Formation of Relationships Flashcards
What is natural selection?
how a species evolves to show characteristics that allow their species to continue. For example giraffes with longer necks can reach leaves higher in the trees than giraffes with shorter necks who then would have died out.
What is sexual selection?
This is where a species evolves to have characteristics that the opposite sex will find attractive, this happens in order to increase chances of attracting a mate and ensuring that the gene pool continues.
What are examples of sexual selection in humans?
Face shape, physical attraction. Cunningham (1986) investigated what types of female faces are found attractive by males. He systematically varied the size of female facial features including the eyes, nose and mouth and found that men were most attracted to youthful features, e.g. large eyes, small noses and chins. Waynforth (2005) found that masculine facial features including a square jaw, ridged eyebrows, small eyes and symmetrical face were preferred by women especially those seeking a short-term partner.
What did Singh find?
that across cultures there is a preference for a female waist to hip ratio (WHR) of 0.7, which produces a typical hour-glass shape. This preference exists despite cultural differences for curvier or slimmer figures. In males, the ideal WHR is around 0.85 to 0.9 which signifies a tapering figure from wide shoulders down to narrow hips
What was Clarke and Hatfield’s experiment?
two studies where 96 university students took part in testing the hypothesis that men were more eager for sex than women. Male and female confederates of average attractiveness approached a potential partner and asked them one of three questions:
Would you go out with me tonight?
Will you come over to my apartment?
Would you go to bed with me?
Results were almost identical for both studies and they found that:
Both men and women were equally willing to go on a date with a person that they had just met.
Men were 11 times more likely to agree to visit the person’s apartment
While no women agreed to sex, as many as 75% of the men did!
What is the parental investment theory (Trivers)?
It offers an explanation for why certain relationships are formed. E.g younger women and older men. Females invest more in their offspring , therefore will search for a partner with the most resources.
