Chapter 5: Men's Long Term Mating Strategies Flashcards
men typically don’t want to get married/vlaue relationships differently than women. What are the 7 benefits men have to getting married?
1) more of their children survive (biparentism of human children survive better)
2) status in community (typically married men have more status)
3) Certainty of paternity (marriage ensures monogamy)
4) increased the quality of the mate (by treating them better)
5) icnreased chances of finding a mate in the first place
6) increased chances of their children being reproductively successful and having their own children.
7) added coalitions and larger family ties becuase you are now associated with your wifes family. = more support
reproductive value
the number of children a given person may have in the future depending on their age and sex
younger women have a _____ reproductive value than older women
higher
differences between reproductive value and fertility
reproductive value is the number of potential offspring someone could have, but fertility is the number of offspring that was actually produced.
Although a 15 year old girl would have higher reproductive value, a 30 year old woman would have a higher ____ because;
higher FERTILITY rate because she most likely has produced more children than the 15 year old girl.
2 broad traits that signify a woman with high reproductive value
youth and health, which preset overt qualities in younger women (larger boobs, larger hips, small waist, symmetry)
T/F: the male preference for youth is seen cross culturally
true. all men prefer younger women, but it may differ slightly across cultures (ex/ nigeria prefers 6 years younger whereas croatia men prefer 2.25 years younger).
according to the eye tracking study, men spent longer dwelling time looking at faces that were younger and more feminine. this suggest that there is greater ___ ____ to young female faces
attentional adhesion
What happens to age preference as a man gets older?
it becomes even MORE IMPORTANT. Older men prefer younger and younger wives
men in their 30s prefer women who are 5 years younger, and men in their 50s prefer women 10-20 years younger.
why do men desire youth?
because its indicative of fertility and reproductive value. Youth is just an indicator OF fertility.
If youth is actually just an indicator of health, fertility and reproductive value, what age group do adolescent boys think are most attractive? Why?
adolescent boys think OLDER women are more attractive because women who are older than they are often have higher reproductive value compared to the girls who are the same age as they are. they prefer women whoa re SEVERAL YEARS OLDER than they are during adolescence, but as they near adult hood, they prefer younger females.
explain how social learning theory can be applied to males preference for younger mates. What is the exception to this? Which hypothesis for youthful preference is most strongly supported?
because women tend to prefer men who are older, men may have received more reward or reinforcement for seeking dates with younger women.
this cannot explain the fact that teenage boys are more attracted to older women, who they often cannot obtain.
the evolutionary explanation for youthful preference is most STRONGLY SUPPORTED: men desire young women because youth has CONSISTENTLY been linked with fertility.
When men are in their 50s, they prefer LONG TERM mates who are 10-20 years younger than them. However, 20 years younger is still 30, which is PAST the peak fertility. What may account for this discrepancy in the evolutionary youthful-preference hypothesis? What is a male’s preference in age for a SHORT TERM mate?
For long term partners, 1) older men may find it harder to attract dramatically younger women, and thus their preferences may just reflect a COMPROMISE
2) younger mates may be less compatible; nowadays, couples spend a lot of time socializing with one another, whereas in our evolutionary period, men typically just stayed with other men and women took care of cihldren and other women. therefore, we are now forced to live with our differences.
Men still prefer women who are at peak-fertility age when it comes to SHORT TERM mating.
mate ____ rates increase as the age difference between partners incrrease
homicide rate.
beauty is in the ____ of the beholder
adaptations. female beauty cues a woman’s fertility or reproductive value
2 main observable evidence of a women’s reproductive value
1) physical appearance : youthfull face, full lips, no wrinkles, clear skin, long hair, good muscle tone
2) features in behavior: high energy, bouncy and youthful gate.
what features of the eyes are deemed attractive to men?
a super-white sclera (the white parts of the eyes). having a dull sclera is indicative of metabolic and autoimmune problems.
a surplus of women tend to promote ___-term strategies in both men and women.
short term
a surplus of men tend to promote ___-term strategies
LONG term. women prefer long term relationships and they are in high demand and thus get what they want
men prefer women with __ hair. why?
long hair. its indicative of health.
2 reasons as to why facial feminine features are considered attractive to men
1) feminine features are a sign of youth because womens faces get less feminine as they age
2) feminine facial features signify that they have a lot of estrogen, signifying fertility
3) facial femininity is correlated with disease resistance.
T/F: the correlation between facial symmetry and attractive ness is higher than feminine facial features and attractiveness
false. although facial symmetry is still important, feminine facial structures are deemed more attractive
although counterintuitive, why is facial averageness important?
1) men may rank average looking people as more attractive because people may show a general cognitive preference for things that are easily processes
2) averageness is a marker for genetic quality. Deviations from averageness may be cues of genetic mutations and disease.
both sexes view relateively longer legs as more attractive in ___
women
studies found that in lowersocioeconomic backgrounds, women who had more offspring often had ___ ___
longer legs.
Evidence that standards of beauty are essentially hardwired from early in life? (although there is some flexibility among cultures)
all children seem to play with more attractive dolls than unattractive ones regardless if they were exposed to media previously or not.
why is peak fertility at mid 20s for women?
because at that age, women produce the most viable offspring
in men, when looking at female faces, the ___ ____ gets activated in the brain, but does not get activated when looking at the faces of other men
nucleus accumbens.
how is a woman’s body fat % and waist-hip ratio preference a context dependent adaptation?
the preference is dependent on state of poorness and economic hardship
in some countries when food is scare and they are in economic hardtimes, men prefer HEAVIER women
in countries where food is plentiful, men prefer LEANER women (states)
men consistently prefer ____ sized female bodies.
AVERAGED size female bodies. women’ cross culturally believe that men prefer smaller bodies than they actually prefer.
although the preference for heavier or lighter women fluxuates around the world (context dependent) based on economic hardship, what trait preference has not changed over the years?
preference for a LOW waist to hip ratio.
healthy and reproductively capable women have a waist to hip ratio of around ___ to ___, whereas men have a waist to hip ratio of ___ to ___
healthy and reproductively capable women have a waist to hip ratio of around 0.67 to 0.8, whereas men have a waist to hip ratio of 0.85 to 0.95
T/F: overall fat mass is a better indicator of diabetes and heart attacks in female than waist to hip ratio
false. diseases are linked with certain distribution of fate (aka waist to hip ratio) rather than their total amont of body fat.
Note: blind men also prefer women with low waist to hip ratios. what does this mean?
it means that waist to hip ratio preference is not just a visual cue. the preference develops in the TOTAL ABSENCE of visual input
normal range of womens WHR is ____ in foraging societies than in western populations
higher.
Do men cross culturally prefer a specific low WHR?
no. although all men prefer a lower WHR, the true value of the WHR differs dependent on local culture (ex /the Haza tribe prefers women with slightly higher WHR than western cultures, albeit it is still lower than men)
why may WHR be so important from an evolutionary standpoint?
women with higher WHRs typically find it harder to get pregnant
men pursuing a ___-term mating strategy are more likely to approach a female with low WHR.
short term. basically whenever its short term, physical traits are more desired than cognitive or childrearing traits.
which gender ranks physical appearance as more important?
males.
how has physical appearance importance changed over hte decades?
it has become more and more important for both genders, but the gap between the genders in terms of males finding it more important still exists. This is most likely due to all the media that hypersexualizes women.
why was it an evolutionary advantage for men to be able to tell when a woman was ovulating?
1) they could channel energy into courting at certain times
2) they didn’t need to waste time courting non-fertile females
3) they could decrease mate-guarding when their mate was not ovulating.
behavioral changes that women exhibit when ovulating
1) wear tighter clothes
2) flirt more
3) have a higher sex drive
two preferences for mates that solves the problem of parental uncertainty
1) premarital chasitity (virgins)
2) post marital fidelity (being faithful to husband)
Trend in preference for virginity has been ____. Why?
decreasing. Many people now say it is not as important. Due to emergence of birthcontrol.
the best predictor of extramarital sex is ____ ___ ___
premarital sexual permissiveness. people who have many sxual partners before marriage are more likely to be unfaithful than those who have few sexual partners before marriage.
____ proves to be more upsetting to men than any other pain a spouse could inflict on her mate
Unfaithfulness.
kin altruism theory to explain why homosexuality still exists
theory that the “gay” gene is propagated bc homosexual men invest heavily enough in their genetic releatives to offset the costs of forgoing direct reproduction.
female fertility hypothesis to explain why homosexuality still exists
the idea that the genes that facilitate homosexuality in men actually facilitate increased fertility in their female relatives. there is proof to this thoeyr! females who have brothers who are gay often have more children than females whose male relatives are all straight
the alliance formation theory to explain why homosexuality still exists
theory that younger males provide sexual favors to older males in order to form alliances, climb the social ladder, and get access to females. this one isn’t really proven as much.
which theory has the most proof in order to explain the propagation of homosexuality?
the female fertility hypothesis
men high in occupational status tend to marry women considerably more _____ and ____
attractive and younger
men who viewed highly attractive models tended to report: (characteristics in their own relationships)
1) being less committed to their partner
2) being less satisfied with their partner
3) having a less attractive partner
findings suggest that T levels drop after forming a :
committed relationship (ie/ getting married, or remarrying after divorce)
why would be an advantage for T levels to drop after forming a committed relationship?
it decreases the drive of mate effort in men. A decrease in testosterone would result in the decreased chances of infidelity and increased parenting efforts.
what happens to T levels in men after interacting with an attractive female?
they increase.
according to the skateboarding study, what happens to young mens behavior in the presence of younger women?
they engage in more risk taking behavior
when given a specific budget, men allocated relatively large proportion of the budget to _____, and women allocated a relatively large budget to ____. But when the budget of both sexes increased, more nad more of their budge was allocated to “luxuries” such as ____
when given a specific budget, men allocated relatively large proportion of the budget to PHYSICAL ATTRACTIVENESS , and women allocated a relatively large budget to RESOURCES. But when the budget of both sexes increased, more nad more of their budge was allocated to “luxuries” such as KINDNESS, IQ etc.
T/F: men tend to respond to personal ads more than women
true
general trend in age of wife over consecutive marriages of a man
in the first marriage, the wife differs by 3 years younger,
in the 2nd marriage, brides are 5 years younger
in the third marriage, brides are 8 years younger.
Link between female attractiveness and reproductive output, What culture was an exception to this?
more attractive females typically had more children then less attractive females. This trend was not seen for polish women for some reason.
link between age of marriage and number of children
men who married younger wives (6 years younger) had the most children, and men who married older wives ( 9 years older) had the least number of children.
Why may men in polygamous relationships marry when they are older
because in order to have more than one wife, you are supposedly supposed to treat them “equally” and most men do not accrue enough resources to be able to sustain another wife. thus, they get married to their second wife later.
changes in skin conductance when talking to an attractive woman? What is the phenomena called?
according to a study, a man had increased levels of skin conductance when he thought he was talking to an attractive woman. This phenomenon is called Mating Anxiety
T/F: the younger the bride, the more expensive men were willing to pay for an engagement ring
true
which gender is most likely to use appearance enhancement as a mate attractant tactic?
women
men typically compete with other men by attack their rival’s success, work ethic, and resources. how do females attack their rivals? What does estrogen play in this?
females tend to attack their rivals by commenting on their physical appearance or how many sexual partners they’ve had (shows infedelity)
typically, women with higher levels of estrogen/fertile phase of their cycle tent to derogate the physical appearance of another woman
Lipstick effect
the phenomena that when women are primed by economic hardship, they actually spend more money on beauty-enhancement products in hopes to secure a mate with more resources.
sexual competition hypothesis
eating disorders are maladaptive by products of a mate competition strategy of pursuing thinness.
mens mate preferences affect not only their own mating behavior, but also the mating behavior of women in their mate competition tactics.
