the big question is...which are the cities with more men than women and more women than men?
Top Five Cities (Women Outnumber Men)
- Birmingham, Ala.: ratio 88, 26.7 years (Median marriage age for women)
- Memphis, Tenn.: ratio 88, 27.2 years
- New Orleans: ratio 89, 27.8 years
- Richmond, Va.: ratio 89, 26.3 years
- A three-way tie for New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., ratio 92, where median marriage ages were 28.3, 27.9 and 27.8, respectively.
This makes sense. Every time I am in New York City, I overhear women talking (more like complaining) about the lack of men available to them. I, myself, have often felt like part of a harem of young, single women in New York City, with men making all sorts of promises but little to no follow through.
One woman told me that New York City feels like a city of “lost boys” because they don’t need to commit. They can have a new woman every night if they want. So, probably not your best choice if you are looking to settle down...but it you want a fun night out with no strings attached, well, bite into that Big Apple!
Top Five Cities (Men Outnumber Women)
- Las Vegas: ratio 116, 24.5 years (Median marriage age for women)
- San Diego: ratio 115, 25.9 years
- Salt Lake City: ratio 113, 23.2 years
- Austin, Texas: ratio 112, 26.2 years
- Phoenix: ratio 111, 25 years
Seems like it still is the wild west, so to speak. With less women to help settle the frontier, men are more likely to get on one knee and pop that big question, so ladies, if you are looking for a hubby, try your luck in Las Vegas.
If you are looking to get married, moving somewhere won’t guarantee marital success, but, hey, if it helps improve the odds...
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