> From a purely functional point of view the man's entire contribution to reproduction can last as little as a few minutes. Therefore the cost of trying again is low, so it's not strictly necessary to consider the personality factors you mentioned.
Under your reasoning, it's also not strictly necessary to consider physical factors either. The fact that men have to invest less in child-birth could suggest that men are genetically more prone to promiscuity than women, but it does not suggest that men are more interested in appearance.
Under a "selfish-gene" presumption where everyone wants to spread there DNA, and men, for physiological reasons have to make less investment than a women, it still does not follow that men would weigh physical appearance more than women. Given two women, one with better looks and one with more responsibility or power, genetically, it makes more sense for the man to choose the one with more responsibility.
I suspect that there is no genetic basis for men "caring more about looks" than women, it's entirely a social construction. If society deems physical appearance to be important, it can easily skew any underlying genetic preference. In the nature verses nurture argument, I suspect nurture has at least 80% of the power.
Under your reasoning, it's also not strictly necessary to consider physical factors either. The fact that men have to invest less in child-birth could suggest that men are genetically more prone to promiscuity than women, but it does not suggest that men are more interested in appearance.
Under a "selfish-gene" presumption where everyone wants to spread there DNA, and men, for physiological reasons have to make less investment than a women, it still does not follow that men would weigh physical appearance more than women. Given two women, one with better looks and one with more responsibility or power, genetically, it makes more sense for the man to choose the one with more responsibility.
I suspect that there is no genetic basis for men "caring more about looks" than women, it's entirely a social construction. If society deems physical appearance to be important, it can easily skew any underlying genetic preference. In the nature verses nurture argument, I suspect nurture has at least 80% of the power.