GENDER PREFERENCES IN MATE SELECTION IN LITHUANIAN iTV SMS PERSONAL ADS

1. GENDER PREFERENCES IN MATE SELECTION IN LITHUANIAN iTV SMS PERSONAL ADS Susan C. Herring Asta Zelenkauskaite Indiana University, Bloomington Cornell University, July 15, 2009

2. Interactive Television Short Message Service (iTV SMS) • Convergence of traditional and new media • television + mobile telephones (SMS, or texting) + web (Zelenkauskaite & Herring, 2008) • Formats • e.g., hosted chat, journalistic debate, text chat only (Beyer et al., 2007) • Spread • Europe (especially Northern), Asia, U.S. (to some extent) • linked to mobile phone use • mobile phone use in Lithuania: 56% of pop. in 2003, 95% in 2006

3. Personal Advertisements • Traditional print media (newspapers) • Content reinforces traditional gender roles (Cameron et al., 1977; Koestner & Wheeler, 1988; Lynn & Bolig, 1985; Lynn & Shurgot, 1984) • “Male-taller norm in mate selection:” Females more often seek height and offer slimness, males more often offer height and seek slimness (Koesten & Wheeler, 1988) • Tall males and slim females receive more responses (Lynn & Shurgot, 1984) • iTV • Many SMS posted to an Italian iTV program had content similar to personal ads (Zelenkauskaite & Herring, 2008)

4. iTV in Lithuania: Telejazz program* * On national Tango TV, broadcast nightly 12-3 a.m.

5. Research Questions What gender differences, if any, are evident in personal ads posted to the Lithuanian iTV SMS program Telejazz, in terms of: RQ1: Frequency of posting? RQ2: Self-description? RQ3: Description of sought-for person? RQ4: The purpose for which someone is sought? If differences are found, what accounts for them?

6. Possible Outcomes 1a: Males and females will participate equally. Cf. ‘triple A’ of new media: accessibility, anonymity, affordability (Cooper, 1998; Cooper et al., 1999) 1b: Males will post more ads than females. Cf. research on public CMC (e.g., Herring, 1993, 2003) 1c: Females will post more ads than males. Cf. research on Italian iTV SMS (Zelenkauskaite & Herring, 2008)

7. Possible Outcomes (cont.) 2-4a: Gender differences in males’ and females’ ad content will be non-significant, or will deviate significantly from traditional gender roles. Cf. Cooper (1998), Cooper et al. (1999), Danet (1998) 2-4b: Males’ and females’ ad content will manifest significant differences, in keeping with traditional gender roles. - For print ads: Cameron et al. (1977), Koestner & Wheeler (1988), Lynn & Shurgot (1984) - For CMC: Herring (1993, 2003) - Lithuanian cultural context: Purvaneckiene (1998), Fischer (2001)

8. Data Source • SMS ads archived at www.telejazz.lt • As of November 5, 2007 • 51,313 SMS (33,488 M seeking F; 17,825 F seeking M) • 160 characters maximum (like regular SMS) • Ads include seeker’s age and category: • male-to-male; male-to-female; female-to-male; female-to-female; other (e.g., couples) Sample • Focused on female-to-male and male-to-female ads • Randomly selected 1,000 ads (500 F-to-M; 500 M-to-F)

9. Analysis • Identified gender of ad poster • as self-reported in archives • via linguistic cues • e.g., adjective-noun agreement; participles; gender-indexical words (woman, man, etc.) • Analyzed ads for • Participation by gender • Content by gender • Grounded theory approach (Glaser & Strauss,1973) • Informed by coding schemes in previous personal ad studies

10. Analysis (cont.) • Coding categories • 30 self-description and 30 description of the sought-for person (same categories) • e.g., marital status, location, physical characteristics, personal qualities (sincerity, social status, etc.) • 10 purpose + ‘other’ • Total = 71 possible codes, applied to both M and F ads

11. Coding Categories

12. Results: PARTICIPATION Age distribution • 1.9 times more M than F ads • Out of 2,300 ads analyzed for duplicates: • 18% of M repeated ads • 6% of F repeated ads • Ad length: • ~10 words (M avg. 10.1; F avg. 9.7).

13. Results: SELF-DESCRIPTION

14. Self-Description Results: Female > Male *** p<0.001; ** p<0.01, *p<0.05; df=1, N=1,000 ads

15. Self-Description Results: Male > Female *** p<0.001; ** p<0.01, *p<0.05; df=1, N=1,000 ads

16. Results: CHARACTERISTICS SOUGHT

17. Seeking-Other Results: Female > Male *** p<0.001; ** p<0.01, *p<0.05; df=1, N=1,000 ads

18. Seeking-Other Results: Male > Female *** p<0.001; ** p<0.01, *p<0.05; df=1, N=1,000 ads

19. Results: PURPOSE

20. Purpose Results: Both genders *** p<0.001; ** p<0.01, *p<0.05; df=1, N=1,000 ads

21. Examples • Female-to-male ads SVELNI MIELA MERGINA SUSIPAZINTU SU LAISVU SVELNIU RIMTAI DRAUGYSTEI VAIKINU IS ALYTAUS A tender, nice woman would meet a single tender man from Alytus for a serious friendship. zavi, laisva sviesiaplauke, noretu susipazinti su simpatisku laisvu VYRU A nice, single blond girl wants to meet a nice single MAN. • Male-to-female ads Virukas iesko lieknos meiluzes nuo 18. . . iki, is ROKISKIO sexs pasimatimams, paremsiu finans, ras sms, sk rimtas. A man is looking for a slim lover from 18 years old to… old, from Rokiskis for sexual appointments. I can provide financial support, write SMS, this ad is serious. Si zinute yra skirta merginai ar moteriai turinciai didziuli biusta. Gal pavyktu tokia sutikti? Labai lauksiu Jusu This message is dedicated to a woman who has a big bust. Maybe we could meet? I am waiting for you!

22. Summary • RQ1: gender differences in participation • Males post more, longer, and more repeated ads • Consistent with male dominance of public sphere (Coates, 1998); gender patterns in CMC (Herring, 1993, 2003) • RQs 2-4: gender differences in ad content • Consistent with print ads (e.g., Koesten & Wheeler, 1988) • Consistent with Lithuanian culture (and traditional Western) gender roles • Complementarity in what each gender offers and seeks; seemingly conflicting purposes

23. Possible Explanations • Technology effects • ‘Triple A’ predicts liberal content • YES – same-sex and couples ads; ads seeking sex and short-term contact • NO – traditional gender roles expressed • Lithuanian culture • Culture-specific content, e.g., tvarkingas (‘orderly’) • Catholic, patriarchal culture predicts conservative content • YES – traditional gender roles • NO – relatively liberal content • NO – both genders should express family values

24. Possible Explanations (cont.) • Gender socialization • Predicts gender patterns, but also exceptions/variations • YES – gender patterns are evident • NO (?) – more patterns than exceptions • Predicts subtlety, elaboration, social niceties • YES – omission of mention of children (?) • NO – direct, overt • Evolutionary biology • Predicts evolutionarily-motivated sex differences in mate selection • YES – women seek larger, “good provider” men; men seek younger, attractive “good breeder” women (cf. Darwin, 1871) • YES – women seek long-term relationships; men seek short-term relationships (cf. Buss, 2002) – explains seemingly incompatible ad purposes • NO – emphasis is not (overtly) on reproduction

25. Conclusions • Research is needed comparing personal ads across different media within the same culture, and in the same media across different cultures • Novel, anonymous, accessible technology does not necessarily liberalize content • New media often reinscribe traditional gender roles • Gender roles are especially persistent where mate selection is concerned • Evolutionary factors likely play a part

26. Thanks for listening Comments and suggestions welcome!