Relationships

Question 1

What is anisogamy?

Answer 1

Anisogamy refers to the differences between male sex cells (sperm) and female sex cells (ova, or eggs).

Question 2

Why might men and women’s reproductive strategies differ?

Answer 2

Women only have a finite number of eggs and requires a large amount of energy to produce offspring while men can reproduce en mass.

Question 3

4 reproductive strategies men use.

Answer 3

Signs of fertility such as youth and beauty. Fighting for a mate. Sneak copulation, cheating with another partner. Mate-guarding, making sure their mate doesn’t reproduce with anyone else.

Question 4

3 reproductive strategies women use.

Answer 4

Signs of resource. Courtship to investigate the man. Sneak copulation to increase the genetic diversity of the child.

Question 5

Strengths of evolutionary explanations of relationships.

Answer 5

Evidence supporting evolutionary explanations of human reproductive behaviour: There are multiple studies supporting the existence of the different mating strategies suggested by anisogamy. For example, in Clark and Hatfield (1989) student participants were asked to approach other students on campus and ask questions like: “Would you go to bed with me?”. The vast majority of men said yes when women asked them, whereas zero women said yes when the men asked them.
Evidence supporting evolutionary explanations of partner preferences: Several studies support the evolutionary explanation of male and female partner preferences. For example, Buss (1989) surveyed 10,000+ adults from all over the world on partner preferences. He found that males valued signs of fertility (i.e. physical attractiveness and youth) more than females and that females valued signs of resources (i.e. financial capacity, ambition) more than males. The male preference for signs of fertility is further supported by Singh (2002), which found that men are attracted to women with waist-to-hip ratios that indicate fertility.

Question 6

Weaknesses of evolutionary explanations for relationships.

Answer 6

Cannot explain all types of relationships: Evolutionary explanations explain male and female relationships on the basis that they are necessary for reproduction and passing on genes. But this explanation is less able to explain other forms of relationships, such as homosexual couples or couples who choose not to have children.
Ignores social/cultural factors: Partner preferences differ between cultures and change within cultures over time. For example, Bovet and Raymond (2015) looked at depictions of ideal women from over the centuries up to modern day depictions such as those seen in magazines like Playboy. They found the ideal waist-to-hip ratio of women changed significantly over the centuries. These changes occurred too quickly to be explained evolutionarily, suggesting social and cultural influences also play a role in shaping partner preferences.