Chapter 4 -Human Mate Choice Flashcards
(16 cards)
Sexual Strategies Theory
The theoretical perspective
based on evolutionary principles (by David Buss and David Schmitt) to help explain human
mating psychology
Sexual strategies theory is based around the notion that people who made poor mate choices in the ancient past were less likely to pass on their genes than those who made good choices. Sexual selection should, therefore, promote ‘good’ mating choice strategies. According to Buss and Schmitt there are two broad adaptive
challenges; making fitness-enhancing mate choices and outcompeting rivals to fulfil these choices
Mate Guarding
Dominant male baboons of a number of species attempt to limit the access of other males by forming consort relationships with females in oestrus. This involves following a female around and mating with her intermittently during her
fertile period, while simultaneously chasing off other potential subordinate suitors
Male Provisioning Hypothesis
The notion that the
male–female pair bond arose, in part, out of the fact that males provided meat for their female
partners. Also known as ‘male provisioning hypothesis’ (MPH).
Humans pair-bonded in order to supply better nutrition
and better food supply to their infants
This means increased male parental investment
Last Common Ancestor
For humans, the most
recent population of primates which shares a common ancestor with us (that is the ancestor of Chimpanzees and Bonobos and Humans).
Male Parental Investment
The time, effort and resources
expended by a parent on one offspring that might otherwise be expended on other offspring.
Crytic Oestrus
The idea that human females, in
contrast to other mammals, conceal their period
of oestrus. concealed oestrus leads to receiving attention from males continuously
Sexual Dimorphism
differences in behaviour and physical form betweent he sexes current theory suggests that the greater the increase in male size relative to females the greater the competition between males for access to groups of females.
Polygyny vs Polandry
Polyandry - A form of polygamy where individual females mate with more than one male.
Polygyny - A form of polygamy where individual
males mate with more than one female.
Reproductive Value
A theoretical measurement of
the potential for future offspring production. In practice very difficult to quantify
Sperm Competition
female chimpanzees show a large oestrous swelling
during this fertile period of their cycle and may mate with a number of males at such a time. Such multiple mating behaviour in female chimps means that their reproductive tract will often contain sperm from more than one male. This female mating strategy has led the males to engage in sperm
competition so that those able to produce the largest quantities of sperm are most likely to inseminate a female and thereby pass on their genes
Sexy Sons
Some evolutionists have even suggested that when women cuckold their partners they
do so with more attractive men than their husbands. This may be of benefit if such women pass on these attractive
features to their sons who would then have improved chances of attracting women
Coolidge Effect
The observation that male
animals (including humans), following mating, demonstrate renewed sexual potency when a
novel receptive female appears.
Meat- for-sex hypothesis
The contentious notion
that in some primate species the giving of meat
to fertile females increases a male’s chances of
mating with her
Reproductive Value
the number of children that a person of a given age and sex is likely to have in the future
Resource Extraction
Extracting resources from
another individual (particularly associated with
female primates in a pair-bonded relationship).
Mate choice result of…?
Your mate choices today are a result of mate choices of
your ancestors thousands of years ago.
* Their choices were a product of ecological and social
pressures they faced at the time
