evolutionary explanations for partner preferences

• natural selection 


  the process in which characteristics that make an individual more likely to reproduce and pass on their genes become more common within a population. This is due to advantageous genes being passed on
• anisogamy


  the differences between male and female gametes

  may be in terms of size of gametes, whether they are static or mobile
• intersexual selection


  the strategy of one sex to pick the highest quality mate from a wide selection, according to attractive features indicating good genes

  Usually favoured by females due the fact that a female will be more 'choosy' due to her limited reproductive resources and high investment
• intrasexual selection


  the strategy of one sex competing for access to a large quantity of members of the opposite sex

  usually favours males due to their low investment cost and the fact that they produce sperm throughout their lifetime

  From an evolutionary perspective is is most effective to impregnate as many women to ensure the survival of their genes
• females look for ...


  qualities that will help raise a child to adulthood:

  resources, money, physical characteristics linked to dominance

  this ensures their genes will stay in the gene pool
• males look for ...


  qualities of fertility that indicate production of healthy offspring:

  young facial features, body shape/ low waist to hip ratio as it indicates fertility but not pregnancy

  this ensures the survival of their genes
• Buss (1989)


  Across 33 countries Buss surveyed 10000 adults on partner preferences. He found that males prioritised factors that indicated reproductive capacity such as good looks and younger age, while females prioritised factors that indicated resources such as money and ambition.

  This suggests that the actual preferences of men and women match with those predicted by the evolutionary approach.

  As Buss' research lacks culture bias, it can be argued that the findings on evolutionary selection reflect a true emic construct/behaviour that is universal across cultures
• Clarke and Hatfield (1989)


  found that while 50% of both genders agreed to a date that night with a stranger, 0% of females agreed to sex, compared to 75% of males.

  This supports both inter and intra sexual selection: males have an evolutionary predisposition to want to impregnate as many women as possible, whereas women will be more selective
• (weakness) Chang et al (2011)


  evidence suggests it Is incorrect to assume that current reproductive patterns still have a strong evolutionary basis, but rather an interactionist approach would be more accurate, where the influences of both culture and evolution are combined- as suggested by Chang et al
• Singh (1993)


  research has suggested that there are some sexual selection pressures that have remained constant through time, such as the waist to hip ratio - as suggested by Singh

  if this ratio is around 0.7, this demonstrates fertility and the ability to carry children
• weakness: alpha bias 


  the evolutionary approach could be seen as legitimising a double standard between men and women

  sexual differences may have been exaggerated, suggesting Alpha bias
• weakness: limited explanation


  Evolutionary explanations for sexual selection can be criticised for not explaining homosexual partner preferences, so is a limited explanation