• According to Washington State University, human sexual attitudes are affected by their conscious minds. The ability to think sets the human race apart from the rest of the animal world. Washington State University reports animals have mating seasons where the alpha male is clearly defined by size and strength. On the other hand, the alpha male in the eyes of a female human is determined by both physical and social factors uniquely desired by each female.
  
  

Female Mating

• The University of Texas reports male humans are an average of 12 percent taller than females, which is purely for reproductive rather than survival purposes, and it is used to impress women with size and strength. Despite the size difference, the female human does not only apply physical criteria to the search for a mate. Washington State University explains social factors including financial security and religious factors play an important role in human mating and courtship.
  
  The female human assesses a number of criteria in the search for a mate--the first being which male gives the best opportunity for reproduction and the best genes for future children. The next criteria is social, where the female measures the apparent financial and social status of the male, giving future children the best chance of survival and quality of life.
  
  

Male Mating

• Male humans have less criteria for the choice of sexual partner than females, with Washington State University reporting men placing more importance on physical appearance than women. The cultural appearance of sexual desirability changes over time and geographic location, Washington State University explains that during times of food shortages larger women are more desirable to men. Within the male the urge to find a suitable reproductive partner is strong, leading males to look for women of an impregnable age--meaning past puberty--who are young enough to care for children for the first several years of a child's life.
  
  

Courtship

• According to Washington State University, courtship and mating can be dangerous in the animal world with the female of many species overpowering the male when sexual advances are rebuffed. Human courtship is less dangerous, with the female having the power of thought. She can simply walk away from an unwanted sexual advance.
  
  Social criteria has an important role in human courtship dependent on the type of encounter being sought. The University of Texas reports humans play a part in a variety of sexual encounters, including long-term committed relationships, brief sexual encounters and extramarital affairs. The male of the human species has the ability to ignore his social criteria to engage in sexual encounters, where women find this more difficult to do with males associating beauty and youth with sexual reproduction.