Role of Physical Attractiveness in Mate Selection by Educated Women in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

The present study was conducted to probe the role of physical attractiveness in mate selection among educated females of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Data for the study were collected through pre-tested questionnaire from 278 sampled working women from three public sector universities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa i.e. The University of Agriculture, University of Peshawar and Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Women University Peshawar. Results reveal that the females principally preferred well dressed, tall, broad shoulder, clean shaved, fair colored and physically attractive males with the same age and living in nuclear families. At the same time, there was a strong tendency of females towards westernization and materialistic values regarding mate selection. Despite emphasizing on physical characteristics, the females were also less concerned about physical appearance. A very large majority preferred economically sound intelligent man who have good job. The study recommends that an awareness campaign through mass media, religious leaders, civil society and political parties’ needs to launch to inform both the educated and uneducated females and their parents about the nature and impact of religious misinterpretations, western values, materialistic outlook and idealism affected the mate selection decision mainly.