evolution Flashcards
- give evolutionary reasons as to why humans display aggressive behavior
- increase reproductive fitness
- to find a mate
- prevent females from leaving
- increase survival chances
- protecting offspring or mates
why could males today experience sexual jealousy
- in the past a concern for males was to not find a mate
- even when they have one they want to maintain influence over her
- aggressive behavior was used to prevent females leaving
what would happen to aggressive behaviors which aid the survival of genes
they would be passed onto offspring
- we compete in life for partners
- what did mate competition include
- rivalry
- led to jealousy
why were people jealous - evolutionary
- to secure them a mate and survival of genes
- sex
- babies
- continuation of family
why was family continuation very important for early humans
- community or group needed a constant supply of new members if it was to continue
what evolution wise does a pregnant woman need from her mate
- physical resources
- energy
- time
- a man to provide for her and her child
- food
- shelter
- protection
why could a woman be jealous of a man
- if she suspects he is with another woman
- sexually unfaithful
- puts her and her child’s survival at risk
how is aggression useful to women. to enhance her and her child’s survival
- good strategy to drive off or remove other women
- deters another woman from trying to attract that man
- punishes the man
why may the ‘other woman’ be aggressive to the existing female partner
- to secure the man and his resources for herself
what does make jealousy and aggression translate to
- a man not wanting to devote his time and resources to another man’s child
why may a man be aggressive and jealous towards another woman man
- if a woman was unfaithful
- he doesn’t want her to risk having another man’s child
aggression would help to secure food and shelter- limited resources
- how does aggression have an adaptive purpose
- it facilitates survival
- adaption to the environment
- those who defend food and shelter survive longer and reproduce
- aggression then is passed down as genes leading to aggression
why would males who are more aggressive be more successful
- against other males
- securing mates as they could fight any rivals
- prevents their mates from sexual infidelity
- more likely to pass on genes
study supporting infidelity and jealousy - Buss and Shackleton
- saw what men do in response to feeling threatened in a relationship
- for evidence of natural selection
- found men tended to give into females giving her everything she wanted to and were threatening when other males were around
- aiding survival of men’s genes
what did Buss and Shackelton find out about women
- women threaten to leave the man if he is unfaithful
- use verbal threats ‘he’s taken’
- women know 100% their baby is there’s, men don’t
- explains current inherited behavior
disadvantage - female aggressive jealousy
- idea that this may deter another woman from trying to attract her man may be valid
- how much jealousy put into that aggressive action depends on social norms of the group and personalities and strengths of those observed
evolutionary theory - deterministic
- innate response
- doesn’t consider free will
- humans do have choice over behavior
evolutionary theory - alternative explanations
- social aggression can be explained by social factors not evolution
how could the evolutionary theory be reductionist
- suggests our behaviors are the results of dispositional factors ignoring role of situational factors such as aggression or environment
- aggression is based on situational and dispositional factors
- more holistic explanation needed
- too simplistic
what is the evolutionary worry of not reproducing
- end of their genes
what genes are likely to be naturally selective
- genes which maximize an individuals ability to reproduce successfully
anisogamy and parental investment
- makes produce sperm at little cost
- best strategy is to mate with as many females as possible to have maximum number of offspring to continue genes
anisogamy
difference between egg and sperm
parental investment
any investment made by the parent in an individual offspring that increases the offspring’s chances of survival at the cost of the parents ability to invest in other offspring
which parental investment in a child is greater
female
what is a woman in evolutionary chemistry at risk of
-getting pregnant
why are women typically more discriminating then men when choosing sexual partner
consequences of mating with an unsuitable partner is far greater for women then men
because women are more picky with their sexual partners what trait to males have
aggression to compete against other men for females
according to evolutionary theory what are the purposes for relationships and attraction
- to reproduce
- ensure our genes are passed on
what partners should men and women seek for
- who produce healthy offspring
- who can be cared for
- why men want young women
- why women want men with resources
fishers hypothesis : runaway process
- females are initially attracted to features of a male that have survival value
human reproductive behavior - positives
- buss did a study to show that men and women in different cultures follow patterns of behavior predicted by evolutionary theory
- personal ads in newspapers show women looking for mates emphasized their physical beauty and that they want a high status wealthy man
- women are more selective ‘hi wanna have sex w me at uni’ 75% males said yes
human reproductive behavior - negatives
- buss found cultural differences in sex differences, mate preference in western and non western cultures - discounts cultural differences
- deterministic fails to consider role of free will assuming behaviors are innate and have no choice in how we behave
- reductionist ignores situational factors and role of environment
- exposure effect - we tend to like people who we’ve been exposed to
