RELATIONSHIPS Sexual Selection And Human Reproductive Behaviour Flashcards
In order for evolution to occur, what 3 things must happen?
Organism must live until reproductive age
Organism must be able to successfully mate
Organism must ensure the survival of the offspring
What is anisogamy?
It’s a term used to describe the way that men and women have different gametes and this therefore determines the selection they make
Males gametes are
Sperm…. Which are quick, easy to produce and readily available
Female gametes are
Egg or ova…. Which are static, large and only available in female fertile years
Summarise Inter Sexual Selection
Females go through this.
Refers to process of being selective and looking for genetically suitable partner with desirable attributes which would be passed onto offspring.
Tend to look for traits which suggest potential partner is successful which implies an increased positive outcome for offspring
Females seem to be more selective than men
Summarise Intra Sexual Selection
Males go through this
Implies ‘quantity over quality’ whereby males compete with other males to pass on genes to create new offspring
Typical male strategy is to mate with as many females as possible to spread genes
AO3
Support for inter sexual selection
Clarke and Hatfield - confederates approach man + female on uni ask 3 questions - most pertinent Q ‘ I find you attractive would you go to bed with me’ - 75% men willing to 0 females were
Buss - 10000 adults 33 countries - females favoured men who financially stable ambitious and industrious
Findings clearly support gender differences when comes to selecting partner
AO3
Limitation - Evolutionary explanations don’t consider cultural influences
Issue with evolutionary explanations fail into account cultural differences. Mate selection affected by family, religion or social context - bereczkei et al - women look for men who family orientated suggesting resources no longer important
Nature v nurture debate - suggest behaviour result of nature, don’t take into account social factors involved therefore ignore role of nurture - Levinger - women value resources less in countries where they have an equal status and opportunities
Points out fundamental flaw in evolutionary explanation of partner preference - too focussed on evolutionary adaptiveness and fails to recognise impact if social and cultural factors
AO3
Limitation - evolutionary explanations are both reductionist and deterministic
EE suffer biological reductionism as they argue choosing mate result of genetic inheritance and striving for reproductive success - fail to account homosexual relationships where choice of partner not based on reproductive success
Also suffer determinism as claim partner preference is determined by persons gender - implies have no free will when choosing partner
EE seen by some as weak explanation because ignore free will that people will when choosing partner
