A01

• Any characteristic that enhances survival and reproduction will be passed onto future generations, according to the evolutionary explanation. Sexual jealousy seems to lead to aggressive behaviour. Men fear the threat of cuckoldry as there is paternity uncertainty and would not want to raise offspring that is not their own. Thus, men evolved aggressive strategies to retain their partners and prevent them from straying.
• Mate retention strategies include direct guarding, which involves males monitoring a partner’s behaviour (using tracking apps) and negative inducements, which is threatening dire consequences for infidelity (“I kill myself if you leave me”).

  Shackelford (2005) investigated the link between such strategies and intimate partner violence (IPV), Using a questionnaire with 107 married couples. He found that there was a strong positive correlation between the men’s mate retention behaviours and the women’s reports of their partner’s physical violence.
• Finally, bullying may also have been used by our evolutionary ancestors as an adaptive strategy to assert dominance, acquisition of resources, and strength. These are all attractive traits to females and therefore leads to greater reproductive success.