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PSY347 Evolutionary Psych > SST & human mate choice > Flashcards

SST & human mate choice Flashcards

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1
Q

Sexual strategies theory

Human sexual selection

A

Buss & Schmitt, 1993

successful replication, cross-culturally

Human mate choices & mating strategies

  • Short-term strategy
    • multiple mates
    • limited mutual obligation
    • limited duration
  • Long-term strategy
    • exclusive sexual access to 1 individual
    • extensive mutual obligation
    • long duration - through child-rearing

Links to parental investment theory!

  • investment in offspring is valuable
    • protected by females (greater investment)
    • competed for by males (lesser investment)
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2
Q

Principles of SST

A

Different reproductive constraints

  • ♀ investment
  • ♂ access

→ Different adaptive problems

  • ♀ mate choice, minimise cost
  • ♂ long/short term strategy

→→ Different psychological mechanisms

  • find different things attractive
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3
Q

Male short term sexual strategies

A
  • identify fertility & sexual maturity
  • minimise investment
  • maximise no. of partners

Benefits

  • direct increase in reproductive fitness

Costs

  • conflict w/ others
  • damage LT strategies
  • costly in terms of energy, resources, time
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4
Q

How have men evolved to maximise their number of ST partners?

A

Buss & Schmitt 1993

Men evolved a desire for sexual access to many women

Predict

  1. Lower standards for ST mates in men compared to women
    • ♀ & ♂ rate desirability of qualities in ST sex partner
    • -3 extremely undesirable –> +3 extremely desirable
    • Men have far fewer desirable & undesirable qualities - much lower standards for ST mates
  2. Minimise delay between meeting and intercourse
    • Clark & Hatfield, 1989
    • % agreement
    • go out for coffee ♀ 50%, ♂ 50%
    • go to apartment ♀ 5%, ♂ 70%
    • go to bed ♀ 0%, ♂ 75%
    • men more willing to sleep with someone they just met, women more likely to sleep with them after knowing them some time
  3. Avoid ST mate requiring commitment
    • ‘wants a commitment’ undesirable for ST, desirable for LT
    • signs of promiscuity valued in ST mates - shows sexual availability
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5
Q

Female and male standards for ST mates

A

Desirable qualities

  • men rate qualities less desirable in 67% of cases compared to women
  • Never rate qualities as more desirable than women

Undesirable qualities

  • rated as less consequential than by women by 30% of men
  • rated as more consequential than by women by 10% of men
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6
Q

Women’s ST sexual strategies

benefits and costs

A

Benefits

  • indirect benefits - good genes

Costs

  • loss of direct benefits of commitment (security, parenting assisstance…)
  • damaging to LT strategies
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7
Q

How do women go about ST strategies?

A

Buss & Schmitt, 1993

Predict

  1. women more selective than men about ST strategies
    • men have lower standards, women still have quite high standards
  2. less women than men will use ST strategies
    • less women than men seek ST strategies, roughly the same for LT
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8
Q

Sociosexual orientation

A

Individual differences in approaching sexual relationships w/ & w/o commitment

Restricted sociosexual orientation - consistent with LT strategy
Unrestricted sociosexulal orientation - consistent with ST strategy

Measured with Sociosexual Orientation Inventory (SOI) - Penke & Asendorpf, 2008

  • behaviour (how often do you….?)
  • attitudes (how do you feel about…?)
  • desires (how often do you think about…?)
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9
Q

Sex differences in SOI

A

Penke & Asendorpf, 2008

Little difference for behaviour, women score higher (more LT) on attitude and desire

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10
Q

Female ST strategies evidence

Comparative physiology

A

Chimps - large testes comp. to body size. Competition bc polygamy

Gorillas - smaller testes. Strength = access to females. Don’t waste energy.

Humans - between the two. Suggests ST strategy use by males in the past

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11
Q

Female ST strategies evidence

Pornography

A

Pound, 2002

  1. 9% of pornographic video scenes show multiple males 1 female
  2. 5% show multiple females 1 male

Men aroused by this bc shows female promiscuity - ST strategies

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12
Q

Female ST strategies evidence

Male phallic physiology

A

Gollup et al., 2003

Measured displacement of artificial semen from artificial vagina w/ various shapeds of artificial penis

Human shape displaces 75-100% –> suggests shape evolved to remove semen of other males - females using ST strategies

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13
Q

Female ST strategies

Extra-pair paternity

A

Do women seek out mates while partnered for indirect benefits of genetics?

Scelza, 2011

  • Himba people (tribal community); natural fertility population
  • ‘omoka’ children (extra-pair paternity) more common in arranged marriages (23.2%) than love matches (0)
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14
Q

Cultural influence on LT mate preferences

A

Buss (1989)

International Mate Selection Project

37 cultures, 6 continents, 10,000+ P’s

Diverse countries! Polygany and monogamy, cohabitation w/o marriage common and uncommon, races and religions, rich and poor…

Survey

  • ♀ & ♂ rate traits 0-3 on importance
  • Desirable for all - willing to commit, good parenting, good genes (cultural consistencies)
  • Women desire men willing and able to invest - cues to resource acquisition (Buss, 2006)
  • Men desire women with high reproductive value
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15
Q

Female LT strategies

A
  • good financial prospets (Buss, 2006)
  • high social status education
  • industriousness
  • older
    • all signal ability to acquire resources!

Benefits

  • direct benefit - resources

Costs

  • loss of indirect benefits - good genes
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16
Q

LT strategies & age

A

Men universally prefer younger partners, women universally prefer older partners

17
Q

Ideal LT male partner

A

Universal preferences:

  • emotionally stable
  • committed
  • well educated
  • sociable
  • good financial prospects
  • slightly older
    • all show willingness and ability to invest

All men haven’t acquired these traits bc women seek highest available value, not an absolute value –> no consistent selection pressure

Success of other traits associated with ST strategies?

Non-universal preferences:

  • pleasant disposition
  • good health
  • desire for family life
  • ambition
18
Q

Men’s LT strategies

A

Benefits

  • attract higher quality mate via resources
  • women might require it
  • increased paternal certainty
  • increased survival chance for children w/ 2 parents

Costs

  • possible loss of direct fitness through ST strategies
19
Q

Male LT mate preferences

A

Fertility in mate = greater reproductive success

Reproductive value: no. of children likely to have in the future

Evolved preferences reflect qualities correlated with reproductive value & fertility

20
Q

Male LT preferences

Cues to reproductive value in women

A

Fertility & age

  • women most fertile in 20s
  • Buss 1990 - men prefer younger wives in all cultures
  • Kenricke et al., 1996 - teenage boys prefer older women
  • OKCupid youngest alllowable match younger for men than women, men tend to message women younger than they are
21
Q

Male LT preferences

Physical attractiveness

A

Men see physical attractiveness as more important in LT mates than women across cultures

Cue to reproductive value (health & age)

Men with attraction to these cues had more offspring - selective advantage if preference shows heritability

22
Q

Male LT strategies

Provision of resources

A

McNulty & Neff, 2008

  • Man more attractive = provide less, less satisfactory marriage
  • Woman more attractive = provide more resources & support, no effect on marriage satisfaction
23
Q

Ideal LT female partner

A

Universal preferences

  • committed
  • educated
  • sociable
  • good looks
  • younger
    • = commitment and reproductive value

Non-universal preferences

  • pleasant disposition
  • good health
  • desire for family life
  • dependable
24
Q

Sociosexuality effect on courtship

A

Penke & Asendorpf (2008)

  • Discriminant validity (they’re related!) shown for
    • sex differences
    • prediction of observed flirting behaviour
    • self-reported no. of sexual partners
    • change in romantic relationship status over following year
25
Q

Strategies of mate guarding

A

Buss (2006)

  • Jealousy evolved to defend against infidelity and mate poaching
  • Men - improve paternal certainty by reducing chance of infidelity
  • Women - ensure partner stays, provides resources, time, commitments to her and not rival female and her children

Buss et al. (1999)

  • men more attuned to & upset by signals of sexual infidelity
  • women more attuned to & upset by signals of emotional infidelity
  • seen cross culturally
    • Korea & Japan (Buss et al., 1999)
    • China (Geary et al., 1995)
    • Sweden (Wiederman & Kendall, 1999)

PSY347 Evolutionary Psych (7 decks)

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