Evolutionary explanation; Partner preferences Flashcards
what is a relationship
continuining, often committed association between 2 or more people
Darwin’s 1871 sexual selection
evolutionary explanation
= selection of characteristics that aid successful reproduction
= genes passed on to offspring, may become exaggerated over succeeding generations of offspring
examples of sexual selection
male peacock tails = sign of genetic fitness
- females who select males with such characteristic
= more likely to produce robust offspring = preference for such tails = perpetuated in future gens
what is anisogamy
differences between male and female gametes
sperm = small, highly mobile, created continuously in vast numbers from puberty to old age, don’t require much energy to be produced
eggs = relatively large, static, produced intervally for limited no. of fertile years, require sig. energy investment
consequence of anisogamy
- no shortage of fertile males
- fertile female = rarer ‘resource’
- gives rise to 2 types of sexual selection
what is intersexual selection
between sexes
female optimum strategy = select genetically fit partner, able to produce resources
- quality over quantity
why are females especially selective
Trivers = make greater investment of time, commitment and other resources before, during and after offspring birth
- consequences of making wrong partner choices more serious for female
impact of female optimum mating strategy on partner pref
determines which features passed on to offspring,
Fisher ‘Sexy Sons Hypothesis’
- genes we see today= enhanced reproductive success, female mating with male with certain characteristics (e.g. tall), will have sons who inherit ‘sexy’ trait
= sons more likely to be selected by successive female gens
- ‘sexy’ trait pref = perpetuated
what is intrasexual selection
within each sex
male prefered strategy = quantity over quality
males compete to be selected, ‘winner’ reproduces, therefore ‘winning’ characteristics that contributed to his victory = passed onto offspring
impact of male preferred strategy on partner pref
- rise to dimorphism (males and females end up looking very diff due to intrasexual selection)
e.g. size matters in male when selected by females
youthfulness (large waist:hip) in females matters when selected by males
- behavioural consequences
= ‘winning’ characteristics allow to outcompete rival, e.g., deceitfulness, intelligence, aggressiveness
= would lead to increased levels of aggressive males
strength of intersexual selection/evolutionary theory
research support
= Clark and Hatfield
- got psych uni students to approach other students individually and say they find them attractive, have seen them around campus, would they go to bed with them tonight
0% females agreed
75% males agreed
= supported view that females more selective than males due to diff in % of agreement between sexes
= suggests males evolved diff strategy for reproductive success
strength of intrasexual selection/evolutionary theory
research support
Buss = survey of over 10000 adults, 33 countries
- qs asked on variety of attributes that evolutionary theory predicts
females = greater emphasis on resource-related characteristics, e.g. good financial prospects, ambition
males = greater emphasis on physical attractiveness and youth
= reflect consistent sex differences in partner pref and support evoluntionary theory prediction
weakness of evolutionary explanation
overlooks influence of social/cultural factors
- cultural factors, e.g. contraception availability = contribute to rapidly changing social norms
Bereczkei et al = women’s mate pref changed, no longer resource-orientated
e.g. due to having greator roles in workplace, meaning less male dependence
= means evolutionary theory limited, as fails to account for both evolution and culture
