I think , exactly the same way. Human beings are sugar coating their feelings with intellectuality, aesthetics, liking, judgement, money(security) and many more 'human' and advanced terms/notions. But I beleive, at the end our instinct to "choose the right mate to spread our genes" is the same main drive nature dictates us. There are some animals/humans who practice mating just for pleasure or /dopamine purposes, As far as I know, dolphines and most of the human kind is part of these species :) This fact might explain why in general many male species are not so much interested in females once the 'act ' has been performed. Females however, mainly feeling the need to take care of their offsprings might still have feelings towards their natural"sperm-donors".Ama I being too realistic ? I did not want to kill 'love/loyalty feelings of some ot the readers here, But that is what I have been observing/experiencing :(

Dear Ufuk

Sexual selection among the animals can have two main forms : intrasexual selection ( also known as competition between males ) in which members of the less limited gender ( males generally ) aggressively compete among themselves for access to the limiting sex, and intersexual selection ( also known as mate choice or choose by the female ) , in which males compete to be chosen by females

When it comes to females , the tremendous variation of opinion among men is frightening . The feminine beauty is intriguing from the point of view of the male brain . While teenagers ( and some adults even after ... ) , much of the male population through the curious behavior to rank women , not always very noble way, electing the muses of the college , the most beautiful artist, the more attractive teacher , etc. . The " group effect " ends up causing teens groups are almost unanimous in their decisions .

Past the hormone effect , men continue cultivating this hobby but are less influenced by the " group effect . Generally opt for the woman , not necessarily the most attractive but by personal qualities such as family , cultural , educational and economic status . There is a very popular phrase : there is no love under a bridge

There are many aspects responsible for this:

1. Body odour.

2. Looks

3. His/her behavior.

4. Similarities between likes and interests

5. Compatibility

and many more...

It varies from person to person what they prefer more on what they give more focus.

Regards,

Nitish

Dear Ufuk,

This is an interesting question. However, it is important to clarify, that if we are asking a broad, generic question about animals (including humans), there is a gradation with fine variation ranging from hermaphrodites which do not need any mate selection, to species where the gender of the individual is decided based on the scarcity in the population (e.g. fishes) or temperature (e.g. turtles), to mammals (including humans).

Research has shown that pheromones have an important role to play in humans and other animals during mate selection. These chemicals unconsciously indicate to the male that the female is ready for reproduction, and also indicate to the female whether the male is from a distinct genetic pool or similar. They have found that human females are more attracted to the scent of unrelated strangers and repelled by the scent of relatives. These experiments are highlighting the deep biological roots of human behavior.

You can also read the book "The Selfish Gene" to get a deeper perspective.

Best regards,

Apurva Sanaria

Are you thinking of getting married? 

:-)

As human beings you should know each others characters very well before any commitment. Once you are well aware of characters of each others, get consent and blessings of your parents and get married.  

Can the word "spouse" be applied to animals? Or which are the conditions under which this would be adequate? This has to be clarified before dealing with your question.

Thank you for this important notice Mr.Berg. Let us say "mate" for animals. Regards.

In animal mating, the  surroundings are paramount: spouse selection is governed by the proximity of a member of the opposite sex. As we climb the animal chain, selectivity increases.  Given the presence of several males, the strongest gets the female. Among birds, lavishness of plumage (belonging to peacocks, for instance) most attracts the female.  Aesthetic preferences in the human species vary with the culture and the historical period. In Western society, those preferences change with greatest frequency, particularly in eras of crisis, when social values are most in flux. Hence the mutability of social sexual roles and of preferences for particular types of mates among the sexes.

Hi Ufuk

interesting question

In animals it's based on attraction, I mean attractiveness of the mates'  traits.Two ways: either females choose, or the males compete for the female ( sexist bastards, objectifying females)

In humans: woman decides to get married, finds some idiot who marries her !

or you can always go for arranged marriage and hope you don't kill each other.

more scientifically:

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/happiness-in-world/201308/how-choose-mate

From interpersonal communication perspectives, I think the Social Exchange theory may also help to explain the human choice.  Based on this theory, people make their decision by comparing actual and anticipated rewards and costs in the relationship.

1)  Rewards can be materials that respond to physiological needs on Maslow’s pyramid of needs as well as those non-materials that respond to higher levels of needs such as security needs (physical security, financial security, etc…), social needs (love, belonging, friendship, companionship, etc…), and esteem needs (fame, status, recognition, etc…)

2)  Costs include perceived loss or punishment—let say, actual and anticipated deprivation of those needs in the relationship. 

People are likely to evaluate the marriage outcomes; they are likely to choose spouses who are perceived as being able to bring them rewards, or higher rewards than costs.

This is only one part of this theory. Besides there are some other theories that may also help to explain people’s choice of spouses; for example, attachment and affiliation theory, and those theories on similarity/complementarity may also yield some answers.

In the case of animals, I think Charles Darwin’s discussions on mate choice and sexual selection may help give some ideas.

Dear Ufuk:

Animals breed but do not declare properly love and vows of fidelity to each other: in many species there are mating rituals, sometimes quite creative and sometimes even violent. Males compete for females and both can mate with several partners, and the next round of mating couples who already form will be others.

However, there are animals that are an exception and form pairs of "eternal Valentine", a most similar perspective with which we form culturally as humans - and with the respective exceptions.

Monogamy is a form of relationship in which an individual has only one partner for a lifetime or for a certain period of your life - we call the latter of serial monogamy.

However, monogamy, fidelity or couples who come together for life, not all refer to the same thing and do not always apply simultaneously, although related.

Some animals are monogamous only for a certain period of time. For example, join a partner to breed and are faithful to that partner during the time you are with him, but at the time of the next breeding season, may decide to join another partner.

There are also animals that are paired for life, without being monogamous. Form couples who do not "divorce", but each individual can belong to several couples like this.

The monogamous is not found in more than three to five percent of non-human mammals known, including monogamous long term and short term. However, other animals including some birds, fish, reptiles and even insects (like cockroaches) are monogamous