Discuss evolutionary explanations for the relationship between sexual selection and human reproductive behaviour Flashcards
outline:
long-term relationships
one-night stands & sneak copulations
sexy sons hypothesis
Long-term relationships between males and females are advantageous to men as they enable them to retain access to one fertile woman.
- For females, a long-term relationship means the increased investment of resources by a man to her and her children, therefore reducing the chance he may later abandon her and their offspring.
- Through mate guarding, the couples monitor each other to ensure that other potential partners know they are taken.
- important to men as they don’t want to waste their resources on raising a child that doesn’t share his ‘selfish gene’, whilst women need to ensure their male uses all his resources on her and offspring and doesn’t spread them over multiple mates.
One-night stands and sneak copulation are advantageous to men as they enable them to increase their reproductive possibilities without having to heavily invest in a woman or her offspring.
- It could mean that an offspring will have one’s ‘selfish gene’ but another man will use his resources to raise the child.
- For women, they provide access to a wider gene pool to maximise the chance of their offspring reaching sexual maturity and pass on her selfish gene.
- Indeed, they could allow for her to remain in a long-term relationship with a ‘resource-rich but genetically poor’ mate but having an offspring with a ‘resource poor but genetically fit’ male.
The sexy sons hypothesis argues females select desirable males as they know their sons will also have these desirable traits.
- This increases the likelihood they will reach sexual maturity and be found highly attractive themselves by future females. In this way, a ‘runaway process’ can occur where certain characteristics become ‘fashionable’ over time.
The handicap hypothesis argues females select males with some disadvantage that shows his ability to thrive as this is a sign of his superior genes.
- This may explain why some females find men attractive despite their socially undesirable behaviour.
strength
Stark evidence for the role of sexual selection in human reproductive behaviour comes from Clarke and Hatfield (1989) who used confederates to offer casual sex to men and women.
75% of male participants agreed to the request, yet none of the women did.
This shows that, as men compete to be selected by numerous female partners, they are more likely to agree to an opportunity to reproduce whereas women more carefully select an ideal mate and so are far less likely to agree.
Furthermore, men are more likely to engage in Sneak Copulations and one-night stands as they can be a successful sexual strategy to increase their number of offspring without the need to invest their resources in the child, perhaps in the hope another male will be fooled into doing so.
strength 2
Compelling evidence for the role of sexual selection in human reproductive behaviour comes from Buss (1993) who reported men would be more jealous due to infidelity, whereas women would be jealous if their male partner formed an emotional bond to another women.
This suggests that sex differences in jealousy reflect the behaviour each sex shows in relationships. Women seek a mate who can protect and provide for her and her offspring and would not want this to be shared with another female.
Men seek a mate who will raise his offspring so would not want to risk investing in a child that may not be his.
Consequently, both sexes display mate guarding behaviours, such as buying wedding rings to signify they are taken and in a long-term relationship.
strength general
A strength of these explanations is that they are culturally universal, which is when a theory argues that behaviour is the same across all cultural groups.
This is because research suggests that characteristics in men and women that are seen as attractive are the same in all cultures.
For example, Buss showed features such as signs of fertility (in women) and offering protection and resources (in men) are universally attractive meaning, the explanations account for human behaviour across the globe.
general limit
Another limitation of these theories is that they are biologically determinist, which is when a theory suggests that our free choices are limited by internal, biological factors.
This is because evolutionary explanations suggest that human reproductive behaviour is constrained by evolved, genetic characteristics over which we have no control.
This limits our free will and ability to choose our partner and not have children.
This, therefore, doesn’t explain homosexuality in humans which are, nonetheless, common in modern society.
