• What are the main results of the study? 
• Can the results be used to answer the research question(s)? 
• Can the results be generalized beyond the context of the study? 

What are the main results of the study?
 
 

Can the results be used to answer the research question(s)? 
 

Can the results be generalized beyond the context of the study? 

Dependent Measures

Kenrick et al. (1996) constructed and analyzed three dependent measures. Each dependent measure was the difference between the participant's age and the age (either the youngest, oldest, or most attractive person the participant would consider going out with) obtained from the interview. The minimum difference was the difference between the participant's age and the minimum acceptable age. The maximum difference was the difference between the participant's age and the maximum acceptable age. The most attractive measure was the difference between the participant's age and the most attractive person the participant could think of to go out with. 

Kenrick et al. constructed these difference measures so that they could compare dating preferences across age groups. They used analysis of variance to test whether there were any differences between the means plotted in Figure 2. 

Minimum, Maximum, and Most Attractive Partners

The minimum age preference is shown in the figure by the black points. Males were willing to date younger females; overall, male's minimum age for a dating partner was 1.6 years younger than themselves. Females, on the other hand, were not willing to date much younger males; their average minimum age was .6 years younger than themselves. 

The maximum age preference is shown in the figure as the white points. Males and females were both willing to date someone much older than themselves; the overall maximum age difference was 6.0 years for males and 5.9 years for females. The maximum age increased for both males and females across age. 

Most interesting are the results for the age of the most attractive person imaginable. These results are shown in the figure as the grey points. Both males and females imagined the most attractive person as being older than themselves. 

Actual Dating Partners

Although the maximum difference and most attractive partner results indicate that adolescent males prefer older partners, they actually dated females who were their age or slightly younger! Females, on the other hand, had dating partners who were more in line with their preferences.