["Journal of Personality, EarlyView. ", "\nABSTRACT\n\nObjective\nThis research examined how self‐regulatory orientations—promotion focus (growth) and prevention focus (security)—influence individuals' evaluation of their own desirable traits and their pursuit of highly desirable romantic partners.\n\n\nMethod\nTwo studies analyzed participants' evaluations of themselves and romantic partners: Study 1 followed 208 college students longitudinally across 7 months of early romantic interest development; Study 2 observed 187 participants in live speed‐dating events. Participants' regulatory focus, self‐perceptions, partner ideals, and the desirability of pursued partners were assessed, controlling for self‐esteem and consensus ratings of participants' own desirability.\n\n\nResults\nStronger promotion concerns predicted overly positive self‐evaluations and pursuit of more desirable partners, whereas stronger prevention concerns predicted overly negative self‐evaluations and pursuit of less desirable partners. These effects persisted after accounting for self‐esteem and consensus ratings of participants' desirability and were partially mediated by participants' own self‐perceptions and partner ideals.\n\n\nConclusions\nFindings suggest that regulatory focus influences aspirations for highly desirable partners through exaggerations of positive or negative self‐perceptions that then influence aspirations for and willingness to pursue more or less subjectively and objectively desirable partners. Promotion and prevention mindsets thus appear to play a unique self‐regulatory role in romantic partner selection beyond general self‐esteem or objective desirability.\n\n"]