A03 - Sexual Selection & Human Reproductive Behaviour

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Created by
Anna

Cards (19)

  • Evaluate Sexual Selection and Human Reproductive Behaviour?
    + Research support for mate preferences related to anisogamy & intRA-sexual selection ( Both preferred intelligence, kindness & dependability)
    + Research support for intER - sexual selection
    + Waist - hip ratio - tested empirically
    + Sexual Selection & Homosexuality
    - Limited explanation (social & cultural influences are underestimated
  • Research support for mate preference related to anisogamy and intRA-sexual Selection - PART 1

    P: There is research support for mate preference related to anisogamy.
    E: Buss (1989) carried out a survey of over 10,000 adults from 33 countries, asking about those attributes predicted to be important in partner preferences (age &a variety of attributes that evolutionary theory predicts should be important in partner preference).
    E: Results showed that females valued on resource-related characteristics, such as good financial prospects, ambition and industriousness, more than males did.
  • Research support for mate preferences related to anusigamy and intRA-sexual selection - PART 2
    E: Males valued reproductive capacity/sign (physical attractiveness & youth) and preferred younger mates, more than females did.
    L: Finding reflect sex differences in mate strategies due to anisogamy & predictions about partner preference derived from sexual selection theory. Thus, supporting anisogamy and intRA-sexual selection.
    L: Furthermore, findings can be applied across different cultures, reflecting fundamental human preferences which are not entirely dependent upon cultural influences.
  • Research support for mate preferences related to anisogamy and intRA-sexual selection
    ?
    A) ?
  • Research supporting intER-sexual selection - PART 1
    P: There is research support for inter-sexual selection
    E: Clark & Hatfield (1989) showed that female choosiness is a reality of heterosexual relationships. Male & females psychology students were sent out across a uni campus. They approached other students individually and asked them a question: 'I have been noticing you around campus. I find you to be very attractive, would you go to bed with me tonight?'.
    E: The researchers found not a single female student said yes to the request BUT 75% of males did (immediately).
  • Research supporting intER-sexual selection - PART 2
    L: This supports the evolutionary theory because it suggests that females are choosier than males when it comes to selecting sexual partners & that males have evolved a different strategy to ensure reproductive success.
  • Research supporting INTer-sexual selection
    ?
    A) ?
  • Evaluate Sexual Selection and Human Reproductive Behaviour?
    + Research support for mate preferences related to anisogamy & intRA-sexual selection
    + Research support for intER - sexual selection
    + Waist - hip ratio - tested empirically
    + Sexual Selection & Homosexuality
    - Limited explanation (social & cultural influences are underestimated)
  • Waist-Hip Ratio - PART 1
    P = One strength of the evolutionary theory is that it makes a number of partner predictions that can be tested empirically.
    E = One prediction is that males will show a preference for a female body shape that signals fertility. Singh (1993, 2002) studied this in terms of waist-hip ratio (WHR).
  • Waist-Hip Ratio - PART 2

    E = What matters in male preference is not necessarily female body size but the ratio of waist to hip size. Up to a point, male generally find any hip & waist sizes attractive so long as the ratio of one to the other is about 0.7.
    L = This combination of wider hips and narrower waist is attractive because it is an ‘honest signal’ that a woman is fertile but not currently pregnant. Adaptive for males to be able to detect female fertility because it ensures a successful line.
  • Sexual selection & homosexuality - PART 1
    P = Sexual selection theory explains partner choice in heterosexual men (fertility/attractiveness) and women (resources/ambition) but what about homosexual mate choice (not for reproduction?). 
    E = Research into ‘personal ads’ shows that homosexual men & women use different strategies from each other that are in line with their heterosexual counterparts (Lawson et al 2014).
  • Sexual Selection & homosexuality - PART 2
    E = They showed that gay men & lesbian women use selection strategies that evolved to promote successful reproduction even though these are not relevant for their choices.
    L = Supporting the evolutionary explanation of partner preferences theory.
  • Limited Explanation - PART 1

    P = The evolutionary theory ignores the fact that partner preference is also shaped by changing social norms and cultural practices of sexual behaviour. These have occurred too rapidly to be explained in evolutionary terms. 
    E = For example, the wider availability of contraception and changing roles in the workplace - a woman's greater role in the workplace means that they are no longer dependent on the means to provide for them - despite ongoing earning inequality. 
  • Limited Explanation - PART 2

    Bereczei et al (1997) argued that this social change has consequences for women’s mate preferences which may no longer be resource-oriented. 
    E = Change et al (2011) compared partner preferences in China over 25 years and found some had changed but others remained the same corresponding with the huge social changes in that time.
    L = This suggests partner preferences today are likely to be/appear to be a combination of evolutionary and cultural influences. Any theory that appears to account for both is limited.
  • Evaluate Sexual Selection and Human Reproductive Behaviour?

    -Limited Explanation
    + Sexual Selection & Homosexuality
    + Waist - Hip Ratio
    + Research Supporting intER-sexual selection
    + Research support for mate preferences related to anisogamy & intRA-sexual selection
  • Strengths of sexual selection & human reproductive behaviour?
    + Sexual Selection & Homosexuality
    + Waist - Hip Ratio
    + Research Supporting intER-sexual selection
    + Research support for mate preferences related to anisogamy & intRA-sexual selection
  • Weaknesses of sexual selection & human reproductive behaviour?
    -Limited Explanation
  • Help to remember A03?

    I - research support for IntER
    L - limited explanation
    I - research support for IntRA
    W - waist-hip ratio
    S - sexual selection & homosexuality
    "I like intensely worry sometimes"
  • Psychologists for A03

    BUSS - InTRAsexual selection
    BERECZEI et al & CHANGE et al - limited explanation
    CLARK & HATFIELD - inTERsexual selection
    SINGH - waist to hip ratio
    LAWSON - sexual selection & homosexuality