Evolutionary explanations for partner preferences

• anisogamy

  differences between male and female sex cells which give rise to different mating strategies.
• inter-sexual selection

  mainly applying to females

  'quality over quantity'

  females are choosier and look for resources over attractiveness
• sexy sons hypothesis

  female preference for a genetically 'fit' male ensures that desirable characteristics are inherited by male offspring
• intrasexual selection

  mainly applying to males

  'quantity over quality'

  males compete to mate with as many females as possible

  leads to dimorphism
• dimorphism

  caused by intrasexual selection

  males and females have physical and psychological differences
• strength - research support

  Clarke and Hatfield (1989) - Male and female psychology students were sent out across a university campus. They approached other students individually with this question: ‘I have been noticing you around campus. I find you very attractive. Would you go to bed with me tonight?’ Not a single female student agreed to the request, whereas 75% of men did, immediately.

   
• strength - research support across cultures

  Buss (1989) carried out a survey of over 10, 000 adults in 33 countries. He asked questions relating to age and a variety of attributes that evolutionary theory predicts should be important in partner preference. He found that females placed greater value on resource-related characteristics, such as good financial prospects, ambition and industriousness than males did. Males valued reproductive capacity in terms of good looks and chastity, and preferred younger mates more than females did.
• limitation - social norms

  Partner preferences over the last century have been influenced by rapidly changing social norms of sexual behaviour. These develop faster than evolutionary timescales imply and have instead come about due to cultural factors, such as the availability of contraception. Women’s greater role in the workplace means that they are no longer dependent on men to provide for them. Researchers argue that his social change has consequences for women’s mate preferences, which may no longer be resource-oriented.