Final answer:
In Western culture, mate selection is often based on similar attraction, emphasizing love and personal compatibility, which leads to monogamous relationships and sometimes endogamous unions based on shared cultural or social backgrounds.
Step-by-step explanation:
In Western culture, the basis for mate selection is most emphasized as similar attraction, where individuals tend to mate with those who are similar to themselves. This observation is supported by trends such as the prevalence of monogamous relationships, and the social acceptance of love and compatibility as major factors in choosing a partner, often highlighted in the decision-making process of marriages. Societal norms and the concept of endogamous unions, which are marriages within the same social or cultural group, also play roles, although individuals in class systems have the option for exogamous marriages, where spouses come from different social categories, indicating a value-based selection on love and personal compatibility over social standing or economics.