16. Evolution and sex Flashcards
What are the 2 general systems found in animals when it comes to rearing of offspring?
- Males uninvolved (Females attend to: male genetic quality + male pre-copulatory gifts)
- Males involved (Females attend to: Male genetic quality + male ability/likelihood to assist in child rearing)
What do women attend to in option one when it comes to the rearing of offspring?
Females attend to: male genetic quality + male pre-copulatory gifts
What do women attend to in option two when it comes to the rearing of offspring?
Females attend to: Male genetic quality + male ability/likelihood to assist in child rearing
If a species has the opportunity of male assisting does that mean he always will help in child-rearing?
No - look at humans not all fathers are involved
Which 4 lines of evidence do we have to answer what mating system were pursued by our ancestors in the EEA?
- Current human mating systems
- Non-human comparisons (ex: comparing to apes)
- Physiological evidence (ex: hormones)
- Existing psychological mechanisms
What is serial monogamy? (mating strategy)
Exclusive sexual and romantic relationships which may be terminated and serialized (what we see in many western societies)
What is extreme monogamy? (mating strategy)
Bethoral (trolovelse) before reproductive age
This is rare. Not very familiar to any of us. You know who you are going to be with before you even start to think about who you want to be with
What is polygyny? (mating strategy)
one male has exclusive sexual access to more than one female
What is polyandry? (mating strategy)
One female has exclusive sexual partnerships with more than one male
This is very rare
What does it take for a society to be classified as a social polygenist society?
a society can be classified as this as long as you have this as an acknowledged thing. -> if this is the norms
Not just if people sometimes have secret affairs
How is the size difference between males and females in monogamous species?
There is no difference
How is the size difference between males and females in polygonous species?
very large sex differences
How is the size difference in humans?
It is modestly dimorphic (Males and female are not the same sizes - but not as much as a difference as gorillas who are polygonous)
How is human the size of human testes when compared to gorillas and chimpanzees?
Human are in the middle. (females at least some of the time would reproduce with multiple males )
-> in primate species where females mate with more the testes tend to be bigger relative to body size.
EX: Gorilla - there is no threat, so there is no need to produce as much sperm
Why is it that humans females can no longer visible be seen as impregnable? (you can’t tell when a female is ovulating)
-One benefit for females is that they can make sure that a person is not just spending time with you because he is trying to get you pregnant right there. The male has to spend more time with the female to get her pregnant
What do we find when women are ovulating?
- Men give more tips to fertile lapdancers
- women tend to shift focus towards “good genes”
What is the function of romance?
it provides motivation and tools for positive interactions
What is the function of jealousy?
Provides motivation for ensuring your partner remains exclusive to you
What do romance and jealousy have in common?
They both work as a tool to reward and to avoid punishment
They also help maintain exclusive relationships
How does males and females concern with infidelity differ?
Males are more concerned with sexual infidelity (parental uncertainty)
Woman are more concerned with emotional infidelity (loss of co-parent)
Why are women more concerned with emotional infidelity than males?
Because of the potential loss of a co-parent who provides and help with resources
Why are males more concerned with sexual infidelity than women?
Because then they can’t be sure that the child is theirs and they don’t want to spend their resources on an offspring that isn’t theirs
When evaluating potential partners, human females hight rates signals of male emotional attachment, social style, and resource accessibility. Give examples of questions she might ask herself
- Does he seem to care? (emotional attachment)
- Does he seem stable? (Social style)
- Can he be a good provider (resource accessibility)
What do we know about the ancestral mating context?
- Pairing between males and females often extended beyond just sex into social pairing
- Emotional attachment between partners were common
- Marital ties were common
- Females occasionally paired with other men outside their partnership (usually secret/covert)
- males may have attempted to monopolize multible females at the same time