Evolutionary Explanations for Partner Preferences

• What is the definition of sexual selection?

  Maximizes reproductive success, not survival
• What does anisogamy refer to?

  Differences between male and female sex cells
• What are male sex cells called?

  Sperm
• How are male sex cells produced?

  In large quantity, quickly replenished
• What are female sex cells called?

  Ova
• How are female sex cells produced?

  In limited numbers during specific intervals
• Why is a fertile woman considered a rare resource?

  Production lasts for a limited number of years
• What does parental investment refer to?

  Involvement differences after conception
• What is a woman's role in parental investment?

  Carry child for 9 months and breastfeed
• What is a man's role in parental investment?

  Relative lack of responsibility
• What are the consequences for a woman making a bad partner choice?

  Greater consequences for her and her child
• What must a woman consider when choosing a partner?

  Commitment, protection, and resource provision
• What is intra-sexual selection?

  Strategies used within a sex to compete
• What is inter-sexual selection?

  Strategies females use to select males
• What is the preferred strategy in inter-sexual selection?

  Selecting the 'best of the pack'
• What signs of fertility do males prefer in females?

  Big eyes, lips, waist-to-hip ratio
• What waist-to-hip ratio indicates a female is not pregnant?

  0.7
• What does facial symmetry suggest to males?

  Strong genes and nurturing characteristics
• What features do females look for in males?

  Strength, symmetry, height, protection
• What is the sexy sons hypothesis?

  Choosing males with traits for son’s success
• What does sexual dimorphism refer to?

  Differences in characteristics between sexes
• Why is physical strength desirable in males?

  Indicates ability to produce offspring
• Why have muscular males been sexually selected over generations?

  Only their genes have been passed on
• Why are women generally not as muscular?

  Not seen as a desirable trait by males
• How does competition affect female selection?

  Women avoid competing in the same way
• Evolutionary Exp. AO3 - inter-sexual support

  • Clark and Hatfield - sent male and female psychology student volunteers to approach opposite sex students individually on a university campus with this question: 'I have noticed you around campus. I find you to be very attractive. Would you go to bed with me tonight?'
  • Not a single female student agreed to the request, whereas 75% of males did, immediately
  • This is fully in line with the ‘anisogamy’ and ‘parental investment’
  • This supports the view that females and males have evolved a different strategy to ensure reproductive success
• Evolutionary Exp. AO3 - inter-sexual support counterpoint

  • The argument from sexual selection that one strategy is adaptive for all males and another is adaptive for all females is simplistic
  • Sexual strategies theory (Buss and Schmitt) argues that both males and females adopt similar mating strategies when seeking long-term relationships
  • Both sexes are very choosy and look for partners who are loving, loyal and kind, for example
  • This is a more complex and nuanced view of how evolutionary pressures influence partner preferences which takes account of the context of reproductive behaviour.
• Evolutionary Exp. AO3 - Cultural and social influences

  • Overlook the influences of social and cultural factors on partner pref
  • Changing social norms of behaviour develop much faster than evolutionary timescales imply and have instead come about due to cultural factors
  • Bereczkei et al - argue that this social change has consequences for women's mate preferences, which may no longer be resource-oriented
  • Partner pref today are likely to be the outcome of a combination of evolutionary and cultural influences.