Evolutionary Explanation

• Sexual Selection

  Evolutionary explanation of partner preferences. Behaviours that are passed on and are given to offspring
• Anisogamy


  Refers to the differences between male and female sex cells
• Inter-sexual selection

  • To do with her
  • Females prefer quality over quantity due to their eggs being more rare
  • Females are more 'choosy' so look for men that are resourceful and will want a genetically fit partner so this passes on to their offspring
• What is the 'sexy sons' hypothesis?

  A female who mates with a male who has a certain characteristic will then have sons who inherit this 'sexy' trait
• Intra-sexual selection

  • To do with males
  • Males prefer quantity over quality and compete with other males which explains more aggressive characteristics
  • This is because they can be fertile for way longer compared to females
  • Males therefore prefer females that are youthful and have smaller waist to hip ratios as this is a sign of fertility
• AO3 Sexual Selection: Research Support for intra-sexual selection

  • Buss conducted a cross-cultural study over 37 cultures with over 10,000 people on mate preference
  • Males preferred younger physically attractive females while females sought physically strong and athletic males with an emphasis on resources
  • Both engage in behaviour that increases reproductive success supporting sexual selection theory showing different partner preferences
  • Questionnaires can be easily misunderstood across cultures and self-reports may be inaccurate invalidating the findings
• AO3 Sexual Selection: Research Support

  • Male and female students were sent out across a university campus and told to approach students individually offering to mate
  • Not a single female agreed to the males requests however 75% of males agreed to the females request to sleep with them
  • This supports the evolutionary explanation as it demonstrates how females are choosier than males when it comes to selecting sexual partners and that both are engaging in different strategies to ensure reproductive success
• AO3 Sexual Selection: Research Support from Singh

  • Found men preferred low waist to hip ratios across cultures. This is typical of the hourglass figure and a sign of fertility
  • This supports sexual selection as this demonstrates to males she has the qualities required to rear children and this is attractive
• AO3 Sexual Selection: Homosexuality

  • It cannot explain the partner preferences of homosexuals
  • This is because reproduction is not the primary aim
  • This means the sexual selection theory is limited as it does not consider homosexuals which also fuels the stigma of being homosexual
  • Additionally it does not explain couples that do not want children either