Men and women put a lot of energy into trying to figure each other out, don't they? This isn't exactly groundbreaking news, seeing how we live in such a sexually charged society, and let's face it, interest in romantic relationships is just plain fun and exciting. There's not other feeling that you can compare to "the thrill of the hunt" when you are out playing the field, intrigued by new and interesting people that you can conceivably date and get to know better.

In fact, it's so intriguing, that multiple studies have been devoted to how men and women choose their husbands, wives, and life partners. Studies have been done on everything from how hormone levels affect our spur of the moment choices in picking sexual partners, to how pheromones affect our choice of mates, to how we actually use the symmetry of someone's face to determine whether they are a suitable fit for us.

There are so many reasons why we choose the partners that we ultimately settle down with, but are there differences between the way men and women choose their life mates? There are some similarities, but there are also some fundamental, and fairly large, differences between men and women when it comes to choice of partners, and that's where the interesting part comes in, and what may explain why men think women are from a different planet sometimes, and vice versa.

One example of how we differ is cited in a recent study. You see, there are almost subliminal, barely conscious powers at work, especially when it comes to how we are immediately attracted to our mates. A study showed that women that were on the birth control pill, who had more constant and lower levels of estrogen circulating in their bodies, tended to choose men who were a little less masculine, and therefore, would be perceived as better and more reliable partners and eventual fathers of their children.

Apparently women have a built in mechanism to make choices based on the perception that the more macho, masculine appearing men would not be ideal mates for life, only for the lesser time or perhaps a fling. When you contrast this with what men are generally initially attracted to, it's actually how nature intended it to be, and how nature sort of thrusts men and women together at ideal times to further the human population.

Men are actually driven to choose women when they are at their most fertile. They pick up on signals so subtle that they would not really be visible to the untrained eye. Women actually are supposed to "look" different when they are ovulating. Their lips become fuller, their faces become more symmetrical, and their voices become deeper, subconsciously transmitting the signal to all willing males that she is ready to mate.

Another thing that men look for, which they probably don't even know, is a woman with a more hourglass figure. There is a certain waist to hip ratio that signifies higher fertility to men, and they are often attracted to this because they are biologically driven to impregnate women and further their genealogical line, so to speak.

These are all just examples of how we are sexually attracted to each other, and we all know darn well that you can be downright in lust with someone, and still not really have much in common with them to make a lasting or fulfilling relationship. Yes, life is not fair this way, and often times we find ourselves inexplicably coming back to relationships for the wrong reasons when the sex is great, but the conversation, intellectual stimulation, trust, genuine mutual respect, and love is not there.

So, what do mature men and mature women look for in their life time mate, strictly speaking nonsexually? Well, men tend to look for women who are loyal, honest, good looking, and attentive. While these traits are important to women, they also cite things like responsibility, ambitions, ability to financially care for the family, and the "good looking factor" is a little less important to us women, especially as we age.