Relationships Flashcards
Natural selection
“Survival of the fittest”
Pass of genes that help humans adapt better to the environment and survive.
E.g. strongest, fastest, best camouflaged
Sexual selection
“Sexy” characteristics lead to more mating and are passed on. Pass on genes that might help to attract a mate and have healthy offspring.
(even if they do not benefit survival; they’re important in human reproductive behaviour)
Anisogamy
Refers to differences between male and female sex cells.
Male gametes vs Female ova
Male gametes: small, highly mobile, created in vast numbers (puberty to old age)
Female ova: relatively large, produced at intervals, limited
Evolutionary approach’s explanation of human behaviour
Evolutionary approaches explain human behaviour in terms of adaptiveness and reproductive success.
Such approaches argue that if a behavioural feature, for example, partner selection, has been genetically inherited by one generation from another, then it must have a specific value for the human species; it might either help humans adapt better to the environment and survive (natural selection) or might help to attract a mate and have healthy offspring (sexual selection).
Intersexual selection
‘Female choice’
Based on the idea that females’ place a greater investment of time, energy and resources in raising a child, so they need to be more careful when choosing a partner - “quality over quantity”.
AO3 Research support for inter-sexual selection: Clark and Hatfield (1989) - AIM
To investigate ‘female choosiness’
AO3 Research support for inter-sexual selection: Clark and Hatfield (1989) - Method
Male and female psychology students were asked to approach opposite-sex students individually on a university campus, asking them the question: ‘I’ve noticed you around the campus. I find you very attractive. Will you go to bed with me tonight?’.
AO3 Research support for inter-sexual selection: Clark and Hatfield (1989) - Findings
0% of females agreed, 75% of males agreed immediately
AO3 Research support for inter-sexual selection: Clark and Hatfield (1989) - Conclusion
This suggests that females are choosier than males when it comes to selecting sexual partners and that males have evolved a different strategy to ensure reproductive success, thus supporting the evolutionary theory and inter-sexual selection.
AO3 Research support for inter-sexual selection: Clark and Hatfield (1989) - EVAL1: cause and effect (weakness)
P: we cannot be sure that inter-sexual selection was the reason for women refusing to “go to bed” with men.
E: For example, women may not have agreed to the request because they may not have been attracted to the male confederate, instead of being scared of getting pregnant.
E: This means that it is difficult to establish a cause and effect relationship.
L: Therefore, this reduces support for inter-sexual selection as extraneous variables like physical attraction may have had an impact on women agreeing to the request (“going to bed” with men).
AO3 Research support for inter-sexual selection: Clark and Hatfield (1989) - EVAL2: Temporal validity
P: One weakness of this study is that it cannot be applied to modern times due to the emergence of contraception.
E: Most contraceptives like birth control pills and condoms are highly effective.
E: Women may actually agree to have sexual intercourse now as there is less risk of getting pregnant.
L: This reduces support for inter-sexual selection because women may not be ‘choosier’ than males and may not value ‘quality over quantity’ as they don’t need to be really cautious about choosing a ‘perfect’ partner.
Intra-sexual selection
Preferred male strategy
It refers to the evolutionary developed features that allow a male to compete with other males for a female mate. The winner of this competition reproduces and passes on the genes that contributed to his success.
Physical dimorphism
‘Quantity over quality’
