'Hypergamy' originated as a social sciences term that referred to the almost universal phenomenon of women marrying/mating upwards in status. However, TRP made the legitimate move of asking whether there were any evolved psychological traits in females that contributed to the universality of the hypergamy phenomenon.

TRP's answer was that there were such biological instincts in women. TRP then went on to expand the definition of 'hypergamy' in various ways.

Personally, I do believe that TRP was right that there are underlying psychological traits that constitute the core of the hypergamous impulse. However, I think TRP has gone too far in terms of constructing an overly elaborate model of specific behaviors that all fall under the term 'hypergamy'.

I believe that you have to follow the meaning of the word. 'Hypergamy' means to mate upwards in some way, and thus refers to a direct comparison between the woman and her potential mate. A lot of what TRP calls hypergamy is actually female sexual selectivity, which is more about ranking men and trying to get the best one they can get. Of course, these are related.

I think that biological impulses are often fairly general; you have to factor in cultural mediation when you get to very specific behaviors. On a purely biological level, I believe the hypergamous instinct is tough to articulate perfectly. It has to do with a woman being primarily attracted to only men who are more capable or competent than her in some essential way that relates to a man's provisioning and protection functions, but in the abstract. I think culture plays a large role in terms of what specific traits in a man can be considered when determining whether a given male meets a given female's hypergamous burden.

What are your thoughts?