a01 evolutionary explanations of gender roles Flashcards
What are the 3 sections
Division of labour
Mate choice
Cognitive style
Talk about division of labour
The role of division of labor may have evolved because women wouldn have spent most of their time either pregnant or producing milk, if she spent it hunting this would reduce the groups reproductive success. But they could also help in providing food and clothing and shelter
5 his complementary division of labour enhances reproductive success but also increases chances of survival
Who came up with the neanderthal argument
Kuhn and stiner
What did kuhn and stiner say
Said that gender division of labour may explain why homosapiens survived but homoneanderthals didn’t
They had bith their genders involved in hunting cz they found scars on the skulls if hot genders. This meant that there wasn’t much divides of labour.
This suggests that’s the reason we are still alive is cz we had a strategy which led to an efficient division of labour
Talk about mate choice
The key to adaptive behaviour is reproductive success so it’s not surprising to find that many gender role behaviours are related to reproductive strategies
Men look for a partner who is physically attractive and shows signs of fertility. They show women they have a lot of resources and wealth.
Women look for men who have a lot of resources and wealth. They try to look as attractive as possible for men.
The evo explanation fir gender roles is related to the way males and females maximise their reproductive success
So in terms of gender role differences in mate choice, we expect men to seek physically attractiveness. Women will seek to look attractive. They’ll seek someone wealthy and powerful men will advertise their wealth and power
What are the 2 subsections for cognitive style
E-s theory
Tend and befriend
Talk about the E-s theory who came up with it too?
Baron-cohen
Research found that women are better at empathising, men are better at systematising
Suggests reason this gender difference exists is cz of the selection pressure for males, develop better hunting strategies, and females, who are focused on rearing kids.
Suggests males who could systematise better had an evo advantage. Women who were able to rear kids better also had evo advantage. That why they gave these roles
Talk about tend and befriend
Who talked about it
Taylor et al
Women are more focused on interpersonal concerns e.g. rels between ppl than men
This could be cz of the different challenges faced by men and women when dealing with stress in the eea environment of evo adaptation
Ancestral males would deal with stress by getting ready to fight or flight
Females would deal with stress by protecting themselves and their young
This is cz it would be adaptive yo group together with family units
That’s why this difficult exist it’s an evo advantage to have these diff
